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#jan from the office is that you
yoursghouly · 8 months
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Source: SatanGuy_2020
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imwritesometimes · 1 year
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the whole ~omg I don't want to have to watch 1 or 2 episodes of bobf to be caught up with mando~ argument doesn't exactly hold up if the same person will literally watch 30 movies to be caught up with marvel shit....
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yellow-yarrow · 1 month
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auuugh i have to sent a bunch of emails, hell on earth
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supercantaloupe · 1 year
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i have to ask maestro tonight at rehearsal how he wants me to audition cause the website is, naturally, completely useless with information about it
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nempne · 4 months
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𝘊𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘊𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴
Yeah… It's just we're putting new cover sheets on all the TPS reports before they go out now… So if you could go ahead and try to remember to do that from now on, that'd be great…
-Office Space (1999)
§5
26 swatches
grey and white borders, thin and thick varieties for each
3 texture styles for each; high texture, low texture, and dots
available in rectangular and square
dirty/dusty/stained options
filed under MISC
simsfileshare download - updated 9 Jan '24
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tips, details and other stuff:
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tip: try using rectangular tiles with light borders in manufactured homes like mobile homes.
tip: for stained tiles of better variety, alternative between the dirtiest swatches and the yellow-toned ones (they're next to each other in the catalog, the last swatches)
I started this many months back (right when we got the news of editable ceilings!), and I'm just now finishing them because I'm slow and I'm trying to wipe out all my simple projects at the moment to work on something bigger and more challenging.
My lights aren't ready yet, I'm still working on what I want from them. In the meantime, check out these!: Classic Ceiling Lamp Set by DOT
late edit!: if you want to dirty these up way more, please feel free!! just let me know and also don't paywall it?? i'm pretty friendly so don't be scared to send me a message.
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slut4jeon · 2 months
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Everybody knows I’m a good girl, officer (jjk)
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Officer!Jk x fem reader
Summary: Tiredly calling it a night after attending your workplaces celebration New Year's Eve party. You may have or not ran through a stop sign foolishly thinking no one would have been around to witness it…oh how wrong you were
Warnings: mature (18+), smut, degradation, unprotected sex, Voyeurism, don't read this if this does not interest you!! You have been warned!
I had this prepared early Jan but tumblr didn’t save my writing :(( so I gave up on it lmao. I also really wanted to write smth w tsx jungkook. The police trend w the Lana song gave me inspo for this although the actual trend isn’t in the fic.
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You were calling it a night, exiting the noisy building that is your workplace. There was a currently a party in the building where your coworkers were celebrating the New Year's.
You were tired. The loud music and chatters annoying you. You chose a safer route tonight, sticking to sparkling cider since you were driving yourselves home tonight.
The cold air hitting your bare skin leaving goosebumps over your entire figure as youstep out into the windy area heading towardsyour parked car.
That's the consequence of wanting to look good and presentable for a celebration, you of course always look stunning. It doesn't hurt to get ready. You were currently sporting a black ysl mini along with a deep v neckline and a pair of matching black pumps. The shoes, also annoying by how sore they left your feet.
Black heels clicking onto the floor as you begin entering your car as you drove into the pitch black night. Admiring the way the twinkling city lights look, along with the lit up buildings and lampposts. You got a little too carried away when you were oblivious to the stop sign you foolishly didn't stop and passed by.
Regret lingered in your chest as you panicked over your foolish action. Perhaps you'd be fine as it is the late night and no cars were present, oh how wrong you were.
The sound of a police siren began ringing as the bright red and blue lights gaining up on the tail of your car. You pulled onto the side of the road swiftly and put your car in park. Your trembly hands gripping both hands onto the steering wheels most definitely leaving your palms and knuckles white. That's when you heard 3 knocks on your left side window.
"Shit" you muttered. Feeling a rise of mixed movement in your lower belly as you begin lowering your window. There you met the gaze of a handsome officer.
"Driving late on New Years Day? When everybody's drinking and celebrating tonight. License and registration." He spewed with a hint of sarcasm.
"Yes, of course." Your hand quickly traveled to your glove compartment pulling out the documents. Then, pulled your license from your clutch.
As he inspected you couldn't help but gaze at him. His raven black sleek parted hair showing off a bit of forehead. His black button up dress shirt that was tucked in the matching black jeans, and rolled up from the sleeves stopping before the elbows to show off his meaty arms that were covered in artworks of tattoos.
The stern look he holds as looking at your documents. The burrowed brow and line wrinkles in between the brows. He was attractive, godly attractive.
"Step out the vehicle for me" he said. You did as told
You couldn't help but gaze at him. He was an attractive specimen. But soon you were ripped out of your thoughts.
"Walk along that yellow line"
"Officer I'm not drunk or anything of the sor-" you were interrupted
"You were given instructions. I expect you to follow them." he bluntly said
Obeying his words you stepped foot onto the yellow line. The cold air doing you no justice as you were trembling from it.
What you weren't aware of was how he stared at your ass that was threatening to spill out of the little piece of flimsy material you call a dress.
Turning around, his gaze caught you off guard at how he stared at you as a helpless little fawn about to be hunt down by a hungry wolf.
"I'm gonna pat you down. Step right by the car for me, palms flat onto the vehicle", he demanded.
Swiftly obeying, you got into position. Beginning his pat down inspection from head to toe. His muscular hands roamed over your body. You wondered whether your goosebumps was from the cold wind or his slithering fingers tracing over your open skin.
As he got lower and lower, padding the waist and soon hips he made sure to grope onto your flesh just in case of any dangerous possessions.
You were a whimpering mess, biting into your bottom lip to suppress any noise coming out of your mouth. The attractive officer had an effect on you. Especially when passing your thighs and ankles, rising back to the top his movement slowed as he reached back to your thighs.
You let out suppressed mewls as his fingers inched towards your inner thighs. Your legs were gonna give up at any threatening moment. You questioned whether he caught onto your reaction to his touch.
His fingers were dangerous close to your soaking cunt. You were took aback at his touch you could not longer suppress the noises that urged to come pass your lips. Your heat was aching for his touch.
He took notice to your glistening folds in with your juices threatening to spill out of your wine red lace panties. The officer could no longer resist the temptation of the sweet treat in front of him.
Riding your dress a bit up his face inched closer to your cunt, nose and all. Hooking his fingers onto your panties and pushing them aside, he ate you out from behind. Your knees about to give in as he ate your pussy like a starved man. His tongue lapped over your clit playing with the cute bud left you a whiny mess.
"Please” you voiced out quietly
How cute, the officer thought. His fingers lathered your juices, leaving them coated and dripping. The sudden intrusion of his long fingers intruding into the tight ring of your hole.
With your mouth agape, your mind was left into a frenzy at how good the officer worked his fingers into your soaking cunt.
"Clenching onto my fingers, aren't you a little eager thing?", he said
You looked back to him to see his pretty pouty lips all swollen and tinted from eating you out. Your juices trailing down his chin and neck. He looked too edible.
He sensed you were near as your gummy walls clamped onto his fingers. Quickly pulling them out and robbing you of your release you mewled at the empty feeling.
You were a minx he thought. His cock hardening and imprinting his jeans. The feeling got only tighter as his fingers savored the taste of your pussy juices that coated his index and middle.
He needed more. Turning your body swiftly around the officer face to face with you connected both mouths together. His hands sneaked onto your hips and lower onto your ass making sure to grip the plumpy flesh.
You couldn't help out moan into his mouth as you both were in ecstasy. You needed more.
"Need to fuck that pussy, will you let me pretty thing?", who were you to deny him?
Eagerly nodding your head in confirmation. "Words, pretty", the officer said
"Please fuck me", you said in a desperate manner. That's all it took for him to roughly turn you around and begin grinding his hard length into your ass.
Desperate for friction you pushed out for him, like a bitch in heat. Your dress being a nuisance for him he unzipped you, freeing your bare body to be in display of his hungry eyes.
You wore no bra as the dress had padding, all you were left in was your wine lace panties. His lips traveled from your neck to breasts. Scattering marks as if he were leaving burns.
The way his teeth clamped onto your bud, sucking and pulling. Something about the way you were fully bare at his mercy as he remained fully clothed while he played with your pussy had you rubbing your thighs together.
"Officer please, fuck me!", you could no longer take it.
He smirked at your eagerness. Finding it humorously cute at how much of a cock hungry whore you are.
Your ears perked at the noise of him fumbling with his belt. His cock sprung free fully erect as he began aligning it to your entrance.
"O-oh! Fuck.., officer!", you blabbered incoherently as the intrusion of his length stretched your hole.
"-shit, such a tight little pussy", his pace greedily fastened.
You were a mess. All that was heard in the quiet night was the way he rammed his cock into your pussy. Balls slapping against your clit.
"Such a whore you are, aren't you? You like getting rammed from behind by an officer out in the outdoors?" he said as he continued abusing your cunt.
"Who would've thought a pretty thing like you was such a dirty slut, huh?" Your walls clenched by each word coming out of his filthy mouth.
"yes!yes!yes!", he fucked you deliciously good, your orgasm threatening to approach with his current pace.
You were cock drunk. Barely paying any kind of attention to the fact you were getting rammed out in public. Any person or car could pass by but your mind would only be focused on the way his dick drilled at a relentless speed.
His fingers sinked to your clit, rubbing your bud provoking your body to tremble in ecstasy of how he worked wonders on your body.
"Sir, i-it's too much!"
"You can take it ,baby. Milk my cock, make a mess.”
His words were perfectly on cue. Creaming his cock in your release. Falling limp into his arms. His release wasn't too far off yours. Head leaning into your neck as both of your panted. Silence went on for a few minutes before he helped with re-dressing you.
The officer broke the silence, "So, the names Jungkook. Could we perhaps exchange numbers, I'd like to take you out sometime soon.”
- end
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lostboywriting · 3 months
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OHHH, I just thought of something.
It's been bugging me that Norris, Chester, and Augustus started speaking around a year ago, and I've been wondering about the significance of that timing. At first I thought maybe it was some consequence of whatever RedCanary stumbled into at the Magnus Institute, because that was a bit over a year and a half ago--we know from the case numbering system that the episodes are taking place in the present day (episode 2 was taking place on Jan 18 2024; note for my fellow US folks that the dates are the UK standard with day first, not month). And from the dates on the forum posts, RedCanary's series of unfortunate events was in April 2022.
BUT based on their case numbers, which give the date the case's events happened even if that's not said in the episode, all the incidents Sam has looked at so far were from mid 2022. They're not perfectly grouped together; the dolls and Arthur and RedCanary were all April through May 2022, while Daria's therapy appointment was September--that last one's a bit of a jump, but it could have happened depending on how cases are being allotted among the various workers. But they're all close enough that it's a plausible assumption, I think, that FR3-D1 is generally finding these things roughly as they're posted and then adding them into people's queues for review. This would mean they're at a current backlog of around a year and a half. (Looking at you, Gwen...)
If that's the case, and if the OIAR's workers have been maintaining a roughly constant rate, then around a year ago they would probably have been reviewing a lot of cases that FR3-D1 found in early to mid-2021. Which means they'd have been opening files that have been sitting in their database untouched since that time.
MAG200 aired on March 25, 2021.
Whether Chester and Norris are a Ushanka'd JMart, or something resulting purely from Annabelle Caine's manipulation of their voices, or something else entirely... l don't know. But I am betting that they didn't start as part of the system, like Colin thinks they did. I think there was some direct consequence of MAG200's events which led to them being embedded in a post that FR3-D1 scraped up, and that they simply weren't activated and "let loose" until some unknowing office worker clicked on their file.
