#how to get a finance job without experience

[not-yossarian]

I hate software I hate people who make software I hate computers. For a small stipend, I could make some of the software on some of the computers slightly less broken. I couldn't possibly be any worse at this than the people who do it now. But nobody will let me, because of the economy

[plutosunshine]

PLUTO: your personal power

How to find your personal transformative power? Of course, we should look at the Pluto. Pluto is the place where the power of transformation starts. The house it resides in can show us how we can open up our strengths and let them transform our lives. I will look into the Pluto in the houses to answer that question. Of course, there are others placements that show power and strength but I would like to dive deep into the Pluto world. After all, the name of my blog is Plutosunshine!

Also, for those reading this post I offer to dig deep into your Pluto placement (and how it connects with the chart) to know what your personal power is — just 15 dollars. Don’t miss that opportunity!

Pluto in the 1st house

Having Pluto in the 1st house means you're someone who's meant to transform — again and again. You're not here to stay the same or follow the status quo. There's a deep intensity to you, something people can feel even if you don't say much. You've probably noticed that people are drawn to you, or maybe even a little intimidated, and you might not always understand why. That's Pluto — it gives off a powerful, magnetic energy.

To tap into your transformative power, start by really embracing change, even when it feels uncomfortable or chaotic. Life will probably push you through a lot of big shifts — but each one is meant to strip away what's false and bring you closer to your most authentic self. You grow stronger every time you let go of what no longer fits.

Another key part of your power is learning to accept your shadow side — those parts of you that feel too intense, emotional, or misunderstood. The more you own those parts instead of hiding them, the more powerful and grounded you become. Your depth is a gift, not a weakness.

You're also here to be unapologetically real. You don't need to shrink yourself to make others feel at ease. When you walk into a room fully being yourself, people feel your presence. That's part of your impact — you shift the energy just by being there.

Because you're wired to go deep, you're also someone who can heal. When you've worked through your own stuff, you naturally become a guide for others, whether you realize it or not. Your story, your intensity, your ability to rise again — all of that inspires people around you.

Pluto in the 2nd house

Pluto in the 2nd house is all about deep transformation around money, self-worth, values, and control — especially when it comes to your relationship with security and stability.

You’re not the type who just wants to "make money" in a surface-level way. You want to own your power, and for you, money, resources, and possessions can feel like a way to have control over your life. But here’s the thing — Pluto brings transformation through loss and rebirth. So throughout life, you might experience times where you lose something important (money, a job, stability), only to rebuild from the ground up and come back even stronger.

This placement teaches you that real power doesn’t come from what you have — it comes from who you are without it. Once you figure that out, you become unstoppable. You learn how to generate your own value, your own security, and build wealth in a way that feels deeply empowering and aligned with your soul.

There’s also this deep drive to get to the truth of things. You’re not into fluff. You want to know what’s real, what lasts, and what holds value — whether that’s in relationships, finances, or your own self-worth. You might have a talent for seeing through superficial success and knowing what’s truly valuable underneath.

And yeah, there can be some control issues here too — either clinging too tightly to money and material stuff out of fear, or swinging the other way and rejecting it completely. Finding balance is key. You’re meant to learn how to hold power without letting it control you.

At your best, you can become someone who transforms not only your own financial reality but also helps others do the same. You could be amazing at healing people’s money mindset, uncovering hidden talents, or building something valuable from scratch.

Pluto in the 3rd house

Pluto in the 3rd house? That’s deep, powerful stuff when it comes to your mind, communication, and how you process and share information.

You don’t do small talk. You crave real conversations — the kind that cut through the surface and get to the heart of things. When you speak, there’s often a weight to your words. You might not say much unless it matters, but when you do speak? People listen. There's something magnetic in how you express yourself.

Your mind works like an x-ray machine — you see through the noise, the lies, the distractions. You’re probably very observant, possibly quiet at times, but you're always picking up on what's not being said. It’s like you’re tuned into the hidden motives or the emotional undercurrents in conversations.

This placement also points to a strong potential for mental transformation throughout your life. Maybe early on, you dealt with environments that felt intense, controlling, or even toxic — especially related to siblings, school, or how you were allowed to express yourself. But over time, you learn to reclaim your voice and your mind. And once you do? You become incredibly persuasive, powerful, and insightful.

There can also be this compulsive curiosity — like you need to figure out how things work, especially people’s minds or deeper truths. You’d probably be amazing at research, psychology, writing, even occult studies. Anything that lets you dive deep and expose what’s hidden.

But be mindful of how you use your words — because with Pluto here, your voice can be healing or destructive. You have the power to influence people’s thinking, to help them see things in a totally new way. So learning how to wield that power with intention and care is a big part of your journey.

Also — don’t be afraid to let go of old mental patterns. Pluto in the 3rd can hold on to ideas, thoughts, or inner narratives for too long. Transformation happens when you’re willing to challenge what you think you know and open up to deeper truths.

Pluto in the 4th house

Pluto in the 4th house hits deep — this one goes straight to the core of who you are beneath the surface. It’s about your emotional foundation, your family roots, your home life, and your inner world. And with Pluto here, none of that is light or simple.

You probably grew up in an environment that felt intense, secretive, or even emotionally heavy. Maybe there were power dynamics in the family, unspoken rules, or a feeling like you had to protect yourself or stay on high alert. Whatever the story is, your childhood likely shaped you in a big way — and not always in ways you could fully understand at the time.

This placement gives you emotional depth and inner strength that most people can’t even begin to comprehend. You feel things intensely, but you might not always show it on the outside. You’ve learned to guard your inner world, to protect your vulnerabilities. You might keep your true self hidden unless you really trust someone — and even then, it can take time.

One of your biggest transformations in life comes through healing your relationship with your past — your family, your upbringing, and your emotional wounds. You’re meant to dive into all of that, not avoid it. The more you face what’s buried, the more you reclaim your personal power.

You’re also someone who needs a home that feels like a sanctuary. A place where you can go deep, retreat, and fully be yourself. You're not into surface-level comfort — you want a space with soul. And once you’ve done the inner work, you might even be the kind of person who helps others heal emotionally or create a safe space for transformation.

Sometimes Pluto in the 4th brings up themes around control or fear of losing stability — like trying to control your environment or relationships just to feel safe. But real strength comes when you learn to trust yourself emotionally and let go of needing everything to be under your control.

Bottom line: You’re here to transform from the inside out. To face the shadows of the past, rise above them, and build a foundation that’s emotionally solid and truly yours.

Pluto in the 5th house

Pluto in the 5th house brings intensity, passion, and deep transformation to all things related to self-expression, creativity, romance, and even how you experience joy.

This placement gives you a powerful desire to create — not just in the artistic sense, but to put your whole soul into something and watch it come to life. Whether it’s art, writing, music, performance, business, or even how you love someone — you don’t do anything halfway. When you express yourself, it’s raw, real, and magnetic. People can feel that you're not just creating for fun — you're creating from your core.

Romance and love affairs? Yeah... those don’t stay light either. You go all in. Love for you is intense, consuming, and often transformative. You might attract partners who challenge you, awaken you, or force you to confront parts of yourself you didn’t even know were there. There can be power struggles or deep emotional entanglements, but they’re never boring — these relationships are meant to change you.

There’s also this undercurrent of craving significance. Not in an ego way, but in a “I need what I do and who I love to matter” kind of way. Casual doesn’t cut it. You want to feel alive, seen, and fully self-expressed. At the same time, you might fear losing control — over your creativity, your heart, or your sense of self — so you might hold back or keep certain passions hidden until you feel safe.

At your highest expression, you become someone who channels their creativity and passion in a way that moves others. You don’t just entertain or express — you transform through your art, your love, and your joy.

Pluto in the 6th house

Pluto in the 6th house is deep transformation through the day-to-day grind — work, routines, health, service, and how you manage your responsibilities. Sounds practical, right? But Pluto doesn’t do shallow, even in the 6th. This placement means you’re here to evolve through the details of life.

You don’t just “go to work” or “take care of your health” — you feel a powerful, almost obsessive pull to do things well, to be in control of your environment, your workflow, and your body. You might be super focused on productivity, efficiency, or constantly improving yourself. And yeah, there can be perfectionist vibes here — because deep down, you may feel like control equals safety.

At some point in life, though, Pluto will challenge that mindset. There might be times when you burn out, get sick, or feel like your entire daily structure has to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch. That’s Pluto pushing you to transform how you handle stress, self-discipline, and your physical well-being.

You may also attract intense work situations — environments where power dynamics, manipulation, or control issues come into play. But that’s not random. These experiences help you learn how to stand in your own power without getting caught in toxic patterns.

Health-wise, this placement often calls for deep healing, not just physically, but emotionally and energetically. Your body can hold onto stress or emotional baggage, so it's important to pay attention to the root of any imbalances, not just the symptoms. You might even be drawn to alternative or transformative healing methods — like detoxing, shadow work, or energy healing — anything that helps cleanse from the inside out.

You have the potential to be a powerful healer, organizer, or problem-solver — especially once you’ve done the inner work. People may come to you because they sense you don’t just “fix” things — you transform them.

Pluto in the 7th house

Pluto in the 7th house? Oof — this is a powerful one when it comes to relationships. You're not here for light, casual connections. You're here to dive deep, to merge, and to transform through the people you’re closest to.

The 7th house rules partnerships — romantic, business, close one-on-one connections — and with Pluto sitting there, those relationships are often intense, magnetic, and sometimes... a little messy. Power struggles, obsession, deep attraction, and control issues can all show up at some point in your life. But it’s not to punish you — it’s to teach you how to find your own power within relationships, not through them.

You might attract partners who are intense, mysterious, or controlling — or you could be the one holding the reins. Either way, your relationships aren’t surface-level. They shake you, challenge you, and force you to grow. You may even go through major relationship breakdowns that feel like emotional death and rebirth experiences. But with every one, you come out stronger and more self-aware.

There’s also a theme here around learning to balance power — not giving yours away to please others, but also not trying to dominate or fix them. Pluto in the 7th is about finding equal, transformative partnerships — ones where both people grow, evolve, and bring out the deeper layers of each other’s truth.

You're someone who can’t fake connection. You crave realness, loyalty, soul-bonded intensity. When you're in a relationship that feels safe and aligned, you become incredibly loyal, protective, and powerful as a partner. You might even help others face their shadows or break their own patterns — just by being in their life.

If you haven’t already, you'll likely go through at least one life-altering relationship that shifts everything you thought you knew about love and partnership. And that relationship (even if it doesn’t last) will unlock a whole new level of personal power.

Pluto in the 8th house

Pluto in the 8th house is straight-up next-level deep — like, soul-level transformation kind of deep. This is Pluto in its home, so if you have this placement, you’re basically carrying intense, raw, psychic energy that most people can’t even begin to understand. You’re not here to live on the surface — you’re here to die and be reborn, over and over, emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically.

This placement gives you a natural connection to the hidden, the taboo, the unseen. You’re drawn to topics most people shy away from: death, rebirth, sex, trauma, power, energy, mysticism, the subconscious. You might have a fascination with psychology, occult stuff, healing, or even money that comes from others (like inheritances, shared resources, investments, etc.).

Emotionally, you feel things with intensity — but you don’t always show it. You’re probably very private, maybe even secretive, because you don’t trust easily. You know how messy people can be under the mask, and you’re not about to hand your soul over unless someone’s earned it. And when you do open up? It’s deep, consuming, life-changing love. No in-between.

With Pluto here, life will likely push you into situations where you’re forced to let go — of control, of attachments, of the idea that you can protect yourself from pain. It may come through relationships, loss, betrayal, or deep emotional experiences that shake you. But through those experiences, you unlock your true power — the kind that comes from facing the dark and surviving it.

There may also be a natural ability to help others through their own transformations. You could be a guide, a healer, a counselor — or just someone whose presence alone makes people confront their shadows and grow. You're not afraid of darkness — you work with it.

If you're not consciously working with this energy, it can come out sideways — jealousy, emotional control, fear of betrayal, or power struggles. But once you own it? You become a force. Like a phoenix that rises from the ashes every damn time.

Pluto in the 9th house

Pluto in the 9th house? Now that’s the placement of a truth-seeker, a belief-breaker, and someone who’s here to completely transform their worldview over the course of their life.

You’re not interested in surface-level knowledge or blindly following what you’ve been taught. You want to dig deep, uncover hidden truths, and challenge the systems — religion, philosophy, culture, education — anything that tells you “this is how it is.” Your mind is built to go beyond that. You want to know — not just believe — and that desire can lead you to explore some seriously deep or even taboo topics.

There’s often a powerful transformation that happens through travel, higher education, or spiritual awakening. It might start with questioning what you were raised to believe. Maybe you were taught one version of the truth growing up — and at some point, it just didn’t fit anymore. So you broke away, maybe even dramatically, and went on your own journey to find what’s real for you.

People with Pluto in the 9th are often drawn to the occult, metaphysics, esoteric studies, psychology, philosophy, or anything that challenges traditional thinking. You might have the soul of a philosopher, teacher, mystic, or rebel scholar — someone who doesn’t just accept ideas but dissects them, transforms them, and helps others do the same.

You also have this intensity when it comes to your personal truth. Once you believe in something, you believe it with everything in you. But part of your growth is learning that beliefs can evolve — that clinging too hard to one “truth” can become its own kind of prison.

You could be a powerful teacher or guide, especially when it comes to helping others see beyond their limits. Your words, your perspective, your insight? It can change people’s lives. But first, you’ve gotta go through your own journey of death and rebirth — mentally, spiritually, even culturally.

Pluto in the 10th house

Now that’s a powerhouse placement. You’re here to transform the world through your presence, your ambition, and the legacy you leave behind. There’s something magnetic about the way you move in the world — even if you’re not loud about it, people feel your intensity.

