#anyways it's about as likely to work as the lottery and people win that every now and again so i say go for it

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

Cronus: Then I realized that I could make these percentages vwork for me. You see if I wvrite one letter to one supermodel asking her to marry me, the chances of my getting a yes are a million to one, right?

Kankri: C9nservatively.

Cronus: Therefore, if I vwrite thousands of letters to hundreds of different models, my percentages increase. The more letters I wvrite the better my chances.

Eridan: the man’s a genius.

Kankri: The man’s g9t m9re stamps than sanity.

[ghouljams]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I LOVE LUCK

First of all pairing Gaz with Luck was genius

But the way you told the story??????

Luck being so enamoured for Gaz that they would risk everything and rationalising it as their selfish demon nature even as every act of luck they perform is above and beyond

I know that all the demons are slightly yandere-esque stories but the way Luck is besotted with this man gives the vibes of those cheesy supernatural media where the fem mc has a bad boy swooning over her that would burn the world down for her - except Gaz is the mc!!!!

It's perfect! Let him be a damsel!!!!

Idk how much he knows about Luck's influence BC he's not stupid and once he knows their powers there's only so much "oh whoops looks like they have bad aim" you can rationalise away, he might not know exactly when he started getting more luck tho if (from how you described it) the powers of the universe seem to let him absorb the natural well of luck that exists.

It might be harder for him to pinpoint exactly when if Luck is the type to take credit for stuff just for the possibility of praise and attention - which they clearly adore coming from him. "A miracle - your heart swells, that's you!" And "he jokes about a lucky streak and you beam with pride"

I just wanna make him my baby girl. I wanna protect him, let him give me his little neck tie thing like a Princess gives her Knight a favour

I truly love the demon au bc it somewhat feels like a role reversal from the fae au where now the characters are the darlings

(also I think I've sent asks before as myself or as anon I can't remember but Tumblr likes to eat my asks for some reason)

Gaz as the damsel lmao yeah kinda. Gaz gets a demon handbook, and reads it, but I don't think he fully understands how Luck's powers work... Luck isn't hiding from him, let's be clear on that, but it's very much the sort of vibe of "luck isn't really a power, I'm not trying to win the lottery" while Gaz figures out how to make Luck useful.

Anyway here's Luck performing some truly spectacular magical luck and Gaz trying to explain it away because he's not supposed to tell people he has a demon looking out for him.

Little things are easy, you don't really need to exert any energy for them. An enemy comes around a corner before Gaz can spot them and you make their gun jam before they can take a shot. Someone throws a knife at Gaz, you make sure it flies over his shoulder and lodges into another AQ's head. Extra bullets in a mag, extra mags in the rubble when he's running low, passwords on paper next to computers, unlocked doors, keys left in cars. All of it is lucky, but nothing spectacular. Nothing combat worthy. Then again you're not technically a combat demon.

"Certainly make life easier," Gaz mumbles as he slinks through the tunnels under the city.

"I know, but-" You're picking up bad habits, draping yourself over his shoulder as he moves, "-I guess I just want to give you a miracle, y'know."

"You've given me plenty already," He tells you. You suppose you have, but nothing that deserves any praise. You want him to tell you, you did something spectacular. Not that you can tell him. It's already heaven enough being able to sit and talk to him like this, you don't want to taint it with false compliments.

You sigh and content yourself with just touching him, something you never could've enjoyed before. Every breath he takes is a small reward for your work. You could never regret contracting yourself to him, not when he's so warm and sturdy under you.

"Tell me about that book you've been reading," Gaz whispers when you've been silent too long. You smile, and duck your head against his shoulder, shy even though you know he can't see you.

"You'd like it," You tell him, murmuring the most recent plot points you've read until you see him smile in the low light. You like how well Gaz seems to have adjusted to you, you hope that means he likes you too.

He holds up a hand and you quiet down, sinking into the shadows so he has full range of movement. You can hear the buzz of radio in his ear. He and Soap are supposed to be sweeping the city for weapons caches, sabotaging what they can before they meet in the middle. So far Gaz has been lucky enough to destroy the caches he's found without being detected. More easy luck, nothing worth kicking up a fuss over.

Gaz keeps his gun at the ready as he goes up a flight on concrete stairs. Back to the fresh air of the city. The night is thick with dark silence.

You're starting to get a little itchy, things are going almost too well. You've been keeping enemy combatants away from Gaz, eager to not have a repeat of the IED that bound your contract. You think it's starting to make him a little nervous, because he lets out a held breath when he spots Soap. It's a short reunion, a solid bump of knuckles between the two men.

"Easy," Soap tells him, "Barely saw a soul."

You frown, you don't like the sound of that. That was supposed to be your luck. Unless those caches were meant to be found. A spotlight clicks on, marking Soap and Gaz's position. Around them guns raise, and safeties flip off.

They both freeze, surrounded and in open air. It's lucky they haven't been shot yet. Must be looking to use them for intel. Soap swears under his breath. Gaz grits his teeth, you can see his jaw clench tight. Overhead a helicopter hovers, the spotlight on the back focused on the two sergeants, keeping them visible.

