#and ultimately the owner paid the parents back

[gablegrip]

if you’re hearing WHAT IT COSTS by BAD OMENS playing, you have to know SUDESH BASRA (HE/HIM; CIS MAN) is near by! the 38 year old RETIRED ATHLETE, NOW OWNER OF READY PLAYER ONE has been in town for, like, ON AND OFF THEIR WHOLE LIFE. they’re known to be quite STUBBORN, but being LOYAL seems to balance that out. or maybe it’s the fact that they resemble RAHUL KOHLI. personally, i’d love to know more about them seeing as how they’ve got those COOL UNCLE, FAMILY DINNERS AROUND A TABLE, WORN OUT CONVERSE SNEAKERS, YELLING AT ESPN AS IF THEY CAN HEAR, DOING THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT PEOPLE EXPECT, TALKING TO PLANTS TO HELP THEM GROW vibes. and maybe i’ll get my chance if i hang out around BRIGHTSIDE long enough!

BASICS:

NAME:  sudesh basra.

NICKNAMES: bas/h.

AGE: thirty-eight. 

ETHNICITY: punjabi.

BIRTHDAY: march.

GENDER AND PRONOUNS: he/him, cis man.

SEXUALITY: no labels.

OCCUPATION: owner of ready player one, formerly a professional mixed martial arts athlete and former UFC middleweight champion.

CONNECTIONS: 

aria gomez (younger step sister) and alicia (niece) who he is very close to.

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

former mma rivalry.

an athlete he’s training.

partner/wife/husband or on the flip side flings/exes/fwb, i don’t have anything set out for him partner wise so things can easily be changed if there’s a wc you’re interested in.

PHYSICAL:

HAIR COLOUR: black, greying.

EYE COLOUR: brown.

HEIGHT: 6 foot 2.

PIERCINGS: none. 

TATTOOS: littered over his body, most notably a compass on the back of his hand. 

SCARS: many from fighting including — but not limited to — his right eyebrow, around his eyes, and scalp. he also has deformed ears from hematoma auris (cauliflower ear) due to repeated trauma to that area, and a slightly crooked nose from several breaks. 

BIOGRAPHY:

raised by a loving and large family, sudesh’s parents (a british indian mother and an indian father from america) divorced when he was young, and despite it being tough, it ultimately ended in a bigger and larger family. he loves his step siblings as though they’re his own, particularly his younger sister aria with whom he is the closest to. family gatherings are far but weird, they’re full of love and food.

originally enrolling in karate when he was young — as a form of self-defence against bullies — everything really started when his parents caved in to his relentless begging to join a school wrestling club, which soon lead to mixed martial arts training and camps. while he was academically smart, studying to become a nutritionist always played in the background for somebody who liked to be on his toes. 

hard of hearing in one ear due to a complicated perforated eardrum, has trouble locating sounds. 

his final score 14-6-1. most mixed martial arts athletes retire in their mid to late thirties and bash was no exception, he was aware of the wear and tear long before retiring, the repetitive concussions already manifesting in headaches and forgetfulness.

besides being a full time nerd, sudesh volunteers his time to help train lesser known athletes whom he thinks have been overlooked.

in stark contrast to his history in combat sport, bash isn’t described as aggressive. he’s never been a person to throw punches unless he’s getting paid, or — more importantly — when somebody is threatening his family and friends. to those passing by, he can appear quiet, aloof, and in his own world, but very much has a light-hearted and mischievous side if the chance arises.

+ will add more when the muse develops! 

[onyxbird]

In Their Name

Summary:

They were widely considered to be one of the best in the business—in any business—at deciphering encoded messages from supervillains. It was a weird form of job security for a reporter, but in a world of superheros and supervillains, you take what you can get.

This message, however, was from the Overlord, the longest-standing and most mystery-shrouded supervillain in the city. It was by far the longest decoding task of the reporter's career... and the strangest format. (AO3 link here.)

...

“EVIL WILL RISE. WE ARE LEGION. ALL HAIL THE OVERLORD WHO SHALL REIGN OVER THIS LAND. PROSPERITY AND PLENTY ARE THE PRIZE OF THOSE WHO JOIN OUR CAU.”

The reporter sat back from their whiteboard and sipped their tea.

They were widely considered to be one of the best in the business—in any business—at deciphering encoded messages from supervillains. It was a weird form of job security. The newspaper loved it, of course, because it ensured them the scoop on whatever the latest supervillain was up to. They had initially worried about getting on supervillains' radar, but, ultimately, the villains wanted their messages to be deciphered—otherwise there was no reason to encode a coherent message. In fact, the reporter was fairly certain some of the paper's anonymous tip-offs came directly from the villains themselves.

Hero organizations and law enforcement were probably the worst part of the deal. They needed the help, but they wanted the decoded messages kept under wraps and especially didn't want it advertised that the newspaper managed to decipher the clues before the police. The paper and the cops had come to a detente of sorts years ago: the paper continued to publish whatever deciphered messages they saw fit, and the closest hero league got a courtesy heads-up with the deciphered message before it hit the front page. The paper didn't call attention to the fact that the superheroes and the cops couldn't figure it out without help… unless the other side started trash-talking first. (They seemed to have learned after the first few times.)

This message had been by far the longest decoding job of the reporter's career.

“The Evil Overlord” had been taunting their foes for years that their manifesto was openly published and that no one had managed to find and decipher it yet. Every word and image they released had been pored over by investigators, journalists, scholars, and hobbyists in search of hidden meaning. There was plenty of fodder for the search. Overlord had their fingers in pies all over the area.

Hell, there was an entire collection of local businesses in the region that everyone knew to be a front for Overlord. Owners Erik, Victoria, Isobel, and Lyle, the self-proclaimed children of their ever-masked villainous parent, made no secret of their allegiance. Out-of-towners were generally baffled that no one had shut down a known supervillain-owned business front, even if no one had been dig up admissible evidence of legal wrongdoing on the part of the business itself. Locals mostly shrugged—law enforcement and the superhero league together had failed to touch Overlord and their organization for decades; what else was new? Legally the businesses were squeaky clean, the prices were pretty good, and their staff was well-paid and well-treated, with competitive benefits. If your city was stuck with a resident supervillain, might as well reap what fringe benefits you could, right?

Their advertising, signage, and even coupon fine print had been scrutinized for hidden messages almost as much as Overlord's overt proclamations of doom, with absolutely no luck in finding the fabled “manifesto.” They did occasionally conceal a marketing easter egg, e.g., a passphrase or set of instructions to collect a free “Evil, Inc.” coffee mug. (The reporter had the entire collection: Nine were displayed on the shelf above their desk; the latest one, a rainbow-themed June design with each full-height letter of “EVIL, INC” in a different color, contained their current cup of tea.)

They were all looking in the wrong place.

To be fair, it had taken the reporter a long time to figure it out themselves, even with their experience.

It was common knowledge, of course, that Overlord's own children's names spelled out “EVIL.” They frequently highlighted it themselves—it was, after all, the official explanation for why they called their businesses “Evil, Inc.” And on the face of it, that was a simple, self-contained joke—the Overlord had only four children.

…Right?

The reporter no longer recalled exactly what had drawn their attention to the employee birth announcements in the first place, but they did remember the names they'd noticed in that first batch: Hadley, Arwen, Ivy, and Liam. HAIL.

It was a minor thing, easily explained by sheer coincidence, or by the newsletter author having some fun with acronyms once they saw the collection of names. They probably wouldn't even have registered it if it hadn't been an announcement from the local acronym-of-sibling-initials company. And at the time, no one else was really looking—those births long pre-dated Overlord's earliest claims of having published an undiscovered “manifesto.” But the reporter hadn't become a supervillain decryption expert by not chasing patterns down just for curiosity's sake.

Finding the earlier parts of the message wasn't trivial. Access to back issues of the employee newsletter wasn't exactly front and center in the company's public-facing communications; the early formatting and wording of the announcements had varied, and, in perhaps the biggest hurdle to deciphering the message, not every employee's baby was part of the pattern.

Still, once you tracked down all the announcements and figured out the indicators that flagged which ones were part of the message, it was a simple a matter of listing the names in the order announced (not always corresponding to birth order) and adding some spaces and punctuation.

Walker, Ian, Lucy and Lily (twins). Regina, Ibrahim, Sara, Eli. William and Earl. Ana, Robert, Evie. Lori, Edward (Jr.), Gabriela, Imani and Omari (twins again), Nathan. Allison, Laci, Laetitia.

The reporter had been quietly keeping track ever since, watching the message slowly, slowlyunfold. It was about at the point the message hit “who shall reign” that they started to suspect Overlord had never intended this to become a thing and just wasn't sure how to end the “tradition” without insulting the next employee who wanted to include their baby. (“Prize” had been a particularly amusing section to observe—whoever organized this effort had clearly gone to some contortions in terms of message planning and announcement order to make little Zachary the 3rd, aka “Tripp,” fit into the message.)

The phone on their desk chimed a gentle reminder—one hour until Jason's Little League game. The Evil, Inc.-sponsored team, the Minions of Darkness (also home to four of the letters in “Prosperity”: Peter, Ollie, Ignacio “Nacho,” and Tyler) had been having a blast this season, and Jason had been bouncing off the walls all week about their upcoming game against the Metropolis Lions.

Lyle, who ran the Evil grocery store closest to the baseball field, always supplied snacks for the team, and the reporter had promised to swing by and pick them up on the way. (They wondered, as they had many times before, whether they should ask if his parent wanted their “manifesto” to be revealed or to remain a mystery to those who didn't find it for themselves.)

They sorted the latest Evil, Inc., birth announcement (Angela and Uri) into the folder with the rest, scrubbed all traces of the message off of the whiteboard, and flipped off the lights on the way out of their office.

Hopefully Lyle included some of Evil's store-brand alphabet cookies this week. They tended to forestall the away team's commentary about the terrors of living in a city with an active supervillain, and besides, all the kids loved them!

[podracerbarrelroll]

How to ditch subscription music apps and build your own library (mostly) for free

This post is brought to you by the most recent update to the Amazon music app which no longer lets me, as a Prime subscriber, download individual songs or albums. I now either have to download “playlists” or pay an extra subscription fee for Amazon music unlimited. Since I was only using Amazon’s app because I didn’t have to pay anything extra, I ultimately decided not to put up with their bullshit and to go back to the old ways, e.g., building my own music library that no corporation can randomly decide to take away from me.

If you grew up in the pre-internet, burgeoning-but-not-ubiquitous-internet, or pre-smartphone era like me, the following steps will be a blast from the past, so this post is not exactly for you. It’s for Kids These Days™ who may not remember a pre-algorithm, pre-subscription service internet in the same way, or just anyone who doesn’t know you can do this. Remember, one man’s time knife is another man’s Chris Fleming.

So, how do you get music for free?

Use your public library

Check out CDs

Rip them using Windows Media Player, which comes standard with windows computers

That’s it. Now you can save and back up the .mp3 files wherever you want, and you have them forever and ever. I recently ripped music from a CD I copied and burned onto a new disc back in high school, uploaded the mp3 files to Google drive, and downloaded them onto my phone. I paid zero dollars for that, and I now have that album forever.

Ok, so how do I do that?

I’m glad you asked.

1. Insert a CD in the disc drive. (I know a lot of new laptops don’t come with a disc drive--I’ll address this later)

2. Go to the Windows start menu and find Windows Media Player. (If you have a mac, use itunes or whatever, I’m sure it’s similar)

3. Find the CD on the menu on the left-hand side of Windows Media Player. It looks like this.

4. At the top of the screen, go to “rip CD”. If you don’t want all of the songs, uncheck the ones you don’t want to rip. It should now look like this.

5. When it’s done, go to your music folder and find the artist and album. Here are the .mp3 files. You can connect your phone directly to your computer to transfer the files, or you can upload them to Google drive or your cloud storage of choice and then download them onto your phone.

