#I spent maybe 70€ in total? Or less.

[sldlovescartoons]

Okay, so, a things I was just thinking off, I don’t know why, but it’s occurred to me, lots of the male main cast of Hazbin Hotel would have been drafted. A few times. Particularly, Alastor, Angel Dust, and Husk, is who I’m thinking about. Like, if Alastor was 37 or older when he died in 1933, he’d have been eligible from the start of the draft in 1917. If he was 33 exactly he’d have been eligible for the 1918 version in the last few months that lowered the age. He was less than totally white and worked in entertainment, his ass would have been grass if they didn’t have enough money to keep him safe. So now I’m just wondering if Alastor had to fight in WW1.

And Angel was eligible for WW2 draft, no doubt. Except! He was an Italian mobster in New York, so there is a good chance he avoided combat by helping at home. He probably spent a lot of time in his mid-twenties looking out for German U-boats on his father’s orders and doing hard drugs.

And finally Husk. Who if he was in his 70’s when he died in the 70’s, he’d have been eligible for WW1&2 and Vietnam. And if he was in his 60’s? WW2, Vietnam and Korea. Mans was drafted three times and he probably couldn’t avoid WW2. So now I’m convinced that he fought in WW2 and maybe that’s how he caught that travel bug and why he speaks so many languages? He kept getting drafted and he made the most of it because he couldn’t dodge it and once he was old enough to avoid it he settled back in Vegas to be a stage magician or whatever.

But this is all of course looking way too hard into the whole thing, it’s fucking cartoon lol

[turtlemagnum]

so, just had my final driving lesson. here's a summary of all that went wrong:

leg cramps on my driving leg! real fuckin distracting! lemme tell ya, hard to concentrate when your leg feels like it's trying to ouroboros itself. god, i feel like i know what it's like to be my mom now.

didn't knock any cones over but i definitely scraped em a few times! and that's a few more times than i scraped em last time! no clue how i simultaneously performed better and worse than last time! i think it's just that i could deal with mistakes better than before? i dunno

driving instructor who, until now seemed like a relatively chill guy (albeit a bit off), outed himself as a racist, sexist, and climate change denier! all within minutes of each other, even. here's how that went down

so, he casually tells me he's not looking forward to the one scheduled after me, and assuming he's dealt with this person before and had a negative experience i just went "that bad, huh?", to which he responded "oh, well, i shouldn't say this, but... it's a black female, hasn't drove before, so..." so like. look, i understand not being enthused about getting behind the wheel with someone who's never drove before. but aside from like, one time before our lessons, that was pretty much me, and he seemed to trust me pretty quickly. so, yeah i don't think it's that much of a stretch to say that's him being prejudiced, right? even if it's in a somewhat mild, conservative boomer kinda way, that still fuckin sucks, ya feel me? also made me feel a bit relieved that i'm pastier than elmer's glue and was born with a fat nutsack, because something's telling me he might've not been as patient with me if i weren't white or god forbid a Femoid.

so, we finish up with the cones, and right as i'm pulling out he starts talking about the weather, i mention how it's supposed to get colder tonight, he says he's hoping for some snow this year and i casually say that i miss when it'd snow more. this prompts him to ease into a bit of a tirade about how the past couple of years were "unnatural", and that while he doesn't believe in global warming he still thinks something fishy is going on, and how global warming is a ploy by the government to get more tax money (?) and how it was the same in the 70s (???) . and it's like. oh, man, i'm glad you waited for the last possible opportunity to go full mask off on this huh. and like, i feel like i should count my blessings because it definitely felt more like, generic conservative boomer and not like White Nationalist Hate Crimes Guy type, so i guess it could've been worse? like i got the feeling any bigotry he had was less out of outright hatred and more out of a vague discomfort/lack of empathy, which, y'know. still bad. didn't get the vibe that he was a klansman, y'know? could've been worse i guess??? God. guess i'm just glad he took until basically the last possible moment he could've to out himself like that. i'll definitely take 30ish minutes of uncomfortable hmms rather than the 6 or so hours i spent with him total.

anyways my leg still sucks. i need to eat more bananas. or maybe pickles, i hear drinking pickle juice can help with leg cramps. the takeaway i guess is just God I'm Glad That's Over. not even really mad that he technically dropped me off just a bit earlier than he should've

[ikemenomegas]

a note on power scaling among normal shinobi

In Kakashi's first major battle in the series, he:

Used Sharingan (the whole fight)

Made a Water clone

Placed Caltrops (as he gets kicked through the air)

Gets stuck in a water trap (per him this is due to underestimating the pacing of the fight/Zabuza's skill level)

Catches an extra large shuriken on the back of his hand-guards

Imitated and used the water-dragon jutsu

Caught Zabuza's blade with a kunai

Possibly cast a mild genjutsu?

Cast Great Waterfall Jutsu

Total, that means he uses the Sharingan for maybe 10 minutes, if we are being generous

He used two high-use chakra jutsu, and one lower-use chakra jutsu

Performed 4-5 mid-low level taijutsu moves at most.

A possible very low level genjutsu, but that's unclear.

And all of this exhausts him to the point that he is not able to move well for about 1 week, presumably due to chakra exhaustion.

In the second battle, Kakashi uses the Sharingan the whole time, but does not imitate any jutsu, uses a single summoning jutsu and a chidori blade, and mostly has a standoff with Zabuza with a little test-the-water sparring/dodging going on until the end bit with the fancy kunai work. This clearly does not exhaust him enough to faceplant, although he does use only illusory clones at the end since he is almost spent. This fight also does not last longer than 10 minutes at a very generous estimate.

As I slowly read through the series, I plan to keep an eye out to see how the battles change, because we know they change (before they get ridiculous to allow Naruto and Sasuke to fight with people at their god-tier levels). One of the best things is that Kakashi, about 25 at the start, is still slowly improving as a shinobi. He's already one of the best, but he clearly trains and continues to improve himself, extending his stamina and working on not overtaxing himself (likely so he's not complete dead weight at the end of a battle, but also because he thinks he has to be useful at all times both because that's his personality and his team has the worst luck in probably about 70 years...)

I'm also interested to see if the scaling holds up. I expect taijutsu heavy battles should last longer than ninjutsu heavy battles, because they take less chakra (usually). Not holding out a lot of hope here that the scaling will be "perfect" but as it's something I'm working on keeping in the back of my head in my writing, it's fun to study and try seeing how much thought other people seem to put into their magic systems.