The 10th house is about career, reputation, public image, and authority — and Pluto brings transformation, control, and raw power to all of it. You’re not just here to “have a job.” You’re here to own your path, to rise to the top of whatever field you’re in, and to make an impact. Even if it takes time, you’re wired to build something lasting, and you won’t stop until you do.

That said, it’s rarely a straight shot to success. With Pluto here, you might go through some serious ups and downs with your career or public identity. There could be major shifts — like climbing the ladder, crashing hard, and rising from the ashes even stronger. You learn through these experiences how to let go of old versions of yourself and step into something more powerful each time.

You might also experience intense dynamics with authority figures — bosses, parents, institutions — where control and power play a huge role. Maybe you resist being controlled, or maybe you’ve had to wrestle with your own need to be the one in control. Either way, you're here to redefine what power looks like — for yourself and others.

People might project their expectations or fears onto you because you have a commanding energy. Whether you realize it or not, others see you as someone who’s meant for big things. That can be intimidating, but it’s also your edge. Once you stop trying to blend in and start owning that you're a natural leader or influencer, things shift.

You’re here to lead by transforming systems, not just following them. That could mean building a business, changing an industry, or becoming the kind of authority figure you wish you'd had. Legacy matters to you — not in a flashy way, but in a deep, lasting way. You want your work to mean something.

Pluto in the 11th house

Pluto in the 11th house is next-level transformation through your connections with the collective — friendships, communities, social movements, and your long-term vision for the future. This is the placement of someone who’s here to shake up the status quo and change the system from the inside out.

You’re not here to just “fit in.” You’re here to find your soul tribe — people who are deep, real, and ready to evolve with you. Superficial social scenes? Nah, that’s not your vibe. You crave connections that have meaning, purpose, and maybe even a little intensity. In fact, your friendships might go through some heavy shifts over time — people coming and going, betrayals, loyalty tests, or just straight-up energetic mismatches that force you to level up.

And the people you do keep around? They can be powerful allies. You’re someone who can attract influential or deeply transformative individuals into your life — and your presence can do the same for them. You help others grow just by being real and pushing them to look deeper at themselves and the world.

This placement also gives you a serious obsession (in a good way) with your vision for the future. You want to create change — whether it’s through activism, innovation, spiritual work, art, or just breaking old systems that don’t serve people anymore. There’s a revolutionary vibe to you, like you’re lowkey always scanning society for what needs to die so something better can be built in its place.

Sometimes you might feel like an outsider, especially if your ideas are too "much" for the people around you. But that's part of your journey — learning to stand strong in your truth and finding or building communities that get it.

There can also be control themes around groups or social dynamics. Maybe you want to lead or resist being led. Maybe you’re drawn to secret or exclusive groups. Or maybe you've felt used or overlooked in social circles. But the key is learning how to hold power with others, not over them.

Bottom line: you're here to redefine what community and collaboration look like — and your influence can ripple out way further than you think.

Pluto in the 12th house

Pluto in the 12th house is some of the most powerful, mysterious, and spiritually transformative energy you can have in a birth chart. This is deep, behind-the-scenes Pluto — the kind that works in the unconscious, the soul, the hidden realms most people avoid or don’t even realize exist. If you have this placement, you’re not just on a life journey… you’re on a soul mission.

With Pluto here, you’re naturally tuned in to the invisible — dreams, symbols, energy, vibes, emotions that have no words. You might pick up on other people’s moods without trying, or feel things that others can’t explain. It’s not always easy — because you're basically carrying the emotional weight of not just yourself, but often of others or even collective pain.

There’s often a strong pull toward mysticism, spirituality, psychology, or healing. You may have had early life experiences that were deeply emotional, confusing, or that forced you inward — maybe trauma, isolation, or feeling misunderstood. But this inner world you were pushed into? It’s where your power lives. You're here to transform through surrender, trust, and the kind of healing that doesn’t happen on the surface.

This placement can sometimes make you feel like there’s something hidden within you — like a power you’re not fully sure how to access. But the more you explore your subconscious, your dreams, or your spiritual path, the more that power starts to reveal itself.

There can be periods of emotional intensity, shadow work, or even a sense of self-sabotage that you have to confront. You might find that things you’ve repressed or avoided emotionally come up in powerful waves — but facing them head-on is where your transformation happens.

You may also have a natural gift for healing, especially through spiritual or energetic means. You could be a powerful guide for others — even if it's quiet, behind-the-scenes, or unspoken. People might come to you without knowing why, drawn to your energy, your calm depth, your ability to hold space for things most people can’t.

Pluto in the 12th is like a cosmic detox — you're here to release what isn't yours, to rise through the shadows, and to awaken others by doing your own inner work.

[peepshow321]

TaskRaccoon Premium: Chapter 1

Josh was at a dead end. For years he had put his entire focus and energy on his education and studies, above his social life, his health, and his finances. He came top of his class in History and Classics and so in his head all that hard l work had paid off, but now that he had graduated... what was next? His classmates had swanned off into internships and graduate programmes, but Josh found himself in the summer after graduating with no job, no prospects and, most importantly, no money.

Josh's parents had supported him throughout his further education, but now that he was back home they decided to treat Josh like an adult. And that meant rent. Josh balked at the suggestion, but his parents were adamant and so Josh found himself on the job hunt.

This proved trickier than Josh anticipated. Turns out the local libraries and bookshops didn't care about his top degree; they wanted experience. And as Josh lowered his sights to restaurants, cafes, even the bowling alley, he found himself receiving the same feedback.

Needing to save making cash quick, a sympathetic interviewer told Josh to pick up the odd job on TaskRaccoon - an app where Josh could choose to help people with tasks like moving furniture, watering plants, doing shopping in exchange for a small fee. It wasn't perfect, especially as Josh didn't really have the build or inclination for manual jobs, and Josh often found himself doing jobs he never expected while at school. But over time Josh felt an unexpected satisfaction with earning a buck and paying his parents. So much so that Josh had bigger aspirations - moving out of his parents place.

That, of course, required money. And while Josh worked hard with the TaskRaccoon jobs he was given, he needed something more.

On a random Tuesday afternoon, a solution seemed to land out of nowhere on Josh's TaskRaccoon app: TaskRaccoon Premium. Out of nowhere, Josh's app pop-up with a link to a Premium version of the app. It was an additional service where workers such as Josh would get a boosted fee for the same types of tasks plus, according to the app, receive "all the skills and know-how to complete the task to perfection." Josh figured that last bit was maybe the app providing how-to guides on how to complete the more common tasks, which he took as a nice freebie.

To lure users in, there was even an offer - sign-up to TaskRaccoon Premium, perform a randomly assigned task, and receive double the boosted fee. Josh had done his fair share of the most common tasks on the app already (walk my dog, assemble my shelves, do my groceries) so figured it was well worth his while to take the gamble. And so Josh bit the bullet, sign up for a Premium account, and waited to be given his first random task.

Without any pause and without any fanfare, Josh's first random task appeared: "I need someone to clean my pool". Josh groaned; it wasn't the first time he had seen a pool cleaning request but it was one he always chose to ignore because he felt he didn't have any of the right equipment and would have no idea where to start. And while this new Premium version had offered access to "skills and know-how", there only thing on the app was an address. Josh couldn't even see an option to cancel.

Josh wavered, but as he saw the blue sky outside and remembered the promise of a doubled fee, he decided to go for it. He could rake some leaves out of a pool easily enough. The address was only a 15 minute drive away, so Josh grabbed the keys to his mum's sedan and got going.

It felt good to be outside and Josh enjoyed the sunny drive. So much so that he didn't notice his mum's humble car begin to change. The front section became blockier and more basic, her touchscreen sat nav becoming an older model. The seats and interior decor became faded, and Josh had to readjust his seating position as the car seemed to somehow lift off the ground. The steering wheel grew in size and, to match it, bizarrely, so did Josh's hands. Without warning, Josh's pale hands began to darken in complexion and as they grasped the now-rough wheel Josh didn't notice the veins that ran down with now lean and well-rounded hands.

Josh pulled up to a red light, momentarily confused about how he seemed to sit above the surrounding cars. He also felt cramped in the car and realised that his seat was pushed up way too far. He, a bit embarrassingly, was the same height as his mum so he never normally had to adjust the seat, but as he pushed the seat back he realised just how much he needed to stretch out his legs. As the light turned to green, he was oblivious to his jeans riding up and becoming a loose pair of swimming shorts, revealing his now lengthy and toned legs, feathered with dark hair.

Josh pulled up at the designated address shortly after, a sizeable house in a nice neighbourhood. As he got of the car, he was for a moment confused by his need to climb out of the car and then felt off balance when he landed on the tarmac. Before he could interrogate any further though, he looked in surprise at the pick-up truck boot filled with pool cleaning gear. A voice in the back of Josh's mind told him to panic - why the hell did he suddenly have all this gear - but remembering that he had a job to do Josh collected the gear and approached the house. Josh stopped en route to take his jumper off to enjoy the warm sun, not noticing the way his new well-fitted tank top which hung closely to his chest and showed off his slightly more toned arms or the darker shade of his skin...

Josh carried the gear with surprising ease to the front door, and was warmly welcomed by a middle-aged women who introduced herself as Beth. Beth showed Josh to her garden where a medium-sized pool sat, clearly long overdue a clean. Josh thanked Beth, pausing a little at the vague lilt coming out of his month. Was it just him, or just his voice sound deeper...

Josh got to work. The pool needed much more than just some leaves removed but with every task, Josh found himself instinctively knowing what to do. Which pump to use, when to apply chemicals, how to get the pH levels perfect, it all just flooded into Josh's mind. And he was surprised at how flexible he was at reaching all the right places - Josh didn't love manual jobs but he almost felt like his reach had gotten better. It was hot work though and Josh removed his baseball hat and towelled his brow and face, briefly feeling unfamiliar stubble on his face and thick short locks of hair on his scalp.

It wasn't long before Josh has completed his job, a sense of pride sweeping over him as he stared into the now pristine waters. That pride however quickly morphed into confusion as he gazed at the reflection in the shimmering water. Maybe it was distorted, but there was no way that that tall, dark reflection could be him. He was shirt, slender, pale, wasn't he?

He dropped his net and stared at his hands. His suddenly thick, dark hands. Josh began to breath sharply as he noticed just how high up he was, that he was in an outfit that he had never bought, and that his short, pale self had seemingly been replaced with a tanned, lean body.

As Josh was clutching at his newly stubbled face and grasping at the space where his small paunch should be, Beth came out with a pitcher of cool lemonade. Josh spun around in panic, and before Beth could say anything he muttered "lo siento" and ran back to his car.

Josh stopped sharply outside as he stared at the beaten up pick up truck outside Beth's drive, a truck that sat where he thought his mum's sedan should be. A truck that keys in his pocket unlocked. Breathing deeply, and trying his best not to panic, he clampered into the car and pulled down the mirror, staring at the unfamiliar dark eyes that stared back at him. Dark eyes amongst a handsome face, with a strong chin covered in thick but trimmed stubble and framed by dark, tightly curled locks. "What the fuck" Josh uttered, eyes widening at the accented deep voice that emerged.

Josh explored his tightly muscled body now covered in a light sweat when his phone pinged. He unlocked it - the phone recognised his face even if Josh didn't - and the TaskRaccoon app popped up, showing a task completed and $500 dollars deposited in his account.

But what kept Josh's eye though were the other task options appearing. There were more pool cleaning jobs, but also other tasks ranging from moving furniture, plumbing, and even covering people's work shifts. Josh noted that there was an option to cancel his "Premium" membership, but some of the fees weren't to be sniffed at. His breathing calmed down and Josh sat into his car seat, and pondered his options.

Chapter 2

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Hi all!

Some of you may have seen this story on other sites, but I'm bringing it to Tumblr for the first time and with pics! There will also be some small tweaks as I post over the next few weeks.

As always, welcome any feedback or chats!

[queen-of-signs]

Empty Houses in Your Birth Chart: Cosmic Ghost Town or Chill Zone?

So, you’ve been staring at your birth chart and wondering why you have empty houses. Maybe you have no planets in your 7th house (“Am I doomed to die alone?”), or your 2nd house (“Does this mean I’ll be broke forever?”). Relax. Breathe. The universe didn’t just forget to assign you a personality.

Empty houses don’t mean you lack something; they mean you don’t have a planet permanently renting space there. It’s like a fully furnished Airbnb—functional, livable, just not your primary residence. You still experience these areas of life, just without a permanent cosmic tenant making a mess of things.

Empty 1st House - House of Self, Identity, and ‘Main Character Energy’

"Who am I?"

You don’t need planets in your 1st house to have a personality, I promise. If it’s empty, your Rising Sign ruler/lord is the real MVP here—it’s the planet secretly controlling your life like an undercover boss.

It doesn't mean you’re invisible, boring, or lacking an identity. (Come on, even NPCs have a backstory.)

Unlike people with planets here, you’re not out here having existential crises every five minutes.

Empty 2nd House - House of Money, Self-Worth & That Bag 💰

"Will I ever be rich?"

You’re not destined to survive on instant noodles forever. Your financial success comes from the sign ruling this house—not a chaotic planet constantly meddling with your money habits.

Here, money isn’t the biggest stressor in your life (lucky you). You might not define yourself by wealth, but you can still make serious cash.

Empty 3rd House - House of Communication, Siblings & ‘Did You Read the Fine Print?’

"Why do people talk so much?"

No planets here? You don’t have constant mental chatter or an obsession with posting hot takes on Twitter (unlike certain air sign placements). You process information at your own pace, and your Mercury placement tells us how you communicate.

Here it simply mean that you can be a great speaker or writer—just without the need to debate everything to death.

Empty 4th House - House of Family & Emotional Foundations

"Am I emotionally stable or just unbothered?"