6. From there, the .mp3s should load automatically and play in the music player app of your choice. I use Musicolet because it doesn’t have ads.

Is this legal? Honestly, that’s a bit of a grey area. Technically, only the copyright owners can make reproductions of their work barring exceptions for fair use, but the real trouble does not come when you copy a work, but when you redistribute it. If you save this from a hard copy to your own computer or phone, who’s ever gonna know? Basically, it’s legal enough to get away with, and legal enough that no one will care. This is how back in the pre-CD days, people recorded songs off the radio onto cassette tapes, and how my parents saved all of the James Bond movies from a TV movie marathon by recording them to VHS tapes on the VCR.

Is this ethical to the artist? It’s as ethical as checking out their CD to listen to it on a CD player and then return it. The library already purchased their music legally, and checking out the CD to rip it is literally no different than checking out the disc to play it in a CD player. The more times something has been checked out, the more likely the library is to replace it if it wears out and gets ruined.

Will the library get mad at me / figure out what I’m doing? Emphatically no. They don’t give a shit. Checking out a bunch of CDs improves their circulation rates, which is good for your local library system as a whole, because that’s something they bring to their governing bodies to show that people are still using the library and that they still need funding.

What if the library doesn’t have the album I want? You can try getting it through interlibrary loan, requesting the library purchase it (a lot of libraries have forms for that), or just buying that album yourself if you want it that badly. CDs cost roughly $10-$25 each, less if they’re used, which is the equivalent of like 1-2 months of spotify depending on what tier you use. Compare that to having the music you want forever without having to pay a monthly fee.

My laptop doesn’t have a disc drive. Neither does mine. I bought a USB disc player from Amazon for like $20. Your library might also have one they’d let you use, although they might not have ones to check out and take home.

I don’t have a computer. Your library does. They’re free to use, and I can almost guarantee they have PC desktops running Windows. They may not have a disc drive, in which case you can [see last paragraph].

This would be great if I could actually get to the library / afford a disc player / had a phone, etc. Yes, I’m assuming several things here, including that you have a phone, can get to your public library, and (if you refer to the title of this post) that you are the kind of person who can pay for spotify or another streaming app. I’m also American, and I don’t know how well all of this applies to other countries. However, this is the most affordable and most accessible solution out there ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don’t have the time for this and would rather just keep paying for spotify. That’s fine, and I’m honestly not judging you. I buy a lot of pre-cut vegetables from the store because I don’t have the fucking time to peel and chop carrots. My mom would say that’s a waste of money, but I’m paying for the convenience.

Lol I’m just gonna pirate shit. Cool, have fun. Just please keep your pirating to mega-rich artists who are already set for life and not struggling people putting their shit out on soundcloud, ok?

How do I get new music recs without suggestions? Listen to the radio. Look up music you hear in movie soundtracks. Get recs from friends. Go to YouTube (using ublock origin for Firefox so you don’t get ads) and use their algorithm. There are ways beyond the personalized playlist spotify gives you.

This seems like it takes a lot of time and effort. If you have no music to begin with, yeah, then it’s going to take some time to build your library. But, as I keep saying, the benefits are that you get to curate your own experience and that you get to have this music forever. Once you already have most of what you want set up, it’s going to take a lot less effort to add new albums or songs here and there as you discover them. In this modern hellscape of profit-seeking and algorithms, I will keep peddling the value of curating your own experience and getting shit for free.

[themanagerisavampirex]

Task Eleven → Intro & Connections

Nani Pelekai // Thirty // Owner of Ohana Dance Studios // She/Her [Biography]

+ Hard-Working, Devoted, Feisty - Sarcastic, Stern, Irritable

Quick Facts:

Moved to Redwood Hollow from Hawai’i when she was 14 because of her dad’s job. They were supposed to move back when dad’s 5-year contract ended, but they didn’t get that far. The Pelekai’s still live in the house that their parents bought when they moved to Redwood Hollow.

#Disaster Bisexual - has for sure had the hots for all of her best friends at some point, and the only person that knows this is her Super Secret Diary.

Never sits down. Runs on caffeine. Tries to cook but is fucking awful at it. Sleep, whomst?

Has worked just about every single job going in Redwood Hollow at some point in the past 12 years.

Was a surfing champion in Hawai’i in her teens, and often went back during the summer to compete after moving to Redwood Hollow.

Was accepted to Redwood College for Dance & Sports Sciences on a sports scholarship, and had started her first year before ultimately dropping out to look after Lilo.

Fought tooth and nail to keep her family together, and will absolutely fight anyone who gets in the way of that. (To be fair, she’ll fight you for less. Don’t piss her off unless you want to be absolutely roasted to death.)

Drives an absolutely ancient car that only has a cassette player. She saved up for it as a teen through odd jobs and competition earnings, and finally had enough to buy her first car the year after her parents died. She hasn’t been able to afford another since.

Nani is super friendly and can talk to just about anyone, but be warned, she is also extremely sarcastic and takes no bullshit from anybody. She will call you out.

Taken Connections

Ohana - Lilo Pelekai (Sister) @imsorryibityoux, Stephen Pelekai (Adopted Brother)

Housemates - Gwen Pleakley @gwen-pleakley, Javi Jookiba @javi-jookiba

Besties - David Kawena (See Below), Babette Dust @babettedust, Becky Detweiler @beckydetweiler, Victor Lumier @victorlumiere

Relationships

What Are We? Boyfriend - Paxton Patterson @paxtonpatterson​

Nani and Paxton are one giant question mark, and one big avoided answer. They’re totally dating, but they’re both also totally stupid and in denial about. Everyone can see it. Paxton makes Nani feel all sorts of ways -happy being the main one- and she’s absolutely terrified she’s going to fuck it up by putting a label on it. She’s also scared that if she lets herself focus too much on herself and a relationship, she’ll miss something with Lilo. She will come out with the excuse that she’s “too busy” for all that mushy romance shit, but let’s be real, one look at Paxton’s puppy dog-eyes and floppy hair and she’s swooning. Plus, he’s a great cook, prime roasting fodder, and makes for a very comfortable napping location.

Ex-Boyfriend - Freddie “Flash” Slothmore @flash-hundredyarddash

They dated for a while waaaay back in the day. Nani thought she was ready for dating again but it was this relationship that made her realise that there was no room for that in her life when looking after her kid sister, and working 3 jobs. Freddie wanted them to go off into the world on some chill adventures, which sounded great in theory, but wouldn’t work in practice. The relationship ended amicably and they’re still friends.

Other Connections:

TJ Detweiler @tj-detweiler - Becky’s Brother. Pain in the ass. Would like to be paid for babysitting him, thanks.

Patrick Patterson @patrickpattersxn - Paxton’s Brother. They’ve bonded over absolutely roasting Paxton, and each other, apparently.

Elsa Arendelle @magicalelsaarendelle

Mrs Hasagawa - Nani worked at her Fruit Stall. She is now the bane of her and Paxton’s life. Ring-Leader of the Yoga Ladies.

Mary Gibbs @itsmarygibbs & Adam Legrand @magicaladamlegrand​

Persephone Kore @itspersephxne​ - The apparent mastermind behind setting up her and Paxton.

Hayden Bodaway @haydenbodaway​ - Paxton’s “Dad”/ Boss. Nani is stupidly intimidated by him though she would like to think otherwise, and makes an arse of herself every time she’s in the same room as him.

Wanted Connections:

The Yoga Ladies - Anyone can be a Yoga Lady. They have all banded together to give Nani shit about her love life, and honestly probably do that with half the town. Generally all older people in town, but basically anyone that attends the Yoga Class can fall under this category.

Lilo’s Friends (and enemies)

People that attend dance classes at her studio, or have kids/ siblings etc. that go.

Past Employers & Past Colleagues - Until Nani took over running the dance studio, she had to work every job she could get to keep her house, car, and siblings well-fed. If your character owns a business or is a manager, there’s a high chance that Nani has worked for them at some point. Whether she was fired, or quit, is all up for discussion. And she definitely knows a ton of people from having worked with them too.

Enemies - Nani needs someone that just really grinds her gears in the worst possible way.

Surf Buddies - Either current surf buddies or old surf buddies from her competition days

Wanted Plots / Plot Ideas

Watch Where You’re Going, Stupid Head! - Someone gets on Nani’s bad side for one reason or another. Maybe they almost hit her with their car and she proceeds to stick a boot in their bumper and she has to pay for the damages, or someone just catches her on a really bad day.

Two Left Feet - Nani has been tasked with teaching someone to dance, either because they want to build their confidence, or because they want to surprise someone, or anything really, but it turns out they have the coordination of a shopping cart.

Green Eyes - Would an Are-They-Dating? plot be complete without a little jealousy added into the mix to spice things up a little? Either Nani is jealous of someone who had been eyeing Paxton up at the bar, or she misconstrued a look from Paxton to someone else as potential flirting and honed in on that poor person instead of calling Paxton out, because she’s totally not jealous or anything.

Someone brings in David Kawena (see below) for the drama lmfao

Honestly, I don’t have too many wanted plot ideas for Nani that wouldn’t be heavily connection driven, so feel free to message me to spitball anything you want from Nani!

Wanted Characters

Characters I would love to see taken/ an OC for (in relation to Nani) that one day might get bios:

DAVID KAWENA my beloved! - Nani’s all-time best friend. They grew up together, and David was there for Nani and Lilo when their parents died. David was always Nani’s rock, her voice of reason, and her shoulder to cry on. At some point there were mutual feelings, and they almost dated multiple times, but Nani never acted on her feelings because she was afraid of ruining their friendship. (David was too important to her to lose him over something as stupid as dating.)

Honestly, would love to say they were best friends in Hawai’i and he came here to start college with Nani, and then tragedy struck, but can totally work with anything here. He either has been here this whole time, or had to move back to The Island a few years ago but Nani still keeps him updated on everything.

(And honestly who doesn’t love a bit of almost-lovers drama? Especially now that Nani is almost-kinda-sorta dating Paxton amarite???)

MOSES PULOKI - In the movie, this is Lilo’s Hula Teacher. Totally up for spitballing ideas on this one, but either he was Nani & Lilo’s childhood Hula Teacher, now in Redwood Hollow as a trainer or retiree, or he’s the person Nani took over the studio from.

With Bios: Stephen Pelakai & Cobra Bubbles

Stephen Pelakai - Nani & Lilo’s Adopted Brother. Honestly, as if social work wasn’t complicated enough they had to go and adopt Stephen into the family. Nani is listed as his guardian, as she is with Lilo, but she calls him little brother.

Cobra Bubbles - The Pelekai family social worker. Nani couldn’t see it at the time, but Bubbles really was looking out for Nani to make sure she did what was best for Lilo. I just think it would be really fun to see their dynamic now that Nani isn’t fighting against him all the time, and the risk of Lilo being taken away is now 0 because she’s not a minor anymore.