[tuliptiger]

How do you leave a review on a place that's just like. Bad. I went through airbnb which I guess was my first mistake and the lady seems nice enough I guess. She has good reviews on the same place but.

Idk not as advertised orrr just as advertised and it's on me? I regret spending money on this place totalling 60 ish dollars for one night when I just spent 70 for three nights on the beach at a state campsite with hot showers and my own space.

Vs, once again 60 ish for a single night no shower, no water???? Barely power and a tent with 2 other tents listed as a "glamping" spot (listen I just needed a place to stay and it the cheapest in the area and it said it had a shower...). It's raining hard on the day I chose only to find out when I met her she had not tested it at all for rainy weather, in a location known for rain....

Idk she sincerely seemed fine but like damn I really regret renting this spot and spending money, especially that much for. Far less than ideal. And I think i might just leave before spending the night to shoot for my next spot, the tent smells so strongly of like perfume or incense or something.

Anyway main point how do you rate something seemed very heavily geared for maybe someone else? Like i could see this being someones cup or tea I guess but it isn't mine and it wasn't worth it at all. How do you rate that fairly.

[ellies-cycling-notes]

Day 17: Findley State Park to Van Buren State Park

Distance Covered: 81.27 miles

Total Time (including rests): 7:10 (8:03am-3:13pm)

Time spent riding: 6:22

Average Speed: 12.8 mph

Apples Eaten: 4 (fuji - 7/10, fuji - 6/10, fuji - 7/10, fuji - 5/10)

Today's ride was another boring, yet alright, one. It was basically 80 miles straight West from one State Park to another, only going North or South to switch to less busy roads. The entire ride was on various state roads and side roads, most of which had rather good pavement. I made rather good time for a few reasons. There was the good pavement as mentioned, and then also I had a tailwind for most of the ride, and thirdly, this ride was really flat. I barely had to switch gears at all, and when I did, it was more likely to be because of a sudden change in wind making the ride too hard or too easy, rather than because of going up or down a hill. The weather was also really nice, barely getting above 70 Fahrenheit, and oftentimes cloudy for miles on end.

I stopped twice on the ride, once about half-way through, and once only 10 miles from my campsite. I wanted to not take that second stop at all, but I was getting really hungry and didn't want to hold off on lunch.

Today's ride's main focus was on conserving the battery on my phone. One of my power banks is dead, and I think I might have to use my laptop as a power bank to get my phone fully charged for tomorrow. Because of that, I took various measures on the ride to extend my phone's power. For one, the fewer number of stops meant I spent less time just sitting looking at my phone (of course, that didn't really matter in the end because it meant I arrived at my campsite earlier, and this would have more time reading stuff on my phone). I also kept my phone's brightness as low as I could, and even turned off my maps whenever I was about to be on a straightaway for several miles, only turning it back on again when I believed myself to be close to the next turn.

I saw a few interesting birds on today's ride. In addition to the normal ones, I also saw a peacock on a front porch, a vulture by a field, a bird I think was a hummingbird (it was moving too quickly for me to be sure), and what I think was pheasants in a yard. Apart from those, today's ride didn't really have anything that stood out, which is kinda what I expected, biking across rural Ohio.

Design Notes

Today's notes are probably going to be short (I don't actually know, I have a few key points that I wrote down during the ride, but most of the substance has yet to be written).

I've been thinking about character stats/ability scores. This train of thought comes from 2 places.

1) Yesterday's ruminations on Procedural Generation got me thinking about Characters, Inc. again, in which each character has 6 (maybe 5, I can't remember) stats that affect how well they do in a dungeon. I'll go more into detail later in this section, because I spent a lot of time specifically thinking about Characters, Inc.

2) I've been reading LitRPGs, which are a fantasy sub-genre where the fantasy world has game-like elements, often including ability scores.

Ability Scores

I understand the necessity of ability scores in games in order to simplify complex systems of the world, but there's always something about them that feels awkward. There's always too much overlap between certain abilities, or cases where it doesn't make much sense for you to automatically become better at multiple unrelated things. For example, bench pressing should increase your Strength, but in most games that would also increase your leg power, even though they're different muscles. With that being said, I do enjoy the use of ability scores as measures of characters that aren't directly controlled by players, because then those abilities end up being used in more broad stroke ways, and so it makes more sense. For example, if you have a character with high dexterity, you can't guarantee that they'll succeed at a certain parkour move, but if you give them an entire parkour course, they'll probably complete it more quickly than someone with a lower dexterity score. That brings me to my discussion of Characters, inc.

In Characters Inc, you the player send a party of characters out on a quest, and only receive the results of said quest. As such, this is the perfect place to make use of ability scores, as they can be used to broadly define a character's strengths. Here are the ability scores as I remember them in Characters, Inc. I will describe the ability and what it used to do, if I can remember, as well as what I would have them do if I was to remake the game.

Strength (STR) - Every quest in Characters, Inc has a hidden power level the party has to beat in order to complete the quest. STR contributes directly to meeting that power level. In addition, when distributing damage amongst the party, characters with more STR will have been targeted more by enemies, and so will receive a larger portion of the damage.

Agility (AGI) - I don't remember what this does in the original version of the game. If I was to remake it, it would have 2 main effects: it would influence how long it takes for a party to complete a quest, and it would act as a buffer relative to one's STR such that they are targeted less if they have high AGI.

Endurance (END) - Endurance directly impacts how much health a character has.

Toughness or Defense (TOU) - After getting assigned damage, TOU reduces the amount of damage that a character takes. If I remake the game, it might also increase the amount that the chosen character is targeted, because otherwise a high TOU character is useless without high STR.

Magic (MAG) - Similar to STR, this directly contributes to the power level of the quest. It also increases the chance the character is targeted, but at a much lower rate than STR. Thus, it pairs well with characters that have lower END or TOU.

Luck (LUCK) - Increase the rewards characters receive from the quest. Every quest has guaranteed rewards, but this stat increases the chance for additional gold and/or item rewards. In the original version, each character's luck was used independently to figure out additional gold and items, such that you could get at most +1 item per character. If I was to remake it, I'd probably have it that the character with the highest luck is taken as a base, and each other character's luck is added on to that, but not to the full amount.

That's all. There's no pics today, as the ride was rather bland and boring. Tomorrow I'm headed straight North to Ann Arbor. I hope the wind will've calmed down a bit by then, because I'd rather not ride 80+ miles with a headwind.

