#/until you hit that one line that has them pay in dollar or go to olive garden.

[veilchenjaeger]

Istg the next time I'm in a fandom for something US-American, I'm going to include exactly one line in every fic I write that establishes that the characters regularly return Pfandflaschen. Everything else will be entirely geographically neutral, the entire fic could be set anywhere in the world, but that one line - which should never appear within the first third of the first chapter - will establish that the fic is inexplicably and for no reason at all set in Germany.

[k20spock]

Gecko’s list of free video games you should play right now

Hi I’m gecko I like video games and I like not paying 60 dollars for them so here’s a list of some free games I’ve unearthed and liked. Enjoy

(most of these are small, more obscure games made by a few people or even just one person, so support the creators if you can!! Some of these do have a pay what you want model)

Hikeback (Itch.io) 

You see a hitchhiker flagging you down during a long, lonely drive through the countryside. No matter how you choose to handle the situation, you end up back on that road. And then again. And again. And again, until you find a way to escape a loop of violence and self-sabotage. Hikeback is a visual novel inspired by the fable of the frog and the scorpion, and it takes about an hour to reach the ending. It’s available on Windows, Mac, Linux, and browser, and there’s a detailed list of content warnings on the game’s itch.io page. One of my strongest recommendations, Hikeback is an incredible experience, and it was made in only ten days!!

Purrgatory (Itch.io) (Steam)

Find ways to pass the time in an inexplicably cat-themed but otherwise pretty dull afterlife, and befriend its other inhabitants. Purrgatory can hit hard when it wants to, but it’s mostly a relaxed point and click game that takes about a few hours if you want the true ending (which you do). And also I really don’t like recommending things going “it’s rep!!” and not elaborating on what the thing is actually about, but Purrgatory does have a mostly explicitly LGBT+ cast and Korean characters by a Korean artist. It’s been a few years since I played Purrgatory, but I remember it was an incredible experience, and since then, even more people can play it because it’s been fully translated into Spanish and Simplified Chinese! It’s available on Windows and browser.

How Fish is Made (Itch.io) (Steam)

How Fish is Made includes incredible retro-style graphics, a sardine flopping around in a machine with a choice to make, a singing, cane-wielding, tophat-wearing, tongue-eating parasitic isopod, and a free expansion/trailer for the studio’s next game that’s like if Katamari Damacy was evil and also had fish in it. That’s the best I can do for a summary. How Fish is Made is available on Windows and takes about 30-45 minutes, but will itch your brain for much longer.

Stop Burying Me Alive, Beautiful (Itch.io)

A visual novel in which you are stuck between trying to convince your girlfriend you are not dead and she should stop burying you alive, and playing rat-themed card games with a woman you find living underground. The game doesn’t always do a great job walking the line between comedy and horror, but there’s some strong writing depicting a failing relationship and very strong artwork that makes this an easy recommendation. Stop Burying Me Alive, Beautiful is on Windows, Mac, Linux, and browser, and takes about half an hour. 

Caper in the Castro (Internet Archive)

Ok this one is pretty different, but fuck it, it was originally released for free in 1989 (with a recommendation to make a donation to charity instead) and is still free so I’m including it. Not enough people are aware that you can play the first known video game by and about gay people on your computer right now for free and it has that classic adventure game bullshit sometimes but it’s extremely playable and also funny as shit. Like it’s not just cool history it’s actually fun (sorry Gayblade). You play as a lesbian private detective named Tracker McDyke looking for your missing drag queen friend and you can get most of the doors in the game open by shooting them. People have made full walkthroughs for this game and how to get it working if you have trouble so there’s no excuse. Play Caper in the Castro.

Under a Star Called Sun (Itch.io) (Liminal Magazine)

A browser game made in Bitsy that’s extremely simple and only a few minutes long, but that’s all it needs to create a succinct, gut-wrenching depiction of grief. 

Hotel Infinity (Itch.io)

If you need more short Bitsy games you can play in your browser that are about death, you’re out of luck after this because I’ve only got the two. Hotel Infinity is more lighthearted, tasking you with checking in on your ghostly hotel guests, and helping one check out. It’s simple, but sweet and affecting. 

Water Womb World (Itch.io)

Back to marine life-themed horror. Water Womb World is about a man’s obsessive search for the Garden of Eden leading him to the bottom of the ocean. There’s a few brief moments of annoyance in the gameplay, but the atmosphere and visuals are fantastic. Fantastic enough I bought the shirt, because I like cool shirts. It's available for Mac and Windows, and takes about 15 minutes. 

Hyperhell (Itch.io) (Steam)

A rogue-like bullet hell with a hyperpop soundtrack. It’s a mess, but in a good way. A run can (allegedly, I am not very good at bullet hells and I wasn’t able to get all the way to the end) be under ten minutes, but the game is very replayable with its different characters, weapons, bosses, and DDR and fishing minigames. You might have heard of this one already because maia has a cameo in it, but it really is a fun, if slightly painful for your eyes, time. It’s available on Windows.

Magicafe HD (Itch.io)

Under a technicality, I haven’t played this one yet, but that’s because I played the original text-based version of this game and I didn’t know the dev had converted it to a full visual novel until right now when I went to recommend the original. I’m certain this version is even better! It’s a cute, simple visual novel about a girl trying to get to her job at a magical girl themed cafe, while dealing with the struggles of secretly also being an actual magical girl. Available on Windows, and lasts about half an hour. The original is available on browser here if you’re interested. 

Dedz0ne (Itch.io)

Ok, wrapping up on a weird one since this isn’t really a universal recommendation. Dedz0ne is a Yume Nikki/Splatoon fangame inspired by Dedf1sh’s backstory and the atmosphere of Octo Expansion in general. It came out before Side Order so it’s not accurate to it, but it’s a really neat game with great visuals and atmosphere. It’s available on Windows

And that’s it for now. There will probably be a sequel someday because I am unable to stop digging through free games. Or maybe a collection of not free but extremely cheap games (like under five bucks) I like. Who knows! I hope you found something that catches your eye here!

[robertreich]

Why Are There Fees on Everything? 

If there’s one thing that brings our divided nation together, it’s our hatred of junk fees.

Junk fees are extra charges you don’t know you’re paying until you get the bill. They hide the true cost when you buy a good or service, so it’s impossible to comparison shop. For example…

Say I want to travel to go see my favorite musician Dolly Parton play at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.

When I book my plane ticket, I have to fork up extra cash to bring luggage or change my flight. My grandkids are more into Blippi than Dolly — so they won’t be traveling with me. Otherwise, I might have to pay a fee just to sit with them.

I need a rental car once I land, so I’ll be stuck paying an extra fee to pick up the car at the airport and another fee they never told me about to cover the rental company’s costs for disposing old tires. Seriously?

When I pay my hotel bill, the price is way higher than I thought I’d pay when I booked the room, to cover wi-fi, pool access, a gym, state and local taxes and other special fees.

Before I get to the show, I better look at my checking account balance if I want to buy a record. Even if I see that I have enough money to make a purchase, the timing of other charges hitting my account could result in me getting slapped with a surprise overdraft fee. It's a simple mistake, but could make a $20 record end up costing $50.

Oh and don’t forget the concert tickets themselves. Major ticket sellers like Ticketmaster tack on fees to attend shows, which can drive up the final ticket price as much as 78% percent higher than what I was told the initial price was.

It’s all bait-and-switch. You thought you could afford to see Dolly Parton, but it turns out it’s gonna take a lot more than working “9 to 5”.

Corporations often label these types of charges “convenience fees” or “service fees.” Probably because they “conveniently” “serve” to pad their bottom lines, costing Americans at least $29 billion dollars a year we didn’t expect to pay. This is a huge problem spanning many different industries — not just the ones I’d encounter on my trip.

But there’s good news: President Biden has urged Congress to draw up legislation to prevent these outrageous fees.

Turns out, one of the few things as popular as Dolly Parton is tackling junk fees. 

It’s time for Congress to act.

[4ortherecord]

way too far gone

rafe cameron x barry

summary: rafe needs a piece too, and it isn’t fucking funny.

warnings: dom/sub undertones?, rafe is condescending (obviously), fade to black kinda, the beginning of a bj, not proofread

note: I’ve yet to see anything that puts writes barry in a non-dominant way which I can understand but I need to fulfill my delusions so. 18+ ofc

It was just a joke between bros alright? Rafe never actually meant to go through with it, until of course, he was handing Barry two hundred dollar bills and Barry got this sweet almost devious look on his face while he got down onto his knees. 

See, while Barry giggled about the idea of him with a glock, Rafe was staring. In fact, rafe had been staring for awhile, at Barry's little habits and his shiny ass pirate tooth.

For example, although it looked sweat-drenched most of the time,  Barry actually cared quite a bit about his hair. He took at least an hour a day to brush it out and had a variety of at least moderately high costing hair products. It made rafe laugh, thinking about Big Bad Barry robbing people only to go spend said money on hair products of all things.

