#New York Process Servers

[anyaeras]

Sugar mommy || E.Olsen

Pairing : Sugar!mommy Elizabeth Olsen x y/n

Summary : Y/n was hanging out with their friends late Friday night, they may have got a little too tipsy and was convinced to sign up for a sugar mommies website...

Warning : Smut (at the end) They/them pronouns, AFAB!reader ,Top!Lizzie , Bottom!Reader, Blow!Job , dick!riding , Pet!names, Alcohol. Legal!age-gap

Masterlist My Server Part 2

─────────────────

It's been one hell of a week, y/n works hard in their classes while attending NYU, they had to without good grades there was really no point of all of this money and effort they worked so hard for, y/n was far from rich and had to work a lot harder than others to get where they are, yet after a long week of work y/n had no problem going out to relax with some friends.

It's now Friday night, y/n was slipping into a cute comfy outfit, they had received a text from one of the closest friends about an hour ago telling them the plans, which to be honest, it was just a normal Friday University kid night, they didn't plan on clubbing or going out, more so a hangout.

Y/n headed out their door, shutting off the lights in their tiny New York apartment before heading to the dorms on campus to meet up with their friend group.

"Hey guys" y/n made their presence known barging into their friends dorm being met with a few of their friends already there getting a movie ready along with some drinks, most likely for another drinking game.

"Hey y/n" Zack yelled from the living space as he sat down the drinks, they met during and English lecture earlier this year, and since then they just have gotten closer, Zack is the kind of friend that fits the "gay best friend" stereotype, but he rolls with it.

"So movie and drinking game again?" Y/n asked knowingly getting a "of course" from Zack as the others piled into the living space, everyone took their spots, obviously, the couples in the group got "ohhh and Eww" from the others as they tried acting cute, while the single friends all got comfortable on their own.

"so we are going to watch, a stupidly, cheesy romance movie, so if you cringe you take a shot, if you laugh you take a shot, if there's a dramatic, love scene, we all take a shot, and if you laugh you take two shots" Zack explained knowing the last one was completely targeted at Y/n, as y/n could laugh at anything. Plus everyone enjoyed tipsy y/n, even y/n enjoyed themself tipsy.

As the movie went on around 3/4 of the way threw they all stopped watching, more so getting into deep conversations with each other, yet what made it better was they were all tipsy and have had a bit to much to drink.

"Y/n of your so sick of working at that cafe why don't you get like a sugar mommy" Zack blurted out more so as a joke, not expecting y/n to give any thought about it.

"You think they have an app for that?" Y/n responded, thinking aloud before checking their phones App Store.

"Fuck- they do"

With that y/n still tipsy as ever downloaded the app, showing it to the group, causing an uprise in laughter from their friends at this silly behavior, but it didn't stop them. Going threw the click signing up process, and creating a profile with some of their better photos they laughed at themself scrolling on the app, showing profiles to their friends, absolutely oblivious to the fact that they accidentally clicked accept on somebody's profile...

The group started to clear out yet y/n stayed the night, being the only one who didn't live in that dorm building already. They chose to spend the night on Zack's couch, which Zack obviously didn't mind as his roommate was out of town.

(The next day)

Waking up y/n was going straight for the pain killers, the drinks they had last night are definitely hitting them this morning.

Looking on their phone y/n noticed a sticky note, placed on top of it with a message from Zack saying they had went out to meet with a family member for brunch.

Going with it, and moving on y/n grabbed their phone seeing a notification from a sugar mommy's app...that's when last nights events came flooding back.

"What the fuck" y/n butter to them self as they open the app to see a notification and a message from someone named Lizzie, their profile is a bit more private than others, but it was still verified and didn't seem extremely sketchy. It was a simple greeting which y/n made the decision to respond with their own greeting back.

The conversation continued between the two of them, and they agreed to meet at a nearby coffeehouse downtown, it was public, so y/n definitely felt safer with the idea yet they definitely need to head back to their apartment and get ready, I mean, if you're going to meet a sugar mommy you should at least look nice.

Getting dressed, and doing their hair wad when nerves were starting to get to y/n thinking about what the worst that could happened, what came to their mind wasn't about meeting a stranger. It was the idea of rejection. Trying to shake off those ideas y/n slipped on some cute dunks which completely match their outfit before heading towards the coffeehouse in town. Not before sending Zack a sarcastic goodbye message like something awful was about to happen.

Walking into the coffeehouse y/n was a bit early sitting down at a table more secluded in the corner scrolling on their phone for a few moments, it wasn't until a women about 5'8 dirty blonde hair sat down across from them did they look up.

"You must be y/n" The women y/n was meeting with stated, getting a nod from the younger one.

"You must be Lizzie" y/n responded feeling shy now by the older women's appearance, she was dressed nice and definitely held herself strong and confidently.

"Yes I am darling, so tell me about yourself" she asked

"Well I'm a student at NYU, I'm single and I'm a hard worker" y/n responded, starting to feel like this is more of an interview than anything.

"I like that, obviously we're here for a reason, I like having a sugar baby, I like having someone I can spoil and make my own" Lizzie got straight to the point, definitely catching y/n off guard for a moment as they regain their thoughts.

"Oh..yes I'm a college student and honestly I signed up for this because me and my friends were being stupid and made jokes but when I saw your profile, I honestly was deeply interested and now we're here" y/n rambled out getting a laugh from the other person there with them.

"Y/n, I'd like to really get to know you, along with helping you out. Your profile, and your personality right now, match exactly what I'm looking for" Lizzie explains as she pulled a contract out from her purse.

"Due to my line of work we have a privacy contract, of course I'll let you read it over, but y/n I really like you, and really hope you will agree to be my sugar baby" Lizzie explained letting y/n have the contract read over.

"My personal number is on the contract. Feel free to message me whenever you'd like or if you need anything, I'd really like to get closer with you" Lizzie said as a goodbye, not leaving room for y/n to say much, as she got up leaving the information with the younger girl.

Y/n packed up their items and took the contract back to their dorm, sitting down on their bed going over it, honestly they were ready to sign they had nothing to lose, but they wanted to have some fun first, texting Lizzie using the number on contract.

"I've read the contract, I'm wondering what you really want with me" y/n was feeling blood sending this message setting their phone down next to them, not expecting Lizzie to answer so fast.

"I won't someone to be mine, we'd be exclusive in a semi-romantic relationship, do you understand? Was the older women's reply. It was straightforward which was becoming common for the strange women.

Y/n wasn't fully sure what they were signing up for, but that picked up a pen and signed the contract sending a photo of it to Lizzie, more so excited to see if the women would give y/n the satisfaction of a reaction.

"So eager are you" was all Elizabeth responded with.

"Only for you" y/n flirted back getting a demanding message back from Elizabeth, asking for the younger ones cash app, sending y/n some pocket money, well $10,000....

The amount caused a Yelp from y/n, they've never received that much money. Y/n knew they were signing up to be a sugar baby, but they didn't expect it to come this soon.

Y/n texted a thank you to Lizzie getting a "you can pay me back" and a winking emoji from the other one, it took a moment for y/n to realize what Lizzie meant, sending a dumb emoji to reply.

Y/n honestly didn't realize how much they wanted this women, her validation was new for y/n. Which it was odd yet it was now 8pm and y/n sent the message to Lizzie

"Come over" the short message was enough for Lizzie to ask for the address having her personal driver take the women to y/n's off campus student apartment. It was much smaller then Lizzie was used to, but Lizzie wanted to see this girl, she was falling for this young college student ready to make y/n her own.

Waking into the apartment, y/n opened the door for Lizzie, yet she was right on it, Lizzie flipped y/n around pinning them to their own door.

"Did you mean it, you signed the contract?" Lizzie asked, and when she got a nod from y/n Lizzie went straight to kissing the younger one. Holding y/n in the kiss till they both were gasping for air.

"I've wanted you sense I saw your profile baby" Lizzie said almost in a whisper to y/n, pulling y/n to the couch in the center of the living space, sitting down both of them were now facing each other.

"Y/n im not sure if you know who I am, I want you I really do, and now you've signed the privacy contract, I want us to continue a sugar mommy relationship, do you understand that, I need your consent and your cooperation" Lizzie said being completely serious with y/n

"Lizzie, I don't care about all that, I want you, your personality is enough to have anyone on their knees for you oh my and don't get me started on that a-" y/n was cut off by lizzie attacking their lips pushing them onto their back now laying on the sofa. Lizzie moved down keeping her control as she left marks on y/n's neck, Lizzie's hands moved under y/n's shirt making sure to check if everything was alright was y/n. Seeing y/n quickly removing her clothes caused Lizzie to smile, seeing y/n all submissive and ready for her was definitely a turn on.