You feel yourself tremble a little, such a clear and serious threat to Gaz's life making you uneasy. You're really not used to combat, it's unfamiliar to you, a thing you used to watch with no dreams to ever experience it yourself. You don't know what to do, all you know is that you have to protect Gaz. You can't shoot knives out of the shadows, or remove organs with surgical precision, you can't do anything that would make you useful to a soldier. What you are though, is lucky. Miraculously so.

One of the enemy's guns misfires, knocking them off balance. They bump into another combatant, who's itchy finger pulls the trigger on an automatic that swings its spray of bullets skyward. Gaz glances up and watches a few stray bullets hit the helo with precision aim he wouldn't even dream up. Making the hovering chopper smoke and spin out, crashing into a church steeple.

The helo explodes, the noise loud enough to draw the attention of the men who still have their aim on him and Soap. Suddenly, miraculously, the blades of the helicopter fly from the explosion and spin towards the AQ agents. Gaz grabs Soap to duck just as the blades chop off the head of every man still standing.

"Steamin' hell," Soap breathes, as the blades thunk into a wall and stick there.

"That was-"

"A fuckin' miracle." Soap finishes for him, standing back to his full height.

"Luck," Gaz grins, "You are a fuckin' wonder." You preen as he glances down at his excitedly bubbling shadow. You can't help the little popping hearts that rise to the surface, quick bursts of your affection before you can rein it in. He presses his fingers to his lips, then to the dark shadows at his feet before standing.

"No one is going to believe this," Soap looks around at the carnage, blissfully(luckily) ignorant of the demonic activity at Gaz's feet, "Shit I don't even believe it."

"Gonna be a hell of a report," Gaz tells him. He glances around the scene as Soap radios position back to Price. The absolute absurdity of the entire situation making him laugh a little. "Bloody hell," He shakes his head, lets out another bark of laughter, "How'd you even manage this love?"

"Just lucky I guess," You mumble, trying to keep from blowing out every light on the block in your excitement. Love... You could scream.

[rainbowsky]

Chunzhen in the hot seat again

This brand, honestly...

I personally find it mind-boggling how poorly they handle everything they do, and they learn absolutely nothing from their mistakes. I look forward to the day that DD's connection with them ends.

As you may or may not know, this brand is much-hated by most turtles. You can read all about that here.

Well, they're back at it again.

They held a promotional lottery for tickets to Weibo Night. Among the winners were several of GG's solos. MTJJ reported them to Chunzhen as DD antis and their prizes were revoked.

Chunzhen announcing that prizes are being revoked for certain users.

But if they really are DD antis Chunzhen did the right thing, didn't they?

In theory perhaps, but in practice there doesn't seem to be a lot of evidence that these users truly were DD antis. It appears they were targeted by MTJJ because they were GG solos. It's not like Chunzhen rooted through the social media history of everyone who won, they simply cancelled some prizes because of the fandom they belong to. (I looked through the social media history of several of the fans and couldn't find any anti activity - not to say it didn't exist somewhere, but I think if they were major antis we'd be able to tell at a glance).

Chunzhen are involving themselves in fan wars. It's not a good look.

Everyone is a potential customer, and as someone who has worked in marketing and advertising I find it shocking to watch brands like this behave so badly toward some customers (particularly turtles, who were supporting the brand more than MTJJ before they burned every bridge with BXG). I have deeply ingrained values about how brands should conduct themselves - particularly in relation to the general public - and it makes my skin itch to watch this behavior.

Chunzhen also collected their personal identification (as part of the ticket fulfillment process) before cancelling their wins. People felt their privacy was violated.

Worse, they publicized the names of the 11 winners saying they were disqualified 'due to rule violations' (screen cap above), thereby publicly casting them as antis and subjecting them to cyberbullying. They were flooded with negative messages and comments, and some of them expressed extreme distress.

If some of these people were actually DD antis it might seem like karma, but like I said, that doesn't appear to be the case, and anyway these users entrusted their entries and personal info to Chunzhen and in turn they've been told first 'Congratulations, you won!' and later singled out for targeting by others. They exposed these people to cyberbullying. As a brand Chunzhen has handled this whole thing extremely poorly.

Chunzhen was getting mass reported by fans and people were threatening to sue (maybe they'd have better luck than the BXG had with that 😅).

Sina Weibo 'to the rescue'

In the end Weibo compensated the users for their losses, so the whole thing will likely blow over. The people involved were VIP subscribers, so Sina likely wanted to smooth things over. The last thing they would want is negative publicity for the event.

Weibo Lottery account announcing tickets will be awarded to all winners.

I think if these people really were serious GG antis they might not have responded in this way. While Weibo is happy to take people's money and can sometimes run a sort of protection racket on their platform (for example, they're happy to let people buy negative hotsearches and then make the subject of those hotsearches pay to take them down), they do have rules in place and a mandate from the government to rein in bad fan behavior.

Chunzhen is the main sponsor for Weibo Night, so Weibo not backing their decision to revoke prizes does make the brand lose face a bit. It's interesting to watch how this played out.