Rafe noticed other things too, like the slightly droopy look of Barry's eyes when rafe complimented him about his mechanic skills. Or how his lips got especially loose after one too many hits of his blunt, talking about how much he loved soft things, and that one especially soft stuffed bunny he has stashed in his room. 

So, instead of being normal allies/friends rafe decided to make it weird. Rafe had a thing about making Barry giggle so of course, he can't be blamed that he spoke without thinking. "Why is it so unbelievable that I could need a gun?" Rafe snarled, he personally doesn't find the humor in his situation so to see Barry so outwardly making fun of him, oh that set him off.

"Oh no, don't go all Country-Club-Killa on me Richie Rich!" Barry exclaimed with quite a bit of mirth in his tone, as he leaned back in fake horror. "Barry." While the other man was giggling his ass off, Rafe was silently seething. But even then he couldn't help but remind that little voice in the back of his head that, No, it's not normal to be so happy about someone making fun of him.  "I'm sorry rafe, but I'm just curious on what you exactly need a piece for." he held out his hands in a peaceful manner to show that he was done joking around and was looking for a genuine answer from his ally.

"Listen man, are you gonna help me out or not? Jesus, do I need to pay you for it or something?" Rafe exasperated, tiredly running his hand through his hair to get ahold on his nerves.

"Rafe, there are many many things I'll do for cash, but I'm truly curious on why you of all people need a gun. If I get some money and the added bonus of messing with you, then that's unfortunately not a deal I can pass up."

"So what will, you do for money? You've told me before that you've had people give you BJ's in exchange for drugs right? so what would it take for you to be on the giving side." Rafe lowered his voice, somewhat insecure in his questioning.  "Well, why do you wanna know, country-club? You tryna' change your currency?" the brown eyed man questioned confidently, raising his eyebrow for emphasis.

Rafe stared. Taking in his, bright pink lips and big brown eyes, wondering what it would be like to have those lips around his length and those eyes staring up at him while tears crowded the edges of them and eventually flowed over.

Suddenly the nature around Barry's trailer, that so easily fell into the background, was louder than ever before.

"I'm a curious guy, alright? If there's a question to be asked, I'm gonna ask it." Rafe took on a slightly defensive tone and lowered his head into the space between his spread knees. "Right, and this line of questioning has nothing to do with you possibly getting your dick wet?" Barry looked on knowingly, leering at rafe.

With Barry's churlish, almost derisive tone coming in to play, rafe had the urge to snap back him. Show him that rafe was not one to disregard, that this snappy little attitude he showed would not be rewarded any longer.

To tug at brown strands until the recipient was crying and begging for the other man to not stop, to gag him until drool was seeping from his mouth, to keep him there so long that he got sleepy in the eyes and to kiss him sweetly after.

"Why do you care, anyway? What, got some fantasies of your own you feel like sharing, Barry?"

The space between them was quieted as they both thought through their options. One, rafe could laugh it off while being slightly condescending, Barry could go back to his book and ignore rafe until he got the hint and walked away, or they could give in to tension that had been brewing since Barry claimed ownership over rafe.  They chose.  Rafe surged forward, pushing himself into Barry's space on the couch as he grasped the back of the other man's neck to make their lips finally meet together in a swift motion. 

Heated turned soft as they kissed, exploring this new territory in their growing relationship. As the kiss went on, they both easily lost themselves to it, becoming placid. 

Rafe slowly pulled away from the kiss, taking Barry's lip with him just to watch it snap back into place. Eyes low, he pulled out two hundred dollar bills and placed them into Barry's nearest hand. Barry took a little time to react but when he did his slightly dazed expression didn't change

He put the two hundreds in his pocket, looked up momentarily and slid down to the floor, occupying the space between rafe's legs. 

Rafe wished he could say he couldn't believe this was happening right now but, if not now, when? With all their touchiness and barely veiled affection, even their screaming matches held sexual tension. The way Barry got a little too clingy while high around rafe was something on its own but the way rafe yearned for it as well?-

Rafe lost his train of thought as Barry began to unzip and unbutton his pants.

The idea that he'd finally get to see Barry on his knees for him, big brown eyes teary and bright pink lips around him, it was a heaven of it's own.

All at once, Barry pulled down the elastic top of his boxers so they would rest under his balls and his dick would be fully on display.

Barry leaned up and began kissing down rafe's navel, pausing to kiss each side of his hips before making it to his prize.

Rafe's dick was (unsurprisingly) pretty. He had a optimum amount of public hair, clearly groomed but not overly so. He was cut and the tip was a garish shade of red, contrasting with the slight pinkish hue of his skin.

The girth of his cock was thick (the tips of barry's fingers couldn't even touch) but not anything super special in the length department, reaching just about 7 inches. 

Barry took it into his hand and just sat there for a little, trying to get his fill. Eventually rafe began to get impatient, to stave this off he took one hand into Barry's mass of hair and began to undo the bun it had been settled into, he pulled the ponytail holder out and easily slid it around his wrist. 

"Hey, uh, you ever done this before?" Rafe's breathing was shaky and it took all his brain power to speak..

"Once or twice, but I ain't no dick-sucking warrior, if that's what you askin'." 

"No, I was just wondering because, you look kinda', intimidated." Even with his shallow breathing rafe was able to let out a small chuckle at the prospect of barry being afraid of his cock of all things.

"Me, intimidated by, you? You musta' lost your mind rafe. Ain't nothing about you intimidating to me." Barry lazily said, trying to give off a guise of indifference, but it was quickly broken when rafe realized Barry's ears were inflamed and he refused to make eye contact instead focusing on the pretty pretty pink head of rafe's slobbering dick.

"So what, you just sittin' there droolin' at it for fun?" Rafe tilted his head, questioning.

"Drooling? The only thing drooling here is your dick, rafe, cause apparently you can't get enough of seein' me on my knees."  Barry sassed, momentarily tightening his lax grip on rafe's cock.

Rafe hissed, inadvertently yanking on Barry's hair and Barry had to bite his lip to keep himself from moaning.

Barry decided it was time he get his mouth on rafe's annoyingly pretty cock before he did something stupid like beg for rafe to pull his hair again.

END

[xzerosparrowx]

Current wip of a steddie fic. So this is like a little excerpt of the first chapter.

✨️🩷✨️🩷✨️

Eddie Munson is a lot of things; poor, a liar, a drug dealer, a coward, an asshole, he's Allen Munson's kid, King of the Freaks and on the wrong side of the tracks.

Which is why he finds himself in a toilet cubicle of a nightclub - the AV club to be exact - on a Sunday night. His old black lunch box sitting on the toilet behind him, handing out ‘candy’ to whichever rich asshole is too fucked out to notice him overcharging for a couple of tabs and pills. He knows that one day someone is going to notice and probably beat the shit out of him, but Eddie has too many mouths to feed and bills to pay to really care about some hypothetical future problem.

Plus, that shithead Ronald Reagan keeps talking about ‘trickle-down economics,’ so Eddie is just facilitating where that money trickles down to.

“You got any molly?” a freckelled brunette man asks, leaning against the doorframe wearing a fucking designer polo and a familiar maroon letterman jacket. Chicago University basketball team, Eddie can spot those assholes a mile away.

“I can do one-fifty for three grams,” Eddie answers easily, taking out a little plastic bag from his lunch box.

“A hundred-and-fifty dollars, are you fucking serious?” The man sputters, looming over Eddie.

“If there is another dealer in your area, by all means, use them. Otherwise, kindly fuck off so you're not holding up the line,” he counters, gesturing to the growing queue.

Eddie watches the brunette chew on his anger for a moment until the man rolls his eyes “fine.” He groans loudly, taking out his wallet and shoving the bills into Eddie's hand, mumbling “jerk,” for good measure. The bathroom door bangs open.

“Security!” Garth shouts, and Eddie springs into action, ditching the bag of pills at the brunette, and grabbing his lunch box just as he hears a pair of large footsteps hit the tiles.

He sprints forward, shoving the brunette aside, barely missing the security guard’s large hand when he skids across the floor. He laughs manically when he sees a couple of people getting in the way of Frank, a huge dude, chasing after him, saluting them when he hears an encouraging “run Eddie!”

The music in the club is loud, lights flashing across the dancefloor, bodies moving to the pop rhythm, and Eddie grins when he hears Deneice Williams shouting out to the boys. He bobs and weaves through the crowd, spills drinks, ignores people swearing at him, and ducks out of the way of large fists trying to grab at him. He sprints out of the club, barely looks as he crosses the street, hearing the angry beeping of the taxis that have to stop abruptly.

“Fuck you Munson! If I see you here again I'm gonna fuckin' beat the shit outta you!” bellows Frank, standing at the entrance to the club, breathing heavy with his hands on his knees.

“Ok, I'll see you next week!” he calls back, laughing when Frank flips him the bird.