Previous -- Next

[engbergsinfinland]

Saturday, Pre-Birthday Fun

Hi all! So, Rowan's birthday (he's turning twelve!) is on Monday, so we spent Saturday with some pre-birthday celebrating! Our friend Alia arrived from the US (via Istanbul) on Thursday night very late, so we dragged her jet-lagged self all over Tampere on Friday and then, on Saturday, we dragged her--and all of us-- to Särkënniemi amusement park! Cece has a little friend, Lyra, from school, and she and her mom came too (her friend's mom, Susana, is from Venezuela, and her dad is from New Zealand!). We had a ball! And a very long stay at the amusement park! Exhausting--but the kids just ran from ride to ride for hours and hours. And us adults went on some, too, and the spinning ones still seem to go over fine with my 50-year-old body, but the "Wiking," which you might know by other pirate-relate words from state fairs near you, is a total throw-up machine. I felt so sick, as did Alia, after that one!

But, first, shall we back up? Wednesday was a very full day. I prepped for teaching and then taught at noon. Unfortunately, the technology in the room wasn't working on Wednesday, because the key-chain-type-thing that had a bunch of converters there last week was not there this week, so i could not plug my laptop into the projector. Oh well. I had the PowerPoint and all of the resources already in their online Moodle unit, so everyone just accessed their materials on their own computers and we went from there. It was a great class! Directly, from my class, I went to Rowan's classroom to chat with his teacher, Annariikka, about the troubles he's been having logging in to the school's app, Wilma, and the fact the he was awaiting a new password and ID from the city. We also discussed ways to offer him more math content. She is amazing, Annariikka, and very open to expanding the curriculum for him in both math and history (I have talked to Cece's teacher about this too, but she seems less interested in jumping into that right now; we shall see). We will see, with regard to Rowan, whether we do or do not take the path of him doing separate homework from his classmates. Eric is enriching the math offerings for both kids at home, so we will see how far they get with Professor Eric! After that meeting, I went home, had a Zoom meeting, and then went back to the kids' school for 3rd grade parents' evening. Cece is in third here, as are all kids born in 2015. Grades are divided up differently than in the US. The most memorable aspect of the parents' evening was that it was in the school cafeteria, which is under the gym, and there must have been some sort of jumping festival --or maybe just basketball ;) --in the gym because it sounded the whole time like the ceiling might just collapse on us.

Thursday was a great day--also very full. The weather has been so nice--like in the high 70s, but, as they say on Game of Thrones, winter is coming. We are enjoying the weather full-heartedly while we can. Anyway, on Thursday, I met with two colleagues and learned a lot more about how "faculties" (like colleges in a university in the US) are divided here and, after a long chat with my colleagues Niina and Maija, we ended up going to lunch in one of the university cafeterias and another colleague joined us. Niina taught me some of the unwritten and unspoken customs about how you take food, and choose food, from a Finnish buffet a university. Very interesting. You only take one protein, despite the fact that it is on a buffet. You cannot choose two different kinds of the main protein, or else, the cafeteria staff might snap at you and make you pay more. I never would've known this, without signage. And only if you get the soup do you get a certain kind of dessert. Anyway, I raced from there to the Poliisi to pick up my Finnish ID, with Eric, and then we went to the Nysse bus office to renew our bus cards for the year, now that we have our Finnish ID numbers and cards.

I had a super fun event, with the English language sub-unit, on Thursday evening from 4-6. It was a wine-and-cheese party for all of the incoming undergraduate students. At it, there was a large snacks-and-wine buffet and the students had these sheets of paper with all of our photos on them plus a trivia item. They had to go around and talk to the faculty and try to suss out whose fact went with whom! It was super fun. I would love to do something like this is the US, but my department might possibly be too dysfunctional to pull this off.

This post is already super long--but I do want to mention that on Friday evening, Eric, Alia, and I went for a walk and we came up on a large-- the largest in Europe, apparently-- cosplay festival! It was called Tracon, and here is what its website says about it: "Tracon is aimed at two hobby circles: tabletop and live role playing games as well as board, card, miniature and strategy games & Japanese popular culture such as anime, manga and cosplay. Tracon is a meeting place for like-minded enthusiasts and an opportunity to spend a fun weekend." It was quite a thing to see and really explained why there were vast numbers of dressed-up people roaming all over town. It was crazy to see the Hesburger, like the Finnish equivalent of McDonalds, full of people in costume, like anime and medieval and more. So funny.

I would love to share more about our adventures at the amusement park, but I don't want to blather on too long ;) Let me close with one newsflash: I got into Eric's Finnish class at the Red Cross! I will join him in class with a group of other beginning language-learners on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays for an hour and a half. Should be exciting!

[nathank77]

4/4/24

10:59 p.m

Let's rewrite that entire post bc tumblr can't handle uploading photos.

I'm getting refunded 94$. My last 2 afterpay payments have been canceled and I'm getting back 28$

I'm confused. I picked the Oakley Overheads.. they will likely squeeze my head.

Now I'm wondering if it's even worth it to have the lenses replaced in the Ray-Bans as I mean it fucking annoys the shit out of me that it touches my cheek if I smile or laugh, if the placement isn't fucking approximately in a certain spot on my nose.

207$ in Total and I have one pair of Beaus. My two pairs of cheek touching Ray-Bans and one strains my eyes.

I'm getting Oakley Overheads and the rimless. They will likely be heading sqeezers.

I guess if I return the Oakley and the Ray-Bans I'll get the rest of my money refunded minus the order for the two Beau frames which was 46$. I'll have spent like 70$ on the one pair of blue streaked Ray-Bans and the rimless, and my two pairs of Beau..

But now one pair of those are basically fucking tape around your nose glasses and they'll still be fucking uncomfortable bc clearly I cant bend them....

And the only pair of glasses I have currently that fit my face right are the comfy Beaus. I can bring the Oakley Overheads to an optical center and have them apply heat to draw out the arms. Maybe if anyone will do that..for free..

Same with the rimless...

I wish I could just go to lense crafters but oh yeah I'm poor, why can't I? Cause if I do, one pair costs like 300$!!

I'm so aggravated with my face measurements, my focal point never being right, my asymmetrical face making the Ray-Bans be less then ideal.

Is it even worth it to replace the lenses next year in the Ray-Bans? Prob not cause it annoys the fuck out of me that I can't fucking smile or laugh without one side touching my cheek.

