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softwarereviewforall · 6 months

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Asana vs. ClickUp vs. Monday.com: Choosing the Right Project Management Tool

Project management is a critical aspect of any business or organization. To streamline tasks, collaborate effectively, and ensure projects stay on track, businesses often turn to project management software. Asana, ClickUp, and Monday.com are three popular options in the market, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. In this article, we will compare these three tools based on various criteria to help you make an informed decision.

Overview:

G2 Rating is a reliable metric to gauge user satisfaction and performance. In terms of star ratings, Monday.com takes a slight lead with 4.7, followed closely by Asana and ClickUp with 4.3 and 4.7, respectively.

Market Segment tells you where these tools are most commonly used. ClickUp is preferred in the small-business segment (79.8% of reviews), followed by Monday.com (65.4%) and Asana (55.1%). Monday.com also has a strong presence in the mid-market (42.8%).

Entry Level Price varies significantly, with Asana offering a free plan, ClickUp at $0 per member per month, and Monday.com starting at $8.00 per user per month.

Total Number of Reviews indicates the overall popularity and user base. Monday.com leads with a substantial 14,775 reviews, while Asana and ClickUp follow with 9,346 and 8,889 reviews, respectively.

General Ratings:

Meets Requirements: Monday.com leads with a rating of 9.1, closely followed by ClickUp at 9.0. Asana and ClickUp also perform well, with 8.7 and 9.1 ratings, respectively.

Ease of Use: Monday.com has the highest ease of use rating at 9.0, while Asana and ClickUp both score 8.6. These scores suggest that all three platforms are relatively user-friendly.

Ease of Setup: ClickUp stands out with a rating of 8.8, while Asana and Monday.com both score 8.7 and 8.2, respectively.

Ease of Admin: Monday.com takes the lead with a rating of 9.1, while Asana, ClickUp, and ClickUp follow closely with scores ranging from 8.6 to 9.1.

Quality of Support: Monday.com has the highest support rating at 9.0, followed by ClickUp and Asana at 8.9 and 8.4, respectively.

Business Partnership: Monday.com excels with a 9.2 rating, while Asana, ClickUp, and ClickUp trail with ratings between 8.7 and 9.2.

Product Direction: ClickUp leads with 9.5, closely followed by Monday.com at 9.4. Asana and ClickUp also score well, with ratings ranging from 8.4 to 9.4.

Tasks:

Creation & Assignment: All three tools excel in this category, with ratings above 8.7.

Due Dates: Again, all three tools perform well, with ratings above 9.0.

Task Prioritization: ClickUp leads with a rating of 9.3, while Asana and Monday.com score between 8.7 and 9.3.

To-Do Lists: All three platforms score well, with ratings above 8.7.

Dependencies: All three tools offer decent dependency management, with ratings around 8.6.

Mass Updates: ClickUp and Monday.com lead in this category, with scores above 8.6, while Asana lags behind with a rating of 8.3.

Drag & Drop: ClickUp and Monday.com are preferred for their drag and drop functionality, scoring above 8.9, while Asana scores 8.5.

Recurring Tasks: ClickUp and Asana excel in this category, scoring above 8.8, while Monday.com lags slightly with a rating of 8.5.

Setup:

Activities and Flows: Monday.com stands out in activities and flows with a rating of 9.1, while ClickUp and Asana score between 8.5 and 9.1.

Dependencies and Notifications: Monday.com leads with 9.0, while Asana and ClickUp score between 8.5 and 9.0.

Task Creation:

Creation & Assignment and Due Dates: All three tools score above 9.0 in these aspects.

Drag & Drop and Mass Updates: ClickUp leads in drag & drop and mass updates, scoring above 9.0, while Asana and Monday.com score slightly lower.

Automation:

Workflows and Customization: Monday.com and ClickUp lead in these categories, with ratings above 8.8, while Asana lags slightly.

Data Repository: All three platforms offer decent data repository functionality, with ratings around 8.4 to 8.8.

Communication:

Chat and Discussions: All three tools perform well, with ratings above 7.5.

External, Feedback, and Announcements: Monday.com and ClickUp lead in external communication, while Asana lags behind. In feedback and announcements, all three tools score well.

Projects:

Planning and Project Map: Monday.com leads with ratings of 9.3 and 9.0, while ClickUp and Asana score between 8.6 and 9.3.

GANTT and Calendar View: Monday.com and Asana lead in these categories, while ClickUp lags slightly.

Project Budgeting: All three tools offer decent project budgeting features, with ratings around 8.0 to 8.7.

Issue Tracking: All three platforms perform well in issue tracking.

Templates and Critical Path: Monday.com and ClickUp excel in templates, while Asana lags slightly. In the critical path category, all three tools offer decent functionality.

Time & Expense: Monday.com and ClickUp lead in time and expense management, while Asana scores slightly lower.

Methodologies: ClickUp leads in methodologies, while Monday.com and Asana score slightly lower.

Management:

Updates and Audit Trail: Monday.com leads in updates and audit trails, while Asana and ClickUp score slightly lower.

Integration: Monday.com and ClickUp excel in integration capabilities, while Asana lags slightly.

Task Management:

Task Prioritization and To-Do Lists: All three tools excel in these aspects.

Dependencies and Recurring Tasks: ClickUp and Monday.com lead in dependency management, while Asana scores slightly lower.

Administration:

Permissions and Procedures: All three tools offer strong administration features.

Remote Work: ClickUp excels in remote work capabilities, while Monday.com and Asana score slightly lower.

Content & Documents:

File Sharing and Notes: All three platforms offer strong document management and collaboration features.

Search and Versioning: Monday.com and ClickUp lead in search and versioning capabilities, while Asana lags slightly.

Resource Management:

Resource Definition and Capacity: Monday.com

Resource Scheduling: All three tools offer solid resource scheduling features, with ratings above 8.6.

Project Management:

Task Prioritization and Planning: All three platforms excel in these aspects.

Views and Scheduling: Monday.com and ClickUp lead in views and scheduling, while Asana scores slightly lower.

Critical Path and Dashboards: Monday.com leads in critical path and dashboards, while Asana and ClickUp score slightly lower.

Controls:

Custom Views and User Management: All three tools offer strong control features.

Calendars and Public Sharing: Monday.com excels in calendars, while Asana and ClickUp score slightly lower. In public sharing, all three tools offer decent functionality.

Generative AI:

Text Generation and Text Summarization: All three platforms offer generative AI capabilities, with Monday.com leading in text generation.

Project Monitoring:

Baselining / KPIs and Resource Allocation: All three tools perform well in project monitoring, with Monday.com and ClickUp leading in KPIs and resource allocation.

Workload: ClickUp excels in workload management, while Asana and Monday.com score slightly lower.

Workspace:

Configuration and Insights: All three platforms offer strong workspace management features.

Project Management:

Task Management: All three tools excel in task management, with ClickUp taking a slight lead.

Planning, Visibility, and Integration: All three platforms offer robust project management capabilities, with Monday.com leading in visibility and ClickUp excelling in integration.

Communication & Collaboration:

Communication Channels: All three platforms provide strong communication channel options.

Document Management: Monday.com and ClickUp lead in document management, while Asana scores slightly lower.

Collaboration: All three tools excel in collaboration features.

Remote Collaboration:

Alignment and Accountability: All three platforms offer strong remote collaboration features.

Connectivity and Offline Mode: Monday.com leads in connectivity, while Asana and ClickUp score slightly lower. In offline mode, all three tools offer decent functionality.

Cost Management:

Project Budgeting and Time & Expense: All three platforms offer decent cost management capabilities, with Monday.com and ClickUp leading in project budgeting and time & expense management.

Profitability: All three platforms provide robust profitability tracking features.

Integration:

Front Office and Back Office: All three tools offer strong integration options.

External Data: All three platforms offer good external data integration capabilities.

In conclusion, Asana, ClickUp, and Monday.com are all strong contenders in the project management software market. The choice between them largely depends on your specific business needs, preferences, and budget. ClickUp is ideal for small businesses and offers extensive customization options. Monday.com stands out in terms of user satisfaction, making it a reliable choice for small and mid-market businesses. Asana, on the other hand, offers a free plan and is a well-rounded choice with a focus on task management and collaboration. Consider your unique requirements and user preferences to make an informed decision for your project management needs.

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ressonancee · 10 months

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IS THIS TOO MUCH?

When Mingyu helps you up with your boxes, you don't think too much of it, really, but when he shows up in the hall with a kid in his arms - something changes.

✦ KIM MINGYU - f!reader

✦ Genre: neighboors-to-lovers, daddy!Mingyu (slightly), angsty (slighlty), smut (minors don't interact), a little bit of health problems, oral sex (f! receiving), unprotected sex (don't do this at home), reader has a few insecurities so keep that Mingyu.

✦ word count: 11k+

✦ Title inspired by Carly Ra Jepsen - Too much.

✦ Thea note: Mingyu is so boyfriend coded I want to punch a wall, lately been thinking about daddy!mingyu a lot and how that would look like, but also Mingyu is not an easy character I swear this was a struggle, but here it is - and of course, it has a pussy drunk mingyu scene. Also thanks again @ni-aaaaaaa for helping me with this one 🫶

Moving is hard. Moving places is hard. Moving places almost across the country is harder.

So here you are - struggling to hold the elevator and a load boxes, but then he arrives - a knight in shiny armor or just a fit guy in gym clothes and sweats.

"Do you need help with that?" he asks pointing to the boxes.

"Hi, hm -" You start, and you want to be the crazy strong independent lady who doesn't need help, you listened to Destiny Child for fuck sake, you can pay your bills and load your boxes on the goddamn elevator, but you are so freaking tired. It's the second round of boxes and you will probably need to do more and drive to hand over the moving truck, but all you need and truly want is to take a shower, get rid of the sweat, and lay down with arms and legs open on your bed like you are a starfish. But then you remember, did you pack the body soap in the backpack? Suitcase? Boxes n 03 with bathroom-related things? And the bed sheets? Fuck.

"Do you have more or?" The nice guy with strong arms and gym clothes asks already lifting the three boxes at once, putting them in the elevator and stepping in the elevator door and letting you in.

"I have a few more in the truck but-" You click on the fourth floor button.

"Oh" He says pointing at the button and at you. "We’re neighbors, nice. You’re probably in the Mrs Smith apartment, right? Lovely lady, it was nice that her daughter took her in after she moved." The guy continues and you don't quite follow but hey, he is already unloading and leaving the boxes at the 03 door so you gonna take all the help. "Do you want to put them in or do you want to pick up the other boxes on the truck?"

"You don't actually need to-" You ask trying to be a polite neighbor and not a pushover, but Mr. Nice Guy and nice arms cuts you off.

"Oh don't worry, I didn't do back or arms today, if I don't need to squat too much it's alright" He says, big smile gracing his face as he tilts his head and, oh god ,he is quite hot and he is just so nice and big all over and you’re way too tired so you don't want to take the last few boxes and do a fourth trip to the garage when you can do just two - maybe one if the nice guy with big arms lift more than you think in his everyday trip to the gym. So, you just accept, because he could do what your noodles arms could never: lift more the two boxes at once.

"Look,” You say tidying the boxes near your door because you are a good neighbor and you don't want someone to trip in the hall because of you. "I'm very grateful, and I drove for like, more than ten hours, so I'm taking all the help I can get. And I don't know your diet but I'm so buying pizza after this so if you want you can joy. Like paying for all your service with a half of pizza."

So that's how you end up with nice-guy-strong-arms-buff-chest in your new apartment and learn that his name is actually Kim Mingyu and that he’s a software engineer and that he mainly goes to the gym to see people otherwise he would not get out of the house because he works remotely. So you also give your resume-of-life talk that you worked on rehearsing in that ten hour drive - needed to change cities because working on research isn't easy, new PhD in town, works on gender studies, and has a side hustle with a nonprofit.

"Oh, so you are smart smart,” Mingyu replied with a mouth full of pizza, trying to wash it down with coke.

"Nah,” You reply in the same situation. "Dumb enough to go into humanities actually.”

"Hey! That's nothing wrong with humanities," He says. "Once I wanted to be an archeologist - that goes into humanities, right?"

"I don't really know, probably?"

And you and Mingyu guy don't really turn into friends per se - and that's mainly your fault. He’s easy going and always talks to you in the elevator or hall when you’re going to the university and he’s going to the gym. He tells you to knock on his door for a movie, tells you that you both can go to a coffee shop nearby, and tells you that he knows nice restaurants, but you never quite follow his ideas.

You could say that it was because of your routine. Kind of excruciating; you had a few classes to actually teach, research to plan and execute, and because you were the new one in the department, all the extra winter and summer courses to plan and teach was your obligation. Yey new job!

But the actual reason is that, yes, you are overloaded with your new job, and with the new city, and with new everything. So, when Mingyu asks you just can't bring yourself to actually do it. Part of you thinks he is just being nice, just trying to be friendly, he does have that kinda puppy energy going around him - too big, too excited, too much all over the place and knocking into everything. But part of you is scared that Mingyu nice-guy-all-over might be trying something with you that you can't actually handle right now.