[brimbrimbrimbrim]

The Bear and The Baker: Chapter Two - SEPARATE (NSFW)

Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five

Summary: She’s relatable and willing to help him figure out how to stop spiraling down a dark hole of anxiety, but she’s pretty and sweet and knows what to say and do… and Carmy just can’t help himself.

Tags: friends to lovers, UST, RST, pining, wet dreams, masturbation, lots of food talk, reader used to be a pastry chef, mental health, panic attacks, anxiety, meditation, oral sex, cunnilingus, premature ejaculation, handjob, desk sex, first times, virginity, mild dom/sub undertones, kitchen sex, love confessions

Words: 3.5k

TW: panic attacks

“Yeah, but is she hot? Now that's the real fuckin' question. The million-dollar question." Cousin asks at the counter, stuffing a handful of fries in his mouth. Always the subtle asshole, Carmy thinks as Sydney turns the lock on the door and flips the closed sign to face.

"Who's hot?" She asks with a side smirk that has Carmy wanting to leave them all to scrape the floors by themselves.

Cousin laughs, mouth full, "This fucking new age broad Carmy's got some hot date with. Or did. Feminist type or some shit. Can you fucking believe it?!"

"It's not like that, Cousin," he mutters, logging out on the tablet and into the admin account. In truth, he’s barely paying any attention to Richie, not since he knocked over Tina’s potatoes while chasing Flek down the line, something he’d been repeatedly told not to fucking do.

"Even if she is hot, which, I'll believe it when I see it, bitches like that go fuckin' insane. My last date-"

"Oh," Sydney crosses her arms at the door, baring her teeth in a vicious smile, "Because of course you, Richie, would have something against women that actually think for themselves, right?"

"Hey! Don't put fucking words in my mouth, Syd. Not today, baby."

“Don’t say baby,” Carmy mutters, trying to figure out the checkout system after the newest update. It’s giving him a fucking headache on top of the two standing around him.

"What?” Syd balks at Richie. “Did you have a hard day? Doing… what exactly? Hitting on college girls during the lunch rush?!"

"Yo! I'll have you know she was hitting on me, and furthermore-"

Carmy lets it all go to static, just like chatter from pots and pans. It's the end of the day, quarter past nine already. Dinner was chaotic for a Saturday, and everyone's tightly wound and eager to get rocked—fucked up. All he can think about is tallies and new systems and this fucking tablet that's making him nauseated, not to mention the fact he had to cancel with her tonight.

“I mean, who meets chicks at therapy? All I'm saying!”

“For your information, some people take their mental health seriously instead of repressing it into some fickle macho bullshit that barely fools anyone.”

“Uncalled for. Hurtful. Fuckin' hateful is what that is. You hearing this shit, Cousin?!”

Richie slaps him on the back, and Carmy tenses, shaking him off. He thumbs the greasy screen and taps the print button to send the day's sales to his office, rapping the counter with his other hand, knuckles raw on the surface.

Carmy didn't wanna do it—blow her off, but there's a roiling boil of stomach acid in his gut that nine TUMS hasn’t fixed and this simmering anger in his chest he didn't wanna subject her to. He's been better these days at keeping his blood pressure down, mostly, but today was a fuckin' mess, and they're closed Sundays now, which means he's gotta watch everyone like a hawk so they don't clock out too early before cleaning up Saturday night's shitshow.

“Deflect all you want, Richie, but you're fucking terrified of women. Just admit it.”

“Fuck you…”

Carmy feels a vein in his temple bulge. "Both of you, shut the fuck up! We're cleaning. Unless you both wanna be here until midnight!"

"Yes, Chef," Sydney says through her teeth and stomps to the kitchen while Richie lingers, huffing and puffing.

Carmy turns off the tablet and leans over the counter on his forearms, his mind immediately returning to canceling the evening with his… Well, whatever she is. Her texts seemed unphased when he asked for a rain check, but… people either came across fine or pissed through text. Carmy can’t imagine her ever being pissed off… not like the rest of them, especially not like him, though it’s been eating at him for the past few hours now.

Plus, he’s not a pretty sight.

He runs his nails against his scalp, wincing at the sweat-sticky pomade, reeking of sharp labor and anxiety. There's no fucking way this chick could be into him—no way he wants to see her without a hot shower and some cologne. Richie's just full of shit…

'She's probably just after some sad dick. These girls get to a certain age, and something about a baby bitch like you gets them going. Fuckin' ridiculous.'

"Hey," another slap on the back, this time softer, "you okay, Cous?"

"Fine."

Richie scoffs, "Look, man, just… fucking forget what I said before, alright. Just hard to picture you getting laid, is all. I mean, you never were good with the ladies."

"She's hot," Carmy admits, palm-cupping his forehead. He nods into his hand and squeezes his eyes shut, remembering her sitting across from him at the coffee spot down the block from the chapel, a cup of tea resting against her lower lip as the steam made her eyes misty and her cheeks color. So fuckin' soft all swallowed up in hand-knit sweaters and the lofty smell of apples and freshly milled flour wafting off her.

"How hot we talkin?" Richie asks, curious and cautious.

"… really hot."

Richie chuffs a humorless laugh and shifts on his sneakers, "Well, don't bring her 'round here then."

"She's nice too," Carmy continues, sorta lost in the exhaustion of the day, "and-and been through shit, ya know. Used to be a fuckin’ pastry chef. And it just-it feels nice just talking to her. She knows what to say."

He shakes his head into his sweaty palm and sighs, full-bodied and so fucking tired. "I dunno. I’m not good at this fuckin' shit."

"Yeah," Cousin agrees, quiet, "… me neither."

Carmy bites his tongue, not willing or able to admit anything too personal. Usually, they're good at reading one another's tone and body language, but Richie's none the wiser when Carmy quietly straightens up the front before heading into the kitchen…

… and by the time he's done cleaning—fingers pruned and sweat running off his nose—he feels far too soiled to do more than shower, eat a PB&J, and pass out on the sofa.

His phone buzzes on the coffee table, leaking into nightmares about today, yesterday, and tomorrow.

Somewhere between the sizzle of burning butter and ear-whispered threats of useless talent, he feels flesh grilling under his fists. That violent contact goes soft, smooth… like buttercream, and then creamed as he licks into a hot neck, fingering something soaked and tight.

The kitchen is on fire as he grinds his hips up, replacing digits with cock, drinking down her sobs that look bad—painful and sad—but Carmy knows they're really fucking good cause his are good too… just, fucking her against the counter, her naked skin dusted with flour, while Richie and Syd argue about the new menu.

'Carmy…' she says like she's cuddling him on a park bench, but they're bucking and slamming... feeling each other up with each thrust. Skin starts to spank like soaked meat; the slap of beef on a chopping block.

He's gonna cum…

His phone chimes and Carmy's awake with a sharp inhale, drenched in sweat, fingers already snapping under his waistband, shoving a hand over sweat-matted curls to wrap around his stiff cock. When was the last time he's been this hard? Fucking high school… fuck…

It was just a dirty fantasy, but… Carmy hisses at the sleepy pleasure, going from faded to sharp, then hot, almost as hot as her pussy in his dream. Slippery precum lubes his fist up—a drop of molten syrup—and he wastes zero fucking time in beating off under the loose cotton sweats heavy with terror sweat.

A few strokes in—all muscle memory and instinct with the panic interlaced by lust—he throws his head back. "F'ffffuuuuuck!"

Carmy feels it build in a second, spilling over in another, and then he's gripping the back of the sofa, hips jarring up as he cums… cums real slow… and fuckin' hard into his navel, whining brokenly into the dark living room like it's been months since he came…

… and it might as well be for the way it lingers long after he's milked the last dribble into the puddle staining his stomach.

Ding. Ding.

Carmy freezes, sticky palm still cradling his soft cock, fluids going tacky between his fingers, and looks at the phone faceup on the coffee table. The apple (red delicious) he took a picture of at the restaurant glows in the dark, and it's so fucking red.

Still hazy—loose, and sleep-weak—he tugs off his shirt. Shaken and stirred, he wipes up the strings of semen stuck around his limp dick, trapped in the damp curls at the base, before swinging his feet over to pick up his phone, shirtless and locked with tension.

His lips twitch at the apple and her message.

'I know it's late, but crap woke me up, so I made this.'

There's a picture of blueberry scones with reduced berry syrup sprinkled in confectioners’ sugar; her thumb’s up is in the foreground. Carmy smiles softly despite the dream, practically smelling the vanilla warmth of butter and sugar.

His thumbs hover over the keys, coming up blissfully blank from jerking off only minutes ago, then swallows cold nerves as three dots appear above the keyboard. Fuck.

Blip.

Another message makes his heart flip-flop. The orgasmic euphoria quickly settles down as the laissez-faire mood from his flashing, blood-pumping nightmare of a wet dream goes a little shy when she sends another photo: a selfie of her biting into a piping hot scone, some flour streaks over her nose and cheek. Covered in flour… just like his dream…

Blip.