[yung-terps]

A stream of consciousness. Not a new realization but I check in on distanced people more than they check in on me. I think I have come up with some ideas to play around with for a new poem! A little stoked because I haven't written one in awhile. Keep accidentally hanging out with dudes who ultimately just want to have sex. The benefit of the doubt hardly ever benefits me. There was one cool dude this past week, I guess. The thing is, when they skirt around their intentions, I kind of get off on getting them to just like. Voice it aloud. At some point during the night, I learn he is moving across the damn ass country soon and take note, considering I want something long-term. Later we start to makeout and it's fun, it's whatever. I like kissing. We break away after a little bit and I suggest that we walk to the corner store. He agrees, slipping in an "after". After what? Answer the question. And he eventually did. I want to fuck you. Surprise. He didn't even finger me. It was fine. See you never. My roommate is home from a 2-month thing. I cleaned the apartment from top to bottom... all of its nooks and crannies... I hope they feel welcomed! Still some stuff I want to hang and touch-up, all easily overlooked though. They are my secrets. Things just need to look lived in now. It's all too.... untouched... even though in actuality I spent the last few hours putting my hands all over everything. Arguably the most I have in a long time. Dusting and placing and rotating. You get it though... the living room needs to be hung out in.... broken in. I'm sure the suitcases have already made the place feel less... sterilized and proper... no longer like a set. The overhead lighting in the kitchen is harsh, always has been... often takes me out of reality! I have an idea to hang these paper pyramid-like string lights that I have had for years and years. Some are beat-up but I think it would add to the space... give us more options... and it just would be cute. Before my shower I removed the stain glass lightbulb, only leaving in two small red ones. Stood there, the water nice and hot. Sat on the tub floor. Closed my eyes. Leaned forward. Listened to the music I chose. Got out, screwed the loose bulb back in. I have an ongoing joke with myself that I will find my missing hard drive in a stupid silly fucking place, coping about it an entire year later. I noticed that I had some board games that were still taped shut from when I moved. Laughed with myself about the possibilities and opened them up. I am still holding out hope but no luck this time! I may knock on my old front door one day. I kind of resent the new owners for buying my home though. And how quick it all was. Like, get fucked, but also can I please have my hard drive? I mean, if it's in there. What I did find was a pile of half-used notepad sheets for a game that hasn't been played in forever. Some of them were drawn on by people I no longer speak to. One had a doodle done by my ex-boyfriend. It's weird to think about how I have lived, like, thirteen different lives. I think I would forgive a lot of people. Or even apologize to them. I also found two 8-in-1 retractable ballpoint pens. So, like, some treasure and a lot of thoughts. I did a little bit of glueing and taping and messing around in my journal. I feel I am doing okay in a very general sense. Trying my best and keeping up. I could do better. Can't we all though? Is that a cop-out? I don't care about money, I don't know, it's just practically all my parents would argue about in front of us. I don't care as long as my shit gets paid on time. But I think I have to shift gears and thought processes because I would like to live a little more comfortably, ultimately concerning myself with it less. Gonna look over my resume. Keep going, keep busy. Try to slim down my closet. Fix my camera. Maybe it did end up working on my last trip. Do this and that. Keep on playing Tears of the Kingdom and text dudes less. There's more passion involved with the former. Used used used. Wondering. Navigating. October is almost here.

[calcbench]

Hulu Reaches Its Finale

Sometimes you can see the plot twists in a TV show coming from a mile away. One could say the same for streaming service Hulu, which Disney $DIS just announced that it will buy out entirely for at least $8.6 billion.

Wait a minute — Calcbench did see that deal coming from a mile away, as far back as 2019! 

Back during that golden era of streaming services, our research team had a hobby of analyzing the disclosures of Hulu’s corporate owners to see what clues we could garner about its financial performance. If you knew where to look, you could piece together quite a bit.

As far back as 2016, we had a post about the three corporate owners of Hulu at that time: Disney, Comcast $CMCSA, and 21st Century Fox ($FOX). Those three had each owned 33 percent of Hulu until mid-summer, when they allowed Time-Warner to buy a 10 percent stake of Hulu. We also noted that Comcast had booked a loss of $65 million from Hulu in the first half of that year. Do the math, and it meant that Hulu was on track to lose $390 million that year. 

In May 2017 we had a follow-up post, again digging into disclosures at Comcast, Disney, and the other corporate parents. We estimated that Hulu lost $180 million in the first quarter of that year, although we never could deduce how much revenue the service was bringing in. 

By the time of our third post on Hulu in December 2017, much had changed. Most notably, Disney had proposed to buy most of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets — including Fox’s stake in Hulu. That deal ultimately did close, giving Disney a controlling interest in Hulu (its own 30 percent stake, plus Fox’s 30 percent). We also figured out that Hulu’s losses had ballooned in the last three years to the mid-nine figures. 

We published our longest analysis ever of Hulu in 2019. By then, Disney had bought out the 10 percent stake that Time-Warner had acquired back in 2016. Time-Warner paid $590 million for that stake in 2016; three years later, Disney bought it back for $1.4 billion. 

Here’s the critical part. When Disney acquired all those Fox assets, it disclosed the purchase price allocation — and included the value of its own 30 percent stake that Disney had previously owned. Figure 1, below, shows that Disney valued that 30 percent slice of Hulu at $4.74 billion.

Do some math again, and that implies a total valuation of $15.8  billion. Thanks to some other fine-detail negotiations, Disney actually owned 67 percent of Hulu at the time. Which means Comcast’s remaining one-third stake would’ve been worth $5.26 billion.

Now comes the big reveal. 

Disney and Comcast had also reached an agreement that come January 2024, either party would have the right to compel Disney to buy out Comcast’s remaining stake in Hulu for fair market value or total valuation of $27.5 billion, whichever is greater.

Disney is being cagey on what the exact final purchase price will be. The fair value will be assessed as of Sept. 30, 2023. The company said in a statement that “if the value is ultimately determined to be greater than the guaranteed floor value, Disney will pay [Comcast] its percentage of the difference between the equity fair value and the guaranteed floor value.”

We won’t know that exact final price until sometime in early 2024. Still, nobody who had been keeping an eye on the details should be surprised by any of this. For years, buried in the footnotes, were disclosures that showed steep losses at Hulu. Its valuation three years ago was $15.8 billion. Now the question is whether Hulu turned around its fortunes so quickly, and so dramatically, that its valuation will be worth more than the $27.5 billion floor price.

In other words, just like an episode of Only Murders in the Building, all you had to do was look for the clues there in the background all along. 

[college-girl199328]

‘I had to uproot my family’: Surrey, B.C. parents awarded over $33K for wrongful eviction

A Surrey, B.C. family of seven has been awarded $33,600 after they were wrongfully evicted from their home for about two years.

Tenants Natalie and Ryan Egger began leasing month-to-month on Dec. 7, 2018 and served a two-month notice to leave their South Surrey house on Sept. 9, 2021, as it had been sold to their new landlord who planned to move in.

That landlord did not move in, however, but rented the property again for $4,750 — $1,950 more than what the Eggers paid, according to the arbitration decision shared with Global News.

“We were pretty upset because we felt we were wrongfully evicted at that point,” Natalie Egger told Global News on Monday.

Under B.C.’s Residential Tenancy Act, after serving two months’ notice, a landlord must pay the tenants 12 times their monthly rent if the unit they fail to “use the rental unit for that stated purpose for at least 6 months beginning within a reasonable period after the effective date of the notice.”

The landlord filed no evidence for the Eggers’ dispute resolution hearing, but told the Residential Tenancy Branch they had lived in another province for 10 years, “the rules are different here,” and “nobody guided us.”

“The landlord testified that their circumstances had changed and the landlord’s husband suffered a severe heart attack,” reads the document dated Oct. 18, 2022.

Neither the arbitrator nor Egger felt that living out of province was an excuse for not knowing one’s responsibilities under the law.

Egger said it “felt pretty gratifying” to have the Residential Tenancy Branch side with her family in the hearing, but she would have ultimately preferred not to have left the property.

Added insult to injury, she added, is that she and her partner are left to contact the property owners themselves. They will have to take it to court if the landlords don’t pay.

“It seems like the process in general is very disjointed and I wish it was more seamless,” she said.

In an interview, B.C. Minister Responsible for Housing Murray Rankin said the Residential Tenancy Branch has a “compliance and enforcement unit” that can “levy penalties where required.” Normally, however, a decision is “enforced in the courts” and that’s a “very typical situation for administrative tribunals,” he added.

“The fact that this government got into that bad faith eviction section allows real penalties to be exacted, sometimes thousands of dollars,” Rankin said.

Egger said she would like to see a more “streamlined” process with clear information outlining the steps residents need to take both for dispute resolution, and if needed, in small claims court.

“I feel there needs to be more responsibility from the real estate agents as well to ensure that they’re fully informing the people who are purchasing that this is what the tenants are paying … and if they can’t afford the mortgage on the property perhaps they should look somewhere else.”

Egger said the landlords have 15 days from the date they receive her monetary order to respond. If that doesn’t happen, they are called back to arbitration before escalating to court.

[valenciagomez]

FULL NAME: Valencia Gomez

NICKNAME(S): Val, Val Val, Valley AGE: 30 | April 10th, 1993 GENDER & PRONOUNS: Transwoman, She/her FACE CLAIM: Zion Moreno EYE COLOR: Brown HAIR COLOR: Brown HEIGHT: 5′10″ OCCUPATION: Owner of Rose Salon; Retired Adult Film Actress HOMETOWN: Hidehill NEIGHBORHOOD: Hove Lake

TWs in bio: Divorce, drug addiction, parental abuse

About:

Valencia’s father; the retired chief of police wasn’t the best to her nor her siblings. He ruled with an iron fist and if they did anything that he found to be remotely out of the norm, he would have a lot to say about it. 

The first time Valencia felt like a girl rather than a boy was when she was five years old. Her twin sister gave her some dresses and they played around together in them for hours. Her father found her like this and the outcome was nothing less than aggressive. This was when she felt like something was wrong with her.

Initially her parents sent her off to live with family in Hadley Park, which taught her a sense of humility. While they obviously didn’t have a lot financially, they were a lot closer than her family back at home. They even supported her for who she was.

With zero assistance from her parents, they had to fight tooth and nail to begin her transition, ultimately fighting her parents for custody but unfortunately losing and forcing her to move back into their Horwick home. 

Instead of taking this on the chin, she packed her items and hit the road to surf on couches at the age of 15. She would end up back with her family in Hadley Park and they helped her to the best of their ability. 

She began doing hair out of the trailer at this time, racking up money for herself and being careful not to use any products that would require a license to avoid getting in trouble. Prom, weddings, etc. were all coming to her in order to make their looks come true.

Due to the funds she’d built up from this, she was able to be emancipated from her parents at the age of 16 and she decided that little old Nashville wasn’t for her anymore. She went off to attend hair school in Atlanta, doing whatever she needed to make ends meet and sustain herself. She would also obtain her GED during this time.

When she turned 18, she began her career in the adult film industry, but she wasn’t happy with any of what she was doing. Thus, she turned to drugs to numb herself and move past it all. 

It wasn’t until she’d nearly overdosed at the age of 25 that she would end up being self off to rehab to get herself together. She wanted to change for the better, but she enjoyed the money she was getting. This money had paid for surgeries, name and document changes... all of the things she needed. And though she’d obtained all of this, the attention, the money was almost addicting for her.

Every few months she would go back to Hidehill, especially when she made the purchase of Rose salon at the age of 27. She wanted to make sure things were perfect... and she did just that.

Finally fully moving back at the age of 28, she opened Rose Salon and retired from the porn industry entirely. 

WC’s:

Family! Cousins: Carmen Reyes. 

Closest friends since childhood. (0/4) - These were the four best friends who hung out all throughout their school years.

Exes. (0/?). Valencia dated a lot. She often used her looks to help her secure a comfortable place to sleep and hot meals but somewhere in there, she had some people she actually fell in love with.

Enemies. People have their reasons not to like Valencia and sometimes she humors them.

Anything and everything!

[nutattack2005]

Guys I’m sobbing I was at anime con here in Hong Kong and one of the only Mob Psycho merch available was a sticker sheet featuring Sho and Ritsu next to each other with the caption “𝓑𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓕𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓼”.

[kinsey3furry300]

So how the heck do the Avengers pay for stuff, and how rich are they?

So, in the wake of “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” There’s a lot of debate about why Sam didn’t seem to get paid well for his work in the Avengers (at least in the MCU continuity), and this has got me thinking: we’ve got no evidence that the Avengers are, financially, anything but a hot mess. So lets break it down, Avenger by Avenger, using real-world pay scales for the ones who have jobs.