If your 4th house is empty, family drama isn’t your core personality trait (looking at you, Cancer moons). Your upbringing shaped you, but your emotions aren’t constantly under siege.

It means you don’t live in your past. Your sense of home and emotional security comes from the ruling sign, not a chaotic planet making things messy.

Empty 5th House - House of Fun, Romance & ‘Oops, I Did It Again’

"Am I doomed to be boring?"

Empty 5th house? You still have fun, fall in love, and make questionable decisions—it’s just not your full-time job. Your creative hobbies, love life, and risk-taking tendencies come from the house ruler, not a planet throwing drama parties.

It means you’re not obsessively seeking attention. You can still be artistic, romantic, and entertaining—you just do it without the theatrics.

Empty 6th House - House of Work, Health & That Annoying Daily Routine

"Do I even have a work ethic?"

No planets in the 6th house? Congrats, you’re not micromanaging your own existence. You handle responsibilities when necessary, but you’re not out here color-coding to-do lists at 3 AM.

It means you’re chill about work and health. You get things done without needing a constant cosmic drill sergeant yelling at you.

Empty 7th House - House of Relationships & ‘Are We Dating or Just Vibing?’

"Am I cursed in love?"

Nope, an empty 7th house doesn’t mean you’re single forever. It just means you’re not obsessed with relationships—your partnerships unfold naturally instead of being your life’s central drama.

It means you don’t overcomplicate love. You attract relationships when the time is right—without planets causing unnecessary chaos.

Empty 8th House -House of Transformation, Sex & ‘What Happens After We Die?’

"Am I missing the ‘mystical and sexy’ gene?"

The 8th house rules deep transformation, shared finances, intimacy, and, well…death. If you have an empty 8th house, does this mean you’re boring and no sexual life? (Spoiler: No.)

It means you’re not haunted by existential crises 24/7 (lucky you). You go through major transformations, but you’re not obsessing over the meaning of life while waiting for your Starbucks order.

You might have a healthy approach to power and intimacy—unlike people with a crowded 8th house, who experience life like a dramatic phoenix constantly combusting.

Empty 9th House -House of Travel, Higher Learning & ‘I’m Moving to Bali’

"Am I allergic to wisdom and adventure?"

This is the house of philosophy, wanderlust, and that one friend who quit their job to find themselves in another country. But if your 9th house is empty, are you doomed to stay in one place forever?

It means you don’t need a crisis to push you into adventure. You explore life when you want, not because a planet is forcing you into a life-changing backpacking trip.

Your beliefs and perspectives expand over time—you just don’t feel the need to become a monk overnight.

Empty 10th House - House of Career, Public Image & ‘Will I Ever Be Successful?’

"Am I a failure?"

An empty 10th house does not mean you’ll spend your life jobless, unknown, or forever stuck in an unpaid internship from hell. The 10th house rules career and legacy, but an empty one means…you don’t obsess over it 24/7.

You can be highly successful—you just don’t need planets constantly pushing you into an identity crisis about it. Your MC ruler tells the real story of your career path.

Some of the most successful people have an empty 10th house—because they’re too busy succeeding to stress over it.

Empty 11th House - House of Friendships, Social Circles & ‘Am I Cool?’

"Do I have no friends?"

An empty 11th house does not mean you’re a loner or the social equivalent of a tumbleweed. You have friends. You just don’t need a cosmic hype squad of planets managing your social life.

It means you don’t rely on social validation to exist. Your friendships are natural and not built on constant drama and chaos.

You attract the right people without forcing it. You don’t need to collect acquaintances like Pokémon cards—you value quality over quantity.

Empty 12th House - House of the Subconscious, Dreams & ‘Main Character in a Spiritual Awakening’

"Am I just…normal?"

If your 12th house is empty, does this mean you lack spiritual depth, psychic visions, and tragic poet energy? Nope. You’re just not drowning in existential dread 24/7, unlike those with a packed 12th house (send them love, they need it).

You’re not haunted by past-life trauma every time Mercury retrogrades. You connect with your spirituality in a way that’s natural and not overwhelming.

Your spiritual growth is steady and not tied to constant suffering. (Honestly, be grateful.)

🌟 Instead of asking ‘What am I lacking?’ ask ‘Where do I flow naturally?’ 🔍 Look at the ruling planet of each empty house—that’s your real guide. 🔥 Transits activate empty houses, so life will still spice things up when needed!

So, next time someone gasps at your empty 7th house (“Oh no, you’ll never find love!”), just laugh—because joke’s on them, you’re living a drama-free life.

Want to understand what your birth chart really says about you? DM me for a reading, and let’s decode your cosmic blueprint together! 🔮✨

Karmic Paths & Soul Purpose: A Complete Guide to the North Nodes & South Nodes in Astrology (13-page report) - $5

Get my full PDF guide for just $5! Payment via PayPal. Once payment is confirmed, I will send you the PDF. It covers North Node & South Node in signs & houses, who you were in your past life, your career, family, love and your relationships in detail. Message me to grab your copy! 🌟

Note : Due to different time zones, I might not reply immediately. Don't worry! Leave me your email address for me to send the password-protected PDF file. Once the payment is confirmed, I will give you the password to access to it.

[greenwitchfromthewoods]

box of ice-cream. l Harry Castillo

bio : Reader and Harry meet on a date. She thinks they come from different worlds and it doesn't make sense, but he wants her to give him a chance.

requested by : anon thank you!

warnings: fluff, self-doubt, some wine, Harry is sweet, they are just talking, Reader can seem unpleasant and judgmental

[Harry Castillo [The Materialists] - masterlist] [my masterlist]

“I’m just here to prove to you that you don’t really want to date me.”

The man sitting across the table smiled, his brown eyes sparkling in the dim light of the restaurant.

“You can try, but my instincts tell me otherwise.” Harry replied in a warm and polite voice. You had known each other for a few weeks, and ever since then this man had been very insistent on meeting up with you.

It seemed strange to you. You had nothing in common, except for a cup of coffee he accidentally spilled on you at one of the local coffee shops. And yet, you were sitting with him in this fancy restaurant that you would definitely never go to alone.

Harry was observant and immediately noticed that you felt uneasy in such a place. A quick mental note to remember to avoid exclusive places if you were to meet up again. Even though he was casual, you felt like you were at a job interview. The young waiter poured you some wine, and you thanked him with a nod and a gentle smile. There was something charming about it.

“Your hunches can be wrong.” You replied, twirling the long stem of the glass in your fingers. “Besides, you shouldn’t send flowers to my workplace either.”

A small wrinkle appeared between Harry’s dark eyebrows. “You didn’t like them?”

“It’s not like that.” You smiled, shaking your head. “It’s just… People like to gossip, and I don’t need it. Unlike you, my job is normal.” You saw Castillo raise his eyebrows in surprise. “I’m sorry,” you said quickly. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I didn’t mean to… Damn it.”

“Don’t worry,” he raised his hand in a gentle gesture. “I’m curious that you think my job isn’t normal. So what is it?”

You knew he wouldn't let up until you answered his question. You wanted to bury your face in your hands, finish your wine and leave, but you were still sitting at that table with Harry. He hadn't done anything wrong or offensive, he had just continued talking to you. So you took a shallow breath.

"Yeah, I think your job isn't normal, not really. I mean, my only contact with finances is when I get paid from payroll. You probably spend that much on a suit and shoes. And maybe a coffee on top of that."

He smiled again and leaned in slightly. "I think you're overestimating me."

"Oh, really?" you replied and probably his answer gave you more confidence because the next words started to flow from your lips with more ease "So you had to finish one of the local schools, combining it with a part-time job. Then you looked for employment and started at the entry level, so that after a few years you were still earning... as much as I earn. Harry, we are from completely different worlds. Now I'm sitting with you in this restaurant that I always passed by without looking in its direction, afraid that they would charge me just for looking. This is not normal, this is not how most people live."

"But you can experience it with me. Is that a bad thing?"

"I'm not a damn Cinderella, Harry." You snorted "I don't even like those fairy tales where they convince little girls that a prince on a white horse will appear and give them a new, wonderful life. I work for my own life. And I like it simple."

Despite your words, Castillo didn't seem offended, on the contrary, he watched you with interest, a gentle smile on his lips. Finally he spoke.

"What do you like?"

You frowned. “Excuse me?”

He took a sip of wine and smiled again. “What do you like to do that’s simple and so different from what I do? You talk about it like I hunt ducks in the morning, servants wait on me, and I own a stable full of unicorns.”

You barely held back a laugh, and he was pleased to see your eyes light up. He wanted to hear that laugh, he knew it would delight him. The waiter appeared next to you and you fell silent for a moment as he placed the food you ordered on the table. When he left, you spoke again.

“I definitely don’t eat at restaurants like that.”

Harry bowed his head. “But would you eat if you earned more?”

“Probably? I’m not sure.”

“Okay. What about traveling?” you looked at him like he was joking. “Don’t you have vacation time from work?”

“I do. But I don’t travel anywhere, I mean I rarely leave the state. I once went to visit my aunt in Florida, but I was a kid then. We drove for two days, but it was so exciting.”

“That sounds great.”

You smiled. “That’s how it was. My family didn’t have much, they had their flaws, but they were the ones who shaped me. I work hard, I know my worth, and I don’t delude myself that some prince will save me one day.”

"You see, my family worked hard for what I have now. You shouldn't judge me for the fact that my parents were able to give me all this. You would probably do the same for your child. But I grew up believing that there were standards I had to reach, that I had to show my best side, that I couldn't let anyone down. The pressure was really high, even though my parents really loved me and my brother. We had the best, yes, but we also had to be the best."

"I'm sorry, Harry." You replied quietly, but he just shook his head, smiling.

"There's no need. But I know how easy it is to judge others, it's our nature."

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat. For the first time, you thought that you might have been tactless and offended him. You didn't mean to, Harry was a really nice guy.

"Anyway, I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry. I... I haven't been on a date in a while, I'm out of practice. I'm not like that in everyday life."

“I believe that you and I would like to see what you are really like. On our next date.”

You rolled your eyes, but couldn’t hide your smile. Dinner was a lighter affair. You talked about trifles, things you had seen recently, things that made you happy or sad. Harry confided in you that he liked to watch some weird reality show late at night, and to you, that sometimes, when the day was really hard, instead of dinner, you would sit on the kitchen floor and eat ice cream straight from the box.

“We should do this again.” he said as the waiter took the bill, which he paid, and you slowly got ready to leave.

“That would be nice,” you replied automatically and you immediately noticed Harry raising his eyebrows. “You know, if you want. I know I could be a little…”

“You were wonderful. And please don’t be so hard on yourself, because there’s no point. But you have to know that I feel honored that a woman like you agreed to go out with me.”

You rolled your eyes again but felt warmth creeping into your cleavage and neck. One look from him, a few words and the butterflies in your stomach started flying like crazy. You didn’t know what it was about Harry, but he drew you closer with every minute spent together.

You let him drive you home and even kissed your hand goodbye. There was something about this gesture that made you feel really important. He didn’t push, didn’t ask if he could come in for tea or wine. His warm and affectionate gaze followed you to the door and he only got into the car when he saw the light in one of the windows turn on.

The next evening, the doorbell tore you away from your evening activities. You put the book down, a little surprised because you weren't expecting anyone.

"A courier with a package," the voice on the other end sounded.

"I didn't order anything," you replied, surprised. "It must be a mistake."

However, the man gave your name and everything was correct. You let him in, and a moment later he stood in front of your door with a strange box.

"Can you sign for this, ma'am?" he pulled out a small tablet, smiled and quickly ran down the stairs.

The box was strange, not very heavy, but there was definitely something inside. When you opened it, you saw a Styrofoam container with cooling packs inside. Between them...

You hadn't smiled so widely at the sight of a box of ice cream in a long time. You didn't need a note, you knew perfectly well who you got it from. However, you didn't have time to put it in the freezer when you heard the sound of an incoming message.

Harry C. - I hope I've hit the mark for you. Can I count on Thursday night with you? Nothing special. Maybe a movie?

You bit your lip, feeling a smile grow on your lips. You knew from that dinner that you had been too quick to judge Harry, but that little gesture was really sweet and showed that he was really listening to you. So you typed a response without remorse.

You. - Sounds good. Around seven?

The reply came a few seconds later.

Harry C. - I can't wait. I'll pick you up. Enjoy your ice cream.

You couldn't wait for Thursday.

☆☆☆☆

Thank you for your time.

[hausofodyssey]

✨ Cosmic World ✨

SATURN IN ARIES IS HERE SOON!

On 24th May , Saturn moves into Aries and for a lot of us (including myself) we will be having our Saturn Return. This is a significant astrological event that will shape themes of self-discipline, courage, identify, and autonomy.

Saturn will return back into Pisces on the 1st September to 13 February 2026, then stay in Aries until 2028. This Saturn Return is important for those born between 1996-1999 (and 1967-1969_ when Saturn was last in Aries.

For the past month, I have been conducting research on how Saturn's return will impact individuals (including myself). This includes an brief breakdown of how each rising sign will experience Saturn's return through house placements.

🔥 Aries Rising - 1st House

Themes for you are: identify, self image, personal responsibility

This is a time to own who you are and how you show up in the world. It's about refining your sense of identify, work on your physical body, confidence, and long-term goals. Deep self-discipline. It can also be a time to get into leadership.

Avoiding Saturn's teaching can lead to: Identify crises, burnout from impulsivity, chronic insecurity or lack of direction.

🌱 Taurus Rising - 12th House

Themes for you are: Subconscious patterns, solitude, mental health and karmic closure.

This is a time for you to build a strong inner world through solitude, spiritual practices or therapy. It's about doing the shadow work to heal hidden wounds and letting go of self-sabotaging habits. For you this is a season of energetic mastery.