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pucksandpower · 11 months
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Charles Leclerc x CEO!Reader - Social Media AU
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Formula 1 News: Everything We Know About Arnault Racing So Far
The team is owned by LVMH, the world’s leading luxury goods company, and is named after the prominent Arnault family, which includes LVMH’s chief operating officer Y/N Arnault, wife of Charles Leclerc. Y/N is the youngest daughter of Bernard Arnault, the world’s richest man, and is said to be his favored successor.
They are expected to benefit from the extensive resources and expertise of LVMH which boasts a diverse portfolio of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Moët & Chandon, TAG Heuer, and Tiffany & Co. These assets could potentially provide Arnault Racing with a competitive edge on and off the track in a sport heavily reliant on business dealings.
As with any new team, Arnault Racing will face numerous challenges including building a strong technical staff, securing talented drivers, and establishing partnerships with sponsors and suppliers. However, the backing of LVMH’s vast resources and the Arnault family’s commitment to success bode well for their prospects.
While no official announcement has been made regarding Charles Leclerc’s involvement with Arnault Racing, his familial connection to the team coupled with his recent decision to step away from Scuderia Ferrari has fueled rumors and heightened interest in whether he will be part of Arnault Racing’s driver lineup … (Read more)
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Press Conference of Arnault Racing CEO, Y/N Arnault, and Team Principal, Sebastian Vettel
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REPORT Arnault Racing snags Adrian Newey: CEO Y/N Arnault says “whatever arbitrary figure you have in your head, triple it and that’s how much we offered him” (Aug 2023)
NEWS Red Bull loses LVMH-owned sponsor TAG Heuer as entry of Arnault Racing brings new conflict of interest (Dec 2023)
UPDATE A weekend of team bonding on the beach after the car launch? Charles Leclerc and Mick Schumacher talk about flourishing environment at Arnault Racing (Feb 2024)
FEATURE What to expect from Arnault Racing — data from preseason testing explained (Feb 2024)
REPORT Podiums and points: a strong start to the season for newcomers Arnault Racing (Mar 2024)
FEATURE The Prince that was promised: Charles Leclerc triumphs in Monaco (May 2024)
UPDATE Who are the ‘losers’ and ‘winners’ halfway through the season? Arnault closes in on Red Bull as Ferrari falls behind (Jul 2024)
FEATURE What could have been — Arnault’s Charles Leclerc tops the podium in Monza as Tifosi look on (Sep 2024)
NEWS Red Bull’s reign continues as Arnault brings home historic P2 in both the Drivers’ and Contructors’ championship during debut season (Nov 2024)
REPORT Arnault promises more competitive 2025 season following already impressive first year on the grid (Jan 2025)
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“We find ourselves at the edge of our seats here in Abu Dhabi. It all comes down to this final lap of the season and the battle for the World Championship has reached its peak! Charles Leclerc of Arnault and Max Verstappen of Red Bull are locked in a fierce duel for the ultimate prize.”
“This is the moment every racing fan has been waiting for. The atmosphere here is electric and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Leclerc and Verstappen have been pushing the absolute limits of their cars and their skills throughout this intense race.”
“They certainly have. Both drivers have showcased their exceptional talent and determination all season long. It’s a clash of titans, and now, as they approach the final corners, it’s do-or-die time.”
“Leclerc has been holding onto the lead for the majority of this race but Verstappen is focused in his pursuit. The Dutchman is determined to wrestle this championship away from Leclerc’s grasp.”
“The tension is palpable here as they enter the final sector. Leclerc seems to be holding his ground but Verstappen is right on his tail, looking for the slightest opportunity to strike!”
“This is nail-biting stuff. The championship hangs in the balance as they approach the final turn. Leclerc takes a defensive line but Verstappen moves to the inside. He’s desperately trying to overtake!”
“Verstappen is side-by-side with Leclerc! They’re wheel-to-wheel! What an incredible battle! They both accelerate out of the corner …”
“They’re neck and neck! It’s an all-out sprint to the checkered flag. Who will emerge victorious?”
“Leclerc finds another gear! He edges ahead of Verstappen!”
“It’s a photo finish! They cross the line. And ... it’s Charles Leclerc! Charles Leclerc has done it! Charles Leclerc is the World Champion!”
“What an incredible end to the season. Charles Leclerc and Arnault Racing have taken the championship title in a heart-stopping finale!”
“This is the stuff of legends. Leclerc has proven himself a champion through and through today. The emotion in the Arnault Racing garage is indescribable!”
“What an amazing moment for Leclerc and his team. This race will be remembered for years to come. Congratulations to Charles Leclerc! Congratulations to Arnault Racing!”
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y/narnault
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Liked by charles_leclerc, arnaultracing, and 938,572 others
y/narnault ✨ Abu Dhabi, 2017 ✨
A chance encounter in the paddock with a hotshot young driver sent us both sprawling to the ground and ignited a spark that changed our lives forever. Our love story began in Yas Marina as Charles celebrated the end of the season after winning the F2 championship. Little did we know that this would be the start of a remarkable journey, both on and off the track
Fast forward to ...
✨ Abu Dhabi, 2025 ✨
As the CEO of Arnault Racing, it fills my heart with immense pride to witness our immensely talented driver win a much deserved World Drivers' Championship. As the wife of Charles Leclerc, it makes me even prouder to see the most amazing person I know finally be granted the fruit of his labors. There has been no sweeter feeling than chasing our dreams hand-in-hand
Eight years later, in Yas Marina once again, our journey came full circle. Our love, like a well-oiled machine, has only grown stronger with each challenge we faced. Working together as a team, we transformed dreams into reality and surpassed every limit. The joy of victory, the adrenaline of the race — it all pales in comparison to the love and support we share
To our extraordinary team at Arnault Racing, thank you for your relentless commitment and tireless efforts. Each one of you has played a vital role in making history this season and we truly could not have done it without you
Charles, my champion, you continue to inspire me every day with your talent, dedication, and resilient spirit. The road here has not always been easy but I am thankful for every obstacle we faced because they made us grow as people and as partners in both love and racing. We have weathered the storms and celebrated the triumphs. The countless hours of hard work, sacrifice, and pouring over data for so long that we forgot the cookies burning in the oven brought us to this extraordinary moment of victory. But beyond the increasingly crowded trophy cases and roaring crowds, it is our love that always shines the brightest. No matter where we may have placed in the standings, I was always content in knowing that we are P1 on the podium of life — and now we stand on top of both together
This chapter is just beginning. There are still many races left to win, many trophies left to raise, and many championships left to clinch
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charles_leclerc From the moment we met, you have seen me not just as a driver or public figure but as a person with hopes, dreams, and flaws. You have been there for me through the setbacks and the victories and your faith in me never has wavered. Your belief in me pushed me to be the best version of myself and I will spend the rest of our lives eternally grateful for being sent such an angel. Our victories are not only measured by the number of trophies or the applause of the crowds but in the quiet moments we get to bask in the life we built together. Our love has always been the beacon that guides me, even in the darkest of times. It is the constant reminder that no matter where we stand in the standings, we have each other to lean on. I have no doubt that it is because of you that I stand here today. You are my pillar of strength, my constant motivation, and my rock. Without your love and support, none of this would have been possible. Thank you, mon amour, for believing in me, for supporting me, and for always standing by my side. It is fate that brought us together and destiny that irreversibly wove our hearts into one
f1wagupdates you two are singlehandedly keeping my belief in true love alive
formulanone how are they still in the honeymoon phase after eight years together and i can’t even get a text back?
arnaultracing there are power couples and then there is THE power couple 🤩
GQ France: An Interview with 2025 Formula 1 World Champion Charles Leclerc
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charles_leclerc and y/narnault
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Liked by arnaultracing, pierregasly, and 1,854,632 others
charles_leclerc Baby Leclerc will make their F1 debut in August 🍼
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pierregasly hmmm i wonder what happened a little over nine months before the due date?
mickschumacher no wonder we couldn’t find them during the championship party 😳
arnaultracing a championship baby for our champions 🏆
lovelyleclerc oh to be reincarnated as their baby
leclercbabe it’s really getting gifted godly genes, money, and talent 😭
princecharles is it bad that i’m jealous of a baby that hasn’t even been born yet?
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Demon-haunted computers are back, baby
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Catch me in Miami! I'll be at Books and Books in Coral Gables on Jan 22 at 8PM.
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As a science fiction writer, I am professionally irritated by a lot of sf movies. Not only do those writers get paid a lot more than I do, they insist on including things like "self-destruct" buttons on the bridges of their starships.
Look, I get it. When the evil empire is closing in on your flagship with its secret transdimensional technology, it's important that you keep those secrets out of the emperor's hand. An irrevocable self-destruct switch there on the bridge gets the job done! (It has to be irrevocable, otherwise the baddies'll just swarm the bridge and toggle it off).
But c'mon. If there's a facility built into your spaceship that causes it to explode no matter what the people on the bridge do, that is also a pretty big security risk! What if the bad guy figures out how to hijack the measure that – by design – the people who depend on the spaceship as a matter of life and death can't detect or override?
I mean, sure, you can try to simplify that self-destruct system to make it easier to audit and assure yourself that it doesn't have any bugs in it, but remember Schneier's Law: anyone can design a security system that works so well that they themselves can't think of a flaw in it. That doesn't mean you've made a security system that works – only that you've made a security system that works on people stupider than you.
I know it's weird to be worried about realism in movies that pretend we will ever find a practical means to visit other star systems and shuttle back and forth between them (which we are very, very unlikely to do):
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/09/astrobezzle/#send-robots-instead
But this kind of foolishness galls me. It galls me even more when it happens in the real world of technology design, which is why I've spent the past quarter-century being very cross about Digital Rights Management in general, and trusted computing in particular.
It all starts in 2002, when a team from Microsoft visited our offices at EFF to tell us about this new thing they'd dreamed up called "trusted computing":
https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/05/trusting-trust/#thompsons-devil
The big idea was to stick a second computer inside your computer, a very secure little co-processor, that you couldn't access directly, let alone reprogram or interfere with. As far as this "trusted platform module" was concerned, you were the enemy. The "trust" in trusted computing was about other people being able to trust your computer, even if they didn't trust you.
So that little TPM would do all kinds of cute tricks. It could observe and produce a cryptographically signed manifest of the entire boot-chain of your computer, which was meant to be an unforgeable certificate attesting to which kind of computer you were running and what software you were running on it. That meant that programs on other computers could decide whether to talk to your computer based on whether they agreed with your choices about which code to run.
This process, called "remote attestation," is generally billed as a way to identify and block computers that have been compromised by malware, or to identify gamers who are running cheats and refuse to play with them. But inevitably it turns into a way to refuse service to computers that have privacy blockers turned on, or are running stream-ripping software, or whose owners are blocking ads:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/02/self-incrimination/#wei-bai-bai
After all, a system that treats the device's owner as an adversary is a natural ally for the owner's other, human adversaries. The rubric for treating the owner as an adversary focuses on the way that users can be fooled by bad people with bad programs. If your computer gets taken over by malicious software, that malware might intercept queries from your antivirus program and send it false data that lulls it into thinking your computer is fine, even as your private data is being plundered and your system is being used to launch malware attacks on others.
These separate, non-user-accessible, non-updateable secure systems serve a nubs of certainty, a remote fortress that observes and faithfully reports on the interior workings of your computer. This separate system can't be user-modifiable or field-updateable, because then malicious software could impersonate the user and disable the security chip.
It's true that compromised computers are a real and terrifying problem. Your computer is privy to your most intimate secrets and an attacker who can turn it against you can harm you in untold ways. But the widespread redesign of out computers to treat us as their enemies gives rise to a range of completely predictable and – I would argue – even worse harms. Building computers that treat their owners as untrusted parties is a system that works well, but fails badly.