Tony: a billionaire, so clearly he’s a financial genius, right? Well….. his actions say otherwise. He’s shown to be wildly irresponsible with his money. He inherited a lot of wealth form his parents which was managed by the first Jarvis, Obadiah, and Pepper for him, he buys and then gives away not just woks of art, but entire collections by major 20th century artists on a whim, destroyed his own cars and home without concern, he tanks the value of his own company in the first Iron Man with a bad press interview, gets kicked of his own bord of directors, and ultimately, in Iron Man 2, gives control of his company to Pepper. He’s insanely rich, and insanely smart, but man, he’s not smart with his money. So all the cool stuff, his suits, the Avengers tower, the facility up-state: that’s all paid for by him, but Pepper is holding the purse-stings.  So, does he pay the others? We have no evidence for most of them… but we do with Spidey. Peter Parker is in the Stark Internship Program a euphemism to hide the fact he’s training and mentoring him as a super-hero, but I find the wording interesting: he refers to Spidey, his surrogate son and chosen heir, as an intern. I.E., Unpaid.  I’m guessing this is Howard’s influence over him, some sort of ‘make you own way in the world, son’ attitude, but  if he’s not paying Spidey, is he paying anyone else? He certainly pays for stuff super heroes suits and things, equipment, fuel, the base, but does he pay anyone a wage? No one ever mentions it. You think it would come up.

So, if he’s not paying them a wage, where do Avengers  (and thier allies) get their day-to-day money from, and are they rich? Using google and https://www.federalpay.org, lets find out.

Cap: Well, before Civil war, he’s a shield operative, and he presumably still holds his military rank: he’s a US Army captain, with (well) over 40 years service, so USD$88,142.40 per year, with $237.71  drill pay (pay per drill you have to do on weekends, on leave or outside of normal service) and $175.00 per month hazard pay (which I bet is interesting) on top of that. As a WW2 veteran, he’d be eligible for a war pension if he:

Was not discharged for dishonorable reasons; and,

Served 90 days of active military duty; and,

Served at least one day during wartime ("wartime" as determined by the VA); and,

Had  countable family income below a certain yearly limit; and,

Is  age 65 years or older; or

Regardless of age is permanently disabled, not due to wilful misconduct.

As he’s still receiving 90k per year, he’s ineligible for a pension as his countable yearly income is above the limit.  So if shield pays him in accordance with his rank and years of service, about $90, 600 per year incuding hazard pay.

After civil war, he’s a fugitive on the run, so presumably flat broke. I’d asume he gets his pension returened to him after the snap.

He’s also just gone from the 40’s to the present day, so 70 years of inflation probably makes buying things very confusing for him: everything would seem insanely expensive at first. He’d also not know what the correct prices are for anything invented after 45. You might get used to how much more expensive food and coffee is, but how much is a smart-phone worth? $200? $2000 $20000? Who knows? I bet the others have to facepalm a lot when he either refuses to pay for what he sees as clear price-gouging, and at the same time regularly pays insane amounts of money for goods and services because he doesn’t know better. He also has no known assets other than his pay: he rents an apartment making him one of the few American males in his age-group who isn’t a home-owner

Thor: Does Asgard even have currency? It’s depicted like a “Crystal spires and toga” type utopia with no poverty: even working class Asgardian’s like Scourge seem to be pretty well-off and want for nothing, so he’s from a post-scarcity society where actual magic is a thing. His “Another” coffee cup smashing and the fact he doesn’t have a computer of phone in Ragnarök might indicate that, no, he just doesn’t have, need or understand money. Splitting a bar tab with him must be a nightmare. His breakdown post snap indicates he’s got some cash, but not a huge amount, and is probably skiving of Valkyrie and the other Asgardians.

Banner: Okay, so a PhD could make you a lot of money from patents… in pharmacology or engineering. Theoretical physics? Not so good. And if Banner did have any patents, they’ve probably been seized under eminent domain by the US military.  At the start of The Hulk film, he’s working a entry-level factory job at a botteling plant in Brazil. The minimum wage in Brazil is 1069.62 Real per month, that’s 12,835.44 Real per year, or around $2437.79 US per year, before everything goes wrong for him! He then runs off to India, works for Tony for a bit and then gets shot into space. Spidey may actually make more in allowance than Banner does, and Banner is a gown ass man with bills to pay: I’d imagine he loses a lot in ripped clothing.

Natasha and Barton: Pre Civil-war, both are government spooks, so how well does that pay? The salaries of CIA Intelligence Analysts based in the US range from $25,838 to $685,701 , with a median salary of $125,340, so let’s assume that Shield pays in a similar range: $685,701 per year for Director Fury, around 125,000 for Natasha and Cliff, which explains Cliff’s nice, middle-class mid-western home. Post civil war, presumably not great: we know that Natasha spends a lot of her savings running and hiding all across the world, and Cliff takes a deal and presumably lives of his savings, pension and his wife’s income.

Rhodes: Full USAF colonel with over 10 years service? $105,562.80 per year, plus $293.23 drill pay per drill and $175 per month hazard pay, and because he’s team Stark and not Team Cap in Civil War, he’d not lose any of that. He presumably also gets an injury pay-out after his accident. After T’challa and Stark, he might be the best paid avenger.

Dr Strange: spends all his money he made as a surgeon on trying to cure his hands: spends literally his last dollars heading to Nepal to train. Wong even jokes with him about their lack of worldly money when asking for a tuna-melt. But, can use illusion to make people think he has money, and his home and clothes etc. come with the job, so in the same boat as Thor in that he has no money, but needs none AKA, he’s a bastard to try and split a restaurant bill with.

Wanda and Vision: No know source of income, just sort of live in Tony’s hose and eat his food, and on top of that Wanda goes on the run after civil war… yet they can stay in fancy hotels in Edinburgh, a relatively expensive city, and Vison apparently bought them a house to retire in, so one of them has some source of money. Maybe Tony gave Vision years of back-pay form when he was still Jarvis, or maybe the vison has a day job, which is, frankly, hilarious. Could you imagine him as a barista? I can, and it makes me very happy.

Scott Lang: I’d assumed he’d be super, super broke, but apparently the average pay for a private security consultant in the Bay area is $85,430 per year. Not bad. Pity he gets sucked into the quantum realm just as his business is taking off, so presumably, flat broke again.

Bucky: no known income, and I doubt Hydra paid him for being the Winter Soldier so he probably has no savings, but he should, technically, qualify for a military pension. As a single veteran, he’d be  eligible for federal tax-free pension of up to $1732 per month, or $20,784 tax free per year. Not much for someone who lives in NYC. He may also be eligible for medical benefits over the loss of his arm. Whether or not he got to see any of that money given how confused his life has been over the past 10 years is unclear, but on paper he’s eligible.

T’challa: He is, quite possibly, richer than Stark, and as an absolute monarch pays no tax and has access to his Nation’s vast wealth in vibanium. It’s good to be the king!

Captain Marvel: USAF captain, and a test pilot; the test pilot school only accepts applicants with a service length of less than 9 years 6 months (10 years six moths of helicopters) as they don’t want older applicants. With 8 years service, $79,538.40, plus drill pay and hazard.  However, no know (human) pay since 1990. Flat broke.

Guardians of the Galaxy: no data, but I’m assuming “Cowboy Bebop” levels of perpetual never-ending poverty given the way they choose to live. I’d also assume Rocket has taken all their cash into some sort of Ponzi scheme of his own creation, because just look at him, of course he has.

Spidey: he’s got about $10 of his aunts’ money at any given time, so he can buy lunch… which may in fact be more than Banner or Lang, and we know it’s more that Strange or Thor.

 So, here the big one: how rich or how broke is Sam?

Sam Wilson: annoyingly, we’re not directly told what rank Sam held in any MCU film. USAF pararescue “Maroon berets” are generally NCO’s (but there’ are officer-ranked pararescue) , and he’s seen working on his wings at one point, where as officers don’t generally work on or maintain airframes. He’s shown wearing a Nation Air guard grey while jogging at one point to confuse the matter further. The general consensus on redit is he’s a former USAF tech sergeant (E-6). But how long was he in the air force? With six years service (the minimum sensible time he could have served to work in pararescue based on his age), that would be $41,464.80 per year, plus drill pay and hazard. As Anthony Mackie, the actor that plays him, was 36 as of Civil War, and assuming the character is the same age, and assuming he retired from the air force that year, and he joined the USAF at 17, the youngest you can join, he’d have served 19 years, giving him a pay of $51,566.40, the maximum pay you can get at this rank before promotion to Master Sergent,  but meaning he left just before he’d qualify for the 50% final salary pension you’d qualify for after 20 years. Which seems weird. So let’s assume the character is one year older than the actor that plays him and served 20 years (ages 17-37), that means Sam has a military pension of $25,783.20 per year (20,784 of it tax-free), plus any injury benefits. He councils other veterans, but doesn’t get paid for that. He also chooses Team Cap in Civil War, so would become a wanted criminal, and so lose his income between 2016 and 2018, and then gets snapped and has no income for 5 years, which would destroy his credit rating. Like the rest of Team Cap, he presumably gets his post snap pardon, and goes to work for the US government at his former pay and rank. However, given how Captain John Walker treats him as an equal, it’s possible he’s been promoted to a captain when the  hired back, giving him a pay of between $54,176.40 to $88,142.40 (with 20 years experience, depending on if they take into account his prior service or not, and how much prior service he has), but either way, he’s just starting this as a new job after being legally dead for 5 years: no savings, and no credit.

Commercial fishing vessels cost about 10% of their total value per year in maintenance alone. I can’t identify what sort of boat the Wilson’s have, but some quick googling indicates that the cheapest  15m long wooden in-shore shrimp trawler costs around $140,000, so that’s $14,000 per year in maintenance costs alone, minimum. And that’s a lower estimate, assuming the rest of the business is sound, which we know it isn’t.

So, in concussion, yes, Sam is in some serious financial trouble until he can re-build his savings and credit, but the scary bit is he’s not alone in that: he’s probably better off than Lang, Banner, Danvers, Strange, Thor, Bucky, Wanda and Parker. Only Clint (if he gets a full pardon and gets his full pension), Rhodes, Stark and T’challa aren’t in some sort of potential financial problems. That asshole bank teller was right: despite the fact it seems to pay well on paper, with a few exceptions, the Avengers financials are probibaly a mess. EDIT: Rocket is running the Ponzi scheme, if that’s not clear from context. The others know they have money somewhere, but not where it’s gone. And It’s been pointed out to me that as he’s technically a POW while he’s the Winter Soldier, Bucky is owed over 70 years back-pay, equal to over 3 million dollars, details in the notes.

[fereldanwench]

I'm yoinking another idea from @gloryride--I loved what she did for Vanessa's evolution throughout the years and wanted to do the same for Valerie. ♥

(CW for mentions of suicide and the loss of parents in the first two sections.)

Early Childhood

Valerie was the only child of Sebastian and Ava Powell, two mid-level corporate employees of Biotechnica. She has mostly fond memories of her early childhood, but around her 13th birthday, she can recall starting to see the consequences of an ambitious corporate life (being left alone for days at a time while her parents spent nights in the office, substance abuse, paranoia, etc.), although she didn't recognize it as such until she was much older. Between the demands of their jobs and the usual struggles with teenagers, it was a tumultuous time for the Powell household. Then, when Valerie was 16, her father died in an AV crash. Although it was officially declared an accident, her mother suspected Sebastian was collateral in a corporate hit against his superior.

Corpo Baby (2060-2064; approximately 18-22)

When Valerie turned 18, her mother pulled some strings to get her a low-level clerical position at the Biotechnica office. Valerie's workdays were mostly spent doing tedious data entry tasks and getting coffee, but it paid enough that she was able to afford a small Japantown apartment with three other girls from Biotechnica. She jumped at the chance to get out of her mother's home, as Ava's behavior had grown increasingly erratic, sometimes even violent, but that was a precursor to another tragedy: Ava took her own life shortly before Valerie's 22th birthday. After Valerie took unauthorized leave to attend to her mother's affairs, she was fired from Biotechnica.