Avoiding Saturn's teachings can lead to: Anxiety, isolation and self-undoing. Health or psychological crises which forces rest and reevaluation (Look at your 6th house sign and placements to see how you can take care of yourself to avoid health issues).

💬 Gemini Rising - 11th House

Themes for you are: Community, networks, long-term dreams, social responsibility

This is a time to commit to your long-term visions. Aligning with mature, like-minded people and also take leadership in groups or causes you care about.

Avoiding Saturn's teachings can lead to: Have you feeling lost socially or purposeless You can feel like you are outgrowing friends or fear standing out in groups.

🏆 Cancer Rising - 10th House

Themes for you are: Career, public image, authority, ambition

This is a time to take responsibility for your goals and leadership. It is about establishing a legacy and structure your career path. 

Avoiding Saturn's teachings can lead to: Career plateaus, fear of being seen, issues with authority or pressure without clarity.

📖 Leo Rising - 9th House

Themes for you are: Belief systems, travel, education, worldview

This is a time to formalise your growth, study, publish and travel with purpose. It's about building a structured worldview.

Avoiding Saturn's teachings can lead to:  Crisis of belief or direction. Stubbornly clinging to outdated philosophies.

⚖️ Virgo Rising - 8th House

Themes for you are: Transformation, shared resources, intimacy, power

This is a time to master emotional boundaries and shared finances. Heal trauma and confront fear. 

Avoiding Saturn's teachings can lead to: Power struggles, financial loss, avoiding being vulnerable and experiencing deep emotional stagnation. 

💒 Libra Rising - 7th House

Themes for you are: Relationships, communications, contracts

This is a time to take responsibility of your relationships. This could be by committing, maturing, or ending dynamics that are outdated and do not work for you. Learn healthy interdependence.

Avoiding Saturn's teachings can lead to: Relationship breakdowns, loneliness, repeating unhealthy patterns or delays in forming mature partnerships.

🧘‍♂️ Scorpio Rising - 6th House

Themes for you are: Daily routine, health, work, service

This is a time to commit to your health and productivity. Start building better habits and improve your work ethic and environment.

Avoiding Saturn's teachings can lead to: Burnout, health issues, or job dissatisfaction. Life will feel chaotic or burdensome.

🎨 Sagittarius Rising - 5th House

Themes for you are: Creativity, self-expression, romance, children

This is a time to turn your passions into responsibility. Build creative projects with structure. Mature in love or/and parenting.

Avoiding Saturn's teachings can lead to: You can experience creative blocks, unstable love life, fear or failure in personal expression.

🏡 Capricorn Rising - 4th House

Themes for you are: Home, family, emotional roots

This is a time to build or stabilise your home and inner emotional world. Confront ancestral or family dynamics.

Avoiding Saturn's teachings can lead to: Emotional shutdowns, family conflict, housing instability or inner emptiness.

🗣️ Aquarius Rising - 3rd House

Themes for you are: Communication, learning, siblings, local environment

This is a time to become a more effective communicator. Build skills in teaching, writing or even public speaking. It's about maturing in thinking patterns.

Avoiding Saturn's teaching can lead to: Burnouts, misunderstandings, and scattered focus or even issues with siblings.

💳 Pisces Rising - 2nd House

Themes for you: Finances, self-work, possessions

This is a time for building lasting financial security. Define your values as well as developing self-worth through effort and mastery.

Avoiding Saturn's teachings can lead to: Cause money issues, undervaluing yourself, or even clinging on to unstable income sources or materialism.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

🪐 Overall regardless of where this transit is taking place for you, the return pushes everyone to redefine themes of Aries like what courage, independence, and responsibility mean for you. Saturn in Aries rewards bold discipline and taking initiatives. It's all about mastering your impulses and stepping into your power without being reckless.

🪐 A lot of people in the astrology community tend to be all doom and gloom about Saturn Returns but I think it's just a great opportunity for transformation which will force you to be the best version of yourself and I feel like I have been waiting all my life this moment.

So good luck to all my fellow Saturn in Aries people - take a deep breath, be patient, relax - you've got this! 🌟

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Antiusurpation and the road to disenshittification

THIS WEEKEND (November 8-10), I'll be in TUCSON, AZ: I'm the GUEST OF HONOR at the TUSCON SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION.

Nineties kids had a good reason to be excited about the internet's promise of disintermediation: the gatekeepers who controlled our access to culture, politics, and opportunity were crooked as hell, and besides, they sucked.

For a second there, we really did get a lot of disintermediation, which created a big, weird, diverse pluralistic space for all kinds of voices, ideas, identities, hobbies, businesses and movements. Lots of these were either deeply objectionable or really stupid, or both, but there was also so much cool stuff on the old, good internet.

Then, after about ten seconds of sheer joy, we got all-new gatekeepers, who were at least as bad, and even more powerful, than the old ones. The net became Tom Eastman's "Five giant websites, each filled with screenshots of the other four." Culture, politics, finance, news, and especially power have been gathered into the hands of unaccountable, greedy, and often cruel intermediaries.

Oh, also, we had an election.

This isn't an election post. I have many thoughts about the election, but they're still these big, unformed blobs of anger, fear and sorrow. Experience teaches me that the only way to get past this is to just let all that bad stuff sit for a while and offgas its most noxious compounds, so that I can handle it safely and figure out what to do with it.

While I wait that out, I'm just getting the job done. Chop wood, carry water. I've got a book to write, Enshittification, for Farar, Straus, Giroux's MCD Books, and it's very nearly done:

https://twitter.com/search?q=from%3Adoctorow+%23dailywords&src=typed_query&f=live

Compartmentalizing my anxieties and plowing that energy into productive work isn't necessarily the healthiest coping strategy, but it's not the worst, either. It's how I wrote nine books during the covid lockdowns.

And sometimes, when you're not staring directly at something, you get past the tunnel vision that makes it impossible to see its edges, fracture lines, and weak points.

So I'm working on the book. It's a book about platforms, because enshittification is a phenomenon that is most visible and toxic on platforms. Platforms are intermediaries, who connect buyers and sellers, creators and audiences, workers and employers, politicians and voters, activists and crowds, as well as families, communities, and would-be romantic partners.

There's a reason we keep reinventing these intermediaries: they're useful. Like, it's technically possible for a writer to also be their own editor, printer, distributor, promoter and sales-force:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/19/crad-kilodney-was-an-outlier/#intermediation

But without middlemen, those are the only writers we'll get. The set of all writers who have something to say that I want to read is much larger than the set of all writers who are capable of running their own publishing operation.

The problem isn't middlemen: the problem is powerful middlemen. When an intermediary gets powerful enough to usurp the relationship between the parties on either side of the transaction, everything turns to shit:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/12/direct-the-problem-of-middlemen/

A dating service that faces pressure from competition, regulation, interoperability and a committed workforce will try as hard as it can to help you find Your Person. A dating service that buys up all its competitors, cows its workforce, captures its regulators and harnesses IP law to block interoperators will redesign its service so that you keep paying forever, and never find love:

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2024/02/13/1228749143/the-dating-app-paradox-why-dating-apps-may-be-worse-than-ever

Multiply this a millionfold, in every sector of our complex, high-tech world where we necessarily rely on skilled intermediaries to handle technical aspects of our lives that we can't – or shouldn't – manage ourselves. That world is beholden to predators who screw us and screw us and screw us, jacking up our rents:

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/yes-there-are-antitrust-voters-in

Cranking up the price of food:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/04/dont-let-your-meat-loaf/#meaty-beaty-big-and-bouncy

And everything else:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/06/attention-rents/#consumer-welfare-queens

(Maybe this is a post about the election after all?)

The difference between a helpmeet and a parasite is power. If we want to enjoy the benefits of intermediaries without the risks, we need policies that keep middlemen weak. That's the opposite of the system we have now.

Take interoperability and IP law. Interoperability (basically, plugging new things into existing things) is a really powerful check against powerful middlemen. If you rely on an ad-exchange to fund your newsgathering and they start ripping you off, then an interoperable system that lets you use a different exchange will not only end the rip off – it'll make it less likely to happen in the first place because the ad-tech platform will be afraid of losing your business:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/save-news-we-must-shatter-ad-tech

Interoperability means that when a printer company gouges you on ink, you can buy cheap third party ink cartridges and escape their grasp forever:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/ink-stained-wretches-battle-soul-digital-freedom-taking-place-inside-your-printer

Interoperability means that when Amazon rips off audiobook authors to the tune of $100m, those authors can pull their books from Amazon and sell them elsewhere and know that their listeners can move their libraries over to a different app:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/07/audible-exclusive/#audiblegate

But interoperability has been in retreat for 40 years, as IP law has expanded to criminalize otherwise normal activities, so that middlemen can use IP rights to protect themselves from their end-users and business customers:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

That's what I mean when I say that "IP" is "any law that lets a business reach beyond its own walls and control the actions of its customers, competitors and critics."

For example, there's a pernicious law 1998 US law that I write about all the time, Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the "anticircumvention law." This is a law that felonizes tampering with copyright locks, even if you are the creator of the undelying work.

So Amazon – the owner of the monopoly audiobook platform Audible – puts a mandatory copyright lock around every audiobook they sell. I, as an author who writes, finances and narrates the audiobook, can't provide you, my customer, with a tool to remove that lock. If I do so, I face criminal sanctions: a five year prison sentence and a $500,000 fine for a first offense:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/25/can-you-hear-me-now/#acx-ripoff

In other words: if I let you take my own copyrighted work out of Amazon's app, I commit a felony, with penalties that are far stiffer than the penalties you would face if you were to simply pirate that audiobook. The penalties for you shoplifting the audiobook on CD at a truck-stop are lower than the penalties the author and publisher of the book would face if they simply gave you a tool to de-Amazon the file. Indeed, even if you hijacked the truck that delivered the CDs, you'd probably be looking at a shorter sentence.

This is a law that is purpose-built to encourage intermediaries to usurp the relationship between buyers and sellers, creators and audiences. It's a charter for parasitism and predation.

But as bad as that is, there's another aspect of DMCA 1201 that's even worse: the exemptions process.

You might have read recently about the Copyright Office "freeing the McFlurry" by granting a DMCA 1201 exemption for companies that want to reverse-engineer the error-codes from McDonald's finicky, unreliable frozen custard machines:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/28/mcbroken/#my-milkshake-brings-all-the-lawyers-to-the-yard

Under DMCA 1201, the Copyright Office hears petitions for these exemptions every three years. If they judge that anticircumvention law is interfering with some legitimate activity, the statute empowers them to grant an exemption.

When the DMCA passed in 1998 (and when the US Trade Rep pressured other world governments into passing nearly identical laws in the decades that followed), this exemptions process was billed as a "pressure valve" that would prevent abuses of anticircumvention law.

But this was a cynical trick. The way the law is structured, the Copyright Office can only grant "use" exemptions, but not "tools" exemptions. So if you are granted the right to move Audible audiobooks into a third-party app, you are personally required to figure out how to do that. You have to dump the machine code of the Audible app, decompile it, scan it for vulnerabilities, and bootstrap your own jailbreaking program to take Audible wrapper off the file.

No one is allowed to help you with this. You aren't allowed to discuss any of this publicly, or share a tool that you make with anyone else. Doing any of this is a potential felony.

In other words, DMCA 1201 gives intermediaries power over you, but bans you from asking an intermediary to help you escape another abusive middleman.

This is the exact opposite of how intermediary law should work. We should have rules that ban intermediaries from exercising undue power over the parties they serve, and we should have rules empowering intermediaries to erode the advantage of powerful intermediaries.

The fact that the Copyright Office grants you an exemption to anticircumvention law means nothing unless you can delegate that right to an intermediary who can exercise it on your behalf.

A world without publishing intermediaries is one in which the only writers who thrive are the ones capable of being publishers, too, and that's a tiny fraction of all the writers with something to say.

A world without interoperability intermediaries is one in which the only platform users who thrive are also skilled reverse-engineering ninja hackers – and that's an infinitesimal fraction of the platform users who would benefit from interoperabilty.

Let this be your north star in evaluating platform regulation proposals. Platform regulation should weaken intermediaries' powers over their users, and strengthen their power over other middlemen.

Put in this light, it's easy to see why the ill-informed calls to abolish Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (which makes platform users, not platforms, responsible for most unlawful speech) are so misguided:

https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/23/hello-youve-been-referred-here-because-youre-wrong-about-section-230-communications-decency-act/

If we require platforms to surveil all user speech and block anything that might violate any law, we give the largest, most powerful platforms a permanent advantage over smaller, better platforms, run by co-ops, hobbyists, nonprofits local governments, and startups. The big platforms have the capital to rig up massive, automated surveillance and censorship systems, and the only alternatives that can spring up have to be just as big and powerful as the Big Tech platforms we're so desperate to escape:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/23/evacuate-the-platforms/#let-the-platforms-burn

This is especially grave given the current political current, where fascist politicians are threatening platforms with brutal punishments for failing to censor disfavored political views.

Anyone who tells you that "it's only censorship when the government does it" is badly confused. It's only a First Amendment violation when the government does it, sure – but censorship has always relied on intermediaries. From the Inquisition to the Comics Code, government censors were only able to do their jobs because powerful middlemen, fearing state punishments, blocked anything that might cross the line, censoring far beyond the material actually prohibited by the law:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/22/self-censorship/#hugos

We live in a world of powerful, corrupt middlemen. From payments to real-estate, from job-search to romance, there's a legion of parasites masquerading as helpmeets, burying their greedy mouthparts into our tender flesh:

https://www.capitalisnt.com/episodes/visas-hidden-tax-on-americans

But intermediaries aren't the problem. You shouldn't have to stand up your own payment processor, or learn the ins and outs of real-estate law, or start your own single's bar. The problem is power, not intermediation.

As we set out to build a new, good internet (with a lot less help from the US government than seemed likely as recently as last week), let's remember that lesson: the point isn't disintermediation, it's weak intermediation.