First of all, there are the ways that trusted computing is designed to hurt you. The most reliable way to enshittify something is to supply it over a computer that runs programs you can't alter, and that rats you out to third parties if you run counter-programs that disenshittify the service you're using. That's how we get inkjet printers that refuse to use perfectly good third-party ink and cars that refuse to accept perfectly good engine repairs if they are performed by third-party mechanics:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon
It's how we get cursed devices and appliances, from the juicer that won't squeeze third-party juice to the insulin pump that won't connect to a third-party continuous glucose monitor:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/
But trusted computing doesn't just create an opaque veil between your computer and the programs you use to inspect and control it. Trusted computing creates a no-go zone where programs can change their behavior based on whether they think they're being observed.
The most prominent example of this is Dieselgate, where auto manufacturers murdered hundreds of people by gimmicking their cars to emit illegal amount of NOX. Key to Dieselgate was a program that sought to determine whether it was being observed by regulators (it checked for the telltale signs of the standard test-suite) and changed its behavior to color within the lines.
Software that is seeking to harm the owner of the device that's running it must be able to detect when it is being run inside a simulation, a test-suite, a virtual machine, or any other hallucinatory virtual world. Just as Descartes couldn't know whether anything was real until he assured himself that he could trust his senses, malware is always questing to discover whether it is running in the real universe, or in a simulation created by a wicked god:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/28/descartes-was-an-optimist/#uh-oh
That's why mobile malware uses clever gambits like periodically checking for readings from your device's accelerometer, on the theory that a virtual mobile phone running on a security researcher's test bench won't have the fidelity to generate plausible jiggles to match the real data that comes from a phone in your pocket:
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/01/google-play-malware-used-phones-motion-sensors-to-conceal-itself/
Sometimes this backfires in absolutely delightful ways. When the Wannacry ransomware was holding the world hostage, the security researcher Marcus Hutchins noticed that its code made reference to a very weird website: iuqerfsodp9ifjaposdfjhgosurijfaewrwergwea.com. Hutchins stood up a website at that address and every Wannacry-infection in the world went instantly dormant:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/10/flintstone-delano-roosevelt/#the-matrix
It turns out that Wannacry's authors were using that ferkakte URL the same way that mobile malware authors were using accelerometer readings – to fulfill Descartes' imperative to distinguish the Matrix from reality. The malware authors knew that security researchers often ran malicious code inside sandboxes that answered every network query with fake data in hopes of eliciting responses that could be analyzed for weaknesses. So the Wannacry worm would periodically poll this nonexistent website and, if it got an answer, it would assume that it was being monitored by a security researcher and it would retreat to an encrypted blob, ceasing to operate lest it give intelligence to the enemy. When Hutchins put a webserver up at iuqerfsodp9ifjaposdfjhgosurijfaewrwergwea.com, every Wannacry instance in the world was instantly convinced that it was running on an enemy's simulator and withdrew into sulky hibernation.
The arms race to distinguish simulation from reality is critical and the stakes only get higher by the day. Malware abounds, even as our devices grow more intimately woven through our lives. We put our bodies into computers – cars, buildings – and computers inside our bodies. We absolutely want our computers to be able to faithfully convey what's going on inside them.
But we keep running as hard as we can in the opposite direction, leaning harder into secure computing models built on subsystems in our computers that treat us as the threat. Take UEFI, the ubiquitous security system that observes your computer's boot process, halting it if it sees something it doesn't approve of. On the one hand, this has made installing GNU/Linux and other alternative OSes vastly harder across a wide variety of devices. This means that when a vendor end-of-lifes a gadget, no one can make an alternative OS for it, so off the landfill it goes.
It doesn't help that UEFI – and other trusted computing modules – are covered by Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which makes it a felony to publish information that can bypass or weaken the system. The threat of a five-year prison sentence and a $500,000 fine means that UEFI and other trusted computing systems are understudied, leaving them festering with longstanding bugs:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/09/free-sample/#que-viva
Here's where it gets really bad. If an attacker can get inside UEFI, they can run malicious software that – by design – no program running on our computers can detect or block. That badware is running in "Ring -1" – a zone of privilege that overrides the operating system itself.
Here's the bad news: UEFI malware has already been detected in the wild:
https://securelist.com/cosmicstrand-uefi-firmware-rootkit/106973/
And here's the worst news: researchers have just identified another exploitable UEFI bug, dubbed Pixiefail:
https://blog.quarkslab.com/pixiefail-nine-vulnerabilities-in-tianocores-edk-ii-ipv6-network-stack.html
Writing in Ars Technica, Dan Goodin breaks down Pixiefail, describing how anyone on the same LAN as a vulnerable computer can infect its firmware:
https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/01/new-uefi-vulnerabilities-send-firmware-devs-across-an-entire-ecosystem-scrambling/
That vulnerability extends to computers in a data-center where the attacker has a cloud computing instance. PXE – the system that Pixiefail attacks – isn't widely used in home or office environments, but it's very common in data-centers.
Again, once a computer is exploited with Pixiefail, software running on that computer can't detect or delete the Pixiefail code. When the compromised computer is queried by the operating system, Pixiefail undetectably lies to the OS. "Hey, OS, does this drive have a file called 'pixiefail?'" "Nope." "Hey, OS, are you running a process called 'pixiefail?'" "Nope."
This is a self-destruct switch that's been compromised by the enemy, and which no one on the bridge can de-activate – by design. It's not the first time this has happened, and it won't be the last.
There are models for helping your computer bust out of the Matrix. Back in 2016, Edward Snowden and bunnie Huang prototyped and published source code and schematics for an "introspection engine":
https://assets.pubpub.org/aacpjrja/AgainstTheLaw-CounteringLawfulAbusesofDigitalSurveillance.pdf
This is a single-board computer that lives in an ultraslim shim that you slide between your iPhone's mainboard and its case, leaving a ribbon cable poking out of the SIM slot. This connects to a case that has its own OLED display. The board has leads that physically contact each of the network interfaces on the phone, conveying any data they transit to the screen so that you can observe the data your phone is sending without having to trust your phone.
(I liked this gadget so much that I included it as a major plot point in my 2020 novel Attack Surface, the third book in the Little Brother series):
https://craphound.com/attacksurface/
We don't have to cede control over our devices in order to secure them. Indeed, we can't ever secure them unless we can control them. Self-destruct switches don't belong on the bridge of your spaceship, and trusted computing modules don't belong in your devices.
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I'm Kickstarting the audiobook for The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/17/descartes-delenda-est/#self-destruct-sequence-initiated
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Image: Mike (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/stillwellmike/15676883261/
CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
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urrockstar-xe · 4 months
Text
if u leave me - j.m x fem!reader
posted jan 4th, 2024 2:08 pm
anon asked: hii can I request a fluffy jj x fem reader fic inspired by the song if you leave me by niall horan?  thank u!
this was so cute omg. I'm so sorry for the long wait but thank u for requesting<3 again so so sorry abt the wait
summary; jj can imagine life without you, which is how he knows he'd be miserable.
masterlist
word count: 1.7k
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It was all so innocent
Well okay,
You did steal something from the store but! In your defense, it was not something the cops should be chasing you for!
That didn’t stop them though.
So suppose you shouldn’t be that surprised now as you ran down the road, just barely stopping yourself before you rain head first into JJ Maybank.
JJ was walking out of a store when you were suddenly two inches away from him, you knew each other of course. Both born and raised on the cut, both having some sort of reputation around the OuterBanks.
Both known by their first names by all of Kildare’s Sheriff’s Department.
“Oh shit” JJ muttered to himself once he realized who you were running from, watching as you laughed and then continued running. 
“Maybank! Should’ve known you were involved!” JJ turned his head towards the voice of one of the officers. “I knew I smelt bacon somewhere!” He called back, not quite getting the amused reaction he was aiming for before JJ turned back in the direction you ran, following after you.
Your accidental partner in crime.
You don’t what point you both had lost them but as you hid behind some old shack, all that was heard was out-of-breath giggles from the both of you, catching his breath JJ finally asked
“What’d you even take?” 
Another round of laughter was triggered after he watched you pull the small tube of pink lipgloss from your pocket. 
Something shifted that day, an actual friendship blossoming after the chase, dragging each other to parties, JJ picking you up from work on his motorbike, Spending most nights on the old trampoline in your backyard or in John B’s old hammock. 
“I don’t think I trust this thing to hold the both of us,” You remarked once, laughing as JJ pulled you into his arms anyway. “Do you trust me?” he asked, a smirk on his lips as you settled into his side. 
“No” 
That landed both of you in the grass after JJ pushed you off, not expecting you to pull him down on top of you. You both lay there, the sweet laugh falling from your lips as JJ shook his head, smiling down at you as he held himself up with his hands. Before you had time to react the feeling of JJ’s lips on yours flooded your senses, hands flying to his hair while almost desperately kissing back.
It’s getting repetitive how all but a handful of your memories together result in giggle fits 
and soft kisses.
speaking of handfuls though.
You and JJ never had an official label, not at first. You assumed of course that it was JJ’s choice, if he wanted you to be his girlfriend he would’ve asked, right? And he hadn't, it’s free game.
Especially when every time you looked over at JJ tonight, he was cozying up with some tourie and he has been the entire party.
It's your turn.
So, naturally, you shoved down any envy over the pretty girl next to your JJ and found yourself a kook. It’s not that you were trying to tick off JJ, really! You weren't! 
But if you had been trying to tick off JJ, what better way to do it than with a kook?
It was a matter of minutes, you had barely learned the kid’s name before JJ showed up behind him tapping his shoulder. You didn’t need to know JJ Maybank personally to know what his plan was as Jacob previously mentioned Kook turned to look at him. 
“You can fuck off man, she doesn’t need you to save her and take her to the dark side,” JJ said, his words with sarcasm as he got closer to Jacob, too close. John B’s attention was shifted to the situation JJ was starting from Kiara pulling on his sleeve and pointing, Pope and JB both moving forward slightly, just to pull JJ off or help if needed.
“Oh, you’re scared she’s gonna run off with someone worth it huh?” Jacob argued, earning your attention as you went to cut in and argue with him yourself but you were quickly cut off by the sound of JJ’s fist colliding with Jacob’s jaw.
The night ended with you cleaning JJ’s bloody knuckles in John B’s bathroom. 
“He was wrong” You muttered, gently wrapping the bandage around his hand. “What?” JJ’s gaze was soft as it landed on you, having previously been too occupied staring at the floor to give you so much as a glance. 
“Jacob was wrong-” JJ rolled his eyes, scoffing quietly, cutting you off in doing so. “Jacob? You remember his name?” “JJ will you just shut up for a second and listen to me please?” You all but got on your knees as you begged him to just listen. 
Finally, his eyes met yours, sliding himself off of the small bathroom counter so he was directly in front of you, hands going to your forearms and rubbing up to your shoulders in the comforting way he’d always do to you. 
He had shut up now, allowing you to take a breath and settle your hands comfortably on either side of his waist. “JJ, you are worth it, and Jacob’s a piece of shit, and had you not thrown any hits I probably would have because you are the most worth it” You explained quietly, nearly whispering, allowing the small space between you two to be filled with soft breaths and your words. 
And he kissed you again, with more feeling than ever before, and a silent promise of proving himself to be as worth it as you had known he was.
The summer before the big gold hunt had beaten any summer before it, and you failed in believing it wasn’t just JJ’s presence that made it so great.