'Kinda left them in too long, but they’re okay.'

Carmy remembers her telling him, over coffee, how she still bakes to calm her nerves, even if she has no one to share it with these days.

Blip.

'Hope you’re having nice dreams, Carmy.'

Fuck. Fuck. Carmy feels caught red-handed… lighter but dirty, not just from the orgasm, but by some relaxed, cozy emotion he can only recall from being young, cooking food, and staying up past curfew. That last day of school feeling… all improperly mixed with this sexual desire that's not precise… no order. Just a big fucking mess.

His head's clear now, though. Sorta.

Carmy contemplates texting her back, scratching at his chin and rubbing over his mouth, only to smell the odor of cum and feel a stirring in his sweats again. Like some stupid fucking teenager, he thinks, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling and chewing on his lower lip.

With a swallow, he sinks back into the sofa cushions and taps over his screen: 'Looks delicious, Chef. I'm awake. Trouble sleeping. You gonna eat all those by yourself?'

Minutes pass in shrouded silence, and he's about to sit up, move to the bed, and hope for more sleep, but his phone blips again, and his face heats up.

'Was thinking about giving them to the neighbors, but I could bring you a few if you want some company? Or are you going back to sleep?'

He sinks further into the cushions, heart fluttering.

'No. No, I'm up. Hard going back to sleep after nightmares.'

'Heard, Chef.'

Carmy smirks at the lingo—the joke?—a witty retort, maybe. She's funny, pretty, smart… caring, and…

'So, are you up to meeting for coffee again, or should I stop by your place?'

He pauses, rubbing the sides of the phone, and feels like…

… are they flirting?

Without thinking, his thumbs pass over letters, speaking from someplace where that dream had been before he came to.

'My place. You bring dessert, and I’ll make dinner.' Carmy isn't sure who the fuck he is. It sounds slick and smooth and natural, nothing like the stuttering loser he tries so hard to hide an apron behind. He blames the abrupt orgasm he woke up to, which no doubt fueled that ballsy text…

Three more dots.

Blip.

'I think technically this would qualify as breakfast. What's in your fridge? I could get some take-out and save you the hassle.'

'My treat. How about spaghetti? Homemade.'

'Sold.'

And that's how Carmy finds himself cooking Michael's sauce at four-thirty in the morning with a candle burning, and the window cracked, hoping the smell of good food and 'clean linen' will eliminate the smell of sex and cigarettes that hangs under his nose. He cleaned up a few things while the garlic caramelized, not used to having company, mostly never. But something told him she wouldn't appreciate the overflowing ashtrays and empty soda cans. He threw his dirty work clothes in the hamper, made the bed, and changed clothes… even took a washcloth to his cum-dried cock and the musky stain beneath his navel. Not that there was much chance of anything happening…

Carmy glances at the cracked bedroom door from the stove, adds the fresh herbs, and gives the pan a toss. His head fills with images of laying next to her under the covers—wrapping a hand around the front of her throat while hollowing her out from behind, fingers over her clit—kissing her neck while palming her breasts… just… there’s too much he wants to touch and grope and lick…

"Fucking Christ. Get it together…"

The water is boiling, and the sauce is simmering when his phone goes off in his pocket. He tugs it out while unboxing the pasta and sniffs up nerves as he stares at the screen.

'I'm outside. Didn't wanna knock and wake anyone else up.'

She's way too fucking considerate. Way too nice for some uptight asshole like him.

Carmy lowers the temp on the sauce and wipes his hands clean before unlocking the door to the object of his most recent wet dream. Immediately his cheeks heat up, lips slacking at the sight of her—nothing special, no makeup, nothing fancy… just some leggings and a baggy sweater, a little bleary-eyed from lack of sleep but beautiful. Plus, she’s holding a paper bag with butter stains on the bottom.

"Mornin' or umm… night," he gets out, sniffing loudly through the blush on his face, his pulse jumping. "You, uh, you look good and smell good—I mean, those smell good." He nods at the bag.

Her laugh is quiet and molasses thick. "For a sleepy mess, sure. Thanks." She smiles and adds quietly, "So do you, by the way."

Carmy swallows hard and thumbs his chin, trying to draw sensation from his flushing face while her eyes skim his cheeks, and her smile widens in his doorway.

"Took a cab, right?" He asks, looking down the hallway outside his apartment as if he was gonna find some fucker tailing her.

"No, I walked here." Her eyes shine, and he's lost for a second before realizing she's joking.

"Right. That's a-uh, that's a good one. Real funny. Uh, well… come-come on in," Carmy stutters, holding the door open as she steps inside. "It's not much, but it's, ya know… home, I guess."

"Fuck, Carmy. It smells amazing in here. And it's cozy, just like you-or, like I pictured you to… live in. Like, I imagined your space would be comfortable. Not that I think about your apartment often or… Jesus…”

Her nose scrunches up, making his stomach twist.

"Sorry, I'm not used to talking to people at this hour. I usually just lay in bed until the sun comes up or… bake… sometimes read if I’m feeling spicy."

"What're you readin' lately?"

Carmy watches her set her phone and the bag on his small countertop bar, spinning in a half circle to take in the cramped living room and tiny open kitchen. "All kinds of stuff. Fantasy, space odysseys, self-help crap… I like horror, or I used to. These days I've been reading happier stuff. Not by choice, though."

He locks the door and deadbolts it, noticing how she just grins at him as he does, with none of that nervous energy she usually exudes. Her attention follows him to the stove, where he breaks the pasta and adds a drizzle of olive oil before covering up the sauce and the water. It's not often he cooks like this for himself, and rarely ever… least not for anyone outside of work.

When he turns around, she’s pulling four scones out from the bag and resting them on some napkins equally stained in butter. The smell overpowers the sauce, almost. His mouth salivates on instinct, catching the notes of buttercream and lemon zest.

"So, what's your favorite book then?" He asks as she slides a scone across the bar, breaking off a corner of her own with a hum before popping it in her mouth.

"Hmm," she intones again, swallows, then presses her lips tight, gaze wandering to the side. Cute. Full. Fuckin' adorable. "I guess 'Leaves of Grass.' It's by Walt Whitman. Lots of prose—a lot of lascivious stuff for the time period. Guy was a free-loving hippy before that was even a thing."

Free loving? Carmy tries not to shrink in on himself at the idea, feeling wholly outside his element. His eyes drop to the blueberry scone in front of him. Suddenly, he’s worried it’ll be amateur and he’ll have to hold his tongue, but as soon as he picks it up and lets the lingering heat soak into his fingers—feels the weight—smells it perfuming his nose—he knows how it’s gonna taste…

… and it’s outstanding. Complex flavors settle into a silky buttery layer of lemons that only amplifies the subtle sweetness. Might not be something a New York bakery would sell, but Carmy finds it on par with Marcus’ meticulously crafted jelly donut.

“Don’t judge me too harshly.”

Carmy shakes his head as he swallows and takes another bite, then another, finishing it off in three big mouthfuls before pressing his thumb and forefinger together.

Once he lets it all hit his tastebuds, he swallows and exhales to really take in all the flavors. “I think you’d put my pâtissier to shame with eight hours of sleep. Drizzle is nice, real bright. Not too sweet.”

“… really?” Her voice wobbles.

Carmy wipes a crumb off his mouth with his thumb and locks eyes with her. She’s blushing, wide-eyed. Her lips look wet like she just licked them. It’s supposed to be innocent looking—just friendly appreciation—but he’s watched porn before, read nudie mags as a teen, and even earmarked a couple of books on how to get women to cum… but he’s never seen a woman look quite like this...

"-and it smells amazing, by the way," she whispers, all hot and sticky.

"Huh?" He blinks, roused from his inspirational thoughts, to watch her color under the fluorescent bulb over the bar. Even in pale blue lighting, she's-

"The spaghetti. It smells delicious. I can't remember the last time anyone cooked for me…"

"It's, uh, a family recipe. Old school."

"Then I'm doubly flattered."

She leans in on her elbows, all smiles, and sleepy eyes. "So, how is the whole clearing your mind going?"

Carmy half-laughs, rubbing one side of his face, cupping his scratchy cheek. "It's been… hard."

He thinks about his dick when he woke up, a hand already around it on the mother fucking edge, and rubs his palm over the resulting blush. "But I tried it out again yesterday. Smoke break. Outside. Just focused on the traffic. I was pissed off—the lunch rush was a mess. Blew up at my sous and Cousin… but when I went back inside, I felt a little less fucked."

She's quiet, just listening. Carmy clears his throat and continues, "Rest of the day was just as fucked, but I felt… I guess, pretty chill? Chill enough, I didn't yell."

Carmy smirks and half-nods into the heel of his hand. "Well, didn't yell as loud as I usually do."

"… that's a start. Also," she says slowly, so soft and sweet. Carmy lifts his gaze and drowns in her eyes. "Your water is boiling over."

"Wh-ah, shit! Fucking shit!"