"Y/n im here to help you, in more then just financial ways, I'm gonna help you let go is that okay honey" Lizzie asked bringing her hand up to cup y/n's cheek rubbing her thumb on their face a way of reassurance

Lizzie sat down pulling y/n on top of her as y/n sat down they felt the bulge under Lizzie's nice pants, cause a light whine to fall from y/n's lips.

"Do you think you could take mommy's cock" lizzie asked softly in y/n's ear watching as y/n responded with rapid nods, being ever so eager for the older women.

Lizzie let her hands roam over y/n stripped body reaching in between her folds collecting the younger girls juices, realizing how needy y/n really was. Lizzie patted y/n's thigh to prompt them to stand up, as the women took her turn stripping down to only her lacy bra and the strap she was packing.

"Come here baby" Lizzie guided y/n to slowly sit down on her decent sized cock, letting the smaller one adjust to the size.

"Look at you so good for me, why don't you give me a show princess" Lizzie praised prompting y/n to ride her cock, and that just what y/n did slowly the college student rose up before pushing themself back down on the fake dick, causing a high pitched moan to slip from their lips. Lizzie started to reach out putting her hands on y/n's hip as she met their trust half way, y/n was screaming out moans as the trust got harder, the sound of sex filled the room, lizzie in attempt to bring y/n closer to their climax she started to suck on the younger ones sweet spot, y/n's reaction made Lizzie moan as y/n jolted backing the other part of the strap to hit Lizzie's clit just right now giving the older women more  pleasure.

"Fuck y/n you're doing so good for me, you can let go" Lizzie encouraged as she watched y/n getting closer, their bounces we're getting more sloppy and their moans were more squeaky and like that Y/n had reached their orgasm, as they came hard around Lizzie's cock.

"I-I made a mess" Was the firsts thing y/n pointed out, which gave the older women an idea.

"Clean it up then" lizzie said pulling y/n slowly from the cock as y/n was sensitive still from their orgasm, not giving y/n much time as She pushed them down to their knees in front of herself, wrapping her hand into y/n's now messy hair pushing their mouth down on the cock which was still laced in y/n's cum, watching y/n's head bob on the dick was everything to Lizzie, as the pushes rubbed on her own clit making her moan loudly.

The older women now chasing her own climax was pushing y/n down roughly, watching as tears fell from y/n's face, lizzie reached down with her free hand to pull on y/n's tits a bit, just to pull a vibrating moan from the younger one, yet as y/n continued Lizzie kept getting closer finally snapping as she came herself with a loud groan.

After a moment, lizzie released her hold on y/n standing up to discard the strap she was wearing before laying back on the sofa, pulling y/n into her lap keeping the college student close to her.

"I think this arrangement will work out just fine" Lizzie muttered as she watched y/n slowly drifting off.

....PART TWO?

────────────────

A/N - it seems the reader doesn't really know who Lizzie is yet, i'm quite excited to take the story into more depth.

[seriouslycromulent]

The Surprising Reason John Larroquette Took His Career-Defining Role on 'Night Court'

The comedy ninja reveals all this week's 'Parade' cover story.

MARA REINSTEIN

UPDATED:JAN 19, 2023

Get in a car and drive about 30 miles north of Portland, Oregon, into southwest Washington. That’s where you’ll find actor John Larroquette.

He and his wife, Elizabeth, have lived on a piece of rural property for about five years. He collects books and likes to narrate plays in his home recording studio. Sometimes the couple head into the city to try new restaurants and go to the theater and concerts. “It’s really beautiful,” he says. “And at my age, it’s time to slow down and be out somewhere.”

In fact, Larroquette is so fond of his far-from-Hollywood lifestyle that not too long ago, he considered himself retired from the business with a fulfilling career and a room full of trophies to show for it. Never did he think he’d return to grueling TV work, let alone reprise the very role that made him a household name.

Guess what happened next?

Yup, Larroquette, 75, is suiting back up as wise-cracking, endearingly smarmy lawyer Dan Fielding in a new version of the irreverent sitcom Night Court (premiering Jan. 17 on NBC). Set decades after the 1984-92 original, it still chronicles the colorful cast of characters passing through the New York City after-hours courtroom. But now, the Honorable Abby Stone (Melissa Rauch), the daughter of Judge Harry T. Stone (Harry Anderson), bangs the gavel.

Fielding starts the series as a process server, though not for long. “As an actor, I thought it would be an interesting idea to revisit a character 35 years later in his life and see what happened to him,” Larroquette says. “I can’t do the physical comedy and jump over chairs anymore, so my conversations with the producers were about how to find the funny.”

Call it the latest unexpected turn for a seasoned star who began his professional journey as a DJ for “underground” radio in the 1960s, moved from his native New Orleans to Los Angeles to jumpstart his career, once took a gig in exchange for marijuana, played a Klingon in the third Star Trek movie and completed rehab to kick his heavy drinking—all before his very first audition for Night Court in 1983. After the sitcom’s last episode, he won his fifth Emmy (for the drama The Practice) and a 2011 Tony for the Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He and Elizabeth, wed for 47 years, have three grown children.

“I honestly wish I had a tape recorder going at all times because he’s led such an interesting life and has such wonderful stories,” marvels Rauch, his co-star and a Night Court executive producer. “He’s super-quick, funny and definitely tells it like it is.”

Exhibit A? His interview with Parade, in which he discusses life and death, and everything in between.

Did you sign on to the series right away or was it a tough sell?

When Melissa [Rauch] presented the idea to me, I immediately said, “No thank you.” I didn’t like the idea of being compared to my 35-year-old, younger self. These conversations went on for a year. Then, one day, she told me that she wanted to be on-camera as well, so I decided to try and do it. We ended up pitching the show together, and it got picked up. You know, in New Orleans, there’s a French word called “lagniappe,” which means “a little bonus.” That’s what I consider myself. She’s the heart of the show.

Sadly, a few of your co-stars—including Harry Anderson and Markie Post—have died in recent years. What was it like being on the set without them?

Very emotional. Harry passed away in 2018, but it’s still a tender spot in my heart because he and I were together for a long time even outside of work. Markie and I were very close, and we had exchanged a few emails about the show before she died [in 2021]. She was a big cheerleader for it. And Charlie [Robinson, who played the clerk “Mac”] died when we were shooting the pilot last year. I saw him a lot because we both love the theater. Being on the set—I don’t say this glibly—but it was like seeing dead people. I’d always remember how I had this bizarre and completely sincere family for nine years.

Going back to the 1980s, why did you originally take the Dan Fielding role?

It was a paycheck. This was 1983, and I was still a journeyman actor going from job to job. I was a regular on a series in the ‘70s [Baa Baa Black Sheep], but then I took a few years off to do some extremely heavy drinking. After I got sober and realized I wasn’t going to die, I thought, “What am I going to do?” I had been in a pretty big [1981] movie called Stripes with Bill Murray. I read for Ted Danson’s role in Cheers.

Wait, how far did you get in the Sam Malone casting process?

Oh, I just walked in and did a cold reading along with every other 32-year-old actor at the time. But then I auditioned for the judge in Night Court. The producers asked me to read for this other role of Dan Fielding and I said, “Sure.” Even if I hated the role, I would have taken it because I needed to make money to help pay the rent and support my family and be a responsible member of society. It was luck that I really liked it. Then I got lucky again when NBC picked up the show as a mid-season replacement.

During the height of the show’s popularity, you earned four consecutive Emmys for your performance. That must have felt beyond validating.

Obviously, being acknowledged by your contemporaries was an incredible honor. I don’t say that blithely. It was a remarkable, remarkable feeling. And I was up against some formidable talent—mainly all those guys from Cheers.

Why do you think the character was and is so appealing?

I think because he allowed the audience to know that he wasn’t a bad guy. He was more like a feckless buffoon. He also really wanted to be loved. As a matter of fact, in our pitch, we screened an old scene of Fielding in a hospital bed telling Harry, “I don’t have a life; I have a lifestyle. Nobody has ever said, ‘I love you.’” So when we find Fielding again, he’s loved and lost. And Harry’s daughter forces him out of his cave. It’s a real full-circle moment.

Let’s go back to your own start. Did you have any music skills coming out of New Orleans?

Well, I started playing clarinet in third grade, then I moved to the saxophone in the 1960s. But I euphemistically say that I could talk better than I could blow. So, I took that sax out of my mouth and became a DJ and started using my voice as much as I could. I’ve always loved the analog aspect of audio. I still have some reel-to-reel tape recordings and old microphones.