It's possible Weibo just compensated everyone to make the problem go away as quickly as possible, but I still can't help feeling that if Chunzhen had been behaving fairly/correctly Weibo would have backed them up on it.

Chunzhen is one of GGDD's endorsement brands - shouldn't we support them?

Everyone gets to make up their own minds about these things, but I can't support a brand that engages in practices I find distasteful. Quite the contrary - I feel compelled to oppose such companies. That's why you don't see me posting endorsement content from Chunzhen on my blog anymore, except DD's photos and the occasional live event clip that might be of interest to fans.

No fan is ever under any obligation to support a brand or platform they dislike. Part of being a 'good fan' is using our own heads and sticking to our individual values rather than succumbing to mob mentality or toxic fan expectations.

Not that I judge anyone who does support them. It's just not something I'm willing/able to do.

[fenris-returns]

sorry if this is cringe or too personal of a question, but what does north euro pagan living day-to-day look like? are there daily prayers or rituals you do, do you talk to family members that have passed? do you take any aspects of Christianity and repurpose them towards your faith? like baptisms or confessions or really anything I guess, since they're repurposed a lot of pagan holy days and rituals for themselves, idk I'm still really new to this and its hard to find guys that aren't cringe or like, wiccan lol. or OLD

Not cringe at all! I think it’s fair. To be honest my daily habits probably aren’t terribly different from most peoples, although I do make sure to find time in the middle of the day and the evening to at least say thanks or prayers. It’s nothing special, just reaching out. As far as holidays and baptism and things of that nature, it’s important to know that Europeans were baptizing by sprinkling water over children long before Christianity came to Europe. Norse naming ceremonies for a newborn child included the father sprinkling water over the child and speaking their name. The more you can absorb historically to give yourself context for how many “Christian” ideals are actually just European traditions and morals, the better.

Weekly I sit down in front of the altar and bow my head and pray with an offering, usually of something worthwhile like alcohol or food that’s been made from scratch, and offerings should be left outside as often as possible. It’s important to remember two things, in my opinion, regarding prayer and offerings.

Number one, the gods are not vending machines. I don’t sit down every week and ask to win the lottery or for a raise at work or something like that. I ask for guidance, I ask for strength, I ask for wisdom, and I thank them for everything they’ve done for me so far. I make offerings because I love the gods and they take care of me, not because I’m hoping to get something out of it. This separates me from Christians because this is not an attempt at getting a ticket into heaven by going to church and making offerings. This is from my heart and soul, straight to the gods themselves.

Number two, you are not equals with them. They are the GODS, not just some human ancestors. We are their flesh and blood, and you ought to take pride in this, but we are simply still human beings. You need to make offerings, and it needs to be something worthwhile. It should cost you blood, sweat, and tears if possible. It’s not about your suffering, or to fulfill the monetary needs of a church - it is to show your continued devotion and your thankfulness for what has been given in the past.

Oh, and on one last thing, on your question about speaking to dead family members, do not do that. They’re dead. Don’t disturb their peace, or worse yet, get something else in your home in the mix. My cousin spent many years trying to communicate with her late brother, my other cousin, and she has suffered greatly for it. The dead can speak to us when we die and join them, and those that ride with the wild hunt are doing more important things, anyway. Just my two cents.

Also hey man I’m KIND of old now. I’m turning fucking 30 in a couple months 🥲

[edoro]

thinking a lot lately about the very fun experience of technically being able to work, but not consistently or enough to make a living

recently i took five days off from my (extremely easy, simple, online, wfh) job because i had hit the point of being burned out that thinking about it made me Literally Want To Kill Myself

i spent those days cleaning my house, playing video games, and writing original fiction that i’m going to try to sell, and also doing things like “crying into my salad while i washed the leaves” and “laying on the floor thinking What if I Was Dead Instead” because none of the stressors that made me get to that point were actually gone and in fact taking this time off of working was making a big one (the fact that i live on a very narrow margin of financial safety where i am usually just BARELY able to pay for everything i need) significantly worse

now i have to get back to it and i can already physically FEEL the stress returning, although thankfully the constant mental loop of “what if i just killed myself instead” is mostly gone and i just feel kind of shitty about it

but this is a pattern for me, and it’s a deeply frustrating and demoralizing one. get a job, hope that this time this will be the job i am Able To Consistently Do And Live Off Of, and then from there a few things have tended to happen:

1) i’m actually really good at the job but doing it drives me insane because it hits all of my anxiety and trauma buttons and every working day involves psychologically torturing myself for several hours straight (anything involving phones)

2) i like the job but i suck at it and the knowledge that i suck at it drives me into a despair spiral that ends with me quitting before i get fired

3) i like the job and i’m okay to good at it, but either something external happens (car dying while working as a delivery driver, covid) to force me out of it OR i just hit my burnout point anyway because there is something deeply broken inside of my brain wrt my ability to function as a person in the type of society i currently live in

And Then I Don’t Have A Job Anymore. the longest i’ve managed to keep a job is not quite three years, and then covid happened and i had to choose between continuing to work in retail or keeping myself safe from getting the fucking plague. the specter of “having to go back to working around the general public, none of whom mask anymore, and also no one is really vaccinating anymore either” looms over me constantly.