AO3 Link HERE

[lilly-chou-chou]

Money and privilege:-

Hello, it has been a while yet again. For this month today I come here ro write about yet another incident that occurred in my life that changed the whole perspective of my views towards life.

I am currently taking a break from posting my usual y2k themes (will post y2k from January of 2024)

Few weeks ago our university had declared that we had to pay some amount of money for exam so I had hone with my friends and the line was quiet long and we were waiting for more than 1hr so i suggested that we go to near by mall to eat and then come back and since my friend was in her periods suddenly I thought maybe we can go and buy her some pads as well but my friend said this sentence that I think I will never forget and will always think about this till the day I die, she said "I don't have money for that" and I didn't know how to react so i just said "oh it's okay we'll just wait here then, do you want me to buy you some pads?" And she said "no it's okay" I asked again to be sure but she insisted that it wasn't that bad then I told her our uni's washroom keep free pads so she can go but she still said she is okay so we waited in line and when we had to pay with all of our documents I went first and payed without a second thought whereas my friends were calling and asking all of their relatives to put some money in their bank account so they can pay for fees for exam, I kept quiet and patiently waited for them but as I looked around me a lot of kids were short on money and calling everyone or borrowing money to pay for the exam and it finally hit me.

My whole surrounding went pitch black and I felt so heavy in my heart, I thought "wow what a privilege person you are" I never experienced something like this in my life, I am little away from home due to education reasons and for the first time I am meeting people of all backgrounds. I hurt a lot to be honest, my friends are probably the kindest people of all and it hurt me that they had to live paycheck to paycheck, it made me tear up but I held back. I couldn't fathom seeing them like this. When my friend showed me her balance to say "payment went through" the amount that I saw in her balance honestly overwhelmed me, they only had enough to eat a small meal.

When I came back home I cried a lot, it really hurt to see such kind people suffering this much, it made me think of my privilege a lot, whenever I would go to hang out with friends they would look at let's say around 15-20$ for singular hair clip and I would say "wow so cheap!!" And their response would be "wow so expensive!!" And after that I got so embarrassed because of my stupid remarks I kept quiet even when eating out I would order pretty huge meal but they would order just small and I would always assume they weren't hungry but this one time I asked and they said "if I order then I won't have money to go back home"

Often when hanging out they would always call me "rich" for spending like 40$ on Starbucks and I used to think "but isn't that normal price for Starbucks" until I realized she had never been to Starbucks because she couldn't afford it, when shopping for clothes or anything they would ask me choices and I wouldn't think much because back then I didn't know about their circumstances so I used to say "they're both cute get both more the merrier"

But when I came to know the money situation of my friends circle group it made a lot of sense and I felt so stupid for not noticing this earlier, a friend of mine once bailed on me to go to the biggest mall in the town and now thinking about it, it all makes so much sense.

That day i cried a lot thinking of how privileged I am and the best people I know are suffering so much. I thought what a stupid woman I am because when we were having layover in airport while travelling I wanted to buy Chanel no. 5 and YSL. My dad and I didn't even think twice before exchanging our money to American dollars to buy luxury brands and other things. I felt so guilty because I am over here graduated from high school with air cons, going to concerts, watching movies in expensive malls, buying luxury brands perfumes and makeup, not having to think twice or look at labels sometimes to buy anything, willing to pay more for comfort even if it's for the short time duration. My friend's life humbled me so much, I was always thankful and greatful for the comfortable life I had but after making new friends and hanging out with them I feel for them so much, their experiences humbled me so much, I usually never really thought about those things but that week the moment I came home I washed up changed clothes went to washroom and cried my heart out, it hurt seeing and realizing good people having to go through hell.

I have so much love and admiration for my friends, I hope they flourish a lot. They came as such a huge eye opener for me that I even talked about this with my parents and they too sympathized with them and shared their own hardships, I already knew these hardships but that day it just hit me more deeply and it made me cry even more.

[epaily]

fuzzy and the terrible horrible fuckass testday he did NOT wantt to to but had to anyway

I DID NOT FORGET I PROMISED

reader bewarb this this shit is long may or may not be hard to follow because i talk about (my) degree jargon

ok lessgo

to begin. you need context. theres an organization (one for every country im assuming) that issues tickets stating "X CAN WELD" or else some schmuck with a helmet can walk in and work.

theres a ticket for every process in every position and then some. it was these tickets i was testing for today and i was WILDLY unprepared. it isnt the first time ive done them but i was super out of practice. they are flat, horizontal, vertical and overhead.

so cut to february, the last time we did tickets. remember when i wanted to end it all because i failed a test i spent a hundred dollars on? yeah this was one of those. i failed my horizontal so this time around i thought "i dont wanna do my fuckign horizontal cause last time i failed and i felt like shit so im gonna do my vertical instead"

what no one told meeeee was that you have to get your tickets in position order. and i KNOW i take forever and a day, hence me only doing one.

well i didnt do one. i did two. i have no idea if i passed or failed them and tbh im too scared to check because i was completely out of fucks two beads into my vertical.

but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

the test sheets had to be reprinted twice because the first go around they missed imputting someone into the system and the second time around someone got lost, and then got registered twice. great lovely. so because of this all of our test plates were wrong because we all got new assigned numbers.

we finally get our sheets we go and pay and while im in line in the bookstore to pay for my test (remember this) guess what fucking hit me. the cramps i had spent all night hoping for. at 8:30 in the morning. litterally 2 hours behind schedule. i was FURIOUS. so now i had that to deal with all day thankfully ive had worse but because they didnt arrive on time i have full permission to bitch as much as i want.

so back to the shop. i was trying to set my peremiters for my vert so i hadnt even started yet when my instrucor pokes his head into my booth and says "(tester) wants to see you" so i go and thats when i find out that you have to do the tests in order. so i tack and stamp up some new plates which was probably the least annoying part of the whole day

so i do the new plates first. welding it out goes relatively fine. it took forever to find an instructor to verify it but whatever.

AND THEN I GO TO GOUGE THE BACKING STRIP OFF.

i could not. for thee fucking life of me. unscrew the cutting tips from the oxy torches. ive seen people do it. ive done it. it is Not Hard. i used a wrench n all on all 3 tables and it would Not Come Off. so i said to hell with this and went to the carbon arc room.

carbon arc cutting is using specialized electrodes to vaporize metal. you drag it over metal and it carves into it. fast and easy.

but i of course had a hell of a time doing it like i do anything and it was Not Working. by the time i did figure out what i was doing wrong there were carbon deposits coming out the yahoo and it which are difficult to gouge through. so i had half of it very nice and the other half a melted amalgamtion of metal and didnt gouge very much off. great.

so i finish that. away i go back to my booth. to grind for the next i dont even know how long because oh my fucking god SO much grinding. im not big enough to use the 7 inch grinders so i have to use a 5 inch one which is yk what let me just show you

these are all cordless but you get the fuckin gist.

what everyone else got to use vs what i got. dying.

so i finally fucking got it flush. cut it. not a big deal. onto the second one at 1:30. i feel like i should mention that at this point everyone else has been done for like two hours.

i didnt even start welding until like 10ish so i was already 2 hours behind everyone only doing one plate. most everyone else did 2 and so did i BUT I ONLY WANTED ONE

my vertical was so bad i was way too hot and shaking and i didnt put them in in a very good order i would genuinely be surprised if it didnt snap. i needed a practice one but i had No Time so it was messy and the cap was large and my rods were sticking so i was frustrated aND OH THATS SOMETHING IM FORGETTING

some electrodes need to be baked/stored in an oven to keep moisture content low. when i ran out i went to get more and the oven was empty so ithought i'll be a good samaritan and fill it up AND I GOT THE BOX THAT SAID. 3/32ND. MATCHES THE OVEN. AND I OPENED IT. AND IT WAS THE WRONG KIND OF ELECTRODES.

and once you open these they cant be resealed they need to be either used or cooked within 4 hours.

so i started stuffing as many electrodes into the oven as i could and in my haste i sliced both my fucking hands open. i didnt even notice the cut on my right palm because the one on my left pointer finger was just gushing blood all over soaking my glove and getting over the electrodes (absolutely my fault btw i should of been wearing gloves. i deserved this one) and so i stopped and said i need to handle this. so away i went. bandaged now all good. just again. annoyed. and i still didnt have any 7018s.

i found some. eventually. fuck.

i finished my second test at idk 2:30 or maybe a bit later, begged one of the instructors to mill the back off for me because i was NOTTT doing the carbon arc/ grinding for forever again. once it was done bc time crunch i p much just got to look at and get excited over the smooth mill peices before my instructor whisked it away to grind/cut himself. which - i understand completely time crunch im slow i get it im not bothered.

and then we cleaned up. and i was talking to the tester a little bit before i left and he said "glad you paid because theyre checking who didnt hoho"

now. guys. recall at the start of the post where i said that 2 tests are a hundred bucks. and i only paid for one.

i did one of my tests for free afusdiaksoqondiakdka. he said he'd get the paperwork later and he never did 😭

then. fucking FINALLY it was 3 and i got on the bus and came home and i was so spent i had an alcoholic freezie. i dont drink.

i should of fucking stayed home.