Is that how you ended up narrating the opening prologue for [the 1974 horror classic] The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

No, no, that wasn’t through any kind of past work. In the summer of ‘69, I was working as a bartender at a small Colorado resort in a little town called Grand Lake because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. [Director] Tobe Hooper happened to be in town and we became friendly. Flash forward four years, and I found myself in L.A. collecting unemployment checks and trying to decide if I wanted to be an actor. Tobe heard I was in town and asked for an hour of my time to narrate something for this movie he just did. I said, “Fine!” It was a favor.

Per the Internet, he gave you a joint in lieu of payment. True?

Totally true. He gave me some marijuana or a matchbox or whatever you called it in those days. I walked out of the studio and patted him on his back side and said, “Good luck to you!” Now, I have also narrated the consequential films and did get paid. You do something for free in the 1970s and get a little money in the ‘90s. I’m not a big horror movie fan, so I’ve never seen it. But it’s certainly the one credit that’s stuck strongly to my resume.

But you’ve appeared on the big screen plenty of times. Did you have movie-star aspirations following all your TV success?

The movies I’ve done are mostly forgettable. Blind Date [from 1987] is an exception, but that’s because of Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger. And Blake Edwards directed it. It was funny. But my face is not made for a really big screen. It’s a broad, clown-like face. It’s good for a TV two-shot. And you ride the horse in the direction that it’s going and television was always right there and offering me stuff, so I kept doing that.

You also performed in a musical for the first time in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 2010. How was that change of pace?

I was hesitant to do it because I had never sung and danced on stage. I was convinced I was going to be fired in the first two or three weeks. I’d keep going in my head, “five, six, seven, eight!” just trying to get the steps down. But I loved the lifestyle of being a stage actor in New York. I loved working with Daniel Radcliffe, and we became fast friends. It got to a point where I couldn’t wait to get to the theater and try it again that night. If you’re given the opportunity to do something that may be a stretch, I think it’s important to try and see if you can pull it off.

Can you talk a bit about your personal life? You seem a little reclusive.

Reclusive isn’t accurate, but I’m definitely an introvert. Elizabeth and I met doing the play Enter Laughing and got married in 1975. She puts up with me, and you can’t ask for much more than that. Our kids are grown. My daughter Lisa is a graphic designer and my son Jonathan has had a podcast for the past 17 years called Uhh Yeah Dude. And my youngest son, Ben, is a musician who graduated from the Berklee School of Music. He actually composed the new theme music for Night Court. They’re all lovely, and I love them dearly.

That’s quite a professional and personal success story, no?

You know, considering where I’m from and the kind of culture I grew up in, yes. I’ve been very successful in my chosen field. And I’m grateful for having done that because there were times when I thought I would not live, much less have a career. It’s nothing to be taken for granted. But I’m very old now. Three quarters of a century. I’m sort of playing with house money from now on, regardless of what happens.

Sorry, but 75 isn’t very old!

Yes, it’s old. It’s old. Please. It’s old. There are certainly people who live longer, but I can go down the list of wonderful friends and coworkers who are now deceased. One being Kirstie Alley, my costar in [the 1990 comedy] Madhouse, who was younger than I am. She was a lovely person, and so funny. There are only a few more exits on the freeway and you’ve got to choose one. But I’m not afraid of the hereafter and I don’t bemoan it. It’s been an interesting ride, and all rides eventually end.

Do you have any sort of words to live by?

As corny as it sounds, take things one day at a time. You know, I learned when I stopped drinking at age 32 that all you have is right now. Use the present in your life as much as you can.

Source: https://parade.com/celebrities/john-larroquette-night-court-cover-story

-----

My thoughts (please feel free to ignore):

I'm sure someone in the fandom has already posted this interview John did last year with Parade magazine when the new Night Court premiered. But I can say that it's new to me, so I'm sharing it in case it's new to someone else too.

I apologize for the highlighted purple sections above. That's just me marking the parts of the interview that resonated with me the most.

I don't know about anyone else, but some parts of his answers to the questions made me feel kind of sad. Partially because he's clearly experiencing grief at the loss of his friends. And partially because John himself may not be with us for much longer (although I hope I'm wrong and he beats Betty White to 100).

But I was talking to my mother about some of his answers, and she said that as someone who has reached an age milestone herself, she understands his perspective. And I guess I do too.

It's important to remember that in any other profession, John would likely be retired by now. So we should really be grateful for any roles he takes or public appearances he makes, and hope that his days ahead are filled with the calm, joy and laughter that he so rightly deserves.

[bfpnola]

ONE OF OUR FORMER VOLUNTEERS NEEDS YOUR HELP! PLEASE SHARE!

Hi! My name is Camaria, I am 18 years old, and a first-generation low-income freshman at Barnard College of Columbia University. Currently, I am in the process of planning for surgery in October for the removal of a benign jaw tumor, Ameloblastoma.

I became aware of this issue in December 2022 and have been going under treatment as it was a cyst. I spent nearly 5k of my savings paying for that treatment. However, in July, it was discovered that the cyst changed forms, becoming a solid tumor. This is forcing me to undergo serious surgical removal and reconstruction of my jaw. The tumor is eating up my teeth and bones as we speak, so I need this surgery as soon as possible.

I moved away from home a week after hearing the news: from New Orleans, LA to New York City. I am alone in college with little known family near me, planning for this surgery. Both of my parents have no money or savings to help pay for my surgery. My dad was laid off from his welding career due to bad eyesight from age. My mother is supporting my two younger siblings, ages 12 and 17, working as a server in a restaurant to make ends meet.

Bone implants are predicted to cost around 9-12k, and hospital bills are unknown. I also need to get prosthodontist work and dental implants as they are removing at least 7 teeth from my bottom row. Those will cost around 6k-8k, not including the $800 per dental implant. My insurance doesn’t cover any of the costs for my implants or prosthodontist work.

The surgeon has requested I pay 50% of the bone implant cost upfront, amounting to between 4.5k-6k before my surgery date of October 25th.

All donations will go towards the costs of helping me pay my bills. I can’t do this on my own and I’m pleading for help.

[bluepeachstudios]

Ame's TMNT Masterpost

To keep everything together for not only anyone who comes across this hot mess but also for me, I have created this post. ORGANIZATION.

My general blog is @amevello-blue, where I reblog stuff including fanart for the stories I do! I also have a [Ko-Fi] if you're interested in giving me a tip.

Fanfics

Mystic Forest - A fan reboot of TMNT where the turtles were raised in the quarantined forest where they were mutated near New York City. You can also find a bunch of stuff over at @wondrous-art, who co-writes! [Read it!] [Tag!]

Please Just Let Them Hug - A canon compliant 2003 series where I write about the off-screen recovery and domestic things happening between episodes. [Read It!] [Tag!]

The Tortoise and the Hare - A canon divergent 2003 series where Leo and Usagi are definitely gay and start dating. [Read It!] [Art Tag!]

No Room for Dying - Sequel to "The Tortoise and the Hare", taking place during the Ninja Tribunal arc of 2003. [Read it!] [Tag!]

The Great Skittles Heist of 2105 - A Fast Forward AU where the Dark turtles came out of the growth process early, as babies! The turtles adopt them. [Read it!] [Tag!]

2012 Fusion - An alternate universe where the turtles discover new Krang tech that allows them to fuse. [Read it!] [Tag!]

Season X - A continuation of Fast Forward's cancelled Season 2 with a focus on the Dark Turtles and their redemption arc. [Read it!] [Tag!]

Ghost in the Shell - An AU where the Donatello from SAINW that went missing ends up slipping into the Rise universe and watching a version of his own family grow. [Read it!] [Tag!]

Tags

TMNT 2003 - All my 2003 art and doodles. [click!]

TMNT Toy Redraw - I draw my old turtle characters based on TMNT toys I had as a kid. [click!]

Ask Doodle - Tag for drawings in response to asks. [click!]

Ame Talks - Text posts only! Or if I go off on a tangent. [click!]

The TMNT Pit: CURRENTLY CLOSED I have a discord server where I show doodles and story snippets before they go up on tumblr, or even parts that never go up anywhere else. It's also just a general TMNT with lots of '03 and Rise love!

Feel free to send me asks about anything! I'm always happy to answer! If you specify an ask towards a character, then I'll answer with art or in-character text! Just make sure you specify which character and for which universe, or I'll default to whatever I'm feelin' at the moment.

