#Public transport is decent enough. I can get to most places I need to go without a vehicle.

[anothermonikan]

Why are so many people putting like 'No drivers license' on so many of those oddly specific polls? Guys, idk about you but a drivers license didn't magically spawn into my hands the minute I turned 17 / whatever the legal age to start driving is in your area is. That isn't weird or something that is out of place, that is a pretty big chunk of the population

[artemisbarnowl]

What is life like in Melbourne? I’m looking into moving there from the UK and would love some insights and whatever else from people who live and work there 💕

I've only visited the UK briefly as a tourist so I'm not sure how to compare them in a way that's going to give you useful info. But I'll give you info at least. Please sit comfortably and we'll begin.

Melbourne has 5 million people in it, but is also quite a large sprawling urban area, so it doesn't feel really packed and busy. It sits on a bay, so it doesn't get freezing but does have the '4 seasons in one day' jokes which are true. I never really got in the habit of checking the weather in the morn before I left for work until I moved away from melb where the forecast was such that I could dress appropriately without surprise.

When I talk about what I love about Melbourne I mean inner suburbs and CBD (which is a beautiful grid and shining example of urban planning for the now that is weighed down by no plans for the future). Public transport connectivity is decent (comparable to London imo) but wait times, delays, and travel times on trams and buses might be relatively crap depending on your experience. It's no Moscow metro (my beloved), but you can probably get to where you're going somehow. Also e scooters have popped off. Further out there's no trams and there's more big gaps between train stations (the train lines are arranged like spokes of a wheel around a central city circle. There will be another city loop slightly overlapping the current one in service next year). This is what I despairingly call The Suburbs. Where you probably need a car to get around and it's like at least 20 mins drive to Anywhere for dinner, groceries or fun activities. Mostly Melbourne is not overly hilly so bikes are an option but infrastructure such as bike lanes is really hit or miss depending on area. Especially good in the inner north. Melb inner suburbs are very walkable and I love love love that. I lived in the inner north and could walk into the CBD to do whatever.

In terms of culture things I think Melbourne is the most international of Aus's capitals in that it has a lot of different people but also that there's a lot open late. Sydney probably can and will make the same claim. But that's it. The rest of Aus is a country town. Major shops will probably close 5.30 or six mon to wed but there's plenty of stuff that's open later. You can always find a bar* or 8. There's plenty of different cuisines in gourmet or fast food dining. There's a cafe in the CBD that's open 24 hours where I can sit outside and have a pot of green tea WHENEVER I WANT. Bookstores open til 10pm. There are lots of events throughout the year and lots of cultural institutions to visit on a whim for free! Some are paid also obvi but I find it difficult to be bored when I can go to the museum to see taxidermy or the NGV for art for free whenever. I am a zoo member which means I get to hang out in a beautiful park/garden which creatures for free whenever I want. Again as you go out further this becomes less true. Fringe cities at the ends of train lines are likely to have what you need to live but less fun activities less often. Not nothing though!

Melbournians really do love wearing black. Especially in winter. They also love strategic Grey. I thought people were exaggerating until I left. A head to toe black outfit is uncommon enough to be remarkable where I live now. Even in a regular boring office where people wear very muted colours I'm the only one who does it. There is no functional difference between the a mourning outfit and one of a Melbournian. it's common wear sneakers with a lot of seemingly formal or corporate outfits, but not thongs with jeans. That's some weird Sydney nonsense.

Being around the bay there's plenty of places to swim in summer! Most of the bay is bordered by beach, most famous and reachable from the city is St Kilda beach. Which is excellent and beyond reproach if you're not Australian and 'fine' if you are. Traveling down towards Mornington Peninsula they get better. 5km makes a difference to the grain of the sand. Some are more fine, can get more coarse and shelly as well. Never stony. Only a little bit of seaweed here and there.

There are parks in the heart of the city (nothing huge like Hyde though) and little wildlife corridors or reserves in most suburbs but it's not an especially Nature city. It's only one hour by train and bus or by car to the Dandenongs (a low mountain range, not to be confused with hugely underated immigrant suburb of Dandenong in melb) though which have cool temperate rainforest national park, lots of gardens (huuuuuge rhododendron garden up there), little b&bs, english style cafes (miss Marples in Olinda is the most famous) and lots of walking and biking. I say one hour but Melbourne as an area reaches right to the base of the range, which is why you can get a bus from the shops. There are national parks that are native woodland or grasslands closer to the heart of the city but these are less special to me because that's the standard nature I see every day of my life. There's a pink lake in south melb which is fun. But I love tree ferns and fresh damp dirt and the tallest flowering trees in the world!!

If you have more specific Q's feel free to ask. I am a city gal at heart but did live rurally originally and frequently do short stays (2 weeks to a month) in rural or remote areas so I am used to comparing amenities and connectivity.

*Melbourne has regular bars but also is very big on rooftop bars. Sydney has some, but other cities hear rooftop bar and think 'bar inside but with views or on top floor of building. Probably formal'. Melbourne roof top bars are on the roof. In the open air (maybe some shade sail) and it's very much a casual thing. Jugs of beer or sangria, chips, feels like a good barbeque rather than a refined cocktail bar. Those are often in basements.

[thebindingofpillo]

Hey pillo what are you characters favourite car & brand

This implies I know anything about cars and car brands, which I unfortunately do not. Sorry :/

I guess all my characters are very pragmatic about cars? I honestly can’t see any of them really caring about what model they drive. Some of my characters (Bethany, Jacob, Lilith) don’t even know how to drive in the first place! I’m just gonna hijack this ask and talk about my characters’ relationship with cars.

Isaac: knows how to drive but doesn’t really care about cars. Just wants a reliable van to go from point A to point B and big enough to contain all his art supplies. Since he doesn’t drink he’s usually the designated driver whenever his friends invite him to a party.

Judas: Knows how to drive and is usually the designated driver. Has a beaten up Toyota or something. Second hand, keeps it well enough that it can work, and it’s not a dumpster, but not much else. His interests lie elsewhere

Magdalene: has a driver’s license but absolutely no interest in cars. I don’t really know if she has a car or not, but if she did she’d turn that thing into a mess in a matter of days. Not because she likes the mess, she jut forgets to throw out the trash and then it accumulates.

Azazel: knows how to drive and HATES it. Thinks all cars are death traps on wheels and if he could he’d just fly everywhere. He will drive if asked to, but will be stressed all the time and don’t ask him to merge into the highway because he’ll have a panic attack. Content with being a passenger princess.

Apollyon: knows how to drive, but doesn’t have a license. He’s absolutely neutral about driving, and since he doesn’t need to eat, sleep or take bathroom breaks he’s the best suited to drive long distances. Likes driving at night.

Cain: has a driver’s license, can also drive trucks and buses but doesn’t really do that anymore. Has a horrible habit of drinking and driving but hasn’t been in a serious accident yet. Has at least one DUI, and at the time of the story his license has probably been revoked but he still drives anyway lol. Owns a trailer.

Samson: can drive and has a license but his mother insists about driving him everywhere. She was even the one who taught him how to drive, which stressed him out *a lot* since she wasn’t the most patient teacher. He’ll eventually get over his fear of driving once he gets a job.

Eve: Has a license but prefers public transport (when available)

Eden: technically knows how to drive (because they’re a cherub, and cherubim are all-knowing) but doesn’t really need to, so they never bothered to try.

