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weasleywinchester · 3 years

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Not A Shrine

Eyyy Ohh! First fic for Mr. Marcus Magnet Hands Moreno! I’m excited to jump into this universe because there are just so many ways to go! This fic is mainly banter between (Y/N) and Miracle Guy (Whom I’ve decided to name Murphy Jones). Hope You enjoy! Also this is probably my last fic for the next week as I will be out of state for my birthday!!

Miracle Guy x Reader (New Friends)

Marcus Moreno x Reader (Romantic)

Summary:

You’re a huge fan of Marcus Moreno: leader of the Heroics, sword fighting, ass kicking extraordinaire. You got to see him once after he and Miracle Guy completed a tough mission, capturing your favorite moment between the two. But that was a long time ago when you were just an intern, now you’re part of the team that helps Heroics transition from the spotlight to civilian life. Miracle Guy happens to be on your list, and when your work partner points out your collection of Marcus photos and memorabilia to him, he’s dead set on embarrassing you just a little.

P.S. I think this might will get a part 2, because there’s just not enough Marcus tbh 💙

“Shannon, I bought coffee, lord knows we’re going to need it.” You set her coffee on the desk, sitting across from her. She squeals in delight, taking a big gulp. She’s not going to tell you she’s already had a red bull, because coffee is just so good. She claps her hands together and takes a deep breath, practically vibrating.

“WOO! Well I’m going over the roster of Heroics, and it looks like a lot of them are ready to start planning, but most are not ready to actually retire.” She hands you a print out of the current full time Heroics. You scan the list, which she has already split between you and her, when you see-

“Miracle Guy?” you sigh, squeezing your eyes shut.

“I knnnoooow. I tried already to bring up the planning phase and he’s not budging. I thought you could take a crack at it?” She begs.

“Fine. On one condition.”

“I already assigned Marcus to you.” She shrugs playfully. Marcus… assigned… to...you? Your mouth goes dry as you gape like a fish.

“(Y/N)... You can do this!” Shannon pounds the table. You’ve had a crush on him longer then Shannon has known you. And he’s been single for a long time, you’ve been single for a long time, you’re both amazing, you just need a nudge.

“The job ya, but… how am I supposed to focus if he’s so close.”

“You don’t have to be nervous, I promise to be nice.”

You turn to see the one and only Miracle Guy himself, one Murphy Jones. He’s got his signature smirk on his face, but otherwise he’s out of costume for once.

“Miracle Guy! What a surprise.” Shannon bubbles, shuffling some papers away.

“Shannon, lovely as always. Ms. (Y/L/N), I’m ready to talk retirement.” He gestures widely with his arms, as if he’s Jesus. You roll your eyes and lead him back to your office, gesturing for him to take a seat as you organize your desk.

“Ok so what exactly did you want to start talking about?” You turn to him, notebook at the ready.

“That I’m not ready to retire, and never will be.” He smiles like he just told you you won the lottery.

“Murphy, Wheels is ready to start taking over the family business. Which means you need to get ready to let go.” You laugh.

His smile falters a little. Being a Heroic, and in front of the camera, is what he’s always wanted to do. He’s done a lot of amazing work that he’s immensely proud of. And the people of the world love him, he can’t abandon his fans. Although it would be nice to have time to teach Wheels new things, and actually do stuff with his wife.

“This is what I know how to do.” He states, looking at the floor.

“Yes, but now we can move those skills into other areas. Take Marcus for example.” You ignore the eye roll from him, “He’s technically retired from the Heroics central team. But he still works here, using his skills to help the team in the field. Teach, train, and coach from a distance.”

“Well, hooray for him.”

“Murphy, You can’t physically fight monsters forever. Unless you want Wheels to have one parent. Why don’t we explore options. Marcus chose to observe from the main office, to use his highly trained mind to anticipate and analyze attacks. We could do the same for you.”

“I don’t do behind the scenes.” He growls. This face? Meant to be in front of a camera, meant to be saving the world crowds at a time.

You hold your hands up in mock surrender.

“Hear me out. Maybe we can have you as a spokesperson. You love doing all the ribbon cuttings, first pitches at baseball games, kissing babies and hugging old people. Work with the image side of the Heroics, the press. You’re a fan favorite! That’s not going to stop anytime soon, and an easy way to do the parts of the job you love, and to lower the chance of immediate death.”

You take a sip of your coffee as you watch him. He’s twiddling his thumbs, trying to nitpick your proposal apart. What he doesn’t know is you’ve been researching possible jobs for him ever since he stormed out of Shannon’s office a month ago. You had talked to the press team, the board and Ms. Granada; everyone thought it was brilliant.

“Hypothetically, if I agree to this plan, when does it start?”

“It’s just planning for a while. We have to go through everything with a fine tooth comb. There’s no shortcuts, once we establish a plan you are 100 % satisfied with, then the actual transition will start. But since the new generation are still very young, it’ll be a while.” You smile, trying not to look like you won the war.

_______

It’s been about two months since Murphy agreed to your retirement plan. And he’s been in your office at least twice a week, which makes you think he’s just coming to annoy you. Both you and Shannon have a bigger case load than normal, most of the new generation is the same age, so quite a few of the current team are ready to let them take the reins. You’re in the middle of Shark Boy and Lava Girl’s files when Murphy knocks on the door. You open your mouth to tell him to come in but he’s already plopped into the chair across from you.

“Moreno said he’s doing all of his planning via email.” Murphy states, slightly annoyed.

“Well good afternoon to you too.” You raise your eyebrow at him.

“I never got that option.”

“Like you would give up the opportunity to harass me in person.” You laugh, turning back to your paperwork. He frowns at you as your reach to grab something from your bookshelf. He wouldn’t say harass… more like friendly banter. That’s what you two were by now right? Friends?

“Well you’re never going to get him to notice you if you don’t actually meet in person.” He smirks, that should get your full attention.

You read the same line about Shark Boy’s request to be able to swim at the aquarium three times before your brain processes what Murphy just said.

“What.” You blink, slowly looking up at him.

“You, Moreno, meet.” He claps his hands together, a cheshire grin spreading across his face.

“You talked to Shannon.” You grit your teeth.

“That, and when she mentioned your shrine...”

“It’s not a shrine.” You clench your jaw. You want to punch Miracle Guy in his miracle face, but it would only hurt you and make him laugh.

“You have a collection of photos, limited edition merch and even a few newspaper clippings about the guy. It’s a shrine.”

“Not a shrine!”

“Anyways, I noticed you didn’t have anything signed by him. So, get him in your office!” Murphy throws his hands in the air, exasperated. You mentioned Marcus constantly, and Murphy can’t stand the guy on a good day. But oh man when the shire was mentioned, that meant he could tease the heck out of you.

“I’m going to kill both of you.” You put your head in your hands, taking a deep breath. You can’t hurt him, it’ll only end badly for you.

“Well that’s a bit harsh. I thought I was an excellent retired Heroic.”

You can hear the smile, but it’s not Murphy talking. You peak from behind your fingers to see Marcus Moreno standing in your doorway. You shift your eyes to Murphy, his stupid smirk on his stupid face.

“Mr. Moreno, I didn’t realize you were coming by.” You smile, sitting up straight. You hope he can’t hear how fast your heart is beating.

“Since when do you call him mister? How come you don’t call me mister?” Murphy says, feigning outrage. He can see the steam shooting out of your ears. Perfect, his suspicions that you had a Class A crush were correct.

“Mr. Jones, our meeting is over.” You answer. He grumbles while he stands; as he passes Marcus you swear you hear him say, she’s a very big fan.

“Mr. Moreno-”

“Marcus, please.” He smiles, sitting in the chair Murphy just vacated. God, his smile… you could stare at him all day.

“Ok. Marcus, what can I help you with today?” You bring out his file, everything neatly organized and prepared. Unlike all the other files you’re working through, which have sticky notes and scraps of paper that you scrawled on sticking out from every angle.

“I just wanted to make sure everything was still going ok; since I was switched from Shannon’s roster to yours.” Not that he minded. Shannon is great, but something about the way you talk to him over email and the phone is... different. He always wants to keep talking to you, but he’s not sure how to jump from retirement talk to more personal stuff. And then Murphy showed him a super cute picture of you and he felt things he hasn’t felt in a long time.

“Oh, uh, ya everything is still on track. Shannon just had some… other cases that became more complex than we originally thought. Plus she’s making me deal with Miracle Guy, so my reward is you.” And you immediately regret the last part. Oh god, now he thinks you’re weird.

“I mean... your plan is pretty much done, so simple case.”

“Good. I guess it helps to get a head start.” He laughs.

“That it does. I’m also handling Missy’s transition into fill time Heroic, which is also very much on track. Father like daughter.”

He smiles, a far away look in his eyes. He's so proud of her. She’s strong, brave and every bit just like her mother, and him. He’s glad you're helping her, you’ve already helped him so much.

“I’m glad to hear that. Well, I don’t have anything new to add, so...” He stands from his seat, as do you. He wishes he would have stayed seated, asked you about your day or if you wanted to take a walk with him.

“Uh ya, I’ll let you know if there’s any changes or if I have questions...” You look just past his arm to see both Murphy and Shannon waving their arms like idiots. Shannon is gesturing writing on a piece of paper, and then pointing at Marcus. Murphy is mouthing ‘ask for his number’ while folding his hand into a telephone shape and holding it to his ear.

“Is there something on my arm?” Marcus looks down, moving his gaze to try and look behind. You quickly grab his bicep, which is very firm, and you both freeze.

“No, just looked like there was a hair, but I don’t think it’s there anymore.” You stammer. He gives you a look, and you realize your hand is still touching him; you quickly let go and gesture to the door. When his back is turned you swat your hand at your friends, telling them to go away.

“I’ll tell Missy you said hello?” He smiles at you.

“Ya, that would be great.” You smile back. He waves and walks down the hall to the elevator. You let out a long breath, going back into your office and collapsing into your chair. “Did you have him sign anything?!” Shannon squeals as Murphy asks “Did you ask for his number?”

“You two need to stop.” You mumble, rubbing your eyes.

“You literally had him in the palm of your hand.” Murphy snickers as Shannon nods furiously.

“Look, I’m his retirement planner. And he’s probably not looking to date anyone. I’m here to do my job, as a retirement planner.” You shake your head at them both.

They share a look and Shannon goes back to her office. Murphy stays seated, watching you put your belongings in your purse. He was so sure you two would get talking, you drool over Marcus all the time and Marcus actually mentions you a lot. You tend to be the center of conversation between them, which oddly enough has reduced the friction.

You stand, opening the door and gesturing from him to get out. He gets up, silently walking with you until you get to your car.

“I think you two would be good together.” Murphy says to the floor.

You’re not sure what to say. You always thought so, but you also think you’d make a good match with that one guy from Game of Thrones. Also, since when did the great Miracle Guy care about your love life and Marcus Moreno’s?

“That’s really nice of you to think that Murph. But just because I’m ready, doesn’t mean he is.” You give the man a big hug. You always knew there was a kind person under all the swagger; and you’re very happy he’s now a friend.

_______

Two Weeks Later

“Alright. Shark Boy and Lava Girl are about a quarter of the way through their plan. Which is major progress. You said Blinding Fast is still slow going, ha, but that-”

“OOHHH MY GOOODD” Shannon squeals.

“What?” You ask, your blood pressure skyrocketing.

“I am SO PROUD of yooouuu! You finally asked him!” She squeals, clapping her hands together.

“Asked who what?” You scream back. She gives you a look, gesturing to your wall of Marcus behind you.

“See I told you it would be fine! He probably thinks you’re a bit fangirl-ish, but that’s fine, you are working with him now...” She continues to ramble as you turn around. You scan the wall, your eyes landing on your favorite photo of Marcus and Murphy. It now has the two very recognizable signatures.

“So congrats” she claps again.

“Oo, what are we congratulating (Y/N) on.” Murphy walks in, throwing a smirk at you.

“She finally asked Marcus to sign her favorite picture!” Shannon claps again, her glee very overwhelming at this point.

“I didn’t.” You look between her and Murphy. Shannon frowns, now just as confused as you.

“I did.” Murphy shrugs. Your jaw drops to the floor, you look over at Shannon to see her face mirrors yours.

“I didn’t hear about any fights amongst the Heroics.” You sass. Murphy mocks you in response.

“Well, I guess I should congratulate you then.” Shannon laughs.

“You should.” He winks at Shannon before turning to you, “ I don’t remember that picture being taken. It’s after the spiro monster attack according to our suits.”

“OMG! You never told him the backstory that you repeat all the time?” Shannon howls. You roll your eyes, glancing back at the picture.

“It was my first day as an intern here. I was an intern for the director’s assistant so after the spiro monster mission I was allowed to be in the debrief. You two had taken the mission together, fighting back to back; it was incredible. But you two had sat on the platform while the director was saying what a fine job you two did. I thought to myself fine? They did a kick ass job! Except I said it out loud instead of in my head.”

“I remember that actually.” Murray laughs.

“The whole day was amazing, filled with moments like that. Back when the team acted like a team.” You smile at the signatures that now decorate the picture, reminding you that friends always have your back.

“How did you even get it out of my office?” You frown, spinning to look at your friends. Shannon immediately drops her gaze, mashing her lips together.

“I had no part, and the piles of paperwork are calling me.” She bows out of the room, leaving you and Murphy alone.

“It did leave its place in the shrine briefly… but I wasn’t sure you would want the original print signed on the front.”

“That’s why Wheels asked for the digital file.” You laugh, he said he needed it for a project the kids were putting together.

“Yes. So That is technically one of three prints.” He takes a folder out of his bag, opening it to reveal a second copy. “I was hoping the artist would sign this one.” He smiles. You grab a marker from your desk, and take the print. You hesitate, you’ve signed plenty of your own art, but Murphy went through the trouble of printing these, just so you could have a signed one. You smile and sign it in a flourish.

“Will it hang in your house now?” You smirk.

“Actually, ya. And if Marcus is a smart man, it’ll hang in his too.”

“What?”

“I got three printed you dork, one for you, one for me and one for-”

“Marcus.” You smile and shake your head.

_______

Paperwork, it just never ends. You’re up to your eyeballs in it, and you’re not sure when, if, you’ll ever get out. You’re ready to shove all of it into the trash and set it on fire when a gentle knock pulls you out of the stress spiral.

“Hi.” Marcus gives you that super adorable smile.

“Hi.” You smile back.

“I was wondering if I could entice you to dinner.” He nods behind him. Your brain comes to a halt, did he just? He frowns a little when you don’t answer right away, making you realize the screaming yes over and over is only in your head.