You cheered for JJ as he tried to take on his biggest wave yet, watching as he instead crashed straight into the water you cautiously kept an eye on his flipped board before he came up from the water and flipped it upright, heading straight for you as you moved just slightly forward in the water so he wouldn’t have to swim so far. 
JJ pouted as you took off your sunglasses, keeping a hand on his surfboard so it wouldn’t move away as he leaned up just enough to press a soft kiss on your lips, more for his comfort than yours. 
“You almost had it, baby” You mumble against his mouth, before letting out a short squeal when JJ picked you up, hooking a hand under your knee to guide your legs around his waist as he looked up at you with a soft look that JJ always reserved for you. 
“I’m gonna get it next time” he mumbled back, tilting his head back when you ran your fingers through his wet hair to get it out of his face. “Yeah, you will. And I’ll be waiting here with your victory kiss” You smile at him as he moves slightly, turning you with him as he tries to get the sun out of his eyes.
“It helps havin' my cheerleader here” He responded, matching your smile when you set your heart-shaped sunglasses over his eyes.
What would he do if you left him?
That’s all JJ could think about after that day, what if you just up and left? Leaving him behind to beg on his knees every day for the rest of his waiting for you to come back,
Hoping you’d come back.
It kept him up some nights.
How easy it could be for you and how hard it’d be for him.
But this particular night was one spent in your bed. He had come over only 4 hours earlier, around 10. Knocking on your window and wordlessly leaning into you when you asked how he got a black eye. He knew how you’d react, you hugged him with all your strength, smoothing comforting hands up and down his shirt and muttering sweet words into his shoulder. He knew that you’d know exactly why he came over.
He needed you.
And like always you were right there.
JJ had only managed to sleep for 3 hours, waking up in a cold sweat after a shitty dream. He distracted himself with the way you looked, sleeping peacefully beside him, the moonlight coming through your window hitting your face just right. 
JJ was never one for really cuddling while he slept, he’d typically end up on one side of the bed, passed out laying on his stomach but somehow his arm always ended up across you, or his hand would be your back or stomach, no other part of him touching you but something touching you. 
He reached for you even when he was sleeping. 
But now, all he wanted was to be cuddled up next to you, on top of you, or sprawled across you, hugging you in any way he possibly could.
He really couldn’t help himself as he moved closer to your sleeping frame, carefully moving one of your legs and settling between them, laying his head on your chest. 
JJ really hadn’t meant to wake you up but he couldn’t help but sigh with relief once he felt your hand in his hair, hearing the difference in how your heart was beating, typically it would bring a sense of pride at the thought and confirmation that he could still make your heart race. 
You both lay there in silence, playing with JJ’s hair as he mindlessly toyed with the hem of your shirt. 
“I think I’d lose my mind if you left me” JJ’s soft and tired whisper broke through the comfortable silence you had created. “What?” Your voice was just as quiet as if speaking any louder was forbidden.
“Just” He started, pausing to sniffle, “just promise you’ll stay this close okay?” He asked, words almost getting stuck in his throat. 
“Baby-” 
“I just don’t know who I’d be without you” He sniffled again, one of your hands moving to his cheek and gently caressing his. Although you couldn’t see his face you could still feel the tears hitting your chest through your shirt. 
“JJ, my sweet love, I’m not goin’ anywhere, I’m right here with you.” You assured, feeling the soft kiss he left on your wrist as you continued running your thumb up and down his cheek. 
“I could never leave you”
566 notes · View notes
cameronspecial · 3 months
Note
can you release another let me,angel chapter on jan 28 bc it’s my birthday 😁😁😁😁😁
You Need To Talk To Daddy, Baby
Pairing: Frat!Rafe Cameron x Reader
Warnings:  N/A
Pronouns: She/Her
Word Count: 0.6K
A/N: Happy Birthday, Anon! I hope it's okay that this is after their uni days.
Masterlist
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Asher runs up to his mother, who is waiting outside of the elementary school for her son. Y/N takes him into her arms and carries him to the car. She gets the six-year-old buckled into his car seat before getting into the driver’s seat. The car ride home was filled with a mini-concert between the mother and son. When they get home, they both notice the car in the driveway. Rafe swings the door open at the sound of his wife’s engine and jogs out in his work suit. Asher is quick to hop into his father’s arms. The family heads into the house and goes to get a snack in the kitchen. “Mommy, are Auntie Sarah and Uncle John still coming over tomorrow?” Asher asks with the heel of his feet hitting the cabinet. Y/N looks up from the tea she is making, “Yes, Baby. They are coming for dinner. Why do you want to know?” “Because I have to write about my hero for homework and I want to write about Uncle John,” her son announces. The sound of the knife hitting the cutting board stops at what Asher says. Y/N glances at her husband to see the frown on his face. He places his cutting tool down on the board and leaves the room.
“Rafe, wait,” Y/N tries to halt her husband. He doesn’t listen as he makes his way into their bedroom. The mother turns to her son and approaches him. “What’s wrong with Daddy?” Asher worries, trying to get down from the counter. Y/N keeps him on the counter, “I think he is a little hurt that he isn’t your hero.” The young boy’s face matches his father’s frown. “But he is my hero.”
“Then why do you want to write about Uncle John?”
“Because Mrs. Greenway said that we can’t write about our parents. She wants us to talk to other people.”
“Oh, well I think you need to talk to Daddy, Baby. Maybe explain that to him.”
Asher nods and holds his hand up so Y/N can help him down. She helps him off of the counter, watching him as he goes to talk to Rafe. Rafe turns at the sound of footsteps approaching the room. He turns in the other direction to wipe his tears away. He knows it’s a little silly to be upset about not being his son’s hero, most kids wouldn’t say their parents either, but it digs into Rafe’s fear of not being a good enough father. If Rafe isn’t Asher’s hero, then does that mean Asher doesn’t feel safe with him? Does that mean that Rafe isn’t providing for his son? “Daddy?” The tike’s voice spins Rafe toward him. “Hey, Bud. Is everything okay?” Rafe questions, going to pick his son up. Asher nods, “I’m sorry I made you sad, Daddy.” “It’s okay. You didn’t mean to, Bud. Why don’t you tell me more about your project? Do you need to interview Uncle John?” Rafe reassures his son. Asher gives a small smile, “Yes, Mrs. Greenway gave me a paper with the questions. I have to write the answer on the line. Daddy?” Rafe watches his son look up at him with wide eyes. “Yeah, Bud?” “You are my hero. I have to ask Uncle John the questions because Mrs. Greenway said I can’t ask Mommy or Daddy,” the boy explains.
A wide grin grows on Rafe’s face and Y/N watches from the doorway as her husband pulls their son into a hug. “How about we photocopy your assignment so you can interview Daddy too? Daddy could put it in his office,” she suggests. Rafe flinches at the surprise that his wife is in the room. Asher turns to his mother and his head vigorously moves up and down. “Yeah! I want to in-ter-view Daddy,” he agrees. Y/N starts toward the home office and Rafe follows her in tow. The family spends the afternoon interviewing each other and now, those transcripts are proudly displayed on their kitchen fridge.
Taglist: @winterrrnight @loves0phelia @thelomlisrafecameron @wickedlovely121 @queen-shadow22 @victory-in-the-llama @drewsmusee @starkowswife @maybankslover
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lu-vin-it · 1 year
Text
Made It
── ⋅⋅⋅ ────꒰ ୨ ♡ ୧ ꒱───────
Summary: After years of being apart, not knowing whether the other is alive or dead, you and your husband have reunited.
Pairings: Daryl Dixon x Reader
Pronouns Used: None mentioned, but Y/N is called Momma
Word Count: 898
Warnings: I hate this
A/N: Ty to @stqrluvr for proofreading, ily!
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“That all of ‘em?” You ask, wiping your forehead. Your sister, Candace, nods. Sighing with relief, you pull your dagger out of the last walker you had killed. You wipe it on your pants before putting it in its holster.
“That was a lot.” Candace says, sitting down against a wall. She starts rummaging through her bag before pulling a water bottle out.
“Take a minute, but then we gotta get back to the truck.” You walk into the hallway and start pacing. You hated being gone this long. The run, which was only supposed to be a few hours, turned into a two day stop when you found a small urgent care. You were itching to get back to Alexandria, to your daughter, to your home. You knew she was probably worried sick. Even though she was only eight, she knew enough about this new world to know that if a person doesn’t return when they’re supposed to, it probably means the worst.
Candace walked into the hallway a few seconds later, and the two of you left with bags full of medical supplies.
You made it home in an hour, Candace volunteered to take the findings where they belonged while you rushed to Emily’s, the woman who babysat Janis from time to time.
“Emily? Janis?” You yell as you barge into her house. You run into the living room where you see Janis and Emily sitting on the couch. Your eight year old immediately springs up and runs to you, crushing you with a hug.
“Momma!”
“Hey sugar!” You hug her back tightly. “I’m so sorry, Auntie C and I found a little doctor’s office that hadn’t been looted, so we cleared it out and got some great stuff.” She pulls out of the hug and looks at you with the saddest eyes.
“I was really scared.” You can feel your eyes welling up.
“I know, baby, I’m very sorry. I wanted to come home to you the entire time.” You rub her cheek with your thumb. “I got you something!” You take your backpack off and put your hand into the side pocket, pulling out a necklace. It was silver with a small diamond on it. “Here, so we’ll match.” You put it against your own necklace which had your engagement and wedding rings on it.
“Woah!” She awes. “Put it on me!” She eagerly spins around.
Twenty minutes later, you’re back at your house, changing your clothes as Janis tells you about her previous day at school.
“Y/N?” You hear your sister shout, followed by the front door closing.
“In my room changing!”
“Get down here!” You furrow your brows.
“Why?”
“New people.. you’re gonna want to see one of them.” You raise an eyebrow at your daughter and the two of you shrug.
“K.. one second.”
“You have Jan, right?” You adjust your shirt before walking out of your room.
“Yeah.” You walk downstairs, Janis right behind you. Candace was waiting for you with a grin. “C’mon then.”
You all walk to the gates of Alexandria where Deanna, Aaron, and Eric stood in front of a group of thirteen strangers. You gave Candace a confused look before looking each stranger up and down. Stranger, stranger, stranger, stranger, st—what. You gulp. It couldn’t be.
“Daryl?” Everyone’s eyes snap to you in sync. The man glares at you for a moment before his eyes soften and all of a sudden he’s dropping his crossbow and running towards you. “Holy shit!” You call out as you wrap your arms around your husband. Your eyes well up and soon enough, you’re laughing through sobs. Daryl is squeezing you so hard that you think you might explode, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Y/N.” He breathes out.
“Hi honey.” You cry into his shoulder. You feel something crash into your legs, you glance down and realize it’s Janis. You pull away from the hug and Daryl reaches down to pick up your daughter. She buries her head in his neck and cries while holding him tightly. You wrap your arms back around both of them. All three of you are sobbing at this point.
“Daryl? Who is that?” Rick asked inquisitively. Neither of you move away from each other.
“She’s his wife.” Candace supplies. “Don’t y’all have anything better to do than stare?” She snaps, glaring at the fellow Alexandria citizens. Most scatter off. You pull out of the hug and put your hand on Daryl’s cheek.
“I.. You’re.. You made it.” He cries. You laugh and nod.
“I made it. We made it. I knew you’d find me, never doubted it, not for a minute.” You rambled. “I missed you s—“ He cuts you off by kissing you. God if felt good. For the first time since the dead started walking, you felt at peace.
“Eww!” You pull apart and you both laugh at your daughter. It was a beautiful sight to everyone else, seeing this man reunited with his wife and daughter. “Where were you Daddy? I missed you.” Janis whispered, rubbing his beard because it felt funny just like she used to do.