Because sometimes you catch how Mingyu looks at you - eyes lingering.. And God, this works wonders to your self-esteem. Once, when you actually wore your gym clothes and he was in his jeans for a change, you could see him visibly gulping on the hallway. He asked why he never saw you at his gym, you answered the only way possible, you don't go to the gym, you are one of the runs at the park lunatics, and he said it was a pity really, maybe he can start running and going to the park.

Or that time when you had to go to a nice dinner - fundraising and meeting people was the worst part of the job, but hey, you needed the money and the funds to go around interviewing women in politics across the country, so you put the nicest black dress you had and a pair of high heels. And when you leave the house, you scream to the person in the elevator to wait and do the silliest run in those shoes and it was Mingyu – dressed joggers and hair ruffled, contrasting to your polished appearance. "Hot date?" he asked in a small voice head tilting to look at you because even with your highest heels, he was still taller. "I wish, work, and you?" You answered. "Bad day. Gonna pick up some beer." And you left the elevator just to see Mingyu ogling at your ass and getting flustered because of it.

So maybe when he asked you out you always brushed over, never actually said no. But you never said yes either. Because even though you were actually trying to handle all the other things in your life and a relationship did fall into the 'not-now-category' or in the 'probably-will-make-me-insane', you liked having Mingyu there, in the back of your mind, filling up your fantasies and what-ifs. It may be a bitch move, but it was what you could handle right now, because really, handling the new job, in a new city, basically friendless, and almost crying at your kitchen table, because one of the students needed a week extension and that alone was almost driving you insane.

So having Mingyu on the back of your mind was the only thing you could handle right now. Mingyu and his big hands, strong arms and his nice fucking smile, and oh god, he did smell good. Your mind could - and would - wonder when you both got together on that dumb elevator and how you want to climb him like a goddamn tree. And sometimes you let your mind wander and think how everything would go if you said yes. If you went to a nice restaurant, what would happen? Would everything go smoothly and you end up on his sheets? Or yours? How would it feel having Mingyu in your bed? You have all the questions and none of the answers.

So, when you see Mingyu with a mini-Mingyu at his side, arms full of bags, and struggling to close his kid’s coat, you get a little mind blown. You think a little and Mingyu never actually talked about having a son or a daughter you couldn't really tell, and then you blame yourself maybe he didn’t say anything because you never said yes. You never went to the nice restaurant or the coffee shop. And then it fucks you up a bit, because what else do you not know about him - maybe silly things like what is his favorite food? What movies does he like? What in his binge-watch list?

Did Mingyu get married? He’s probably divorced - you think - because you never saw that kid before so mini-Mingyu didn’t live with Big-Mingyu, and also you never saw a woman and you think that if Mingyu was married he would not be looking at your ass in every step of the way down to the garage - or at least you hope not. Oh god, you don’t want to be a homewrecker, but then again, Mingyu doesn’t look like the guy who would do that: hit on you if he was in a relationship. Then it dawns on you, maybe, maybe he was just being friendly.

Right?

But when Mingyu picks mini-Mingyu in his arms, still with too many bags and gives you a big, warm smile, you almost freeze.

“Hey,” He says clicking the elevator’s button. “Going to the Uni?” He asks as you go to his side, Mini-Gyu’s big eyes on your face - so you just give the little kid your best smile.

“Yep, one professor is out of town so I have a few extra classes this week to teach the kids the joy of classical sociology,” You say eyes leaving Mini-Gyu and actually going to Big-Gyu, and your mind gets fucked up a bit, because one, how do genes work? That kid is actually Mingyu's carbon copy and of course, you have not stepped in biology classes in a few years - but you are pretty sure that cloning is not yet allowed - maybe you should check it out in the ethics committee or something. Maybe Mingyu is committing some kind of crime.

“Nice,” And Mingyu finally looks at the kid who is still staring at you. “This is Minseok.” He says kind of rocking the kid up and down trying to adjust the begs on his shoulder. “Minseok and I are going to the park for a picnic date, aren't we, Minseok?” But Minseok doesn't actually answer, Minseok just hides his face on Mingyu’s shoulder, looking a little shy and you smile because he looks like he just got caught staring.

“Do you need help or?” You ask seeing how Mingyu continues to struggle.

“Nah, this little guy will just walk. He is just being shy he doesn’t know how to act in front of pretty girls,” And you can actually feel the pink in your cheeks and now you quite understand Minseok and the urge to hide. And maybe, maybe Mingyu is hitting on you in every damn elevator trip.

"Poor baby," You coo and you can actually see Mingyu's legs giving up a little and picking himself up. Minseok looks at you, hand closed in your direction, you give him an open palm and he shyly drops a little sticker. "Oh! Thank you very much," You say hand closing against your chest, analyzing the little Pikachu sticker.

"Oh god, I'm raising a womanizer," Mingyu says ruffling the kid’s hair. "Did you already feel in love with noona?" Mingyu asks Minseok and strokes his pink cheeks with his massive hands. You actually can't figure out Minseok's age, is he tiny? Or it is Mingyu that is bigger than the average person?

"I'm old enough to be his auntie, Mingyu." You say actually putting the little sticker in your bag. And for once you are the one that holds the elevator door for Mingyu and the scene looks so domestic that makes your heart clench a bit. You don’t even want a kid, you don’t even know if you are ready for it, but why does Mingyu with little Minseok in his arms make you feel jealous? Jealous of the person that you don’t even know, someone who doesn’t even have a face in your imagination.

"Nah, pretty girls are always noona," Mingyu says and you can feel how your cheeks are turning pink because you feel them hot.. "Anyway, good luck with the classes. We would actually invite you over for our little picnic date but I guess you’re a busy girl."

"You know the real professor is always on my ass, Mingyu." You say heading towards your car.

"Well," Mingyu says finally letting Minseok on the floor, Minseok’s hands tiny on Mingyu's and your heart kinda swells because it is a heart warming picture really. Because you know Mingyu is a fine ass man, with a nice personality paired with a mindblowing body, and he just looks like such a father with Minseok on his hand, well it didn't help that Minseok was the cutest kid you ever laid your eyes on, even though he looked a little shy, a little sad. "You know I am always free, so you can hit me up anytime."

So, when you are talking about how Marx and Weber see the society and the conflicts in it you can't quite stop thinking about Mingyu and Minseok and you could actually cry.

Cry, because you somehow, even with all that Mingyu said to you and all the little flirtatious jabs going on you feel like you lost an opportunity. But at the same time, you want to cry because the relationship gets more complicated if a child is evolved. You may be a bitch over the fact that maybe you lead Mingyu on without actually saying no, but a child? You can't lead a child on, you can’t just kiss-kiss peck-peck your neighbor and say hi to Minseok, or even worse, you can’t start a relationship with Kim Mingyu and then break up with Kim Mingyu after being involved in Minseok’s life. You can’t picture going every weekend to the park and then just vanishing because your life is too busy and the relationship doesn’t quite work. You think that you may be a bitch and break Mingyu’s heart - even though you don't think he’s crazy in love with you to you actually break his heart, but you couldn’t break Minseok because his big eyes and small pout is too cute.

And you want to cry because Mingyu is hot. You noticed that when he picked your boxes and his arms bulged against his sleeve. You have eyes so you can see, every time you see him really, or going to the gym, or in his lounge clothes, or when he is a little bit tidy but still in not formal clothes, you stop a little and you think you never actually saw Mingyu going on a date, or in formal wear. And now it makes sense: having a kid doesn’t actually make dating easier.

But now you see another side of him. Mingyu is endearing, he is cute and you suspect that he could treat you well. He looks reliable, he has a good job, and he is a nice guy. But all that went to a new level when he had a kid in his arms, it made you twitch a little. The way that he looks at the kid in his arms makes your heart inflate like a damn balloon and makes you think about all the other things that you don't know about Mingyu, all the little secrets, all the gaps in his personality.

And oh damn. You had a new problem on your hands. Cute dilf Mingyu was the problem.

So, when you and Mingyu see each other in the hall, you breathe deeply. Afraid to say you are a little relieved when Mingyu is kid-less, but still hot in his gym clothes.

"Park today?" Mingyu asks with a gym bag in his hand.

"Yeah, I'm almost near my 10km mark so I'm pushing it a little bit." You say self-conscious tugging on your clothes, fixing your leggings and top. Fuck, maybe you should've put that baggy shirt on. Why the hell you got out of the house looking like a crazy lady without even brushing your hair? Ok, you said to yourself that the run was the last thing before washing your hair and putting a mask on it, but still, you knew that Mingyu was always in the hall.

"Nice. I heard about the run, right? Some people at my gym are going." Mingyu says eyes still on you, making you twitch. And you know is not Mingyu’s fault. He;’s always like that - he looks at you, pays attention, not even once you felt like you were not being heard when you were talking to him, not even when you were bitching because someone left the trashcan open.

"Oh god no, I'm not even close to the run’s entry level." You say tongue itching against your mouth. Mingyu has that quality really, he makes you curious and he makes you bold and afraid at the same time. But even if your mind says no, you still go for it. "So, no Minseok today?"

"Ah," Mingyu scratches his neck, almost shy, almost. "No, he is with his mom, the little guy was sick and had a few days off so no school for him, that's why he was so shy he was actually moody, but he liked you enough to give you his treasured Pikachu sticker."

"Oh yes." You actually pick up your phone and show Mingyu, and you feel a little silly but every time you see the Pikachu behind it makes you smile. "It’s not a sticker anymore, it evolved in the lucky charm category."

"Oh" Mingyu says looking at you and at your phone with an endearing look on his face that you couldn't quite puzzle. "That's actually cute."

"I mean," you shrug.

"Well, I gonna tell him that you treasure his Pikachu. It's not like he doesn’t already have a big crush on you." Mingyu teases looking at you like he wants to see every little reaction, like he wants to put the puzzle of you together like every detail matters.

"Stop, he was just being cute and polite you should be proud." You shove Mingyu but he doesn't even bulge. Damn, he was strong.

"Oh I am, but that's not polite, that's his love language, he even talked about you to his mom." Mingyu says eyes still on you, and you think for a second how funny it is, that he actually makes you feel this way, make you feel opposite worlds at the same time, makes you want to run and hide but and makes you want to stretch and bath of every ray of attention he gives you. "And he calls you elevator noona."

"Nooooooo," you say feeling pretty good that you stole the kid's heart in one elevator trip, Minseok was easier to win over than Mingyu.

"Yeeeees," Mingyu mocks you, and again he looks shy but Mingyu is not a shy person so that makes you think, makes you ponder. "Actually, he is going to be around for a few days so if you want to go to the park or-"

"Are you free today?" You ask, and you can see Mingyu's eyes bulge, his face making sure that you know that he is not understanding what you meant.

"Hun?" He says, head moving almost like a dog.

"Today, are you free? I mean I know that you are going to the gym, but we can go to that coffee shop you said and just chat a little." When the elevator stops, Mingyu, like always holding the door for you.

"Oh, hm-" He looks at his bag, then at the elevator door closing, then at you.

"Don't worry,” You say trying to soothe him, hands gesturing and all. “It was dumb to ask when I know you have plans, we can rain-check it."

"No, no, just-" Mingyu start to pat himself searching for his phone, chest, then front pocket, then back pockets, then looking at his bag. "Let me just call Chan and tell him I'm not going to the gym."

"Noooo," You feel so silly that you almost stomp your feet on the ground like a child. "You can go, we can just meet up or rain-check it, don't worry, you always understand when I'm too busy so-"

"Noooo," He copies you. "I’ll tell Chan that I'm doing cardio today," He starts typing on his phone. "I’m doing so much cardio in the park, running is the best exercise ever."

“Now, you’re just mocking me,” You say trying to push him again but this time he pretends you are strong enough to make him move.

“Nah, not doing anything.”

Mingyu doesn't make a big deal of changing plans - which is so weird to you, a planner and an avid checker of to do-lists. The only detour he needs is to stop at his car because he can't run with his gym bag. And that's how you end up running with Mingyu, and even though you have a good pace, Mingyu's legs are just way too big, so you always end up getting a little behind.

And again, Mingyu is so caring and nice that sometimes he dashes off but when he sees you are not following his pace he stops a bit, running in place waiting for you with a big smile. Damn, you are fucked because you feel like every time Mingyu smiles, a halo of sunshine forms against his figure. You knew he was pretty, you knew he was handsome, and you knew he was hot, but now you know that he may be mother's nature favorite and that is just unfair.

Mingyu has long legs, but you have endurance, so when he is almost dying you are good to go - maybe not so good, but you can keep going for a few more kilometers.

"See you could totally go for the run. You can take a lot more than I do." Mingyu says panting, hand on his waist, bending over.

"Nah, that would make running serious and with a goal, that ruins the fun." You say fixing your hair, tying it in a high ponytail again.

"Sometimes I wonder how your mind works," Mingyu says, seriously, making you stop in your tracks, making your head tilt, and actually look at Mingyu who looks like he is trying to puzzle you. "You say things like that and the way you think is so-" He trails off again, looking at his feet, then at everything but you. "The way you think gives me a new perspective on things."