“Yes, that would be great.” You laugh, his smile returning. You gently scoop everything back into the folders, and let him guide you to his car.

________

“Welcome to… I would say the best restaurant around but that’s not true.” He laughs as you pull into his driveway.

“Missy?”

“Is at camp for the week.” He slides out of the drivers side and runs to open your door.

“So what brought this on?” You ask as you reach to take your stuff from him. He waves you off, gesturing for you to walk up the pathway.

“Just decided to branch out my circle of friends, retirement leaves a lot of free time.” He unlocks the door, shuffling you inside. It’s been cleaned, like deep cleaned. There’s not one hint that a tween girl lives here.

“I can see you’ve already utilized the time, pre retirement.”

He shrugs in response, setting your things down and walking into the kitchen.

“Before you get to watch the master chef cook, I wanted to ask you something.” He leans on the counter across from where you sit. You nod for him to continue. “Will you tell me the story of this picture?” He brings out a folder identical to Murphy’s, opening it to reveal the picture.

“Of course.”

“And will you sign it for me?” He holds out a marker to you. You take it and quickly sign the photo. He smiles and leans it against the fruit bowl, the two of you looking at it as you recount the story that goes with it.

And of course you don’t notice, but he’s looking at you, not the picture. If it weren’t for Murphy, out of all people, he wouldn’t have given a thought about anything romantic with you. Granted he’s not sure how ready he is for something romantic. But Missy is gone for a whole week, plenty of time to figure out if his stomach fluttering every time you look his way or say his name is something that is more than a day dream.

#marcus moreno x reader #miracle guy x reader #we can be heroes #we can be heros fic #marcus moreno fic #marcus moreno fluff #pedro pascal fic #pedro pascal fluff #boyd holbrook

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louthestarspeaker · 4 years

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Wheelhouse

Here is my first contribution to @gumnut-logic ‘s wonderful IR Relief challenge. I combined the prompts “John and Penny being close friends (bonus if there’s a suspicious Gordon in the background)” from @eos-in-orbit and “Any characters – trapped in a lift/elevator” from @darkestwolfx .

Summery: John steps up to the plate and out of his comfort zone when he offers to go to attend a meeting in Scott’s place. He’s hoping for a simple straightforward evening, but when is anything ever that easy?

John fiddled with the cufflinks on his suit sleeves. Should he not have worn them? It felt like he was being too formal. He should have asked for another second opinion besides Grandma- she always liked to see him and his brothers all dressed up.

John was standing in the lobby of a fancy hotel in London, the chosen site for a business transaction between Tracy Industries and a potential partner, waiting by the door for Lady Penelope, who was to help him negotiate.

FAB1 rolled up in front of the hotel, the bright pink in sharp contrast with the stormy weather around it. Parker hurried around to open the door for Penny, holding an umbrella above her head until she was safely under the awning, before heading back to park, valet’s not to be employed for obvious reasons.

John smiled as Penny entered, wearing a cream colored pantsuit and long pink overcoat, her eyes widened in surprise as she caught sight of John. It’d been quite some time since they’d seen each other in person.

“John! Oh, I’d hug you but I’m soaked. Umbrella’s can’t do much in that wind, I’m afraid.”

John reached forward for a quick hug anyway. “It’s just water. Besides, it’s nice to have a little weather after coming down from the office.”

Penelope shook her head. “Speaking of ‘the office’, what are you doing here? Not that I’m not delighted, but wasn’t Scott supposed to be coming?”

John smiled ruefully. “He’s had a bad day, I’m filling in for him.”

“Oh dear, he’s not hurt, is he?”

“No, he’s alright. But you can hardly expect him to play the part of the billionaire business tycoon after spending most of the day rescuing Lemaire.”

Penny hummed in understanding. “Hits a bit too close to home, does it?”

She laughed at John’s silent nod and flat look, hooking her arm through his and pulling him into a walk. “Trust me, darling, you’re nothing alike. Now we’d best be going, Parker said he’d meet us upstairs. It doesn’t reflect well to be late to your own party.”

“Hardly a party, Pen.” John muttered. Penny glanced up to see John eyeing the people eyeing them. A Tracy or a Creighton-Ward was enough to garner attention on their own, together they attracted the eyes of most everyone in the lobby.

Penny winced internally at John’s obvious discomfort. As much as she’d tried to pull him out of his shell, he still detested the attention.

“You didn’t want to send Virgil instead?” She asked gently. “I know you don’t care for this sort of thing.”

John shrugged. “You know Virge. He’s more R&D.”

Brokering a business deal was kind of out of his little brother’s wheelhouse. Out of John’s wheelhouse too actually. He was more the numbers guy, and the great thing about being the numbers guy was you could do it all remotely from your space station twenty-two thousand miles away, or from your private island that might as well be just as far.

John sighed, finding himself pulling at his sleeves again. Scott really was better at all of this. Did Scott ever wear cufflinks?

“Stop that, John.”

“Stop what?” He asked, jumping out of his head.

She eyed him with a look saying ‘you know exactly what’. “You’re brooding again.”

“What? I don’t brood.” He said, hitting the call button for the elevator so he didn’t have to look her in the eyes. “I… ruminate.”

“Whatever you want to call it doesn’t change the fact you need to stop. You are more than capable of heading this meeting.”

John shook his head ruefully. “If you say so, Pen.”

“I do say so, and don’t even think of trying to argue with me, John Tracy.”

John let out a laugh at this bit.

As if he’d ever stand a chance… Penny was an excellent negotiator, a talent that served her well- and often- in her line of work. And was one of the many reasons never to start an argument with her.

“Wouldn’t dream of of it, Pen-”

A loud clap of thunder interrupted him, and the lights buzzed before flickering off completely. Leaving the lobby, and it’s occupants, in the dark.

“Well. This is rather unfortunate.”

Penn’s remark was one of many as the murmuring of the crowd rose in volume and temperament, many using language not nearly as polite as hers. One call rang above the others though, because it was downright panicked.

“My sister’s stuck in the elevator!”

It was a young man standing near them, alarm evident on his face. The manager rushed over, walking quickly but not running, trying to exhibit some control of the situation. “No cause to worry, sir. The elevator breaks have engaged, she’s in no danger.”

“No, you don’t understand, she’s claustrophobic, she’ll be having a panic attack!” The young man said, looking as if he was about to have a panic attack himself. John stepped in then, instinct driving him.

“Hey, take a breath, your sister will be fine.” John assured the young man. He turned to the manager. “Have someone call the fire department, in the meantime we’ll call the elevator. We can see how she’s doing.”

His instructions were carried out without complaint, even if the manager looked a bit put out to be ordered around in his own hotel. But he, like everyone else, recognized John’s seniority in the situation. He wasn’t only the camera-shy Tracy heir, after all. He was International Rescue.

The manager led the small party over to the receptionist desk, followed by no small amount of obvious eavesdroppers, to connect with the elevator phone.

“Hello, Emma, are you there?” The young man, James, asked, his voice shaky.

The empty silence meeting James’ question had John sending Penny a grim look. Silence on the comm lines was never a good sign.

“Emma? Are you there?” James’ voice had risen an octave, and still no answer.

The manager was sweating nervously, having given up all pretense of authority. “What- what do we do?”

John calculated quickly in his head. The fire department was sure to be delayed with the traffic and thunderstorm conditions to contend with, during which time Emma, in the best case scenario, couldn’t catch her breath, and in the worst case, was already passed out- which would slot her with a possible head injury as well. John shook his head. It was hardly a decision at all.

“Where did her elevator stop?”

“Between the third and fourth floors.” The manager supplied.

“Penny, have Parker meet us on the fourth floor.”

`*`

Parker arrived quickly, toting the leather bag he deemed to be his ‘lucky kit’. Elevator doors were harder to pry open than the movies made them seem, but one well placed ice pick and an impressive round house from Lady Penelope had the door open in moments.

John readied himself for the trip down to the elevator car. As far as civvies went for performing rescues, evening wear probably had to be at the bottom of the list. John removed his jacket, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and pocketed his cufflinks.

He doubted he’d ever be able to wear the suit again after clambering down the oiled elevator cable, but he’d sure as heck try. Growing up in a Kansas farm house with four rowdy brothers meant he’d adopted his grandmother’s mentality of keeping nice things nice.

John wrapped his hands with strips of cloth- shredded dish towels, courtesy of the kitchen staff. It should help him grip the elevator cable. He stood at the elevator opening, eyeing the ten foot drop before turning back behind him.

“Are you coming, Lady Penelope?” The mission-like atmosphere of the situation had him switching to her professional title.

She shook her head. “Three’s a crowd, darling. I’ll wait here with James.”

John nodded in understanding. Best not to overwhelm Emma with too many people, and her brother seemed to be only just keeping himself from tipping over the edge into hysterics- he could do with Lady Penelope’s calming presence.

With a calculated leap, John jumped into the elevator shaft. He met the cable full on and clutched it tightly- reminded oddly of the rope climbing exercises in a high school gym class. His make-shift hand wraps did their job and John was able to climb down without too much slipping. He unwrapped his hands from the now shredded material, called a quick okay to Lady Penelope upstairs, then dropped down through the top emergency hatch, landing neatly in the elevator car.

Flicking on a penlight, he illuminated the small space, taking stock of the situation.. Emma stood on shaky legs, slumped against the wall, fingers clutching the silver rail that ran along the length of the car in a white knuckled grip. She was wheezing desperately, and swaying on her feet, but still conscious- always a good thing.

John approached her slowly, not wanting to frighten her further. “Emma? You’re brother sent me. I’m International Rescue. I’m here to help.”

Her eyes darted wildly around at the walls surrounding her, before making contact with John’s. “I c-can’t… can’t breathe-”

“It’s gonna be alright. I’m John, I’m going to stay with you until the fire department comes.” John gently pried her fingers away from the rail and took her elbow, leading her away from the wall and seating her in the middle of the floor.

John crouched down in front of her, meeting her eyes and directing her to cup her hands around her nose and mouth. “Now breathe in deeply from your stomach. Hold. Breathe out.”

It only took a few repetitions before John admitted to himself it wasn’t working. Emma kept breaking eye contact, and every time her eyes drifted to the walls she choked.

“It’s alright.” John soothed again as it happened for the third time. “Let’s try something different. Close your eyes.” If Emma couldn’t see the walls, perhaps he could convince her she wasn’t trapped. “Now, you’re not here anymore, you’re watching the sky. The sun is setting over the ocean.”

John channeled his inner Virgil, describing an island sunset in bursts of crimson and gold, waves reflecting warm sunlight before soft pink fades into the deep indigo of night time. Silver light pricks the sky, the stars revealed in swirling constellations, like fragments of the sun. The stars go on forever.

“And there’s a breeze coming off the ocean.” John said. “Match your breath. In… and out. In… and out.”

Minutes blended as John kept up the soothing narrative, his words smoothing Emma’s wheezing gasps into even breaths. Quite soon, help arrived, signaled by a thump from the ceiling, and things began to move in quick succession.

A firefighter dropped through the hatch like John had, checking they were both alright before fitting them with harnesses and winching them up one by one. As John was pulled up out of the elevator shaft he was greeted by- not a familiar face, but a recognizable one. After all, the news reports had been notoriously hard to avoid after she and Virgil decapitated the world's largest building.

“Chief McCready.”

The chief grinned and nodded, clasping John’s hand and hauling him onto solid ground. “Tracy.” A familiar name paired with a new face. “And here I thought you boys chased after trouble, but it looks like it might be the other way around.”

John’s civilian clothes, oil smeared and wrinkled, were a dead give-away he hadn’t been expecting this particular mission. He could see Grandma now, shaking her head and clicking her tongue, amazed at all the ways him and his brothers managed to ruin clothes, but not at all surprised that they did.

He allowed himself a small smile. “The job follows you around.” On duty or not, the calls never went unanswered.

The Chief clapped him on the shoulder, understanding the sentiment in a way only a first responder really could. “That it does.”

Their conversation was brief, the Chief dragged away by her duties and John by an overwhelmingly grateful Emma and James, both of which hugged him tightly and thanked him profusely.

When John finally had a moment to catch his breath, he caught Penny watching him, a hint of humor in her eyes.

“What?” He asked, her levity in his tone.

“Nothing at all. It’s just I can hardly believe this is who the tabloids call the ‘reclusive elite’.”

There was a brief moment of confusion before John realized with a start just how many eyes were on him. A whole crowd of obvious rubberneckers, both indiscreetly peeking at him and gaping unashamedly. And all John could do was laugh.

What could he say? He’d talked down an emergency victim, spoken with site officials, and was now standing there in filthy clothing post-rescue. He was in his element.

#irrelief #irrelief2020 #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds 2015 #eos-in-orbit #darkestwolfx #fanfic #john tracy #lady penelope #lou writes things

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kucheek · 5 years

Text

I Put Millions Of Pennies in My Friends Backyard - m.b.

requested: yes!

request: Hello love same anon as earlier, can i request an imagine? I was wondering if you could write one where beast and the reader are very good friends and have been for a very long time and jimmy starts developing feelings for her. She doesn't realize at first even though he's very obvious and shows it through his body language etc. Then maybe he finally musters the courage to ask her out? Thank you and good luck!❤❤

Thank you for sending this in! It was very cute and hopefully, it’s what you had in mind. I did tweak it a little bit but it’s still adorable in my opinion haha

You were busy, right in the middle of doing your coursework when your cellphone started buzzing loudly next to you. Not really glancing at the caller, you quickly answered, thinking it was your mother.

“Hello?”

“What are you doing right this second?” You smiled a bit realizing it wasn’t your mom, it was actually Jimmy. You shut your laptop, finally glad you had a distraction, “I was doing homework and you make an excellent excuse to not do it.”

“Gee thanks,” he scoffed into the phone, “but how fast can you get to Chandler’s house.”

You scrunched your eyebrows together, “like 15.”

“Alright, see you here!”

“Wait! Jim-” all you were left with was the phone dial and a whole lot of questions.

You couldn’t even register what you were looking at. There were hundreds upon hundreds of rolls of pennies lying all over Chandler’s backyard over a tarp. “What the heck are you doing?” You nearly exclaimed to Chris who was behind you, looking for something in the garage. You’d think after being friends with Jimmy and the rest of the guys, you would get used to this kind of thing. But it seemed that they always had some strange idea that they hadn’t done.

“We were trying to fill up the backyard with pennies. Then go buy Chandler’s dad a new car but we needed more people.” Chris answered, grabbing a golf club. You rolled your eyes at the boys who were trying to find a more efficient way to open the rolls. In reality, they were probably taking up more time.