“I missed you too, pumpkin. I was helping out some friends but I’m back. I’m here. I ain’t going anywhere. Okay?” She nods with a smile.
“Okay.” She wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly.
── ⋅⋅⋅ ────꒰ ୨ ♡ ୧ ꒱───────
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uneditedidiot · 10 months
Text
gold rush - jamie tartt x reader
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jamie tartt x gn!reader
summary: reader is the head physical therapist for AFC Richmond and ever since Jamie returned to the team and has proven himself a better man, you can’t help but harbor feelings for the pro footballer. Takes place during s3ep11. Based off these specific lyrics from the song ‘gold rush’ by Taylor Swift.
word count: 2.9k
Warnings: language - it’s jamie tartt, of course there’s language; declarations of undying love and a first kiss. :)
A/N: I used to write imagines back in like 2012 about One Direction so at least this is somewhat of a step up for me. But my first tumblr imagine so hopefully it’s not complete trash lol.
Part Two: this love is ours
But I don’t like a gold rush, gold rush
I don’t like anticipating my face in a red flush
I don’t like that anyone would die to feel your touch
Everybody wants you
Everybody wonders what it would be like to love you
You were kidding yourself. 
Jamie Tartt, the star of the team, the integral cog in Richmond’s new Total Football machine, the absolute adorable human – that’s who you were in love with? It was almost laughable. If you had told yourself two years ago that Jamie Tartt would be the object of your affection, you wouldn’t have believed a word of it. He had changed. He had changed immensely.
It was…embarrassing in a way. You weren’t embarrassed of him, but more of how you reacted when he was around. And fortunately (or quite unfortunately), he was around quite a bit. As the head physical therapist for the team, you saw most of the players quite often for some reason or another.
Of course, you had no problem interacting with others for their physical care. Sam Obisanya had somehow garnered an elbow injury from playing football as a kid and it had decided to continue to bother him throughout his adulthood. He’d usually stop everyday just to chat, if not work through some stretches for his arm. Jan Maas had a tendency to go down too hard on his left knee when running, so you saw him at least twice a week to lead him through some exercises. Dani Rojas, the sweet sweet man he was, would stop by your office every single morning just to say hello and to make sure his arch support inserts in his boots were fitting right. Colin and Isaac both seemed to suffer from the same achilles tendon strains but on opposite legs. You had no problem assessing their physical needs. You went on with your day like nothing happened.
But Jamie…he was a different story. Just making eye contact when he walked into your office made your cheeks go warm. And having to move his ankle around when you were assessing range of movement? Your entire face and neck would go pink. And that smile…that smile had you giggling and kicking your feet for the rest of the afternoon. 
The sass was another issue entirely. Boy, did that man have a MOUTH on him.
When you’d first started at Richmond with Ted and Beard, who’d brought you with them from the States, Jamie was an asswipe. Sometimes he’d barely acknowledge your presence when coming to get treatment. Other times he’d just sit in silence, his eyes following your every movement. At least twice he’d come in for medical help and he’d tried flirting with you. Back then, you’d had no interest in him at all.
It was when he returned that it was clear something in him had changed. You’d observed his new restraint he showed at training and on the field during matches. He was considerate of his teammates, passing them the ball more frequently and encouraging them on and off the field. Keeley had even said she hadn’t seen him with a new girl on his arm for a long while.
But ever since his return, he’d become more and more friendly with you. You’d grown to trust him completely. He was a true friend. Not only that, but the banter you two had was unmatched.
“Do you like the new tat?” he’d asked one day as you wrapped his ankle.
“What is it supposed to be?” you’d chuckled.
He looked almost offended. “It’s a rocketship.”
You’d stood, wrap in hand, attempting to hold back a laugh. 
He sighed. “Alright, go ahead. Tell me what you really think.”
“Jamie…it…it looks like…like a dick.”
“It does not look like a dick!”
“Yes it really does.”
“You’ve got vision problems.”
“No I don’t. You’ve got some issues if you think that’s a rocketship.”
“Well so do you if you think it looks like a fuckin’ dick!”
You finally let out the laughter you’d been holding in. You had scurried to the door, thrown it open, and yelled out. “Jamie Tartt had his own dick tattooed to his forearm!”
He’d immediately jumped off the medical table and wrapped his arms around you, attempting to pull you away from the open door. You’d held on to the frame, still laughing and yelling as he did so.
“Jamie has a dick tattoo! Jamie has a dick tattoo!”
He was laughing the whole time, screaming, “no I haven’t!” over you, trying to drown out your yells.
You’d found yourself falling. His eyes would gleam and twinkle in this way that was almost comforting. You’d have done anything to see the light in his eyes again after he’d left your office. It was almost intoxicating, but in a way that felt like home. And while your real home in the States was far away, the closer you’d grown to Jamie, the less you missed it.
It was terrifying. You knew what it would mean if you said something to him; or even admitted it to yourself, frankly. 
Jamie was a very well-known figure in the UK. He was a top footballer on a premier team that was making a huge comeback that season. He’d been on a popular reality dating television show (which, sure, he made an ass of himself on but it’s in the past) which had spread his name and face across screens that may not have tuned into the matches before. It obviously didn’t help that he was, in your opinion, one of the handsomest men you’d ever seen. 
And others clearly agreed with you. The amount of thirst tweets you’d seen online about him was quite overwhelming. So many people wanted to be the one for Jamie. To hold him, love him, do things to him that you’d never heard of before reading that tweet. They found his tendency to be a prick on the field very hot. And he kept it up, that’s for sure.
Not only that, he was splashed all over the tabloid headlines when Lust Conquers All was airing. Since then, he was a frequent face on front pages of any and all gossip websites. If you were official with him, the amount of hate you’d get, grainy and unflattering pictures online, and generally mean tweets from people who found Jamie hot would be like a tsunami and you weren’t sure how you’d feel about that. Granted, he’d actually have to agree to go out with you first and that seemed so impossible…
Despite his public persona, you knew his heart. And what a wonderful heart it was. He was kind, thoughtful, and empathetic. He was considerate and made sure to take care of others before himself. He was a firework in a dim sky.
And you hated him. You hated him for making you want to be with him. Everything he did sent a shock of love and loathing down every single vertebrae in your spine. It almost hurt.
It wasn’t until the team’s fated match against Manchester City in Manchester did you see a problem. And that problem was himself. Clearly he was not himself. The thought of his father showing up at the match was weighing heavily on his mind. His self-esteem was at an all-time low and the thought of facing his old team and their incredibly intense fanbase didn’t help, either.
You’d sat next to Roy with Keely on his other side during the showing of You’ve Got Mail. You could see just from Jamie’s body language that he wasn’t himself. 
You’d sighed as Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan confessed their undying love to each other on the big projection screen. Everyone around you had shed at least one tear, including Roy, but something in you felt numb to it. You had been too busy focusing on the rigid back-of-the-head of Jamie in the front row.
You’d watched in dismay as Jamie snuck out of the room, his hood pulled up over his head. You, Roy, and Keely had followed him all the way to mom’s house. You’d sat and had a delicious cookie made by Simon, his stepfather, and then toured his old childhood bedroom.
You sat on the small twin-sized bed, taking in everything around you. Jamie was the same now as he was as a kid – living and breathing football. The posters on the wall were mainly of famous footballers, including Roy, who had cursed at the sight of his old Chelsea portrait. Even Keeley had gasped when she saw the picture of herself topless with two footballs in front of her chest next to it.
Roy and Keeley flopped down next to you on the bed. They chatted for a moment as you stared off into space.
Everything you had been harboring for Jamie – every single emotion – seemed to hit you all at once. The situation at hand forced it all to the surface.
You loved Jamie Tartt.
It brought tears to your eyes. You sniffled, quickly wiping a hand to your cheek.
“What’s wrong, babes?” Keeley asked worriedly, putting a hand on your shoulder.
You shook your head. Like she’d believe that for a second.
“Come on, out with it,” Roy demanded. “You’ve been almost as fucking miserable as Jamie this past week.”
You inhaled sharply, winding your fingers together awkwardly. Your voice was soft, trembling. “I’m in love with Jamie.”
Keeley smiled at you, then shared a knowing look with Roy.
“We know,” she replied gently.
Your eyes widened, meeting her gaze. “You do?”
“Halle-fucking-lujah,” sighed Roy. “Finally.”
“What do you mean, ‘finally?’” you retorted.
“It’s not like it’s been a fucking secret,” Roy grunted. “It’s clear you love the little prick.”
“He doesn’t…he doesn’t love me back, does he?” It was almost like you had dared yourself to even ask. What if he didn’t? What kind of hurt would that be?
You had expected Keeley to hug you sympathetically or even sigh, but instead…she giggled. “Not to break my promise or anything.” She shrugged. “Yeah. Yeah, he loves you, too.”
You shook your head in disbelief. “Okay, don’t be mean. You don’t need to make things up just to keep me from feeling rejected, Keeley.”
“She wouldn’t tell you that if it wasn’t fucking true,” said Roy. “And I know we came here for Jamie to speak with his mum, but you’d hate yourself if you didn’t fucking say something to him.”
Your eyebrows shot up. “Now?”
“Now.”
Keeley agreed. “Yep, I think it’s gotta be tonight, babes. It’s perfect timing. His mum will help him feel better and you both admitting you’re in love?” She squealed and jumped up. “It’s gotta be now!”
“But he’s my best friend,” you replied quietly. “I don’t want it to ruin things.”
“It won’t ruin anything,” Roy shook his head. “If it’s meant to be…it’s fucking meant to be. Not that it’s any of my business.”
“He’s had a crush since he got back to Richmond,” Keeley added. “I know it will work out. Trust us. He’s become a new person and he’s the exact right person for you. You’re perfect for each other. I’m going to be that friend and pressure you to do this.”
You stood, if not somewhat shakily, and nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
“You got this!” Keeley called after you as you exited Jamie’s childhood bedroom. 
You made your way down the small hallway and the narrow staircase, the air lingering with the scent of fresh baked goods as you descended. You could hear hushed voices coming from the living room. You tried to take soft steps as you approached the door.
“I don’t know, Mum. The best thing to ever happen to me?”
“It sounds like you’re in love.”
“But I’m scared.”
Your breath caught in your throat as you listened.
“Love isn’t supposed to be a walk in the park, Jamie. It can be scary. To put yourself out there on the line. To be vulnerable. To risk getting your heart ripped out and thrown in the rubbish.”
“I’m risking my best friend.”
“But will you regret it if you don’t?”
There was a beat of silence.
“I would die unhappy if I couldn’t tell them how I feel.”
Your feet moved before your brain could catch up. And then you saw him from right inside the doorway. His eyes. The gleaming. The twinkling. The feeling of comfortability. Of home.
He stood without taking his eyes off yours. There was a slight smile playing around his mouth. His hands went into their usual position, clasped and pulling on the bottom hem of his sweatshirt. 
Georgie also stood, but she grinned and quickly moved out of the room, saying to her son on the way out, “it’s worth it, love.”
All you could do in the moment was stand there, cheeks going pink under his gaze. 
“Erm…did you see me old bedroom?” he said sheepishly, breaking eye contact for a moment.
The start of this conversation somehow seemed to bring you back to the realm of the living. You chuckled. “Yes, I was a massive fan of the old Roy Kent poster you had up. And you know, all the small pictures of butts with thongs and such.”
It was his turn to go red. “Yeah, well, what can I say? Teenage boy hormones.”
“I don’t think it’s just teenage boy hormones, Jamie. That’s just you liking butts.”
You both shared another laugh before it went quiet again.
Now was your chance. Keeley and Roy had said Jamie was at least interested in you, so you needed to say something.