Lost Girl (2064-2065; approximately 22-23)

With no job, no parents, no support system, and fair-weather friends who were just concerned with how she was going to pay rent, Valerie did the only sane thing a person can do: she dyed her hair bright blue. She also sold most of her nicer belongings (car, clothes, jewelry, etc.), and she worked just about any job that came her way. Valerie had a brief stint in a bar at Kabuki--She was terrible at remembering drinks and customer service, but the owner was impressed that she never backed down from stepping in between unruly patrons, sometimes even taking and giving a few hits herself.

Edgerunner Poser (2065-2070; approximately 23-28)

This was a period of a lot of soul searching, self-discovery, and coming to terms with the trauma of losing both her parents so young. She hopped around Night City, picking up gigs, learning new skills, getting some sketch cyber implants, and finding places to crash wherever she could. Eventually, that would land her in Megabuilding 3 in Heywood, where one of her roommates was dating Jackie. That relationship didn't last long, but Jackie and Valerie hit it off (strictly platonically). Although Valerie was grateful to have a genuine friend, she often felt out of place in his circle of friends.

Corpo Badass (2070-2074; approximately 28-32)

When Arasaka Tower reopened in 2070, Valerie saw an opportunity to get off the streets for good but still avoid the worst of corporate ambition: applying to Arasaka's security branch. She excelled at her weapon and tech training, struggled a little more with the language requirements, but ultimately did pass the qualifications. Valerie mostly worked in escort teams or as a private bodyguard, the latter of which eventually introduced her to Arthur Jenkins. It was dangerous, but exciting work that paid well enough that she could afford her own place again.

Corpo Rat (2074-2076; approximately 32-34)

Jenkins talked a good game. After he repeatedly requested she be assigned to him on business trips so he could repeatedly ask her to join his counter-intel team, with promises that it'd be nothing like the shitshow at Biotechnica, Valerie agreed to transfer. At first, life was good: the gig came with fancy corporate accommodations and the stress was manageable. Soon, however, Jenkins' capricious leadership and erratic behavior had Valerie looking for a way out.

Bona fide Solo (2076-2077; approximately 34-35)

Getting terminated for being complicit in an assassination attempt and ending up right back where she was six years ago was not the way out that Valerie was looking for, but that was the one she got. For a time, while she and Jackie reconnected, while they were untouchable, while she befriended Misty and Viktor, Valerie thought maybe it wasn't the worst outcome. And then she once again ignored her gut instinct, and Konpeki happened. Of course, Konpeki also led her to Goro.

[MIKOSHI: 2077-2079]

Look, it's a fucking weird two years, okay?

Rebirth (2079; 35? 37? 2?)

Life after the Relic and Mikoshi has its own challenges, and for better or worse, Valerie finds herself under Arasaka employment again as a special operative. But after a six-month period of acclimation and rehabilitation to the reconstruction of her body, she and Goro are also able to get the hell out of Night City and start a life together in Takamatsu. (Nibbles gets to come, too.)

[lostinthewiind]

Piss Off Your Parents - Part 4

Ukai Keishin - Haikyuu

Synopsis: freshly turned 18, you want to prove to your parents that you aren’t a child for them to push around anymore. First, get a job at the local corner store. Second, use the store owner’s 26-year-old son with piercings and a cigarette addiction to piss your parents off. Third, accidentally fall in love.

Rating: Mature

Warnings: mentions sexual experiences of reader before she was of age, discussion about sex lives, flirting, touching 

Song → 18 by Anarbor

Previous →Part 3

Next →Part 5

Head resting in your hand and elbow resting on the counter, you huffed, still not used to the heat that accumulated in the store throughout the day and praying for just one customer to walk through the door so you could experience a refreshing blast of evening air. You supposed you could go outside yourself to cool off a little, like Keishin had previously suggested in lieu of sticking your head in one of the fridges, but being the only person at the store currently, you felt a little bad about leaving the building, even if it was just to step out front.

You were still trying your best to put on a good impression for Mrs. Sakanoshita—despite the rough first impression you had made on her son—and you knew the family store was precious, so you decided to suck it up for the remainder of your shift.

Without much to do, since you had completed your chores early, you remained seated at the front counter, bored out of your mind. That was, until your prayers were answered and you heard the front doors slide open.

“Hello!” you greeted happily, ready to welcome a customer. Your radiant excitement faded when you noticed it was just Keishin, however, and went back to slumping on the counter. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“Wow, those rapid mood changes must be why we’ve been so busy lately,” Keishin shot back at you, a cigarette hanging from his mouth like usual. “Will the girl behind the counter smile or frown at you? Maybe it’ll be both. Oh, how exciting!”

“Can it, dye job,” you grumbled.

Keishin feigned hurt, his hand resting over his chest dramatically as he pretended to have been shot. “Words hurt, you know. You’ve hurt me.”

“That doesn’t matter,” you told him, lazily gesturing around the empty store. “What does matter is that we’ve been dead for hours and I’m bored.”

Keishin poked his bottom lip out and faked a pout. “Awh, poor baby. Is getting paid to sit there and do nothing hard work? You must be exhausted. Poor thing.”

“I don’t get paid nearly enough to put up with you.” You reached across the counter to lightly smack his shoulder but he jumped out of the way just in time. “Seriously though, stay and entertain me for a while.”

“If you’re that bored, why don’t you dust the vents or something?”

You laid your head down on the counter and exhaled slowly for effect. “You know I aim to please but that sounds like hell. Can’t you just talk to me for like ten minutes? Tell me about your day or something.”

Keishin threw his head back and groaned loudly. “But I’m too hungry to think about anything other than food right now.”

“I’m hungry too but you don’t see me complaining about it.”

“No, you’re just complaining about everything else.” He leaned against the other side of the counter, his tongue flicking against the tip of his cigarette as he thought. “Actually, I’ve got a better idea.”

You glanced up at him, waiting for him to elaborate. “I doubt it but proceed.”

Done with your constant back talk, which was extremely common between the two of you ever since you had worked out your differences and agreed to the deal he had suggested, he took a drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke directly into your face. “Just shut up and listen, will you?”

You coughed when you accidentally inhaled the second-hand smoke. “If I get cancer and die, I’m haunting you.”

“Go ahead.” He didn’t pay any attention to the words leaving your mouth as he headed into the back room and shut off the store lights. Then, with his own set of keys in hand, he headed back toward the front of the store. “Come on.” He looked back at you expectantly when you didn’t immediately follow.

Confused, you slowly stepped around from the back of the counter. “Where are we going?”

“We’re closing up early and going to get something to eat.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, half of you wondering if this was some sort of employee test to see how responsible you were. “Are we allowed to do that?”

“I am, you aren’t,” Keishin said, beckoning you over to him. “But let’s just keep this between you and I, yeah? What my mom doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Besides, it’s slow anyway.”

Taking off your white apron and grabbing your things, you reluctantly followed the older man out of the store and watched as he locked up behind the two of you. Anxiously, you shifted your weight from foot to foot. “Are you sure I won’t get in trouble for this?”

“I promise I won’t tell on you,” Keishin assured you as he stuffed the keys back into his pocket and dropped his cigarette bud to the ground before crushing it with his foot. “Let’s go. I’m starving.”

Falling into pace beside Keishin as the two of you set off down the sidewalk, you following his lead, you weren’t sure exactly sure what to say or even if you should say something. Never before had you and Keishin existed outside of the store together and it felt a little awkward. 

“So . . . is this like a date or something?” You regretted the words as soon as they left your mouth. What you had meant to come across as a casual inquiry ended up sounding more like a desperate girl clarifying what she meant to the boy she liked. You sounded like a child.

The corners of Keishin’s mouth curled upward and he shrugged. “Call it whatever you want.” He really didn’t seem to care one way or another. “Although, I’d be a horrible boyfriend if I didn’t take you out at least once . . . fake or not.”

You nearly choked on your spit at the use of the word ‘boyfriend’. Even though you had been pretending to date him for the purposes of changing your parents’ ideals for the past few weeks, you were still caught off guard every time Keishin referred to himself as your boyfriend—even though he was usually doing it to mock you. 

“Yeah, just awful,” you agreed halfheartedly. “Where are we going anyway?”

“This little place that I like,” he said, his answer extremely vague until he continued. “Best ramen I’ve ever had.”

After a few more minutes of walking, the two of you arrived at the place Keishin was talking about and he ordered two take-out bowls and paid for them both, insisting that you should try his regular order since you had never been there before. Not wanting to disagree because he was footing the bill, you let him do what he wanted and tailed him out to a picnic table outside like an obedient puppy. 

“It’s much too hot to eat inside,” Keishin reasoned as he plopped down on the opposite side of the picnic table from you. “Plus, it’s nice outside. Might as well enjoy the weather while it lasts, right?”

“Right.” You nodded.

While Keishin dug right into his meal, you sat still, hands in your lap, and watched him. One thing you had quickly come to realize was that Keishin was the perfect specimen for people watching, and not just because he was relatively easy on the eyes. He was an interesting person; for example, how he tucked half-smoked cigarettes behind his ear to smoke later or how he always wore a headband to keep his hair out of his face but vehemently refused to just cut his damn hair. 

Even though you bugged him about cutting his hair all the time, you secretly hoped he would continue to stand his ground and refuse because you wanted to see what he looked like with his hair down. You also wanted to run your hands through his hair—it looked soft and fluffy—but that was besides the point.

“Hey, it’s gonna get cold,” Keishin snapped you out of your thoughts, his mouth half full of ramen as he jabbed his chopsticks in your direction. “Don’t tell me you don’t like ramen. You should have said something before I ordered for both of us.”

Snapping out of your daze, you picked up your chopsticks and shook your head. “No, I like ramen.” You took a bite to prove your point. “Sorry, I was just lost in thought.”

Keishin waited for you to eat a little more before digging for your consensus. “Good, right?”

“Yeah, really good,” you agreed. “I always walk past this place but I’ve never gone inside.”

“I was the same way. It doesn’t really catch your eye, so unless you’re looking for it, it’s easy to miss,” he said. “Then one day my grandpa took me here for my birthday and I’ve been coming ever since.”

You snickered. “Popular date spot then?”

Keishin cocked a brow. “What?”

“I mean, if you come here a lot, I’m sure it’s a go-to for dates,” you continued. “It even comes with a wholesome story about how your grandpa introduced you to it. Ultimate chick magnet.”

Keishin just rolled his eyes at you. “You know, contrary to popular belief, most girls don’t like it when you take them out to eat cheap ramen on a picnic table that’s falling apart.”

You chuckled. “I wasn’t going to say anything about the table, but I’m pretty sure I have at least ten splinters in my ass by now.”

“Yeah, this thing is torture. So eat fast and then we’ll move to the park across the street or something.”

Shoveling the rest of your food into your mouth, you ate fast while Keishin stared you down, every second that passed introducing your butt to a new world of pain. As soon as you were done, Keishin took both of your take-out bowls and tossed them into a nearby trashcan.

“Well, sucks for all those other girls then, because that ramen really is amazing,” you said when Keishin returned, the two of you crossing the street and heading into the park. 

“Told you.” Keishin smiled. “I’m glad you liked it.”

Once in the park, which was empty considering it was dark out and most kids were in bed by then, the two of you picked a nearby bench that wasn’t splintering and took a seat. 

Drawing your knees up to your chest, you wrapped your arms around your legs and sighed. “Thanks for dinner.”

“Yeah, no problem.” He let his head fall back and looked up at the night sky. “Damn, I could really go for an ice cold beer right now.”

“Well, we could start heading back now if you want,” you suggested. “The beers at the store are extra chilly since I didn’t stick my head in the fridges to cool off today, despite how sweltering it was.”

Keishin laughed. “Well, thank you for that,” he drew in a deep breath and relaxed into the bench, deciding whether to get up or not. “Let’s stay here for a while longer though.”

“Okay.”