every time this happens it makes me feel even more like a useless garbage person AND it makes it much harder to get another job, because my employment history is full of three to six month stays at jobs that most people would find incredibly simple and easy, and i have to try to find a way to explain that without saying “i’m insane and probably going to have a mental breakdown under the crushing weight of light clerical duties, but i prommy i’ll do a good job up until i hit that point”

and meanwhile while i AM working, i have absolutely no energy or motivation for anything else. i can’t keep my house clean. i can barely maintain my own hygiene. i can’t write. i can’t engage in any hobby that isn’t passively absorbing information through a screen. AND i can barely make enough money to live on with the number of hours i’m capable of working, so it doesn’t even feel particularly worth it.

anyway. idk. it just sucks. it’s really hard and i’m tired of living like this but the only solutions seem to be “win the lottery” or “stop being disabled” or maybe “find a sugar daddy.”

[lopez-richter-fangirl]

I’mma be real with you, lopez-richter-fangirl. I am Not Feeling Good about Tinlightenment’s chances. This is the most stressed I’ve ever been about a Kickstarter. It’s going so slowly and idk if it’s selective memory or just me noticing more cause I’m stressed or if it’s actual reality but it feels like the numbers have dropped more often and by larger amounts than usual. TCB have to maintain a positive attitude about it, so I think it’s up to us (fans) to stop just being confused and frustrated (which I AM, WHY IS THIS ONE SO HARD) and instead panic and get creative and pull out all the new stops and new fundraising ideas but I don’t know what?? I’ve been researching how to do a giveaway (pledge/raise a pledge by five bucks and have a chance to win a NPMD hoodie in your size, that sort of thing) without making it an illegal lottery and it’s possible but it’s gonna be complicated. I’m thinking of blazing a post—spend a little money to earn a little more money—but it might be better to save that money for adding onto my own pledge instead? Maybe a group of us could get together and each contribute like a dollar to a blaze fund idk. And I’ve seen several people say that they can only use PayPal, which Kickstarter doesn’t take, so I’m looking into non-onerous ways around that. I know it’s early to panic but I just think those of us Invested need to switch up what we’re doing as early as possible in order to get the momentum to save this thing. Thoughts?

Anyways thanks for all you’re doing and sorry for the super long ask I am Stressed(TM).

- man-down-in-hatchet-town (stupid tumblr makes me use anon)

I too have never been more stressed about a kickstarter @man-down-in-hatchet-town !! The first two large amounts they dropped turned out to be scam/bot pledges and the third I think was just a misadjustment before going back up, but definitely it is going SLOWER than previous kickstarters

And yes I’ve been frustrated trying to get to the bottom of WHY, but we CAN still help

I am not an artist but I know people have done ‘prove you pledged/upped x amount and I’ll draw you something’. What I can offer is fics, I’ve never done it before because I didn’t think people would be that interested tbh but I will try ANYTHING so if anyone wants that I can arrange it. (for anyone new here, I’m tinydetailsqueen on ao3 for character fics. for other fics… well that one’s iykyk but it’s on the table too)

I was also already thinking about doing a day of promotion every week/twice a week or whatever where we talk about one of the specific projects because as raised earlier, I do think a lot of people just don’t fully understand everything that’s going on yet!

ABSOLUTELY just telling people that TCB have got this huge KS going on doesn’t seem to be working as well as we’d like, so I do think collectively (because there ARE a lot of us really invested!) we all need to go deeper and really make sure people understand why this is so important, as well as doing whatever we can in those other ways to incentivise people

[sbi-au-ideas]

Techno is freshly 19 when the world turns on its head.

A timer shows up on everyone’s wrists. It starts counting down immediately. Of course, with everyone’s timer’s showing different numbers and everyone’s time running out just as fast as anyone else’s- the world flips shit.

Some people are exceptions. They may have two timers, or even three timers. No one knows what it means, no one wants to find out- but no one has a choice.

Anyway, Techno has four timers.

Three years later, and it’s figured out. The timer is counting down to a changing point in a person’s life. Specifically, a changing point that will also alter someone else’s fate. Majorly.

Techno has four timers.

It could mean a lot of things. You could meet your “destined soulmate” or find the person who you want to be best friends with forever; or it could be the act of you getting hit by a truck and getting paralyzed from the waist down, causing your significant other to have to support you and them, while struggling to keep afloat in this ableist society.

Techno has four timers.

One thing everyone is relieved about, is that it doesn’t tick down to your death! Nor will it ever tick down to someone’s death. Plenty of… testing- was done to clear that out of the picture. So no death! But plenty of room for random chance to alter you forever.

Techno has four timers.

Also, no one has ever seen their timer hit zero. Watching it intensely? A car blows up outside and redirects your attention. You try recording it? The tattoos don’t show up on picture, video, or any form of visual wavelength that the government has its hands on. Hell, fate makes it so that you don’t even remember your timer is low before the event happens. There’s always something that takes you away from watching. Takes everyone away from watching.

Techno has four timers.