“You called me for free labor?” You accused, catching the attention of everyone.

“Y/N’s here! We now have 13 people!” Jimmy exclaimed to the camera, walking towards you, “now we’re definitely going to finish on time.” he said, patting your head.

You leaned backwards, and raised an eyebrow at him, “out of curiosity, how much time do you have?”

“Like...two hours, give or take.”

“No, put the fire closer to-” you were trying to move the pennies closer to the flames and one stray flame flew at your thumb, “ow! Jimmy!”

“Ah, sorry, sorry, sorry.” He tried reaching for your thumb but you moved it to your mouth to soothe the slight pain.

“I told you to just make a fire on the ground and drop the stacks in there,” you scowled, taking your thumb out and inspecting it, “not make the freaking fire on the table.”

“Let me see,” he reached over and swiped at you again, “do you need a band-aid?”

“I’m fine.” you grumbled, shoving your thumb in your pocket, “just keep your fire away from me.”

“Someone try jumping on it.” That suggestion was the reason you were on the floor, staring up at the sky.

While you were in the middle of trying to jump on the pile to break the wrappings on the pennies, which in hindsight was a terrible idea, you slipped and slid down the mound.

“Ouch.” You groaned, amidst the laughter that was surrounding you.

“Holy shit, that was awesome. Are you OK?”

You didn’t answer and shut your eyes, mentally flicking off each and every one of them. You felt someone grab your upper arms to try and get you up, opening your eyes Jimmy looked at you with wide eyes, “are you OK?”

“I’m fine.” You mumbled, sitting up. Chris moved the camera towards you, holding back his laughter to keep the shot clear, “and whoever suggested jumping on it, you’re an idiot.”

“Are you sure? You fell pretty hard,” Jimmy insisted, giving you a once over and helping you up, both hands hovering over you.

“I’m fine.” You enunciated, “chill.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t...” Jimmy leaned over to try and move over the rolls of pennies you were reaching for.

You nudged him out of the way and right as you reached over, someone swung their club down and nearly hit you. Swiping your hand back, you yelped in surprise, “holy shit, did I hit you?”

Jimmy immediately grabbed your wrist and checked your hand for an injury.

You eyed Jimmy strangely, “I’m fine...” you answered, “seriously.” You moved your hand back, “are you OK?”

“You’re acting weird.” You stated, turning towards him, “...well, weirder than normal.” Since you got to Chandler’s he’s been acting like a mother hen, following you and making sure you weren’t doing anything to hurt yourself. In fact, for the past few months he’d had this attitude, making you wonder why he would even bother to inviting you to their video shoots.

You hefted a box up and tried reaching for another before Jimmy reached over and plucked it from your hands, “I got it,” you frowned, crossing your arms, “did you even hear me?”

He threw you an apologetic smile, “honestly no.”

“I said,” you started slowly, “why are you acting so weird.”

“it’s nothing.”

“Jimmy-”

“it’s nothing.” He said finally, turning around. You frowned and stomped around, stopping him from walking towards the moving truck.

“Y/N-”

“No, what’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting weird today and yesterday and the day before and the day before. Did I do something?”

“We need to move the boxes before-”

“Chandler’s dad gets home, I know. I’ll move boxes once you tell me what your problem is.”

He stayed silent for a fews seconds and you let out a loud sigh.

“So I did do something?” You concluded, wracking your brain for something that you had done for him to act strangely towards you, “sorry?”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.” He exhaled, dropping the box on the ground and sitting down. After a few seconds he looked up suddenly, “actually, it kind of is your fault.”

You raised your eyebrows, expectantly, “What did I do?”

You shot him a side glance after a minute of silence, “you didn’t do anything. It’s-you-it’s not you.”

You almost yelled in frustration, “what? You just said it was me, and now you’re not saying it’s me?”

“It’s you...but it’s...not.” He squinted uncomfortably.

“What do you-” He held up a hand to stop you from continuing and stood up. You could tell he was avoiding looking at you head-on, which in Jimmy-ese meant he was nervous about something. Though about what, you had no idea.

“OK, I-I like you. Alright?”

// i apologize for any typos, as i am an idiot who doesn’t like proofreading. //

#mr beast #mr beast imagine #mrbeast #mrbeast imagine #youtuber #youtube #youtuber imagine

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sirkkasnow · 5 years

Text

14 When All Else Fails, Make Amends

Ao3 link

07/27/13-07/28/13 Saturday - Sunday

Good luck with cleanup, was the message that chimed Stan awake in the morning.

Clary had already gone down to Greasy’s by the time there was enough daylight to work by. The usual suspects, minus the kids who were still sacked out upstairs, gathered to bring the Shack’s yard back into something resembling order before the first tours of the day showed up. They settled for getting some of the tables and chairs stacked away into the loaner truck and leaning folded tents against the lee side of the house. Another few trash bags got added to a mountain that would require a special pickup from the town garbage truck.

Stan had gotten a report on the night’s numbers from Soos, though, and that kept his steps light no matter how many discarded party cups he had to pick up.

A chill wind had blown through somewhere in the wee hours which kept the work bearable until the sun finally made it above the treetops. Dipper and Mabel eventually staggered out to collapse on the couch. They’d recovered enough energy to razz the cleanup crew, at least until another text from Clary chimed on all the Pines’ phones at once.

Lunch special is complete! Who wants a full pancake breakfast on me?

“Heck yes!” shouted Mabel. “Come on, people, wrap it up, it’s free pancakes!”

They’d managed the equivalent of sweeping most of the trash under the rug, as it were. Soos waved them off as Stan loaded himself, Ford and the kids into the El Diablo and ran everyone down to the diner.

The Saturday morning crowd was more dense than usual. Someone had written Clary Merrick’s Chicken Dumplings! on the chalkboard at the front door. “Good grief,” Ford muttered.

“Cursed by our own popularity,” Stan agreed as he shouldered the door open and held it for the kids.

Susan met them with a pink-cheeked giggle. “That was some party, huh? Come on, we’ve got a booth reserved for ya.” She shooed the four of them down to the far end and poured coffee. “Server’ll be out in a minute!”

Stan was expecting Clary. When she showed up in a pink uniform and a crisp white apron, pen tucked behind one ear, he cracked up and couldn’t quite stop himself. They’d even slapped a bit of masking tape over her nametag and scrawled in CLARY with a marker. She looked down her nose in wry disdain. “Very funny. I’ve got another forty minutes to go and then I’m done for good, so order up before my employee discount evaporates.”

“You look lovely,” Ford said, valiant as ever. She winked, smile widening, and Stan hit him with a warning kick under the table.

“So.” Mabel’s eyes were gleaming. “We can have anything we want?”

“Anything at all, honeybee.” Clary flipped out a ticket book and readied her pen. “What’s it gonna be?”

Ford and Dipper were relatively straightforward. Mabel’s order rattled on for most of a ticket-book page, Clary making swift notes as she went. Finally she glanced in question at Stan, who smirked. “Anything?”

The corners of her eyes crinkled, though she kept a straight face. “Anything. Keep in mind that I already know you’re a lousy tipper.”

“How exactly d’you expect me to figure a tip on zero dollars?”

“Maybe you should give some consideration to services rendered.” Clary tilted her pen over towards the wall clock. “Thirty minutes.”

“All right, all right.” He made a show of studying the menu, then settled on the best of the club sandwiches - extra turkey, extra bacon, extra pickles, easy on the mayo - with a short stack of pancakes, hash browns, and everything else he figured he could get away with stuffing into a takeaway box. Clary didn’t flinch, mildly taking it all down as the kids’ eyes widened.

She ferried it all out over the next fifteen minutes. The scarred surface of the booth table was jammed near to overflow with pancakes, side dishes and Mabel’s assorted syrups. Stan chomped into his sandwich with gusto. Nothing was quite as delicious as free food. He watched in amusement as Clary waltzed up and down the diner to refill coffee and clear plates.

The clock had about made it to noon when she swung by the Pines table again. “Got everything you need, hon?”

“Doin’ fine for now but I wouldn’t mind seein’ the dessert menu - “

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Pines, but it’s time for my shift change.” Clary straightened, reaching behind to untie her apron. “Hey, Susan?” she called out.

“What’s up, sweetie?”

“I quit!” Clary tossed the apron over the counter and slipped into the booth, Dipper scooting over to make room. She reached across the table and nimbly stole the untouched half of Stan’s sandwich.

“Hey - “

“Who’s paying for this?” she shot back.

Stan must have looked crestfallen, because both the kids were beginning to giggle and Clary was struggling not to join them as she took a bite. “Fine. I’ll consider this my tip. Sorry I missed you all this morning - did cleanup go all right?”

Ford pushed his empty plate to the middle of the table. “I believe we managed to get it all under control. Will you be coming back to pack this afternoon?” Stan settled for the pancakes, still sulking a bit.

“I’ll get started. Looks like I’ll be staying through the weekend, so long as that’s okay. I want to get a decent night’s sleep or two and I still have some unfinished business in town.” Clary settled back with a sigh and accepted a spare napkin from Dipper. “I’m so glad everything went well.”

Mabel squinted down the table from her seat by the window. Her eyes flicked to Stan, who did his best to radiate innocence. “So maybe until Monday?”

“Tuesday, I think.”

“Great.” Mabel clapped hands together smartly and turned her razor focus to Ford. “Grunkle Ford, now that we’ve got all the obligations out of the way, can we make time to head out on that ghost expedition of Dipper’s? I’m pretty sure we could get it done in one overnight hike.”

Dipper blinked in surprise next to Mabel, then flinched - Stan was pretty sure that was a pink Mary Jane tagging him in the ankle. He caught on quick, though, and leaned forward with eager eyes and steepled fingers. “That’s right. I’ve figured out a route that’ll hit everything worth investigating and it’ll be one day out, one day back. If we head out tomorrow morning, we could make it in plenty of time for dinner on Monday!”

Ford tensed up, unused to being the center of both their attention. “...I’d hate to abandon our guest for the last couple of days before she departs.”

“Oh, I’m stayin’. Lots of cleanup t’do, yet.” Stan swabbed up maple syrup with another forkful of pancake.

“I’ll get the truck back to Tate and clear up the last loose ends,” said Clary. “I still owe a few people favors.”

“We can’t go incommunicado - “

“I can show Grunkle Stan how to use the tracking rig, and we can carry your uplinks, right? We’ll be in touch the whole time! Listen, we’ve already sketched out what we know are the safest stretches of the woods after the glitterbomb thing, and we can check on the aftereffects while we’re at it.” Dipper fished out a notepad and started scribbling.

Stan felt his brother’s resistance begin to crack. “Mabel, you want to come along on this - ?”

“You bet. I’ll be your documentarian.” Mabel tugged out her phone, sat back and got a snapshot of the whole table. “We can borrow that action camera thingy and get some video too. Come on, the weather’s going to be perfect for a couple days and we have to get it all done before we start doing birthday planning!”

Ford blanched. “We just finished the biggest party we’ve ever thrown - “

“That’s no reason to rest on our laurels. We’re about to turn fourteen, we’re going to high school in the fall, we’ve got to throw one heck of a bash. What we did over this last week? Nothing but a rehearsal!” Both Stan and Ford inched back a bit in their seats.

“Easy, Mabel. I need some recovery time and they probably do, too.” Clary polished off the last bite and dabbed at her lips with the napkin. “If you’re done, why don’t we pack up and maybe we can figure it out on the way up to the Shack?”

They were still hashing it out when Susan came over with a couple of takeaway boxes. Clary settled up and left too much of a tip, as usual, which wasn’t even going to her. Some of the things that woman did made no sense.

Stan held the door for everyone as they headed out into the sunshine. He turned a palm out behind his back and scored low-fives from both Dipper and Mabel as they passed.

By the time they were back home - Clary had walked that morning, so she joined them in the car - Mabel, Dipper and Ford had negotiated more or less exactly what the kids wanted. The house echoed with voices and footsteps as camping gear, cameras, maps and backpacks were rustled up from various corners.

Stan left them to it and sidled up to Clary. She’d barely made it up the outside steps and simply leaned into the side door’s frame, watching the chaos swirl past. “So?”

“So.”

“We on for this weekend?”

She shifted enough to catch his eye. “We’re on.”

“Tomorrow lunchtime?”

“Perfect. Looking forward to it.” Clary pushed off from the doorframe, her smile a warm flicker. “See you for dinner. Me, I’m going to go sleep like the dead.”

She was as good as her word, too, disappearing into her storage room for the remainder of the afternoon. Stan gave up almost immediately on keeping up with the kids and sacked out on the couch for a good couple hours.

Dinner came early, thrown together from admittedly excellent leftovers. The conversation consisted mainly of intense discussion about safe trails, the most sheltered spot to set up camp and various anomalies that both Ford and Dipper wanted to catalog on their overnight.

Clary didn’t even blink save to ask a question or two. She was playing it frosty, which meant Stan was too, which meant Mabel was glaring daggers at both of them after half an hour of innocuous discussion and list-making.

“I’ll get the plates,” Mabel declared loudly when they were mostly done. “Grunkle Stan, help me get all this back to the kitchen!”

He obeyed, trailing along after with an armload of dishware, and dropped it off in the sink only to be accosted by Mabel standing on the stepladder and towering over him. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

“I am not spending two whole days distracting the nerd brigade so that you can finish cleaning up the lawn, mister.” Mabel set hands to her hips and stared him down. “She’s done being mad and that’s great. So what are you going to do about it?”

“Take it easy, pumpkin, I’ve got it all handled.” Stan dragged the stepladder a few inches closer so that she could help dry dishes.

“You’re going to tell her how you feel?”

“I’m gonna tell her I hope I can still see her again after all this.” Because oh boy anything else might be more complicated than he could handle. “An’ then we see what happens, I guess. Don’t worry ‘bout me, sweetie. Your grunkle’s a master at the art of romance.”

He winked and she rolled her eyes. “Don’t you dare let her get away. This one’s a keeper.”

“Uh huh. Pressure much, Mabel?”

The expedition headed out bright and early on Sunday morning after a hearty breakfast. Clary and Stan waved them off from the porch, watching them strike out into the forest with packs and walking sticks. Mabel made a point of spinning on her heel as they hit the treeline, flashing a wink and a double thumbs-up with such enthusiasm that Stan wondered if she’d sprained an eyelid.

Clary's smile was brilliant even behind the cover of her hand. “She’s about as subtle as a sack of sledgehammers.”