Silence fell over the two of you as you stared up at the sky and listened to the sounds of Miyagi in the evening. You tried to remember the last time you had gone out like this—just going wherever you wanted and doing whatever you wanted. You couldn’t recall the last time . . . or even if there was a last time.

Tilting your head to look at Keishin, you smiled at the sight of him sitting with his eyes closed, arms crossed behind his head and head lolled back. He looked happy, almost as peaceful as he did when he was sleeping.

“Hey,” you whispered.

Keishin cracked an eye open to look at you. “Hmm?”

“Thanks for tonight.” You breathed in the scent of the night air and a feeling of content washed over you. “As you’ve probably already figured out, I don’t really have any friends. I don’t get to go out like this very often . . . or ever, really.”

“You don’t need to thank me. It’s what boyfriends are for, right?”

You giggled. “Well, considering you’re not my real boyfriend, I think a ‘thank you’ is in order.”

“Well, you’re welcome,” he caved. “Speaking of fake boyfriends, how’s it going with your parents?”

You let out a frustrated moan. “Oh, about as well as expected. When I mentioned I was seeing someone they bombarded me with a million questions, none of which were answered to their satisfaction.”

Keishin cringed. “So I’m that bad, huh?”

You scoffed. “If you think that’s bad, you should have seen their faces when I showed them a photo of you.”

Keishin let out a laugh. “Don’t tell me they weren’t fans of the piercings?”

“Oh, they weren’t fans of anything,” you said. “I think the only positive thing they could say about you was that you had a pulse . . . no offense.”

“Eh, no worries. At least they didn’t call me a burnout . . . then I would have started crying.”

“Hey!” You smacked at his shoulder again, managing to hit your target this time. “I said I was sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t pay for my therapy.”

“Yeah, well, if you need therapy I doubt I’m the biggest reason.”

“You really are so cruel to me. Do your parents know you facilitate abusive relationships?”

You closed your eyes and shook your head. “That insinuates I’ve had past relationships, or any real ones.”

Keishin craned his neck to look at you, eyes wide. “Wait, you’ve never been in a relationship before? Like never?”

“Nope. I don’t even have any friends, so what makes you think anyone wants to date the boring girl with the crazy parents?”

Keishin looked at you like you were some wounded animal he had just found on the side of the road. You could see in his eyes he was slowly coming to terms with just how isolating your life was. You could tell he felt bad, but the last thing you wanted was his sympathy.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that,” you told him. “I’m not completely pathetic, okay? I still went through my experimental phase like most teenagers do. I just had to be very sneaky about it.”

“Sneaky?”

“You know, back of a car, other people’s houses when their parents were gone. As far as my parents know, I’m untainted . . . a precious, naive virgin. I’m just not very experienced.”

“I can imagine.” Keishin was a little thrown by the direction the conversation had taken, but you were both adults and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little curious, so he just rolled with it. “High school boys aren’t exactly known for being great in bed.”

The two of you let out a shared laugh at that. “You got that right,” you agreed. 

“So, wait, no relationships but you’ve had sex? So you’ve never been with someone you have a genuine connection with?”

You eyed Keishin, perplexed by the sudden sincerity in his words. “You didn’t peg me as someone who cares about that kind of stuff.”

“I mean, I’ve had my fair share of one night stands, sure, but I’m not completely heartless,” he said, the eye contact he was using while he spoke sending a chill down your spine. “It’s completely different when it’s someone you care about. The experience is something everyone should have at least once in their lives.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a genuine connection with anyone before,” you confessed, unsure why you were spilling some of your deepest secrets in public, on a park bench, to a man you had only known for a couple of months. “It’s kind of hard when everyone is held at an arm’s length away.”

Without warning, Keishin shifted closer to you and placed his hand on your face, the pad of his thumb ghosting over your bottom lip. “I . . . I don’t know what to say,” he breathed.

“It’s not sad, not for me at least. You can’t miss something you’ve never had,” you spoke softly, worried you might scare him away if your voice was too loud or if you made any sudden movements. “No best friends, no boyfriends. Just me, my parents, and everyone else.”

Keishin looked like he wanted to say something; in fact, he looked like he wanted to say a lot of things, but despite this, he remained silent. Maybe he was worried about offending you, or maybe he was finally understanding just how different you were from other people. Maybe he didn’t like different. 

“But now there’s you.” You flashed a small smile, hoping to draw him out of whatever mess was going on inside of his head. “I’ve never met someone like you before.”

“Someone like me?” he finally spoke.

You nodded as you placed your hand over the one he was resting on your cheek and held it. “I’m not your responsibility and yet you’re going out of your way to help me. Not to mention I don’t even deserve your help. You are the first truly selflessly kind person I’ve ever met. Thank you.”

“What if I’m not as kind as you think I am?” His hands found their way to your waist and he pulled you into his lap so you were straddling him. “What will you do then?”

“That depends on what you’re planning on doing.”

Hands running up your sides, Keishin dug his finger tips into your skin as you lowered your head toward his, mouths inches apart. “What if I took you home, laid you down, and took care of you like a boyfriend should?” You could feel his hot breath on your face as he spoke. “What if I took advantage of your lack of experience?”

“I would say thank you,” you said, inching closer. Before your lips met, however, you stopped yourself. “But I promised not to fall in love, and I think it would be awfully hard to keep my promise if you did that.” With that, you planted your hands on his shoulders and pushed yourself away from him before he could make a decision he would later regret. 

Standing up, you collected yourself and drew in a deep breath. As soon as you had detached yourself from Keishin, you could see the fog that had been clouding his judgement dissipating as he came back to his senses. 

“I should probably head home now.” You decided, not wanting to ruin the first actual friendship you had by doing something stupid and selfish. 

“Yeah.” Keishin nodded, slowly standing up as well. It was clear he was slightly embarrassed by his actions, but you also noticed the glint in his eyes that gave away the part of him that still wanted to take you home with him. 

Trying to immediately leave what had just happened in the past, you smiled and turned to start heading home, opting to take the longer way so you wouldn’t have to take the same route as Keishin. “Good night, Keishin.”

“Good night, Y/N.” You heard him call after you, but you didn’t look back at him. Instead, you kept walking, hoping the time apart would serve as a reset on your relationship and put things back to how they had been before that night.

A few weeks ago, you would have jumped at the chance Keishin had dangled in front of your face just now. But since then, you had realized he was more important to you than someone you could just throw away with a one night stand. And since there was no way the two of you could actually be together, this was the only option if you didn’t want to lose him.

If only someone had warned you that genuine connections were this complicated. 

[asherlockstudy]

Reviewing all my phones simply because I wanna

*including the family phones because I have always been the poor soul that managed all of them regardless of age

Nokia 5110 (1998)

Ah the memories... When the phones were that. Phones. I was probably around 6 when we got that and I was still the one handling it because my parents aren't the most tech savvy people. It was a thick phone, which I actually like, it had 6 but good ringtones and of course it had Snake. That's all we cared about back then. Not as tough as its reputation because we had to change it after 2-3 years.

BTW: my mom insists we also had the famous NOKIA 3310 but I have no memory of it whatsoever. Well, it's not like my mom can tell models apart.

Motorola 120e (2002)

I wonder, what were we thinking as a family when we bought this object? The funny thing is that I am sure we bought it because we (mom) thought it looked pretty. It was slim, silver and UGLY AS HELL. The buttons were super dysfunctional, the screen was tiny and everyday the phone had one new bug. At some point after months? weeks? it simply died. Quietly, on its own. Nobody was sorry.

Sharp GX20 (2003)

Back when Sharp was trendy, this was one pretty phone and certainly the prettiest of the Sharp GXXX line. The design was simply beautiful, the main screen was huge, the main camera was way ahead of its time and you could take a selfie by looking at yourself in the external screen. The small screen would also show notifications, the time, pictures etc. The only nonsensical thing about this phone was that the maximum video and voice recording session was only 10 seconds or something. WTF

Sony Ericsson K750i (2005)

So if you didn't know it yet, here's the fact: K750i is the best phone ever created. The unsung hero. I saw an advertisement for it in a magazine and that was the first time I was fully manipulated by an ad. I wanted it so bad it was the only thing I was thinking about. I wasn't wrong. This phone proved the ultimate GOAT for its time. It was the direct predecessor of the walkman phones and it was in my opinion better because it specialized both in camera and music. The design was simply wonderful, with the silver back opening to reveal the lens. It was also as tough as any classic NOKIA and more. I bought it before 8th grade and kept it till my second year in university (8 years). It was still working fine but it was basically dissolving in my hands. My parents begged me to buy me a smartphone and my friends thought I was ridiculous. They couldn't understand. I am seriously considering buying a 3D model of this phone (it exists) just for the memories.

Alcatel OneTouch Pixi 3 (2015)

See this? This is the worst idiotphone someone had the audacity to create. Bought the gold one for mom because she only cares for looks and she wanted a "smart"phone to feel relevant (even though she can't even use the basic phones). Anyway, even I can't use that phone. Everything about it is bad. Bad responsiveness, bad interface, bad camera, bad screen, bad memory, bad battery, bad CPU EVERYTHING IS BAD There is literally not one good thing I can think about this phone. It's obviously a low-end device but what I mean is it is bad by low-end standards. Utterly horrible. I was tempted to throw it from the balcony quite a few times. If you want to kill time, go read reviews of this monstrosity.

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini (2014)

My personal initiation to the smartphone world was traumatic in the beginning as I had to buy this phone twice, because I lost the first one after a few months. However, the fact that I paid again for the exact same model is a hint about how much I liked that phone. Small, beautiful with changing skins, simple and so bloody functional. I have no complains whatsoever except the memory proved small for me after 5 years of filling it up. I bought a memory card and then Samsung fucked something up with the compatibility. My phone was broken. I spent a month trying to fix the software myself. I did it eventually. I still have it now but the battery drains in a few hours without touching it. I am heartbroken. I don't know if I should change the battery or it is because of the "touched" software I put in there. And it has become unbearably slow. I knew I had to swallow it and buy a new phone. But I knew, any phone I chose would always be an Android and preferably Samsung.

iPhone 12 mini (2020)

This... didn't go as planned. Let me explain myself. I am an Android fan, I love its interface and customization freedom. I hate everything about Apple. I don't like iphones either. BUT IT'S NOT MY FAULT THERE ISN'T ONE SINGLE NORMAL SIZED ANDROID PHONE IN THE MARKET. IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR APPARENTLY USING YOUR PHONES WITH YOUR FEET OR WHAT. I need a phone, not a freaking ear laptop. This was the only phone that could fit in my hand, only slightly larger than the S5 mini. I mean, it's not my ideal choice to sell a kidney for a phone, trust me. It's been several months and I dare say I am... okay with the iphone. I still prefer Android but I admit iOS is clean cut, so to speak. I hate how limited it is in customization and I hate that it literally burns like lava while charging or running a heavy app. But more than anything else, I hate how much Apple exploits its customers. An app that is free on Google Play can cost 10 bucks per month in Playstore. Let's not forget that I had to go buy chargers and cables separately to make my phone functional. Go fuck yourself Apple, honestly. It's a pretty phone but you don't deserve the hype. Camera is very good though. And the one thing that made me bond a little with this phone was that a friend pointed out it is a very "me" phone - it's admittedly a phone that when you see it, you will pick me out of a group of people as its likeliest owner. And so... I don't hate it that much. My concern is what will happen when I will have to buy a phone in the (hopefully distant) future... they don't make phones for my hands anymore. Actually, they don't make phones anymore period

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

Sugar Bunny (1/3)

Summary: Meeting August Walker, CEO one of the most successfull real estate agencys in the states in a coffee shop of all places, turned into one of the best things that could have happened to you. You became his sugar bunny and against all your willpower you fell in love with him. Oh if only everything would be so easy, and if only August was really only a CEO of a company...