Most governments have banned showing your tattoo out in public- because they’re afraid of something. No one knows what, but they found out something about the timers that they don’t like, and they’re keeping it a secret from everyone.

Techno has four timers.

The timers are selective too. Not just any life-changing event will make it out as a timer. It’s always one, sometimes two, and rarely three.

Techno has four timers.

He hasn’t told anyone. He keeps his wrist covered up, just as anyone else. He checks the internet everyday, using whatever browser will safely discard any information gathered from him, and looks up the chance that someone is talking about a fourth timer. Every day, there’s no luck. Everyday, he sees the headline “always one, sometimes two, and rarely three.” -and it never mentions four. There’s been talk, ideas of what it would be like if someone got four, but never a report. No headline. No mention.

Techno has four timers.

No one can fake a timer. Getting a tattoo won’t work, because it needs to be counting down- to the second. Video editing won’t work because they don’t even show up on cameras. It’s pretty much impossible to fake a tattoo, and there has been no report of someone having a fourth timer.

Techno has four timers.

He contemplates going to the press about it- but that would require talking to someone, talking to the media, talking to interviewers, talking to people who want to witness the mysterious fourth timer guy- so he quickly discards that idea.

Which leaves Techno with four timers and a lie.

Wilbur has three timers.

He’s not sure what they’re counting down to, but he certainly hopes it’s good. He hopes he meets the love of his life. He hopes he wins the lottery. He hopes he gets a good job that rocks his world and he becomes rich and successful. In a crazy world, he achieves all of them.

Wilbur has three timers.

There’s so many possibilities. He thinks he’s pretty lucky, having three chances at greatness. His friends tell him he trusts fate too much, but he disagrees! Really, he can just kick his feet back and rely on pure chance. Y’know, statistics say that people with three timers have a much higher chance at doing the impossible! And guess what?

Wilbur has three timers.

So he’s going to trust that fate has his happy ending wrapped up for him, nice and pretty, kick his feet back, and relax.

Because Wilbur has three timers and a university letter on the way.

Phil has two timers.

He doesn’t care too much about timers, having lived the large majority of his life without one, so he keeps his tattoos hidden all day round and never puts too much thought into it. Besides, life is going to work itself out either way. Hopefully in a good direction.

Phil has two timers.

He lives with his wife Kristin, who he met before all the tattoo chaos. She has one timer, but neither of them care too much about the ticking on their wrists. He tries not to think about how his life will change dramatically twice, but hers will only change once. He prays to fate that it does not separate them.

Phil has two timers and three to ignore.

Tommy has one timer.

It ticks down slowly.

Tommy has one timer.

He watches it constantly, hypnotized by the silent, ticking numbers.

Tommy has one timer.

Dream doesn’t like his timer. He’s tried to cut it out of Tommy’s skin, but the tattoo just flickered and showed up somewhere else near his wrist, on unblemished skin. Dream cut him a lot that day. When there wasn’t enough skin on his arm to show up on, it just flickered again and teleported to his other wrist, on his other arm. Once both arms were out of the picture? It just moved on to the shoulder. When the scars healed, the timer eventually went back to his wrist. Tommy has a lot of scars.

Tommy has one timer.

It isn’t close to ending, not yet, but every second that goes by- every minute that ticks down- every hour that passes- is one step closer to the day being over, and 24 hours disappearing from the numbers on his wrist. Tommy finds safety in this, in the inevitable.

Tommy has one timer.

He knows Dream is scared of it. Dream tried to hide the truth about the timer, but the green haired man that sneaks in granola bars and candy told him. The timer will end when something happens that rocks Tommy’s world. That could be a lot of things, Tommy thinks. He really tries not to hope.

Tommy has one timer. It’s all he has.

[raisethe-velvet]

ok so my post got more than one note so. enstars characters as the types of customers i get at my job as a supermarket checkout person.

(this is only gonna include the characters i can think of something for because there’s too many characters and sadly not enough interesting or stupid people that come into the store i work at. anyway here goes) 

(oh, and this is in no particular order. Just whatever comes to mind first. will add to this if i think of anything else) 

Niki: buys a suspicious amount of one item. like, instead of taking one thing off the shelf will take the whole fucking box. also, the “I came here for one thing and bought half the store” type of customer. 

Mika: comes to the checkout and right when he’s about to pay for his items remembers he forgot one thing on the other end of the entire store. also, probably left his shopping bags in the car and tries to put everything back into the shopping cart. or didn’t bring enough bags at all. 

Ibara: this guy who tried to pay for his groceries with crypto once

Jun (and Hiyori?): Either one person shopping for two people, or they’re both shopping together. Couldn’t decide if Hiyori just gives Jun his card and makes him go grocery shopping for him or if he just follows him to the store.

Mayoi: went shopping at a few stores beforehand and shows the checkout person every single item and receipt to prove he’s not stealing anything. Dude, even if you are stealing I don’t give a shit. 

Nagisa: will either go through the whole transaction in silence or just talk about random shit. might even tell you his whole life story. or not.