I'm sick of this. And I think my ideal size is 138 hinge to hinge. My Eyewear company has nothing in that size....

Idk what to do.

I'm seriously considering not wearing glasses anymore.

Look at Reilly's response! Whats she saying yikes about? Oh 24/7 glasses wearer...

She thought I wore contacts.

Girls don't like glasses.

Girls don't like fucking nerds.

I spent all this money and I got glued glasses, fucking cheek touching Ray-Bans and soon two pairs of head sqeezing glasses... and then my eye straining cheek touching Ray-Bans....

And if my comfy Beaus break I'm without any glasses.....that are comfortable.... and fit properly even though my focal point is off a bit....

Maybe it's time accept that girls don't like glasses. And I can't get glasses bc of my face size, shape and then of course money issues.

I can't just have one pair as a guy with OCD and beyond that as a guy who wears them full time.

May be someone will think I'm worth knowing if I just return the Oakley Overheads when I get them and get most of money back. I'll have my glued glasses, my rimless and my cheek touching glasses..... and my only pair that fit comfortably.

It might be time to just accept my face shape and my money issues do not allow me to wear glasses comfortably..

Also, "YIKES" NERD ALERT

[thedaveandkimmershow]

One of my aunts asked me the last time we spoke if I was glad to be going home the following day. I surprised myself by saying No.

Don't get me wrong I'm glad to be home. But let's do the math.

Okay a little math.

I've been alive more than 21,000 days.

With me?

21,000.

Now. During the course of my life, I've been to Holland four times. Maybe five. This last time was six days. The time before that was... call it ten days. The times before I went with my parents twice, with my mom alone once. And because I can't believe we only went for one week, and because these were major vacation events, I'm gonna say those earlier times were either two or three weeks. So if I go with three weeks each for the purposes of this 'lil math problem, that's twenty-one days each time for sixty-three days across all three. Plus ten days the year after Kimmer 'n I were married which brings our total to seventy-three days. Plus the recent six days, bringing our total to seventy-nine.

Now. Seventy-nine days is the highest number of full days I could possibly have spent with my cousins... but that's not how our visits went. We visited one family at a time, in general. Also, during the early visits, we spent time with my dad's mom... so I didn't spend any time at all, then, with my cousins.

So whatever the number was, it was less than 79 days. Much, much less when you consider the fraction of those 79 days I spent with each cousin during those days.

Okay.

Bonus Round:

Three of my cousins came to America on vacation at least once when they were kids or early teens. I think one of them may have been here twice. Call that ten days each for the three cousins and twenty days for the last one.

By the way, the experiences on my home turf was more intensive because whichever family was visiting, they were only visiting us. So that's a higher percentage of each visit during which I got to hang out with cousins. Especially our shared Disneyland vacation during which we road-tripped.

In my life, then, I spent some fraction of 79 days of my life with my cousins against a total number of days somewhere north of 21,000. And if, for the sake of doing calculations, we assume I spent all 70 days with all my cousins...

That would amount to one third of one percent of my life I spent with them. The actual percent is lower than that, of course. Even with the three cousins with whom I spent some fraction of ten additional days each and the one with whom I spent some fraction of twenty additional days.

One third. Of one percent of my life. With the actual number being much lower.

So when my aunt asked me if I was glad to be going home and I said No...

I said No because each day I spend with members of my family in Holland is precious because those days are, in fact, rare in my life. Their number, miniscule.

Because math.

🤨🤔🤯

[bisluthq]

I also think it’s their money not her/his money at this point so like

It’s funny that you say that because the other day, when you were talking about Jack smoking, I was thinking about how that one person said that Saoirse asked if they sold cigarettes and Jack went in to buy them. So I was like “oh they each pay for their own stuff” but she probably had just payed for the food for both of them. I understand why someone in a normal relationship wouldn’t pay for their partner’s cigarettes but when you’re that rich I think it would make sense for her to just buy them? Honestly I would probably buy them and tell my partner to Venmo me after, instead of leaving the store, telling them “they do sell cigarettes” and waiting for them to go buy them?

Then I thought about that one story about them teasing each other at what might’ve been a gas station (if I remember correctly) and I think the person said they served him first and they didn’t know he was her boyfriend or didn’t recognize him or whatever. So again, they were paying for their own stuff separately.

The house situation is a bit confusing but it sounds like they lived on an apartment she owned in London and at a house he owned in Edinburgh. They could’ve lived in a house like the one they’re in now all along (I think she owned a pretty expensive house in Ireland at one point) but they didn’t until Jack had enough money to strongly contribute.

I get the vibes that maybe Jack wants to pay his way. Maybe they don’t care as much with meals because one day one of them pays and the next day the other one does, but I get the vibes that he maybe isn’t comfortable living off her money

idk their lives but I don’t think that’s a good way to do it if it is how they’re doing it. My ex and I counted like every penny - we started dating when I lived with my friend of the 45 minute drying sessions - and she and I used to work out what she owed for the apartment and food and I used to work out what I owed for hers (which was always less because my place was nicer and I preferred to be home lol) and then when we moved in together we were very particular about what she owed and what I owed and we still both wound up feeling fucked over in the end. We’re okay now but we literally spent years detangling finances and we’re only proper done this year and not even because we still have the cats and I think she owes towards the cats a bit and she is counting subscriptions she paid for me as reason to not pay and idk it’s messy.

as I said, my current partner is older than me and ergo has more money and a more stable career at this point (we’ve discussed like if he retires and we’re still together it’d change eventually like that does make a difference) so we’ve done it as “our money” since we got serious except for like personal grooming and our insurance and shit like that. I put money into the house renovations but he pays the bond and we pay for groceries and such 70/30 to me and after I went back to work I pay for electricity and water 50/50 and he does pay for more dinners out and stuff and he pays for 90% of our travel (I paid for one weekend away and I buy groceries on travels but he covers flights and hotels) but I’ve said we don’t have to go if he doesn’t want to and I’m not sure I do like I’m happy to cook at home and go up here to his mum’s place for a holiday lol like I don’t fucking need wine country or Europe like I’m not a fussy person but we certainly don’t count who paid for cigarettes. I don’t think the counting is good long term. I may change my mind in another 2 years obviously like fucked if I know what I will think then but to me rn if it’s our house, it’s our money. Yes, I pay less in terms of the bottom line but I pay more in terms of percentage of total income so 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

I wouldn’t be shocked if Jack and Sersh have a similar thing going on.