And you could almost cry. Because at the same time, you feel so seen yet vulnerable. You feel more naked than when you are actually naked with some random guy. And you breath so deeply, because sometimes you run laps just to keep things hidden, you go through mental gymnastics trying to keep things under the rug. And it clicks in your head. Maybe that's why you avoid Mingyu, that's why you always say no because to him, you are so easy to read that actually scares you. So, you do the best you can, avoid.

"Ok Mingyu, you called me weird and now you are paying for coffee," you say storming off in front of him.

"I did not call you weird, don't put words in my mouth," He grins, again next to you because of his long legs. You almost think about kicking him in the shin and storming off. "What I am saying is that we are very, very different."

"And that's a bad thing?" You ask self-conscious, feeling your body actually shrink.

"It's not bad, it's different," Mingyu says opening up the door for you. "We think differently, that's all."

"A latte please and a-" You ask Mingyu.

"A latte and an Americano," Mingyu says.

So, you both get your drinks and sit on a pretty outside table per your request. The weather is good enough for it.

"That's what I am talking about," Mingyu says with a sip. "When I am all sweat what I want is to just be inside with the AC on, you prefer to sit outside."

"I'm sweat I feel sticky in the AC." You shrug.

"You see, I feel sticky outside," he responds.

"Do you want to go inside we can-" you say already picking up your drink and getting up when you feel Mingyu's hand on your arm.

"What I am saying is that we are different." Mingyu gives you a soothing smile. "I am data-driven, you lean towards contexts. I need goals, clear goals, otherwise, I feel unmotivated, but you feel like goals take away the fun. We are different and that's nothing wrong with that, so maybe that's why I feel so interested in you."

"I'm not that interesting," you say, taking only a sip to buy more time. Actually, I'm boring."

"See, you can't take a compliment either! I love compliments, just could play a 24h audio just praising me." Mingyu says shamelessly, making you laugh.

"Yeah, I'm not good on that but I'm serious. Like, there’s not much going on here." You say pointing to yourself.

"Oh, like the poets said, if you could see yourself though my eyes," Mingyu says making you blush and look away.

"Don't say things like that." You complain, pouting like a kid.

"Oh, come on," Mingyu’s smile is big, and you see that he’s enjoying making you shy, making you embarrassed. "It's not like it’s not clear that I'm into you, I even asked you out and you were the one that dumped me."

"I didn't dump you," You say almost kicking his shin below the desk, not because you want to but because you almost had a Pavlovian reaction. "I never said no and I'm truly busy."

"Not saying no is not the same as saying yes. I know that I'm being a little pushover, but I am a simple guy. I don't see why hide that I’m into you or find you hot and interesting. And I know that you know that, and I also know that you are not into me so" He shrugs. "It's not a big deal really."

"I-" You start but you almost freeze. "Fuck, I'm so bad at this," You say to Mingyu giving him your best I'm So Sorry Smile "Look I'm not good at this, I don't flirt, and honestly small talk almost kills me. And I gonna sound like such a bitch, but it's me it's not you?" You say again giving Mingyu that smile, searching for any trace of reaction on his face "You are a nice guy and you are funny, and god you are so good looking like almost unreal good looking -" And you laugh because Mingyu is liking the shower of praises, he is enjoying every step of the way like he said he did. "But, I feel like I'm not that ready, all the changes is making me freak out and it is making me so unsure and I need time to put myself up, and I can’t ask for you to wait-"

"Oh, I’m so waiting," Mingyu says, leaning on the chair, crossing his legs and arms and looking so smug.

"I cannot ask you for that because I don't even know when I will feel ready and-" You continue, behaving like Mingyu didn't say a thing.

"Once a week," He says still looking smug it makes you stop in your tracks.

“Huh?”

"Once a week, we can see each other once a week. It can be a date in a nice restaurant, it can be run, it can be a trip to the market, anything really, just-" Mingyu breathes changing positions, and taking a sip of his coffee. "If you don't feel ready or don’t want me like that I will understand and if doesn't work out at least we can be friends, like you said I’m a nice guy."

And that's how you end up entering in Mingyu's life and letting Mingyu enter yours. That's how you end up on Mingyu's sofa, two weeks later, on a Friday night, chilling, Mingyu's head on your lap, fingers threading through his soft hair, paying more attention to him than the movie really. And that’s because Mingyu was kissing you before you two chose the movie. He kissed you against his door, and gave you a peck when you put your bag on his table, and he kissed you again on the sofa, make you whimper because the way he is holding your hips. But he is a nice guy, and you said you were not ready for all that, so he goes back to his good guy persona and lays on the couch, head in your lap, leg almost entirely off the couch.

And then his phone rings and rings, so Mingyu breathes deeply and annoyed, because who dares disturb his head-rubbing time and sits up.

"Hey," Mingyu says and his face changes so fast you can almost feel in the air "Okay okay, just-" he says already getting up and doing his back pocket tap that he always does to go out. "Okay, just give him some Tylenol, ok? I’m already on my way, I can call when I'm about ten minutes away so you can go down, ok? It’ll be faster."

He stops to look at you. And he looks so afraid that you just know it is about Minseok.

"It’s ok. Go." You say because it is, the change of his demeanor says is something important.

"Fuck," Mingyu says, hands going to his hair and tugging it "It’s just Minseok. We just found out he has Crohn's disease and he is having a flare up. We need to take him to the hospital, he is down with a fever so it’s not a good sign and I should go really."

"I can drive," You say getting up as well.

“Oh no, no you can stay really finish the movie, you can totally feel at home, you can cook something or shit-"

"Mingyu," You say searching for his hand, big against yours. "You are shaking." And you can almost feel the energy trapped inside him, making him tremble all over. "Hey it's gonna be OK, Minseok is gonna be fine. I just need you to calm down. I’ll drive and everything will be OK. Minseok needs you calm."

"Ok, ok. Thank you."

So you guys storm off. You guys ended up in Mingyu's car, you fixing up his car seat and his rear view mirror to make comfortable to you. And every time you stop on a red traffic light you check Mingyu out, breath still fast enough for you to notice, face full of worry. And in that moment, you think you care so deeply about Mingyu, because seeing him like that is making your heart break in tiny little pieces.

Because Mingyu is just not like that. To you, Mingyu is always warm, always full of energy. He’s like a warm soft blank that has just enough weight so you can feel grounded on your bed. Mingyu is a night sky - big but so full of stars, those same stars bright enough to guide you home.

When you finally arrive at Minseok's place you see the little guy in his mother's arm and that makes your heart break all over again. You see Mingyu open the door for them, and he goes to the other side putting Minseok in his little chair, the woman doesn't even look at you, her full attention on Minseok, but still you feel uneasy. Out of place. You feel like you are barging in in a scene that is not yours, like an extra ruining the shoot. But then Mingyu is at your side again, hands on your thigh, big in contrast, and you feel his warmth and assurance, so you just drive.

At the hospital, everything seems kind of hectic, and you again feel out place again, asking yourself if you should be there. In your mind, you know you did the best of the situation: you helped Mingyu, and that should be enough. But emotionally, you feel so damn invisible in it all, and that makes you feel even worse because it makes you feel so egoistic. For God's sake, a child is sick needing a hospital and here are you feeling like you need to cry because fuck you feel out of place? Feeling pathetic about it makes you want to cry too.

So, when you and Minseok's mother are side by side, coffee in hands and Mingyu on the loose searching for food, you want to just get up and leave without giving a proper explanation, but you think you need to be a reasonable adult.

"You see…" Minseok's mother starts. "Mingyu never brought a girl home." And you kinda feel strange what she is saying but hey her kid is on the hospital, she may be going crazy. "I never actually even saw one of his girlfriends, ever."

"Oh, I’m not his girlfriend, we’re just friends." You start, but the taste of the phrase feels weird against your tongue.

"Yeah," She laughs, and you know she is laughing at you, which makes everything worse. "I know my brother and I know how he looks to someone." She says, holding her head, elbows on her own thighs, and she looks so so tired, and that too, makes you want to cry. "But I’m glad that you are here. I may not seem glad because my kid is right now on a hospital bed, but-" she says laughing again, and now you are not so sure why she is laughing, she looks so exhausted she is almost out of it. "But since Minseok's father passed away Mingyu is just giving his all you know? He bends over backwards for us. He picks Minseok on school when I can’t get out of the work on time, he was the one who could actually take care of Minseok the last time he went to hospital because I was too damn busy, and he actually cooks for us and he just goes to my home to leave side dishes. He is doing more than he should. He is doing what a father should be doing." She says and you hear her heart breaking, you almost see the blood, because she is so transparent, so worried, so sorry, and all that don't make sense in your head. "What I’m trying to say is that my little brother is precious, so if you fuck up, I might kick your ass."

"I thought he was-"

"Minseok's father? I know I gave birth to a mini version of my brother, but like, it's a little screwed up you didn’t know. Maybe you guys should work on your communication."

And that stays on your mind. Stays on your mind when it gets too late to get an Uber so Mingyu insists on you driving his car back because ubers can be weird and unsafe. Stays on your mind when he doesn't text you. Stays on your mind when you are at university, yet again lecturing about sociology classics and some passionate kids are debating about communism, and you can't even make yourself worry that you are not that older than the people you call kids. Stays on your mind when you arrive home and you can't quite bring enough courage to knock on Mingyu's door.

But then two days after the whole not-Minseok-daddy’s fiasco, Mingyu is at your door. Looking like a truck just hit him, the same clothes from a few days, body a mess, and you suspect that mind too. So, you let Mingyu in, guide him to your shower, go to his home pick up his clothes, and you roll your sleeve and start making Mingyu dinner. You are not a good cook, and Mingyu is certainly better than you, but still, you try your best. It’s what you’ve been doing all your life really.

You are putting garlic and onions in the pan when you feel Mingyu's arms going around you. He puts his forehead on your shoulder, and you can smell your soap’s scent on his skin.

"I'm sorry I vanished."

"It's okay it must have been tough. I understand."

"I know you do, and I'm very thankful for that but-" Mingyu turns his head to your neck, and you can feel his smell you and his hot breath against it. "I still shouldn't have done it. It was a dick move. You were also worried."

"Yeah, but it’s okay. Is he okay?" You say lowering the fire.

"Yeah, he is already talking about how his mom should give him a better cellphone so he can play Pokémon go at the hospital because everything is so boring."

"See? He’s okay. Minseok is fine." You say turning and giving Mingyu a hug, his head going again to your neck, almost rubbing himself on you.

"Yeah, we just need to pay more attention to his diet." He says still bending to hug you.

"See, Minseok is fine, but you don't look so good sir, so let me treat you to a nice, homemade meal." You say giving his butt a little tap because one more second in Mingyu's and everything will be burned in the pan.

"What I did do to deserve you?"

"A lot of things, Gyu, a whole lot of things."

Mingyu eats, and it seems to improve his energy a bit because he insists on watching a movie with you, even tho you know he looks like he may fall asleep at every minute - he didn't actually sleep soundly for two days and you said that to him, but, being the stubborn guy he is, he still insists. So you two end up in your bed, bodies tangled, Mingyu's head on your chest, your fingers going through his hair - he favorite thing in the whole world he says and that makes your heart bloom, full of tiny little flowers.

You wake up in a different situation. Mingyu's body now pressed against your back, his thigh big against yours, and his hand splayed against your other thigh. Mingyu's strong arms around you, and he is warm against you and surprisingly soft. You squirm a little trying to change position until you can face Mingyu, face soft and peaceful.

And fuck.

Maybe you don't just care about Mingyu.

Maybe, just, maybe you have fallen in love with him. Maybe now, after having him on your bed, you will continuously think about how you want to wake up in his arms. Maybe you will continuously think about how you want to be Mingyu's shelter, how you want to be the place he comes back to when times get rougher. Maybe you want to be Mingyu's night sky clear enough and starry enough to guide him home. And all that makes you feel like you want to cry and weep because maybe you are not ready enough. Maybe you will never be. But you want to be, you want so much and that makes things even harder.

So when Mingyu gives you a peck on the lips when he is going home to change for the gym and you are ready for a day in the university you also feel like crying.

And when Mingyu sends you a message asking you out - on a proper date he makes that clear enough you also feel like crying.

And when Mingyu is knocking on your door because you didn't answer and he saw your car in the garage when he was back from his market trip you are already crying before even answering the door.

"Hey-" He freezes and his demeanor changes. "Hey, what's wrong?"

You just continue to cry, feeling like a dumb little kid, feeling like a pan full of water in the stove, boiling and overflowing.

"Hey, babe what's wrong?" Mingyu says, hands on your cheeks making you look at him. "You’re making me worried."

"I just-" You try to say, cleaning your face but you just hiccup harder.

"Are you feeling unwell? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"No, I'm OK." And you say because you see Mingyu's face squirm in agony.

"Ok, ok. Do you need anything? Do you want me to buy anything? Fix anything? Did someone mistreat you?" Mingyus continues to try searching for something in your face.

"No I-"

"You can tell me if it is someone from your work or-" He tries again.

"It is not about work, it is about us." You finally say, not because you summed up the courage, but because the way Mingyu is acting is breaking your heart all over again.