“Definitely gets that from my side of the family. Think you can make yourself scarce for an hour or two?”

“I have a few people to visit, a couple bills to pay, and then I’ve got to start packing.” She hooked the car key out of her pocket and gave the miniature Mystery Shack dangling from it a twirl. “Meet you for a late lunch?”

“Anytime before three’s probably fine. You be careful in that thing, all right? I haven’t had time to really go through the guts...drives all right, at least, but with McGucket messin’ with it…”

“I will be careful. Scout’s honor.” She flashed him a three-fingered salute and jogged off to the Fairlane. Stan watched warily as she buckled in, fired it up, and headed out down the long drive, then fished out his phone and started making calls.

He had a productive few hours in her absence, helping Tate load the loaner pickup with the last batch of party chairs. Dipper had left the laptop behind, and after some fiddling Stan managed to get the tracker going. A trio of colored dots marked Ford and the kids on a projected trail map.

Mabel answered first when he toggled the uplink console, her bright voice warbling with distance. “Love Patrol Alpha Summer Expedition Number One, reporting! Is that you, Mystery Base?”

Stan grumbled in resignation. “Yeah, yeah, Heartbreaker, that’s me. Listen, I got the map goin’. You three holdin’ up all right?”

“We’re making great time, and I am documenting everything! Not a single track, not one tiny clue is going to escape our notice while we’re out here. Grunkle Ford says it’s about another two hours until we get to the spot Dipper wanted to look at so badly, and after that we’ll make camp.”

“Uh. Great. Keep us posted, okay? I might be doin’ dinner or somethin’ with Clary so maybe we’ll check back in before bed and then at breakfast time.”

“We’re not going to have any emergencies while we’re out here, come ooooonnnn.” Stan closed his eyes for an exhausted moment, unwilling to lay odds on that. “It’s all under control. You two have a nice time and be ready to tell me everything later, got it?”

“Roger, Heartbreaker.”

There were a few other bits and pieces he wanted to line up for the day and those fell into place easily enough with a quick trip down to Greasy’s. By the time he heard the distinctively smooth, deep note of the Fairlane’s engine as it rolled up around two-thirty, he had a couple of trout butterflied, deboned and laid out on ice. Stan fired up the skillet and had butter sizzling merrily as Clary leaned into the kitchen doorframe.

“All done for now, and what, pray tell, have we got for lunch?”

“Only the good stuff. Fresh this mornin’.” He waggled brows at her as he strapped on an apron, dredged the fish and tossed the first fillet into the pan.

“There is no way you had time to go catch that.” She headed for the fridge, reaching in to pull out a few containers of leftover sides.

“Hey, I delegated. Tate came by to get the pickup and he dropped these off. Guy’s, like, a fish whisperer or somethin’, he walks down lakeside and they jump into his creel, it’s weird.”

They swung around each other comfortably in the confined space. Clary set up the table with plates and glasses, not bothering to do more than pop the lids off a motley assortment of Tupperware. The conversation was relaxed and drifting - the most scenic route to Portland, the best lunch counter on the way to Seattle.

Clary sat back with a sigh once she’d finished off her trout. “That was worth the wait.”

“It’s nice t’have lunch right out of the lake, isn’t it? Saved my bacon a few times the first couple years here.” Stan gathered plates as she scrubbed the serving containers. “So, if you can put off packin’ for a little while - you seen the new exhibit yet?”

“You know, I haven’t? Things were too nuts last week.” She leaned aside to let him drop the plates off in the sink, kept on washing and handed them off one by one once he had a dishtowel.

“Up for a private tour? It’s Sunday, last batch of payin’ customers was like half an hour ago.”

“With pleasure.”

Once they’d stacked away the last of the glassware, Stan offered his arm. She laid a hand lightly at his elbow with a quirked little smile and he led her out through the unaccustomed quiet of the Shack.

“So we’re already gettin’ rave reviews.” The museum was silent save for their footsteps, sunlight pouring in bars of honey gold across the plank floors. “‘Mr. Mystery’s still got it.’ And ‘It’s Air-Conditioned!’ I think Soos is already workin’ up a plush or a keychain or somethin’.”

They ducked through the exhibit’s moss-draped doorway, the interior almost chilly and dark enough to disorient after the main room. Stan laid his hand over hers to keep her close as they wove through the narrow corridor. He and Soos had done a hell of a job here on short notice, he thought, with some nifty projection work and vents set up to blow cold air across the feet of tour-goers.

He’d written most of the spiel and leaned over to half whisper to Clary as they walked slowly through. “Dark things dwell in the far corners of these northwest woods, y’know. Things that slumber under our mountains an’ spread nothin’ but shadow when they wake an’ roam the world.”

“This all sounds suspiciously familiar.” Excitement hummed under her low murmur; she was as thrilled as any tourist.

“‘Course it does - this’s all new to us, missy, but the Shack’s crew of intrepid adventurers just got back from a dangerous trek all the way out into the far reaches - “

They rounded a corner, the sound of tinkling glass drifting up over a tiny hidden speaker, and she actually flinched at the forced-perspective replica of the crystalline stag set up to sparkle ominously at the far end of the space. Stan squeezed her hand in reassurance, trying not to laugh. “Mabel did that one. Nice, eh?”

“This is fantastic.” Clary looked up into the darkness overhead, where he’d set up a scatter of glinting glass eyes picked out by pinlights. “You did all this in like two weeks?”

“Well - not alone. Soos an’ Melody have been crankin’ up the exhibits since they took over the Shack. This’s what kept us all so busy while you were cookin’ for everyone in town. C’mon.” He tugged her down past the Crystalline Abominations display, where the lighting came up by subtle degrees. “Check this out.”

Clary’s original taxidermy critter, tidied up and reworked a bit, perched on a branch in a glass case. The placard read ‘mustela merrickii’, explaining its exotic origins and its favored diet of nightmares, and beside that sat a portrait of ‘Dr. Clara J. Merrick’ in old-timey explorer’s gear rendered in sepia inks.

Stan rocked back a step, utterly pleased with himself, as her eyes popped wide and she clapped both hands over her mouth. “This all okay? Ford did the watercolor over there. Seemed only fair t’name it after you.”

She was quiet for a few seconds too long. He shifted his weight from foot to foot until she turned, splayed fingers only half hiding her sly, delighted grin. “You couldn’t wait to get rid of me when I first got here. This whole routine was designed to creep me out and scare me onto a bus.”

“...yeah, that’s fair. You turned out to have a stronger stomach than I expected.”

“Ha. I’m glad I exceeded expectations.” Clary bumped her shoulder into his. “Thank you for letting me leave a mark here. I must have a copy of that portrait - I had no idea Ford was an artist, too.”

“We may or may not have included a nice rendition in your partin’ gifts.”

She cracked up as they wended past winged weasels tangled in shadowy papier-mache tentacles. “Do I get the home game? Have I scored the grand prize?”

“You’ve got a workin’ car, I guess, but as for the rest of it, what were you hopin’ to take with you?” She pulled the curtain aside at the end of the walkthrough and Stan brushed past, half holding his breath as he stepped out into the light.

Clary looked him up and down, her mouth quirked with something between amusement and regret. “I cut a bulk deal with Soos for snowglobes and a couple bobbleheads, so that’s covered, but I can’t say that’s all I was interested in. What’re you doing tonight?”

“Might have somethin’ in mind. I mean, y’know, if you’re up for it.” He held up both hands as she drew indignant breath. “All I’m sayin’ is that there’s no way you went thrift shoppin’ with Mabel and got out of it without somethin’ glittery, right? Show me the gaudiest thing you’ve got. I’ll make it worth your while.”

“What time?”

"Right around dark? Don't worry about dinner."

She shook her head at him but her eyes were sparkling. "Sounds good. I'll track you down out on the porch."

They split up for the rest of the afternoon. Stan spent half an hour tidying up the car, vacuuming out the random debris that had accumulated through the summer’s errands and adventures. Clary steadily trekked back and forth between the Fairlane and the house. Boxes and bags slowly filled in the wagon’s wayback, more stuff than she’d come in with for sure.

Once the day began to fade, she slipped off to take over the bathroom for a quick shower, then vanished into her storage room. Stan went through after and took some time scrubbing himself to respectability. He shook out the old bronze hustle suit from the back of the closet, the scent of cedar sharp in its synthetic fibers. This thing had never needed an ironing since he’d picked it up years ago and it didn’t need one now, which was great, because he had stuff to do.

He still looked damned good in it. Stan squared himself up in front of the mirror, splashed on a bit of his favorite aftershave to make him extra irresistible, got his hair where he wanted it and strolled out to the yard.

Striking a casual pose against the front fender of the Stanleymobile was fine for like, a minute, but his back was beginning to creak in protest by the time Clary finally stepped out onto the porch. Stan pulled himself upright with a suppressed grunt and headed over to meet her as she came down the steps.

Mabel had delivered, all right. Clary’s outfit was some kind of barely-structured 80s-vintage tunic top over skinny leggings, all steely spangles that managed to both drape and cling distractingly, one shoulder and its black bra strap left bare. The scarf was amethyst silk shot with silver threads, hair twisted up and secured with a couple of borrowed glitter clips to tumble down in waves. Her fancy purple eye makeup was definitely out of Mabel’s makeover kit.

“Not half bad,” he said as off-handedly as he could, and she flashed him a grin.

"Sauterne gold." Clary reached out to straighten his lapels and tapped the heavy medallion at his breastbone. "Don't you embody an entire decade of regrets. You wear it a lot better than that old sedan did."

“It was a good decade! They don’t make ‘em like this any more, am I right?” He swept an arm out in a grand gesture, indicating his own awesomeness as he caught her hand in his. “C’mon, let’s book it, we’ve got the evenin’ to ourselves and I don’t wanna waste a minute.”

'Where are we headed?"

"That's a secret." Her eyes rolled heavenwards but she trailed along at his side, allowing herself to be handed into the car and buckling in as he headed around to slip into his own seat.

“No hints whatsoever?”

The car rumbled reassuringly to life and he piloted out along the drive, fingertips tapping along the window frame. “Only if you close your eyes.”

The sky was darkening rapidly, a smudge of deepening blue through the trees, and her smile was a bare glint in the passenger-side shadows. “We’re going to Greasy’s.”

“There is a lot more to town than Greasy’s!”

“I’ve spent most of the last week at Greasy’s and we are absolutely going there, because you know better than to take me to the local bar.” Clary leaned against the window and obediently closed her eyes.

“There are actually a couple classy joints in this burg, I’ll have you know.” Which of course they weren’t going to. The El Diablo rolled smoothly on down to the diner. Stan glanced over to make sure she hadn’t peeked, then hopped out, scooted around the front of the car and drew her door open. “All right. You good to step out blind?”

“So long as I have you to lean on.” She got her feet on the pavement, her hand latched in at his elbow, and he leaned back a bit to get her upright. Stan managed to kick the door closed behind them and got her up to the front step.

“All right, all right, take a look already before I regret this more than I do.”

She obliged him, lashes fluttering up, and gasped in delight that was at least half manufactured. “Why, Stan! It’s Greasy’s! Only it’s all twinkly!”

“Very funny.” He had managed to get the twinkle lights going with the bribed-and-blackmailed help of a couple of the staff, and the diner glowed against the dark backdrop of late evening. “Look, I thought we’ve had more’n enough big drama for the week, right? So this way we can snag a snack, someone else can cook an’ handle the dishes, it’s Sunday night so it’ll be pretty dead….”

“Do we get to dance?” Clary’s hip grazed his as they stepped inside. The late-night waitress spared a cheery little wave from behind the counter. As he’d hoped the place was pretty much empty since he’d kept his preparations so modest - no sound system and definitely no inviting the locals.

“All taken care of.” He pointed down to the booth at the end, where Mabel’s karaoke machine sat sparkling on the table, a tiny disco party light duct-taped to the top. Stan walked Clary down with solemn dignity even though she was laughing into his shoulder. “Lady’s choice. Anythin’ you want.”

“Anything at all?” she needled, kneeling on the bench seat to flip through the tunes on offer. “You’re leaving yourself wide open there, Stan.”

“Princess, I am at your disposal tonight.”

Clary glanced back at him over her bare shoulder, eyes narrowed. “Ditch that jacket and show me how fancy those feet can get.”

He tossed his jacket onto the unoccupied booth seat, then ducked his head to grin as a familiar disco bassline overlaid with swooping strings welled up on the karaoke speakers. “What, no Glenn Miller? Not gonna wring another couple slow dances outta me?”

“This is no ballroom. We’re going to have to improvise.” Clary crooked a finger at him, pacing backwards onto open floor where the smaller tables had been moved aside. “Come here, loverboy.”

Stan rolled his shoulders, cracked his knuckles and stalked out after her with rising glee.

The world contracted to the circle of his arms and her within it. No paying customers, no expectations, no obligations, nothing but the determined steady thump of the beat and the faint insistent nudge of she’s leaving at the back of his head - he pushed that down and aside.

He had better things to worry about. Balance and counterbalance played out in turns and dips. Clary leaned into his palm at her waist and spun away, strain and flex flowing through his frame according to rhythm and melody and her trust in his grip.

For three tracks there wasn’t a word to say, just an occasional huff of breath or a chuckle. The fourth song was a slow one and he cautiously eased into her space. Clary looked up to him with narrowed, knowing eyes. Her arm slipped around his shoulders and she settled against him - no ice block this time - so he laid his cheek against her hair, their feet light, tracing out overlapping box-steps without a hitch.

He wanted so fiercely to stay there in the bubble of the moment that he had paid no attention to the slow trickle of people who’d wandered into the diner, but a faint cough from a booth somewhere down the line drew his attention. Stan swore under his breath as he counted heads. They’d picked up an audience and at least one idiot was angling a phone down their way.

Clary laughed dryly as a pivot gave her the same view. “Why don’t we take a quick break and let some of them come take over the floor.”

“Long as you’re willin’ to DJ, that sounds fine to me.” She left her arm linked in his as they returned to their booth and swept her professional hostess’ smile across the room. Embarrassed observers picked up menus or sheepishly shuffled down to dance in the space they’d just vacated.

“Chocolate shake? We should split it. Lunch was late.”

“On it, sweetpea.” He left her fiddling with the music queue and caught the waitress in passing to place the order, watching the swirl of traffic up and down Greasy’s center aisle. Apparently word had gotten out that Clary was about to go, and Gravity Falls wasn’t quite done enjoying the novelty of the Shack’s temporary-resident lawyer.