[chrysolipsist]

really makes u think

think about all those multitudes that are going to perish one of these days

there will come a day when no one knows what the super mario brothers theme song sounds like. Or will there? Are we to be enjoined by our 20th-21st century characters for all eternity?

I guess there would be all kinds of examples of things that were once very popular or well known but later died out. Like in the 1960s or 70s. But it's hard to think of something like that because, by definition, it would be very obscure today. Anything I can think of would have a good chance of being remembered by a fair number of people on the internet. For example, you could have some obscure local TV show that ran one season at a PBS station in someplace like Cincinnati and there would still be some enthusiasts with a group about it somewhere. No, I think we need to look deeper. I mean beyond the fog of time. What sort of cultural detritus is out there, largely forgotten today? Not irretrievably so, but enough that something that was once popular--or at least well known--across multiple generations would eventually fade into near total obscurity. Or will we remember the current canon for all eternity? Will people still be playing Super Mario Bros. in the year 2400, should humanity still be alive, will there have been hundreds of sequels to the game released over the years? And in what directions will it go?

In the year 2525 don't need no ears, don't need no eyes pulled into virtual reality living out your days as yoshi

Does this fit the cadence of that song? I can't fit words to the song in my mind, and even pulling it up to listen to isn't helping. It's like they just sing however many syllables they want on every line other than the "In the year dum-tee-dum dum-tee-dumm".

Is this the ultimate purpose of intelligence, of civilization? To create the technology to transfer our minds into "better" spaces, more to our liking? Doesn't that seem patently absurd? But isn't that basically what people conceptualized as "heaven" for most of history?

What would a "heaven" be like? Ancient people thought of a place where the farming was extremely easy. I think just having a cozy little place and being able to occasionally see people that you like. Wouldn't it be nice just to have a little cottage with your pal in another cottage down the way. No need to work or for any day to be especially eventful beyond just hanging out. This is basically how Frog & Toad live in those books. Sounds pleasant enough. I don't know if it would become boring after a while. I don't know what to think about the prospect of having an infinite amount of time as a sentient entity, even in the pleasantest circumstances. It sounds absurd. Our entire frame of reference for everything is the time we spend passing through our lives, acquiring every piece of information and every experience. How would that continue? Without the meat, where does the memory live?

let's think about something else. I deleted a lot of existential nonsense. It doesn't matter. I was describing the futility and absurdity of existence in exquisite detail but ultimately it is completely pointless to even bother to discuss. It's boring! What conclusion would you make from all that metaphysical discussion that would have any impact on your day-to-day life? Would it make you more or less content? Would it influence what you do? Does it affect your life in any way? If not, then what's the point? That's how I feel these days. Once, though, it was very different. Maybe it's because I spent so much time in thought on these subjects--only to come to the final conclusion that it simply doesn't matter--is why I resent being made to think about it. Why I like to wear this attitude sometimes, to treat the very question with disdain, when every response to it would fall in the category of "not even wrong".

[risenwraith]

#123 Aaiiee people!

Staying at sister in Iaw's place is very open house in comparison to the little flat we had.

I walked into the kitchen to see a purple hooded person raiding the freezer. They were maybe(?) a relation and I have no idea why they were in the kitchen and was afraid to ask - they don't live here. Then there was a tall male relation whose name I forget but who walks in whenever. There have been two other friends/people who turn up as and when and walk right in.

Then again, I'm a bald eyebrow-less goblin wearing a saffron coloured shift. (I was gifted it unexpectedly and I have limited clean clothes right now. It does make me look like a tragic white girl who's taken Buddhism a bit too seriously, but what can you do?).

I had a long conversation with T (someone who I think is an actual housemate) who if I understand correctly, spent ages trying to explain WWI Spiritualism to me, and the basic concept of 'as above so below' - which is quantum or magic or both - and also zen archery. All of which I am too painfully aware of, often overly aware of, and vaguely aware of (and wish I knew more of) - in that order.

Then he told me I shouldn't have chemotherapy because doctors are bad evil liars, chemotherapy is poison, and if I just ate more broccoli, that would totally cure cancer.

I was very polite and not sarcastic or scathing or mean at all. But I really wanted to be. Because... Seriously?

Oh yes dear boy, I am letting doctors poison me because I didn't know about the miracle of açai berries and kale oh alas alack fie and for shame, oh foolish me, if only I had drunk more green tea I never would have lost a tit nor ever had the need of this terrible medical poison!

FUUUUCCCKKKK!!!

Look hippy boy, do not @ me. Your last hospital stay was in the '70s for a broken limb, and because someone turfed you out of a bed early, you think every doctor is a bastard and every nurse a bitch. Also you think the old guy you once saw in '74 who didn't know who or where he was immediately after coming out of emergency heart surgery would have been... what? Better off just being dead? Yeah - how dare doctors try and succeed in saving him and he be groggy from not dying. FFS.

I have news for you. 50 bloody years have passed. That's a lifetime. Why do you insist on thinking things are the same a generation ago? Or that one arsehole doctor who didn't care enough about your fracture is the same as every single doctor treating everything in the world ever?

I have to listen-not-listen. By which I mean try to actively not listen to a conversation I can totally hear and don't want to hear at all. (And if I had headphones so I could listen to anything else it would be easier, but like an idiot I did not pack my headphones.)

You think I want this? You think if eating more salad would have saved me I wouldn't already be doing that shit?! You think I don't eat green stuff? Bitch, I hate fast food, I love vegetables, hate grease, meat's okay, sugar's so-so, bread and rice are the best, and I know how to cook a very fine five course dinner party, thank you.

My point is... I'm not having surgery and poison through basic nutritional and culinary ignorance or for fun - I'm having it so I won't die.

Kale and broccoli will not save me you arrogant arse. You do not hold the secrets of the universe. Your salad and berry tea cannot fix cancer. But the hospital can, and is even now, yes, via poison.

We poison the evil cells, and the rest of the body survives - because the body is nails AF - what is so hard to understand about that?

Sorry, I keep trying not to be cross, but every time I think about the conversation it pisses me off something chronic.