[dweemeister]

November 15, 2023

By Jonathan Mahler, James B. Stewart, and Benjamin Mullin

(The New York Times Magazine) — It was April 2022, and David Zaslav had just closed the deal of a lifetime. From the helm of his relatively small and unglamorous cable company, Discovery, he had taken control of a sprawling entertainment conglomerate that included perhaps the most storied movie studio on the planet, Warner Brothers. The longtime New Yorker had always loved movies, and against the advice of several media peers, he had moved to Hollywood and taken over Jack Warner’s historic office, hauling the old mogul’s desk out of storage and topping it off with an old-time handset telephone. So far things were going great. He had met all the stars and players, was widely feted as the next in line to save the eternally struggling industry and was well into the process of renovating a landmark house in Beverly Hills. “You’re the dog that caught the bus,” the billionaire octogenarian cable pioneer John Malone, one of Discovery’s largest shareholders, told him. All he needed to do now was pay back the $56 billion in debt that he piled onto the new company to make the deal happen.

Money is never just lying around Hollywood, and the town was still reeling from the pandemic. But that was OK. Zaslav had set a “synergy target” — cost cuts, essentially — of $3 billion in the next two years, and now, with the clock ticking, he got to work. To help, he had brought along his chief financial officer from Discovery, an amateur pilot and former McKinsey consultant named Gunnar Wiedenfels. As spring turned to summer, they laid off hundreds of workers, shuttered or reorganized divisions and suspended or canceled hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of programming. Anything we don’t think is awesome, Zaslav told executives, stop production right now. Turn the cameras off.

Cuts are the norm after a merger, but Zaslav and Wiedenfels were pushing things hard, and in sometimes unorthodox directions. By shelving several nearly completed projects — including the animated, direct-to-streaming movie “Scoob!: Holiday Haunt,” and the fourth season of the postapocalyptic TV series “Snowpiercer” — they saved millions in postproduction and marketing costs, as well as residuals down the line, and they locked in hefty tax breaks up front. Like so much of what happened in Hollywood, all this was reminiscent of a Hollywood production — in this case, the beloved 1967 Mel Brooks comedy “The Producers.” There, the producers, Max Bialystock and Leopold Bloom, realized that under the right circumstances, a producer could make more money with a flop than a hit. For Zaslav and Wiedenfels, the money would come from making sure that no one would get to see the shows in the first place.

Then they came for “Batgirl.” The big-ticket streaming project had just finished filming in Scotland when Zaslav took over, and he and Wiedenfels had immediately identified it as a target — a “free ball,” as Zaslav described it to several colleagues. The audience test scores for a very early cut were not encouraging. Still, a number of executives warned him not to shelve it. “Batgirl” was a $90 million entry in a multibillion-dollar universe of movies and television shows based on DC Comics. Michael Keaton was reprising his role as Batman, and sequels were already in the works. Plenty of movies had tested poorly but still earned millions. Killing an all-but-completed movie would alienate the people Zaslav — or at least Hollywood — needed most: the people who made the movies. It was to no avail. On Aug. 2, the word came down: “Batgirl” was dead.

As predicted, the backlash was immediate and emotional. Stunned, the film’s up-and-coming directors, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, tried to look at their footage, but their access to the production server was denied. The head of the DC unit, Walter Hamada, who was not consulted on the decision, asked to be released from his contract and would leave before the end of the year. Courtenay Valenti, one of the most respected development executives at Warner Brothers, was equally devastated and would be gone in a matter of weeks, ending a 33-year run at the studio. The news dominated the Hollywood trades for days. Under fire, Zaslav defended the decision in an earnings call with analysts, saying he shelved “Batgirl” to protect the DC brand. More quietly, Zaslav also sought cover in the authority of Bryan Lourd, the powerful co-chairman of Creative Artists Agency and a leading arbiter of Hollywood mores. As Zaslav told it to several associates, Lourd had supported the decision, observing that it wasn’t in the interest of C.A.A. clients, like the film’s star, Leslie Grace, to be associated with a bad movie. But a C.A.A. spokeswoman denied that. “Bryan Lourd was not consulted in advance of the studio’s move to cancel ‘Batgirl,’” she said.

At Discovery, producers referred to having their budgets slashed as “getting Gunnared,” and Wiedenfels maintains a hard-boiled, McKinsey-esque attitude toward the bottom line. “It’s hard work,” he says. “You don’t make friends.” Zaslav, a born salesman who would prefer to make friends, is more reflective. “You do sometimes get bloodied,” he said in a wide-ranging interview at Warner Brothers Discovery’s corporate headquarters in New York. But business is business. “We have made unpopular decisions because they were necessary.”

That joke about selling to Saudi Arabia in the end. Just... no.

[organizeworkers]

Brooklyn restaurant workers move closer to becoming New York City’s first unionized pizzeria

Alex Dinndorf, a server at Barboncino, told amNewYork Metro that a union would provide him and the others with job security.

“We realized that we’re used to being fired for any reason,” said Dinndorf, who’s been at Barboncino for two years. “It’s a service industry problem.”  

Several workers reached out to the Emergency Workers Organizing Committee (EWOC), which formed in March 2020 to support people struggling with a lack of workplace protections during the pandemic.

Daphna Thier, a labor educator with EWOC, said the volunteer-run organization has helped around 130 union campaigns, including some still actively unionizing, in New York City. Barboncino Workers United, which is what the workers called their union-in-the-making, decided that Barboncino was worth fighting for.

Restaurant unions, up until recently, have been largely formed by workers at chain restaurants such as Starbucks and Chipotle. Thier, who worked as a New York City bartender for more than a decade, is hopeful that Barboncino Workers United could set a precedent for more small businesses.

Read more from the article:

[lingthusiasm]

Lingthusiasm Episode 75: Love and fury at the linguistics of emotions

Emotions are a universal part of the human experience, but the specific ways we express them are mediated through language. For example, English uses the one word “love” for several distinct feelings: familial love, romantic love, platonic love, and loving things (I love this ice cream!), whereas Spanish distinguishes lexically between the less intense querer and the stronger amar. Conversely, many Austronesian languages use the same word for the concepts that English would split as “fear” and “surprise”, while many Nakh-Daghestani (Northeast Caucasian) languages use the same word for the cluster that English splits into “fear”, “anxiety”, and “grief”.

In this episode, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne get enthusiastic about the layers of language that are involved in emotions, from how emotion words form different clusters of related meaning in different language families to how the way your face shape changes when you smile affects the pitch of your voice. We also talk about how our understanding of how to talk about emotion changes throughout history and our lifespan, and how bilingual people feel differently about emotional words in their different languages.

Read the transcript here.

Announcements:

Thank you so much for celebrating our 6th anniversary with us! We appreciated all the love and support on social media, and it was great to see you recommending us to other language fans. Thank you to anyone who made an irl recommendation of the podcast, we appreciate you too!

In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about stylized Oldey Timey English! We talk about contexts in which pseudo-archaic forms get used, from Gretchen's recent experience with names and titles in a 1492 papal election roleplaying game, to how the language handbook of the Society of Creative Anachronism balances modern-day desires for gender-neutral language with creating historic-feeling titles, and a 1949 academic article cataloguing business names in the New York City phonebook that began with "ye". Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 60+ other bonus episodes, as well as access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds.

Here are the links mentioned in the episode:

Emotion semantics show both cultural variation and universal structure

‘Why Doesn’t Ancient Fiction Talk About Feelings?’ - Nautilus article

‘Language Development and Emotional Expression’ by Lois Bloom

‘Alexithymia and levels of processing: Evidence for an overall deficit in remembering emotion words’ from Journal of Research in Personality

Example of Emotion Wheels

‘The Preponderance of Negative Emotion Words in the Emotion Lexicon: A Cross-generational and Cross-linguistic Study’ by Robert W. Schrauf & Julia Sanchez

‘'Stop Doing That, Ia Komu Skazala!': Language Choice and Emotions in Parent—Child Communication’ by Aneta Pavlenko

Lingthusiasm Episode ‘Making machines learn language - Interview with Janelle Shane’

‘‘Happy talk: Perceptual and acoustic effects of smiling on speech’ by V. C. Tartter

‘Perceptual cues in non-verbal vocal expressions of emotion’ by Disa A Sauter, Frank Eisner, Andrew J Calder, & Sophie K Scott

‘On the Differences in Prosodic Features of Emotional Expressions in Japanese Speech according to the Degree of the Emotion’ by Yasuki Hashizawa, Shoichi Takeda, Muhd Dzulkhiflee Hamzah, Ghen Ohyama

‘Acoustic-phonetic properties of smiling revised – measurements on a natural video corpus’ by Helen Barthel & Hugo Quené

‘The voices of anger and disgust: Acoustic correlates in three languages’ by Marc D. Pell & Areej Alasseri

‘Relevant Angry Affect Slows Response Time To Commands’ by Aleah Combs

‘Beyond lexical meaning: The effect of emotional prosody on spoken word recognition’ by Seung Kyung Kim & Meghan Sumner

You can listen to this episode via Lingthusiasm.com, Soundcloud, RSS, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download an mp3 via the Soundcloud page for offline listening. To receive an email whenever a new episode drops, sign up for the Lingthusiasm mailing list.