Lazarus: has a license but is also very prone to accidents and has already totalled two cars. Luckily he has insurance. He also knows how to start a car using only the cables, but never had the chance to show it off.

Jacob: doesn’t drive. Suffers from chronic pain in his hip and while he could technically learn how to drive, he’s afraid of his pain flaring up while he’s behind the wheel, so he’s super cautious about it. Esau usually drives him everywhere he needs so he doesn’t really need a car.

Bethany: doesn’t know how to drive, and doesn’t really have time to study to get a license. She’s usually swamped with university work and doesn’t want to add more stress to her situation.

Lilith: blind :( no car. Cain used to drive her where she needed but stopped once she found out he got a DUI. Now she uses public transport or Uber.

Esau: actually now that I think about it, Esau would know a pretty good deal about cars! He’s a mechanic and probably the only one who would know how to properly care for one. I’d like to imagine he has an old second-hand car he purchased with his money when he was 18, and he keeps in pristine condition. He’s currently saving to get his own place away from Jacob, but he wouldn’t mind splurging on a decent car once he got enough money. Since I don’t know much about cars, I’m just gonna say he wants a Toyota CHR because that’s what my partner likes.

[faithfromanewperspective]

hey quick question but what's the most depressing part of australia? sorry this is so weird but i have an oc whose Tragic Backstory is that he's a first-gen immigrant whose family moves from a large chinese city to the suburbs during the early days of covid in 2020 and he gets really isolated and depressed... i was asking because i don't want to slander random parts of australia 😭😭 the plot requires him to be in nsw quite close to sydney if that helps!

hey! hmmm this is quite a broad question I think I'll need a bit more detail honestly to give you a good answer! but a lot of greater sydney shut down and was in lockdown for quite a while in 2020 (6 months or more if I remember correctly, I was in Brisbane at the time) so that's gonna be depressing. otherwise, ngl I feel like your oc would be alright in the hurstville area though they're probably going to think the public transport sucks, they might also like cabramatta or burwood (don't know those other areas that well but I think these are the main Asian hubs of greater Sydney). however if you want him to feel isolated I reckon he moves somewhere else--sutherland area is really white-dominated but otherwise decent, however the southwest and northwest really far out can be quite isolating, so places like campbelltown and richmond which are far more rural but like suburban as well if you get what I mean might work to make your oc feel isolated and depressed esp the way the culture tends to be there, idk how to properly describe it, you also get rougher (i guess, I don't actually know these areas that well) areas around Penrith that (I think) are also quite white dominated (again not necessarily bad in of itself but if you're an immigrant who doesn't speak much english or know culture and slang it might be hard), I guess there are a lot of have-nots there and a lot of people dealing with generational trauma and as a result may not be as welcoming, but it really does depend on who you meet because there are lovely friendly people everywhere. otherwise there's also a lot of have-nots in the lakemba area (though it's better now) like I can access my demographic maps from uni if you really want I'll get them! again still really lovely people there but it really depends on what part of china they're from and what culture they're used to. canterbury-bankstown area has a lot of multiculturalism and definitely some people can end up feeling tension and a need to be more loyal to their culture and people at the expense of properly mingling but this is also interspersed with a lot of community coming together and a lot of creativity, it's also a very working class area and if you catch the train at night you will sometimes encounter the 'rough' types--still most people are cool as long as you're not being hostile to them though the thing about cultural differences is sometimes it's easy to come across that way when you're just overwhelmed and confused. then you've also got the opportunity to bring your oc to a richer area where the sense of community might be a bit fragmented due to rich people problems (like just not letting people in basically because they're clinging to their wealth instead of dealing with feelings of isolation and inadequacy would be how i sum it up) and somewhere like rozelle in the inner west can be a bit like that, the traffic and public transport are pretty bad there too. I also imagine much of the central coast could fall into that category in the more mansion-y areas but also I really don't know that area too well and there's a lot of really down to earth people from there too. in general i do find community around sydney to be pretty good, same goes with a bit further out like wooloongong. however newcastle/maitland is both very white dominated and just far enough out of sydney to be not really well connected and also very suburban, very working class and it's easy to get into substances there and feel hopeless in terms of getting a better life--it's a weird paradox, you've got lovely chill people who absolutely love that area there and also people who get out and never go back because they just can't take it. it's about a 2-3 hour drive/train out of sydney and honestly i'd recommend putting your oc there, though i don't know any Chinese immigrants who've gone straight to that area, a lot of them show up on the southside of sydney though like hurstville, bankstown, probably out to cabramatta

[haliaiii]

VAL AND SAM INTERACTIONS....LORE....... HEADCANONS.......SKETCHES.......ANYTHING!!!! i need more content of them both or i will literally Explode

I don't really have any new sketches atm but have some random facts or something

Both Sam and Val can't cook great, at best Val can make a decent egg on toast

They literally eat nearly all their meals at the restaurant owned by Kain's mom (Ms. Wanchai)

Their main source of income is bounty hunting

Why? Because being a bounty hunter gets you a bounty license which can be used as a form of ID without needing to be registered in the government archives (loopholes lol)

This is great for Sam, who's not supposed to be in this era and is keeping it a secret, and Val, who's technically legally dead

This way they can continue to make a living, and continue leasing the apartment

Bounty hunting itself is a dying profession unfortunately because the risks and the government slowly trying to push it out

tbh in the Retrograde world, if you either work for the government, become a bounty hunter, or join the terrorist group

You lose your bounty licence if you don't complete a bounty at least twice a month

anyway enough bounty stuff back to Sam and Val

Bounty hunting gets them like around 800 USD (there's a different in world currency tho)

Harder bounties can go up to 2k or more

But it's not like a lot so they're kinda just scrounging by

On off days Sam usually goes to the arcade or a bar at night

Val spends most of the time inside, but he'll also take his hoverbike for a spin

Speaking of which, Val got his hoverbike in a street race against this rich guy during his early bounty hunter days

That's why it's so fancy

If Val sold it, he'd probably have enough money to buy a fancy place in the city

but he's way too attached to it, plus it's their only form of transportation

Otherwise they'd have to take public transport and walk

They have clothes they wear for bounty hunting and clothes they wear for normal days

They both actually have two of the same jacket each

They do all their laundry at the laundromat where Kain works

Normally, they do all their shopping locally but because it's a small town, sometimes they have to go to Jupiter because it's the closest city

Speaking of which, the name of the town they live in is "Level 4"

It's where Val woke up after "dying" and he hasn't really been bothered to leave since

Because of the halo on his head, Sam gets recognized pretty easily when he goes out in town

Sam's halo turns off when he sleeps, but he also recently found out if he covers the metal implant on his back, they it goes away somehow (however it makes him really sleepy when he does that)

Val used to smoke a lot but he doesn't anymore, he only does it if he gets really stressed about something or he has a nervous breakdown

There's a lunar eclipse that happens every year since the cataclysm, Sam is always super excited to see it since he's a big fan of astronomy events

Val has always felt incredibly sick on those days, ever since he was a child, he usually closes all the blinds and locks himself in the bedroom,

It feels like his blood is trying to claw its way out of his veins

It goes away the next day so it's probably nothing

Sam once developed a strong addiction to a specific cherry smoothie at a dinner and had it every single day for an entire week, he spent the next week in bed from a terrible stomach ache