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/2024/11/07/usurpers-helpmeets/#disreintermediation

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en (Image: Cryteria, CC BY 3.0, modified)

[ephe-y]

gsgw thoughts abt ghost stories and work, spoilers up to abt ch 200

it's really interesting to me how faithful gsgw is to its premise, ie "dropped into a ghost story, still gotta work." kse, upon getting dropped into the wiki world, is immediately put to work at daydream. and whenever he gets put into a ghost story, he's somehow caught up in work in some way or another. even the ones more disconnected from his work at daydream/the bureau still incorporate the idea of "work" in some way. to wit:

- brauns tv show arc has kse work but at specifically brauns tv show

- the second theme park visit involves kse becoming the manager of the yellow zone

- the old daydream facilitys main purpose narratively so far seems to be producing potions for kse so he can more effectively clear ghost stories (work). he also gets dream essence from the ghost stories he clears as part of his work. notably its ability to make wish potions (absolve him from work) is removed

- the arm marketplace (and associated marketplaces) are also places where kse obtains items he uses generally for work purposes. there are occasions where its not just for work (e.g. purging of mental contamination) but id argue that all roads lead to more work (no mental contamination = get more dream essence = get better at work). the illusion of free choice.....

- mountain lodge involves a lot of invocations of kse's job, including baek saheon and the constant references towards them being coworkers. also involves kse hiring another employee (the keeper), and features ryu jaekwan, who is there bc of his own job

- pretty much every other ghost story is entered and cleared as part of kse's work at daydream and the bureau

as a result, gsgw sets up a really interesting association betwen ghost stories and work.

gsgw is also notably pretty critical of capitalism and its various workplaces. daydream is obvious, but even the bureau is still pretty toxic as far as workplaces go, considering factors like its one-man clear teams, low pay, and lack of active personnel compared to daydream. the most obvious evidence is how go youngeun, while working at the bureau, still manages to find herself under a shitty boss and dragged around without her input, showing how it really isnt that different from daydream.

hell, even ghost story workplaces arent spared the criticism. at the theme park, kse is still subjected to toxic workplace politics and despite being a manager, still doesnt have full autonomy. he also, before leaving, has to unwillingly tie a part of himself down to the theme park. at brauns tv show, although kse likes what hes doing, hes also not spared constant working hours with no sleep or food and pressure from his boss to act in line.

interestingly enough, too, kse's most major ghost story contaminations are often also in line with "work." the manual contamination involves becoming a teacher at the hangman ghost story. when hes contaminated at the theme park, he specifically attempts to become a "good mascot of the yellow zone." the story usurper cult contaminant takes the form of a daydream janitor and the implication is that hes become an initiate (ie. a worker) in the cult. the fourth floor looky mart contamination is abt becoming an employee at looky mart. not him, but still notable.

the reason i mention this is because the association between work and ghost stories is likely to be very intentional. personally i find this very funny because in a way, gsgw implies that working sucks as much as being a coward in a ghost story. (considering that kse used to work in finance, id also believe that.)

its also really interesting to me in how its horror-based setting also implies this. specifically, in how horror manifests in psychological paranoia that carries over beyond the horrifying experience itself (e.g. kse's nightmares), and also how kse can find himself randomly dropped into a ghost story without warning (mountain lodge, train to tamra). it reflects how toxic workplaces follow someone outside of the workplace itself. not just always being on call, but also the stress and lack of joy those kinds of things can put someone under that negatively impacts them outside of work itself.

this association reframes kse's desire to leave as not only the desire to leave the ghost stories behind, but to also return to a life without the stress of an unhealthy work environment. but of course we know that even without ghost stories, toxic workplaces are still commonplace. we see this in every place that kse's worked at, where the horror of the workplace doesnt just lie in the ghost story association, but also in mundane factors, like weird hours, scummy bosses, toxic politics, dead-end positions, and high-stress environments. kse's shitty mental state isn't from ghost stories but rather absurd demands from his dictator-like boss who has total control over not only his life, but the lives of the people he cares about.

he even finds comfort in a ghost story bc the way the world narrows to living or dying is a break from the mental pressures at work. really loving the implication that work sucks MORE than nearly dying to a cult. baek deoksoo you will always be legendary for this

anyway the point im trying to make is that bro is NOT leaving behind the ghost stories. if you get dropped in the ghost story you work and its starting to seem like if you work youre basically in a ghost story rip to kse but your cowardly ass is NOT escaping the Horrors </33

[ivesambrose]

🤍 WHAT YOU'RE MANIFESTING NEXT 🤍

1. 2. 3.

Starting off new pick a cards with something sweet and simple that everyone can look forward to.

To book a personal reading with me DM or email me at ivesambrose@gmail.com

Masterpost

Services Offered

Thank you for the tip

Picture 1

Its likely you've felt rather helpless and alone, as though life has been testing you to the point it feels like a schedule to get to them and tick them off in your mental notepad once done. It is likely you've felt extra strained in your home environment or hometown, you may have attempted to leave but something or the other comes your way. You may have felt consistently blocked or unable to leave or unable to find a solution to a problem you've been facing in regards to your house or family.

A small part of you then decided to turn the worst case scenarios in your favour somehow. One of the ways being, "all of these sufferings will be rewarded. At least, mine will." I imagine you said this to yourself through gritted teeth. I want to tell you that the first thing you're manifesting is learning and accepting that suffering for rewards and accomplishments as poetic as they sound, shouldn't be the default settings you function under.

You're manifesting -

• A solution and clarity. No more illusions that worry you from taking the next step or making a decision.

• A community that allows you to bloom. New friends and network.

• Relocation.

• An end to apathy and boredom.

• An end to turmoil, stagnation and feeling of lack and helplessness.

• The beginning you've been anticipating as everything ends around you.

Timings: The coming 3 months.

Picture 2

You may have felt a lack of proper guidance in your life. That no matter what mentor came through or what ever path you sought to follow, everything somehow got complicated when you looked up to it. So many contradictions and so many lies. So you decided the only constant guidance are your own experiences and intuition. There's a life of adventure you seek, a career that lets you live the way you've wanted, for your words to inspire others without coming off too preachy and pretentious. Life has lacked stability likely due to external forces because you've time and time again done your best to obtain the stability that had been taken away from you. There's an intention you had set some time back and that is finally coming into fruition. Thing is, you knew it was going to happen anyway no matter how dire it seemed, you just needed to water this intention by directing your energy to it. You're manifesting -

• Increase in creativity with the energy to express it as well. Feeling in charge of your life. Leading rather than being led.

• Travelling to foreign locations for higher education or job/career. A career that lets you travel or involves travel.

• More money or increase in finances in general.

• More things or subjects to learn and achieve proficiency in.

Timings : Sooner than you expect. (Likely Gemini season for some)

Picture 3

You don't really shy away from challenges but certain incidents have made you question your faith and entire belief systems, later people and lastly yourself. You're trying to find a middle ground for yourself and also wondering how many transformations till your quiet breakdowns stop. Some of you really want to leave, something that brought you comfort is only bringing you anxiety now and giving you extreme mood swings. It seems as though you're wondering if any efforts you're putting into what you want is even worth it. Quiet your mind for some time. Even for a minute. Till the minutes eventually pass and your mind feels quiet for once. It's okay to have a head full of no thoughts at times. You're manifesting -

• Emotional regulation.

• Better health.

• Luck and expansion.

• Knowledge that you can put into use.

• For some better relationship with a maternal figure or their parents.

• Sudden wealth or unexpected wealth or property.

• Protection from distrustful and downright vindictive energy.

• Success, recognition and enjoying the fruits of your labour. Succeeding in anything you've been wanting to manifest for yourself actually. No extra steps or rules and regulations to follow. Simply acceptance.

Timings: Within 2 months.

[deeokanee]

Bob never had a place he could call his own. He grew up with a roof on his head, but that's all he had at his parents' house. His dad made sure that Bob understood that that wasn't his house, he was just living in it because his father allowed him. Bob didn't need these constant reminders to know that place wasn't his, he felt it every day since he can remember.

He was barely 18 when he finally kicked him out. His mother didn't protest as her husband threw Bob out of the door, as he had done with all of his clothes too. He didn't blame her, she didn't want to get beaten when she could avoid it. He knew she'd never risk it for him, he wasn't worth that. He was a highschool dropout, and most importantly, he was an addict. He had been one since he was fourteen, and in the last year meth had replaced the painkillers. No one would want to call a junkie like him their son.

He went to crash on the couch of a guy he knew from his night job, mopping floors and washing dishes at a crappy local diner. It paid him barely enough to sustain his addiction.

He didn't have any other place to go. He wasn't under the impression that this man, older than him by at least five years, was his friend. He was just a colleague who had noticed the clear signs of addiction in Bob at first glance. First he got him hooked on meth, swearing that it was better than whatever crap Bob was using —he was so right— then he became his dealer.

But now that Bob paid this dude definitely too much money to stay at his place, his finances were even lower than they were before. He couldn't afford the drugs anymore, and the man surely wouldn't hand them out to him for free.

That's why, when the withdrawal made his anxiety skyrocket as his whole body shook uncontrollably, he started stealing some meth from the guy's stash. He took small amounts each time, hoping, praying that the owner wouldn't notice them being gone.

When that man found out, he kicked Bob in the ribs so many times that breathing became difficult for him for months, so hard that his father seemed gentle in comparison. Then he was out on the streets.

In the successive years, after he had lost his job because he was unpresentable even for that place, he slept in abandoned buildings with other homeless strangers. Not even when he was high out of his goddamn mind, he could mistake those places for a home.

He didn't miss his parents' house, not even when he slept on dirty, wet concrete floors with nothing but his old clothes to keep him warm. That has never been his home, and he was as alone now as he was before.

Loneliness was nothing new for him, so it didn't hurt. You can't miss something you never knew in the first place. He never had someone who cared for him, he understood that would never change.

Even when he was in highschool, living a seemingly normal life, he never created a bond with anyone. Not having even one friend, Bob felt ridiculous when he wondered about how having someone falling for him would feel.

He never expected romance, and he stopped craving it when he accepted that no one would want that with him. After all, his experiences with guys were always limited to hand jobs in empty locker rooms and secret hookups when those dudes' girlfriends were busy.

Bob knew that was all a man would ever want from him. Still, he was lying, when he told himself that letting sleazy men use his body in exchange for some money wouldn't make him feel filthy. It was what he was used to, so why did it make him want to rip the skin off his face? Not even being intoxicated during the act helped to ease the disgust he felt for himself.

Sure as hell, the shitty motels in which some of these men took him —the fancier ones, those who weren't pleased with just getting sucked off in a dark alley, those who wanted more from him, without paying a much higher price than the others— didn't feel homely at all.

He has spent all of his existence being a reject, it's all he's ever known. Those times are still fresh in his mind, after all it's only been a year since his life has changed in ways he still can't fully comprehend.

Despite him being in a better place in every possible way —he's clean, he has many friends, he's in love and he's loved—, he still can't fully believe that this is real. He can't wrap his head around it, because he's never thought he would deserve what he has now.

Sometimes he wakes up expecting to be on the street. He opens his eyes anticipating to be beaten, spat on and abused. He doesn't know when the memories will stop, when his mind will cease calling him a failure, a junkie, a whore.

Maybe it will never really end. But he could grow to accept it, now that he has people in his life who care for him, now that his voice isn't the only one he hears in his brain. Now that he has a place for himself that no one will dare to take away from him.

And still now, despite having his own room, a space only he can control, he hasn't spent a night in it in months. Not since he and John have started dating (even before that, to be frank). Someone could see this as a contradiction, or as Bob dwelling in old habits because he doesn't think he deserves better.

But the fact is, firstly, that sleeping at John's is better. His boyfriend's smell is everywhere. In the shower, in the closet, on the sheets.

Despite being in a place that on paper doesn't belong to him, he doesn't feel like he's taking up space, wasting space, for the first time since he was born. It makes him feel longed for, knowing that John wants him to be there, that he needs him to be there.

But there's even more to that. The fact is that feeling John's weight pressing on his body, his arms being wrapped around him during the whole night, is the most at home Bob has ever felt in his whole life. They could be in any place in the world, and it wouldn't change a thing. Bob would still feel like that's his rightful place in the world, and no one is going to take that away from him. He won't allow it, and John won't too.

[olderthannetfic]

I don't know if this is me being sensitive, but I kind of hate it when people assume I must be a certain age to write protagonists who are that age well. My protagonist of my most popular current fic is 52. I'm 19. People assume I must be in my 30's at a minimum, and that's... weird, to me?

A 52 year old has a lot in common with a 19 year old. A lot of regrets about things you did wrong, worries about the younger people in your family, you worry about being like the toxic older relatives you swore you wouldn't become, you're not sure what the future holds but you're not 90 or something so you can't stop caring because it does in fact directly impact you, you've got a lot of responsibilities but everyone assumes you're fine either because "oh young people have it easy" or "you're old enough to have your finances in order/your life figured out" is in effect, etc. It's not like a 52 year old is a different species than I am. He has anxieties, problems, a job with annoying coworkers, he's someone's son, he's someone's best friend, he is awkwardly trying to navigate a work-life balance, he's... at the risk of sounding insulting, he's just a guy. I'm just a guy. We are all just guys and gals and whatever the NB equivalent term is.

We're people. We're both people and we live in the same country, and his world has fantasy elements but it's not radically different from ours in any way that would impede my ability to write him. People are stunned I'm 19. I am not good enough to justify this with, "they're stunned by my creative genius!", this is very much them oohing and aaahing over someone writing a normal person with moderate competency. I'm not writing shit you have to be older to have even done IRL. Yeah, adjusting to knowing magic and vampires and werewolves are real is weird. Trying to make sure your younger relatives know they can talk to you without hovering or being annoying is a super standard, normal-ass experience. Being overwhelmed by information and having long to-read and to-watch lists is a really common thing. There's more media available than ever but there remains 24 hours in a day, ultimately.