“Um…so, I…I was, uh, talking to Keeley and Roy upstairs,” you began, taking a couple steps toward him.
“Is that what you were doing? Talking? I’d have thought you might be having a threesome.”
You laughed again as he smirked proudly at his comment. But his smile faltered as you seemed to go back to a state of self-conscious anxiety. Jamie’s heartbeat sped up. Usually you would’ve come back with another witty comment.
“What were ya talkin’ about?” he wondered seriously.
“I was just telling them about this…guy I’m interested in.”
The warmth in Jamie’s eyes slowly seemed to be dying like embers of a fire slowly burning down.
“Oh.”
“Yeah. And I was telling them a little about him.”
Jamie nodded, eyes cast down at the floor. He feigned interest. “And what’s he like, then?”
You remembered what Georgie had just told Jamie moments before. Love is scary, but it’s worth the risk.
You took another step closer to him, feeling more confident now. “He’s really sweet. He’s considerate and thoughtful and is willing to learn and grow.” 
Jamie nodded again, still half-heartedly listening.
“And he’s funny and makes the best jokes. He can laugh at himself and how dumb he used to be. Although I’d laugh at myself too if I were that much of a prick once. Even turned a whole plan around at Amsterdam once, the idiot.”
His eyes were now back on yours, mouth slightly open in disbelief. The grin seemed to spread over his lips as you continued talking.
“And he’s generous and willing to take care of others despite his own needs. He puts on quite the show at his job though. Oh my god, he can be a bit of a show off, but he’s actively working on it. He always seems to get this like weird ankle injury every once in a while, too. And don’t get me started on his dumb ass tattoos. There’s this one that he says is a rocketship but I SWEAR it’s a penis and –”
“I love you.” 
Your words are put on halt by the admittance that Jamie has just put out into the world forever.
He repeated himself with confidence. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Your declaration comes not a second after he’s spoken. And everything seems to spill out at once. “For months now. I’ve tried to hold it in, but I can’t any longer. You make me nervous, Jamie Tartt. You make me blush just by walking into the fucking room. I couldn’t stand touching you because it made my stupid fingers turn red. Your smile alone could light a thousand candles at once. Your laugh could be a grammy-award winning song. Everybody wants you, but you…you are my everything.”
All he says is your name. And then he closes the gap between you two.
His hands go to your waist, his lips find yours. Your arms wind around his neck, hands finding the base of his hairline, weaving your fingers through the strands. There is no space left between your bodies.
Your mouths move in sync, slowly and softly, with a passion you’d never experienced before.
His hand moves from your waist to cup your cheek, turning his head slightly to deepen the kiss. His other hand grasps the fabric of your t-shirt, clinging to you incessantly.
When you pull away for a second, he whispers your name in a way that sends starlight cascading through your very bones. 
“Jamie,” you whisper, “you’re my best friend and I love you and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
He smiles. “I think your timing is perfect. Just like you.”
You move to press your lips to his again when Simon calls out from the kitchen.
“Anybody want pie?”
Georgie makes a reappearance in the doorway. She shrieks in delight. “See, love? I told you! What did I tell you?”
She wrestles you away from Jamie and gives you the biggest and tightest hug of your life.
“Mum, you’re gonna squish ‘em!” Jamie protests good-naturedly, pulling back on your shoulder. He slings an arm around your waist, keeping you close.
You knew Jamie would be okay at tomorrow’s match even if his dad did show up. 
You loved each other. And that was all he needed.
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leandra-winchester · 8 days
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The Tommy timeline is making me insane
We know the 911 writers are REALLY crap about timelines. I mean, just within the Eddie Begins episode there are several dates that just don't add up. I love those writers, but they can't even count to 10, lol.
Tommy was never supposed to come back, so him being in his late 20s-ish in 2005 when Chim joins the 118 was of no consequence, but now that Tommy is back, that makes it really difficult to say how old he really is.
Some people have speculated that he's 45, but I find that too old. Lou was born in Nov 1984, which makes him 39 currently. I could see Tommy being 1-2 years older than that AT MOST.
So let's say Tommy was born in early 1983 and go from there.
He would have started school at 6.5 and finished HS at 18 years old in 2001. Which means he could have joined the army that year and started training to be a helicopter pilot.
There's a program called "From Street to Seat", also sometimes called "High school to Flight School", so that is a possibility. Training would have been around 2 - 2.5 years until he'd achieved the rank of Warranty Officer and be a fully trained helicopter pilot in late 2003. After that, you have to enlist for TEN years at minimum to repay them getting you through flight school.
At that point, the US had entered the war in Afghanistan and just started the one in Iraq.
Tommy could have been stationed anywhere in the US, or been deployed to one of those countries, or at first, as a still very young officer, been deployed to an allied country like Germany. In the early 2000s, there were many bases in Germany where US soldiers were stationed, only serving short missions in Afghanistan or Iraq. So that's an option if we don't want him to be permanently stationed inside a war zone.
Now, how did young Tommy leave the army early so he ended up being a firefighter just two years later?
Well, there's always medical discharge, but if it was for any injury, him already being a member of the team (and by the looks of it no longer a probie) in 2005 is a bit tight. He'd have to recover from his injury, then apply, then be accepted, do the basic training at the academy (18 weeks) and his probie year... so yeah, that's really a very tight timeline.
Another option would have been Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Back then, army members could not be actively asked if they're gay and therefore fired for it, but if they voluntarily disclosed/confirmed it, they would be kicked out.
If he was lucky (and probably the version I'm going for in my fic), and had a very lenient superior officer, he might be offered medical discharge for depression. Usually, that can get you out of the army pretty quickly.
So, to recap:
Born between Jan/June 1983
Finished high school summer 2001, joined the army
Finished flight school in fall 2003, was deployed somewhere or in service in the US
Found out/discharged in early 2004
Started LAFD academy in summer/fall 2004
Started his probie year end of 2004
Just finished it when Chimney joined in (should be late) 2005, at now 22 years old.
Still an incredibly tight timeline, and I wish Chim joining had been more like 2007 or so, but alas. It works.
You are welcome.
And I need to lie down. God I hate inconsistent timelines, lol.
Oh and I just looked it up, and apparently you're only a probie for 6 months at the LAFD, so I guess that makes it a little easier.
I mean, if you shift things around a little, you could even make him only 40 now, born in summer 1983 instead of early. Maybe he was initially gifted and able to enroll in school at just barely 6 years old.
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likeadevils · 7 months
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1989 Timeline
This is a very long post that puts all the songs on 1989 in order of Taylor creating them. I’ve also included a few other songs she worked on while writing 1989 and quotes from Taylor and her collaborators talking about her process
Of all the albums in Taylor's discography, I think this is the one that improves the most when you listen to it in order. All of those things Taylor was talking about in the promo for this album-- how this is an album of her coming into her own, figuring out her values, learning to stand on her own two feet-- it all clicks into place. Listening to it in order has made me cry on more than one occasion, and it's also the thing that made me start this whole crazy process of figuring out the dates she wrote each song.
If you don't want to read the whole post, check out this playlist of the album in order or this playlist of her entire discography.
I’ve also added this color coded scale of how sure I am of the date: 
Confirmed: There is some type of official source for the date
Inferring: Nobody has officially said “This is when we wrote it,” but all available evidence points to that date
Speculation: This date is based on guesswork and is highly likely to change, or, all that is known is the general season.
Unknown: All that is known is the year (from the US Copyright Offices)
Without further ado...
Oct 6, 2012: Taylor seems to have been in a studio in London (Note: I have no idea where this photo comes from and I can not find a place that specifies if this is a music studio or radio interview.)
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This Love: Oct 17, 2012 (Confirmed)
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October 19, 2012: Taylor mentions wanting to work with Imogen Heap, prompting Imogen to get in touch with Taylor
Time Interview: Who’d be your dream collaboration, especially now that you’re taking more musical risks? Let me think. Imogen Heap! She’s amazing. Taylor: Someone asked me in an interview "Who would you like to work with?" and I said Imogen Heap. I get an email to my management, sent like "Imogen just saw that Taylor just said an interview that she would like to work together" She said "Why don't you come out to my studio." Imogen: I got a phone call [in 2014] saying Taylor Swift was in London, she'd love to work with me and the only date she could do (between 4 sold out 02 arenas!) was the day after we got back, Sunday. It was both unexpected and not at the same time as I'd heard Taylor was a fan a while back via this Time magazine piece but somehow didn't think it would actually happen.
Fall 2012: Taylor possibly writes a song with Harry Styles and Jacknife Lee (her producer for The Last Time)
“It was out of my field of expertise and interest, but I was intrigued and my girls were thrilled. Taylor was nice and very professional. She knew what she wanted and there was no fucking about. She was seeing Harry Styles at the time, so he came to Topanga on her recommendation. She wrote a few songs with him, and it was the same thing – quick. But this time it was more directed by the management and label. They were after something specific. I wanted more acoustic and gentle, almost Americana, and they wanted bombast. They got what they wanted, and that was the extent of my foray into teen-pop territory. It was fun.”
All You Had to Do Was Stay: Jan 10, 2013 (Confirmed)
Taylor is photographed outside Conway, and then tweets "Back in the studio. Uh oh..." Later, Taylor confirmed that she was recording All You Had To Do Was Stay. Taylor: I had a dream that my ex showed up at my door, knocked at my door, and I opened it up, and I was about ready to launch into the perfect thing to say [...], Instead, all that would come out of my mouth was that high-pitched chorus of people singing, 'Stay!'...and then you go to say something else, and it's just like 'Stay! Stay! Stay!' And I woke up, I was like 'Oh, that was mortifying. But that's kind of a cool vocal part.'
January 11, 2013: Taylor is photographed outside Conway again
How You Get The Girl: Jan 15, 2013 (Confirmed)
Taylor posts a picture of her playing a guitar in the studio, captioned "Somewhere in LA..". Later, Taylor confirmed that she was recording How You Get The Girl. Given what was going on in her personal life, she likely wrote this sometime in the fall/winter of 2012, but all we know for sure is the date she recorded it.
February 9, 2013: Tweets "Grammy rehearsals last night, studio today, who knows what tonight holds! (I do. Laying around watching TV and eating candy.)"
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March 6, 2013: Taylor is photographed outside a studio in LA
March 23, 2013: Posts a picture of her playing guitar captioned "Pre show. Columbia, South Carolina"
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I Wish You Would: May 28, 2013 (Inferring)
Taylor is photographed out for lunch in Rhode Island with Lena Dunham (and likely Jack Antonoff, who was Lena's boyfriend but not as famous at the time) on May 27 before leaving for her show in Phoenix, Arizona the next day Jack:  "We were hanging out at her house in Rhode Island and we were talking about John Hughes movies, and a lot of the music that inspired [them], and just this general culture of sound in that time period that was really larger-than-life in an anthemic, positive way. These songs could be at the end of films that were really, really beautiful and said a lot. That actually ended up being a song called 'I Wish You Would' which is going to be on her album. We first worked on that song together and realised we kind of have a good thing. Taylor: “This is a song I did with Jack Antonoff, and Jack is one of my friends and so we were hanging out and he pulled out his phone and goes "I made this amazing track the other day. It's so cool, I love these guitar sounds." And he played it for me and immediately I could hear this finished song in my head, and I just said "Please, please let me have that. Let me play with it, like send it to me" And so he sent it to me and I was on tour and this was me playing the track on my laptop recording me singing the vocal into my phone and it ended up being a song called "I Wish You Would", because Jack wrote back and said "I love that".”