Pairing: August Walker / F!Reader

Wordcount: 2.3k

Warnings: Smut (dirty talk; d/s vibes; unprotected sex)

A/N: Okay. So this is a completely finished mini series i’m going to post thursdays. Hope you enjoy x

Masterlist

August had been gone for months. It wasn’t like you had a claim on him (his claim on you was a whole different story) but frankly, you didn’t care.

 You felt the beats of the music as you danced. You were wearing your most revealing dress, only just going below your ass, hooking up with some guy you met on Tinder. Just to piss August off. Because you didn’t know how but you knew for sure that you acting out seemed to set off an internal alarm. August always seemed to know just when you were about to do something stupid. Like some fucked up guardian angel.

 “Do you want a drink?” The guy, whose name you already had forgotten asked, his greedy hands on your hip as he leaned in to ask right into your ear. His breath smelled like something had died inside of him years ago. He was attractive, one could even say handsome, but he wasn’t August.

“Sure. Gin Tonic.” You called back, trying to speak over the loud music. He nodded, about to lean down to kiss you on your cheek, when you turned away as the music changed. You fought the urge to grin as he huffed and walked away. 

There was no way you would be leaving with him. You might have been desperate for a good fuck, but not that desperate. Swaying your hips to the music you closed your eyes, getting lost. You didn’t care if the guy came back with your drink. Your thoughts were consumed by ocean blue eyes. You used to joke that the hazel spot in his eyes was the only thing that stopped you from getting lost in them. You knew back then that it was already too late. August Walker had ruined you for any other man on this planet.

 The fact that you met him in a coffee shop of all places was out of a cheesy love story. Not that love was involved in any way. That was at least what you told yourself. Then again, you had never been in love before. You didn’t know if it was normal to find yourself wondering what August would think in every decision that you made. You still remembered the shiver you felt the first time he touched you. Like you were struck by lightning.

 “Wrong month.” He had grinned to himself, as he had given you your cup of tea you had ordered to go. You had been in a hurry to get to work in time, but when his fingers brushed over yours, you had stopped. And just looked at him.

“Sorry?” You asked, still looking at the gorgeous man in front of you.

“I’m waiting for August.” His deep voice answered you.

 Shaking your head you almost rolled your eyes, when you saw your “Date” coming back with your drink. He looked at you and you motioned with your finger in the direction of the restrooms, not waiting for his reaction as you turned around and danced yourself across the dancefloor. 

As usual there was a line to the women’s restroom, yet no one seems to go to the men's restroom. Looking over your shoulder you made the quick decision to use the men’s room. Those were cleaner anyway.

Thankfully no one was in, not that guys bothered much anyway. Leaning with your hands on the sink you looked at yourself. You looked cute, even sexy. You even wore the heels August had bought you the last time you were out with him. 

You had stopped in front of the store, not daring to ever buy shoes like that. You were struggling to pay your rent as it is, there’s no way you could afford $ 1.000 designer high heels.

 “Usually the look you’re giving these shoes is reserved for me, Bunny.” August looked at you with his raised eyebrow.

“And it always will be.” You smiled.

“You want them?” He asked, nodding towards the heels.

“Yeah. But I could never afford them.”  He continued to look at you with an unreadable expression. That was something he seemed to do a lot lately. You’ve been “together” for almost a year now. And by together you meant August showed up unexpectedly every couple weeks, stayed a short time, usually for at least 5 orgasms and then left. But not without filling your fridge at least.

A fucked up guardian angel.

Your fucked up guardian angel.

He had insisted on paying all of your open bills the last time. That was the time he asked for your thoughts about becoming his “sugar bunny”. As soon as you had agreed everything changed. You moved from your shitty one bedroom apartment into 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom penthouse with the most spectacular view on Elliot Bay. 

The penthouse had been one of August` investments. As owner of one of the biggest real estate agencies in the states, a 3 million dollar penthouse seemed to be peanuts for him. You, on the other hand, were struggling with accepting everything he gave you. You didn’t feel like you deserved anything you didn’t work for. 

Life had never been easy for you. Moving out of your parents house when you turned 16, you had gone from living in the worst places possible until you found a job which could support you on the road to your ultimate goal: becoming an interior designer. 

Since you met August, money hadn’t been a problem anymore. He paid for all your expenses, including your college debt. 

Looking at yourself in the mirror you sighed. He hadn’t returned your message from almost two weeks ago and a part of you grew worried. You were pretty sure there was some shady thing he was doing apart from the real estates. There was just something about him….

“You seem to be looking for trouble, bunny.” His voice scared you, making you jump. Turning around, you leaned against the sink, seeing August lean against the door. 

“August…” You began.

“Hush.” He shook his head, locking the door behind him. You breathed in deep, gulping as he slowly began to walk towards you. He was wearing dark suit pants, his white dress shirt rolled up over his elbows, the first three buttons opened. His signature mustache was nearly invisible due to all the scruff in his face, his curly hair longer, falling over his eyes. He tsked as he walked.

“You look like a little slut, bunny. Who is this guy you are here with?” He asked.

“No one important.” You whispered.

“Then why are you dressed like you want to get fucked by him?” August stopped in front of you and his familiar scent clouded your mind, making it hard for you to think straight.

“I want to get fucked…” You said, looking up at him with big eyes. He raised his left eyebrow.

“But not by him, Sir.” You bit your lip. He tilted his head, still looking at you and it was just this tilt that seemed to make you wetter than you had ever been before in your life. Why were you so obsessed with this man?

“Not by him, huh?” He huffed, holding up one of his hands, letting just one finger run down from your shoulder to your hand, making you shiver and gasp. He took hold of your hand, bringing it up to his lips, taking two fingers inside of his mouth and sucked. You watched him, feeling your legs go weak.

“Aug…” You began when he bent down, kissing you all tongue and teeth, his hands pulling you up to sit on the sink. Immediately you crossed your legs behind him, wanting him nearer, your hand disappearing in his longish hair, as his tongue invaded your mouth, making you moan against him. 

“You know how much I hate it when other men touch what’s mine…” He growled against your lips, one of his hands going in between your legs, slipping your panties to the side. He grinned when he found you wet.

“You’re on the pill now, right?” He asked. You nodded.

“Fucking perfect.” He kissed you again.

“Turn around and grab the sink. I want you to see who this pussy belongs to while I fuck you.” 

You hopped down from the sink as August pulled his cock out. Looking down you licked your lips, making him chuckle.

“Eager little bunny. But we’ll have time for that later.” He winked, making you blush. Turning around you leaned with your elbows on the sink, looking first at yourself, then up at August who was watching you as he stepped closer.

You felt him tease you with the tip of his cock. Did you think he would end up fucking you without a condom for the first time in the restroom of a shitty night club? No. Not really. Yet you couldn’t think of anything more fitting for your “relationship.”

“Bunny… You’re so wet…” He said in awe. You sighed, looking at him.

“I need just one….” He got on his knees behind you, diving in between your legs, licking you pussy like an ice cone.

“Fuck….” You let your head fall down. Only that could be enough to make you cum after such a long time.

“Like honey….” He groaned against your pussy before he came to stand behind you again. 

“Look at me bunny.” He said. And as you slowly looked up at him, he entered you completely in one hard thrust, making you scream from the sweet pain of his huge cock filling you after months.

“Like a glove…” He groaned, his hands on your hips as he stilled.

“You feel even better than I thought you would, Bunny.” He grinned at you in the mirror. You heard banging against the door.

“We better make this quick.” He said, before he bottomed out, only to slam into you again. The force making you hold up a hand, pushing it against the mirror.

“If I say you cum, you are going to cum.” August growled, beginning to thrust into you hard, his fingers surely leaving bruises on your hips from how strongly he was holding you. You only nodded, bracing yourself as you took what he gave you, already feeling the tingling in the pit of your stomach. 

“When we get home…” August pressed in between thrusts “I want you to wear that slutty lingerie you bought when I was away.” He fucked you faster, the sound of skin slapping against skin filling the room. “Just so I can rip them off of you and fuck you against the window so the whole fucking city sees who this pussy belongs to.” He slapped your ass hard. Moaning his name you pushed back against him.

“Come on now, Bunny. Cum for me.” He pressed. Looking at him in the mirror you fell apart, thankful that you were by now half laying on the sink, your orgasm taking your ability to hold yourself up right.

“That’s it… Are you ready for me to fill you with my cum? So you know that the only cock that is fucking you is mine?” He underlined every word with a hard thrust.

“Fill me up, sir.” You whimpered, looking up at him.

“Fuck….” He groaned, thrusting once again until he stayed deep inside you and released his cum. His warmth filling you. 

“Shit that feels so good.” He moaned. Looking at the beautiful man behind you, that was all yours, you sighed. He looked at you, a small smile sneaking to his lips, as he bent down, You turned your head so you could kiss him.

You were interrupted by another knock on the door.

Slowly he pulled out of you, making you whimper again. As he was tucking himself back in he took a step back.

“That’s a sight I won’t get used too quickly.” He said. You looked over your shoulder, seeing him look down at your pussy where you felt his cum slowly drip out of you. He shook his head before he carefully pulled your panties back to cover you.

“Come on Bunny. Time to go home.” He crocked his eyebrow. Slowly you pushed yourself up, your legs feeling like jelly. Grinning he stepped towards you, taking your hands in his as he kissed your forehead. You leaned with your whole body against him, enjoying feeling his closeness. 

This would become a problem in the future.

“Ready?” He asked. Nodding you let him pull you towards the door. Unlocking it, he opened it only to find your date and some other guys standing in front of it.

“Sorry gentlemen.” August said a little too smugly as he let you step out of the restroom first. You couldn’t bear to look at your date as you walked past him. You felt August behind you, one of his hands on your ass.

“You wanna have a drink before we go?” He asked, leaning down so you could hear him better.

“And one dance?” You asked. You saw his lips twitch.

“But only because it’s your birthday Bunny.” He winked. Blushing you smiled. He leaned down, kissing you quickly, but you didn’t let him go. Pulling your arms behind his neck you sighed against his lips as he cornered you against the nearest wall, pulling you up in his arms to kiss you properly.

Out of breath you leaned your forehead against his.

“Champagne for your 22nd birthday?” He asked.

“That would be perfect.” You whispered. Kissing you quickly again, he slowly let you get down to the ground, before his hand pulled you towards the bar.

What you both didn’t notice were the two FBI Agents watching the two of you intently. One of them being your date. And you didn’t know just how much you would treasure this as one of the last moments of being with August. The August you fell in love with.

[stanandcharleyandfriends]

In the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed to Scott Neabore that the pet population had doubled as people bound to their homes sought out cats and dogs for comfort and companionship. His practice in Haddonfield, meanwhile, was still compact — just him and three vet technicians.

His schedule is fully booked with surgeries until autumn. There are no slots for more dental procedures until the beginning of next year. He has performed more spay and neuter surgeries in the last year than he ever did previously.

“The pet population essentially doubled in a year, but the veterinarian population did not,” he said. “Now we’re trying to play catch-up.”

As pet ownership sharply grew in the last year — 11.38 million households in the United States got pets during the pandemic, according to the American Pet Products Association — so did the workload for veterinary practices, many of which simultaneously grappled with COVID-19 safety protocol, concerns of thinning staff, and growing pressure to see as many patients as possible.

Even with nimble vet staff, there was sometimes a waiting period of six to seven hours at the Red Bank Veterinary Hospital emergency room in Hillsborough, N.J. — a delay exacerbated by some owners who brought in their pets for nonurgent matters, veterinarian Agatha Kuza said.

“My job has kind of become a general practice-emergency hybrid,” she said, noting that some people have paid the more expensive emergency hospital fee rather than wait longer to get their animal seen elsewhere.

In a typical 12-hour shift during the pandemic, Kuza saw 10 to 15 patients. On her busiest day, she recalled, she saw 30. Another day, when two other emergency clinics in the area diverted owners to nearby facilities, eight patients showed up at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital within an hour.

The work has become overwhelming, Kuza said. After already long days sometimes peppered with combative or accusatory pet owners, some employees stay an extra hour or two to finish their tasks, she said. Half of the nurses who were working at the hospital when Kuza was hired last year have resigned, and replacements are hard to find.