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly,” Clary said gently to Manly Dan as Stan stomped back down to their booth with shake in hand. “My dance card’s full tonight. Perhaps I’ll be back for a visit sometime. I won’t forget!”

Stan skewered Dan with a glare that actually shifted the big fella back on his heels and slid onto the seat alongside Clary, between her and the rest of the crowd. “You’d think they’d move on to somethin’ else by now,” he groused as she unwrapped the straws.

“What can I say? People keep telling me it’s been a dull summer compared to last year.”

They only got through half the shake. Constant interruptions from well-wishers grew more frequent as the place became more packed - no way this was a normal Sunday crowd, people were coming in for a last gander at Miz Enigma - and Stan’s patience was stretched painfully thin by the time Clary finally leaned over to murmur into his ear. “Why don’t you bring the car around to the side. I’ll be right there.”

“About time we skipped,” he gritted out, cutting through to the front door with heavy strides. His last glance caught her perched upon the table’s edge, microphone in hand, thumbing through songs and chatting with a couple of the museum staff.

The El Diablo glided smoothly up alongside the diner. He sat and waited, thumbs tapping an annoyed staccato on the steering wheel, listening to the muffled racket of enthusiastic singing from within.

Five minutes.

Ten.

Fifteen. He was about ready to charge in there and throw her over his shoulder, scandal be damned, when the side door opened a sliver and Clary slipped through with his jacket over one arm. She dropped into the passenger seat and fumbled with the belt in her haste. “I got the sheriff going on a medley. Get us out of here, please.”

The tires were already squealing as he backed up and peeled out along the main drag. “So am I rubbin’ off on you or what? That was pretty slick, though I like a little flash an’ dazzle on the way out.”

Her low chuckle was edged with sharp relief. “Maybe I’ve learned a thing or two. Any chance we can find some peace and quiet?”

Stan took a left, cutting away from town into dark, dense pines. “I know just the place.”

Tumblr masterpost

Clary plucks the pen from behind her ear and flips open the ticket book, looking over the table expectantly. “What’s it gonna be?”

Sandwich!

Pancakes!

Everything!

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artemissarrows · 6 years

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The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: #BTSxCitiField

Wow. I’m home back from New York, where I had the amazing gift of being able to see BTS live on their Love Yourself world tour. I’m literally out of words to describe it, but I’ll try.

I saw in someone’s post about seeing them on the Wings tour that they were sad for a week after and I thought to myself, “it’s just a concert! How the heck would that happen?”

...and here I am, having cried a bunch of times in the last two days (though none of them actually during the concert, there was too much adrenaline), now I am living it. I really feel it in my body. I’m exhausted. My voice is destroyed from so much cheering and fan-chanting. But I’m also sort of happy about that, because it’s a marker of having gone through that experience and I want to hold onto that. I was off work Monday and spent the entire day at my house watching Bon Voyage and Run episodes (didn’t realize they were only 20 minutes!!) to console myself.

I’m sad the concert’s over, and I’m also sad that the Love Yourself era is also basically over too, some additional concert dates notwithstanding. This era really encapsulates everything I love about BTS: their positive message, their incredible songwriting and producing and music in general, and their growth as artists. I have complete faith in our boys that whatever comes next will be fantastic and that they’ll keep growing, I just desperately hope this isn’t their peak. But regardless, I’m glad I got to see this show because it felt like such a special one—their first sold-out North America stadium show. And it seems like BTS felt like it was special as well.

I’m also feeling intense love, because love is at the heart of it all. BTS’ love for ARMY and their earnest and sincere desire that we love ourselves, and be our best selves (see: Magic Shop, etc). And ARMY’s love and deep appreciation for BTS seeing us and our struggles, and believing in our ability to succeed. I was a little leery of calling myself an ARMY before this concert, mostly because of ARMY’s reputation on the internet as being kind of a crazy and intense fandom, but I fully embrace ARMY-dom now, because I understand that it’s really all about love.

So to recap, I’m going to do some best-ofs and link to Twitter and Insta pictures and videos. My phone camera is the literal worst, which is why I unfortunately don’t have any of my own!

Best deep thought: RM, our leader, always and forever. Sometimes I forget that he’s a literal genius because he’s also so derpy and cute, and then it’s moments like this that I re-remember that he does absolutely nothing related to their music or public presentation by accident or without forethought.

Via @mimibtsghost

He—and all of them, really—understand so well their role in our lives and our role in theirs. ARMY loves BTS, and BTS loves all of us so much, and truly wants us all to be happy and to live our best and whole selves. RM literally said this in his UN speech (which he also mentioned). When he says Speak Yourself, I think what he means is a combination of “Tell your story,” “Speak out,” and “Speak your truth.”

Best bias wreck: Jimin

Now I’m one of those people who legit loves all the members almost the same (except for Jin, I don’t love him quite as much) and my biases are Suga and V, but only by a little. But oh my goodness, Jimin was such a bias-wrecker in this concert. His solo set was ridiculous, he was wearing this beautiful sparkly top and did his amazing lyrical dance moves. So many eyebrow quirks and hearts. I’m completely dead. The friend I was with is a Jimin stan, and I think they were like, “how did it take you this long???” I now have three coequal biases. Here’s a good one, and this cutie pic.

Best corny-yet-adorable moments: J-Hope and V

J-hope’s Trivia: Just Dance stage was J-Hope being a major hype-man for the entire concert. And oh man, did it work. He’s such an exuberant live performer and the perfect choice for the second song. That white suit?? And his joy and enthusiasm is completely infectious. Hope World was my favorite of the three rappers’ mixtapes, and I was happy that his Trivia song was very much in that style, lots of old-school rap vibes. His joy is just so pure.

Also, Taehyung’s sign-off for ARMY at the end of the show: “You are the brighest stars in my universe.” Corny, but sweet and touching; also poetic because the ARMY bombs really do look like stars to the performers on stage, and we are orbiting around them, pulled into their gravity. Ah, V, so poetical as always <3

Unexpected song I liked live: Epiphany

Jin’s not my favorite member (see above), and I’m honestly a bit mystified by why people seem to like him so, so much. I’m also not a lover of ballads, usually, and the Epiphany video was fine but not one of my favorites. But I really liked this song live, way more than I was expecting to. Jin does have a really great voice, and it’s a bit less breathy than Jungkook’s in particular (still love you, Jungkook, you also sound great live!) He really gave a powerful vocal performance, and I’m going to put Epiphany back in my listening rotation…..after I listen to Suga’s I Need You x Seesaw remix another 15 times, sorrynotsorry.

Best gay/ship moments: Vkook, Suga

Vkook showed up again at this concert in force! One moment I saw myself, one I missed and found later on Twitter.

1) Tae hopped onto Jungkook’s back for a piggyback ride. It was super-brief but I know it happened because I distinctly remember thinking, “huh, usually Tae hops on Jungkook’s back, but Jungkook hopped on Tae’s this time. Interesting!” Turns out I was wrong and Tae hopped onto Jungkook as usual! Here’s a still, via @harchu2

2) Apparently, Tae also gave Jungkook a little kiss and/or nuzzle on the neck at the end. I completely missed this myself, but hey, it’s there on the video. Vkook, you’re being so loud <3

Suga’s Seesaw performance also pinged my gaydar in a major way, I’m not even sure why myself. He started off lying on this white couch. And he’s just so sassy. And this sparkly red top with a sash that he was wearing. Suga, you’re the best. Here’s a really nice pic, via @maggiejslg + Seesaw clip

Best PSA: RM

Three separate times, RM said that we shouldn’t shove one another for our safety. Our boys are so considerate and want everyone to have a good time!

Most impressive stunts: V, Suga

V’s Singularity set was fcking amazing. He’s really the most stellar performer, such a true artist. It seems positively unbelievable that he’s only 22 (what the heck was I doing when I was 22??). His little video before his solo stage (all members had them) was him surrounded by dark flowers and a pane of glass that frosted over. The hand-in-the-coat dance, and his backup dancers with masks that moved with him…the visuals of his set were stunning, and his singing was really stellar live (well, truly, everyone’s was). Here’s a clip.

In Suga’s Seesaw performance, he did this slick little stunt where he slid down a lit white long prop bar, like a seesaw. It looked really cool. I love the song Seesaw, it really shows how versatile Suga is, and his performance was a giant f-you to everyone who thinks he can’t sing or dance.

Best surprise songs: Dope and So What

Dope has always been one of my favorite songs. It’s so clearly and lovingly descended from 90’s American boy band stuff, but updated and, frankly, better. It’s got the killer hook and the great dancing, and is almost always the first video I show someone when I’m trying to explain why I love this K-pop band so much. I thought there was next to no chance of their playing it, but they did!!! I can die happy now. It was part of the medley in the middle, including Boyz With Fun, Attack On Bangtan, Fire, Bapsae (another one I was thrilled to hear), and Dope.

So What is also lowkey my favorite LYS: Tear track (though like the members, really only by a little on what’s a phenomenal album overall). I knew there wasn’t a dance for it so I didn’t think they’d play it, and was so, so thrilled when they did! It was like having a huge party with BTS and ARMY at the end of the show.

Best emotional vulnerability moment: Jimin

Jimin did some excellent crying at the end of the show, when they all came out in black t-shirts and addressed ARMY directly. Oh my goodness, it was so cute and sweet. They’ve really come so far; Yoongi tends to respond through bravado and celebrating their accomplishments, and Jimin cries. I just love so much that he’s modeling being emotional and vulnerable, and everyone just wants to give him a big ol’ hug.

Such beautiful crying.

Best Jungkook moment: End filming

At the very end of the concert, right as they were about to sink down into the floor, Jungkook grabbed a camera and started filming ARMY. I was just like, “wow, they want to remember this night just as much as we want to.”

Favorite fanchant: DNA

There were so many fun fanchant moments. My only regret is that I didn’t learn the words to Seesaw better (@StanningBTSpod, you did warn me, I should have!) But DNA has the name bit at the beginning, and BTS! BTS! BTS! in the chorus, it was just super fun. Toward the end of the concert honestly there was so much screaming and such that it was hard to even hear the fanchants. That was fine too!

Happy me success moments

Met the wonderful @daftlolita waiting in line to get into the venue, it was super great to hang out!

I made this jacket, and got a bunch of compliments! My entire goal was to find other queer ARMYs and I think I pretty much succeeded.

I also gave out most of the pins I made (made a bunch of extra ones precisely for that purpose). I don’t love Twitter that much and much prefer interacting with people in person, and generally feel like I succeeded on that front.

I kinda wish I’d gotten at least a little merch, but honestly the ticket was expensive enough. I also kinda wanted an ARMY bomb, but also, see ticket price. I tried to go to the BT21 store in Times Square on Sunday before I left and it was an hour wait so….no go on that one, I’ll get back to New York soon though.

At the end of it all, I cannot tell you how indescribably proud I am to call myself an ARMY. Although our fandom has its flaws for sure because we live in a broken world, to me, being an ARMY means co-creating a better world with BTS. A happier world.

A world where we love ourselves.

A world where there’s no stigma attached to mental illness and we can ask for the help we need

Where we take care of one another and are mindful of others (no shoving!!)

Where we celebrate and embrace difference

Where all young people have the resources they need to thrive

And where people of all races, genders, and ranges of life experience come together to express joy. I’m tearing up again as I write this.

Arundhati Roy has this beautiful quote that I’ve seen around activist spaces. It goes, “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

I saw a small glimpse of that world at #BTSCitiField. Janelle Monae will lead us through the narrow places into that world. Or, as BTS have it, from the desert to the ocean. And BTS will be there to make sure we drink enough water and are good to one another while we’re moving forward.

Suga, you said you’d be back. I’ll hold you to that promise.

And please, wear that red sparkly top again. It was absolutely killer. I purple all of you beautiful, special, luminous men who are making our world better, one song at a time.

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emmelfish · 6 years

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Oh look, it’s fan favorite Orlando Centowski with his socks and jazzy sandals! He and Goops are flying the flag for nerdy fashion experimentation, and I’m here for it.

WHAT.

Okay, for those who’ve just joined us, let’s have a brief overview of Dustin’s strange Vidcund Hair Romeo Cosplay friend. Dusty brought him home when Suse and SJ were nooboos, friend took them out of their cribs – I’ve never seen a teenage Sim do that if they’re not related to the kid. Dustin sent him home at my behest. Skip Jr frequently gossips about this guy as a result. And now, he is trying to telephone Susie when she’s still at school. In human terms, Susie’s probably five years old at this point.

Even if she is home, Brandi, PUT THE PHONE DOWN.

Oh hey Dirk, you look mighty pleased with yourself!

Dirk: I am! I brought a friend home from school.

That’s great? Who’d ya bring?

Clearly when he couldn’t get Suse on the phone, Dustin’s babygrabbin chum decided to come to the HOUSE via Dirk’s naive friendliness.

Oh man, now the kids are home too.

Beau! I always promised you bright things would be in your future and that you WOULD escape your genetic destiny (whatever the hell that implies).

Mercutio, you’re still here?

Mercutio: All situations are better with my charming face and floppy hair.

Listen I’m not Tybalt. You can’t smooth-talk me into not kicking you out.

Beau: I want to show my good grades to Mom but she’s busy playing darts!

Beau, being ignored isn’t exactly new to you, dude.

Oh this is just too painful, stop with the darts Bran and pay attention to one of your many middle children.

Fucking FINALLY.

Brandi: My boy’s a genius!

Beau: At last, the recognition I deserve.

True that, it’s easy to get lost in a family of six – SIX, omg – children, even though one’s in college limbo right now. How are the others doing?

Susie: Bye Mr Bus Driver! Remember what I said about making sure nobody sits near me, it’s for their safety, not mine!

Susie: The heck is this.

Skip Jr: I DON’T WANNA BE STUPID!

It’s your first day kids, will you give yourselves a bloody break?

Hey did I see something about Susie bringing a friend home from school? (Susie has a friend? Is there a wrinkle in the space-time continuum that led to a portal to Hell, Event Horizon style, and a gargoyle fell out and got along really well with her?)

Oh wait, this just in – it’s Justin Kim, prancing off the bus like the showbiz star that he is.

Justin: 🎵 Viper Canyon boys, we're unforgettable Daisy dukes, nice dress shirts on top Sun-kissed skin so hot, we'll melt your popsicle Oh oh oh, oh oh oh Viper Canyon boys, we're undeniable Fine, fresh, fierce, we got it on lock Desert represent, now put your hands up...

Beau: *glows with success*

Susie: Alright poindexter, no need to rub it in.