And finally as a fun Christmas special

For Christmas, Val and Sam usually spend it with Kain and his family plus their friends,

they don't have a christmas tree cause those species of pine trees kinda died out overtime and are pretty hard to find nowadays, and they don't have enough money for a fake one they'll use once, so they just opt to decorate a random houseplant

Anyway sorry this is pretty long 💀 ngl you can bring as many hcs as you want, they could probably have a chance to make it to the canon-

[gemsofgreece]

Hello,

Is it reasonable to visit Greece and plan to rely on public transportation and taxis? Would we still be able to reach hiking destinations easily? I have a free place to stay in Athens but would really love to be able to explore more of the country and would be very grateful to hear suggestions. Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello! The short answer is that you can rely on them to some decent degree, however I would suggest that you remained a little cautious or alert for whatever situation could need preparation or adjustments. Obviously most places have a large public transportation system and taxis are available in most of them, however Greece culturally relies far less to public transportation compared to privately owned vehicles than states in western and northern Europe, so don't go entirely concern-free thinking it will all definitely run 100% smoothly even in remote places, because there is a chance it might not. Of course I don't want to scare you, I only want to ensure that you go about your plan well prepared for potential adjustments and not with the mentality "surely everything will be perfectly taken care off without a single hiccup" because then you could be caught off guard.

I can suggest a few plans based on the information you gave me:

Attica Love

You told me you will have a free base in Athens, so this can be a great and affordable way to explore a lot of of Attica. Attica is the prefecture / region of which Athens is the metropolis of. Even though Athens is huge, Attica is a quite big region and has more to offer. It has an extended coastline, two lakes (Marathon and Vouliagmeni) and other less known ones, three mountains over 1,000 m - 3,280ft (Parnitha, Penteli and Hymettus) and many more hills that are close to the city and offer nice views, such as Lycabettus and Philopappos hill. The mountains and the hills are great for hiking and have several trails. Needless to say, in this way you combine hiking, nature and city vibes at the lowest possible cost and with the exclusive use of public transportation or taxis or the subway, which is great. Within Athens, there's nothing to worry about. This screenshot gives some info about some basic trails in Attica.

These are just some examples. According to this page, greeka.com, Parnitha has more than 50 trails. Parnitha also is a national park and has wildlife, if you are fortunate enough to spot it. Again, Lycabettus is a hill, not a mountain, that's why the trail is shorter, but it's still great to accompany it with a city break within the same day.

Hiking view of Parnitha from the website xtremegreece. Check the link for more info and also remember you can get in touch with hiking / trekking / mountaineering clubs in Athens to go there in an organized group.

Travel & tour offices

Perhaps you want bigger mountains or the feel of exploring rural Greece far from Athens. I hear that. Based on your mail, I get the impression you don't have a fixed itinerary yet. In Greece this can be a problem because you can very easily get "lost" and don't know what to choose and what the smartest plan to make would be. That is because Greece has many things to see, its landscape is diverse and irregular, navigating it is harder and a little chaotic due to all this, so it has a real-life feel of being complicated and big in ways tourists never imagine by looking the map. Nothing tragic of course, but tourists definitely oversimplify and underprepare when it comes to Greece. So here's an idea. If indeed you have not a fixed plan and you are unsure where to go, you can make a search on the internet with all the travel offices or hiking clubs in Athens and pick up the ones that seem to go to places that interest you. So as soon as you land in Athens, you call or go to those offices and say this: "Hello, I am gonna be in Greece for the so and so amount of time, I want to see such & such landscapes, are you making any such trips during the time of my stay and if so are there available seats for me / my group?". And then you choose the best trip based on the info they give you. Of course the cost rises a bit, but if you get to go in farther places, you would have to pay a lot a taxi or spend more for overnight stays either way so basically sometimes these tour offices offer good packages, that might even end up being cheaper. And if not, they still curate your experience so you have nothing to worry about. They get you where you have to go, they schedule the stays, the drives, the hours, all that stuff, so... I think it's great if you want to go somewhere but don't know where, because they know better. Tip: if you find a trip you are interested in, always make sure to ask how many people are already in, because sometimes if not many people gather, the tour might get cancelled and you don't want to be left hanging. If they have more than 25 people, they make the trips. Of course this is about regular travel groups, we are not talking about super curated, exclusive services only for you or your group, because that's obviously a totally different cost.

2-day tour group in Meteora from Meteora.com

Tips if you are going on your own

The truth is that most travellers navigating Greece on their own prefer to do it with a rented vehicle. It is the optimal way. If that's not an option, I am gonna give you some tips in order to avoid problems. Within cities and towns, you will not have a problem with either taxis or buses (you might get suffocated in a crowded bus in Thessaloniki but other than that you'll go where you want). The city buses also get you to the immediate suburbs. Outside that, you will be needing the intercity buses where you have to figure out their routes well. You start from Athens, you get an intercity bus to the largest city closest to your destination. And then you get a regional bus towards the closest town or village to your destination. Times must be figured out. After that you're on your own. If your destination is a trail or a national park or some other remote landscape or an uninhabited mountain and all that, you will have to either go on foot or fix an arrangement with a local driver and also agree very clearly on the terms of the time and location for the meeting for the return. Find a taxi driver who can communicate well in English and listen to them. If they say "no you shouldn't go from this side, you won't make it till sunset, that trail is too hard for your equipment / outfit, I can't bring the car from that road etc" listen to them. They know the place. Greek rescuing teams have to save annually at least like a dozen tourists being lost or injured in gorges and mountains so keep that in mind, if you are going alone. Listen to the locals. Now such a taxi driver can be found if your last stop is a town but it is not at all certain you'll find one if your last stop is a remote or small village. In such cases, the plan must be changed unless it's safe and doable to go on on foot. Several trails start from the villages, such as the ones in Zagorohoria which are stunning, so there's that. Furthermore, you have to always keep in mind that a taxi driver can't be stand-by for whenever you need to go to the hike place or whatever, so there's always the chance that you'll need to wait a few hours or something.

You can try and find taxi drivers from Athens to get you wherever you want. However, you might need two drivers for going and returning but in any case the cost is going to be A LOT and the communication and arrangement between you must be perfect and crystal clear.

Now, knock wood, something goes wrong and you find yourself in a place you don't know and even the maps can't help you navigate it. Here are some tips for safety:

Stay calm. Greece is a generally safe place. Even if you are inside a national woodland or something, big animals avoid the contact with humans. Poisonous animals are too few and you will 99% not stumble onto one. In the province you are also very safe regarding people. You're gonna be good.

As soon as you are convinced you can't find your way, call 112. It's the free EU emergency number. It will bring you to contact with police, hospitals, firefighters, rescuers etc

If the region seems pretty safe, the ground is steady, you are well equipped, the sun is still up, you are calm but just have trouble finding your way, and you know you are close to the sea, here's the trick: always head to the sea. It will certainly lead you to coastal towns or villages that are usually more cosmopolitan.

About the steady ground thing: if you can't find your way and you are on rocky ground, do not take risks. Stay put and call 112. Greek mountains may not be the Himalayas but they are usually very rocky, with sudden drops and steep paths that cause landslides all the time. Be very careful, don't make experiments. Call 112 and wait calmly.

Obviously have water, hat, glasses, sunscreen, healthy snacks and full battery on the phone. Also a warm jacket and an umbrella if you intend to be on a high altitude.