June 7, 2013: At the CMA fest, Taylor is asked if she's started writing for her next album yet
“It's starting, all the anxiety is starting and when the anxiety starts, then the writing happens right afterward, usually. Um, so, yeah, I basically... I like to, I like to write for about two years before I'm finished with an album because I... at this point I kind of know that whenever I write in the first year is going to get thrown away, because, I'm going to like it, but it's going to sound a little bit like the last project I had, and the second year usually ends up sounding like the next project. So I think at this point, at this point I feel like staying the same is the easy way to go but it's not the way that I want to go, creatively. I think you need to challenge yourself, I think you need to change up your influences, I think you need to be inspired by different things that you've been inspired by before, and, uh, y'know, It's harder to call people you don't know, and it's harder to think of topics you haven't covered and think of new ways to say old emotions that everyone feels, but, that's the goal at this point."
June 20-21, 2013: Taylor and Selena Gomez hang out, and Taylor potentially writes Wildest Dreams.
July 15, 2013: Taylor gives a brief interview to Rolling Stone
“The floodgates just opened the last couple weeks,” she says of the songwriting process. “I’m getting to that point where I’m irritating to be around because I’ll be with you for half the conversation and then the second half of the conversation I’m clearly editing the second verse of whatever I’m writing in my head.” “I really loved collaborating [on Red],” she says. “You work with a lot of different people and you find the people you have this dream connection with in the studio. I know those people and I know the ones I want to go back to. But I also have a really long list of the people I admire and I would really love to go and contact. So that’s kind of where that is.” “I think that the idea of having a different approach to every single one of my albums is so exciting to me. I never want to make the same record twice. Why do it? What’s the point? It’s so overwhelming that when you’re starting a project there are such endless possibilities if you’re willing to evolve and experiment. If you’re willing to become a different version of yourself, you can really go anywhere with it. And that’s kind of where I am. The kind of the laboratory experimental stage of really catching onto a new thing that I’m liking.”
July 18, 2013: Taylor unfollows the three backup dancers that left her tour for Katy's, meaning Bad Blood was likely written sometime between July and November 2013.
Sweeter Than Fiction: Summer 2013 (Speculation)
Taylor wrote this one over email, and then it was recorded in New York (partially in Jack's living room, partially in an actual studio)
August 25, 2013: Taylor and Selena Gomez hang out at the VMAs, and Taylor potentially writes Wildest Dreams.
August 25, 2013: Taylor gives a brief interview on the VMAs red carpet
"But I think [songwriting is] about to start to kick into full gear. I'm about to go into the studio. It's about to get really intense."
Out Of The Woods: September 14 2013 (Inferring)
On September 14, Fun cancelled their show. Taylor was likely either flying to or from Charlottesville, where she had a show for the Red Tour. Jack: "When I did the track for Out of the Woods, which is a Taylor song that I'm really proud of, there was some issue at a venue and our show was canceled that night and I didn't have my stuff, I had left it on the bus, so I only had these old samples on what was on my laptop, and caught up that 'oh oh'' thing, and I only had one drum kit on there, and these dumb little things [sometimes turn into a great song]" Jack: "So 'Out Of The Woods' was the third thing we worked on together, and probably the easiest. I sent her the track for it, and she sent back a voice note with the verse and chorus in what felt like five seconds. And it was just perfect. It's eerie how similar it is to what the final product is." Taylor: "This is a track that Jack Antonoff sent me, and I was actually on a plane, I got it and I got on a plane and I'm listening to it, and I'm just like listening to it and mumbling melodies cause the song came to me immediately like, in full [...] I think what I should start by playing you, is when I got the track, what I sent him like an hour later, and it is, me.. um, me singing what came to me, which ended up being the finished version of the song, or at least really close to it."
September 20, 2013: In a brief interview with USA Today, Taylor says she plans to work on her next album between the next few legs of the Red Tour
"I’ll be in the studio, figuring out what comes next. I really like to take two years to make a record, and I’ve been writing and doing stuff for the last year. This is kind of the year that it goes into overdrive, and it’s all I think about and I become obsessive over it and I’m hard to talk to"
September 22, 2013: Taylor gives an interview to New York Magazine where she talks about her plans for TS5
These days, Swift is thinking a lot about her next record. While on the Red tour, she’d been writing songs and stockpiling ideas: reams of lyrics, thousands of voice memos in her iPhone [...] she plans to spend much of 2014 writing and recording the new album, a prospect she finds exhilarating and terrifying. “I worry about everything. Some days I wake up in a mind-set of, like, ‘Okay, it’s been a good run.’ By afternoon, I could have a change of mood and feel like anything is possible and I can’t wait to make this kind of music I’ve never made before. And then by evening, I could be terrified of the whole thing again. And then at night, I’ll write a song before bed.” Swift hopes to collaborate with new songwriters and producers. But she planned to begin, she said, by heading back into the studio with Max Martin and Shellback. “I want to go in with Max and Johan first, just to figure out what the bone structure of this record is going to be. “I have a lot of things to draw from emotionally at the moment. But I have to draw from them with a different perspective than on Red. I can’t say the same things over and over, you know? I mean, I think it’s just all the more important that I don’t ever allow myself to coast. At the same time, there’s a mistake that I see artists make when they’re on their fourth or fifth record, and they think innovation is more important than solid songwriting. The most terrible letdown as a listener for me is when I’m listening to a song and I see what they were trying to do. Like, where there’s a dance break that doesn’t make any sense, there’s a rap that shouldn’t be there, there’s like a beat change that’s, like, the coolest, hippest thing this six months—but it has nothing to do with the feeling, it has nothing to do with the emotion, it has nothing to do with the lyric. I never want to put things in songs just because that might make them popular, like, on the more rhythmic stations or in dance clubs. I really don’t want a compilation of sounds. I just need them to be songs.”
September 28-October 5, 2013: Taylor and Selena Gomez are in the same city, and Taylor potentially writes Wildest Dreams.
October 12, 2013: Taylor gives an interview to the Associated Press
Swift: I think the goal for the next album is to continue to change, and never change in the same way twice [...] How do I write these figurative diary entries in ways that I’ve never written them before and to a sonic backdrop that I’ve never explored before? It’s my fifth album, which is crazy to think about, but I think what I’m noticing about it so far is it’s definitely taking a different turn than anything I’ve done before. AP: You said recently you’ve been working on songs for the new album for about six months. What can you tell us about what you have planned? Swift: It’s too early to tell who are going to be my predominant collaborators, but I do know that my absolute dream collaborators were Shellback and Max Martin on the last project. I’ve never been so challenged as a songwriter. I’ve never learned so much. I’ve never just been so excited to show up to the studio every day, just because you never know what we’re going to put together. I’ll bring in ideas and they’ll take such a different turn than where I thought they were going to go, and that level of unexpected spontaneity is something that really thrills me in the process of making music. ... What if we did this? What if we made it weirder? What if we took it darker? I love people who have endless strange and exciting ideas about where music can go."
October 14, 2013: At the NSAI, Taylor talks about reinventing herself for different albums
"I’m making my 5th record now, so I think you have to change things up, you have to explore different corners of music as much as you can. Cause I really, it’s been a big goal of mine to never make two albums that sounded the same. I really want my fans to be able to be like "Oh that song? Clearly that's from the Fearless album", "No that one, that one was from Red" and so I’m in the process of doing that thing all over again for my 5th album and it’s amazing to be in the studio and to be songwriting again, and be honored for songwriting tonight"
Blank Space: October 26, 2013 (Inferring)
It looks like she’s wearing the same outfit in this behind the scenes footage and these candids Taylor: "I was going into write with Max Martin and Shellback, who are two of the primary collaborators on 1989, and I... was preparing all these things, and I, I think Blank Space was like the third thing I played them, and they just stopped and they were like "NO, this is the first thing we're working on today." [...] I had the idea for the chorus and I had the hook, but a lot of the verse was gibberish." Taylor (On what song took her the least amount of time to write): "Blank space, cause I'd written a lot of the lines down already in the year preceding the session"
October 29, 2013: Tweets "Sitting in the studio writing the next album (!!!!) and wanted to thank you for the American Music Award nominations!"
November 1 : While promoting Keds, Taylor is asked about her next album
"What I go through is going to be the story that I tell. I think lyrically, I always try to tell my fans exactly what’s happened to me in the last two years, and that’s the thing they can expect. Everything else, they won’t be able to expect. Having been in the studio with this one, I’m just like… oh, this is going to be fun"
Bad Blood: Fall 2013 (Speculation)
The backup dancer drama seems to have kicked off in mid-July. Given that it's produced by Max Martin and Shellback, and Taylor was in the studio with them pretty much non-stop from October-November, we can assume that it was recorded sometime in the Fall of 2013
New Romantics: Fall 2013 (Speculation)
Unfortunately, Taylor doesn't really talk about this song. Given that it's produced by Max Martin and Shellback, and Taylor was in the studio with them pretty much non-stop from October-November, we can assume that it was recorded sometime in the Fall of 2013
Wildest Dreams: Fall 2013 (Speculation)
Selena reportedly told a fan she was there when Taylor wrote this, and I've noted above all the times Selena could have been with Taylor in 2013 (Here's my personal ranking of how likely each date is). Given that it's produced by Max Martin and Shellback, and Taylor was in the studio with them pretty much non-stop from October-November, we can assume that it was recorded sometime in the Fall of 2013.
Wonderland: Fall 2013 (Speculation)
Another one Taylor just doesn't talk about all that often. Given that it's produced by Max Martin and Shellback, and Taylor was in the studio with them pretty much non-stop from October-November, we can assume that it was recorded sometime in the Fall of 2013
Nov 20, 2013: Taylor posted "While in the studio, I came to the realization that my bangs are long enough to use as a sleep mask on long flights. Then I remembered I don't ever use sleep masks on flights. So really, I just need a haircut"
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November 25, 2013: Taylor and Scott Borchetta have a meeting to talk about her plans for TS5 and are both asked about the next album at the AMAs
Taylor: “We got a lot already. There are probably seven or eight [songs] that I know I want on the record. It’s really ahead of schedule for me. I’m just stoked because it’s already evolved into a new sound, and that’s all I wanted. And I would have taken two years to make that happen, but it just kind of happened naturally, so that’s all I could really ask for.” Scott Borchetta: "Well earlier today we got together and she played me seven new songs, and she’s just on fire. The level of desire and passion that she has just to keep getting better, she’s an artist that just really never wants to just say ‘Well okay this is good enough’. It’s always gotta be better. She’s in amazing creative place right now." By the end of November, Taylor had likely recorded This Love, All You Had To Do Was Stay, How You Get The Girl, I Wish You Would, Out Of The Woods, Blank Space, Bad Blood, New Romantics, Wildest Dreams, and Wonderland. That’s 10 songs total, 5 of which were likely recorded in the past two months, and 7 that had been made since Taylor and Jack had their conversation about 80s music in May.
Dec 21, 2013: Taylor briefly talks to Billboard about TS5
"I’m really loving collaboration right now [...] I see it as a bit of an apprenticeship. I want to be around people who love writing songs and have done it for years. Every time I’m in a studio I’m learning, like how to build a drum track, and getting a new perspective on things. It’s so thrilling to keep learning on your fifth album. As soon as [an album] comes out I’m figuring out what the next one will be. It’s gotten to the point where each one is a reinvention, which is what I like best. I like it when it sounds new and people don’t know where you’re going to go next."