"Us?" Mingyu bends his head to the side. "Okay, what's wrong with us?"

"Sometimes I get too wrapped up in my head and that's not your fault." You say, just leaving him there and sitting on the sofa. And you feel the urge to just tug at your hair and scream. "And the whole I'm not ready thing and your sister-"

"What did my sister say?" Mingyu cuts you, closer to you, arms folded against his chest.

“It’s not because of what she said, she is actually right about it-"

"Look babe, I love my sister to death, I love Minseok to death, I’d die and kill for both of them, but my sister is overprotective so whatever she said-"

"She said we don't have good communication." You blur out at once.

"Oh, for fucks sake,"

"And she’s right because I thought Minseok was your kid right?" You tell Mingyu a little exasperated. "Like we've been hanging out right? And I didn't feel comfortable to talk about it with you"

"Everyone thinks Minseok is my kid." Mingyu says like is not a big deal.

"Yeah but your maybe girlfriend shouldn't and I found out on a trip to a hospital when all the time I was thinking about how worried you were because it was your kid." You say bringing your knees to your chest because all this is fucked up, you shouldn't be talking about this with Mingyu because you have no right to, you were the one that spent too much time not saying yes, and when you said yes didn't even feel like a yes to be honest.

"I was worried, and Minseok is my kid in a way.”

"Mingyu,” You breathe deeply, because you feel stupid, and you feel like you are asking too much "Maybe that's my fault too, I'm not blaming you, that's why I told you that I was not ready for a relationship because I always fuck things up. I get so scared that I fuck things up before people realize I'm not good enough fo-"

"For fucks sake," Mingyu says opening his arms and tilting his head again. And you think is the first time you see Mingyu mad or frustrated, or both at the same time, you really can’t tell. "What the fuck do you mean with not good enough? You are caring, you are smart, and you actually drove me to the hospital and stayed there until I kicked you out. All that when we’ve been seeing each other for two weeks, how is that not being good enough?" Mingyu take your hand that is laying against your knee and caresses it with his thumb. "You make me go crazy every time we are together and I feel the happiest I've ever been in these months fuck this year actually has been a hell for me." Mingyu kicks nothing, and you feel so sorry for bringing it up, for crying, because you can see that this is hard for him too. "So yeah, maybe you are not ready so what? Maybe we don't have communication, yeah sure we fucked up, but if you get out of your head, maybe it’s all because I'm the asshole, I'm the one who loves his nephew enough to want to actually fit the dad shoes because Minseok deserves a father figure. I-" Mingyus says and you can see that his knee almost buckles, making him change positions. "I'm still lacking too, maybe I'm a mess too, fuck, maybe I'm not ready too, but I prefer not being ready together than being ready at the wrong time." Mingyu takes another step, and his hand goes to your cheeks caressing it, making you closer your eyes and just enjoy his faint touch. “So don’t feel pressured ok? You are not in this alone, and I told you I’m all okay with waiting and I’m- I may not seem like it, but I am a mess too, I have my doubts too, and I get into my head too. So when you are getting all crazy and stuff just, just let’s have a talk, ok?”

“Okay, yeah. Okay.” You say catching his hand and kissing his palm. “Can we order food? Can we order Chinese?”

“Of course we can, baby.” Mingyu says with a chuckle.

“And then, " You start unsure of yourself because you still think you are asking too much and giving too little. "Then can you tell me about Minseok? Can we talk about the whole history?”

“Of course, we can” Mingyu says, looking at you fondly again, and for once you feel that being transparent to Mingyu is not that bad because you feel like he understands you need. “I may cry though, so…”

“It's okay, I'm pretty sure you gonna be cute crying.” Mingyu gives you a big smile and that makes you feel alright.

So Mingyu tells you a lot. He tells about Minseok's dad death, he tells about his own father's death and how that impacted him, and how he draws the parallel between Minseok and himself. He talks about how his sister is so protective of him even tho she is half his size, he talks about how his sister always picked his fight. He tells you about Minseok favorite things - Pokémon, ice cream, and dinosaurs. He tells you everything he can think of until you two finish up dinner, and he continues to tell you everything when you are laying in his arms, his hands on your hair, your body over him - legs and arms across Mingyu, because you feel the need to hug his big and beautiful heart, but you settle the need hugging him instead.

And you and Mingyu just fall into a routine easily. You sleeping on his bed or him sleeping on yours, even though his feet always hang on the end of your bed because he is just too damn big and tall. You always say goodbyes at the door, or on the elevator, Mingyu going to the gym, you to your work. Sometimes, when Mingyu has a deadline you stop at your favorite restaurant and order food to cheer him up. Sometimes, Mingyu picks you up so you guys can eat out for a change. But the thing is - its always more than once a week.

So when Mingyu knocks on your door, maybe the fourth time this week (without counting the times you knocked on his door) you are ready to give a pretty and polished version, with heels and all, because Mingyu is taking you to the new fancy restaurant across town.

"Hey-Wow" Mingyu says and you almost throw yourself at him, you almost drool and make a fool of yourself, because Mingyu is wearing black slacks and a white button-down, and god your boyfriend is so hot. "You look amazing babe." He says holding your finger up and making you twirl.

"Thanks," You give him a kick peck and spread your hands against his chest. "You don't look so bad either."

The restaurant is nice, the place is beautiful, the food amazing, and the wine Mingyu ordered tastes so good against your tongue. But the only thing you actually think of is him. His pretty skin pecking out of hir shirt collar, his pretty lazy smile against a few cups of wine, his strong arms and peck against the fabric of his shirt.

When you guys finally settle on the Uber, Mingyu does one of the things he does best - he thinks and conjures in his mind that every damn living thing is in love with you, and it is endearing really. He is so protective and caring and that makes you want to jump him too. He nods to the uber and his big ass hand rest on your thigh, just where the hem of your black dress ends.

And you want to kiss him so bad, if it wasn't for the Uber, you could probably ride him in the backseat. You tug Mingyu's arms making him bend a little in your direction, while your other hand is splayed on top of his, fingers interwind. You kiss Mingyu’s jaw and feel his arm up, god, he is so strong and so hard all over it makes you go crazy, makes you want to merge your body with his, so you just try to get closer to him even if you know it's not really possible.

“You smell nice,” You say almost sniffing Mingyu, hand on his biceps and face on the slot of his neck.

“I smell like I always do?” Mingyu answers you but is more a question really. His hand still on you thigh, but this time giving it a squeeze.

“Yeah, but you always smell nice, baby.” You hands travels up - stopping on his chest. Well, fuck the uber really, he probably sees couples feeling eachother up all the time, so you just paw Mingyu chest.

“Thanks babe but,” He says, holding your hand and giving you a chuckle when he sees you pouting on his shoulder.

“No fun.” You say still trying to get your hand free, to feel Mingyu up in the backseat like a fucking teenager. And to be honest you like the prospect of it giggling a little, feeling dumb, but oh so happy.

“No fun?” Mingyu asks you. “I’m the most fun guy you’ve ever met, I love fun. Fun and I are synonyms.”

“Well, I’m trying to feel you up in the backseat of an uber and you’re not letting me, so, you are the most boring guy ever.” You say on Mingyu’s ear, whispering the words, and you just see his body jerking. He starts to cough, looking at you disbelieved, and you do the only thing possible and laugh.

You take pity on Mingyu's situation, because he is almost choking on the backseat. So you behave like a little girl, hands on her lap, no more touching his boobs, or trying to lick his neck and jaw. But you still think about every other thing you want to do to him. You think about how Mingyu’s hands are big and the way he always put on the small of your back, and you question how it would feel against your neck.

You also want to discover every nook and cranny of Mingyu. Because you love the way he is so reliable in every aspects of adult-life that you struggle a little, he was the one that dealt with the new ac installation in your apartment, but you also love the way he gets so silly and pouts with the smallest and easiest things, and deep down you know Mingyu can do that task, he was big and strong, yet you were the one taking the grasshopper off his balcony.

But when Mingyu is glued to your back, hands on your hips and mouth on your neck on the elevator you think that you settle to discover this version of him today. The version that has you wrapped up in his arms, and the version that has the audacity to feel you up in the elevator.

“You are such a jerk.” You say to Mingyu still latched on your neck.

“Me?” Mingyu asks trailing his hand till they stop on your ribcages, fingers digging in.

"Yes, you." You say trying to get out of Mingyu's embrace but he’s just so clinging, glued to your back, and he is actually keeping you in place with his strong arms. "You can do everything and I can't feel up in the uber. It’s unfair."

"Baby, the uber was right there." Mingyus says guiding you though the hall and stopping on your door.

"Yeah and the crazy lady from the 07 can show up at anytime." You say trying to up your door but Mingyu hands are still on you, now on the hem of your dress, toying with it. "I really shouldn't you let get your way with me today."

"Don't even think about that." Mingyu says, hands again on your hips, this time he starts rutting against your back. "I might die." And you two almost trip when you finally open the door and Mingyu's body weight makes you go forward.

"Yeah, but I’m still mad with you." You say tugging on Mingyu's shirt, his large body pressing you against the wall.

"Baby’s mad?" Mingyu coos, and your legs almost give up because the condescending tone his uses make your brain stop. "What can I do then, hmm?" Mingyu says already lifting your dress up. "What can I do so my baby is not mad with me?"

So you do the only thing you think really, you put hands on Mingyu's neck and bring him to a kiss, it is sloppy but you don't even care, because Mingyu's lip feel so soft, and you can trace the taste of the wine on his tongue. And you are so distracted that you only realize Mingyu is getting you naked when he breaks the kiss to take off your dress.

"Fuck-" Mingyu says actually looking at you, hands on your waist holding you back enough so he can see the way that the black lingerie you bought a few days ago cling onto your skin.

"Come here." You say grabbing Mingyu's shirt again, wanting his mouth back on yours. But Mingyu cuts the kiss short again, leaving sloppy kisses on your jaw and neck. "Babe." You call again, hand going to his hair and tugging.

"I know, I know" Mingyu says kissing your collarbone. "Fuck-" He says taking a step back again and you can feel your body going in his direction, but Mingyu's hand steadies you against the wall. "Just- you look so pretty." Mingyu says looking at you and you’d almost feel shy if you didn't feel so needy. "Look at you." He says hand traveling to touch your boobs so fucking softly you almost melt, fingertips grazing against your lingerie.

"Babe," You whine again, trying to get Mingyu's attention, but he doesn't care, too lost kissing your chest.

"Fuck-" Mingyu says grabbing your hips, toying with your panty line. "Wanna eat you out so bad," He says like almost begging and you need to balance yourself on his shoulders. "You’ll let me right?" Mingyu says looking at you, eyes still against on your skin.

And you feel like your mouth is not working properly so you just give him a nod and it's enough for Mingyu trails his lips lower and actually kneel in front of you. And that alone should be fucking illegal, so when he plants a little kiss on your mound you think you are ready to go straight to hell because you just want to shove his face on your pussy, but instead you just hold Mingyu's face, hands on his jaw.

"I-" he starts, hands on your ass, fingers digging on your skin. When you look at him again he looks so out of it, so lost, so pussy drunk you can almost cry. And when Mingyu actually starts to lap at your pussy, your lingerie still in place you feel actually insane, clenching around nothing and the feel of your wet panties against your core makes you tug at his hair. The way Mingyu looks - eyes closed, hair a mess because of you, eyebrows furrowing in concentration makes your hips buckle against his mouth, but he just keeps going, like there is no other thought in his mind.

"Babe please I need-" You say breathing rapidly, and you feel the urge to cry again, because is so good but at the same time is not enough.

"Hm?" Mingyu says mouth still on you, eyes opening looking at you.

"Need more." You say pathetically, but if you need to beg, you will beg.

"Yeah?" Mingyu asks. "Gonna give to you baby." He says just so he can get his mouth off of you to tug your panties to the side. Then his mouth is on your pussy again, like he can't really spent more than two seconds apart. And you just mew, one hand on Mingyu's hair, and another one trying to keep your body straight against the wall. "Fuck-" Mingyu says again tugging at your panties to the side again, and you can feel it digging at your chest but you don’t care. "How can a pussy taste so good?" Mingyu asks but you doesn't really have an answer, and you feel Mingyu's strong hands on your leg, manhandled your into position, leg against his shoulder, hand splayed on your thigh, while the other one goes to your pussy opening you up. "Pussy’s so pretty fuck, could eat you out for days." He says almost breathless before going back to lap at your pussy, fingers still keeping your open and sucking at your clit.

And everything makes you feel insane. Of course Mingyu's tongue against your entrance makes your knees give up, of course the way he keeps you open for his mouth makes it so dirty, but whats really keeps you going, what makes you reach the edge so fast is the way he hums against your pussy, like it's his favorite thing in the world, the way he is so fucking desperately laps at it, the way the everytime your hips buckle Mingyu just follows the moviment because he can't take his mouth off you for a fucking second and it's what makes you cum. And you actually need to hold Mingyu's head for a minute so he leaves your pussy in other to you catch a breath.

"Need a minute," You say explaining when he looks at you puzzled. "Sensitive."

"Did you just-" Mingyu stops, looking at you and at your pussy making you laugh a little. "Did you just cum?"