Rei: *looks at checkout person’s name badge* “I have a grandchild named-”  

Kaoru: acts way too friendly with the checkout person. Acts like we’ve known each other for ages. like, “is this guy trying to flirt with me or is he just weirdly friendly”. kind of weird. 

Shu (this could probably apply to Hiyori too, though): type of customer who brings their own bags to put all their items in, except you’re not entirely sure if the bags in question were intended to be used as shopping bags. Like, fancy-looking fabric. pockets. is this a shopping bag or a handbag big enough to be a shopping bag. did you make this yourself. where do you even get these bags. Also, is weirdly specific about which items go in which bags.  

Rinne: Customer who was checking to see if they’d won anything from their lottery tickets while I was scanning their items. they didn’t win anything.

anyway yeah thats all ive got so far. i’ll make another post when I think of anything else

[mxllitiam]

I N T R O D U C I N G . . .

a m a r a s i l v e r h o r n .

GENERAL…

name : amara silverhorn. meaning : amara “everlasting” and "to love". nickname : mara, mar. age : thirty-six. birthdate : may 6th. zodiac: taurus sun, aries rising, taurus moon. gender identity : cisgender woman , she / her. orientation : lesbian. place of birth : district six. current residence : district six (+ the 75th arena, oops). occupation : tribute. blacksmith and manages a factory in district six.

HISTORY…

tw: drug abuse, addiction, classism. 

Amara Silverhorn is proof that not everyone has their destiny written in the stars; some of us just have bad luck.

Unlucky – she was born to a burning house. Her mother was a victim of the morphling abuse scene that the higher ups had surreptitiously installed all across the district. Her father was a victim of having a heart too big for his body. He fell in love when they were young and, much to his parents' dismay, she was pregnant before they could arrange a marriage. But they would never arrange a marriage anyway – her mother was only an addict, lost to the streets, while her father had a good name to carry.

The Silverhorns, the only last name Amara still carries, her mother's identity lost somewhere in her history. She was raised by her father and her paternal grandparents, often told the story about how they tried to help the poor young woman who gave her life, but they just couldn't. Amara doesn't believe that, half of the time.

Lucky – they lived a good life. She slept in a comfortable bed and had a house in the best neighborhood of her district. The Silverhorns were old money; not quite royalty within their lands, but well enough off that they could afford a comfortable living in Panem, which is more than most could say. She grew up proper and polite, for some time.

Unlucky – she became the black sheep. Her father remarried, and then she was the oldest of several siblings, and the bastard. This is no evil stepmother story, but Amara always had an inkling that she would always be the odd one out. This was clear when puberty hit her and she started asking questions, too many questions. Her family, their last name heavy with Capitol support, didn't appreciate all the questioning.

She was indoctrinating her younger siblings, her father and stepmom would yell at her. She had ideas that were far greater and better than sitting idly by and clapping as the Games went on. Every year during the reaping they would dress up in their best clothes, and wait with the crowd, only to hear some poorer kid get called. Their Silverhorn names each only once in the bowl, safely hidden in the sea of others. Her family celebrated the Games proudly every year, and hoped for the chance to win a lottery ticket.

Why should they be happy about the Games, when it was their people dying? Her family would insist there was a difference between us and them, but that never made much sense to Amara. They were all in the same boiling pot. When the lights were off in their house, and all of her siblings huddled around her, she told them the truth. All the stories she could remember, all she had ever heard on the outside, about the Games, the families who lost their kids, the districts destroyed, oppressed. Like telling ghost stories around a campfire.

Lucky – she falls in love with the most beautiful, incredible, perfect woman in the world. Yazmin brings light to her life in a way that Amara never expected to feel. It's a breath of fresh air, to be able to love like this. They elope, and move in together, and get a cat, and things feel so much easier now.

Amara had dreams of being a teacher, someday, but those fall through pretty quickly when she knows she could never teach the current curriculum with a straight face. It's not worth it, digging herself into a government she despises. She has no interest in making any waves. So she follows after her family's footsteps and works as the head of one of the manufacturers of transportation from their district. Nepotism gets her pretty far. She likes dabbling in blacksmith work.

In her free time, she worked with nonprofits – and mostly underground – organizations who helped part of the population addicted to morphling. She gave them her time and she cared for her people, in the only way she knew how. Silently, but with her whole self.

Unlucky – her name is plucked from a bowl. The air feels hot around her. Her wife's hand slips from hers as she's taken up to a stage. This is not supposed to happen – this does not happen to people like her. She's done everything right, she's played by their awful rules even when she didn't want to. She has a name and a hundred years of Capitol support under its belt, she's never spread her distaste very far, she's been a faithful servant until now. Her father is in the crowd, watching with mirrored horror in his eyes. This does not happen to them.

Unlucky – it has happened to her.

Unlucky – she's going to die.

[monochromeanswere]

i started a thing @urianius

It is of great disappointment that I, Finn, the greatest hero of all time must put together a letter apologizing for the damage I caused this weekend at your bakery. Lovely place by the way! My intentions were not to cause any harm, but instead to protect every patron from the evildoer lurking in the back of the shop, in the third booth from the end near the windows with the good view might I add! 