You can help keep Lingthusiasm advertising-free by supporting our Patreon. Being a patron gives you access to bonus content, our Discord server, and other perks.

Lingthusiasm is on Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com

Gretchen is on Twitter as @GretchenAMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic.

Lauren is on Twitter as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.

Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our production editor is Sarah Dopierala, and our production assistant is Martha Tsutsui Billins. Our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles.

This episode of Lingthusiasm is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license (CC 4.0 BY-NC-SA).

[tragedygroupie]

Miles bron smut please!!💗💗

thank you so much for this because it inspired me to write this and it may be one of my favorite things i’ve ever written

his parliament’s on fire and his hands are up

“are you sure her name isn’t on the list?” my friend asks.

“i’m positive.”

it’s some time late at night, and my friends and i are trying to get into one of new york’s most exclusive clubs. we make a game out of it, the pleading and cajoling almost as fun as the actual clubbing.

“can you check for my name? it’s juli pascal,” my best friend giggles.

“girls if i don’t find your name after this, i’m gonna have to ask you to leave.” the bouncer sighs.

“actually, they’re with me.”

i turn around, confused.

an older man with a hamptons tan and aggressively blonde hair walks over to us. a security detail follows him.

“isn’t that right darling?” he asks me, wrapping an arm around my waist.

i smile at him. two can play at this game.

“this would be my boyfriend. HE should be on the list, isn’t that right honey?” i ask.

the bouncer’s face has gone red, and he’s stammering.

“i’m so sorry mr bron, this won’t happen again-“

i turn to my friends and try to convey my disbelief.

“fucking miles bron?!” juli mouths.

i shrug, scarcely able to process it myself.

as we walk through the door, my friends start thanking him profusely.

“thank you so much mr bron, we really appreciate it-“

he waves his hand.

“its no problem ladies. i used to be like you when i was your age, i always love helping out fellow disrupters.”

juli and i dissolve into a fit of giggles, as the rest of the group laughs as well.

“well we really appreciate it.” i say.

he lets go of my waist, and i almost feel disappointed.

“i hope to see you ladies sometime soon,” he says and we all thank him again.

as he walks off, lulu turns to me.

“what the fuck?”

i shrug.

“stranger things have happened.”

juli shakes her head.

“that may be the strangest thing that’s ever fucking happened.”

********************************************

it’s been an hour and i’m stumbling up to the bar. i’m not really built for clubbing- i hate dancing and i don’t like most men. the most fun part of the night is always trying to get in, and i’m still not entirely over how we did that in the first place.

i sit up at the counter and get on my phone as i wait for the server to come over.

“aren’t you a little young to be drinking?”

i turn around and there he is.

the blonde himself.

“aren’t you a little old to be clubbing?” i shoot back.

he chuckles, putting his hands up in an i surrender pose as he sits down next to me.

“also, i am old enough to drink. in most countries anyway.”

he laughs at that, a full body laugh that makes me wonder if he’s drunk already.

“you’re funny.”

“i do stand up if you’re interested. my best material is on Twitter.”

“i considered buying twitter.” he says thoughtfully as the server comes over.

“i’ll have a rum and coke. you?” he asks.

“the exact same, only no rum please.”

the server bustles off and he looks at me curiously.

“you don’t drink?”

i shake my head.

“i barely drink anything that isn’t coke to begin with.”

we sit quietly for a moment as the server returns with our drinks.

“so do you always do this?” he asks.

“do what?”

“go to clubs that most people can’t get into and try to con your way in?”

i laugh.

“i don’t know if it’s conning. my friends are pretty, they should get in just on hotness alone,” i say as i sip my coke.

“and what about you?”

“i’m gonna be an Oscar winning filmmaker someday. they’re lucky i deign to visit their establishment.”

he laughs.

“what have you directed?”

“nothing yet.”

“i like your confidence.”

we take a swig of our drinks, and i assess him. he’s not a bad looking dude. old enough to be my father, but i’ve skewed towards older men since i was in high school.

“why’d you get us in?” i ask.

“i like your style. you’re disruptive. inbreathiating even.”

i giggle.

“that’s not a real word.”

he goes on like he hasn’t heard me.

“would it be too cheesy if i said it was because you’re pretty?” he asks.

i scoff.

“there are a million models still waiting out there in the cold. i don’t know what you’d see in me that you can’t find in them.”

he shakes his head.

“you’re pretty in a different way. in a… real way.”

why the fuck is this sleazy pick up working?

“a lot of the girls in my world are pretty in a polished way. they’re pretty because they were manufactured to be that way. there’s nothing wrong with that, but you, you’re pretty like a forest fire.”

he grabs my hand as he talks, his eyes never leaving mine.

“you have this chaos and fun and danger to you, and it’s not that cheap thrill shit you get at a theme park. you’re pretty and you’re dangerous in the way a hurricane is.”

my drink is abandoned as i focus entirely on him.

“do you like my kind of pretty?” i ask, feeling like i’m fourteen years old again.

“i wanna drown in it.”

we stare at each other for a moment, and i grab my drink and take a long sip.

“do you dance?” i finally ask.

“yes,” he grins.

“i don’t.”

“well we’ll have to fix that.” he says, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of my chair, back to the dance floor.

when we get to the heart of the crowd i stand there, unsure of how to proceed.

“you really don’t dance?” he asks, surprised.

“hmm, if only i had told you.”

he laughs and i hate how infectious it is, because now i have a small smile on my face.

“well you start by doing this.”

he grabs my hands and puts them on his shoulders.

“and then you just kind of-“ he rocks back and forth to the music.

slowly, i move my body with him.

“you’re getting the hang of it!”

i move closer to him, so close that he’s practically grinding on me while i interlock my hands behind his neck.

we sway to the pulsating music, rocking our bodies in time and part of me wants to close my eyes and rest my head on his shoulder, but that’s a little too cheesy for a potential fuck with a billionaire playboy.

when the song ends, i look up at him and see the hunger in his eyes.

he wants me, and i want him.

if he’s bad in bed at least i’ll get to sleep on sheets with a thread count higher than my tuition.

“do you wanna go back to your place?”

he grins.

“i thought you’d never ask.”

********************************************

his apartment makes me want to shank him.

it reeks of money, new money eclecticism with superfluous furniture and nonsensical art pieces.

it makes me cringe. i have to fuck him.

“so do you wanna-“ he asks as i cut him off with a kiss.

he startles, before seemingly coming alive.

he pushes me against the wall, his hands wandering my body as he kisses me hard. his mouth wanders with his hands, kissing and sucking hickeys onto my neck.

“aren’t we… a little… old… for hickeys?” i pant as he chuckles into my skin.

“i wont leave any if you don’t want me to.” he says as he bites my neck.

“now when did i say that?” i breathe.

he’s running his hand up my thigh, and when he starts rubbing me through my underwear i start dissolving into incoherence.

“do you want me to touch you?” he asks coyly.

i nod frantically.

“use your words honey.”

“yes fuck you yes just fucking touch me please.” i spit out.

“so impatient,” he observes and i’m about to tell him to fuck off when he slides a finger inside me and i’m rendered dumb.

he starts pumping it in and out of me, his thumb rubbing circles onto my clit and i’m whimpering, melting into his arms as he coos at me like a baby.

“do you like that?” he asks softly.

i nod into the crook of his neck, thankful that i’m spared eye contact.

as he slides another finger inside me and curls i feel my knees start to buckle.

it’s honestly a little pathetic but i haven’t been finger fucked this well in god knows how long.

as he continues to pump his fingers and rub my clit i feel the coil in my stomach threaten to snap.

“can i, can i?” i start babbling.

“of course sweetheart,” he murmurs, his free hand brushing my hair.

i feel myself fall over the edge as he fingers me through my orgasm, and the whole time he holds me close to him.

when he pulls his fingers out i sneak a look at him and he smiles at me.

“do you think you have another left in you?” he asks.

“god yes,” i breathe.

he picks me up bridal style in his arms and carries me to his bedroom, where he gently lays me down.

strong hands pull my dress over my head, methodically undressing me as i try to tug at his shirt.

he crawls over me and holds my face in his hands for a moment.

i hook my thighs around his waist and when he enters me, it burns deliciously from my cunt throughout my body. he stills a little, letting me adjust, before setting a slow but hard pace.

my eyes are rolling back into my head as i grip the sheets, only to feel his hands on my face.

“eyes on me,” he groans.

he starts speeding up when we make eye contact, slamming into me while he reaches down between us to rub my clit with a fervor i didn’t know he had in him.

as i near my orgasm, i babble, desperately trying to ask permission to cum.