"Yeah?"

"Fuck, you are so hot." He says giving the leg that still on his shoulder a bite. "But you can take more right?" He says fingers tracing your pussy, pressing your clit making you jump a little. "You need to take more babe, gonna eat your pussy again, open you up with my fingers," he says fingers on your entrance "and then will you make you come on my cock I know you will take so fucking well-" and he plants a kiss on you clit again. "Pretty pussy taking my cock hm? Gonna make you enjoy it, promise, gonna make you feel good."

And you don't doubt for a second that he will make you feel good, fuck he just made you cum against a wall two steps away from your door, but before you can say anything Mingyu is attatched to your pussy again.

"Wait, babe" Mingyu says. "This damn thing is getting on my way." He says letting your legs fall down and he finally takes off your panties, not even bothering to get really off of you, Mingyu just let one of your legs free while your panties sits on your feet. "God, if you let me, I will eat you out everyday, lick this pussy everyday before getting out of bed." He says like he is telling you about a new habits like drinking water first thing on the morning, or have a juice everyday - but he is talking about how he wants to bury his face on your legs like he is doing now, tongue going against your folders, arm going around your leg and opening you open again for him, while the other one goes to your ribcage keeping your body upright. And you loose track of time really, just focusing on Mingyu's tongue against you, humming all over again. "Fuck, how can a cunt taste so fucking good." Mingyu says mouth leaving your pussy as his fingers tacking its place. "You are making me insane, going to cum at my pants if we keep going like this." And you can actually see Mingyu palming himself.

"We can-" You try to start but he just chuckles.

"Oh no, don't worry about me." He says eyes leaving you and going again to your pussy, and you feel so exposed in Mingyu's hand, his digit finally entering you which makes you whimper, until know you didn't really paid attention on how empty you felt. "Making you feel good is enough for me." He says like he is not fingerfucking you to the second orgasm of the night. And again is not really the actions itself, of course. Mingyu’s longer fingers entering you is so fucking good, the way his thumb goes at your clitoris rubbing it in circles makes you cry, but when you look down and Mingyu barely blinks, eyes on your pussy and licking his lips like he didn't eat your pussy for minutes, is what makes you break, the way he looks so fucked blissed about giving you pleasure like he doesn’t need anything else.

And you come on his fingers and almost melting, but Mingyu lifts and holds you up, giving your ass a squeeze.

"So fucking hot-" Mingyu says his strong arms around you making you move towards the sofa, and you are pretty sure he is just dragging you around because your legs gave up. "Could use my mouth to clean you up-" and you almost scream when he is laying on the sofa, letting himself get comfortable between your legs.

"Babe, I love your mouth," you say tugging in Mingyus shirt, and how the fuck he is not naked. "but really I need your cock, otherwise I might go crazy." And you use your last few working neurons to start open the buttons on his shirt but suddenly stop when Mingyu just shoves two fingers inside you again.

"Hm, but you look stuffed enough baby." Mingyu says lowering himself and giving you a kiss, you feeling the taste of your pussy on his mouth.

"Mingyu, please" You beg. "Please, I-"

"Shh, it's okay, gonna give it to you." He says finally getting off his shirt and you feel so empty you can feel yourself clenching over nothing, and you can see how Mingyu just watches your pussy. "Fuck, baby, don't worry" He says already opening up his pants. "Gonna give to you real good, gonna make you feel so full."

"Oh, thank god." You say making him laugh before getting naked, and fuck, he was pretty and big all over. And you almost drool because, shit, even his dick is pretty. "Can I suck you off?" You ask already crazy enough that you mind-mouth filter just vanished.

"Oh fuck," Mingyu say hips buckling, making his cock sits on your mound, and he looks so big. Thank fuck he stretched you out. "Yeah, yeah not now though, might cum on your mouth."

"That's alright."

"Babe," Mingyus mewls, head resting on your collarbone, looking defeated. "Don't say things like that I almost-" He says hips buckling again. "Wanna fuck you properly."

"Ok, ok, but later…"

"Yeah, you can choke on it later, I won't be against it." And god, you want Mingyu to shut the fuck up because if he keeps talking to you, you’re gonna cum again without his dick inside you. "Fuck, might not last long" Mingyu says, and you almost laugh at him, because he is acting like you are not one step away from being spent just because of your mouth. Mingyu guides his cock with his hand, mouth watering looking at it, and when you feel hime ntering you you actually sees your boyfriend gulp.

And then you think about Mingyu saying how different you both are from each other. How his main sense is his vision, while for you, every touch sends you overdrive. And how both of you are so different but fit so well, because when Mingyu is fucking you, his body against yours, mouth at your jaw and hand holding yours, you feel like earth could collapse and the world could end because you already had the taste of the most important thing in the world; the taste of being loved by Mingyu, and you are sure nothing will come close to it.

You feel the urge to make Mingyu feel the same way, so loved and so cherished. So while Mingyu is fucking you, you try your best, you kiss his jaw - and it's messy and sloppy, but it's the best you can do when his dick is stretching you out. You claw at his shoulder, and you put your legs around his waits.

"Fuck, baby-" You try to speak again but you feel unable to, like your brain are not even trying to put more than two words together.

"I'm so fucking close." Mingyu says with his thrust getting faster, out of rhythm, body more pressed against yours.

And you just let the wave wash over you. You can feel Mingyu getting even more unruly, babbling things that you can't really make sense because, fuck, you are so gone. The way that he fills you up in every corner is just different, the way that he stretches you almost makes you feel like you arrived at a point of no return, and when you cum, clenching around him, Mingyu reaches his breaking point.

"Fuck-" He says getting off of you, and getting his hair out of his face, and his smile is so big, so beautiful and so lazy you could just kiss him if your limbs were working really.

"Hey baby, can you please take my bra off?" You say already turning on the bed but when Mingyu's laugh reaches your ears you are so fucking glad that you moved.

#kim mingyu fic #kim mingyu fanfic #Kim Mingyu Smut #Seventeen Fanfic #Sventeen Smut #Seventeen fic #T: seventeen #t: kim mingyu #t: writting

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probablyasocialecologist · 5 months

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Ex-Meta employee Madelyn Machado recently posted a TikTok video claiming that she was getting paid $190,000 a year to do nothing. Another Meta employee, also on TikTok, posted that “Meta was hiring people so that other companies couldn’t have us, and then they were just kind of like hoarding us like Pokémon cards.” Over at Google, a company known to have pioneered the modern tech workplace, one designer complained of spending 40 percent of their time on “the inefficien[cy] overhead of simply working at Google.” Some report spending all day on tasks as simple as changing the color of a website button. Working the bare minimum while waiting for stock to vest is so common that Googlers call it “resting and vesting.” In an anonymous online poll on how many “focused hours of work” software engineers put in each day, 71 percent of the over four thousand respondents claimed to work six hours a day or less, while 12 percent said they did between one and two hours a day. During the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, it became common for tech workers to capitalize on all this free time by juggling multiple full-time remote jobs. According to the Wall Street Journal, many workers who balance two jobs do not even hit a regular forty-hour workload for both jobs combined. One software engineer reported logging between three and ten hours of actual work per week when working one job, with the rest of his time spent on pointless meetings and pretending to be busy. My own experience supports this trend: toward the end of my five-year tenure as a software engineer for Microsoft, I was working fewer than three hours a day. And of what little code I produced for them, none of it made any real impact on Microsoft’s bottom line—or the world at large. For much of this century, optimism that technology would make the world a better place fueled the perception that Silicon Valley was the moral alternative to an extractive Wall Street—that it was possible to make money, not at the expense of society but in service of it. In other words, many who joined the industry did so precisely because they thought that their work would be useful. Yet what we’re now seeing is a lot of bullshit. If capitalism is supposed to be efficient and, guided by the invisible hand of the market, eliminate inefficiencies, how is it that the tech industry, the purported cradle of innovation, has become a redoubt of waste and unproductivity?

#meta #google #silicon valley #bullshit jobs #Innovation

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wolfliving · 7 months

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It starts with him

What was once a promise of technology to allow us to automate and analyze the environments in our physical spaces is now a heap of broken ideas and broken products. Technology products have been deployed en masse, our personal data collected and sold without our consent, and then abandoned as soon as companies strip mined all the profit they thought they could wring out. And why not? They already have our money.

The Philips Hue, poster child of the smart home, used to work entirely on your local network. After all, do you really need to connect to the Internet to control the lights in your own house? Well you do now!Philips has announced it will require cloud accounts for all users—including users who had already purchased the hardware thinking they wouldn’t need an account (and the inevitable security breaches that come with it) to use their lights.

Will you really trust any promises from a company that unilaterally forces a change like this on you? Does the user actually benefit from any of this?

Matter in its current version … doesn’t really help resolve the key issue of the smart home, namely that most companies view smart homes as a way to sell more individual devices and generate recurring revenue.

It keeps happening. Stuff you bought isn’t yours because the company you bought it from can take away features and force you to do things you don’t want or need to do—ultimately because they want to make more money off of you. It’s frustrating, it’s exhausting, and it’s discouraging.

And it has stopped IoT for the rest of us in its tracks. Industrial IoT is doing great—data collection is the point for the customer. But the consumer electronics business model does not mesh with the expected lifespan of home products, and so enshittification began as soon as those first warranties ran out.

How can we reset the expectations we have of connected devices, so that they are again worthy of our trust and money? Before we can bring the promise back, we must deweaponize the technology.

Guidelines for the hardware producer

What we can do as engineers and business owners is make sure the stuff we’re building can’t be wielded as a lever against our own customers, and to show consumers how things could be. These are things we want consumers to expect and demand of manufacturers.

Control

Think local

Decouple

Open interfaces

Be a good citizen

1) Control over firmware updates.

You scream, “What about security updates!” But a company taking away a feature you use or requiring personal data for no reason is arguably a security flaw.

We were once outraged when intangible software products went from something that remained unchanging on your computer, to a cloud service, with all the ephemerality that term promises. Now they’re coming for our tangible possessions.

No one should be able to do this with hardware that you own. Breaking functionality is entirely what security updates are supposed to prevent! A better checklist for firmware updates:

Allow users to control when and what updates they want to apply.

Be thorough and clear as to what the update does and provide the ability to downgrade if needed.

Separate security updates from feature additions or changes.

Never force an update unless you are sure you want to accept (financial) responsibility for whatever you inadvertently break.

Consider that you are sending software updates to other people’s hardware. Ask them for permission (which includes respecting “no”) before touching their stuff!

2) Do less on the Internet.

A large part of the security issues with IoT products stem from the Internet connectivity itself. Any server in the cloud has an attack surface, and now that means your physical devices do.

The solution here is “do less”. All functionality should be local-only unless it has a really good reason to use the Internet. Remotely controlling your lights while in your own house does not require the cloud and certainly does not require an account with your personal information attached to it. Limit the use of the cloud to only the functions that cannot work without it.

As a bonus, less networked functionality means fewer maintenance costs for you.

3) Decouple products and services.

It’s fine to need a cloud service. But making a product that requires a specific cloud service is a guarantee that it can be enshittified at any point later on, with no alternative for the user owner.

Design products to be able to interact with other servers. You have sold someone hardware and now they own it, not you. They have a right to keep using it even if you shut down or break your servers. Allow them the ability to point their devices to another service. If you want them to use your service, make it worthwhile enough for them to choose you.

Finally, if your product has a heavy reliance on the cloud to work, consider enabling your users to self-host their own cloud tooling if they so desire. A lot of people are perfectly capable of doing this on their own and can help others do the same.

4) Use open and standard protocols and interfaces.

Most networked devices have no reason to use proprietary protocols, interfaces, and data formats. There are open standards with communities and software available for almost anything you could want to do. Re-inventing the wheel just wastes resources and makes it harder for users to keep using their stuff after you’re long gone. We did this with Twine, creating an encrypted protocol that minimized chatter, because we needed to squeeze battery life out of WiFi back when there weren’t good options.

If you do have a need for a proprietary protocol (and there are valid reasons to do so):

Document it.

If possible, have a fallback option that uses an open standard.

Provide tooling and software to interact with your custom protocols, at the very least enough for open source developers to be able to work with it. This goes for physical interfaces as much as it does for cloud protocols.

If the interface requires a custom-made, expensive, and/or hard-to-find tool to use, then consider using something else that is commonly available and off the shelf instead.

5) Be a good citizen.

Breaking paid-for functionality on other people’s stuff is inherently unethical. Consider not doing this! Enshittification is not a technical problem, it is a behavioral one. Offer better products that are designed to resist enshittification, and resist it yourself in everything you do.

Nothing forced Philips to do what they are doing: a human made a decision to do it. They could have just as easily chosen not to. With Twine’s server lock-in, at least we chose to keep it running, for 12 years now. Consider that you can still make a decent living by being honest and ethical towards the people who are, by purchasing your products, paying for your lifestyle.

We didn’t get here by accident. Humans made choices that brought us to this point, and we can’t blame anyone for being turned off by it. But we can choose to do better. We can design better stuff. And we can choose not to mess things up after the fact.