Now, looking back, there were plenty of things I could have done differently. Should I have attempted to break through a window? No, absolutely not, and I do apologize for the cracks I added to your otherwise pristine property. I also apologize for causing multiple customers to spill their drinks and food. Again, this was not my intention, but I still feel sorry for all the harm that I caused in the process of saving the day.

I am well aware that you think my actions were part of a prank or that I was just another college youngster playing around, but I assure you my actions were nothing of the sort! I was simply trying to protect everyone! Sure, I had the wrong guy, but my heart was in the right place, promise!

Anyway, please don’t take me to court. I can’t afford it. I’m begging you. Please. I’ll do anything. 

Signed, 

Your Local Superhero FINN!

He lets out a great sigh and flops onto his bed with a great deal of exasperation, running a hand through his overly bleached hair that had begun to really show its damage within the past month or so. That was an easy fix. Trying to fix his reputation was not going to be such an easy feat, after all. His letter to the cafe on the other side of the city had reaped no response and he was beginning to assume that the owner had ignored him. He didn’t understand entirely, surely they could understand that his intention was only to save the day! Then again, when he really thought about it, outside of the house work he performed nobody seemed to appreciate his good deeds. 

He knew he just needed his big breakthrough and he’d begin to resemble the likes of Clark Kent or even Spiderman (who was his personal favorite). On top of a grand heroic deed, he’d need a costume and branding just like the heroes he looked up to, but where exactly could he get those things? It wasn’t as if there was a store that provided the hero essentials, nor did he think that anybody would be willing to invest in a nobody like him.

Not yet, anyway. One day he’d be there! He’d make them all understand what a great hero he was! He just needed to beat the right criminal, foil the right crime and make sure his name made headlines. The question was how exactly he went about doing this. Unless he set something up, the chances of him stumbling upon the perfect crime was nearly impossible, he figured he had better chances at winning the lottery than that. For all his faults and general lack of intelligence, he was smart enough to realize that his dream wasn’t an easy one to achieve. 

See, Finn already knew he was a superhero, it was just that the general public didn’t understand it yet, but he was going to prove it to them once and for all that he was. In the meantime, he busied himself with odd jobs and typically spent his days beguiling grandmothers while cleaning their house and attempting to not destroy their kitchens when they asked him to assist with their baking. There were many reasons as to why he took on these odd jobs, but ultimately it boiled down to them being heroic acts in his own right. These people shouldn’t have to clean their own house! No, instead Finn, the greatest superhero of all time, could vacuum their floors and rid their apartments of those nasty dust bunnies that lurked in every corner.

On one hand, those thoughts would seemingly only serve to keep him sane, but in reality he genuinely believed that every act of his was one of the utmost heroism. There were those out there that called him a fool, a sham, and even a few who suggested he take a visit to the looney bin (what a horrible name to call it!) but he ignored all of them. Stuck within his daydreams, Finn carried out what he referred to as his missions with great enthusiasm and a zest for life that he found many lacked. He had wonderful friends and a few fans that would cheer him on, though it was clear to everyone but Finn that they were just playing along in hopes that he’d understand they were trying to ask him out due to his cute demeanor, not because they genuinely believed he was a hero.

Finn was blind, not in the literal sense, but it was thought he blocked out all negativity or any semblance of reality in his life. This was, perhaps, not a bad thing, but there were times where a nice slap of reality would certainly serve him well. The cafe incident was a great example. The man couldn’t even remember the name of the place and had only managed to write to them when his dearest friend supplied the name and address for him. Incidentally, they’d been there on the day of the incident. In fact, they’d been one of the many unfortunate customers to spill their coffee onto the floor. Finn had not noticed at the time, of course, but once his friend had a nice grip of his arm and dragged him away from the scene of the crime fuming he began to understand that perhaps he had acted a bit rashly. Even so, he determinedly told Sieun multiple times that she didn’t understand, it was all in the name of justice! Certainly she could understand that!

She did not. Instead, she basically grounded him. It was an unfair punishment in his eyes, but he listened like an obedient child. Most of the time, he was more akin to a petulant toddler, but when it came to Sien her word was law in his eyes. He would never do something to cross her, especially not on purpose. 

He didn’t feel the same about everyone he knew, which may come as a shock considering his desire to be a hero, but even those with their heads up in the clouds can see when someone is not so desirable to be around. For Finn, there weren’t many who rubbed him the wrong way, but when they did he often gave them the cold shoulder or outright attempted to bother them. There was one that worked at his local cafe that he visited frequently, a man named Charlie that Finn simply could not stand. It was something about the way Charlie held himself and the way that he spoke down to everyone around him as though he was the authority on everything in life. Charlie saw himself as a king, which was quite entertaining as his appearance suggested anything but. He had the looks of someone unsettling, always greasy hair and skin and he brought about a certain stench, as well. Finn was not one to judge on appearances, but there was something about Charlie that just made his skin crawl.