Avoid hitch-hiking. We do not have a hitch-hiking culture, people will likely not pick you up. A lonely truck driver might XD

ALWAYS have cash on you. Provincial areas still operate largely on cash. If you are gonna be out of town for more than a night, have a minimum of 100 euros cash for whatever may occur.

If you want your excursion to be one day and not stay overnight, I think that's the range you can travel to, starting early in the morning:

Anything beyond that range would be too exhausting or impossible within one day or you would't have the time to get a decent experience of what is available there before you'd have to go back to Athens.

Anyway that's all I guess. I am sure if you get an organized tour or do it on your own and take some basic precautions and are prepared, everything is gonna run smoothly and you're gonna have a great time! I had to scare you a little so that you won't underprepare, because A LOT of tourists do that and it is often what causes mishaps in their experience. They kinda have in mind that Greece is one city with a couple of islands next door and everything is connected with a wide clear super comprehensible straight highway and none of this applies in truth lol.

Hope that helped! Cheers!

Vikos-Aoos gorge. This one needs good planning and at least two days out of Athens.

[thelighttasteslikelasagna]

so, lil update on my life, I got a job at a daycare while waiting to get a permanent job, and I did! Stayed there for two weeke before a job I was hoping for, called me. Learned that children,,, whew! tire me out! I jokingly call myself allergic to them, but wowzies they're a handful.

so I'm about to start a new thing on the 1st of nov, as a lab tech full-time, this is something I've been,,,, waiting for. gonna work 12 hour shifts, and hopefully pull through! it's a pretty good deal, where I'm from. I feel like this is a big step for me, and hopefully I'll be able to be strong enough and pull through. I'll be sad that I won't get a lot of time to talk to my friends anymore, but I get the nagging feeling that they've gone on to do better and more useful things, while I've been left behind. with this job, I won't get to be left behind.

there's a bit of self-flagellation involved with those 12 hour shifts. I'm not good for much else and reached the point of 'nobody else will take me'. This job may chew me up and spit me right back out, but I'll have to get through it, because -laying my fears out here- I'm a bit of a failure and I deserve all the hardships I get. Choosing bio sciences may have been what I wanted, but. i keep getting reminders that it's not for me, that it's for more brilliant people who didn't slack off in their youth.

It feels like most of my friends have moved on. in really dark moments, I think my current court of friends keeps me out of pity. my online friends don't need anything

to me, getting this job=last step into adulthood. I'm finally going to be an adult, and if that means I'm going to burn myself out, then so be it, because this is what I chose, and it's the only thing that'll take me in.

all ugliness of my raw emotions aside, the job sounds decent. I get to work and get more experience around PCR, maybe learn a few extra processes, and if they like me, they'll let me learn about biopsies and test other samples for other diseases. There's also no dress code, I can come in wearing whatever I want because I'll be wearing PPE all day anyway! Lunch and dinner are also provided, and public transportation to my workplace is super near my place, like, a 3 minute trot.

On another positive note, because I need it- I found a really nice cosplay group for TF2. They've been one of my best highs- I can freely talk about them because none of them are here- we sometimes play together, but most of the time, it's just talking on discord. I love all of them, we stay up talking to each other, ponying around. sometimes we even meet up. They even weirdly emulate their characters pretty well without knowing it, with our Sniper being a bit of a bird enthusiast and a bit of a recluse, our Engineer building the best props (and a sentry!) we've ever seen, and our Scout being...a real life version of Scout, same happy go lucky and energy-packed vibe. In recent months, my team has genuinely been a support network for me, and I try not to lean too heavily on them, but I love them.

[castlebyersafterdark]

I've always flirted with the idea of doing a booth at some local maker's market or something as some sort of outlet for art in the future, but my sensitive ass self has this fear that what if no one buy anything?! I don't know if I can handle that 🤣😭

ahhhh i feel like i wanna talk to you about this properly cos its so special to me when people to find that confidence! i ebb and flow all the time, even when im getting pro commissions for art. my sister is much better at the biz than me - she's a proper maker, does markets all year round. i think one of the most vulnerable and therefore empowering thing you can do (and what we learnt at art school!) is how to fail. just fail, fail again, fail better. ha! it's incredible when you fail and then realise youre still alive, no one cares, and you go again. or give up. whatever works for you! but the doing and trying honestly feels like a win. i mean, im anxious person, and i got a massive illustration commission in feb this year. i was less excited about that than i was that i managed to take a solo journey on the underground city trains, because getting on public transport has been rough for my anxiety in the past year. our goals and aspirations change as we get older and sometimes it makes no sense, but life eh!

so i hope you give it a go :)

also im so curious about your thing of not leaving the US, cos i always wonder where american people go on vacation! obviously heading to europe isnt as close as it is to those who are lucky enough to do that in the UK, so i always wonder what the typical holiday is for US folk.

I missed the continuation of this convo right before I left for my trip, hope you're still around lovely anon friend!! ☺️

But yes, yes. Confidence is definitely a point of struggle with my artistic ventures, but who doesn't experience that, right? Great advice though. "Do it scared" as they say around these parts these days. It's such a leap though. I write, I put it online, if no one reads it, well, I mostly got what I needed from it. Expressing an idea. Articulating a vision from my imagination. Physically creating something? Putting it out in the world and hoping someone purchases it? That is so daunting. I give paintings as gifts to people who I trust to enjoy them in my fam and social circle, but I know the kindness is gonna be there. I'm not asking for anything. But, that's the risk you're talking about. Man an art booth. Might get no sales. Might fail. God, that's scary. I'd love to work through it one day, have the experience. I often brace for the worst though... I appreciate the kind words and thoughts, it's given much to think about.

And vacation!! I think the thing about America is the size and variety of culture/landscape/options contained within the US? I've been to a decent number of states. Europe has all these closely located countries, and we have the states. Cali is so different from Maine is so different from Texas is so different from Jersey is so different from Florida. The typical holiday/vacation here is all over the place - but I'd say the biggest destinations are beaches and national parks. At least in my experience. I've been all over the country. Even if there's a beach that we can drive to, I've gotten on a plane to go to a beach halfway across the country instead! Beaches and coastal living is my favorite vacation type. The opposite coasts are so different, the gulf is so different. North vs. south. And the parks? Grand Canyon. Acadia. Everglades. Yellowstone. Yosemite. Redwoods. Theme parks and water parks, too lol. I have not been to all of the places listed! There's just a lot of variety. I'd love to travel further someday, just haven't had the personal funds or opportunity to do so yet. Still young. I'll get out there!!