We’re putting this into practice with Pickup. (We also think that part of an IoT reset is giving users the creative freedom of a general-purpose device.) If you’re looking for something better and our product can fill a need you have, consider backing us. We cannot claim to be perfect or have all of the answers, but we are absolutely going to try. The status quo sucks. Let’s do something about it.

Published October 15, 2023 By Jeremy Billheimer

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 1 month

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AITA for wanting to stay in an important team position?

(For reference: 🎮🎮🤖)

(Sorry for the long post and any bad grammar!!)

So i (16F) am in a robotics team at my school, we take part in a pretty big national and global competition called FIRST.

recently my team got through to national stages, which is a MASSIVE deal, not exactly an everyday occurrence.

Our robot requires two drivers, one for the main body, and one for the arm. The whole time we’ve had the robot working, i have been the arm driver (apart from a couple lunchtime sessions where other people tried it out briefly) and took part in the actual qualifying rounds. I’m also the CAD designer so i designed the claw part and know what i have to do to make it move in the correct fashion and not damage it. My friend Pen (not any real names ofc) is the main body driver and has spent so much time working on the robot no one is disputing her driving.

The problem comes in with two people - Plane and Bolt. I’ve never particularly gotten on with Plane, while ive been kind of neutral with Bolt. There’s no active hostile feelings with us at the moment, but they have been pretty aggressive to people in the past, gatekeeping roles and new people joining - they had a huge fight on the team group chat over it with my friend Keyboard. They also tried to stop Pen (who was originally doing software) and another person in our team (ill call her Remote) from being engineers, but im the end Plane and Bolt did none of the hard work, doing very easy things while Remote and Pen were left doing all the manual work on the body, while i attached the arm.

Both Plane and Bolt decided in the week before the qualifying event that they wanted to drive the arm, and that we should rotate at the event. Thankfully the supervising teacher got involved and told them no, i had put in the time, he guessed maybe they could try do some more practise before the national event. Me and Pen were drivers in that and are now in the top 19% of global drivers, which i am insanely happy about. Despite being ill the day of the event, Plane was the human player, which means you still get to be around the field while not directly touching the controllers or the robot, but can help.

The first session after the event, Plane comes up to me saying how badly she wanted to be the driver and she was going to put in the practise. I told her that I didn’t want to be mean, please don’t take this the wrong way, but it depends on what our teacher says, and really, it’s a matter of skill. Me and Pen have had the time practising together, it’s not a personal attack on you. The next event is only 8 weeks away (a lot of that is holiday) so im really sorry, but it’s not up to me. You’ll have to take it up with the teacher.

She was obviously not happy with this and walked out of the room without saying anything else. I’m panicking that I was too rude but she’s been far more aggressive to me before and I haven’t got super pissed at her for it?

The rest of the team apart from Plane and Bolt agree with me, and I really want to stay driver because honestly I enjoy it. It’s something im good enough at as well, and I don’t super enjoy just sitting in the audience feeling useless.

Tumblr, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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thesapphireprincess · 9 months

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Software Engineer 👩🏾‍💻

I recently learned that you can become a Software engineer without a degree. I found a free Introduction to software engineering course on YouTube. It was created by a computer science professor and he goes over everything that a beginner needs to know and what is learned in a full semester. I also found these free Harvard courses and after you complete them you can purchase a verified certificate. The certificate will look so good an a resume and it will show that you know the material.

💌 Being a Software Engineer isn’t the only option for a high paying job without a degree. This is just the one I am choosing.

There are so many resources online but after this I will most likely enroll into a software engineering boot camp since this is what most people do. I found that there are a lot of software engineers who do not have a degree but are still making a ton of money because the work is so valuable. I learned that you can get almost any 6 figure high paying job without a degree except in the medical field. This job will not be replaced by AI which is a relief.

The starting salary for an entry level position is around 70-80k in the United States as of June 2023. Even 60k would be great but there are people making 100-250k a year as a software engineer. The people who work at the big companies make even more than that.

This is a great way to set up your financial future. Imagine being able to save $1000-$2000 a month. Imagine where you’ll be at in 10 years. You can even use this as a starting base to set your life up financially. You’ll be able to afford to live anywhere in the world especially if you get a remote job. Places like San Diego, New York, London or Hawaii. You can afford the cost of living. You can afford to live in any of the major cities and have a really comfortable life. You will have lots of money that you’ll be able to multiply. You’ll actually be able to save up for a house and have actual money to invest. So many opportunities will be available to you. You can live below your means in the best way possible.

Personally I’ve always wanted to live by the beach in a city. By this time next year I’ll be living in a new city with a great high paying job. My current job will look amazing on my resume because I work side by side with engineers and technicians on a daily basis at a reputable company so I can totally jazz up my resume to sound really good. Which totally counts as ✨experience✨. I’ve been working here for a couple of years now which will look even better because it shows longevity.

I definitely plan on moving to San Diego or Hawaii next year when my lease is up. I will update y’all in a week on my progress.

#level up #self improvement #software engineering

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canyouiimagine · 5 months

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Showed Me | CS55 x Black!Reader (draft)

A/N: This is just a draft but I wanted to know if you guys like the use of I or You better 👩🏾‍💻 👉🏾👈🏾

I'm also planning on making this a series so, yeah 💖

Warnings: cursing, mean reader, mentions of cheating. (idk how to do this 😭)

Carlos Sainz was an asshole.

I knew it, she knew it, everybody knew it.

It wasn’t even like the man looked like an angel. Carlos looked the part and his actions told it all. He was selfish and narcissistic, but he was also charming, and that’s how he got away with everything.

Y/BF/N had met him at a party a year ago in Ibiza. It was love at first sight she told me. He had saved her from a guy who was harassing her and stayed with her afterward to make sure she was okay. He eventually drove her home not expecting anything in return and gave her his number in case she needed anything. Shortly after, they started dating.

To her, was sweet and caring. He flew her out places, bought her expecting gifts, and gave her his time whenever he could. But being an F1 driver, they were apart a lot. Sure, he would fly her out but it was different. They were in a secret relationship, something that he had managed to convince her she wanted, and so even when in the same city, the time they could spend together was limited.

To me, he was a prick who had convinced my friend that it would be better to keep their relationship a secret so he could feed her crumbs and use it as an excuse.

Carlos being an F1 driver, they were apart a lot. Sure she would sometimes attend the races - she was a software engineer and worked remotely so she could accommodate - but they couldn't even interact in public. They spent their time loving each other in secret. It was hard but worth it. Or so she thought.

After a year of dating that’s when she saw it. A girl had posted a picture at his house. She didn’t tag him or add the location but she didn’t need to for my friend to know. Of course she would recognize the house she spent half of her time in anywhere! Though she tried to reassure herself at first, after scrolling through the pictures she resigned herself. He had been cheating on her the entire time. There were pictures upon pictures of her at the same places she had been flown to, to meet up with her boyfriend. Hotels and homes they stayed at. And all with a week or sometimes even just hours she presumed of difference!

She didn’t even know who was the side chick, was it her or the other girl? Had he met the both of them at the same time? Were there other girls?

She cried on the phone explaining everything to me and I couldn’t resist the urge to say -

“I told you so.”

“Y/N! You’re supposed to be supportive! I gave him one year of my life. One year!” She cried out to me.

“I’m sorry…” And I really was. Y/BF/N was emotional. She was the type to wear her heart on her sleeve. She wouldn’t think ill of somebody until they did something bad to her, that’s why all of our warnings fell silent to her ears.

“He wasn’t a bad boyfriend. There was no way I could have suspected this.” She lamented. What she said was half true. He was a good boyfriend, always treated her very well but his actions were suspicious on more than one occasion.

For instance, they had this “ritual” if you will. They would call each other every night to talk about their day and whatnot. But sometimes he wouldn’t answer the phone and tell her he was busy with work but could be seen partying with girls later in the media. She would ask him about and he would say it was for business and he couldn’t say no because then they would suspect something and he wanted to protect her.

That was always his excuse.

“We can’t let him get away with this! We-” She said, all sadness gone from her face.

“We?” I asked, cutting her off. I didn’t remember this being a ‘we’ problem.

She glared at me and resumed what she was saying. “We -" she emphasized, "- have to make him pay!”.

She looked at me expectingly and I sighed.“What do you have in mind?”

Hearing that, she grinned, looking at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Like I said, Y/BF/N was emotional. She wanted revenge and revenge was what I did best.

#cs55 #f1 x black!reader #f1 fanfic #f1 imagine #black reader #carlos sainz #formula 1 #carlos sainz x black!reader #f1 scenario #carlos sainz jr

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freakartack · 5 months

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Got any HCs towards why half of the gang left WW Inc. during DIY? And what happned towards the brand new Micro game company?

I actually live for this workplace drama

Truly the short answer is "no" because I have no idea what he could have done to fuck up this bad. but if both mona and jimmy t jumped ship you KNOW it's bad.

These are all (in-universe) forum speculations so your salt grains may vary but something interesting about this is that one of them throws out that wario never did any work. Now wario is lazy and an asshole who never pays anyone but despite the fact that he's making money off of all his other friends' work, he HAS made his own microgames. In most games he's even made twice as many microgames as each of his friends (one set at the beginning and one set at the end). So what happened here? Was he refusing to make his own games this time? Did it come to light that he HADN'T actually made all those games? Did he plagiarize them? Did he outsource them? Are YOU, the player, partially responsible for this friend group schism? He certainly isn't above using his friends' assets after they left the company.

But you know who else isn't above profiting off of the demise of his social life?

DOCTOR CRYGOR!! Not only is he letting you, Wario's only employee prior to Showcase, use the makermatic engine, but he's ALSO supplying it to everyone in diamond software AND wario-man software. He's playing both sides for cash money!! No wonder wario is friends with him!

But crygor isn't even the only person who's profiting off of this. People in wario's life are quite literally coming out of the woodwork to make money off of this fiasco. I speak of none other than:

MASTER MANTIS!! Why is he here?? Smooth moves, the game he and cricket debut in, is a departure from the typical warioware storyline in that we're not even sure if anyone made any games. Rather than the typical "everyone pitches in to make this game for you" plot, there's all that jazz about ancient artifacts and allusions to people literally playing microgames in real life. (Or at the very least, having fun holding the wii remote in various positions. I don't judge.) Either way, there is no mention of either young cricket or master mantis being hired at warioware incorporated. So they would have had no horse in the race of its temporary dissolution.

UNTIL NOW!!!

MASTER MANTIS, YOU FUCKER!!

But not everyone is looking out for themselves in this game. SOME PEOPLE actually care about their friendships. SOME PEOPLE, whose friendships were unfortunately split up in a tragedy of indescribable proportions:

The fact that 9-volt left warioware inc is crazy in itself because he is easily in the top 2 wario fanboys. Equally crazy is the fact that he also broke up with his bestest buddy in the whole wide world. So what happened??

18-volt's post-boss break on diy showcase depicts 18-volt extending an olive branch of peace and being callously rejected by a devious-looking 9-volt. Of course, 18-volt made this cutscene. Despite this animation showing otherwise there is certainly enough to suggest that he's still at least somewhat bitter about whatever argument led to this:

So, what really happened? Obviously, wario committed a dick move of gargantuan proportions if 9-volt was mad enough to walk out. That being said, 9-volt has had ample opportunities to work with THE Wario. He worked on mega microgames, possibly mega party games depending on how you interpret it, twisted, touched...meanwhile, how many games did 18-volt make? It's not a stretch to imagine that a desperate wario went through his rolodex of "people he's heard of" and went to the guy that 9-volt talks about a lot, and 18-volt leapt at the opportunity to finally make a warioware game. Maybe he was also a little upset that 9-volt never tried to get him a job there to begin with. Meanwhile, 9-volt is probably pissed that 18-volt is doing the kiddie version of scabbing while he's still mad at wario. Truly painful stuff.

So how did they get back together?

Diamond software is run by Manager Joe. Manager Joe does not slack off. Manager Joe runs 5 businesses in one afternoon, and is so punctual that mona literally shoots at a fleet of police cars just to get to his workplace on time. You'll remember that wario, allegedly, never does any work. He slacks off. But you know who else loooooves slacking off?

I think that, unlike wario, manager joe actually tried to manage a game company. And NOBODY is used to that. Nobody is used to deadlines, or formal work meetings, or work emails (I said WORK emails, jimmy t), or anything that can't be accurately labeled as "hanging out with the boys". (Except for mona, who if you'll note in the last forum screenshot, has the best-loved games in diamond software. Mona's games are consistently really good anyways, but I wonder if in this case it's an indicator that she was more acclimated to the fast-paced work environments of manager joe.)

I think that's what made everyone come running back to wario. Manager joe is a nice guy, but despite everyone's qualms with wario they are all very wario-like. They jump at the chance to make a profit and they'll jump even higher for a chance to just goof off. And it just isn't the same without the guy who is exploiting their labor all the time. Toxic workplaces FTW!

#there's no drawings under the cut just me talking. A lot #not art

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nasa · 2 years

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Next Gen @ NASA: Celebrating National Intern Day

To celebrate National Intern Day, we asked interns to share how they got their internship and their perspective and advice to the next generation of prospective NASA interns.