The thing I got the most praise for that I find to be the most "given an award for knowing the sky is blue" in vibe is him longing for the simplicity of his childhood but acknowledging that simplicity was just how he perceived it and times were complicated back then. I had that revelation about my childhood when I was still in it, when I was ten and I eavesdropped on my mom talking to one of her friends about bills, politics and rising extremism in the US. People think I must be an adult lying about my age in order to get praise for my good writing and my "good writing" is literally just shit I knew when I was 10 years old.

I am not good enough to be worthy of some 'wise beyond your years' type sentiment. I just asked myself, "What would Character Name be thinking/feeling in this situation?" and it's like I'm getting applause for having the ability to walk and chew gum at the same time. I don't need to be in my 30's to grasp a complicated concept like "he's worried about his loved ones".

Look I know a lot of my generation acts dumb online but the most egregious stick out specifically because they're egregious. That's not the norm. We're not incapable of seeing older people as human beings.

--

I fucked a dude in high school because he could write convincingly from a middle-aged POV and was obsessed with the old guy from Don Juan DeMarco. It was refreshing. Most people our age, even the other writer nerds, could not do that.

No, anon, most 19-year-olds aren't especially good at this specific way of putting themselves in an older person's shoes and at getting that across in writing. There are various types of writing skill. Maybe your other ones aren't all that, or maybe you're just too hard on yourself, but it sounds like you're unusually good at a particular niche skill.

[billthedrake]

LINEAGE (PART SEVEN)

A parent-teacher conference night was the last thing I wanted to attend. Braden was starting to be slowed down by the twin pregnancy, earlier than previously, and the fact the younger boys were starting to get into the more rambunctious age made both our jobs tougher. Between work, parenting, and just picking up the slack, it was a busy month for me. But we were sending Junior to a private school that prided itself on personal attention to its students, and at home I placed an emphasis on education. So after dinner, I drove over to the school.

Even if it was the last thing I wanted to do on a Wednesday evening, I was glad when I got there. I was able to have a nice chat with Junior's golf coach, Brad Sargent. Even on a solid high school golf team, Junior was a standout player as a freshman. "Bill is scholarship material," Brad said with an encouraging tone. "I don't know if I've seen that mix of talent and work ethic before." Since in public Junior was only my grandson rather than my son as well, we referred to him by his first name, not Junior.

"That's all him," I said. "But it's made me and his father real happy for sure."

Next was a meeting with his English teacher. While Junior's grades were OK, English was his weak subject. Mrs. Hilliard was polite but talked in a way that let me know my son wasn't her star student. Still, I assured her that Bill would stay on track.

The big surprise though was his history teacher, Thomas Rizzo, who was a high school football coach and looked like one - probably in his early 30s, he had big ex-linebacker build, a little beefy, with huge shoulders and a thick neck that splayed the open collar of his oxford blue button down. He shook my hand with a vice grip.

"Mr. Drake," he said before we both sat in his empty classroom.

We talked about Junior's grades and performance in the class. All good stuff.

"I gather he wants to go into Finance," the teacher said at one point.

"Why do you say that?" I asked. I'd tried to get my eldest son to talk about his life aspirations, but Braden put the kibosh on that. My husband still resented the pressure I'd put on him when he was a teen.

"Well, for starters..." Coach Rizzo replied with a grin. "Bill's doing his project on the history of the New York Stock Exchange."

"You're kidding?" I laughed.

"Nope," he grinned. "But he's a good kid. Too bad I can't talk him into joining the football team. He has the height to be a great quarterback."

"Golf's his game," I assured the man. Anyway, he was probably trying to flatter me. "I'm surprised you're a coach in addition to a teacher," I said. That came out the wrong way, but the private school had a lot of specialized athletic staff.

Thankfully he laughed, maybe used to that reaction. "I got my masters in history. My dad was a professor actually, so after my college playing days were over, I cracked the books and went to grad school."

"That's cool," I said.

He nodded. Thomas Rizzo was surprisingly easy to talk to. And he must have thought the same about me, because his next words were a little more revealing. "Yeah, my father and I were close," he said, almost as if in reverie, but his brown eyes caught mine in a direct look. "Still are."

"Glad to hear," I said. Maybe it was a dumb reply, but I didn't know how to be positive about what he was sharing without letting on too much. Already, it felt like Coach Rizzo was implying something.

"Just like you and Bill's dad," he said.

I nodded. I had experience in the white lies and not so white lies about having an incest relationship. So I was actually pretty poised with this kind of interrogation. "We are," I said. "It's been great to help Braden out raising his sons."

That got a knowing smile from Coach. "I'm not going to be a dick, Mr. Drake. I just think it's cool what you and your Braden have going on."

"You do?" I said. "The coparenting arrangement, you mean?"

"If you want to call it that," he said. "Look... it's just really cool to find a sympathetic kind of man. And seeing the way you and your son are with each other, I don't know..."

"Well, if you're a sympathetic man, Coach... I'll just say that both me and Braden love to meet kindred spirits."

That brought a smile to his face, which was the time I realized he wasn't trying to trap me into saying something. "I have the next parent waiting outside," he said, gesturing to the closed door. "But OK if I show you a picture?"

I nodded and he pulled out his phone. "I don't show this to anyone, but I want to show you." He fumbled with the screen then turned it toward me.

The picture was about five years old, since Rizzo looked younger, almost that fresh out of college look. The man next to him wasn't as bulked up or muscled but he was clearly the father, same eyes, same nose and chin. It was a selfie photo taken in a hotel room, probably on a timer. Both men were shirtless and probably naked or else wearing skimpy swim trunks. The frame cut them off just above the pubes and the room light showed off a fresh tan on each of their bodies.

I looked at Rizzo. "Your father's a very handsome man," I said. It was true. The older Rizzo had an olive-tan complexion that showed off his silvery hair and darker body fur.

That made coach smile. "I know." He tapped the screen again and turned it back. This one was taken a few seconds later, father and son locking lips and in full embrace. A real incest kiss.

"Fuck, that's beautiful," I said. "If you don't mind my saying."

"Not at all, Mr. Drake."

I pulled out my phone and found a similar picture of me and Braden. He took it in wide eyed and finally said with a tinge of regret, "I really gotta cut this short. But seems like we have more to talk about."

"Indeed we do."

***

I came home to find Braden in the living room, relaxing and reading on his ipad. I came up behind him and massaged his shoulders. I had a good idea the younger boys were playing video games in the family room.

"Tough day?" I asked.

"Not really," my son said. "Just tired."

"Where's Junior?" I asked. "I want to talk with him."

Braden looked back at me. God, he was so handsome, and lately he'd gone back to his Marine buzzcut, which made him look younger and older than his 38 years at the same time. "Is he in trouble?"

I laughed and patted his meaty traps. "No... I just want to see if he can babysit on Saturday."

Braden knew why. The Newcombs were coming into town and we'd set up a dinner outing.

"He's in the basement, working out."

I leaned down and whispered in his ear. "Why don't you check on the boys and then get ready for bed, Son? I really want to be inside you tonight."

Braden nodded eagerly. "I want that, too." I could sense the eagerness. It had been a few days.

I descended the stairs into the basement. Braden was serious about lifting, always had been, and he'd tricked out the cement-floored space with an impressive home gym. Brade worked out seriously six times a week, and I made sure to get my weekend workouts in. Over the last year, Braden had shown Junior the fundamentals of working out.

I came to see our eldest son going at it on the squat rack. Junior was 15 and now that he'd had his growth spurt he was tall, like me. I watched his form as he leveraged his body and the barbell up and down for a few reps before reracking the weight.

"Hey Dad," he said as he pulled the earbud outs.

I nodded toward the barbell. "That's a lot of weight, Junior... you being safe?"

He nodded in an annoyed-at-his-dad's-lectures kind of way. "Daddy showed me good form."

"That's good," I said. "Listen, buddy... I want to run something by you."

"I'm not in trouble am I?" he asked. Junior knew I'd gone to the parent-teacher conferences.

I chuckled. "You're the second person tonight who's asked me that."

Junior laughed. He got my humor, it was one of our connections.

"It's just," I continued, more seriously. "You know this pregnancy is going to be a bigger deal for your daddy."

"I figured," my son said, and I could tell he's been thinking about this. "Twins... it's gonna be so cool." Then catching my drift, he added, "How can I help, Dad?"

I patted his shoulder. "You know, if you can step up some around the house, help look after you brothers, and give your Daddy a break once in a while."

Junior smiled. I thought of what Coach Rizzo said about Bill being a good kid. "You got it, Dad."

"I'll bump up your allowance," I offered.

"I won't say no to that," he grinned.

"And I'd like to hire you to babysit Ev and Keith this weekend."

Junior's eyes twinkled. "Got a date night with Daddy?"

"It's long overdue, kiddo," I smiled back. "You think you can help?"

"God yeah, Dad. Glad to."

"Thanks, buddy." I looked back at the weights. "You working out much longer?"

"I have a few more sets to do. Why?"

"It's getting late," I reminded him. Even if he was a teenager who didn't have the set bed time of his younger brothers, I didn't want him becoming a total night owl.

"I won't be too long, Dad." He started to put his ear buds back in, then stopped. "Dad... can I ask a favor of you?"

"What is it, kiddo?"

"When I get my learner's permit, can you teach me to drive?"

"That's five months months away, Junior."

"I know," he said. Maybe embarrassed for his eagerness.

I patted his arm. "All right, weekly driving lessons after golf. Maybe we'll find a deserted parking lot and start early, OK?"

That got a huge smile. "Awesome, Dad. Thanks."

"All right, good night, kiddo."

"Good night, Dad."

I was in a good mood when I got upstairs to the master bedroom, and even better mood when I saw Brade naked and waiting for me. His cock was rock hard and just everything about him was beautiful. Thick muscle, masculine and fully grown up now. Father of three and soon to be swelling with our twin sons. Already that baby bumps was showing.

"God, Dad, the pregnancy hormones are hitting hard. I'm glad you were in the mood tonight."

"I won't complain if you hound me for sex when I'm not," I grinned, undoing my tie and setting it down on the dresser.

"Maybe it's anticipating Saturday," he said. "Eric has been texting me a lot."

"Doug's equally excited," I said. I slowly stripped out of my suit, dress shirt, and underwear, thrilled to see Brade's eyes on me in this private strip tease. I loved it like this when we were super horny but not in a rush. As I peeled down my boxer briefs my hardon jutted straight up.

We embraced and kissed. I felt up Brade's pregnant body, taking time with that baby bump while Brade groped my cock.

"Is this gonna be a Dad kind of fuck tonight?" my son-husband asked in a deep horny voice.

I paused and pulled back to look into his eyes. "We don't gotta, Brade."

"I know," he said, massaging my hard dad dick. "I like it that way sometimes. And I figure doggy position is gonna work better when I start getting huge."

"Oh fuck," I hissed.

"You've been imagining it right, Dad? Fucking me when I'm big and round with our two boys."

"I won't be able to keep my fucking hands off you, Sport."

"You'll just have to keep me good and knocked up, then, old man."

We kissed harder now. Maybe the soft and slow approach was out the window. I groped his muscle hard and kissed him deeply.

Braden finally broke away and turned away from me before scrambling to all fours. "Fucking mount my big pregnant body, sir!"

Braden's sex talk was at full volume and I shhhed him. "Junior will hear," I said.

"Juniors knows what we do in here.... the poor dude probably jerks off wanting to join in."

"Brade!" I admonished. I wasn't sure I was prepared for the effect of the hormones on my husband.

He spread his legs in invitation. Braden has an amazing muscle ass and the contract between that and the softening love handles was incredible. "I know, Dad. But fuck, our son has it for you, bad. Why do you think he works out every night?"

I was already lubing up my cock. "Golf, I presume," I said. Call me dumb, but I didn't know what Braden was getting at.

I could see my son shake his head. "He knows you go for muscle. He didn't say as much, but when he asked me to show him lifting... well he clearly wants a body like mine."

"Oh," I said. It was strange how I could be so close to Junior in some ways but in others our son hid himself from me, yet opened up to Brade.

"I mean..." I heard Brade growl, trying to keep his voice down. "You know why I got into lifting and football, right?"

"No, Sport," I said. Already I was lining up my prick to his buns and teasing his crack before finding the soft pucker in there.

"I found a couple of porn videos on your computer. I still remember them. Sean Cody's Abe... and a football orgy one. I wanted to become the man you wanted to fuck."

"Yeah?" I said. "You never told me that."

I ran my hands along his back before leaning back up.

"I know you taught me not to spy," he said earnestly.

"You think I'm gonna punish you now?" I chuckled.

"Sounds stupid," I know, Brade said. "But I didn't want you to think less of me." He wiggled his ass back at me. "Your dick feels so amazing, Dad." Braden said softly. "Put it in me. Please."

I held on to his hips while I powered mine forward. Clenching my glutes, I penetrated the folds of his entrance. "Oh fuck... you feel nice, buddy."

"I got my father's cock in me," Brade said. He loved to vocalize our incest, and I loved him vocalizing it.

"Your dad's here for you, Son. Hard as nails for you."

"You make me feel I'm home, Dad. Every time you fuck me."

"You are home, Son," I said.

"I mean emotionally. With the right man."

I thrust in. Burying myself balls deep. Braden was tight but opening up for me. Already I knew the gently pulsing guts were going to get me off. "I'm not an easy man to live with."

"You're my father... every day I'm living out my dream."

"Yeah, buddy?" My thrusts were getting faster.

"Hell yes. Living with my incest husband. Bearing you kids."