Looky who got a promotion! Now call me a dick, but I can’t stop laughing at the thought of Darren being a terrible wedding photographer, continuously letting the camera slip to all the interesting leafs and squirrels during the outdoor shoot. I just imagine the couple getting back an album of foliage and trees and thinking ‘the fuck did we pay for’

(Sidenote: I’m also looking forward to Ripp Grunt reaching this point in his Artist career and the exact same thing happening, only with bridal bewbs.)

What the... when did Gavin Newson get here? Did Ginger tell him what a good time she had laughing and joking with Mercutio?

Gavin: 🎵 Viper Canyon boys, we're unforgettable –

STOPPIT

Ahhh, it’s like one of those tests where your Myers-Briggs letter really comes into its own. This’d be on the Intuition vs Thinking side. Thinkers would call the company, Intuitives would try to figure it out – either way Dirkle is a nervous flower and I wouldn’t put him through this, so IGNORANCE IS BLISS.

Behold! The hobbyists continue to thrill! We have this excellent half Sixamian in a winter outfit with winklepickers, what more could you want?

Susie’s rude as shit and doesn’t even turn around but Fitness Man doesn’t seem to care. It’s probably a step up from dealing with Don Lothario and Sharla Ottomas, the only other two Fitness sims I can think of right now.

Holy cannelloni, he has red eyes as well! Excellent randomization! Headcanoning him as an alien-vampire, marrying him into a family, spreading his genetics far and wide.

Haha. A child ‘getting the workout they deserve’. Susie and Sharla won’t even be able to use any of the machines, they’ll just be stuck jumping rope the whole time.

Cynthia Kim’s FACE. Would you want to mess with her?

Cynthia: I dealt with this nonsense at the Burbs’ but sadly these lot don’t have a hot tub I can stew in for three days.

Not sure why Susie’s so happy about this drama, but... wait, it’s Susie, why am I even asking.

Hold on a minute. Autonomous hugging from Suse? Skip Jr grinning like a Cheshire cat? Why do I get the feeling these two have done something terrible.

Good lord, this place is becoming a teenage doss house. I didn’t even know Ginger was still here!

‘A so-so week’? Fortune sims are so hard to please sometimes. Dirk, all the crap you want won’t fit in the house and I’ve already re-rolled your wants like five times.

Dirk: Here, take this, it’s screaming. I’m gonna kick some of these other teenagers out.

Well that’s two of them down at least. When did Dirk and Orlando get so friendly? I can’t keep track of anything in this house.

Sometimes they parent. Sometimes.

And we end on Beau laughing so hard about crime that he falls over, with Skip Jr squealing with delight. Pretty standard really.

#emmelfishuberhood

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sharengayonline · 3 years

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Amazon.com: Nokia Lumia 930 International Unlocked Version – White, no warranty

Sharengay Trang Tin Tức Độc Đáo VIDEO Amazon.com: Nokia Lumia 930 International Unlocked Version – White, no warranty

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Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

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Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2015

Verified Purchase

I bought this to replace my iPhone 6 on T-Mobile. While it does work on T-Mobile I knew going in that I’d be losing LTE which sucks but since it supports HSPA+ bands for T-Mobile I figured it wouldn’t be that bad and it would tide me over until there was a better WP flagship. I’m so glad I bought it though, yes the internet is a little slower but this is by far the best phone I’ve ever used.

First off the design and the materials used are amazing. It feels like something you’d expect to come from Apple, except somehow better. It’s super solid and expensive feeling. It looks absolutely amazing, super high end.

The camera I wasn’t expecting to be that amazing but it totally blows the iPhone 6’s camera away! It’s kind of hard to take a bad shot with this camera.

Overall, even if you’re on AT&T or T-Mobile and have to go back to 3g or HSPA+ do it, it’s well worth it!

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2014

Verified Purchase

Great phone. The speed on H+ network protocol is perfectly fine for web browsing if you are going to use AT&T networks. Thinner and lighter than the 920. Has the wireless charging and the 5 inch screen is just about perfect. This phone is fast works well. The 8.1 interface works well and I quickly adjusted to it. One nice feature is the screen mirroring. I have a Samsung TV and I can mirror to the TV flawlessly. It was darn easy to do, just make sure your TV has this function. I like the fact that you can change the size of your icons and they “rotate” or they rotate graphics like pictures from your album and the like. Was pretty straight forward to move files to and from the phone to my PC as well…this is a huge plus, was able to copy my ringtones, music and pictures with no problem.

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2015

Verified Purchase

I have been using this phone for over 2 weeks now and I can say that all the Apps that I had on the Samsung Galaxy S5 and LG G3 are on this phone (hint: from the windows store) and they actually work a lot better. I notice no lag and a very fast and fluid experience. One thing I really enjoy that Android and Apple Phones don’t have is the extremely loud speakers, Built-In Pedometer, and Amazing 20MP Camera.

I don’t need the 20MP camera but in dark and low-light conditions, it outperforms many flagship android and cyanogen phones. I think the only competitor to this phone (in terms of camera quality) are the Apple Phone 6 and HTC One M9

Great Windows Phone and will get upgraded to Windows 10 later this year which is a plus.

Xem thêm: Gia đình là số 1 Phần 2 | Làm gì khi gặp ''BIẾN THÁI''? Đây là câu trả lời của Diễm My!

Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2015

Verified Purchase

Hello, my old phone was an Samsung galaxy, (Android) I liked my phone and it was easy to handle. But I was looking for something new. I use at home and at work windows on the computer and I was curious about how the windows phone works. After studying the tests about the Lumia 930 I decided to buy it and try it out by myself. I wasn’t expecting that this phone is so easy to handle and work with it! That surprised me so positive that I can recommend this phone to everyone who is ready for something new!!! In the beginning it’s an little bit confusing, but you get it really quick. I use my new phone with ATT and it works really well! I don’t have access to 4G LTE, what maybe would be an issue for someone, but still in 3G+ band you get an downstream until 6mbps. What is good and for me enough. If you are connected to your wifi, you get the maximum what your line can do, over 60 mbps with charter spectrum. About the phone self, it works fast and its more able to customize than my old Android phone. The camera is amazing and the tools what you get to edit your pictures are awesome! The navigation is doing a great job like google maps. And you see the speed limit now what I really like. Cortana, the virtual assistant works fast and you can train here to control the phone per voice only, that’s so need if you drive your car. To cut the long story short, the Lumia 930 is an awesome phone what works really fast and what’s easy to handle it. I would buy it again! Perfect job what Nokia and Microsoft did here!!! The only thing what they have to improve is the app store, but that’s an different story. Thanks…

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2014

Verified Purchase

I love this device – it is everything that you would expect after reading the specs, and then some more 🙂

I have had multiple windows devices – but this one clearly blows everything else out of the water, its simply amazing!

Pros: Great screen and display (go out and read under the sun for an amazing experience about sunlight legibility) Camera Audio/Video experience

Cons: Battery life could have been better, but maybe expected, given the power needed for its huge screen

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is the 3rd Lumia phone I’ve used and it’s truly an amazing device. it’s very quick, the display is great, the camera is awesome. Cortana has become a ‘can’t-do-without companion. Only negative I can think of is the lack of compatibility on the 4G service with my ATT. But I can honestly say, coming from a Lumia 1020 from ATT, I can rarely notice the difference. I have (on several) occasions streamed Netflix movies on its H+ and it works great, no lag at all..

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2014

Verified Purchase

I’ve had a lot of phone, Heck I’ve had both the iphone 6 and the Galaxy S5 this year, but this phone imho beats them all. Its amazing. I live the sturdiness and how nice it feels. I might like a slightly larger screen on it, but its amazing either ways. People complain about the windows phone ecosystem not having enough apps, but I’ve never looked for an app there that i could not find (official or unofficial), and the unofficial ones work better a lot of the time. (check out 6nap!) I love this phone. Its amazing.

The seller was also prompt and it came in even earlier than I expected.

Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2015

Verified Purchase

I love the phone. Everything arrived as advertised. I do with the Windows Store had more/better apps. I absolutely love the display and functionality of the phone. Lack of Amazon Music app, and other apps that I used to use often, is annoying. I hope this gets sorted out before I have to switch phones.

Top reviews from other countries

M. Edwards

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 4, 2016

Verified Purchase

Good phone and good value.

Amazon Customer

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 25, 2016

Verified Purchase

Great phone great price fast delivery

bakmek72

5.0 out of 5 stars Windows phones are the best, and Lumia 930 is the best high-end smartphone …

Reviewed in Canada on October 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

Windows phones are the best, and Lumia 930 is the best high-end smartphone made by Nokia. Solid and very fast. The screen resolution is great, very sharp, and perfect size. The seller Double-in has great customer service and the best price in Canada.

Matthieu Laperrière

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on August 17, 2015

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Gary Bowers

5.0 out of 5 stars Rarity and Security

Reviewed in Canada on November 24, 2014

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The Nokia Lumia 930 is the last high-end smartphone made by the legendary Nokia with MSFT OS, making it rare. It also has a number of features that place it a cut above other phones. First, it has the Windows 8.1 OS with standard Office products such as WORD, EXCEL, POWERPOINT, and ONENOTE now in open source. It also has Outlook.com with Onedrive preconfigured. The processor is 2.2GhZ, almost twice the speed of an average phone, and the display is at the 1920×1080 standard of HDTV. Then, the camera has a 20 mega pixel Carl Zeiss lens with autofocus that works at above average range. The most interesting feature of this phone that differentiates it from other smartphones is that it has a built in hard drive of 32GB size. This means that at levels of reasonable use, a removable micro SD card is not actually necessary. This is an additional security measure protecting against the event of a stolen cell-phone. The Nokia Lumia is compact in size, and has a removable battery. The battery power is comparable to a high-end AA rechargeable. You will love this phone.

Nguồn: https://sharengay.online Danh mục: Đời Sống

Amazon.com: Nokia Lumia 930 International Unlocked Version – White, no warranty

from Sharengay Trang Tin Tức Độc Đáo VIDEO https://bit.ly/3ysBVqk via IFTTT

#https://sharengay.online/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/816NDw0atkL._CR041210601060_UX175.jpg https://sh

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pickalilywrites · 6 years

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"CHASE THAT CAT, IT TOOK MY WAFFLE" for Gallipieck please

I’ve always wanted to do a YouTuber AU and this seems like the kind of weird shit that would happen to a YouTuber or something :D

Waffle Prince

Gallipieck. YouTuber AU.

1245 words.

Honestly, he thinks that half the shit on YouTube vlogs is made up. Squirrel attacks? Near death experience with hair spray? Crazy math teacher? It’s believable if they happen occasionally, but Porco sees YouTubers pull out these ridiculous anecdotes every week and he finds it hard to believe that so many people have strange things happen to them. After all, didn’t they spend most of their time sitting at home editing footage of themselves? How many weird things could possibly happen to them every week if at all?

Yeah, he could just not watch them, but it seems that everyone’s obsessed and there’s always a new YouTube star making it big. His classmates shove their phones in his face, laughing over the silly pranks the vloggers played or the stories they told. He’s caught his brother watching videos on occasion although Marcel has always insisted that he’s only interested in playthroughsbecause he likes exploring different endings. Heck, Porco’s even had to sitthrough a bunch of educational videos from YouTube creators. They’re admittedlyeasier to sit through than the typical documentaries that he was forced towatch when he was younger, but it’s strange hearing about the history of Romefrom someone his age. And to think that people are excited about these contentcreators not only putting out more videos, but organizing tours, writing books, and releasing music albums as well. He’s fairly certain that a majority of these people either make up these personal stories or staged crazy antics in order to make it big. At least that’s what he thinks until he finds himself chasing a stray cat after a girl yells at him to catch it.

He’s just walking home from band practice, thinking about how he’s not really looking forward to the upcoming football game because he hates playing since it’s always too cold and it’s not like anyone can hear the pep band anyway. They’re shit at playing marches too, he thinks.

“Chase that cat!” a girl shouts from behind him. “It took my waffle!”

He barely has time to look over his shoulder when a brown striped cat streaks past him, waffle in its mouth, and Porco lunges instinctively to catch it but it slips through his hands. Bewildered, he straightens back up to watch the cat run further ahead and then he turns back to the girl whose waffle had been stolen.

She doesn’t look like any of his classmates, but she looks strangely familiar to him and he’s about to open his mouth and ask her if they know each other, but the girl is still running. “Don’t just stand there!” she yells. She’s pointing ahead of him to where the cat is scampering away. “He’s getting away!”

And that’s how Porco finds himself chasing a cat over some random girl’s waffle. He really should have taken the time to assess the situation and just walk away after realizing he didn’t know the girl at all and that a waffle wasn’t worth running after a cat, but he always instinctively follows orders no matter how ridiculous they are.

“Hey,” Porco pants, grabbing the girl by her shoulder so she stops running. “Are we really…chasing a cat…over a waffle?”

She blinks at him as if this whole scenario is entirely normal for her. “What’s your point?” Unlike him, she’s not gasping for breath. She’s not even sweating, but her black hair is terribly tangled from running.

He’s not sure whether he should reword the question or just repeat it again very slowly for her in the hopes that she’ll somehow see it the way he does. He goes with the first option. “When we catch the cat, are you going to eat the waffle?” he asks. “I mean. The waffle’s been in its mouth. And you could always buy another one. Or make one yourself.”

The girl stands there for a second, assessing the new information he had presented to her. “I was really looking forward to it though…,” she sighs. She looks wistfully at where the cat disappeared. “My friend told me Waffle Lot had waffles to die for.”

Porco snorts. “Overrated,” he says. “Der Wafflehaus is much better and you don’t have to wait in such long lines. And they’re very generous with their toppings too.”

She pulls out her phone, opening up a GPS app. “Der Wafflehaus?” she repeats. “Is it close by?”

He leans over her shoulder and taps on the first option that comes up after she types in the name of the restaurant. “Yeah, you can walk from here. They stay open pretty late, so you can always go back later if you don’t want to go now.”

“Oh, thanks!” She turns to give him a brilliant smile and he swears he’s seen her before, but he can’t remember where. “I’m Pieck, by the way. I came to visit a friend for a few days. That’s actually where I was headed before that cat stole my waffle.”

Pieck. Why does that name sound so familiar?

“Er, I’m Porco. Porco Galliard,” he says after he realizes he’s been standing there too long.

“Porco,” she repeats as if weighing his name on her tongue. She must like it because she smiles again. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, but I should get to going. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

As she walks off down the street, Porco wracks his brain to remember where he’s seen her face before. God, even her voice sounds vaguely familiar, but he can’t remember. He goes to sleep muttering her name.