“I definitely already feel burned out,” said Kuza, who graduated in 2019 from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. “I don’t see myself doing emergency — or even veterinary medicine — long term.” She has begun to see a therapist, she said, and take medication.

When COVID-19 and vet medicine collided, it brewed “a perfect storm,” said Jennifer Keeler, executive director of the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association.

“We started out with not being sure if vet clinics could remain open, and in the early days, they were only open for the emergency procedures,” she said. That pushed back routine wellness visits — and the backlog compounded as people began adopting or buying new pets and bringing them in for their first checkups.

“Once they were allowed to do routine care and trying to dig out of that backlog, a lot of staff members are parents whose kids are home,” she said, noting that the majority of veterinarians and veterinary technicians in the United States are women. “So a lot of vet clinics lost staff and have been unable to fill positions. It’s really put a lot of pressure on them.”

Coupled with new rules surrounding COVID-19, such as appointments that required owners to stay outside while their pet was being seen, more owners became frustrated and angry, Keeler said.

“That can be emotional for pet owners because they want to be in with their pet,” she said. “They often give a lot of push-back to vets and staff, so it’s kind of coming at vet professionals from all angles lately.”

Turnover is then high, she said, particularly when there is low pay, little job satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue. Vet technicians and technologists earned an annual median pay of $36,260 in 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency found that the veterinarians averaged $108,350 a year as of last May.

“I get cursed at at least once a week,” said an emergency veterinarian in Philadelphia who requested anonymity for fear of jeopardizing her job. People also have threatened and yelled at her, she said, slammed doors in her face, and walked out on $2,000 bills. “It’s definitely gotten much worse.”

The workload, too, has been fierce: In the first week of the pandemic, she said, a few cat owners who began to spend more time at home observed their pets more closely and brought them in to be examined. She diagnosed three with having abdominal tumors. And she examined more puppies than usual, many of which came from Lancaster County, Missouri, or Ohio, hot spots for puppy mills.

“Everyone just wants a puppy so much right now that puppies that wouldn’t get adopted with heart murmurs or hernias are getting adopted,” she said.

Recently, she noticed an uptick in animals that had ingested marijuana.

She said she had used her own money to pay for the treatment of six animals surrendered to her practice during the COVID-19 outbreak. One was a puppy with a broken leg; another, a cat with a severed tail.

“There’s no end in sight,” she said, and recalled a shift when she had to handle 15 emergencies by herself. “And we’re just working harder and harder and harder.”

Despite increased stress, “in general, I’m doing better than most people,” she said. “... You have to not take things personally. You have to come up with ways to cope, or you can’t deal with it.”

As it stands, the industry feels broken, said Braelyn Bankoff, a graduate of Penn Vet. She left her job as a small-animal vet in April 2020 after the job left her anxious and unhappy.

“The vet world right now feels set up to go poorly from the start,” she said, and pointed to the high cost of vet school that led to people “feeling trapped” or “forced to work unsustainably,” and the expense of running a tight-margin animal hospital that invited the pressure of seeing as many patients a day as possible. The stress, so crippling at times, has given rise to Not One More Vet, a national nonprofit dedicated to bettering the mental health of vet staff.

“It puts more burden on the existing staff and results in crazy hours, unsustainable workloads, too many client expectations you just can’t support,” Bankoff said.

She ultimately found that the pressure was unhealthy.

“I started developing stress-related illness,” she said. “I saw a psychiatrist and had to get on antidepressants and anxiety medication.” She quit her job without another one lined up and started a job search. She landed her current position, an analyst for the National Board of Medical Examiners, in January.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” she said. “I have hobbies now. I have a life. I am no longer on any meds. I feel very much myself again, and that’s awesome.”

***

Published June 7, 2021. The author, Katie Park, is suburban development reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

[heynikkiyousofine]

It’s a little late, but it’s still Sunday, so Chapter 2 is up and going, where we see Inuyasha and Kagome meet, but not the way you expect. Let me know what you think!

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Love and Flowers Chapter 2

Inuyasha gritted his teeth as the chilled November air hit his sensitive nose and shoved his hands into his pockets to stay a bit warmer, tugging the jacket around himself for warmth. His idea to walk to lunch sounded like a good idea until he realized how cold it was outside. Fall was heading into winter fast, he mused as he laid his ears down under his black beanie when another gust of air breezed past him. Feeling his phone vibrate in his back pocket, he decided he was close enough to the cafe where he was meeting Miroku, he could wait to answer it. He wanted to think more about this soulmate mark situation. It wasn’t exactly something he could hide, he knew that for sure, especially in the arena. But what about the other person? Would they want a hanyou for a soulmate? Why did he get a mark? It wasn’t like they were common anymore, most people deciding that they would find the love of their life on their own instead of waiting for so called soulmate mark. He knew so little about, so talking to his dad later might help, might not. Picking up his pace, he was so engrossed in his own thoughts, he didn’t see the young woman until it was too late.

“Ahhhh!!” A loud shriek filled the air, causing Inuyasha to pin his ears even farther down. The young woman hadn’t even looked up at him, focused on the hot coffee now all over her cream blouse and plum scarf. “Oh great…” she muttered. “Uh, I’m really sorry. I should’ve paid better attention. Uh, are you, okay?” He stuttered, ashamed and afraid. “Oh!” Her grey eyes quickly looked at him, a small blush forming across her cheeks. “I’m okay, I promise. I’m always running into people, did I get any coffee on you?” Inuyasha just shook his head, not knowing what else to say, afraid she might become even more disgusted at him., while she continued to ramble on. “Well good, I’m glad. I’m sorry for running into you.” “You’re good. Uh, I need to get going. You gonna be good?” He asked a little more confidently, not looking away from her gaze just yet. Those eyes were something else, he thought, shaking his head quickly to focus on the situation at hand. “Oh yes! I’ll grab a shirt from my friend inside, thank you.” She smiled at him brightly, her grey eyes shimmering. Nodding, he quickly turned away and headed around the block when he felt his phone vibrate once again in pocket. Where did that thought earlier come from? I didn’t even know that woman. Pulling it out, assuming to be Miroku again, he swiped up on his screen to see a text from him dad. “Your mother would like to know if you want to come over for dinner?” Responding a quick yes, he noticed the other text was from Miroku, saying he was running five minutes late and to go ahead and grab a seat. Sliding his phone away, he turned the corner to the brick cafe, as the young woman behind him rushed back into the coffee shop, both forgetting about the other for now. After changing into an extra shirt Sango had at the coffee shop, Kagome exited the public bathroom just as her phone began to ring in her purse. Quickly pulling it out, she swiped across the screen when she saw her mother’s contact appear. “Hey mama! What’s up?” She smiled to herself, always loving her conversations with the older woman. “Hello dear, I was wondering if you were still planning on coming over Saturday evening for dinner like usual?” “Yes! I’ll head over after my shift at the hospital, around 7, is that okay?” “Of course! Kagome? Is everything okay? You seem a bit frazzled.” Concern clear in her mother’s voice. Sighing a bit, Kagome began to tell her how she had yet again spilt coffee on her blouse while she was out running errands. Looking up as she finished her story, she saw Sango at the counter handing out drinks to customers, smiling. Waving quickly, mouthing a quick thank you to coffee shop owner, Kagome turned her attention back to her mother. “Oh my, well it’s a good thing you had extra clothing dear. Get to your errands, I’ll see in a few -“ “Mama?” Kagome interrupted before she hung up the phone. “Yes dear?” “Do you know anything about soulmate marks?” “The same stories you do, why do you ask?” Biting her lip, “Oh nothing, I was wondering a few things. Do you think Gramps has any books on the subject?” “I’m sure he does,” she began laughing quietly, “He has many folklores and legends in the shrine. Just ask him on Saturday.” “Thanks mama, I’ll see you Saturday.” Hanging up, Kagome signed, before wrapping her scarf around her neck again and waved goodbye, before heading out into he cold air once again. “Ah Inuyasha, thank you for waiting on me!” Miroku smiled at the grumpy hanyou as he settled in the seat across from him. “Should we go ahead and order, my friend?” “Yeah, yeah. How’s the wife and kids?” The silver haired man waved at him to go ahead as the waitress walked up. “They are good. The girls are turning three soon, of course, you’ll be invited to their party. Kin’u and Gyokuto asked about you this morning actually.” He responded, laughing heartily. The waitress returned with two steaming bowls, asked if they needed anything else and walked away, giving the two men some privacy. “Alright, alright. What did you wanna discuss?” Inuyasha asked as he began to dig into his ramen, while Miroku reached for his spoon. Ignoring the rudeness of his client, they began to discuss business details and Saturday’s upcoming fight against a certain wolf demon. “Koga’s gonna try and deter the fight isn’t he?” Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he asked. “Yes, he thinks he’s going to be beat you easily, since you’re a half-demon and all. He thinks this will be an easy win. You have been training correct?” “Yeah, Totosai’s been keep my training rigorous these days. The wolf’s got nothing on me.” “Good, good. Say, Inuyasha, when did you get a tattoo?” Looking up, golden eyes watched as indigo towards his neck, at the branches that had began to peek out from underneath the jacket. Quickly zipping his hoodie back up despite it being warm inside, he looked around to make sure no one heard their conversations, ears flicking beneath his beanie. Deciding it was safe, he leaned forward. “I got one a few days ago, it covers my back. I wanted to ask you about it. It won’t be a problem for Saturday will it?” “Not at all my friend, I was just curious.” Miroku responded quickly, his hands raising up, a mischievous smile spreading. “This won’t be a problem.” “Okay, I gotta go, lunch is on me. I’ll see you Saturday.” Inuyasha threw a couple of twenties on the table, slapping the grinning man’s shoulder as he headed towards the door. He headed south, towards his apartment, needing to change into something more acceptable before heading to his parents this evening. Kagome sighed as she once again stood in front of her mirror, after changing for the third time. She twirled around in her forest green dress, knowing she would just wear a sweater over it, but couldn’t figure anything to do with her hair. She decided wearing it down might be best, so she could cover the mark that was high up on her neck. Looking at herself, she couldn’t help but study her appearance. She didn’t think she was anything to look at. Her eyes were always an odd color, but had always attracted attention. So why did she get a soulmate mark? What was so special about her? It was almost time for her to leave to make it to dinner with her boyfriend. All day, she had managed to avoid his texts, saying she was busy with errands. She technically was, but she didn’t like lying to him. She had decided early this morning that she would straight up ask him about soulmate marks, if he had received on too. She liked the guy. Bankotsu was good to her, made her feel cherished. When he wasn’t flying as a pilot, he made sure he took her out on the town. She was afraid of how to break up with him if he didn’t have a mark, knowing how she felt inside. To her, love was passionate and meant to be. She saw love from her parents, before her father had died when she was young, in their actions and gentle smiles towards each other. She saw the love in Sango and Miroku expressions whenever they play fought or shared a special secret. She was hopeless romantic at an early age. Her high school boyfriend, Hojo, was sweet and caring, but she ultimately ended it with him because there was no passion in it. Heading off to nursing school, she had met Hiten, and had that fiery passion, losing herself to him many nights. In the end though, he only cared about her body, not her feelings and had reveled he slept with most of the dance squad while they were dating. Starting her most recent job at the local hospital, she met Bankotsu one night while he was in town at a bar with Sango and Miroku, they had been together on and off for a few years, Bankotsu never stepping forward with commitment. Kagome didn’t think she wanted to marry him. Maybe it was time to end things with him indefinitely anyways, soulmate mark or not. Sighing to herself, she slid into her black ballet flats before grabbing her purse, cashmere sweater and black scarf before heading out the door. Kagome reached the restaurant quickly, despite her taxi getting stuck in traffic. Reaching for brass handle, she saw Bankotsu inside, gathering herself, she stepped inside.