"We gonna keep at it, Brade? Knock out a whole litter?" OK, I was getting real into the sex, my cock jabbing harder and faster. This was gonna be a Dad kind of fuck all right.

"Keep fucking me bareback, Dad, and you're gonna found out."

"Oh shit." My grip on his waist was tighter now, my pace more urgent. Brade's hole felt amazing around my pistoning cock.

"Maybe we can have eight boys before my manopause kicks in."

"There are the fertility pills, like the Fiedlers took."

"Hell, yes. My Dad's breeder cock has more work to do."

"Getting close, son..." I hissed.

"Do it dad. Knock me up again. Put another son next to our twins in there."

It was a wild thing to say, and it pushed me to orgasm. I gave a couple of quick thrusts and unloaded, hard.

I heard Brade cum below me.

I leaned forward and kissed his neck, slowly pulling out. "I didn't go too hard on ya, Sport?"

"Nope," Braden said and twisted to kiss me as I lay down next to him.

I stroked his cheek. He was angelic and hunky at the same time. My dick wasn't going soft, even if I felt satisfied. "So... you became a jock for me?"

"Is that weird?" he said. Braden was so self-assured, always the more confident and determined one in our incestuous relationship, that this self-doubt took me by surprise.

"I'm flattered," I said, truthfully. "And I've been having hot sex with a perfect stud for twenty years straight."

"Well, you get hotter with age, Dad. It's crazy." His fingers traced my chest hair. "The gray coming in is driving me wild."

We kissed some and then talked some more.

"I forgot to tell you, Sport," I said. "I had a real interesting conversation with Junior's history teacher tonight."

"The coach?"

"Yeah, Thomas Rizzo." I said. "Turns out he gets us."

"You mean..."

"He's close with his dad, incest close. I guess he sniffed us out, too."

"Wow," Brade said. I could see his prick harden up. "For real?"

I nodded.

"I love that other men can enjoy incest, Dad. Maybe we can meet up with Coach and his dad, too."

I placed my arm around Braden's shoulder. "He's Junior's teacher, buddy... probably not the best idea."

"Yeah," my son conceded. "You're open for playing with the Newcomb men, though?"

"If they're up for it," I said.

"I'm pretty sure Eric is up for it," Braden said.

"Maybe I should ask what you boys have been talking about."

Braden gave a coy smile. "What it's like to be a son."

We kissed again. And made out. And pretty soon, I was climbing on top of my hunky son for round two.

****

Braden was nervous actually when we showed up to the restaurant. "It's gonna be fun, Brade," I whispered before we sat down. "Even if nothing sexual happens."

"That's what I'm afraid of, Dad. I want this bad, actually."

My son and I had talked about it. We were mostly monogamous, but playtime with the Connors men gave some needed variety to our sex life. We'd even explored son-swap nights where Frank Connors would sleep with Braden in one room, while Jeff and I took the other room. It was naughty fun, and gave me and Braden some fun outside our normal married routine.

Still, Doug and Eric Newcomb had been majorly spooked during that Caribbean private time in our hotel room. The messages I got from Doug made me think things were different now, but I didn't want Braden pushing them too hard.

When they showed up, they looked incredible. Doug was in a dress shirt and sport coat, much like I was, and Eric was in a preppy polo shirt that clung to his football jock body. He'd packed on muscle even since going off to college. I saw Braden's look and he could read me like a book. It was uncanny how much these men were our type, hotter versions of us, even.

We got up from the table and shook hands. There was a lot of eye contact, heavy but stopping shy of flirty.

"Great to see you guys," Doug said.

"You too," Braden piped in. "Glad you could make it here."

"Best part of being a pilot, being able to take trips with my boy," Doug said reaching over to touch his son's neck. "Right, kiddo?"

"Right, Dad," the jock said, basking in his father's attention.

I was bricking up beneath the table cloth. "That's what I call my son, too... kiddo."

That made the DILF's eyes twinkle. "Yeah?" Looking at Braden, he winked. "You like your nickname, man?"

Braden laughed. "Not me... it's our oldest son. We have a few kids actually."

Eric grew noticeably excited. "Yeah? That's so awesome... you um..."

Braden had a proud smile. "I bore all of them. Currently pregnant with twins."

"Congratulations," Doug said.

"Thanks," I said. "We're thrilled."

Eric lowered his voice. "Dad and I have talked about the idea, but we're not sure."

"You gotta be," Braden said. "Parenthood is a huge commitment. But it's amazing, too."

Eric seemed thrilled and looked over at his dad, who gave a silent, knowing look.

The jock's whisper got lower. "So, like... is it hard to have a sex life after kids?""

"Tell us if we get too nosy," the other dad interjected.

"I doubt you will," I said. "Brade and I find a way to make it work. Probably like you did Doug, when Eric was younger."

The father gave a sly grin. "His mother and I did not have NEARLY as active a sex life as I have now."

"Honeymoon phase?" Braden teased, looking at Eric.

The college jock got a bit smile. "Oh yeah... ever since we met you guys... we just decided to go for it."

"The full monte?" I ventured.

"The full monte," Doug said proudly. "Only Eric's on contraception, so we don't go as far as you guys."

Dinner was a great chance to talk. I was hard for much of it, but the conversation really was bonding as incest couples, finding out how it worked with another dad-son pair. Braden and I filled the guys in on our family and what parenthood was like and how we managed marriage over the long haul.

By the time we paid the bill, I thought maybe we'd friend zoned the Newcombs, but Doug gave Eric an affectionate look to confirm then looked back at us. "Feel like coming back to our hotel, guys?"

"Hell yes," Braden piped in immediately, which got a laugh from all of us.

There was no nervousness this time, after we drove to where they were staying and followed them to their room. I was horny and I knew Brade was beyond excited.

Whereas I'd led the charge in our first session, Doug was calling the shots now. As he removed his suit jacked and removed his shoes he looked at me and Braden. "Eric and I regret not going farther last time."

"Farther, how?" I asked, also removing my shoes.

He paused. "If you're up for it, it would be fun to connect more physically."

As Eric stripped off his polo, I was rewarded with the sight of a lot of smooth thick chest and arm muscle. "You guys are so hot... I'd love to be with all three of you."

I looked at my son. "Brade and I could definitely go for that, right, son?"

"Yeah, Dad."

Doug growled. "It's so hot to hear you call each other dad and son."

Braden looked at the man. "I'm going to kiss my dad."

"Bring it in, Sport," I grinned and watched Braden close the distance. Making out in front of another dad-son team was so incredible.

"Oh fuck," Eric hissed.

But by the time we turned, the son was making out with the dad, undoing the dress-shirt with deft fingers.

Braden took one side and I took the other. Completing the foursome. Sex with the Connors men was hot, but these guys were hotter, movie attractive and porn hot. Doug actually latched his mouth to mine first, while Braden kissed Eric. Then we swapped.

"I wanna suck your cock, Bill," the jock hissed, hunger in his eyes.

"Please."

I watched as he crouched down. Doug had a hopeful look that urged Braden to follow suit.

"So... Doug..." I said as Eric started swallowing me. "You're a real incest father now."

He gulped. Maybe verbal was new to him. But he loved it. "Hell yes. Two, three times a day, having sex with my own son."

"He a Daddy's boy?" I asked. I placed my hand on his shoulder, squaring the body contact. Doug was way hot and I was attracted to him, too.

"Fuck yeah. Like your Braden."

"My son has been dying to have sex with you, man."

He gasped and looked down, watching Brade suck. He looked back up at me. "He's really fucking good."

I massaged his shoulders with my fingers. "Your own son's amazing, too."

We let them work us up for a bit. Then Doug got a horny urgency to his voice. "Switch?"

"Yeah."

I backed away from Eric's mouth and walked over to Braden. Rather than suck me, Brade started tonguing my balls. "These are the balls that made me," he hissed. "Then knocked me up."

"Oh God!" Doug gasped. He was cumming, inside Eric's throat as the jock bobbed up and down and swallowed.

I nudged Braden off and guided him to the bed.

Already Eric was going to fetch some lube for us.

The mating was quiet but intense. The Newcombs flanked us, one on each side for a front row view of me breaching Braden. Doug was still hard as nails, and Eric hadn't gotten off. I fucked with slow hard thrusts. Braden responded. "Go for it, Dad."

I pounded him, like I like. Getting real into it. Eric kissed me as I did, and Doug made out with my son. The orgasm was intense, for Brade too. He'd barely cum when Doug pulled off to lick the seed of Braden's muscle bod.

Meanwhile, Eric was pulling me into a deeper embrace, pulling me back into a kiss. I followed him down to the mattress as he held me tight and wrapped his legs around me. This was proceeding quickly.

I pulled off and looked at Doug. "Is it OK, man?"

"If I can do yours." He was lubing his cock. I had a feeling that if I didn't let him fuck Brade he was going to be dicking his son.

"Yeah," I agreed.

So side by side, we fucked the other son, feeding off the shared sexual energy. It was mostly to get Eric off, but Doug's thrusts got faster and I knew he was about to seed Brade. I was glad Braden was already knocked up. In our sessions with the Connors we'd been careful with protection, but now had gotten carried away.

We enjoyed the afterglow and made out with our own sons, before swapping again.

"We should get back," Braden finally said. "But this has been incredible."

"Maybe tomorrow?" Doug asked hopefully. "Sorry if I'm being greedy, but I don't know when we'll have this chance again."

"We know a couple other incest couples," I said. "If you want to be introduced to them."

"Fuck, yes," Eric said. He gotten out of bed to down the water bottle to replenish liquids. God, he was incredible, a hunky naked jock that reminded me a lot of Braden when he was younger.

Doug was more cautious. "Just to meet... I think I'd never to develop the trust before a scene like this," he gestured to me and Brade naked in bed with him. "And the attraction too."

"Well, I'm flattered we made the cut, man," I said. I slid out of bed and looked for my underwear and T-shirt.

"You kidding?" Doug said leaning up against the headboard. The man was a handsome fucker, it was almost mesmerizing. And he'd passed on some good genetics to his son. "You opened up a whole world for us."

Braden was getting dressed too. "That door was already cracked, guys. We just helped you push it open."

The vibe was moving quickly to a cordial friend dynamic. But we gave each other a quick kiss before leaving their room.

Braden was on cloud nine the whole way home, and I was pretty much feeling happy and content, too.

[370005]

sollux & terezi on beforus are in the business of ruining lives (for fun and profit)

details + bonus doodles under cut

ive been in a beforus mood lately so im thinking abt what the trolls lives could have been like.

sollux and terezi are white collar criminals. i wanted to give her the seer curse of Seeing Things even though she isn't a player, so she utilizes her infinite outcome matrix analysis abilities to forsee tragedies specifically caused by negligence. there was definitely a point in her childhood where she attempted to be a mothmanesque figure, warning potential innocents of upcoming events and terrorizing the people responsible for totally preventable misfortune.

but then she grew up and realized that the people who were responsible for shoddy architecture, massive layoffs, and general societal injustices didn't have a conscience to torment. They were gaming the system for money $$$ and you had to hit them where it hurts. she used her proclivity for predicting small-scale catastrophes to predict how said ensuing scandals would affect the stocks for the entities involved. you can't make the executive heads feel bad about dropping 30% of their staff to feed their own salaries, but you can definitely manipulate the market and ruin their public perception until people are papering their hives with the company currency

sollux, who worked the BSE as their best surveillance analyst, clocked terezi as a front runner when she showed up out of absolutely nowhere and scored huge profits after two consecutive PR disasters led to the bankruptcy of like 8 corps and heavy damage to their subsidiaries. it was kind of impressive, but he had a job to do yaknow? terezi, who was immediately on the run from the beforus finance cops and had to be sneakier and meaner with her manipulation, and sollux became completely obsessed with this criminal mastermind who was VERY easy to track. she was always behind the scenes in every major upset but sloppy about it. he probably should have turned her over to the authorities the second he knew her location. but, let's be honest, can you resist a pyrope on a mission?

after a very tumultuous rivalry that swung red and black like a centrifuge they eventually join forces because it turns out terezi doesn't have any inside info. she's just acting on VERY good hunches. there's honestly not really anything illegal she's doing PERSAY. and then sollux joins the efforts and uses his forensic experience to make her a lot harder to track, as well as collecting sensitive info and facilitating scandals that will rock the bottom line of anyone they consider an enemy. terezi is very into the networking part of it, amassing a silent army of business associates who can do the dirty work for them, either through bribery or blackmail. she knows how to get people to do what she wants >:] it's a bit morally dubious but it's all for the sake of the people.

lots of fun moments with these two, like when sollux brainstorms a series of possible connections that could insinuate that a group of people have been too careless in their various embezzlement schemez and theres a big tower of cards begging to be toppled. or when terezi comes to a sudden realisation that a potential whistleblower's nerve is about to run out and they've gotta act NOW if they want to benefit from the fallout.

these two are always hiding from the 9+ cumulative life sentences they've accrued and the financial ruin theyve rained on corporate beforus. as a result, they pretty much only have each other, and maybe a handful of their most trusted affiliates. kind of hard to nourish any type of relationship when the people close to you are in danger of being implicated in your many crimes and all of your enemies are incredibly wealthy, powerful, and influential. i imagine their luck runs out one day and they're disappeared from society without a trace.

[thatgentlewife]

How We Came to Live a Traditional Lifestyle (and Why It Saved Our Marriage)

My husband and I didn’t always live traditionally.

In fact, when we first started dating, our relationship looked a lot like the ones we were raised around—chaotic, prideful, and out of order. Both of our mothers are very strong-willed women who had control in their homes. They wore the pants, made the decisions, spent the money, and pushed their husbands around. There was no true partnership, just power struggles.

My mom never respected my dad—or my stepdad when she remarried. I watched her walk all over them. Somehow, even though they both made more than the average man, we were always struggling. My mom’s spending addiction and need for control created constant financial instability. My stepdad had no real voice in our home, and as kids, we knew it. He wasn’t someone we were taught to respect—he was just there.