[bells-of-black-sunday]

🔥

Unpopular Opinions | Accepting

This one is genuinely unpopular but: B.aulders G.ate 3 didn't deserve nearly the amount of awards it got at the v.ideo g.ame awards and while it is a good game it is still one of the most over hyped games I've played to date. Let me explain.

I'm not saying it's a bad game, it's gorgeous, the va work is incredible, the story is fun until you hit act 3, tons of content, and a lot of replay-ability, but my god most of this stuff came in patches after it's release. The entirety of the third act is extremely rushed to the point where you only have 1 actual boss fight in the entire game out of the 3 big bads they set up. G.ortash and O.rin got fucking shafted in terms of story and game play and are barely used even when they should be esp if you're running a d.urge character. You actively get insanely punished for playing an evil tav it's extremely stupid and only now over a year after it's release did we even get evil endings.

Why wasn't that on launch? This game took so long in development, because the devs were too focused on adding way too much to the game instead of focusing on making sure it was actually complete on launch. They self admit the third act is very rushed, so why not have actually put in the fucking time to finish your story properly instead of talking about adding multiplayer sex scenes??? That's not even mentioning how W.hyll still doesn't have a majority of what other romance paths have, because god forbid we give one of the black camp members anything.

Oh and it took them what? 6 months? To add anything to after you play the game to actually tie up the plot threads they laid out and give a stratifying conclusion to the relationships you built. That's not even counting how d.urge is barely a story line and probably should've stayed a recruit-able npc or something if they weren't going to put effort into it until a year later. I'm so tired of games being expensive as all hell, but not being complete on release. It's so fucking stupid that you're paying 60 or 70 dollars for a game that isn't complete until a year after it's released.

The game has so many flaws that really could've been solved with how long it was in development, e and my friends joked for actual years it was never coming out, because L.arian kept talking about adding more and more and well we see how that turned out. Also speaking as someone who plays d.nd, 5e combat is so fucking boing holy shit, the combat in the game is a slog because of that, they should've stuck to D.ivinity's token based combat system. Funnily enough D.ivinty gives you more freedom in combat than the d.nd game.

I'm going to be real after watching someone play A.lan W.ake 2, the only other game to win anything and b.g3 fans still bitched, I'm genuinely pissed it didn't win more awards, that's an actual complete game with an incredible story and incredible full album soundtrack that also has a full 30 min musical section and a 20 minute short film in it that you can watch. Not counting the multiple commercials and bits that you can watch on the tv that is all live action. How the fuck didn't it win? The combat is really smooth and the boss fights are fun, there's genuine tense moments and really emotional ones.

It treats it's audience with the maturity they respect, since it's been so long since the first game. It's so campy and fun, not a perfect game by any means, the pc port for example is really stupid, but you expect that with R.emedy. There's kind of forced replay-ability in it, because new game plus gives you story that ties up more of the loose ends, I think so of the pacing towards the end should've been cleaned up i.e actually sprinkling answers throughout instead of giving them all at the end.

I genuinely think A.lan's VA should've won of A.starion's, the line delivery and ability to play multiple characters and you not really notice is incredible. The Mr. S.cratch sections in the tv like in I forget which dlc from the first game where it's A.lan's dark thoughts that are the monster are honestly extremely haunting. Genuinely to go from the first game to how he is here, my god what range and improvement. You've still got the "this is really a metaphor for depression and anxiety and every dark part of you" stuff going on, but it's not shoved down your throat.

I think incorporating live action into the game was a brilliant choice to add to the uncanny nature of literally everything. Genuinely it's such an incredible game that while flawed, deserved way more recognition than it got. Yet when it came out it got massively over shadowed, because everyone in B.g3 is hot or something, so that means it's better.

I'm not saying I didn't enjoy my time with B.g3, I did, it's a fun game. I get people replaying it, but aside form character dialogue that you can look up to see what changes and the new added endings, there's not much to it's story. It's a really basic d.nd campaign with a lot of fluff and a rushed third act for literally no reason after you build up hype about how strong and powerful the d.ead threes chosen are meanwhile they never reach the stakes or height of K.ethric's boss battle that is insanely early into the game.

[the-firebird69]

And we're talking about the reimbursement and it happens after the Revolutionary War but to try and shoot for it every year and what they're trying to do is to win the war and to say they used our sun services and all that good stuff and 76 974 is July 4 that's what they wanna say but there's a few things wrong with it the stipe handy doesn't remember the Monday last year he can't recall getting any money he said it would have to be hundreds of dollars by now and it really is and he remembers getting money for the stimulus that was back in 2000 22,021 so 2021 and 23 he's stuck here but he got money in 22 he thinks from the storm and it might be when it was put in it was in his bank did you put into here it's truced bank that would be last year but that's 2000 22 not 2023 and we think he's right but he can check that that was like 700 bucks that's the last you remember is getting a check for of that size so he's trying to recall the sequence of events and the dates and stuff hurricane Punta Gorda it's in September 28, 2022 And that was the year before last year this year he got a renewed contract end of February only two pages they increased his rent by 50 bucks. And started to try and ding him constantly. Doesn't remember getting anymore money from anywhere and that's because George WA was not getting reimbursed steadily and it was not every other year but it was not a reimbursement until the end of the civil war but these guys were paying out a reimbursement or less every so often in a cycle so he's wondering what that is and we don't know no we do it's a cyclical thing and he doesn't know what part of the cycle it is but $700 is not a lot of money and the war seems to be going on but it goes on for several years before ending and it's not ended so maybe the money was for something else and they haven't said the Revolutionary War is over and he didn't really feel nominated. We do know the answer and we do know that he gotta check for the storm and it was in late 2022 and he didn't get something in 23 no OK so it's saying it took 10 months to get a check and he thinks that might be right is going through many months like 4 or 5 months of flood damage everywhere and not being able to move around and trees and power lines down still for months like half a year so getting a check later on makes sense and he applied for it early on and didn't expect it and then it finally came he thought it was 8 months but that might be after he applied he said he waited in a little bit and thought it was too late like three months when he could access a method of requesting it. He thinks he did it in the library and it's true so it comes out to a year to 2023. Tommy F worked on it too he said this is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It says you're a rebel and now you got beat up and your forces were beaten down taking hard hits and these people have two but not directly and that's the problem you've been getting hit directly and can see them very clearly and they get hit by other people so they're gonna have to keep an eye on these nukes and see what see what's really gonna happen so he says you're right they need information and they need it from will and Bill and from me and others in a group that's combined and formed some sort of neutral area a little and it's true. And I do thank you for the help in thanking me and said I understand And I do thank you for the help in thanking me and said I understand it's very hard i'm really young. I'm doing the best I can scotty very that's funny OK. Tommy F and he sees it and he's researching it and he has information in people are thanking him and they're talking to him about it. So we're going to print.

Thor Freya

Olympus

that Makes it kinda stupider Tommy F you saying that you just said some kind of club.

I don't wanna get a Johnny Peg even if it has two motors and maybe it does that's pretty good he says it's faster than the victory. Well you might get one of those. I understand that.

ken

Well it doesn't mean much but at least to be somewhat happy on its way out that's funny she he says I mean hey him I mean. Yeah

Hera

Zues yeh ken be a man get whalle oil no ok

and i h ear it

Ken

ahahah lo hwhale oil on antacricta and oh no

trump

Olympus bozo

[dallasareaopinion]

The one thousandth post

It has been over twelve years since I first started this blog. And I knew the 1,000 post was coming up, so I wanted to write something so profound the universe would stop, you know the pride thing going on. Well…I can’t think of a thing.

And between spending three weeks in Washington D. C. moving, being tired, and uninspired I haven’t gotten around to this post. Yes we are in a new place and are settling in so do I have all the good excuses not to be Mt. Tibet inspired to save you all from your daily drudgery?

I was thinking this morning just in general not for this blog and thought the more I travel the more I realize how little I know. And that just sounded so familiar that I internet searched. Yep there are quite a few similar quotes running around about traveling and realizing how little you know.  Yet I do feel quite strongly about that thought. And I think I have blogged about something similar before because one of my favorite quotes is from St. Augustine ��The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” And as always he hits the nail on the head. And my thinking is quite a few problems we face could be eventually solved if more people had a better idea of everything going on beyond their scope of life. And besides traveling is quite fun.

So the above is not quite the earth shattering post I wanted to make, however, it does incorporate one of my favorite topics and pastimes, traveling. I love to travel and see new and even familiar places. Right now though I am sitting on my couch trying to figure out what to post.