It’s not until a few days later that he sees her again.

He passes by his friends who are huddled over Reiner’s phone, eyes glued to the screen. When he sees the face on the phone, he has to do a double take.

“…gallant young fellow who introduced me to a better waffle restaurant after helping me chase down a terrible cat who stole my waffle,” the girl in the video says, faking a swoon. “I’m still heartbroken over the waffle, but the guy was very nice.”

The bespectacled guy sitting beside her chuckles. “Yeah, I have to admit that those waffles were very excellent. I’m pretty ashamed of not knowing about that place until you swung by with their waffles.” If Porco recalls correctly, the guy with the glasses is named Zeke who vlogged about his personal life and occasionally put up helpful cram videos when it came time for exams.

“Thank you, Waffle Prince,” the girl says, smiling at the camera and giving a wave. There’s no mistake about it. That girl he ran into yesterday is Pieck, the rising YouTube star known for her amusing anecdotes and harmless yet wholesome pranks with friends.

“Zeke lives in our city, doesn’t he?” Reiner says as the vloggers continue with the real topic of video (something about reading past emails and messages from their middle school days). “Maybe Pieck met someone we knew.”

Annie sits on the other side of the room, curled up with a book instead of watching the video. “Doubt it. The city’s too big.”

“Are you okay, Porco?” Bertholdt asks. “Your ears are really red right now.”

Porco covers his ear with his hand, but he knows the color is going to reach his face soon. “I’m fine,” he mutters, still burning after hearing Pieck refer to him as her “Waffle Prince.”

If he ever meets her again, he’s going to tell her to just use his real name.

#snk #gallipieck #pieck #porco galliard #pokkopikku #pikupoko #pokkopiku #youtuber au #requests #answered #thereal-hanji-zoe #asks #to edit later #wanted to look this over but dinner gah

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evenstevensranked · 7 years

Text

#45: Season 2, Episode 13 - “A Very Scary Story”

Annnnd, we’re back! Let the countdown resume. I know y’all remember this one. How could you not?! It’s THE ICONIC HALLOWEEN EPISODE!!! Lawrence Jr. High is holding free eye examinations on Halloween. But, instead of being legit eye exams, students are getting their eyes BURNED OUT OF THEIR SOCKETS?!

It opens with Ren seemingly home alone the night before Halloween watching some knock off of “Psycho.” I like this bit. She yells at the TV, “Honey, you’re getting chased by 6 mutants and you’re just deciding to take a shower?!” — Seriously, though. People in horror films make the dumbest decisions. I think the fake movie footage is hilarious.

Just then, the phone rings. Naturally. And now we get a knock off of “Scream” lol. Whoever’s calling distorts their voice and says “Do you like penguins, Ren? MAHAHAH!” and hangs up. I wonder who that could be. (Sarcasm) Ren is walking around holding a skillet as a weapon which is kinda funny. She looks so uncoordinated with it. Turns out it was just Louis calling from inside the house. Shocking. He comes jumping out at her making what’s supposed to be a “penguin” noise, I guess. I really don’t know. He kinda sounds like Doodlebob, honestly. Obviously, Ren screams and Louis has the audacity to ask “Ren, why are you so jumpy?!?!" I love this line and the way Shia says it. I use it a lot, lol. He claims he just wanted to show her his penguin jockey costume. The costume itself is a true a stroke of genius. But, I’m sure there was a less serial killer way to go about the reveal, lol. This episode definitely gets iconic points for that costume, though. People have gone as penguin jockeys because of Louis: x / x ...Incredible.

Ren is seriously a wet blanket here. She refers to Halloween as “childish dress up games.” What da heck?! Lighten up. You’re like, 14. I embarrassingly went as Hannah Montana for Halloween freshman year of high school, 2007. Bad idea. But just because I have tan skin and wore a blonde wig, everyone thought I was supposed to be Beyoncé. I constantly had to correct people. I WAS HANNAH MONTANA, DANG FLABBIT!!! The struggle.

Ren tells Louis that his costume isn’t going to scare anyone. I never thought it was intended to be scary in the first place??? Either way, Donnie comes walking in and Louis makes some more Doodlebob noises at him and Donnie runs away screaming “AHHH! PENGUIN!” Wow. I’m only mentioning this because I read a little trivia that Donnie originally walks in holding a basketball, but when they cut back to him he’s suddenly holding what looks like an inflatable toucan or something?! What?! How do you forget that Donnie was holding a basketball one second and then hand him an inflatable toucan the next?! I do not understand.

“Wait, what was Donnie the Sports Jock just holding?! It was probably a basketball or something because that makes sense. But, I can’t remember. HERE! Take this INFLATABLE TOUCAN!” ?!?! - Probably the actual thought process that resulted in this ridiculousness.

At school the next day, we see that LJH takes Halloween VERY SERIOUSLY. Stuff like this gave me unrealistic expectations. If you wore a costume to school growing up, you were a weirdo and people judged you. Not here! They have some intense decorations and the entire school is dressed up! Well, everyone except for Ren — who’s in a freaking pencil skirt and blazer, walking around making sure everyone gets an eye exam.

This school is more ~lit~ than most actual Halloween parties.

We find out that Louis and the gang are planning a prank for the cafeteria: Putting fake eyeballs in the turkey gravy. Yum. Louis shows them the fake eyeballs he bought and says he just got them in overnight from Chico. It’s a small detail but I like that he mentions Chico. The city is also brought up in an earlier episode. I always laugh when Tom tells Louis “I need to get my eyes examined.” Louis says “YOUR EYES EXAMI— Tom, how many fingers am I holding up?!” And Tom has to squint at the fingers RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS FACE in order to give the correct answer.

“.......Two.” // “Exactly. Your eyes are fine.”

Okay, long story short: Basically, anyone who goes in for an eye exam comes out acting like a robot. Students are walking around with sunglasses on and are suddenly obsessed with drinking milk and following the rules. Tom is the first victim of Louis’ crew. He says “I suddenly got quite a hankering for the Moo Juice. It’s an excellent source of calcium for overall skeletal health.” I FEEL LIKE THAT LINE IS ENGRAINED INTO MY MIND FOREVER! Tom bails on the cafe prank and says “If something like this were to go on our permanent records, it would follow us for the rest of our lives.” THIS LINE NEVER LEFT MY BRAIN EITHER. I feel like this episode was actually Disney propaganda or something, brainwashing us into drinking milk and being good students. Not even gonna lie, when I was young this episode made me crave milk... and I hated milk. *X-Files theme song plays in the distance.*

Tawny and Twitty both get their eyes checked and start saying the same robotic nonsense Tom did. Louis is having none of it, though. He yells “TAKE OFF THE STUPID GLASSES!” and we get one of the most terrifying moments of our childhood...

This is still so disturbing. Show producers Sean McNamara and David Brookwell wrote this episode. I seriously want to track them down and make them explain what gave them the bright idea to traumatize children in this way?!

The classic Louis Scream kicks into full gear here. (see first image of the post) I’m laughing because I just noticed that as he runs away, he whips the butt of the penguin like “giddy up!” as if he’s actually racing on it… Oh my god. As he’s running he shouts “NO ONE’S TAKIN’ MY PEEPERS!” which I always kinda liked, haha.

Louis ends up spying on one of the “eye exams” and the process is revealed! Wexler and Tugnut zap the kids’ eyes and do in fact brainwash them with the milk and permanent record mumbo jumbo. Great.

Louis is now the only student who hasn’t had an eye exam. Wexler, Tugnut and the whole school are going after him. He calls home in a panic asking for Steve and Eileen to come pick him up before conveniently hiding out in the Penguin bathroom.

His family shows up within like, 10 seconds. Teleportation is the only explanation for this. Louis goes to get his stuff before leaving... but OH NO! Wexler and Tugnut greet Donnie, Steve and Eileen and make them go in for eye exams. This always made me soooo angry as a kid. I felt Louis’ sheer horror and helplessness here tbh. Just then, Ren pops out of nowhere and Louis explains the whole situation to her. She acts like she has no idea what he’s talking about, but all of the robot students start chasing them so she helps him find a place to hide.

“Safe?! For how long, Ren? How long before those eyeless, sunglass-wearing, milk-slurping zombies get in here?!” - ALL I CAN THINK OF IS THE WALKING DEAD. “DON’T OPEN. DEAD INSIDE.”

Ren leaves Louis alone to see if the coast is clear. WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?! Does she not see the horde of zombie students through the windows?! Regardless, Wexler and Tugnut appear and take Louis down to the school’s newly renovated torture-chic basement. (Louis: “When did the school get a dungeon?” Wexler: “Actually it’s an evil lair.”)

Ren was the ringleader this whole time. She comes walking out looking like THIS and Wexler and Tugnut refer to her as “mistress.” Okay, this is a little creepy now...

Louis looks at the wall and says “R.E.N.....? That’s gotta stand for something.” - I clearly remember laughing at this line when I was little for some reason omg.

Ren explains that they’re going to turn everyone into “Renplicates” (actual Ren clones) because the world would be a better place if everyone just followed the rules. Okay, maybe that’s true. But, you don’t need to morph everyone into cloNES OF YOURSELF PHYSICALLY!!! Seriously... whaaaa?! lol. Around here Ren says “Tugnut! Turn on the juice!” which Jim Wise recently admitted was an innuendo line that the crew laughed at off camera. Adult jokes on kids shows sort of creep me out though, ngl.

Anyway, everyone -- including their parents, step into the Renplicator and transform into Ren.

Everyone except... Louis.

HONESTLY WHAT THE HELL?!?! I never liked thisssssss.

That’s where the story ends. THANK GOD! Turns out it was just Louis telling Beans a scary story. “Beans, you wanted to know what happened last Halloween. So, I told you!” To which Beans responds:

One of the only Beans lines I like. (x)

And that’s it! There’s a bit at the very end where Beans tries to get away with trick-or-treating at the Stevens house several times by wearing a bunch of different costumes. Donnie answers the door every time and says things like “That’s cute, kid!” and “Haven’t I see you here before already?” IT’S CLEARLY FREAKING BEANS!

I never understood this. I know Donnie’s dumb but he knows who Beans is. They should’ve just had a random kid do this scene. Using Beans makes NO SENSE. Also, he already raids their kitchen all the time as it is. He doesn’t need to go “undercover” to get candy from the Stevens house, lol.

That’s the Halloween episode guys! Strangely, not as funny as I remember. Still a classic, though... obviously. I was originally going to rank it in the #30s, solely for the iconic value.. but, when I was deciding on what to put for #45 I just had to put this one here. It’s a “special” episode. So it’s difficult to rank it any higher than this since it’s just a fun one-off, silly, seasonally appropriate episode. Nothing furthers the overall arc of the series here, lol. That’s not the case for all “special” episodes... But, this one sticks out like a sore thumb in comparison to the other 64.

Did it scar you for life as a kid?! I have to say that this episode and “Don’t Look Under The Bed” (which Larry Beale/Ty Hodges starred in!!!) literally scared the living crap out of me. Apparently DLUTB has actually been banned?! Whoa. To this day, I’m still afraid of some demon boogyman hand grabbing at my ankle...

Thanks for reading! Chime in below.

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#rank #even stevens #a very scary story #shia labeouf #christy carlson romano #ren stevens #halloween episode #season 2 #tv #tv show #disney channel #don't look under the bed #louis stevens #review #old disney

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jobsearchtips02 · 4 years

Text

Working from Home Because of Coronavirus? These Are Your Tech Fixes

And on the umpteenth day of the coronavirus panic, the overlords commanded: Thou shalt work from house.

As brand-new cases of the viral infection appear within the U.S., many business have actually begun preparing staff members to work from home– or what the cool kids call “WFH.” Some organizations consisting of Twitter are motivating workers around the world to work from their personal homes until further notice.

For some, it’s a dream. Sweatpants and slippers all day long? Sign me up! For others, it’s a nightmare. Slow internet and chatty relative? I ‘d rather work from the germ-laden

McDonald’s

ball pit– heck, the Wi-Fi might be better

In search of the greatest work-from-home tech inconveniences and services, I got in touch with WSJ tech writer Christopher Mims, who simply invested six months composing a book– from house, naturally.

” I ‘d state the best obstacles have nothing at all to do with tech,” Mr. Mims informed me. “To work from home, you should change your mind-set and discover a place in your house that feels completely different. The modification in your tools will follow.”

As constantly, he’s right. As you prepare to telecommute, the first thing you need to do is specify your area. He’s likewise a little incorrect: That physical space must be dictated by your various tech needs, consisting of Wi-Fi strength and room for peripherals.

I gathered nine of the most significant WFH tech annoyances and dug up some options.

Just bear this in mind as you read: While many business might lack the best remote-work tech and security tools, they might also have rules about what you can and can’t utilize. Make certain to contact your organization’s IT contact prior to using any third-party software application, etc. I do not want any upset emails from your hard-working admins.

This is Christopher Mims, not Joanna Stern. Among the WFH-friendly gear in his personal armory are Rainbean’s $18 adjustable laptop stand; LapGear’s $55 lap desk with built-in mousepad; the $13 Grifiti Fat Wrist Pad; the $30 MOFT X tablet stand and Arteck’s $25 stainless-steel Bluetooth keyboard. Dog sold separately.

Image:. Amanda Shepherd.

Little Jim is playing Xbox like there’s no tomorrow. Not-so-little Susie is FaceTiming with all her pals. And it’s taking permanently to download a 600- page deck.

According to my coworkers’ reporting, most U.S. homes do not utilize the majority of their bandwidth. You might experience downturns throughout durations of heavy usage due to a variety of elements– not simply your service provider and your screen-addicted kids, but also your router and your location in the house.

You can evaluate your Web speed via Ookla’s Speedtest, though you’ll need to be able to understand things like “megabits per second.”

” Unless you have a low-bandwidth internet service provider connection, you’re most likely not lacking web bandwidth. More likely you are exhausting Wi-Fi bandwidth,” stated Tim Higgins, managing editor of router-review website SmallNetBuilder and my on-call networking guru.

The best solution for superior connectivity? Given that most laptops do not have Ethernet ports any longer, you’ll need a dongle for that.

Amazon

( Anker is my preferred dongle brand) You’ll also need an Ethernet cable television to link to your router.

If Ethernet isn’t a choice, relocation as close as you can to your Wi-Fi router. “Devices that are getting weak signals eat up more bandwidth,” Mr. Higgins said. “So if Susie is continuously FaceTiming from the back bedroom that is far from the router, she’s most likely sucking up airtime.” Household bonding the 2020 way: Everybody ’round the router, singing campfire tunes.