“can i please please please” i pant.

“cum for me darling,” he says.

i feel my body shake as i spasm around him.

my cunt clenching around him must trigger his own release, because he’s cumming deep inside me, hot and thick.

when he pulls out, i’m still shaking and i pray he doesn’t notice how my thighs are trembling, i don’t want to add to his ego.

“are you alright?” he asks.

“yeah,” i stutter out.

“you’re shaking,” he observes.

before i can respond he takes me in his arms, hugging me close to him.

exhausted, i rest my head on his chest.

“imma sleep and if you wake up before me, just pretend like i’m dead,” i mutter.

he laughs.

“okay.”

[mariacallous]

De-extinction startup Colossal Biosciences wants to bring back the woolly mammoth. Well, not the woolly mammoth exactly, but an Asian elephant gene-edited to give it the fuzzy hair and layer of blubber that allowed its close relative to thrive in sub-zero environments.

To get to these so-called “functional mammoths,” Colossal’s scientists need to solve a whole bunch of challenges: making the right genetic tweaks, growing edited cells into fully formed baby functional mammoths, and finding a space where these animals can thrive. It’s a long, uncertain road, but the startup has just announced a small breakthrough that should ease some of the way forward.

Scientists at Colossal have managed to reprogram Asian elephant cells into an embryonic-like state that can give rise to every other cell type. This opens up a path to creating elephant sperm and eggs in the lab and being able to test gene edits without having to frequently take tissue samples from living elephants. The research, which hasn’t yet been released in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, will be published on the preprint server Biorxiv.

There are only around 30,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants in the wild, so access to these animals—and particularly their sperm and eggs—is extremely limited. Yet Colossal needs these cells if they’re going to figure out how to bring their functional mammoths to life. “With so few fertile female elephants, we really don’t want to interfere with their reproduction at all. We want to do it independently,” says George Church, a Harvard geneticist and Colossal cofounder.

The cells that Colossal created are called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and they behave a lot like the stems cells found in an embryo. Embryonic stem cells have the ability to give rise to all kinds of different cell types that make up organisms—a quality that scientists call pluripotency. Most cells, however, lose this ability as the organism develops. Human skin, for instance, can’t spontaneously turn into muscle or cells that line the inside of the intestine.

In 2006, the Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka showed it was possible to take mature cells and turn them back into a pluripotent state. Yamanaka’s research was in mice cells, but later scientists followed up by deriving iPSCs for lots of different species, including humans, horses, pigs, cattle, monkeys, and the northern white rhino—a functionally extinct subspecies with only two individuals, both females, remaining in the wild.

Reprogramming Asian elephant cells into iPSCs proved trickier than with other species, says Eriona Hysolli, head of biological sciences at Colossal. As with other species, the scientists reprogrammed the elephant cells by exposing them to a series of different chemicals and then adding proteins called transcription factors that turn on particular genes to change how the cells functions. The whole process took two months, which is much longer than the 5 to 10 days it takes to create mouse iPSCs or the three weeks for human iPSCs.

This difficulty might have to do with the unique biology of elephants, says Vincent Lynch, a developmental biologist at the University at Buffalo in New York who wasn’t involved in the Colossal study. Elephants are the classic example of Peto’s paradox—the idea that very large animals have unusually low rates of cancer given their size. Since cancer can be caused by genetic mutations that accumulate as cells divide, you’d expect that animals with 100 times more cells than humans would have a much higher risk of cancer.

But elephants have cancer rates even lower than humans—a surprising fact given their vast size. One hypothesis for elephants’ cancer-defying biology is that they carry lots of copies of a tumor-suppressing gene called P53. Humans, on the other hand, only have one copy of this gene.

P53 is good for elephant health, but it could be the reason that up until now scientists have struggled to create iPSCs from elephant cells, Lynch says. One way the gene seems to work is by stopping cells from entering a state where they can duplicate indefinitely, which is one of the key features of iPSCs.

Hysolli says that she’d like to reduce the time it takes to create elephant iPSCs, and refine the process so the Colossal team can produce them at a greater scale. The iPSCs will be particularly useful if Colossal’s scientists can turn them into sperm and egg cells, something that Hysolli’s team is already working on. Since there is a relatively limited supply of elephant eggs and sperm, one problem facing the de-extinction project is getting enough genetic diversity to support a population of functional mammoths—develop them from too few individuals, and you risk the negative effects of inbreeding. Being able to create sperm and egg cells in the lab should help with that, Church says.

These cells could also be useful for conservation work, Hysolli says. Colossal has partnered with researchers working on elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus (EEHV), a leading cause of death for young Asian elephants. The iPSCs could be a good way to figure out how the virus infects different cell types. The cells will also be useful for testing whether Colossal’s edits to produce mammoth-like fur and fat layers are working as scientists hope.

“I have no doubt that given enough time and money they will overcome the technical challenges of making a woolly-mammoth-looking elephant,” says Lynch. But he’s less convinced of the ecological benefits of de-extinction. The startup intends to introduce the elephant-mammoth hybrids into the wild to re-create the role once played by the mammoth in the Arctic ecosystem, grazing the land and trampling snow cover, potentially decelerating the melting of permafrost.

“How many hairy Asian elephants do you need to make that work?” Lynch asks. Whether there really is a niche for edited elephants in the Arctic 4,000 years after mammoths last roamed the area is a question that conservationists are still grappling with. Sure, scientists might be able to create mammoth-like Asian elephants, but whether we should is open to much debate.

Colossal’s scientists will be glad if they get to that point. Although they have elephant iPSCs, much of the work of creating elephant-mammoth hybrids is ahead of them. They must figure out how to create elephant sperm and egg cells, master the right edits to tweak their elephants, and take their creation through the 22-month Asian elephant gestation period. And then they have to do it enough times to build a population that can actually deliver on some of their ecological aims.

“It feels very significant,” Church says of the iPSC breakthrough. “This is a very big deal.” If Colossal is going to deliver on its de-extinction mission, then there will be many other moments like this ahead.

[skyseoroundtable]

Comprehending Uncontested Divorce in New York - Beckerman & Granados, PLLC

DISCOVER WHETHER APPEARING IN COURT IS NECESSARY FOR AN UNCONTESTED DIVORCE IN NEW YORK AND WHAT PAPERWORK IS INVOLVED.

Are you considering an uncontested divorce in New York and wondering why you might need a New York Uncontested Divorce Lawyer? Our goal is to simplify the process and provide you with all the information you need to proceed efficiently and cost-effectively with a goal of avoiding Court appearances. Contact Beckerman & Granados, PLLC, today at (718) 374-5642 to schedule a consultation.

Streamlining Divorce with Uncontested Divorce Attorneys in Queens Filing the correct paperwork is essential for a swift and successful uncontested divorce. Our Queens uncontested divorce lawyers have honed a streamlined process designed to make your divorce more efficient and less financially burdensome. At our firm, we prioritize personal attention to each client, ensuring that your case is handled with care and expertise. We understand the desire to move past a challenging relationship swiftly, without unnecessary delays or worries about paperwork and court procedures.

Understanding New York’s Uncontested Divorce In New York State, there are two primary types of divorce: contested and uncontested. A contested divorce arises when you and your spouse disagree on various aspects of the divorce, such as equitable distribution, child custody, or alimony. In such cases, the Court may be required to make the final decision after a trial, necessitating your presence in Court However, when both you and your spouse agree on the terms of the divorce, you are eligible for an uncontested divorce. This means mutual consent to end the marriage, as well as consensus on property division, child custody, child support, and visitation arrangements. Grounds for an Uncontested Divorce in NYC New York has transitioned to essentially a no-fault ground for divorce, specifically the “irretrievable breakdown of the marriage” lasting at least six months before filing for divorce. This means that if you and your spouse no longer wish to remain married and it’s unlikely that you will reconcile, you can request a “no-fault” divorce by stating there was an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. This is not only the most common but also the most cost-effective approach to an uncontested divorce in New York. Other grounds for divorce in New York include cruel and inhuman treatment, abandonment, imprisonment, adultery, divorce following a legal separation agreement, and divorce following a judgment of separation. These grounds are now almost never used and the Court does not like seeing people argue these grounds when the “no fault option” is readily available. Meeting Residency Requirements To file for divorce in New York, you must meet residency requirements. Either you or your spouse must have been living in New York for at least two continuous years before filing for divorce. Alternatively, one year of continuous residency is sufficient if you meet specific conditions such as getting married in New York or living together as a married couple in New York.