[blogging-thots]

Nov 18 2022

Thanksgiving break started and ofc I still have to study and do homework RIP

But at least I get a break from school to focus on my studies so I can pass my finals

I pray I pass my finals w 70’s above bc I really need it to move to the next semester and I pray so hard that I can move to next semester bc I spent so much $$$$ on this program already and can’t get a refund 😭😭😭😭

And I really hope I pass my classes with 75 above but really 80’s above bc I want to keep my GPA bc IMO that’s also really important to me

IDK how I’m gonna pay for rent and bills too bc it’s so expensive and I don’t have enough money, I really want to try working more but that requires me to have less study time maybe during Xmas break I can put in the work hours so I can have a decent amount of money

Also I hope I get more grants next semester so it can help pay for school supplies and gasoline

I’m thinking I should take out more loans too :(( I really don’t want to bc idk how I can pay the gov

:((( I already borrowed $3,000 total and if I borrow more then IDK :((

But I really hope good things will be coming my way bc it’s much needed :((( sometimes I want to cry bc of how hard things are :((

I really just want things to go smoothly especially with school :(((

I pray I pass all my classes & exams with 70 above so I can move forward and finish this program successfully 🙏🙏🙏🙏🤍💛🤍💛🤍💛🤍

[biomecharnotaurus]

I wish to get over this stupid 28 years old DnD based fps arena game hyperfixation but it's not working rip lmaoooo

[mypoisonedvine]

please I need more of 40s alpha bucky becoming the winter soldier, i need to know what happens I need them to be together again I'm dying

coming right up, anon! it gets smutty under the cut... additional warnings for violence, threatened/implied noncon (very brief), angst, and also use of a syringe so needle phobics watch out

read part 1 first

"The woman... the Omega..." Bucky mumbled. "She knew me... she had my mark."

"No she didn't."

He furrowed his brow.  "She showed me..."

Pierce sighed, glancing over to the HYDRA scientist who looked back at him sternly.

"She's too dangerous to be left alive," the man sighed, shrugging in his labcoat. "We can't deprogram a bond like that."

"We'll take care of her," Pierce promised.

Bucky launched from the chair, snapping his restraints like paper. "Touch her and I'll fucking kill you!" he bellowed, tackling his handler to the ground.

Pierce just laughed as another scientist jabbed Bucky with a needle, dosing him with something strong enough to kill any other man but just enough to knock out a super soldier. Pierce stood up and dusted himself off as he watched Bucky go limp and be lifted back into his chair.

"I can see the fight in your eyes, Soldier," he taunted as he leaned in to his face. "I know you really would kill me, if you could. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, right? But don't worry about your mate, we'll make it quick and painless. Hey, maybe beforehand me and a few of the other Alphas will show her a good time, poor thing's been without her mate for 70 years... I bet she's raring to go."

Bucky's arm twitched as his eyes started to fall shut, a tear falling down his blank and motionless face.

"Wipe him," Pierce instructed to the scientist, turning and walking away as the electric whirr of the machine charging up filled the room.

//

Steve was impressed with how accurate and imminent your prediction was; HYDRA was hot on your trail and desperate to eliminate the biggest threat to their Asset. Knowing they were coming made it easier, but it was still a brutal fight.

You and Steve tried to stay together, but they were smart, they used the perfect bait to lure you away.

"Tell me where he is," you demanded from the HYDRA agent as you held a blade to his neck, "then I'll kill you."

"Isn't it supposed to be 'or I'll kill you'?" he frowned.

You shook your head. "Not the way I operate."

Opposite to the reaction you were expecting, he grinned widely. "He's here."

Your heart stopped.

"On the roof. He's here to kill you."

You dropped the knife and ran straight for the stairwell, ascending them like they were nothing and calling out for your Alpha.

You found him there, waiting, gun trained on you. Raising your hands in surrender, you yelled to him again.

"Bucky," you called across the windy roof, eyes nearly blinded by the bright afternoon sun. "Alpha."

"I'm not who you think I am," he yelled back. "I'm not your Alpha."

It hurt to hear it in his voice, but you knew it wasn't him. Cautiously, you stepped closer. "Before you left, you told me you didn't want to mark me and leave me behind," you recalled. "But I wanted it. I wanted to be bonded to you more than I'd ever wanted anything."

He could clearly see you were coming closer, he even tightened his finger over the trigger of his weapon, but he was waiting. You kept walking to him, slowly.

"I've never regretted it," you continued, "not even when I thought you were dead, not even when I had to spent a lifetime-- more than that-- apart from you."

Finally you were face to face, and you stepped closer until his gun was pressed right into your chest.

"You can shoot me now and I still won't regret it," you promised. "I love you."

Shakily, he lowered his weapon. "Omega..." he breathed.

"Your Omega."

He pulled you into him and you sobbed as you felt him come to life in your arms-- the real him, your Alpha, your Bucky. He held you close and breathed against the top of your head and it was like a dream coming true decades after you'd forced yourself to let it go.

But you'd never given up. And now you had found him again.

Agents started to come onto the roof and Bucky spun the two of you around, firing with his right hand and using the left, metal arm as a shield for you.

He carried you and you didn't even know where he was taking you, but it didn't matter. In his arms, you were home.

//

You hadn't stopped coming or crying for at least an hour. Bucky had all but split you open on his knot all night and he didn't show any signs of stopping.

He apparently intended to make up for lost time. And you'd lost a lot of time.

"Just one more, I know you can give me one more," he groaned furiously rubbing your clit as his knot began to swell again.

You could give him anything, as long as he asked for it like that.

You'd lost count of how many times he'd told you to come for him, and how many times you did it immediately.

"I can see how full you are," he whispered as he rubbed your stomach gently. "So much seed in you that your body can't hold it all."

You looked down and yep, you were distinctly bloated from his come alone; it made you a little dizzy to even look at it.

"The idea of you alone during your heats, no one to protect you, it kills me," he explained with a growl. "I won't let you go again. I can't."

"Then don't," you sighed. "Never leave this bed, fill me with everything you have."

"Did anybody ever help you through them? The heats?" he asked. "I wouldn't blame you, they can be so painful... I just need to know so I can make sure you forget about them."

"No, Bucky, never-- I never let anyone touch me."

"Steve could've helped you, at least some..."

"He wouldn't have, he loves you too much. And I wouldn't accept anything less than you, ever. You're my Alpha. We're bonded. There's never anyone else."

That didn't seem to satisfy him, his eyes darting away as he swallowed. Your gut sank with the realization he probably wasn't being totally honest about why he asked.

"Your ruts," you gasped. "Were you alone for all of them?"

He shut his lips tighter.

"Bucky, it's okay, just tell me. I was asleep for 70 years, I skipped most of them, but you... you had to live through them all."