Meet our interns and check out their suggestions for the next generation.

Sarah Kilpatrick, STDCE-2 Data Intern

Sarah is a summer Surface Tension Driven Convection Experiment Data Intern at NASA. Her inspiration for applying for an internship came from a passion for science from an early age. “I grew up in a family that liked, enjoyed and appreciated science and the fun of it all,” she recalls. “I grew up watching PBS, NOVA, and other science shows, so when I saw NASA had opportunities for students like me, I was very interested.”

Sarah’s advice to the next generation of NASA interns is one of perseverance and resilience.

Nicholas Natsoulas, Attitude Control Engineering Intern

Nicholas is a summer Attitude Control Engineering Intern at NASA. He wants to contribute to scientific innovation and discovery. “Overall, what inspired me to apply and come to work here was to contribute to the scientific exploration of space while learning about unique perspectives and innovative space discoveries.”

Nicholas’s advice for prospective NASA interns is to make the most out of your time here and to be a curious and eager learner.

“Use all the resources that are at your center and ask questions about projects you are working on. Don’t be afraid to talk to your mentor about your plans for the future and ask for any advice you may need, as they are more than willing to help you during your time here,” says Nicholas.

Nicholas and his mentor, Brent Faller, are using software to inform design decisions on a variety of spacecraft.

Nylana Murphy, former Additive Manufacturing Engineering Intern

As an American Indian College Fund ambassador and a Navajo engineer, Nylana Murphy hopes her internship story will inspire others to pursue a career in aerospace.

After attending the American Indian Science Engineering Society Conference, Nylana secured an internship in the additive manufacturing research laboratory at NASA Marshall.

“My internships have helped me get to where I am,” she says, “There is a career for everyone, where their dreams can become reality. Those dreams WILL become a reality.”

You might be wondering: what happens after a NASA internship Here’s what two of our former interns did.

Loral O’Hara, Astronaut, former intern

Lorel interned at NASA JPL in 2003, and at NASA Goddard in 2004. She earned science degrees from both the University of Kansas and Purdue University.

As a research and project engineer, O’Hara reported for duty in August 2017 and completed two years of training as an Astronaut Candidate. She is projected to fly in Soyuz missions as a NASA astronaut soon.

If she could go back in time, Loral says she would tell her younger self to enjoy the opportunities that come her way—and never stop looking for new ones. “Enjoy the whole journey of…figuring out what it is that you like to do and exploring all different kinds of things.”

Jeff Carlson, Assembly, Test, Launch Operations Engineer

The “7 Minutes of Terror” video piqued Jeff Carlson’s interest in working at JPL. He thought, "That's the coolest thing I've ever heard of. I've got to go be a part of that in some way." While interning at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he worked on Starshade, a sunflower-shaped device used to block starlight in order to reveal planets orbiting a star. Later, he went on to work on the team tasked with assembling and testing the “head” and “neck” (officially called the Remote Sensing Mast) for the Mars 2020 rover.

Want to join us in exploring the secrets of the universe? Visit intern.nasa.gov to learn more about open opportunities and requirements!

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

Credits: Isabel Rodriguez, Glenn Research Center intern and Claire O'Shea, Johnson Space Center intern

#NASA #space #student #STEM careers #NASA interns #internships

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goodnightmoonvale · 8 months

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The Ghost You Dressed Up As

I've been listening to Noah Kahan songs on repeat again (as one does) and I had an idea for an incredibly angsty NurseyDex AU based on the song "Halloween" by Noah Kahan.

The song is from Dex's perspective. (Evidence: the lyrics "I'm drinking my days with the coastal longshoremen / who've money to make and families back home"). He and Nursey dated in college, maybe just senior year, and it went badly.

Oh it was good for a while, sexy and explosive and passionate and all the things Dex had feared it would be. But graduation looms and he and Nursey have increasingly different ideas of what "after graduation" looks like for them.

Nursey wants to make it in the publishing world, working as an editor or something in a big publishing house. He, of course, has the money to be able to deal with the shit wages and shit hours this will entail, but he's very serious about his writing career.

Dex is torn. He'd always kind of secretly hoped he'd go pro, but there wasn't quite enough interest, so he was falling back on his plan of software engineer. But something happens and he's needed back home. (Parent gets sick? some other family crisis?). He moves back home to help out, completely derailing all the plans he and Nursey had had to move somewhere together. He picks up part time/remote coding work, helps out with the family business.

Nursey is furious. They have lots of incredibly passionate fights about it. Nursey thinks Dex's family is abusive and small-minded, thinks Dex doesn't owe them anything, thinks Dex will be wasting his life if he moves back home. Dex can't shake the bone-deep loyalty that "family" means to him, can't make Nursey understand it, because yeah, his family are pretty small-minded and petty and he has grown a lot more confident outside of their influence- but it's family, and that's not something Nursey understands.

It's a scorched earth breakup. Graduation day is an apocalypse, both of them walking away fully expecting to never see each other again. ("I'm leaving this town and I'm changing my address/I know that you'll come if you want")

Anyways you can pick your resolution - maybe they do manage to mend it. Maybe it ends as they have tentatively started talking again, trying yet again to understand each other and forgive each other for the things they said in anger.

If nothing else, you all should go listen to the song and tell me your thoughts:

youtube

also I'm tagging @labelleizzy @draskireis and @xiaq as people I know are definitely still into NurseyDex but of course I would like to hear thoughts from whoever has them

#omgcp #nurseydex #derek nurse #william poindexter #omgcheckplease #Youtube

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softwarereviewforall · 6 months

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Top 10 Work Management Software - G2.com

Sure, here is a longer version of my last answer that avoids repetition:

Work management software is a suite of tools that helps teams organize, track, and collaborate on projects and tasks. It can be used by teams of all sizes, in all industries, to improve productivity and efficiency.

Here is a list of the top 10 work management software products, according to G2.com:

Smartsheet

monday.com

ClickUp

Asana

Quickbase

Podio

GanttPRO

Teamwork.com

Screendragon

Scoro

These software products offer a wide range of features, including:

Task management

Project management

Collaboration tools

Time tracking

Reporting and analytics

They also integrate with a variety of other business applications, such as CRM, ERP, and HR software.

Benefits of Using Work Management Software

There are many benefits to using work management software, including:

Improved productivity: Work management software can help teams to be more productive by streamlining workflows, automating tasks, and providing real-time visibility into project progress.

Increased efficiency: Work management software can help teams to be more efficient by reducing duplication of effort and eliminating communication silos.

Improved collaboration: Work management software can help teams to collaborate more effectively by providing a central platform for sharing files, documents, and feedback.

Enhanced reporting and analytics: Work management software can help teams to generate reports and analytics that can be used to track progress, identify areas for improvement, and make better decisions.

How to Choose the Right Work Management Software for Your Team

When choosing a work management software product, there are a few factors to consider:

Team size: Some software products are designed for small teams, while others are designed for large teams. Choose a product that can scale with your team as it grows.

Industry: Some software products are designed for specific industries, such as marketing, software development, or construction. Choose a product that is tailored to the needs of your industry.

Features: Consider the features that are most important to your team. Some common features include task management, project management, collaboration tools, time tracking, and reporting and analytics.

Integration: Consider the other business applications that you use. Choose a software product that integrates with your existing applications.

Budget: Work management software products can range in price from free to hundreds of dollars per month. Choose a product that fits your budget.

Additional Tips for Choosing and Using Work Management Software

Here are a few additional tips for choosing and using work management software:

Get input from your team: When choosing a work management software product, get input from your team to understand their needs and preferences.

Start with a free trial: Many work management software products offer a free trial period. This is a great way to try out a product before you commit to buying it.

Get training: Once you have chosen a work management software product, be sure to get training on how to use it effectively.

Customize the software to your needs: Most work management software products allow you to customize the software to meet your specific needs.

Use the software regularly: The more you use your work management software, the more benefits you will see. Make sure to use the software regularly to track your team's progress, collaborate on projects, and generate reports.

How to Increase the Length of Your Last Answer

Here are a few tips on how to increase the length of your last answer without repeating yourself:

Provide more detail: When describing the benefits of using work management software, provide more detail about how each benefit can impact your team. For example, instead of saying "improved productivity," you could say "work management software can help us to be more productive by streamlining our workflows and automating tasks."

Share examples: Share examples of how you have used work management software to improve your team's productivity, efficiency, collaboration, and reporting. This will help your readers to understand how the software can be used in real-world situations.

Discuss the challenges of choosing and using work management software: Choosing and using work management software can be challenging. Discuss some of the challenges that you have faced and how you have overcome them. This will help your readers to learn from your experience.

Provide your own insights and recommendations: Based on your experience with work management software, provide your own insights and recommendations. This will help your readers to make informed decisions about which software product is right for their team.

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millerflintstone · 11 months

Text

It's been a while since I've pushed myself to do something out of my comfort zone for career related purposes. In my mid to late 20s, it was getting out recruiting and recruiting related admin work and getting into something technical. I started learning object oriented programming at a community college after work hours to see if I liked it and no one was more surprised than me that I did like it. I made a career switch into software engineering right before I turned 30. Was an intern and everything.

In my 30s, it was getting really good at that. I aimed to get to a senior level and ended up focusing on a specific niche and carving out a path to get better at that. Then I kind of got myself stuck in healthcare software development land because it offered me remote work back when that wasn't a popular option. It helped me deal with financial crap related to my mom and sister and provided flexibility. I really love working remotely but I also got a chance to travel a bit and learned I was good at being a consultant. I did enjoy a lot of the problems I helped solve across the different places where I worked. But travel gets old. I did that for a decade until about 2019 and that last consultant job became full-time and then turned into the TX job from hell.

The one good thing about the TX job from hell was that I got exposure to more Microsoft development things like Visual Studio, SSIS, SSMS. But I do often wonder if I didn't feel the responsibility towards my mom and sister if I would have gotten out of my the hell I let myself get into a lot sooner than I did with regards to the industry and type of software development. My burnout really started when I stopped attempting to challenge myself. Or maybe the fact that I stopped attempting to challenge myself was a sign of that burnout starting? IDK.

Anyway ...

With the content writer / reviewer thing, I've gotten exposure to Python and I've gotten good at testing short scripts. I haven't really had to work my brain, though. But it has been nice to feel that excitement again.

However, with my first official technical writing project, which kicked off on Tuesday, I kind of got into panic mode the past couple of days. I noticed I was avoiding really starting on it because I was terrified I'd hate it or that I'd feel completely overwhelmed, like I did at the last job that did the whole bait and switch on my role and its duties. I realized what I was doing though. It felt akin to self-sabotage and maybe it is that in part. Today was really tough and I was texting Unfriendly about it to voice it because I was so frozen. I identified that I had to start getting out of it by calling it out. Naming it. Not tricking myself into doing other shit, though I had been doing other shit to avoid it. I had to ask myself WHY I was doing this other shit when the thing I had been really wanting to try was in front of me.

Now that I've been working on the project for the past hour, another part of my brain has kicked in that I haven't really had to use since my English major. It's not something I'm bad at, but I recognize that I am rusty. And it is at least slightly more interesting to me than the torturous class section I had on the Romantic Poets in undergrad, so there's that I guess.

#jobs 2023

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papaver-decervicatus · 9 months

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Headcanons- Simon "Ghost" Riley

Sorry in advance, these are the least organized by FAR and the longest because Roach is my all time fav COD character so a lot of Simon's is just "this is how I would put roach in the story :)" and I also love tattoos and piercings so

Birthday December 22nd, 1993

Early life

The calculation used for his birth year was that he would have been about 29 during the events of MW2 (he enlisted at 17 in 2001, so in 2013 during MW2 he would’ve been about 29.) Therefore, 2022-1993 would be 29 years old during the MWII campaign.

Born in a small rural village outside of Manchester, but moved to the city when he was 10.

His mother, Meredith met his father, Paul at a music festival in Manchester and became pregnant shortly after.

She had Simon at 17 and married Paul, 23, at the urging of her devoutly Protestant parents once they found out she was pregnant.

His father was a construction worker, and was terribly abusive to his family, his mother never had a job or a way to escape because she was practically abandoned by her family after Simon’s birth.

Tommy was 4 years younger.

Undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder. Mostly manifests in masking, sensory issues, unwillingness to break schedules, etc.

I consider most of the Ghost comic canon, except moved up to the appropriate time.

Specialty Section: Roach

I can't wait for this all to need a rewrite in November

Grew up with Gary Roach Sanderson. Some headcanons about Gary include

Is not deaf, but both of his parents are so he almost exclusively communicated in BSL as a child.

Simon was one of the “weird kids” from a combination of his autism and abusive home life. The two got put together on a project once and were inseparable ever since.

Gary definitely always had more energy but Simon was the more outgoing of the two. Simon used to be a very outgoing, casual flirt to the point that Gary would have to drag him away from parties. (The personality of MW2 Ghost, very talkative.)

The two are like brothers. They enlisted at the same time.

Simon and Gary got into some minor teenage shenanigans, drinking, smoking at school, playing truant, etc. they both were definitely the sort of kids that went under the radar, nothing special.