My husband’s experience wasn’t any better. His mom works full-time not because she needs to, but because she wants independence. She makes most if not all the family’s decisions. His dad has been completely emasculated. Over time, he’s turned to alcoholism. The pain of being undermined and dismissed every day has made him bitter. He mocks her now. They fight constantly, and they talk about divorce like it’s nothing. There’s no tenderness left. No dating, no joy in family life. She doesn’t ask him before doing anything, not even for simple things—she makes his appointments and forces him to go.

It’s no wonder we were headed down the same path.

When my husband and I started out, I was the one working more hours, making more money, paying the bills, managing his schedule, and making decisions without him. I thought I was being helpful. But in reality, I was controlling. I didn’t respect his opinions, and deep down, I didn’t respect him. Our relationship suffered. We fought every weekend. We didn’t feel like a team. We didn’t feel like a couple. We were miserable.

But God.

Everything changed when we gave our lives fully to Jesus. We started reading the Bible not just for comfort, but for instruction. And in Ephesians 5, we found God’s blueprint for marriage:

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church… Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.”

—Ephesians 5:22–25

Submission used to sound like a bad word to me. But when I finally understood it in the context of mutual humility, everything made sense. Submission isn’t about inferiority—it’s about trust, respect, and God-given roles. It’s about me stepping into the feminine role I was created for and trusting my husband to step into his masculine, God-given leadership.

We had a wake-up call the night His parents got into one of their worst fights yet. We saw ourselves in them. It scared us. We realized that if we didn’t change, we would end up just like them—resentful, angry, distant, and divided. We said, “No more.”

I stepped back from full-time work and took a part-time job in childcare, which I genuinely love. I finally feel like I’m walking in my calling. Parker started working overtime at a blue-collar job. He lifts heavy metal all day, and it’s building his strength—not just physically, but spiritually and mentally too. He’s becoming the man God always intended him to be, and I get to support and encourage him in that.

He pays the bills now. I submit my finances to him because I’ve learned, humbly, that I struggle with spending. Just like my mom, if I’m left unchecked, I’ll shop for things I don’t need and create chaos in our budget. So I submit, not out of fear, but out of wisdom.

At home, I take care of the house, cook dinner every night, and pack Parker’s breakfast and lunches every week. I only make appointments for him if he asks me to. I listen to his perspective. I ask his opinion. I honor him.

And the fruit of that?

We don’t fight anymore. We don’t need to.

We have peace in our home. Real peace, not from perfect circumstances, but from walking in obedience to God’s design. We’re finally building a savings. Our intimacy is thriving. Our marriage bed is a place of joy and connection. We’ve never been closer.

People ask us all the time, “What’s your secret? How are you so happy?”

The truth? Humility. Repentance. Submission. Trust in God’s Word.

People say, “Just wait till you’ve been married longer.” But I’m not going to sit around and wait for my marriage to fall apart. That’s not faith—it’s fear. And we weren’t given a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). I will continue to nourish and serve and submit and love until the day the Lord calls me home.

My role isn’t a burden, it’s a blessing. And watching my husband thrive in his role as the head of our home makes me proud. He is becoming the man I always prayed for, and it happened the moment I got out of God’s way and let him lead.

“Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.”

—Proverbs 14:1

Ladies, don’t let the world lie to you. Feminism promises freedom, but it delivers bitterness. God’s way is better. His order is better. His Word brings life.

I’m not perfect. I’m still learning. But I’ll never go back to what we were before. I’ll keep choosing this way, His way, every day.

Because I have never loved my husband more than I do now.

<3 thatgentlewife

[study-diaries]

How To Better Your Overall High School Experience From A Recently Passed Out Student

No drama, absolutely no drama. Don't get into trouble, it stirs negative emotions which is a waste of time.

It's not high school musical. I seriously am saying this, you won't just have "problems" that can be solved by just working together. Not everyone would be willing to be your friend/solve problems etc. Be okay with that.

Catch up on homework/assignments/tests/projects. Everything is so much easier when you actually are doing the work on time. Don't pile your work up until it becomes a mountain you can't climb without breaking down.

Don't take everything as "I'll manage" or "it's easy". Newsflash? The really important topic that you thought you'd wing it by studying the day before is actually way more complex and harder. So, take your books and do sit and study.

Stay with positive people. Your friends determine your energy. The people you surround yourself with represent your energy and mindset. So, choose friends wisely. Have a good friend circle.

Sleep on time. This is honestly one of the things i had difficulty in following because sometimes there's too much to do and absolutely no time. But is still say this because it's not impossible. I made sure to sleep before 11 or 12. Max would be 12:30.

Do courses! Lots and lots of them. The reason why i suggest this is because it literally enhanced my experience and my learning journey. It also gives you better opportunities during college admissions and for job interviews.

Have an idea of what you want to do in college and choose subjects accordingly. If you just entered High School and are in a position where you have to choose your subjects. Sit back and think "What am i going to do in college?" (I live in a place where what subjects you pick in high school would only open up opportunities in those fields.)

Choose subjects wisely and make sure to have a variety of subjects. Like languages, practical based and memorization based so you have options and won't get easily bored.

Build career paths. How? I again recommend courses. Even online courses like Coursera and Edx can highly make you experienced in your desired field. It's a roadway for more opportunities.

Save! Even if it is a dollar. Save money for things that you don't know you need in the future. It might help you. More than you think it would.

Build habits. Good habits. Waking up early, reading, exercising. Anything really. And be consistent with it.

Read! When i say this. I mean it. Read Everything. Self help books, business books, finance, romance, fantasy, dystopian, fiction, biographies. You don't know how this makes you develop into a another category of improvement. If you don't like reading, listen to audiobooks and podcasts.

Explore. Seriously. Be open minded. Everything is interesting but you must make it interesting.

Extra curriculars are a must. I seriously mean it, i don't remember much about academic achievements but i do remember all the main events and awards from clubs and competitions. That also doesn't mean you join everything under the sun, something interests you. Join it. If it doesn't, then don't.

Even if your friends aren't passionate about improvement etc, you can be friends with them. It doesn't mean they're bad, it just means that your goals differ. You can still be friends with them.

Don't drag out fights between friends or anyone. There's nothing wrong with cutting off from fights, it saves a lot of energy

Always lend an ear to others, friend or not. People remember others who are good to them so be nice. It doesn't hurt much. If someone needs help. help them.

Have some network beyond school (from other schools if you go for extra competitions or anything) I found it extremely helpful

Don't party (not too much). Personally, i don't believe too much in FOMO. Like, everyone around me participates in every small event, parties and what not. The trick is to join things you actually want and not just because you think you'll miss out. If you join every party/event, you'll likely won't be able to differentiate between the things that actually matter because everything looks the same.

Don't drink. That's what I'll always say. It's actually pretty bad for you, not only can you result in a bad hangover on a Monday morning but also actually mess up your body from the inside.

Don't do relationships. (at least in my opinion, it's an invitation for unwanted drama from what I've seen with my friends. it's messy)

Speak up in class (It can be difficult, but you must do it from time to time, it will boost confidence). You don't have to answer every time really. I spent my entire life sitting silently knowing the answers to every question but I chose not to say it.

Explore your aesthetic. Literally.

Cut your hair, wear rings, go emo or goth or cheerleader style. Hell, mix them. No one cares. Even if they do, does it really matter?

Take mental health days. I literally had 3-4 days a month for just resting. My sister and I would take days off together to watch tv shows and movies.

Talk to freshers, sophomores, juniors and seniors. (Honestly, I really love when my juniors come and talk to me, it feels nice, and you'll actually help them. we seniors aren't that bad)

There's no such thing as not cool (except when you disrespect somebody).

Don't start fights, if you find yourself in one, apologize and move on. Unnecessary drama really.

And don't gossip/talk bad about anyone. Once, my friend literally asked me, "Don't you freaking hate anyone from the class?" and i just said, "Hating someone requires energy, i don't want to waste my time and energy on that. Even if i hate them, i don't really have to advertise it."

Get familiar with your circle.. Honestly, i am a very quiet person, I didn't start getting comfortable with my group until like 3 months into senior year. It took me 1 and a half years to get comfortable with them.

It is totally fine to have a small circle of friends. It's also okay to have a large circle of friends. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Don't back answer a teacher. Teachers have impressions and if you back answer. That definitely leaves a bad impression. And you don't want that.

Have a memory book or anything for the last day of high school (I didn't want to keep a book because you had to spend weeks giving it to everyone so when we had a high school party, I took one of my scarfs and made people sign it and write a short message)

Don't give in to peer pressure. Honestly, it's fine if you don't do or like something.

__________________

Additional Posts:

Mistakes I made in my junior year that i don't want anyone else to repeat.

Mistakes I made in my senior year that I don't want anyone else to repeat

__________________

Hope This Helps! :))

[cobra-creampuff]

i also think it's kinda neat that (imo) ian and mickey's starting points, development, and character trajectories are pretty well fitted or idk yeah-seems-about-right-ish to their ordinal positions and relative ages.

in the beginning and through most of their development until their mutual Turning Point, ian is generally more quote unquote "grown up" than mickey even though he's younger (not significantly younger, but still). it makes sense not just because ian has a more supportive and provided for environment where he's had the room and relative comfort to grow as much as he has, but also because he's the third oldest sibling of *counting on my fingers* six with functionally no parents (with frank as a periodic liability). he hasn't had to take on as much responsibility as fiona or lip, but he has had noteworthy experience in maturity.

as opposed to mickey who not only does not have a supportive environment or consistently met basic needs and has additional stressors other than neglect/poverty to deal with, but is also the second youngest of *counting on my fingers much slower this time* also six(?) with functionally no parents (with terry as a periodic threat). he has unreasonably high expectations on him, but without any of the reliance and deferment ian gets from his younger siblings or the approval and gratitude he gets from his older siblings. and mickey's in the (pretty typical abused kid) paradox of being forced to handle adult levels of danger via the family business(es) but being so stripped of autonomy that he can't develop any corresponding maturity.

for a while ian continues to mature at a relatively steady pace while mickey lags well behind. he starts implementing plans to achieve his dreams of his own accord, putting in work and making sacrifices to follow through on them, starts wanting more adult relationships (compare his rejection of intimacy as opposed to convenient, meaningless sex from kash and his initial boyish twitterpation with mickey in season one to wanting more and more intimacy and commitment from mickey in two and three).

then, finally, mickey starts to catch up. he gets and keeps a job and follows the other terms of his parole (until he has a crisis), he accepts more intimacy from ian little by little, begins initiating communication (albeit not very good or clear communication), also starts making active decisions about how he wants his life to be (even if his goals are much shorter term than ian's at that point) and earnest attempts to see them through, takes more of a leadership role with his brothers and offers mandy non-violent support, and at long last is the one to take his relationship with ian to their current next level.

then of course they get all fucked up and derailed by a hugely traumatic event and ian undergoing his own additional crisis in the aftermath (the - slightly early, likely triggered - onset of his bipolar disorder + first experience of acute mania). a lot gets undone by this for both of them.

ian is either still manic or manic again when he gets back in season four, and obviously also still traumatized that doesn't just go away, so there's a lot about his thought process, behavior, and priorities that are simplistic or unrealistic in ways that can look a lot like childish self-centeredness or naivety, but still reflect the desire for adult relationships and independence that he showed in season three if you pick at his brain a bit and pay attention to the quieter moments.

meanwhile, mickey has continued to grow in ian's absence. he's a husband and a father now (if not particularly active in these roles yet), he's managing the household finances, he at least attempts to form and stand on his own concept of right and wrong, he has people relying on him, he starts and maintains a professional partnership and potential friendship, and just generally starts accepting responsibility and making long-term choices.

and then toward the end of season four, mickey's maturity starts to overtake ian's.

probably in part as a symptom of mania, but just as or possibly even more due to his age, ian continues to only partially conceive of future consequences and/or to not fully take seriously consequences that could never happen to him directly. he's selfish and hypocritical in his relationships and thinks of his own perspective as the only valid and/or the most important one, eventually pressuring mickey into doing something very dangerous to retain their relationship and then seeming to only realize the gravity of the situation when mickey unexpectedly actually does it.

versus mickey still having "dumb" teenagery behaviors like skipping out on his homelife to spend time with his boyfriend and prioritizing that relationship enough to comply with vindictively unfair ultimatums, but overall trying his best to build real intimacy between them, giving (relatively) clear explanations of what he's thinking/why he's doing things/what he wants/how he feels, offering to take on responsibilities in the effort of integrating himself into the household as more than a guest, making conscious and strategic choices to balance having a relationship with ian and remaining closeted enough to be safe (as opposed to being in denial or trying to avoid commitment to ian altogether), etc.

then Guess What We've Been Doing Daddy happens, and the last thing other than his actual age that is holding mickey back from growing up is cleared (disclaimer: this is specific to mickey, not meant to be representative of or applicable to other people who are closeted). he's secure in himself, secure in his relationship, has no (non-systemic) constraints on his autonomy, is making his own money (for a relative value of "making" and "own" lmfao), has an earned leadership role, not only is accepting responsibility but gives every indication of wanting more responsibility, and is thinking not only about the future but the far future. the rest-of-his-life type of future.

i honestly discount most of season five and i didn't even bother with anything after, but what i saw of that has ian in the same kind of going forward just enough to not be standing still type of growth that mickey had at first (at a much further along "starting" point) and mickey in the same consistent, notable progress that ian had.

i just think it's neat and i think it's really typical of people with similar order/age arrangement. a younger senior sibling is more mature earlier than an older junior sibling, but eventually the older junior will catch up and overtake the younger senior. i realize this "meta" is mostly just restating the text. we don't need to talk about that part.