"They gave me betas, and omegas," he mumbled, "but I don't... I don't really remember. I know they wanted me to. They threatened to hurt me if I didn't, because they knew I'd go crazy after so many ruts alone, but I can't remember if I really did it. I remember... I remember crying, and begging for you."

"Alpha," you breathed as you felt new tears run over the stains of your old ones. "It's okay. Whatever happened, it's okay now. We're together again. Everything's okay."

You wiped his tear away with your thumb, holding his face tightly, weaving your fingers into his long hair.

"I'll always be your Omega," you promised.

He leaned in closer to you, kissing your cheek before pulling back a little. "It's faded," he whispered as he ran his thumb over the mark on your neck. "The last time I saw it, it was still fresh."

"It's older, sure, but it's stronger than ever, Bucky."

//

Steve's eyes went wide when he saw you in the hall. "Surprised to see you out of the love nest so soon," he smirked.

"It's been three days, I don't think that counts as soon," you scoffed.

"It does to him," Steve frowned. "He's asleep, isn't he?"

"Yep."

"I know he wouldn't let you out of his sights if he was conscious," Steve chuckled.

At that moment, you heard Bucky call your name and run out into the hall, only a bedsheet covering his groin. You spun around and smiled when you saw him come running towards you, embracing you with his free arm.

"You should've told me you were leaving, I got scared when I woke up without you," he admitted weakly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry!"

He pulled back and clutched your face in both his hands. "I'm waking up next to you every morning for the rest of my life, you understand?"

You nodded dutifully. "Yes, Alpha."

"One hand on the sheet, please, Buck?" Steve winced, looking away.

“Whoops,” Bucky groaned, reaching to cover himself as you laughed softly.  

“Let’s go back to bed, baby,” you decided quietly, taking Bucky’s (free) hand in yours and waving goodbye to Steve, who was already making his way as far out of earshot as possible.

[doumekiss]

How to read more

So last year I read a total of 188 books, and sometimes people here ask me how I read so much and what they can do to read more, so I wrote this post with a few tips of things I do that work for me. A lot of it will probably be really obvious but I thought it better to cover all my bases now that I'm finally writing this post. 

- Experiment with different formats of reading like ebooks and audiobooks. I think more than ⅓ of the books I've read last year were audiobooks, I usually listen to them when I walk around my neighborhood, or do the dishes, or knit or play games on my phone. Also makes me less guilty about my lack of productivity, like yes I spent 17 hours on my day off playing stardew valley on my phone, but also I finished a book while doing this so yay? One more thing : usually I find that most audiobooks are narrated too slowly for my taste, so increasing the speed of the player makes the hearing experience much more pleasant, usually between 1.2 or 1.5 depending on the narrator. 

- Reading should be a joyful thing.There is nothing wrong with quitting a boring book. We all have a limited amount of time on this planet, there is too little time for too many books. Don't finish things that bore you and make what is supposed to be a pleasurable hobby into an annoying task.  Some books take a while to get good, but usually if a book doesn't  win me over around page 50-70 I find better letting go and find something else. 

- There is nothing wrong with postponing a particular reading for later. I know sometimes a book has merit and you might feel bad about stopping your reading, but maybe it's just not the right time to read that particular book. It might ruin a pleasant reading experience by trying to force it. Leave it for your older self who might appreciate it better than you. 

- I usually like to reserve forty minutes to  one hour every day just to read a physical book, I find this also does a lot of good to my mental health, to unplug for one hour and just read. I think this works better when the house is quiet, for me it's usually  around 8 at night after I give my grandmother dinner and put her to sleep or when I take my cats to play in the garden. 

- If you are like me some days you just get too tired for new stories, new characters, like there are already too many narratives in your brain. Usually in these situations rereading something you like is the best alternative. There is so much comfort in rereading something you loved in the past and often you notice things that passed you by the first time(s). 

- About finding what to read next. Goodreads as a site has many issues both in the administration and in the user base, however I do find it worthwhile to find people with tastes similar to yours and follow them, and pay attention to books they give a high rating.  Also checking others stuff that authors you like recommend. 

- About buying books. Today is very easy to find stuff free online. However sometimes if you want a particular book the only way to read is to buy it. If you are like me you probably don't have that much money so to make sure I'm making a good purchase I usually read the first chapter and evaluate if it's worth to go on, most sites usually have samples and in my experience book sellers don't mind if you just sit on a conner and read for a bit, when I was a kid and a young teen I used to get really paranoid that they were going to scold me for reading without buying, but that of course never happened because, they want your money, they are not going to be rude to you. Just be considered and make sure your hands are clean and treat the book gently before buying it. 

- Also second hand bookstores and libraries are great ways of getting more books, in my experience it's really worthwhile to mention to librarians books that you would really like to read because sometimes they order and tell you about it when the books arrive. 

- About motivating yourself to read more, I like to make big lists of books I would like to read in the following year, month or whatever and post on this site called listchallenges, for a certain type of person it really is satisfying to check one more item and in trying to beat whoever had the highest score. 

- Try different stuff, I know people that only read ya or only read sci-fi and while there is nothing wrong with really liking a genre and only reading stuff of a certain style, what I see happening quite often is that those people end up getting tired of reading. Try reading about stuff you've never heard before, periods of history or fields of science you know nothing about, romance novels, poetry, classic novels, thrillers. Also don't hesitate to go read things that some people don't consider worthwhile or real literature like children's books, celebrity biographies, mangas, danmei novels, let whatever sparks your interest be your guide and don't care what lit snobs will think. 

- I know people that prefer to just read one book at time, and it works very well for them. But for me I tend to readbetween 5 to 10 books at the same time and go for whatever I'm in the mood for that day in my reading hour. 

- And always have a book in your bag. 

[morganaspendragonss]

Can I ask for fingore square? As someone who broke their finger during the pandemic....can I request that with some hurt TK?

holly's august extravaganza day 28: ignoring every warning

thanks for the prompt brit! the fingore square had been requested by the time i saw this message but here's the fic anyway! hope you like it 😊

thanks to @silvarafael for the beta!

ao3 | 1.3k | minor injuries, hurt tk, big brother judd, mostly just tk being a dumbass

TK is fine.

He is absolutely, 100% fine.

And, sure, maybe he’s not supposed to be at work right now, and maybe his hand hasn’t fully healed yet, but it’s nothing. His doctor cleared him to go back to work, which means it’s healed enough, and TK is certainly not going to admit defeat no matter how much he hurts.