[carssuckwhs]

Cars are killing us, here's how

Cars have been around for over a century now, and are now tantamount to essential for everyday life, especially in America. Cars are seen as the fulfillment of the American Dream, a hallmark of our nationalist view of success. And how much they’ve improved society! Just look at how much progress they’ve made for society: they’ve revolutionized transportation, enabled efficient transcontinental economies before the internet, and even given rise to the endless fun activity of street racing! But at the same time, cars have also been one of the most problematic aspects of our society. Everyone knows they’re farting carbon all over the place, but there are ways well beyond climate change that cars are killing us. Take for example, the most direct way a car can kill: crashing into people. Road traffic injuries are actually the leading cause of death in the world for people aged 5-29, causing circa 1.53 million casualties worldwide annually. How often do you think that happens with bicycles? Yeah, I don’t need to look this one up. Cars also discourage exercise, leading to unhealthy populations. This leads to death in the slightly less direct, though nonetheless potent ways of heart problems, strokes, and even suicide. Surely enough, in walkable cities, the prevalence of these causes of death go significantly down. Car-free people lead longer and healthier lives. “But how will they get around, if not by car?” you ask. Well, that’s actually a good question. In many places around the world, especially in Europe, this is possible, but that’s a matter of infrastructure. The US simply does not have infrastructure to support travel by means other than cars. Wanna get to work? Well, unless you’re fortunate to live in one of the 2 cities in the US with decent public transport or a member of the equally select few with good biking facilities, you’re probably gonna need a car at some point. And once you buy a car, well, you might as well keep using it, because at that point, it will be cheaper than public transport anyways. So, then, we can just pass off the blame to some quasi-personal entity we call the government and say we tried? Well, not quite. The United States is a democracy, if not a perfect one, and that quasi-personal entity in your head is just as much you as it is anyone else. Local organizations may vary, but they do tend to exist in most places. And, as a universal tool, you can always call up your local congressman. They do actually have to care, since you’re part of their path to reelection, and they have a much more direct say in what infrastructure the city decides to build or not build than you do. So go on out there, don’t be afraid. If you have a problem with the overwhelmingly car-centric infrastructure in your area, and odds are, you should, then go out and make a difference. The world isn’t going to change itself. If you don’t know who’s supposed to make a change, it’s probably you.

[antisolararc]

modern items on Celantri

CARS exist. They're probably kinda weird looking here. It's not common for people to have their own car. Most places have some form of decent public transportation, and, in the places that don't, cars are way too expensive for most people, anyways. Because relics are used to power the engines, cars are way less common in Florene. Instead, there are carriages drawn by tamed spirits. A little slower and a little harder to control, but not especially bad in comparison to the average Celantrian car.

AIR TRANSPORTATION, comparatively, is very uncommon, at least in the current era. Flying magic boats and even some experimental ufo-style aircrafts were common during the Perihelion Era, but most of that technology was lost with the mainland of Perakami. The Elemental Council Military is experimenting with aircrafts, most of which require someone with air manipulation abilities to fly. Of course, Zee also is in possession of one of the aforementioned ufo thingies, fixed up as much as she can manage. It mostly works.

CELLPHONES exist, and everyone (well, almost everyone) has them. While more primitive forms for phones have existed since the reign of Perakami, the modern Celantrian cellphone was invented in Ranlindyr fairly recently. They use the astral realm to communicate with each other, which, unsurprisingly, makes them much more prolific in east of Florene. However, the council military isn't going to reject a super useful piece of technology, even from their greatest(?) enemy. It's one of the major reasons for the hesitant treaty between Ranlindyr and the council, but that's a whole other story. Anyways, the majority of phones are manufactured in Ranlindyr and tend to share the aesthetic of the country, appearing similar to little glass or porcelain boxes (though actually made out of some sort of plastic so they don't break immediately lmao). Although Ranlindyr is usually very secretive with their tech, cellphones are prolific enough that there are some foreign manufacturers, too. Non-Ranlindic phones have a more classic y2k-esque flip phone style.

TELEVISON is around, too. Closest in form to the old boxy CRTs. It's usually very local (save for most nations having some sort of national news) and has a couple dozen channels at best. TVs are a household item in richer countries like Ranlindyr and most of Northern Florene.

THE INTERNET, or at least an equivalent, is gaining a foothold. Unsurprisingly, much like the cell network, it uses the astral realm to transmit information. It was invented by a mysterious sorcerer hermit, often assumed to be Ranlindic, but who knows. The Celantrian "internet" is very new, poorly moderated, and requires technical knowledge to actually use. It's, like, some usenet style shit. Computer-equivalents are hard to get a hold of, but public computers do exist in some places. It's an open secret that plenty of illegal sorcery dealings occur on the web.

GUNS are still in like, the blunderbuss stage, for the most part. Since militaries have always been focused on developing magic-based combat and weapons, normal guns are actually considered a civilian weapon. I think they only have, like round shot and not modern bullets, which generally makes getting shot more survivable on average. Ranlindyr is (secretly, don't tell anyone) working on some magic guns that are like,,, scifi laser gun style weapons. They don't have the same destructive power as a modern day rifle, but much easier to handle (lighter, no recoil, fairly quiet, no need to reload as long as you keep it charged).

MEDICINE is probably better on Celantri than it is in the real world in a lot of ways. Mostly because of magic stuff. One actually significant thing in Celantrian medicine is the development of aetherovalves, a slug-like spirit that feeds off of dreams, that can be magically-genetically modified to serve as an alternative to certain organ transplants and medical implants. Audrist has one.

I'm probably forgetting some stuff. Oh well.

[leopardsnake-stories]

Julian: The Son CH1 Version1

Brienne tells herself, as usual, that she needs to get herself a car. An absolute clunker would work if anything. Anything would be better than public transport. Especially the bus.

However, today is not the day she gets her clunker. Instead, Brienne is going to get on the bus a block down from headquarters. All so she can go halfway across town.

All for some fancy coffee.

Brienne watches her breath steam in front of her face. Her hands are shoved into the pockets of her puffy winter jacket. It’s not just cold, no, it’s also wet.

When the bus pulls up to the curb, water sloshes across the sidewalk. She doesn’t move quick enough to stop it from soaking through her tennis shoes. Perfect, what a wonderful day.

Brienne takes the first seat she finds, halfway down the aisle. She’s still grumbling to herself. Mostly in an attempt to ignore the other riders around her. It wouldn’t help her at all to get caught in some unfortunate conversation or for someone to catch her eyes.

Out of the corner of her eye, someone leans closer to her. She looks up to find a young teen staring at her. He has poorly dyed black hair, his blond roots are showing, and rumpled black clothing. Minus the smooth black leather jacket and the equally dark sunglasses.

“ Can I help you?” She makes sure to sound as disinterested as possible. She doesn’t care for the attention some teenybopper could cause. 

The teen purses his mouth, shrugging at her question. “ You’re ‘Phobia,’ right?”

Brienne squints at him, deciding to shrug back. She knows she isn’t the most popular Super on the team, but she has her own fans. As few as they may be. “ Yeah.”

He sits back. His mouth is still puckered like he tasted a lemon. But he doesn’t say anything else. 

Brienne eyes the rough looking duffle bag tucked behind his feet. A run away, she assumes. “ Have a good one, kid,” she says as she stands to get off the bus. The traffic was decent today, at least.

“ Sure, you too,” he said, watching her still. He continues to slouch in his seat. Not bothering to hide that he was watching her.

What a strange kid.

Brienne puts him out of her mind as she walks the final block to her favorite coffee shop. The sight of it soothing her jangling nerves. The idea of fresh brewed coffee soothing her annoyance at the broken coffee maker in her own apartment.

She spends the walk back to headquarters with a blank mind. There is nothing for her to focus on. Nothing she wants to focus on for once. She just wants to drink her coffee and wake up enough to work on her reports.

The coffee is gone by the time she makes it back. She tosses the used paper cup into a public trash can before walking inside. 

Headquarters is a bland, minimalistic place. The decor is black and white, what little there is, and tastefully done. The main floor is a basic brick building. It isn’t until the second floor that everything becomes glass and steel. She hates it, honestly.