Navigating the Uncontested Divorce Process

Here’s a simplified breakdown of the uncontested divorce process in New York:

1. Free Initial Telephone Consultation: Reach out to our attorneys for an initial consultation at no cost.

2. Sign the retainer agreement, statement of client’s rights, and fill out the intake form. 

3. We then draft the initial papers and upon payment for the index number, We will file a Summons with the County Clerk, initiating your divorce case.

4. You then either have your spouse sign the papers we provide you or have a process server serve the papers within 120 days if concerned your spouse won’t readily sign. 

5. Once we receive back the papers signed by your spouse or upon your spouse’s default, you make the final payment and we prepare all required documents, sending them to you for review and signature.

6. Once we receive the papers you signed back, we file everything with the Court.

7. Judge’s Review: A judge will review and sign the papers. (Sometimes additional work may be required by the Judge before signing)

8. We then file and serve on your spouse notice of entry of the divorce once the Judge signs the papers. 

Estimating the Timeline

The duration of an uncontested divorce in NYC can vary, typically taking between 4 to 18 months from filing to judgment, depending on the county.

Court Proceedings for Uncontested Divorce

One advantage of an uncontested divorce is that you generally do not need to appear in court or stand before a judge. Instead, specific forms must be completed and filed with the Court, a task efficiently handled by an uncontested divorce attorney. Once the Court Clerk verifies that all necessary paperwork is in order, a judge will review and sign the judgment. The Court will then notify you when the judgment is ready for collection.

Navigating the complexities of divorce can be overwhelming, but with the support of experienced attorneys, the process can be streamlined and more manageable. Consider reaching out to our Queens Uncontested Divorce Lawyers to simplify your divorce journey and ensure a smoother transition to the next chapter of your life. Contact our attorneys at Beckerman & Granados, PLLC, today at (718) 374-5642 to schedule a consultation. Hablamos español.

[eternivex-a]

Let's Get Rambling... Or Some Shit Like That.

Fandoms: Payday (3), Hardcore Henry, Scarface

Characters: Dallas, Jimmy (HCH), Chains, Hoxton, Tony Montana, Locke

Warnings: Mentions of drug abuse, very very canon divergent, some stuff is referencing an rp I did with my Payday server, and I started this in JANUARY... Sorry it took so long.

Years had passed since the Payday gangs reign of terror over DC and, in all honesty, the world. Their large number of criminals and their skills proved to be far too overwhelming for anything they came across, then they had been caught after trying to rob the white house. The clowns were gone for good.

That's what the world believed for years in their absence. But each one of the members had been living nothing short of their best lives since they disbanded, they were retired and done. At least, that's what they'd been hoping for- until they were dragged back into it.

Heists had proven to be much more difficult as technology evolved and adapted to the passage of time, the law becoming much more of a challenge, because that was somehow possible. Still, adapting to new situations was something they'd done a hundred times over.

Their contacts were limited, and Locke had become their main ally, and Jimmy had made a surprising return after seeing their first endeavor in New York, wanting to assist his old buddies after so long. But that was really all they had, which was why when Locke called and told them that someone wanted to hire them for a job, they became weary, it was lessened slightly with Locke explaining it was another old friend, but it could've been any number of criminals.

They'd been sent the heists information, a simple drug bust. A fair amount of coke was stolen from their contractor, and they wanted it back. It was money, and a friend, both of which they needed. The main thing that got them looking further into it was the demand that Jimmy be brought aboard for the job, they could pick whoever else came, but Jimmy had to be somewhere in their roster.

All of that led to where they were now, an abandoned office building off of a highway that the gang now used as a safehouse. Hoxton had been complaining about the state of it, after getting so used to the lavish safehouse in DC it was only natural that the Brit wouldn't like the place.

It didn't matter to the others though. The building gave the bare minimum, the only real important part was that they could all hide out, and also- plan. That being just what they were doing in the lounge on the first floor, their masks and firearms strewn about the area with a large blueprint of the building their target gang was hiding in.

"D'you think we can go in through the roof and get the jump on them?" Jimmy suggested, making Dallas shake his head. "We don't know exactly where they're holding the coke until they can sell the stuff, if they're too far below and they hear us then they'll just run." He grumbled, rubbing his forehead. This was a lot easier when they had the dentist around, not something that would be spoken aloud but the sentiment was nonetheless shared with the other members.

Everyone was silent in thought, scratching at their hair and drumming fingers against the old wooden table. "Maybe we c... Hold it." Chains stopped, listening closely as footsteps became audible to everyone else in the room. Panic spread as they realized that someone knew where they were, it wasn't like anyone would just come down here either- even Locke didn't know where the gang were holed up.

Eyes turned to meet one another before they rushed into action, staying as quiet as they could in the process. Chains went straight for his sawed off shotgun while Jimmy grabbed a hold of his akimbo Chimano pistols, Dallas and Hoxton rushed with their firearms to aim down the other side of the hallway in case of a possible ambush.

Chains moved up and went to the door, opposite of the side it would open so he could surprise whoever entered. Jimmy went to the staircase, stopping halfway up to keep aim at the door and being hidden by the dark at the same time. It creaked open ever so slowly, letting the moonlight shine inside. The first noticeable thing was the black suit jacket the intruder wore, a red cuff on the wrist.

They slowly stepped inside, seeming to be unarmed as they looked around, unable to see any of the heisters. The door behind them was closed shut by Chains, who kept his shotgun aimed steadily at their head. The other slowly turned to look him up and down, hands leaving their pockets.

Dark eyes stared down the barrel of Chains shotgun before raising to meet his gaze, "You better make sure you kill me with that, Chains." The man spat with a thick accent, accompanied by a devilish grin, seemingly unfazed by the fact that his entire life could be wiped out with a single pull of the trigger. Only one man that the gang had met spoke like that, with such confidence irradiating from each word, his balls of steel were still there after years. He certainly kept to his word.

"...Tony?"

"Took you long enough." Tony's grin turned into a genuine smile, "How you doin', mane?" He laughed, smacking Chains on the shoulder lovingly while he lowered the gun. "You scared the shit out of us, I was about to shoot y-"

"TONAYYY!" Jimmy hollered out, rushing down the stairs and jumping off the last 4 steps to crash into the kingpin, nearly sending him off of his feet. "It's been too fuckin' long man!" His smile was wide as he grabbed onto Tony's shoulders, shaking him a little as he spoke.

The enthusiastic shouting was enough to draw the attention of the other two heisters, who now made their way back. Hoxton stopped as soon as he saw who stood there, Dallas noticed quickly and looked back. Hoxton and Tony didn't have anything close to a good history, not after the traded blows and the knife Tony put through Hoxtons shoulder. But these were different times, and they seemed to had moved past that beforehand. It still wasn't enough to change the mix of fear and anger that came bubbling up with those memories, it was only enough to bring it down ever so slightly.

"Would you look at what the cat dragged in?" He piped up, trying to calm his own nerves as he approached the titular Scarface. Tonys gaze moved right past Dallas and focused onto Hoxton, as much as he would've killed to make a crack about the fact that this time Hox hadnt been replaced, he forced himself to hold it down. "It's good to see you too, Hoxton. Dallas." Tony nodded while he formally greeted the two, pulling himself away from Jimmy.

"How'd you find us? What're you even-.." Dallas went quiet as realization hit him, "You're the contractor?" He asked, Tony nodded with a grin. "That's me alright, wanted to see how you boys were doin'. I know you'll get my yeyo back from those fuckin' punks." Rage was evident in his tone as soon as he mentioned the job at hand, but it was clear who it was really directed at.

The kingpin started to push his way past the heisters, going over to the table with blueprints and other pictures scattered along it. "I don't miss this part." He mumbled with a soft chuckle, "You guys found a lot... Shit, the only thing we're missing is where his parents are buried." Jimmy quickly scooted over to Tony, "You want me to see what I can do for that?" He offered.

"...I'm good." Tony set a hand on the table, "You're thinkin' of goin' quiet with this?" He frowned at the sight, standing up a little straighter as he focused further on their written out plans. Hoxton gave a quick glance to Chains, who only shrugged in a silent response. "Something wrong with that, Tony?" Dallas spoke out, standing across the table from the drug lord. "Well, you can go quiet. But I'll pay you more if you make this go loud, real fuckin' loud."

Jimmy's eyes lit up at that, but Dallas squinted. "Excuse me?" He nearly scoffed, "I'll pay you more if you make this go public. I want people to know what happens when 'dey fuck, with Tony fucking Montana." Tony stood a little taller, pressing his palms into the table. "But... If you want to go quiet for it, I can't stop you. My products what I want, but two birds with one big fuckin' gun, right?"