He mostly just wants to put the shame of it all behind him. After all, it’s not like the entire firehouse saw him get so distracted talking to Carlos on the phone that he slammed the ambulance doors shut on his hand—

Oh, wait.

It had been weeks of teasing and jokes that TK wasn’t sure were all good-natured. Even Carlos, the traitor, had joined in once or twice (or three, or four, or five times…), and it was only Carlos’s frustratingly effective cow eyes and TK’s own displeasure at the thought of sleeping alone that had kept him from the couch.

Technically, the doctor had said that he should stick to light duty and keep the hand brace on for another few weeks, which he kinda, sorta isn’t doing.

But he’s fine.

He makes a point of saying so to Nancy when she sends him the third exasperated look of the day—and they’re only two hours into shift.

“Whatever you say, dude,” she replies drily. “Just don’t come crying when you re-break that hand because you’re a dumbass who won’t admit when he’s in pain.”

The slight smirk on her lips is enough for TK to gather that she’s referring to the first time he broke it, and...maybe she has a point.

(“I’m okay, I just need to shake it out for a minute.”

“TK, none of your fingers look the way they should. I bet you anything you can’t even move that hand right now, but, by all means, go ahead and shake it.”)

(He did. It did not go well.)

“I’m fine,” he repeats, scowling, which gets him a totally unwarranted head shake and eye roll. Well… Whatever. Nancy can think what she wants; TK is going to finish his shift and he’s going to manage it perfectly well, thanks very much.

And he does. Admittedly, his hand is aching more than it probably should be, but he just needs to rest it when he gets home, which—ah.

Problem #1: He and Carlos still haven’t finished setting up the new house.

Problem #2: Today is their only joint night off for the rest of the week, which leads to,

Problem #3: They’d agreed to spend the night sorting some furniture and unpacking a few important boxes.

Logically, TK knows he should tell Carlos that he doesn’t feel up to doing any heavy lifting tonight. He’d understand, there’s no question of that; Carlos would likely spend the entire night fussing instead, probably mixed with a bit of loving exasperation at TK for having pushed himself too much. But he doesn’t want to let him down, not again. Not after the months spent fighting with the insurance companies and struggling to find a house, and especially not after Carlos had supported TK while the firehouse was closed down.

He flexes his hand experimentally. It’s a little stiff and the soreness brings a grimace to his face, but it works.

He’s got this.

*

TK is, maybe, just a little less than fine.

Like, 85% fine. 70% absolute minimum.

But it’s okay, because now he has a day off to ice his hands without Carlos hovering like a mother hen. Normally, he’d hate the idea of spending the day without his boyfriend, but the less Carlos knows about this situation, the better for both of them.

The ice helps, and the dull throbbing that’s become his normal for the past couple of days almost disappears. TK knows he shouldn’t push it, but his need to be busy always wins over training and common sense, so.

So.

*

The next shift is a little easier, and TK figures he’s probably healed enough to head to the gym for a while. Get his strength back up, and all that.

He’s very, very wrong.

Ten minutes in, and TK hits the punching bag in a way that elicits a crack from his knuckles that not even he can write it off as fine. His hand hurts and his fingers are starting to look horribly swollen, and shit, Carlos is going to fucking kill him later.

Maybe…

Maybe he can fix this. He’s a paramedic; he can strap up his own fingers. Sure, it’s his left hand that’s injured, but he can handle it. He just needs to get out of the gym, through the firehouse, loot the ambulance, and bandage himself up without running into anyone who will ask questions.

Simple.

Except, because the universe hates him, TK quite literally runs into Judd on his way out of the gym. The knock sends an unpleasant jolt through his injured hand, and TK doesn’t manage to contain his wince in time to hide it.

Judd doesn’t even bother asking what happened; he simply sighs heavily and gets out his phone, tapping away at the screen.

TK cranes his neck to try and see what he’s doing, but Judd holds his phone close to his chest, blocking his view. “What are you doing?”

“You obviously got your dumb ass in a mess again so I’m texting your boy to come get you.” Judd shoots him an unimpressed look, rolling his eyes at TK’s horrified stare. “What, you’d rather he find out about this later or something?”

“No, it’s just—I was gonna tell him!”

“Uh-huh.”

It’s a lie and they both know it, so TK doesn’t bother trying to defend himself. He huffs and folds his good arm across his chest, scowling at Judd.

“You can stop looking like that,” Judd remarks, gaze fixed back on his phone as it pings with a new message. “Carlos is on his way.”

“I hate you.”

“Shockingly, I can live with that.” He pockets his phone and takes TK’s shoulder, almost pushing him down the stairs. “Come on, kid. Let’s get some ice on that.”

“I can take care of myself, you know,” TK says, though he knows Judd isn’t going to let him out of his sight until Carlos arrives.

“Yeah, that broken hand says otherwise.”

There’s a barely contained laugh in Judd’s voice, and TK has the sudden urge to punch his smirk away. Which would only really prove the point, so he has to resort to glaring at his back and ignoring the warmth at the thought of Judd taking care of him like the brother TK never had.

When Carlos shows up ten minutes later, the concern in his eyes betrays the deep exasperation painted all over his face.

“Don’t look at me like that,” TK protests anyway. “It’s not like I asked for this to happen.”

Judd snorts—rude—and Carlos grins over at him, sharing a head shake—even ruder—and TK lets out what even he can admit is a pathetic whine.

“I’m sorry, babe,” Carlos says, not sounding sorry in the least, “but you have literally ignored every single recommendation from the doctor. The only thing you haven’t done is actually ask for it.”

“They’re recommendations, Carlos.”

“And you’re a paramedic, so you should know that ‘recommendation’ is a kind way of saying ‘order’.”

For the second time, TK has no defense. He huffs and looks down at his shoes, hoping that he paints a miserable enough picture to get his boyfriend to take at least some pity on him.

Somehow, it works, as Carlos takes him in a careful side hug. “Sorry,” he repeats, more earnest this time. “Let’s get you to the ER, huh?”

TK nods reluctantly, allowing Carlos to steer him out of the firehouse. “Can’t believe I’m going to have to take even more time off,” he grumbles.

“Well, think about it this way.” Carlos rubs his arm in a soothing gesture, though his next words are anything but. “At least you’ll have more time to finish up with the house.”

TK groans. His day did not need to get any more painful.