Brienne rides the elevator to the apartment floor of the building. Three floors from the top. She punches in her log in to get into her apartment. She isn’t in the mood to see her neighbors today.

She hangs her coat up on the wrack nailed into the wall beside the door. Then starts preparing to spend a good few hours in her office. All for her to begin the tedious task of finishing up her reports. A necessary task they are all assured of often.

Brienne hates it all, but she has to do it if she wants her paycheck.

Eventually, she is pulled from her musings and the typing, hours later. The pounding at her door makes sure of it. Disoriented by the abrupt interruption, she doesn’t stop to check the peephole. She just opens the door.

Standing tall and massive, is a grinning Abraham. His teeth gleam white against his dark skin. His hair is its typical mess. His loose basketball shorts and t-shirt tell her he is either on his way to or from the gym. 

“ Bri’, good afternoon,” he greets in his usual booming voice. His hands grip he shoulders just tight enough to ache if she were capable.

Brienne frowns up at him. “ It’s afternoon, sure.” She crosses her arms over her chest, eyeing him warily. “What do you want?”

Abraham honest to god giggles before leaning down to kiss her cheek. His short, meticulously styled beard rasps against her skin. “ Can’t I just say ‘hi’ to my favorite lady?”

“ No.” Being blunt is the best way to deal with him when he is trying to break some sort of news. Especially bad news.

His grin drops. He stares into her eyes. He’s never shied away from meeting her eyes like most people tend to.

Maybe that was why she liked him so much. Who knows? Not Brienne, that’s for sure.

“ There’s a kid, downstairs, asking for you,” Abraham said, letting go of Brienne. He shoves his hands in his pockets instead. 

“ Oh?” Brienne couldn’t think of anyone that would be looking for her. “ Is he selling something?”

Abraham grimaces, an especially rare sight. Her heart stutters, stops, starts, at his expression. Something is wrong. “ Said he is your son.”

Ice gripped along Brienne’s spine. It quickly spread to her ribs like ivy. Like poison. “ Uh. Okay?”

Abraham gripped her shoulders again. His eyebrows crumpled so hard they almost met in the middle. He was still frowning, but his eyes were soft on hers. “ Are you okay?”

Brienne took stock of herself. She pushed away the ice, knowing her skin would still be gray despite its absence. It wasn’t the time to lose control of herself. “ Yeah, let’s go see this kid.” 

She stepped around Abraham, making sure their arms brushed as she did. Touch soothed him in a strange way. It always did. 

Time to meet her doom, she supposed.

[irawhiti]

hi happy waitangi day!

if you're white and ESPECIALLY if you're a pākehā aotearoa new zealander feeling guilty about colonising my people and running my family out of the country we're indigenous to, i'm accepting donations <3

i'm currently living with a family of racist white people because it was either that or become homeless, i have no license so i'm dependent on them to take me places which they haven't been great about and there's literally no public transport where i am. i had about $800 stolen from me literally on christmas day and owe money to my sister so i could pay rent over that time, but most importantly right now my laptop has been shutting off at random for weeks now and it took 20 minutes just to get it to start up a few days ago. it's shut off at least 5 times while i've been writing this. it's already been on its last legs for awhile now and i'm getting real nervous because if i lose access to a computer i'll get cut off of my only source of income since it becomes a Lot more difficult for me to apply for jobs and keep in contact with my job network to stay on centrelink money + i won't be able to apply for work-at-home jobs. i only make $300 a fortnight from centrelink because they're STILL keeping me on dependent allowance which i'm sorting out and $200 of that goes to rent alone, so even if i don't get cut off i Really cannot afford a laptop right now.

also i got the flu over christmas (potentially covid, there was a positive case in the house at the same time, but who fucking knows lol, these people refuse to take me to covid tests until after i'm already recovering) and now i have bronchitis (i had to buy 6 rapid covid test that got brought up by my sister for $70 and split 3 with her, the people i live with refused to take me to get a pcr test despite me coughing up blood at one point 🙃). i've got asthma and several disablities that mess with my breathing so i really cannot catch a break here, i've been waking up in the middle of the night unable to breathe so needless to say i've been kind of struggling with getting all my legal stuff sorted while this has been happening.

so like, if you wanna help out a disabled māori living in australia for waitangi day, any money helps! i really need a couple hundred dollars for a decent enough laptop to stay afloat and keep drawing (meaning i can't just buy a shitty $50 laptop unfortunately, it has to be decent enough for me to draw and take commissions so i'm looking at over $500 aud for a laptop with good enough graphics, i can pay for some of it but i can't afford that shit on my own :/). i'll update the post if i get donations and any extra money i might get will go towards buying medication and getting more of my teeth fixed, they're hurting like hell again and it's hard to eat and i'd like to get more work done but right now i've gotta choose between being able to get government money and spending money to be able to eat without pain lol

(also i have to use my friend's paypal because paypal screwed me over a few years ago, if you could leave a message to make it clear it's for me so we can keep track easier it'd help a lot <3 thank you)

paypal.me/hoodypet

$0/$500

[thessalian]

Thess vs Extreme Wealth

I was a kid in the 80s. I remember that time when wanting to be rich was about status symbols and flaunting one’s wealth. And, I mean, I’m sure there are some people out there who still see it that way - who want the big house, the fancy car, the unfeasibly gaudy deco, stuff like that. The sad thing is, though, that I think most of us my age or younger, if we want to be ‘rich’ at all, only want it because it would provide us a halfway decent quality of life.

Yes, I want bespoke tailored clothes. However, the status has nothing to do with it; I just want things that actually fit me, instead of being manufactured in a way that doesn’t really fit anybody except for one very specific body type, which I am decidedly not. I also want things made of decent materials so they don’t dissolve in the wash after about a month.

Yes, I want to pay someone to clean my living space. Again, though, status has nothing to do with it; it’s all about the disability. I just want things to still be clean even if I’m having a succession of bad pain days. I also want to pay someone to drive me places (though probably just taxis rather than owning a car or chauffeur), because public transport is a nightmare and I don’t trust my ability to drive a car any distance even with power steering. Pain, fatigue, and a chance of fibro fog probably doesn’t mesh overly well with any amount of traffic.

On the subject of disability, yes, I want to be able to afford to travel first or at least business class if I want or need to travel by air. Again, nothing to do with the status. I just want a seat I can stretch out in when I need to, because I’ve spent my life travelling in coach and it was uncomfortable enough before the fibromyalgia. Now that I need to change position fairly often because getting stiff means extra mega ultra pain, I can’t imagine flying coach and being capable of anything but curling up and crying on the other end.

I don’t want a big house; it’d be hell to move around in anyway. I want a flat not dissimilar to the one I’m in now. Maybe one other room, so I could have a guest room and a study / craft room. With a bigger balcony for more plants, and hopefully not north-facing so those plants could get more light. Also a decent-sized kitchen - not huge, just not smaller than the actual bathroom. Preferably pet friendly, since I’d be able to afford pet insurance. I just don’t want it to be in this country. Politics aside, it’s damn near impossible to find a pet-friendly flat or a decent-sized kitchen in this country unless you want a house, and sometimes not even then.