And since I have not reached the peak of thought for mankind I decided I just needed to make my post and move on. I still owe you the rest of my independent or fictional third party platform for 2024’s election. It isn’t like our government is racing to solve all our problems right now and with Tucker in Russia committing treason, Trump crying don’t do anything so I can win, the Democrats caught between the games the Republicans play and their inability to push through them, the left and right wing media all geared up to tell us how bad is the other side, and absolutely no legislation of any kind about to be passed we, the people as usual are screwed. And quite frankly the Republicans now saying we shouldn’t do anything until the people decide with the next election along with them saying it was a rigged election if they lose, we can now guarantee nothing will be achieved for years.

And yet for some reason, as little as I don’t like government it would help if it actually did address some issues. And yes I know the Democrats are trying to do something and there was a bi partisan attempt at the border issue, but hey Trump passed gas so the Republican righteous jumped at the prescribed height and so no border bill.

And for the vast majority of us, we are stuck paying too much for everything, mainly now for corporate greed because hey, Wall Street prescribes the height they are to jump to, and no help from the people who we pay through tax dollars to protect us from enemies within and outside of our borders.

I will continue my tirades just so when the deal goes down there is something in writing that says I tried to tell you so. Maybe some future alien civilization will come across the remnants of our planet and dig through all the terabytes of information left behind and go, hey at least someone knew things weren’t working. Ah to be so redeemed.

Anyway if you are reading this on Tumblr or Wordpress you may go I do not see 1,000 posts and that is because I originally started this on blogger or blogspot or whatever and then somewhere along the line I started this same blog on the other two platforms and just copy and paste the same post to all three sites. My thinking is I need to try and reach more people. Who knows if that is succeeding. So if you want to catch up you have to go to blogger or blogspot and read from the beginning. I also changed my original description of this blog. At first it was a couple of paragraphs long, now it is a simple sentence that really doesn’t describe the blog, yet is more of my feeling about the whole sha bang.

Eventually I do want to do a podcast tied to this blog while still posting in the written word. I have a microphone someone gave me, however in all the moves we have made in less than a year I cannot find it. Once I do, be forewarned. My plan is for some of the podcasts to compliment my written posts and some to be on separate topics. And then there is the quote the best laid plans of mice and men and if you want to read something profound maybe read Steinbeck. And according to all the modern world thinking, I also need to create a brand so people can understand who am I. That is simple: crotchety old man who thinks he knows it all, who is frustrated that the people who say they know it all keep screwing it up. How about that for a brand?

Folks, we all need something better than the current leadership we have in this country and elsewhere on this planet, and honestly I hope we find it because I want to travel to where you live and enjoy life with you.

Cheers!

And before I forget, Go Mavs, Stars, FC Dallas, Rangers and then Cowboys (sheesh). Wish Dallas had received the World Cup Championship, but we did receive 9 games so it will be fun around here in 2026.

And yes there is quite a bit of news right now, but everyone else is commenting on all the craziness so another time maybe.

[mariposamisteriosa-blog]

Unknown

Looking at the cars in front of me, I can’t stand waiting any longer. I take the keys out because there's no way I'm going to be waiting for this line to move. Brittany looks at me with a confused face and starts babbling about something but I dont give a damn what she has to say right now. I slammed the door behind me and walked away. She gets out of the car and starts yelling at me. I debated if I should turn around and talk to her but I refused. I Went towards the sidewalk and started walking. I didn’t care about the car anymore. Would it get towed ? Should I go back? No. I'm not waiting for that traffic that can’t even move an inch. As I was walking, I saw a field of tulips. They were her favorite flowers. I wanted to jump the fence and surprise her with them. She broke up with me months ago. I hated her. Why would she crush my heart into a billion pieces and just for her to get back with her ex-boyfriend. I felt so angry at the moment, I went down to my knees and fell on the floor. Hitting the concrete with my knuckles then started having bits of blood on them. I picked myself up and saw a man with fruit. I was hungry at this point, hoping I had a couple bucks on me and didn't leave it in the car. I searched my pockets for some change and was surprised I had a couple of bucks. 

I walked up to the man, “ How much for a cup of fruit” 

He replies, “ 10 dollars” 

The man didn’t speak proper english, he talked just how my ma when she tries to talk in english 

“ ¿Usted habla español ?” the man asked 

“ Si, porque?” I replied, confused

“ Es que me hablo espanol y despues en ingles” he replied 

I don’t remember talking in spanish in front of this man

“ Quiere chamoy y tajin? He asked 

“ No, gracias” 

He finished cutting my fruit and I payed the man and walked off

I didn't understand why I couldn't remember stuff. I start hitting my head with the palm of my hand. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid” 

This is why she left me. I probably said something bad for her to leave me. But no I couldn't because she was perfect. I see a police officer coming my way. I try to act normal so I won’t cause anymore problems for today. I just want to go home. I'm tired. I'm exhausted. From the corner of my eye, I see the cop stop the car and get out. I tried making sure I was acting right so there would be no problems. He walked right past me and I was relieved. I was hoping Brittany didn’t go to the cops about leaving her in the car without the keys. She was my rebound. She meant nothing to me. I decided I wanted to stop at the store for some liquor. My entire cash was gone because of the fruit but I decided I can just walk out with the beer. No one will notice anyways. 

“ Jerry, is that you? “ a lady asked me 

“ Do I know you?” I was confused and unfamiliar with the women 

“ It’s me, Maria” she smiled slightly 

“ Oh. Hey, Look I gotta go” I laughed nervously

“ Okay then” she sounded confused 

We both walked away from each other and I realized I walked off with the beer in my hand. I hear yelling in the background but I simply just ignored it. Looking at the street I realized, I'm almost home. I can finally lay down and relax. That's until I saw red and blue lights coming in my direction. I was pulled into a police car. What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I remember what I've done?

[recentlyheardcom]

'It’s outrageous': Dave Ramsey revealed the real reason Americans are going broke — and it's not inflation. 3 simple steps to fix your finances nowRecord-breaking inflation rates may have throttled Americans’ budgets over the last year, but Dave Ramsey says you can’t blame high costs for all your financial woes.On a popular episode of The Ramsey Show, host Ramsey stated that household debt is at an all-time high — not because inflation is increasing the price of essential goods like groceries, but because of how consumers have responded to these price changes.Don’t miss“Let’s be clear here. The debt is not because of inflation,” Ramsey said during the episode. “The debt is because you wussed out and refused to cut your freaking lifestyle to offset inflation.”What Ramsey says is holding people backYou can save enough for retirement by putting $100 per month in a conservative growth fund from age 25 to 65, Ramsey said, but for that to work, “You can’t have a $750 F-150 payment. You can’t have a student loan that’s been around so long you think it’s a pet.”He added: “All you do is work for these stinking banks that have better furniture and bigger buildings than you do.”Ramsey went on to state that debt has become normalized in America if not throughout the world. It’s now a huge obstacle for those seeking to save money and put that cash toward retirement.Yet, instead of paying back debt, consumers seem to be using credit cards and other loan methods to continue funding their daily spending, Ramsey said. Rather than cut back during inflation, consumers chose to make up for the shortfall by borrowing money to maintain their lifestyles.Story continuesRamsey stated that people’s continual reliance on consumer debt has kept him in the financial advice-giving business for the last several decades and will give him job security for several more.That’s why it’s a great time to remind Americans about Ramsey’s baby steps to secure your finances and kick debt to the curb.Create a $1,000 emergency fundRamsey's guidance here is to start an emergency fun with $1,000. He's since come out to say that was never meant to be enough for Americans. However, even as you work to pay down your debt, this is the bare minimum amount you should have put aside, because life happens.Down the line, you can start contributing far more to this fund. But, if you're suddenly hit with a big medical bill, a broken-down vehicle or some other emergency, you’ll want that $1,000 available to avoid losing all the steam you’ve gained on your debt payments.Read more: Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now use $100 to cash in on prime real estate — without the headache of being a landlord. Here's howPay off all debt (except the house)Granted, almost no one has hundreds of thousands of dollars available to pay off their mortgage in one go, but by using the snowball method Americans can pay down the rest of their debt in a reasonably quick period of time, Ramsey claims.To do this, list your debts, from student loans and car payments to credit cards. Order them from the smallest balance to the largest, regardless of interest rate, Ramsey says. Start making the minimum payments on everything except that little loan, putting everything you can toward it. The smallest loan is often a credit card balance, which is helpful, as it’s usually also the account with the highest interest rate. Repeat with the next smallest balance, then the next, until you’re debt-free.Achieving this is going to require you to cut back spending, Ramsey says — so it may be time to re-evaluate what’s actually necessary in your life.“When you actually consider the way we all live, it’s outrageous,” Ramsey said. “Our lifestyles are outrageous.”Create a fully funded emergency fundNow, stop for a minute and celebrate. You’ve paid off your debt! This is a huge step that deserves congratulations. But there's still so much more to do. You can start investing and saving toward long-term goals. Before any of that, however, you'll want to circle back and top up your emergency fund.