Gary got his name Roach from escaping various explosions relatively unscathed, which led to the joke “only a nuke could kill Roach”.

Unfortunately, this was not the case. Roach lost both his left arm and leg in an IED explosion of which he was the only survivor. He retired from combat after this and now works remotely as a radio technician and software engineer for the SAS in Manchester.

Ghost genuinely considered retiring to help take care of Roach, but Roach wouldn’t let him. He knows Simon can’t really live in a civilian setting anymore.

Ghost lives with Roach when on leave and not doing other things. He the only person outside of the army he really considers a friend that knows his full story.

Brief and nonspecific timeline

As a private, was under Price’s US friend for a few missions. Put in a good word and had him and Gary sent to Price.

Met Price as a corporal, at the time he was charismatic, flirtatious, and generally outgoing after he got over his initial month or so of shyness. Was in Price’s squad for a mission along with Roach.

Went back and specially trained with prices US sniper friend. This is where Simon met Alex as well.

All of her Snipers got names based on “pest animals” (affectionately named “Pest Patrol” or “The Critter Corps” by graduates and Price.)

Gary got Roach for being able to bounce back from any explosion

Alex got Cotton Mouth because he casually picked one up and broke its neck during training once

Simon got the name “Possum” because he was incredibly skilled at “playing possum” or playing dead. Survived multiple really tight missions for his ability to blend in with corpses.

Went to a different squad, gains his Lieutenant rank

Roba happens, Ghost is born.

Captain Price pulls a lot of strings for Simon to make "the Ghost" a tenable position. This makes Price a lot of enemies out of higher-ups but he doesn’t give a damn.

Ghost and Roach are put into a squad together not with price. Work together for three or so years before the IED that wounds Roach.

Roach retires. Ghost bounces around positions because he’s legally “an asset” and not a man anymore.

Task force 141. Knows Gaz for about a year before he meets Soap in Las Almas.

General

He is triggered by Christmas and the holiday season, he found his family massacred on his birthday so neither Christmas or his Birthday are a positive association anymore.

The only person who’s given him a birthday or Christmas present since the massacre is Gaz, which didn’t upset Ghost like he thought it would. Mostly because Gaz didn’t know and Ghost couldn’t have expected him to.

Does not have any technology besides a cellphone and a computer he is required to for his job. The only three non-work related numbers in his phone are his tattoo artist/piercer, Roach, and his therapist

He genuinely enjoys gardening and baking but doesn’t do them frequently because of his life status.

Has a terrible, terrible, terrible sweet tooth, when he can get away with it. When no one is around this man is putting 5 heaping tablespoons of sugar in his tea, but no milk. Never milk.

Doesn’t like hard or sour candy, but does enjoy chocolate and biscuits.

He can, and will, and frequently does, eat all three meals in one sitting. He will eat 400 grams of protein in 4,000 calories in 20 minutes. He eats alone in his room because this shit terrifies people.

Endothermic body build, he’s built like a rugby player. His musculature is not “lean and mean” he is built like a discus thrower.

VENUS DIMPLES

When in public only wears a black surgical mask so as not to frighten others

It’s specifically to cover his Glasgow smile and lip scarring, which is prominent on his lower face

Jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, trainers, the occasional football-themed jersey or cap, nothing special

He has a fake civilian identity that not even Price knows the details of for anonymity's sake.

Has a full sleeve of tattoos and also a patchwork arm sleeve

He's actually famous in the Manchester tattoo scene as a lot of apprentices' first human canvas, under his fake civilian name of course.

Originally he got the war sleeve after his first deployment but went back after he became Ghost to get a tattoo over Roba’s name that was burned into him

The first tattoo artist asked him what tattoos he wanted on the wall and he said “All of 'em.”

His current tattoo artist is a scarification expert, she helped him design a piece to cover Roba’s name on his left hip, it’s a memorial piece to his family with the names “Merideth, Tommy, Beth, and Joey” held on a scroll by an Angel with the massacre date in Roman numerals

He continues to go back to this artist whenever he wants new ink, she is also his piercer. He does not care about his body and the ink on it, so she tries to schedule apprentices with him as their first because he can sit well/is not picky about his ink.

She sends him various pieces of body jewelry for his piercings at random under the guise of “let me know how this goes, wanna know if I can recommend it” etc but it’s really because she cares about him but also knows he won’t let her get him gifts for no reason.

A massive picture of his pierced nipple is in her shop as an example of her work

Has a shitton of piercings including but not limited to:

Quadruple lopes

Two conch

Rooks

Helix

Flats

Industrial (left only)

Bridge (taken out, since healed)

Tongue

Smiley

Lower lip (taken out, since healed)

He’s missing his left nipple, so he has both a vertical and horizontal nipple piercing on his right

4 Jacob’s ladder

Prince Albert's

Ghost wanted a married life and a family before Roba but does not anymore. He intends on dying in the field, he does not think about kids or retirement or alternative careers or dating. He loved Joseph and Tommy and Beth and his mum with all his heart and was a little jealous of the happy companionship they'd found for themselves, he stopped wanting it when he realized how quickly it could be taken away.

Typically avoids attachments because he knows how “loose ends” can end up harming loved ones. He has failed at this, very very very badly.

Ghosts most toxic trait is that he is falsely cynical. He will tell himself til he's blue in the face that he doesn't really care, it doesn't really matter, he doesn't really deserve love, that it's just not important when in reality he cares deeply. Caring is a liability so he tries very hard to cut that part of his brain out, he works out, he doesn't socialize, he avoids attachments because he is convinced he will ruin it for others. He doesn't even know what it is, until it's too late, just like how it took Johnny in Las Almas almost dying for him to open up to him.

Talents, special bonds, ETC

Trained to be a butcher in high school, before he and Roach joined the army. He retained his butchering and knife skills from this time.

Phenomenal aim, he can throw even the least aerodynamic thing and it will hit it's target.

He is a great baker, but a terrible cook besides grilling. No one knows its him, but he will leave trays of fresh baked goods in base rec-rooms.

Surprisingly, he is the softest on recruits when they mess up. He has an uncannily calm ability to diffuse most any situation and turn it into a learning experience, he also will not tell Price if he doesn't think it's that bad.

The inverse of this is if it's bad, his explosion about it is fucking bad.

Kids gravitate towards him and when push comes to shove he is great with kids. He is not terribly comfortable around children but kids love him. Its bittersweet because they remind him of Joey.

Is incredibly close with both Gaz and Soap but in different ways. He sees them both as reflections of him and Roach. As much shit as he gives them, he could not see himself without Gaz's quiet and calm understanding helping him remember how to be human or Soap's loud and explosive personality helping him remember just what being alive feels like.

Price may see Ghost as an equal, but Ghost does not see Price as one, he considers Price very far above him in every possible way. He does not know what Price sees in him.

#navigation -> headcanon tag #simon ghost riley #cod mwii #ghost mwii #gary roach sanderson cod #roach cod

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artichokefunction · 2 months

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the mission is simple. that's a lie. this mission is really easy to fuck up, because it's so reliant on timing. there are three factors here within your control; yourself, your agent, and the acorn. you need to get acorn into this building's server room, so that she can do her job, and steal the financial documents she needs from this organization. the agent's job is to make sure you two don't get shot at, and your job is to make sure nothing explodes. simple. not simple at all, really. but you can do this. you've got this. probably. whatever.

you've just seen the agent off, it's gone in through the vents, and you and acorn are going in through the rotating glass doors at the front of the building, like fools. not like fools. this is part of the plan. you are undercover, as software specialists, here to fix the mysterious security bug that showed up in their financial database recently. the one that you planted. but they don't know that. you did a pretty good job with that one, honestly, but there's only so much you can do remotely without getting caught. much easier to do damage up and close. also much easier to get caught. fuck. you aren't getting caught, right now, because you don't look like scary hackers. you look like somewhat gay software engineers, which is mostly true. you don't actually know what degree acorn has. it might be accounting??? you forgot to ask, and now is not the time. but it would explain why she's so good at the financial end of the business. you walk up to the front desk, and you try to act harmlessly nervous, like you're supposed to be here, you just got lost. and it works, the receptionist gives you the keycard you need. you thank her, and you follow the acorn into the big fancy elevator. the ride is silent, but the acorn glances at you several times, like she wants to go over the mission plan. she doesn't, because she knows how easy it is to install cameras in buildings like this.

the elevator ride is long enough, it gives you a moment to breathe. then it comes to a very jarring stop, slams your jaw into place all wrong. you would think they'd have good control systems in a building this fancy and high-budget. flashy but ineffective. that checks out with what you know about their software infrastructure, honestly. that's a good sign for this whole mission. you walk down the hallway, and you remember to look nervous and ordinary, and the acorn follows you. a guard points you to the server room you need. they look distracted, honestly. like they need a smoke or something. acorn goes and plugs her laptop into the first server she sees, and sits down on the floor to start working. you're a bit more subtle, you think. or, that's your part of the job. to remember things like this. with her down low like that, there's one camera to be concerned with. you stick to the wall, just about out of its view, you think, and you reach up to stick an interruptor on. the ceilings are low as hell in here, cramped and buzzing little space, full of beautiful data. you sit down next to the acorn, and you pull out your laptop to look like you're doing your 'job', and you intercept the security camera feed. you grab the latest clip, of the two of you sitting peacefully, and you loop it. nothing out of the ordinary. even the timestamp is displaying as normal. you're so good at this. nothing is exploding. hoorah. oh, you should tell the acorn that. you give her a thumbs up, all clear, and she shuffles herself deeper into the maze of servers. you launch an application to keep an eye on all the data moving in and out of this server room. ach, no wait that's way too much to process at once, you can't think that fast. you filter out all the redundant boring stuff. ok that's readable. now you can see when a server tries to announce that it's being read/modified, and catch the message before it gets out. you also catch the automatic security cam refresh, and make sure it continues to loop the footage of you two acting unsuspicious. you are holding down the fort. you are doing a good job. you are not getting distracted. you wonder what the agent's up to. you open up two separate new encrypted channels, to make it as hard as possible for anyone to spot what you're doing, and then you use one to ping the agent for its location. turns out it's right above you, just chilling in the vents up there. vibes, okay. nothing has gone wrong yet. you don't want to get complacent. you use your second empty channel to get access to the cameras in the hallways just outside. it's a finicky job, but you do get in. just in time, actually. the guards shift has changed, and the new guy seems more attentive then the last one. that's not ideal for you. you try your cam footage looping trick again. it's a bit tricky, because you don't have any interruptors out there, you need to use the one in-point you have to the cam network to get to the ones you want. oh wait shit. have you got it. yes you have. epic. epic. okay. here's the acorn. she's shaking your shoulder gently to get your attention. you got absorbed in your work. that happens a lot. she gives you a thumbs up, along with her normal somewhat blank stare.

you want to make everything look smooth and not obviously weird as you leave. so you tell her to sit next to you again before you stop the footage loop on this camera. perfect. not perfect, she's on the other side of you now. whatever, they probably won't notice. maybe. time to get out of here. you get up and go out the door and the acorn follows. that guard is dead. one shot to the head. acorn latches onto your arm when she sees the body. you turn around to look at the vent just above the door and the agent is there, unscrewing the silencer from its pistol. it gives you a thumbs up. you try not to laugh at that.

[time to get going] you say, one of the only things you've said aloud this mission, somehow. you walk acorn over to the elevator. she still looks freaked out. you want to distract her.

[you should dye your hair again, the green looked nice]

[Oh! Thank you. Uhh, I've been meaning to, but my landlady got mad at me the last time I got dye all over the shower. I've also been busy, bleaching it is such a pain...]

the two of you chat about hair colors as you return the keycard to the front desk, and you exit the building without incident. mission complete, almost, very nearly. you have your laptop open, disconnected from everything but the camera system. you're just waiting on the agent. where is it. where is it. oh god where THERE perfect okay. you turn off the looping video in the hall with the body and you disconnect from the buildings network and the agent is in the truck safe and sound and you drive away just as an alarm starts going off inside the building. mission success. ohhh my god. you laugh, and drum your hands against the steering wheel. you take a route that'll make you hard to track, while the acorn thinks out loud about her next steps, data processing and communicating with clients and maybe also blackmail, stuff of that nature. you can see the agent in the back, cleaning its guns. you're all good. mission success.

#[fiction]#[category: the agent & the handler]

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doctorcrusher · 4 months

Text

spent way too much time on a hiring exercise this weekend but I'm hoping the amount of effort gives me the final push over the edge to get offered this job. I connected really well with the guy who would be my boss in my last interview so I'm cautiously optimistic but aware there may be candidates who are just more qualified than me. it's a web & product developer position w/ a small nonprofit that also involves doing some database and tech support stuff. base pay would be around 75k a year (not nearly as much as my fancy software engineer friends make but way more than I was making at my last job), fully remote, 2k home office stipend, 90% of health insurance premiums covered, unlimited PTO, 401k matching, genuinely seems like a nice place to work (I don't want to reveal too much but it's a nonprofit that runs job training/certification and placement programs for a very necessary job in a non-tech industry)...god I'm trying not to get my hopes up but this would be so good

#wailing and gnashing my teeth rn

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