I mean, when you think about it, this is more or less basic stuff. Disability accommodation, decent clothes (because almost nothing we buy off the rack comes under that definition any more), a few small quality of life bits and pieces. I want to be able to grocery shop without panic attacks. I want to be able to just get a haircut when I decide I need one, not look at it and go, “Eh, I don’t look too much like a briard yet; it’ll keep another month”. I want to be able to get my eyes tested when I notice I’m having trouble focusing on fine print again, and not panic about the cost of the glasses. (Yeah, eye tests only cost £20-25, but it’s still a cost, and the optician generally pushes you to buy glasses from them, and I’m currently working on pushing back my anxiety to tell the optician, “I’d just like the prescription, please” so I can go to one of those places where you can get your glasses online for cheaper ... which is a whole other set of anxieties but never mind; I’m just not getting my mother to pay for the damn things again.) Hell, I want spare glasses.

The worst part is that things like this only seem possible these days if you’re really wealthy. Or maybe my view of what ‘wealthy’ means has changed. Because, I mean, if I was really wealthy? Like, lottery money wealthy? I’d have all of the above. My closest friends would not have debt or mortgages. I have charity-related ideas. I sure as hell wouldn’t just sit on it, or spend money on solid gold bathroom fixtures. I’d rather buy a painting from an artist just starting out than blow millions on a painting that will only further enrich an already rich person because the artist is already dead, just because it’s some kind of status symbol to be wealthy enough to afford it.

I guess the difference is that for me, money is a thing to use and circulate, to provide for people who are providing me goods and services. It’s not a way of keeping score. So I don’t get having more money than you can personally use and tucking it away so it generates more money by sitting there, instead of using what you can’t use for yourself to help others. Then again, given that we’ve established that having enough money to have some reasonable quality of life is a pipe dream for most of us, it’s probably not a surprise that I find the concept hard to grasp.

[spitdrunken]

Okay, how would I have to bribe you to share more stuff about Caleb/that extreme fantasy you mentioned? That scenario with him was so hot 👀

:’)!! pls feel free to send another ask about his most extreme fantasies cuz this got looong already!! i kinda wrote a similar post to this before but i feel like the way im writing him keeps changing little bits LMAO

notes: implied dubcon, implied abuse, incredibly unhealthy coping mechanisms, suicidal ideation (kind of,, more like just a general death wish)

Abuse is what Caleb wants, but it’s not what he needs.

Ever since his first love left him with a scarred heart, inside and out, it’s the only way he knows how to get attention. In his essence, Caleb is a very, very lonely person, who yearns for whatever attention he can get- And, over time, this is the way he’s deemed the most effective, as unusual as it is. (That doesn’t mean he’s still not a creep and can’t be manipulative, though.) Fear is not the kind of response he wants, and if that’s what he gets, he’s quick to back off. What he wants is aggression. He’ll hit on people who are clearly dating and out together, just to get someone to yell at him or throw a punch. He uses the sketchiest dating apps and websites for hookups, basically telling them there are ‘no limits’ and dealing with the consequences as they come to him. If he ends up in a situation he doesn’t like, it’s his own fault, right? He’ll wander the streets late at night after being kicked out of someone’s place, long after public transport has stopped running. Even if it did, he wouldn’t have the money to spare. 

This is as far as he’ll get with anyone, he thinks. This is all he’s good for, and all he’ll ever need. And he adores it! He genuinely does!! He gets an incredible kick out of it, and could cum from getting the shit beat out of him. The risks are no deterrent to him. He expects to end up dead in a ditch one day, or locked up in the back of a van and kidnapped. Caleb’s only surprised it hasn’t already happened. He couldn’t imagine a more fitting and deserving end for himself. He’ll die doing what he loved. What else does he have going for him, anyway? It’s enough. It’s what he tells himself. 

(But then why... Why does it hurt every time someone kicks him out, or treats him as disposable? When he returns home and texts them, only to find himself blocked? Why does his heart race whenever a decent person comes along, who actually patches him up after one of their ‘sessions’? Lows always follows his highs, and it always ends up with him feeling utterly dead inside.)

Caleb is not easy to love. He’s a lot more closed off and private than one would guess from his shameless behaviour. Any genuine kindness will be met with resistance, showing the absolute worst of himself, enough to scare most people of. It’s his ‘test of loyalty’, if you will. He wants to know if you won’t leave him before being vulnerable. Love won’t ‘fix’ him either. (One could argue it makes him worse, in ways.) But once you have him ensnared, he’s yours: Forever.

[digimonloving]

I'm sorry this is so so incredibly specific but I Am Going Through Some Stuff and live in an area with terrible public transportation so........................could I please get a fic about a Myotismon encouraging their nervous tamer to get their driver's license. Thanks in advance I owe you my life........................

I'll Help You Along The Way | Ficlet| Myotismon and Tamer Reader

"Truly, if it were up to me, I'd personally chauffeur you around if the transportation isn't as good as you say," Myotismon brought up, sitting himself down on your bed as he looked at you getting ready to try for the driving test, or at least try to... You were visibly nervous, and Myotismon couldn't help but frown at how you fumbled with your outfit as you tried to straighten it out and then rethink what you were wearing.

"Well, you can't. I doubt they'd let a Devidramon roam the streets, or let a carriage with a reaper-looking thing driving it with nothing allowed on the road... God I have nothing I want to put on!"

He gently placed his hands onto your shoulders as he stood, giving a small smile to you in the mirror as he patted them before he moved out of sight, digging around in your outfit pile for you. He presented a rather decent looking shirt that was comfortable enough and nice enough pants for you to wear.

"Try these. These might help you feel a bit more confident," he nodded, handing them over as you sighed and gratefully took them from the vampiric Digimon.

"Just need to get through this.. just.... gotta not freak out... It'll be fine... it'll be fine..." you mumbled to yourself as you looked in the mirror as you held up the clothes and began to put them on. Yeah... these clothes did it for you, and since Myotismon -- someone who was versed in a bit of fashion -- picked it out for you, you felt a bit more secure wearing them and not feeling silly.

Myotismon had talked you into considering getting your license a little while ago when you came home in a horrid mood thanks to the public transports either being late, or overly crowded and simply giving you a bad vibe. You knew he was just trying to help, but you really didn't want to do this. It scared you, and he understood that.. but he still thought it would be better that you actually tried to get your own vehicle so you no longer had to deal with such things ever again.

"I have faith in you, you know," he hummed, turning his back to let you have your privacy as you changed once again. "You're a smart person. I know that your anxieties might get in the way... but you need to just breathe. You can manage this, I know you can."

You smiled at Myotismon, even if he couldn't see it due to being turned away. Running your hands along your shirt to smooth it out and to be sure it was a good fit. It was, and it complimented you well. With your nervous thoughts, you would have never picked out a good matching outfit that didn't make you -- in your eyes -- look silly for this driving test.

"Thank you. I might need you to walk with me, so I can feel a bit more secure. And I might need a bit more of your encouragement to help me out... I might turn away from the doors if I don't have someone to help me out there," you laughed, tugging at the Digimon's cape so that he could look to you without having to worry about seeing you half-naked.

"I would be more than happy to accompany you. It would be my pleasure, truly," he bowed, chuckling as he winked at you. "You just need to remember; keep calm. I know it can be tough for you, and especially since you're so nervous about this.. but I know you have it in you to steel your nerves and focus on what's ahead. You simply must not allow your nerves to take over. And look at it this way, as I've said; you'll no longer have to deal with the poor transportation this place gives. Look forward to that the most and take it as a reward for when you pass the test." he placed his hand upon your head, gently patting you as he smirked.