Ideally, you should have between three and six months of expenses put aside for your household. This means you’re going to have to go back and look at what you’ve spent over the last three to six months. On the bright side, by now you may have already cut back on expenses dramatically. Even better, you’ve created a habit of paying down debt on a consistent basis. So, now you simply put the money you were using on debt toward savings.Once this emergency stash is funded, you’ll be protected should one of life’s enormous surprises — like a layoff or long hospital stay — comes your way. If you’re lucky, this won’t happen and you can use your emergency fund as income down the road. But having it available will give you peace of mind.“You just have to look in the mirror and tell yourself, ‘Boy, we buy some really stupid stuff,’” Ramsey said. “Don’t be a victim. You’re not a victim. You’re a victim of the person in your mirror.”What to read nextThis article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

[silvanoir]

The 2 of him

I'd like to say I have nothing better to do than figure Work Friend out, but I DO have better things to do, but I don't want to do them... my brain and body are exhausted from my own life, I'd rather ponder someone else's. And I don't think he minds because he says no one can figure him out and I've been right about some things (wrong on others)... and he likes to try to figure out what makes people tick too so I don't think he's offended.

So my latest pondering (which I'll tell him about tomorrow, see if I'm off-base or not) :

I've been trying to reconcile his 2 personalities all year. There's the outgoing jokey guy who likes to pull silly pranks, and then there's the guy with wayyyyyy too much trauma who has social anxiety so bad he'll hide and crumple up like a discarded folding chair, his hands will shake, literally try to disappear into the dark. They don't seem to gel into one person.

Except maybe they do.

He keeps saying (to everyone, not just me) "You gotta laugh so you don't cry".

And I'm wondering if it IS the anxiety. Like a very sideways version of L'appel du Vide (The Call Of The Void). Where instead of being afraid of heights leads the anxious person to think about jumping from heights as a means of taking control of the fear.... he's got social anxiety. So fear of crowds of people, being trapped with people in buildings for extended periods of time, fear of strangers getting too close/knowing too much, fear of asking anyone in authority for anything he wants/needs.... so instead of jumping to control that fear... it's making a joke of himself and his problems, saying too much, being overly friendly with people he doesn't even like... and when it's a place he knows he has to go repeatedly he'll screw it up on purpose, call attention to himself via the pranks, which annoys people to the point of kicking him out.

Like, example.... the bank story. Many years ago, he had to take the mortgage (of a house he no longer owns) to the bank, big amount of money to deposit. Kept telling himself it was important. Over and over. He also had a chipmunk in a trap in the back of the truck that he took from a client who wanted him to dispose of it for them (he did and still does light construction work) so he gets to the deposit.... and instead of putting the money in... puts the chipmunk in. And then drove away and went home and decided to switch banks.

And now, current day, he's in debt (identify theft, some people had a lot of fun with his credits cards and he couldn't fully prove it in court so now he has to pay it off), so that limits where he can shop.... and got himself banned from his local Dollar Tree for acting stupid.

As a fellow anxiety-haver, I've had thoughts of doing stupid things but don't act on them. Including a more direct version of The Call Of The Void whenever I drive over a tall bridge. Makes me nervous that I'll drive off and plummet to my death. And so that voice in the back of my head tells me to swerve and hit the gas and just do it already, full throttle, take away the fear by making it happen! Get it over with! I tell that voice to SHUT UP and continue, rigidly straight within the lines until I'm over the bridge in a normal way.

I won't be telling him that one, though, because he might not ever want to get into a car with me again. His dumbass things only ever cause harm to himself and minor property damage, which is maybe why he finds his harder to ignore, because the consequence isn't death or serious bodily harm. We just gotta find a way to get him to tell his voice to SHUT UP and not act on it.

[kecharacosplay]

Currently Feeling Like The Worst Person Alive

Rant post ahead, skip if you don't like sad/angry pouting.

This is my beautiful princess, Tonks. She's about 7 years old and is the most pampered baby I've ever had. She's also my first long-term cat, as before I'd only fostered a few.

She's always been a bit delicate, specifically regarding her health(little colds all the time, possibly allergies), but never anything serious...at least until the last year or so. A few months ago, she got a hematoma(swelling of the ear) that required a cannula(drain tube/surgery), and these past few weeks we've been dealing with a combination UTI/ear mites situation.

Luckily at her checkup, the ear mites seems to be taken care of, although the UTI came back after getting back from the appointment(was worried she had a blockage this time, but the pee -did- come out eventually, just took her a few tries).

So you may be wondering why I feel like a horrible person because of this? Well, it's because she also has shitty teeth and needs a deep cleaning/possible extraction...but of course it's going to cost over $700 dollars. Those who know me, and maybe those who don't can probably guess that I don't have that kind of money. I had to beg help from my parents just to cover the antibiotics/checkup(about $200 including vet fees for current issues, nearly $400 last year for the cannula).

I feel horrible because they've told me a few times over the years that her teeth weren't great and she'd probably need to have them cleaned. And because of the cost, I just keep putting it off, hoping that someday things would turn around financially and I'd be able to get her the help that she needs.

This has not happened yet...but I'm still hoping. She hasn't really been eating much the last few weeks, possibly because of the stress of medicine/appointments/uti pain...but her shitty teeth probably cause her pain every day too.

So here are my options:

1: Commissions: My primary source of income, and preferred method if I'm being honest. Cosplay costumes, dresses, purses, hell I've even done a few plushies now. If it's sewn, I can probably make it, and I use Paypal mostly(invoicing system allows for payment plans), but I also accept CashApp, Stripe, and a few others I can't remember. You can contact me about this in any form you wish. Tumblr message, IG, FB, email, anything except phone call(I don't have a 'business line', just a personal phone).

2: Patreon- I don't post newd stuff, but I do occasionally do tease things, but only for the higher tiers. I have a whole bunch of stuff planned to add to this if it ever actually gains traction, but for now I just post a set of pics(cosplay/casual/sometimes boudoir) once a week.

3: Donations- My least favorite, but possibly has the highest potential? I don't use GFM because they are greedy bastards that abuse the shit out of desperate people, so instead I use Ko-Fi(and CashApp too I guess?) If you don't wanna pay monthly, and don't have the funding for fancy-custom-made garments, but still want to help, this is the way to go. I also have a handful of digital patterns here as well, which I guess is a way to donate while still getting something back.

Sorry this griping ended up so long. I like to type when I'm extra frustrated and depressed, and I know Tumblr isn't the best place for money-raising, but I honestly just don't have the energy to attempt building a following anywhere else. I've been on IG for 8-10 years and still haven't hit 500 followers, so I just don't think I'm one of those people that flourishes in the spotlight.

Still, for the sake of my sweet little princess(I also have a dog with recently-developed seizures, and the other cat Cirilla is fine on health but just recently added to the bills with vaccine updates), I will keep trying until my dying breath.

[truck-fump]

Why Are There Fees on Everything? If there’s one thing that...

New Post has been published on https://robertreich.org/post/714341158370852864

Why Are There Fees on Everything? If there’s one thing that...

Why Are There Fees on Everything? 

If there’s one thing that brings our divided nation together, it’s our hatred of junk fees.

Junk fees are extra charges you don’t know you’re paying until you get the bill. They hide the true cost when you buy a good or service, so it’s impossible to comparison shop. For example…

Say I want to travel to go see my favorite musician Dolly Parton play at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.

When I book my plane ticket, I have to fork up extra cash to bring luggage or change my flight. My grandkids are more into Blippi than Dolly — so they won’t be traveling with me. Otherwise, I might have to pay a fee just to sit with them.

I need a rental car once I land, so I’ll be stuck paying an extra fee to pick up the car at the airport and another fee they never told me about to cover the rental company’s costs for disposing old tires. Seriously?

When I pay my hotel bill, the price is way higher than I thought I’d pay when I booked the room, to cover wi-fi, pool access, a gym, state and local taxes and other special fees.

Before I get to the show, I better look at my checking account balance if I want to buy a record. Even if I see that I have enough money to make a purchase, the timing of other charges hitting my account could result in me getting slapped with a surprise overdraft fee. It’s a simple mistake, but could make a $20 record end up costing $50.

Oh and don’t forget the concert tickets themselves. Major ticket sellers like Ticketmaster tack on fees to attend shows, which can drive up the final ticket price as much as 78% percent higher than what I was told the initial price was.

It’s all bait-and-switch. You thought you could afford to see Dolly Parton, but it turns out it’s gonna take a lot more than working “9 to 5”.

Corporations often label these types of charges “convenience fees” or “service fees.” Probably because they “conveniently” “serve” to pad their bottom lines, costing Americans at least $29 billion dollars a year we didn’t expect to pay. This is a huge problem spanning many different industries — not just the ones I’d encounter on my trip.

But there’s good news: President Biden has urged Congress to draw up legislation to prevent these outrageous fees.

Turns out, one of the few things as popular as Dolly Parton is tackling junk fees. 

It’s time for Congress to act.