A mesh router can assist. WSJ’s Joanna Stern and her miniature friends describe how the brand-new Wi-Fi router systems work– and which is the finest one to purchase.

Wait, the Wi-Fi is just fine. I think … perhaps … Gmail is just down?

Bookmark Is It Down Right Now?

I can not potentially be productive without my 2nd, 3rd or 53 rd monitor.

Apparent service: Purchase a screen for house. Take a look at The Wirecutter’s suggestions I bought a $150 Asus display nearly five years back and we’re still really happy together. Dongle alert #2: You’ll likely require one to link to a more recent USB-C laptop computer.

Not-as-obvious option: Utilize an iPad. Sure, it’s a smaller display, however I discover it excellent for setting up a messaging window or a crucial site I regularly need– especially since it’s a cordless connection. If you have a Mac running the current MacOS Catalina and an iPad with iOS 13 you have actually a function called Sidecar. This allows you to wirelessly utilize your iPad as your Mac’s 2nd screen. Fire up the Sidecar app on your Mac and it’s real easy to establish. ( Detailed guidelines from Apple discovered here)

If you have a Windows PC or an older Mac, try Duet, an app that lets you do the very same thing. You’ll likely need a good iPad stand to make this work– or among these cool arms that connects your iPad to your laptop computer screen

The canine! The kids!

Noise-canceling earphones, individuals.

Ugh, email. It’s so much simpler to just walk over to somebody’s desk.

Opportunities are your business is set up with some sort of chat or video-conferencing tools.

Apple’s latest $249 AirPods Pro assure a much better fit thanks to the new, different-sized silicone ear tips, however how well do they remain in? WSJ’s Joanna Stern got on a mechanical bull and recruited some street performers to discover. Picture illustration: Adele Morgan/ The Wall Street Journal.

Sometimes, however, it’s easier to hash something out on the phone or via video chat. You’ve got great deals of video-calling apps to select from– Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom or even FaceTime. Select whatever your coworkers use and feel comfortable with.

I’m not going to supply pointers on how to finest video-chat. Just keep in mind: The electronic camera is on, and your associates do not wish to see your zebra-patterned pajamas. Oh, and lights should be in front of you, not behind you– no backs to the window.

Enjoyable fact from Mr. Higgins: Video-conferencing services are likely to be larger bandwidth hogs than.

Netflix

Streaming apps download streams in chunks of information, while video chat needs to be continuously streaming.

Crap, there’s an important file on my work desktop.

Business now offer cloud drive storage that’s protected and simple to utilize. You can tuck files you might require in there for safekeeping and remote access. If your business doesn’t have the alternative, you might utilize the storage available devoid of Google,.

Apple,

Microsoft

or.

Dropbox,

or spend for an upgraded strategy. Despite the fact that cloud drives are personal, it’s on you to make certain you’re not copying over anything that could be deemed specifically delicate by your company.

There are likewise ways to access your desktop remotely, but this falls under the domain of your IT department, and I don’t suggest you do it without your employer’s approval and support.

SHARE YOUR IDEAS

What are your greatest tech obstacles when working from home? Join the discussion listed below.

Martin in Sales: Your child is cute and all, however we don’t wish to hear “Let It Go” for the 100 th time.

Mute your mic, aka MYM. Write it down on a Post-it, your hand, I don’t care. If you’re on a call, simply mute whenever you aren’t talking. And please share this tip with Martin in Sales!

I use my desk phone to make abroad calls, and there’s no way I’m using my smartphone and paying overage expenses.

Google Hangouts, WhatsApp and Skype allow you to make phone calls over the Internet to anywhere in the world for very low rates. And if you’re both on the service, the call is complimentary.

Speaking of calls, you’ll likely be on a lot of them. Keep a portable battery charger useful. Again, I like Anker– especially this design

I decided to rapidly clip my toe nails in the bathroom, and now my employer is flipping out that I’m not responding.

Communication is the toughest part of telecommuting. Supervisors, the very best thing you can do is set expectations ahead of time. One excellent, however by no means foolproof, solution? If you’re utilizing Slack or Google Hangouts, set a status message that informs your colleagues you’ve stepped away and when you’ll be back. In Slack, click the down arrow by your name (upper left corner) and select “Edit Status.”

In the interest of openness: I composed this column not in your home however at The Wall Street Journal head office– where my toenails may or may not have also been clipped. Don’t forget to send me your WFH gripes or helpful tips.

—- For more WSJ Technology analysis, evaluations, advice and headings, sign up for our weekly newsletter

Write to Joanna Stern at [email protected]

%%.

from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/working-from-home-because-of-coronavirus-these-are-your-tech-fixes/

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photomaniacs · 7 years

Photo

Delta Airlines Did $8,000 in Damage to My Camera Gear http://ift.tt/2s6bjtp

The Wells Fargo banker cocked his head, bit his lip, and spoke slowly. “You want a personal loan for a camera lens?”

I grinned. “Yep,” I said.

“$5,000 must buy a heck of a lens,” he said.

He was right about that. After a decade in semi-corporate America, after countless hours of researching, after much drooling over photos taken with arguably the best dedicated telephoto lens in the world, I was in a position to put my name on one.

“Well,” the banker said, “you’ve got great credit. I can give you a cashier’s check or it can go straight into your account.”

I had him put it in my account, where I knew it would remain for all of about twenty minutes, the time it would take me to go online and order my Nikon 500mm f/4 VR.

It arrived at my Billings, Montana, home from Seattle a couple of days later, a nine-pound piece of flawless optical engineering which, when mounted to my Nikon D810, revealed parts of the world in detail I’d never seen.

“An entirely different ballgame,” I thought to myself when it locked focus on a flying short eared owl a few nights later.

Even before I realized I could see the tongue of a yellow-headed blackbird, count the individual down feathers on a great horned owl chick, see the claws of a rough legged hawk in crazy sharpness or freeze a Montana sunset like never before, I was in love – more than convinced that the monthly payments were entirely worth it.

I bought a Tamrac pro-model lens case to hold both camera and lens and have been nothing short of thrilled with its performance. It fits snug, has plenty of padding, comfortable backpack-style straps, and a great waist belt. If there’s a better way to carry this camera/lens combo I’d be surprised.

On June 7th, I showed up at the Burlington, Vermont, airport with it after a week in Northern Vermont where I grew up. I was flying Delta back to Montana by way of Detroit and, after seven days of nearly continual rain, was happy to have clear skies for the trip over the Adirondacks and Great Lakes.

I was seated in 01D — a long way ahead of the wing seats I seem always relegated to — on a regional jet, flight 4058, and I was perhaps the fourth person to board the plane. My Tamrac, containing my D810 with my 500mm lens fits in all overheads, including the smaller ones like the jet I’d just stepped aboard. While there was no overhead compartment above my seat, there was one across the aisle, and I lifted its lid to find a pair of green, oxygen-style containers already in it.

With people backed up behind me, needing access to their seats, I stepped into my seat with my camera bag. Almost immediately, Delta’s flight attendant, Salvador, noticed me standing there with my bag and said that I would have to gate check it along with my much smaller Lowepro camera bag containing a Nikon D500, a MacBook Pro laptop, and three Nikkor lenses.

I have flown numerous times, almost exclusively on Delta, and have used overhead space for my telephoto while placing my Lowepro under the seat ahead of me. Both are within Delta’s size limits for carry-ons.

I explained, very carefully, to Salvador what my bags contained and my desire to use overhead space for at least one of them once the aircraft was fully boarded. I said that if I traveled to the rear of the plane now I would have to fight my way back through a steady stream of passengers to my seat or remain there until everyone was on board. I told Salvador, word for word, that my bags contained “very expensive, very fragile, professional camera gear, lithium batteries, Nikon lenses, and a laptop.”

Salvador nodded and placed my bags immediately behind the cockpit door. I said I have flown many times with them, have never checked them, and wasn’t comfortable with that. I said I was certain there would be ample room for them when people finished boarding and that I did not want them going with general cargo.

From less than four feet away, Salvador looked at me and said, “It will be fine.”

The flight was fine, and I want to say that I’ve always been impressed with Delta’s pilots. They do an amazing job, not always in the best of conditions, and I’ve never felt anything less than completely at ease aboard their jets. Hats off to these men and women.

When we landed in Detroit, I waited on the jet bridge for my camera bags. I noticed a man looking out a small window onto the tarmac, waving his hands, obviously agitated. I approached, looked out the window with him, and saw two men unloading our gate-checked luggage. One pulled pieces from the aircraft and, with gusto I find difficult to believe wasn’t intentional, slammed them to the ground, while the other worker stacked them onto a cart.

I watched both my camera bags come out this way, treated absolutely as poorly as they could be, short of simply heaving them out from cruising altitude. I took pictures and video with my cell phone (a lawyer has advised me not to share them for now in case this goes to litigation).

The instant I had my bags, I went to Delta’s customer service counter in the Detroit airport. I complained to a woman working there about the treatment of my luggage, and she was helpful. She gave me an 800 number which I called and relayed what had happened to a Delta employee on the other end of the line.

I then opened my Tamrac case to find that my 500mm Nikon, the crown jewel of my photography equipment, had been sheared off from my camera. The better part of $8,000 worth of damage had been done.

I was shocked. I went immediately back to the customer service counter and demanded to speak with someone there, in person. The woman who had given me the 800 number called her supervisor who showed up shortly. I showed her the damage to my camera and lens, and was repeatedly told Delta would “take care of it.” She got online, made some notes, presumably in some record of my flight, gave me a meal voucher and a $100 credit toward a future flight. She told me that the flight attendant in Burlington should never have insisted my bags be checked into luggage.

I told her that I wanted to speak with a supervisor for the company Delta uses to unload its luggage, Simplicity, and she was helpful arranging that. I voiced my extreme displeasure over what I’d witnessed and the damage incurred. Again, Delta’s supervisor told me that Delta would “take care of it,” and to be sure I filed a claim when I got to my final destination in Montana.

Shortly before midnight, after two more excellent flights, I landed in Billings. At the Delta ticket counter, I spoke with Jamie Robinson and carefully told her what had happened, showing her my camera and lens. Like the woman in Detroit, she said my equipment should not have been placed in luggage. She asked me to leave my camera and lens with her so that she could show Bryan Bochy, the person who handles claims from Billings. I left the equipment with her as she requested.

The following day, I spoke with Bryan, told him everything that had happened, provided him a detailed, written statement, and let him know my damaged camera and lens were there at the airport for his inspection. I told him, as I’d told everyone I’d spoken to up to that point, what replacement cost was.

On Saturday, June 10th, I received a “do-not-reply-to” email from Delta, addressed to “Mr. Moser,” outlining a claim, including a comments section written by someone other than myself. It was, as I told Bryan Bochy in the email I forwarded it to him in, devoid of so much critical information that no one could make a reasonable judgement of fault based on what it said. It appeared as though I had completely disregarded Delta’s policies against checking electronic equipment into luggage and had done just that of my own accord.

The comments section is attached here:

My gate checked bag number 9006861497 arrived in to Detroit and my Nikon D810 was damaged the connection between the lens and camera was broke it has a 500 mm lens…

Bryan told me he would begin another claim, sending it directly to “Delta Corporate.” I told him that there was some urgency here because without my equipment I can’t take the photographs which I am trying to supplement my income with.

Five days passed. On the morning of June 15th, I received this email from Delta, pasted here in its entirety.

Dear Mr. Moser,

Please accept our sincere apologies for the difficulties you must have encountered when your luggage did not arrive with you on your recent trip. We realize it was a trying experience, and we regret that it happened.

We are equally concerned by your report as we place a great deal of emphasis on the care and protection of baggage and other checked items. Please be assured that every precaution is made to have a passenger’s luggage arrive in the same condition as when it was checked into our care. We succeed with few exceptions, and regret the mishandling on your trip.

The tariff rules and the ticket contract covering your travel exclude responsibility for cash, medication, securities, negotiable papers, irreplaceable documents, jewelry, silverware, precious metals, works of art, camera, electronic, and computer equipment, as well as any other items that cannot easily be replaced, in checked baggage. Consequently, we must respectfully decline your request for payment.

If you have insurance coverage that will provide reimbursement for the excluded items, we will be glad to cooperate with your insurance company in their investigation.

This, we know, will be a huge disappointment to you but trust that you will try to understand our own position as well.

Sincerely,

LaToya Riley Claims Manager Consumer Affairs – Baggage

Evidently, luggage which I had checked, containing items Delta won’t cover if lost or damaged, “didn’t arrive,” but I should try to understand the airline’s position when it comes to claims denial.

Yes, I do understand that, and I find it quite reasonable. Which is precisely why I travel with my camera equipment in hand. What I don’t understand, and what I don’t find reasonable follows…

I’m a Silver Medallion flyer on Delta (which means basically I’ve spent a lot of money on their flights). I will readily acknowledge that their service as a whole has been exemplary. But when their flight attendant insisted I gate-check my camera bags, knowing full well what they contained, against my strongest argument, Delta then took responsibility for their safe transport.

The two men I saw working for Simplicity in Detroit, both acting as agents of Delta, have zero regard for the property they handle. They have difficult jobs, no doubt. It’s a noisy environment at the mercy of the elements, and I hope they’re paid appropriately, and I hope more that their supervisor has taken steps to ensure future flights’ baggage is treated with more care.

I didn’t choose to check my camera and lens. I was given a crew member’s instructions, and I think everyone knows how scenarios play out when those instructions aren’t followed. I have been professional with everyone I’ve dealt with, never so much as raising my voice, making certain to thank each Delta employee who I’ve talked to.

In light of these facts, my treatment has been outrageous. Many days have passed since my equipment, through absolutely no fault of mine, was ruined. The only early communications I had from Delta Corporate, where any compensation must come from, were form letters addressed to my misspelled name full of inaccuracies, sent off with no fact checking whatsoever. That’s not acceptable.

A Delta rep finally called me on Sunday, June 18th, and asked that I take my camera and lens to a certified repair center for a quote to repair. Things are moving… finally. It remains to be seen, however, what Delta will do and when.

About the author: Jake Mosher is a wildlife photographer based in Montana. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can see and purchase his work on his website. This article was also published here.

Image credits: Header illustration based on photo by Eric Salard and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Go to Source Author: Jake Mosher If you’d like us to remove any content please send us a message here CHECK OUT THE TOP SELLING CAMERAS!

The post Delta Airlines Did $8,000 in Damage to My Camera Gear appeared first on CameraFreaks.

June 29, 2017 at 08:00PM

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