"Thank you.." you sighed out, gently grabbing onto his hand as you moved it away from your head, which he allowed easily.

"Now... let's get you that driver's license so you can be rid of having to share transport with strangers and god knows what type of infections growing on those seats." Myotismon laughed, escorting you out.

[norarigby]

フェア関西のルームメイト二名 (The Two Roommates from Fair Kansai)

Chapter 2: The Typo

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Description: In which while typing a roommate ad online, the famed Miya Atsumu, (23) MSBY Jackals Setter, makes a detrimental typo that leads to an influx of women applicants. Confused, but not completely opposed (the idiot), Miya Atsumu lands on a formidable candidate. Y/n L/n. A Biotechnology major at Kansai University, looking for a change after her last disastrous roommates and some space from a particular complication. It’s odd, but it’ll work. Maybe a little too well.

Pairings: Miya Atsumu x Reader

Warnings: None!

Word Count: ~1.4k

A/n: Cross posted from my AO3. I update there first, so if you want the chapters sooner, check it out!

To say Atsumu was overwhelmed would be an understatement. When one of the athletic directors approached him saying how his phone kept going off in the locker room, he was concerned something was seriously wrong. As a precaution, they assure him that if it was an emergency that he should feel free to take the day. But upon closer inspection, he quickly realized that wouldn’t be necessary. He scrolled through what seemed like pages of messages and missed calls about the ad. And not just any inquiries, but…

“ALL WOMEN!” Atsumu exclaimed loudly in the busy shop. A few annoyed heads turned to the source of the outburst.

Osamu rolled his eyes, “‘Tsumu, we talked about this. Having you come during busy hours is already enough of a nuisance, but could you keep it down? This is still a public place.”

“But ‘Samu! What am I going to do?” Atsumu whisper-shouted like it would help his outburst, but it still elicited a few head turns, “I already didn’t want to room with a stranger! And now all of the applicants are girls? This has to be some sort of joke.”

Osamu helped with the line and handed out a few orders to customers before focusing some energy on his dramatic brother. “Well, did you specify that you were only looking for male roommate?”

Atsumu picked at the stray rice grains on his plate as he tried to remember what he wrote. He couldn’t remember specifying anything about the roommate themselves; focusing mainly on the apartment itself. He voiced his thoughts to his brother.

“Hmm, well Atsumu can be a girl's name. Maybe that’s why?”

He tried not to be offended at his brother’s comment, mainly because he was partially right. It’s possible that they’re assuming he’s a girl. But that doesn’t make entire sense either. Is it possible his fan club found the posting? That seemed pretty possible. Atsumu knew fangirls could get crazy when they wanted to be.

Osamu finished some things behind the bar and went over to sit by Atsumu. The two contemplated his conundrum over a fresh plate of onigiri. After Osamu’s second, he spoke up, “Just for science, can I see your ad?”

Atsumu gave him an incredulous look, but pulled up the ad anyway, “I mean, sure, but I don’t think-”

At Atsumu’s sudden silence, Osamu’s curiosity was piqued, “”Tsumu? Everything okay?”

Wordlessly he handed the phone over and Osamu read through the ad. Immediately after reading, he burst into laughter.

“‘Samu! This isn’t funny!”

But Osamu was laughing so hard he couldn’t even speak. Some of his employees turned out of concern and curiosity at their boss’ sudden burst. Eventually, he calmed down enough to choke out a “you are in some trouble, ‘Tsumu”.

Roommate Wanted.

Master Bedroom available with a private bath in a 100 sq m apartment in Osaka. In-unit wash, AC, dishwasher, internet, etc. Fully furnished (besides bedroom available). Rent with utilities is 62784¥. Near public transportation. Feel free to contact with questions or offers.

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Text/Call

Miya Atsumi

--

“Alright, that wraps it up for today. Finish the calculations on your own time and be sure to bring back your completed form by next class. See you Tuesday!”

The sound of chairs scraping against the floor harmonized with the zipping and unzipping of backpacks as the classroom got up to leave. Y/n pulled out her phone to finally check her messages.

From: Mom

Found a listing in Osaka that looks interesting. Good apartment with really good pricing. You should give them a call.

(link)

Y/n typed a quick thank you before clicking on the link. Her mom was right. It looked like a decent location and a not too bad price. Trying to look for any information on the roommate (roommates?), all she could see was a number and a name at the bottom of the ad. What a strange listing. It was probably the shortest listing she’d ever come across--and definitely the most to the point.

Y/n sat and stared at the listing for a little bit while weighing her options. She just got out of an interesting situation in Suita, but she was now living with her parents. Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but both her and her parents weren’t exactly jumping at the idea of her moving back in, especially with her graduating college next year.

Making up her mind, she copied the number and sent a quick text to the number on the ad. A silent prayer was sent to whoever was listening. This wouldn’t fix all of her problems, but this would solve a big one and she swore she would be able to handle the rest.

--

“And you told me I was loud,” Now Atsumu was getting antsy about the amount of people staring at his hysteric brother. “”Samu, you need to calm down.”

This had been going on for at least ten minutes now. Osamu would read through the ad, get sent into a fit of laughter, finally calm down, but then would read it again and the cycle would start all over again. Not used to being the responsible twin, in addition to being extremely embarrassed by his brother’s reaction to his typo, Atsumu was at a loss for what to do. He tried sending reassuring smiles to patrons and mumbled some apologies, but that was the extent of his capabilities.

Finally, Osamu calmed down and pushed Atsumu’s phone back to him. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Osamu tried to console his brother, “Hey, maybe this won’t be such a bad thing. Surely, there’s at least one of those girls that you could at least be civil with.”

Atsumu scrolled through his messages again, exacerbated, “Even if that’s true! There’s too many! I don’t really have the time to sit and go through all of these.”

There were at least 100 people who had responded to his ad and where the messages definitely weren’t flooding in as much as they had earlier that day, he would get a notification about once every 15-20 minutes. By the time he got through the original applicants, there would be another 100-200 to take their place. In between practice and conditioning, there was no way Atsumu was going to be able to get through these all by himself.

“Tell you what,” Osamu leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, “Since this was partially my idea, I’ll help you tonight after I close up. And if we can’t find anyone, I’ll help you write up a better listing and we can delete this one.”

Atsumu’s other issue with all of these applicants is that he really didn’t want to spend energy looking through dozens of descriptions and deciding if he would like them or not. He assumed it would be like the dating app he had for a couple weeks, but worse. Atsumu really didn’t like the idea of judging someone based on a single paragraph they wrote about themselves. He preferred a more personal approach. Like with the various spikers and teammates he’d played with over the years, he was really good at reading people in person. Within a short conversation, he could pretty accurately lay out a person’s personality (what things they might like, what might make them tick, what things they were indifferent to). Over the internet it was much more difficult.

He guessed he could always ask them to meet in person, right? That was something people did. They could meet at his brother’s restaurant so then Osamu could get a feel for the other person. Atsumu figured it would also get one glaring issue out of the way: he was a guy.

It was a fool proof plan. Osamu and him would sort through the applicants tonight and he would invite them to meet him in person. This way he can see if it’s going to work or not and if they aren’t comfortable with rooming with a guy they can just leave. Genius!

Atsumu recounted his plan to his brother and Osamu was in agreement. With that, the blonde brother left to go to afternoon conditioning, planning on returning just before close to sneak in a few more onigiri from his brother before the long haul.