Say Don't Go: Jan 1, 2014 (Confirmed)
Diane Warren: Warren, who typically writes on her own, says the two of them “sat down and wrote the song […] from scratch” during the last few days of 2013. She remembers being impressed with how specific Swift was with her lyricism and how considerate she was about how her fans might receive it. “She was very particular about how she said certain things. It was a really interesting experience. She gets her audience [...] She’s deeply aware of how her fans want to hear something. I can’t explain it, but that’s probably why she’s the biggest fucking star in the world.” Several days after writing the song together, they got into Warren’s office to record a demo, where Swift played it on her acoustic guitar. “We demoed it on New Year’s Day. And I’m a workaholic, and that’s fine for me,” she says. “But I remember being impressed that she did, too. Everybody’s on vacation, but she showed up.”
You Are In Love: Jan 2014 (Inferring)
This song is copyrighted for 2014. Taylor has said a few times that Clean, Shake It Off, and Style were the last songs written for the album, meaning You Are In Love was likely completed in January or early February. Given Taylor's busy schedule in late January and early February, I'd guess this was written at some point in early January. Furthermore, I'd guess it was sometime after the 9th, when she returned from looking at house in New York.
I Know Places: Jan 22, 2014 (Confirmed)
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Taylor: "I sent this voice memo to Ryan Tedder because I'd always wanted to work with him, and finally we scheduled some studio time. So I always wanna be prepared, I wanted to send him the idea that I was working on before we went into the studio just in case he wrote back and said "I can't stand that, I wanna work on something else, think of something else" So I just sat down with the piano, put my phone on top of the piano and just kind of explained to him where I wanted to go with the song, how I saw the melody sitting in and we ended up recording the song the next day and it ended up being on the record called "I Know Places" So this was the voice memo that I sent to him the night before we ended up finishing the song"
Welcome To New York: Jan 23, 2014 (Confirmed)
Ryan Tedder: "I thought we were going to walk in and start something from scratch because that's what I was used to. Then she calls me and says, 'Is it cool if I already have an idea?' I said, 'Sure.' She said, 'I have this song, I'm obsessed with New York and I just moved there, I want to write an ode to New York because no one's done it in a long time.' And then she sent me a voice memo. She's like, 'I want it to sound like 1980s.' So the next day I brought in a Juno-106, which is a very 1980s keyboard and I literally programmed that entire song right in front of her. It was very much on the fly, and that song was done in about three hours. And I did the rest of the production I think later that week. I was in Switzerland on a tour bus, and I did four versions of 'Welcome to New York,' one of which I liked personally more, but the thing about artists is they become very obsessed with the demo. She was in love with the demo so no matter how hard I fought, she brought it back to the demo, so really what you hear is what I did on the first day."
January 26 2014: Dianne Warren says that she recently wrote a song with Taylor
"I worked with Taylor Swift on a great song [...] I'm excited about the [song] that we did, it's pretty cool Dianne in 2016: “I know [Swift] likes it, so hopefully it will see the light of day. I know she really likes the song. She didn’t want me to give it away, so hopefully that means she wants it.”
January 26 2014: Taylor loses Album of the Year at the Grammy's to Daft Punk. She tells a few different stories about what the rest of the night looked like for her-- in some she goes home alone, in some she has some friends over-- but in all of them, this is the night where she decides that she's gonna name the album 1989, and she's not going to let her label tell her to put any country songs on it.
Clean: Feb 9, 2014 (Confirmed)
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According to Imogen Heap's blog post, Taylor had the first verse and chorus by the time they got into the studio, and then wrote the second verse and bridge during the session. Taylor's part was wrapped up in 9 hours, ending at 8pm, while Imogen stayed up until 4am because she didn't want to stop working on it. Taylor: ""Shake It Off" and "Clean" were the last two things we wrote for the record, so it shows you where I ended up mentally. “Clean” I wrote as I was walking out of Liberty in London. Someone I used to date— it hit me that I’d been in the same city as him for two weeks and I hadn’t thought about it. When it did hit me, it was like, ‘Oh, I hope he’s doing well’. And nothing else. [...] The first thought that came to my mind was – I’m finally clean." Imogen Heap: I was really writing the tiniest amount just to help her do what she does. I put some noises to [“Clean”], played various instruments on it, including drums, and anytime she expressed she liked something I was doing, I did it more. It was a really fun day. She recorded all her vocals [for “Clean”] during that one session. She did two takes, and the second take was it. We always thought she would probably re-record it, because we thought it can’t possibly be that easy. But after we lived with it for a few months, we felt it was great.
February 15, 2014: Taylor posts "It was a studio Valentines Day with Max and Johan!"
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Shake It Off: Feb 15, 2014 (Confirmed)
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Lover Diaries (From Feb 22): "This week I’ve been in the studio with Max and Johan every day and it has been the most creatively successful and fulfilling time. The first day, Johan just made a really up tempo drum beat because we decided we needed something UP and light. We worked at it for a few hours before I just started singing “shake it off, shake it off.” And then the best way I know how to describe it is that the chorus just fell out of the sky. It ended up being this song about doing your own thing even though haters are gonna hate, and you just have to dance to your own beat. We all went home and I wrote the first and second verses and brought them in the next day. We wrote this chanty cheer leader bridge that I absolutely LOVE. We spent all day doing vocals and the next day recording background vocals. I think it’ll end up being the first single and Max said it’s his favorite song he’s ever been a part of." Taylor: "The problem was, I had all these lyrics, and I didnt have, like... writing session was coming up and I'm just like "I'm not getting a melody, I'm dead, I don't know what I'm gonna do." The thought terrified me, so I just sorta sulked into the studio and I was like "Guys, I have like an idea but its like, lyric, but I... and I know the vibe I want-- I want it to start off and the second the song starts, I want it to be the song where like, if it's played at a wedding, and there's this one girl who hasn't danced all night at the reception, all her friends come over to her and there like "You have to dance, come on, you have to dance on this one!". That's what I wanted. So I was like "Shellback, can you just go to the drum kit and try to play that?" Taylor: "There's one thing that I've always said to Max, is like "I don't like horns" I just always had a thing about it, I was always like weirdly scared of it, or intimidated by horns, I don't know what it was? It's a weird, like, nerdy studio fear of mine. I was like "No, no horns!" and I don't.. I don't even know, I don't have a reason for it, I love songs that have horns on them, I was just like "I don't think I can pull off horns." Strange. But, he goes over to the mellotron and he starts playing this horn sound. I'm like "What are you doing. Don't do that." and he's like, "No, I think this is cool" and I'm like "No it's not cool, and where are your chorus chords, because, that, you're just playing three chords over and over again and I can't make a chorus out of them, why don't you go to like a chorus chord that starts off the chorus, where is the one, like why don't you go--" and then there was this moment, where I thought of the whole chorus, and it's over the chords that I had just told him are not "chorus chords", which is a ridiculous thing to say."
February 18, 2014: Taylor is photographed entering Conway Studios
Style: Feb 19, 2014 (Confirmed)
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Niklas Ljungfelt (guitarist): I played on “Style,” a song I started with Ali Payami for ourselves. He was playing it for Max Martin at his studio; Taylor overheard it and loved it. She and Max wrote new lyrics. But I recorded the guitar on it before it was a Taylor song. It was an instrumental. I didn’t have a clue that Taylor would sing on it. The inspiration came from Daft Punk and funky electronic music. Taylor: I'm pretty sure after we finished this one I knew the record was done. Shake It Off and Style were the last two songs to be written for 1989.
March 2014: Taylor's interview with Glamour is published (likely conducted two months beforehand)
TS: Working on this album has been unbelievable [...] I'm already in love with it. It's so different. CL: What's the new sound? TS: On Red I did three songs with Max Martin Shellback [...] I think we'll be doing a lot more than three songs together on the next album [Laughs].
March 26, 2014: Taylor is photographed entering a music studio in New York
May 30, 2014: Taylor writes in her diary:
So a crazy story unfolded in the last 24 hours. Last night, I had this vivid dream where the photo I’d chosen for the album cover wasn’t good enough, intriguing enough, artful enough. It woke me up. I couldn’t shake it and it stayed with me all day. Because that nagging feeling I’d been pushing back for weeks was now confirmed in my gut … It wasn’t good enough. I went to the venue, mind racing, wondering if I’d have to do an entirely new photo shoot … I got to my dressing room with newer versions of the “cover.” I looked at it and felt nothing. The team pulled up this new scanned file of the Polaroids we had taken during the shoot. I saw within 10 seconds. The shot. The cover. It’s a Polaroid of me sitting against a beige wall with a blue seagull swear shirt on. You can see my red lips, but the photo cuts off my eyes. From some reason unknown to me, it’s the most intriguing photo I’ve seen. I think it’s the mystery of not seeing my eyes. Maybe it just looks effortlessly cool. The craziest moment came when something caught my eye. The cover photo is photo 13. I kid you not.
August 23, 2014: Taylor is photographed walking out of a studio in LA (Note: I can not find a place that specifies if this is a recording studio, dance, photography, radio, or television studio.)
Now That We Don't Talk: Summer 2014 (Speculation)
Seeing as Taylor said she didn't have time to figure out the production, I imagine this came fairly late in the process. Taylor has a habit of adding songs right up to the deadline-- with Folklore and Evermore, she added multiple songs a week before the album came out. The latest she added songs to albums while signed to Big Machine was September, though (both Forever & Always and So It Goes...), so I assume that's the absolute latest she could've added a song. Taylor: "Now That We Don’t Talk” is one of my favorite songs that was left behind, it was so hard to leave it behind, but I think we wrote it a little bit towards the end of the process and we couldn’t get the production right at the time. But we had tons of time to perfect the production this time and figure out what we wanted this song to sound like. I think it’s the shortest song I’ve ever had, but I think it packs a punch, I think it really goes in. For the short amount of time we have, I think it makes its point.
And that's all for this timeline! Check out my others:
TIMELINES: debut • fearless • speak now • red • 1989 • rep • lover �� folklore • evermore • midnights PLAYLISTS: debut • fearless • speak now • red • 1989 • rep • lover • folklore • evermore • midnights • entire discography GENERAL: tag
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seat-safety-switch · 8 months
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Birdwatching got really popular in the early days of the Unpleasantness. However, now that the bosses are forcing us all back to the office, the birds don't have anyone to watch them. That's why I built an autonomous bird-observation robot. Its name is SparrowScope 9000, and I recommend not becoming too emotionally attached to it, because it is your competition.
There's a lot of obvious benefits to having a robotic birdwatcher. It can start up early in the morning and go to its charging dock late at night. It never makes a mistake identifying a bird. It won't get tired, cold, hungry, or develop pointless drama with "Uncle" Hudson Carl online over his fucking misdocumentation of Northern Cardinals. You can pop over to its little webpage and see what it spotted that day, and feel pretty good. It's like you're really there, even though you're stuck in an office building wondering if you have enough staples loaded in your stapler to get through the month, or if you should maybe talk to Jan in Requisitioning to get a fresh refill.
However, there are flaws. One of the big things is that the US military doesn't let regular people – civilians – have super-accurate GPS. They fuck with the data a little bit, so that you can't somehow threaten national security by knowing where you are. I didn't know this before I started on the project, and the bird sanctuary has a lot of elevated walkways ever since the flood. SparrowScope 9000 became more of a SoggyScope Wet-Thousand.
If a real technology company had assembled it, that would probably have been the end of the story. They'd have put in some total garbage like a modern microcontroller, maybe some parts made in this century. Not me. This thing is half old pinball machine parts and the other half Aibos. It kept trucking right down the river, and I never saw it again. I do get updates from it periodically as it spots a new bird, but my work schedule forbids me from taking a few days off to drive to the next county over and see if I can figure out which swamp it's floated into this time.
Even with this small disaster, I'm pretty proud of what I accomplished. Our avian friends get looked at by a creepy robot covered in seaweed, and we can all experience what it was like for one brief, shining moment in which we still had hobbies.
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