Tony's soft chuckling was the only sound in the room for a few moments before it went quiet, "Well, you know when to go. I'll be on the comms... Or whatever the fuck they're called." Hoxton let out a snicker, "You on those? You know how to even use those?"

Tony rolled his eyes, "Lockes been showin' me how to use 'dat shit. Whatever, just get ready. I know you boys won't disappoint." With that, he went back around the table, giving Jimmy a small pat on the shoulder as he walked by him and back out of the building, shutting the door behind him. "So, I'm assuming stealth is out of the window." Hoxton commented, breaking the silence. "What? Why?" Chains questioned, turning to the other heister.

Hoxton simply jerked his head to the side, pointing directly at Jimmy. "You really think he's gonna let an offer like that go?" Chains hummed low in response, he was right. They could see the eagerly violent enthusiasm in the cokeheads eyes, so that decision was made nearly immediately.

The only decisions to be made afterwards were what weapons to bring, if Tony wanted it public, it was going to be real damn loud, bringing something to bring that volume was all that was left.

[webdesignsposts]

There is no dearth of best web design companies in the New York that provide great services, and selecting one is often a daunting task. Our experts have gone to great lengths to simplify the process for you by taking a close look at the best in the business. The top performers have scored well across different parameters such as UX/UI design, coding languages, scripting, programming, multimedia production, content management systems, web server management, and digital marketing.

[plethoraworldatlas]

Since 2022, generative AI, which can produce text, images, or other data, has undergone rapid growth, including OpenAI's ChatGPT. Training these AI tools requires feeding the models a large amount of data, a process that is energy intensive. Hugging Face, an AI-developing company based in New York, reported that its multilingual text-generating AI tool consumed about 433 megawatt-hours (MWH) during training, enough to power 40 average American homes for a year.

And AI's energy footprint does not end with training. De Vries's analysis shows that when the tool is put to work -- generating data based on prompts -- every time the tool generates a text or image, it also uses a significant amount of computing power and thus energy. For example, ChatGPT could cost 564 MWh of electricity a day to run.

...

This extreme scenario is unlikely to happen in the short term because of the high costs associated with additional AI servers and bottlenecks in the AI server supply chain, de Vries says. But the production of AI servers is projected to grow rapidly in the near future. By 2027, worldwide AI-related electricity consumption could increase by 85 to 134 TWh annually based on the projection of AI server production.

The amount is comparable to the annual electricity consumption of countries such as the Netherlands, Argentina, and Sweden. Moreover, improvements in AI efficiency could also enable developers to repurpose some computer processing chips for AI use, which could further increase AI-related electricity consumption

[sequencefairy]

About Today and Your Love is a Waterfall :3

About Today is a shyan fic I started writing for someone and then never finished, but I am still committed to actually finishing it someday.

It takes place in an AU where that last BFU filming trip is really the last and there's no Watcher. So, instead of flying back from New York, Ryan and Shane take the train back across America, and realise their feelings somewhere in the flyover states.

Here's a bit:

The train sways and bumps, gently rocking the whole car. Ryan’s hand clenches around the armrest of his seat. “Relax,” Shane admonishes, “it’s like being on a boat, just move with it.”  “Easy for you to say,” Ryan mutters.  Shane huffs a laugh. “You’ll get used to it. See how you do walking on solid ground when we change trains in Chicago, or after we get off in Los Angeles. It always takes me a minute to adjust.”  “You said you’d done this trip before?”  “Yeah,” Shane replies, stretching his arms over his head. One shoulder joint cracks gratifyingly. “Cheaper to drive into New York maybe, or to fly, but I took the train a couple of times through university, just to try it.”  “Feels like something you’d do,” Ryan says. “An old-fashioned choice.”  “You saying I’m old, Bergara?”  “You said it first,” Ryan laughs.

Your Love is a Waterfall is a Moon Knight wip, from Layla's perspective. I have a lot of feelings about her, and what she went through and how the show doesn't really ever address any of them. Have an excerpt:

It’s the wedding in the Maldives that Layla remembers when she is served with divorce papers in her father’s house in Cairo. The process server hands her the envelope, makes a note on his clipboard to acknowledge her receipt of the papers, and leaves. Layla stands in the open doorway, hands shaking, knowing what she’s going to find inside the brown paper envelope before she even unseals it. He hasn’t answered the phone in three months. He hasn’t called. No one has heard from him since the last time he spoke to her, when he landed in Chicago, three months ago. She feels like a wire, wound tight in a pair of hands, ready to be used to choke the life out of something, out of someone. She clenches her jaw so hard she can feel her teeth creaking.  She turns, and slams the door behind her when she goes back into the house. Pitches the envelope as far as she can throw it. It lands somewhere down the hall, but she doesn’t see, because she’s bent at the waist, a scream erupting into the hands she has pressed over her mouth. It’s all she allows herself.

[liberaleffects]

There’s now pretty much daily news about the orange lump’s criminal activity.

The sooner the better that it starts catching up to him and his cabal.

[rockislandadultreads]

NoveList: Best Adult Fiction 2022 

Here are a handful of books that made NoveList's best adult fiction list for 2022! Did you know NoveList is a database you can access with your library card to find reading recommendations? Check it out on our website here!

In Search of a Prince by Toni Shiloh

Brielle Adebayo is fully content teaching at a New York City public school and taking annual summer vacations with her mother to Martha's Vineyard. But everything changes when her mom drops the mother of all bombshells - Brielle is a princess in the kingdom of Ọlọrọ Ilé, Africa, and she must immediately assume her royal position, since the health of her grandfather, King Tiwa Jimoh Adebayo, is failing.

Distraught by her mother's betrayal, Brielle is further left spinning when the Ọlọrọ Ilé Royal Council brings up an old edict that states she must marry before assuming the throne or the crown will be passed to another. Uncertain who to choose from the council's list of bachelors, she struggles with the decision along with the weight of her new role in a new country. With her world totally shaken, she must take a chance on love and brave the perils a wrong decision may bring.

This is the first volume in the “In Search of a Prince” series. 

The Fervor by Alma Katsu 

1944: As World War II rages on, the threat has come to the home front. In a remote corner of Idaho, Meiko Briggs and her daughter, Aiko, are desperate to return home. Following Meiko's husband's enlistment as an air force pilot in the Pacific months prior, Meiko and Aiko were taken from their home in Seattle and sent to one of the internment camps in the West. It didn’t matter that Aiko was American-born: They were Japanese, and therefore considered a threat by the American government.

Mother and daughter attempt to hold on to elements of their old life in the camp when a mysterious disease begins to spread among those interned. What starts as a minor cold quickly becomes spontaneous fits of violence and aggression, even death. And when a disconcerting team of doctors arrive, nearly more threatening than the illness itself, Meiko and her daughter team up with a newspaper reporter and widowed missionary to investigate, and it becomes clear to them that something more sinister is afoot, a demon from the stories of Meiko’s childhood, hell-bent on infiltrating their already strange world.

Just By Looking at Him by Ryan O’Connell

Elliott appears to be living the dream as a successful TV writer with a doting boyfriend. But behind his Instagram filter of a life, he’s grappling with an intensifying alcohol addiction, he can’t seem to stop cheating on his boyfriend with various sex workers, and his cerebral palsy is making him feel like gay Shrek.

After falling down a rabbit hole of sex, drinking, and Hollywood backstabbing, Elliott decides to limp his way towards redemption. But facing your demons is easier said than done.

One-Shot Harry by Gary Phillips 

Los Angeles, 1963: African American Korean War veteran Harry Ingram earns a living as a news photographer and occasional process server: chasing police radio calls and dodging baseball bats. With racial tensions running high on the eve of Martin Luther King’s Freedom Rally, Ingram risks becoming a victim at every crime scene he photographs.

When Ingram hears about a deadly automobile accident on his police scanner, he recognizes the vehicle described as belonging to his good friend and old army buddy, a white jazz trumpeter. The LAPD declares the car crash an accident, but when Ingram develops his photos, he sees signs of foul play. Ingram feels compelled to play detective, even if it means putting his own life on the line. Armed with his wits, his camera, and occasionally his Colt .45, “One-Shot” Harry plunges headfirst into the seamy underbelly of LA society, tangling with racists, leftists, gangsters, zealots, and lovers, all in the hope of finding something resembling justice for a friend.

Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall 

Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has twin problems: literally.

It was always his father’s hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But, unfortunately, too many novels at an impressionable age have caused her to grow up…romantic. So romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do and after Valentine’s proposal she flees into the night determined never to set eyes on him again.

Arabella’s twin brother, Mr. Bonaventure “Bonny” Tarleton, has also grown up…romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he’s not the cold-hearted cad he seems to be.

Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and…beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing.

This is the first volume in the “Something Fabulous” series.