There was also the fact that Charlie constantly hit on the woman he’d fallen in love with. Just the thought of her alone was enough to make his cheeks flush red, but thinking of Charlie speaking to her made his nostrils flare and a sound of annoyance escaped him. On the list of nerdowells that Finn had unfortunately met, Charlie was currently his greatest enemy. That being said, outside of the one time that Charlie had insulted the hero directly to his face, he’d generally avoided all contact otherwise. Part of it was due to the fact he smelled quite awful. But mainly because Charlie was not the type of person you could mess with. Even if Finn did pull a prank it would only cause Charlie to lash out like an oversized child and Finn did not want to put anyone else through that sort of thing. 

[oldbutnotyetwise]

David and Goliath - The Remake

     I think most people are familiar with the story of David and Goliath, a story from the Book of Samuel in the Bible.  David is a young shepherd boy with the Israelites and Goliath was a giant fierce warrior with the Philistines.  For forty days Goliath came out twice a day and challenged the Israelites to sent out a single warrior to do battle with him.  Finally David accepts the challenge and faces off against Goliath.  David, the Shepherd boy kills him with a single stone from his slingshot. 

     David and Goliath is so famous that it now refers to just about any story where the underdog defeats the heavily favoured, normally bigger and more powerful opponent.  Everybody loves an underdog.

     I am quite literally, and figuratively David and I am fighting my own Goliath, the only difference is that my Goliath is going to be victorious over me.  No matter how hard I fight, I know the fight is lost before I start, but I fight anyways, I am fighting for my life.  You see my Goliath is ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a rare incurable neurological disease.  It is characterized as a fatal type of motor neurone disease, it is the progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.  To put it simply, the messages being sent from the brain are no longer reaching the muscles that they were being sent to.  Slowly parts of your body just stop working, you look at your leg or hand willing it to do something, and it just ignores you like an insolent child.  As well as slowly robbing you of the ability to function as an independent person, it also slowly keeps taking more and more of your dignity away from you, as time goes on the list of humiliating incidents gets longer.

     ALS is a pretty rare disease, if you get it it is like you won as lottery, just a lottery that you, nor anyone else wants to win.  It is estimated that 3,000 Canadians are living with ALS every year, 1,000 die every year, and 1,000 new cases are diagnosed.  Ten percent of people with ALS have Familial ALS, for the rest there is no how or why explanation for it.  There is no cure for ALS, just some very expensive medications that you are told slow the progression of the disease.  People like to ask are the medications working?  I don’t know, I have nothing to compare it with.  Would the disease be progressing faster if I didn’t take them, that’s what my Neurologist tells me.  All I know is that I am getting over three hundred thousand dollars worth of medication a year, thanks to my Benefit Plan and Government Subsidies.  Did I mention that my benefits run out when I turn 65, in another fifteen months or so.

     When you get ALS you enter a Game of Trust.  You hope that the Neurologists are truly doing what is best for you and not dishing out medications of companies that support their research.  You also hope that these very expensive medications are helping you more than they  are hurting you.  Right now the Blood Tests are telling us that my liver is very unhappy.  That is one of the side effects of one of the medications I am taking, the medication that is said to be the least effective of the three I am on.  So do we stop that medication and risk the ALS Progression speeding up while looking after my liver, or do I sacrifice a healthy liver to slow down the ALS?  I will let you know after my virtual appointment with my Neurologist next week.  

     So how did it happen?  One month I was snowshoeing long distances and the next month I tripped twice falling to the ground.  Not something that I normally did, and what I later learned was the start of “Drop Foot”.  Eventually I was stumbling and having more trouble and I went to my Doctor who thought I had a pinched nerve in my back and recommended Physiotherapy.  After a few months of getting worse I went back and told the doctor that this wasn’t a pinched nerve in my back.  He got me a rush appointment to see a Neurologist, a rush appointment was a month away.

     My wife was isolating as she had surgery the following week, but my daughter was visiting so she drove me the hour to the nearby town for my appointment.  Honestly I hadn’t given the appointment much thought until I was en route to it, that was when it entered my mind that I might be headed for some bad news.  My daughter dropped me off and I went in, he did a bunch of tests on me, making notes as he went on.  When he was finished the tests and still writing away I interrupted him and asked him, “Hey Doc, how scared should I be?”  He responded with “Are you here alone today?”, well I thought to myself this is about to take a really bad turn.  I explained that my daughter had driven me and was picking me up.  He went on to say that he really hated to do this, but he strongly believed I had ALS.  Now all I knew about ALS was it was one of “those” diseases and that getting it was not a good thing.  My head was still reeling when he followed that up with, People tend to die within 2 - 3 years of being diagnosed.

          Now I imagine that everyone who gets that kind of news has a different reaction.  My first thought is how do I tell my wife and my daughter, even more than the fear of dying is the overwhelming sadness of leaving them behind in this world while I go elsewhere ….or nowhere…. My second thought is damn it, I should have started taking my Canada Pension Plan at 60 instead of waiting until I was 65.  My third thought is that Tim McGraw song, Live Like You are Dying.  My fourth thought, was relief that the Canadian government had just recently passed M.A.I.D. legislation.  Medical Assistance in Dying would hopefully at least give me some control over how my story ends.

     What the First Neurologist believed was later confirmed through a bunch of tests at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto two months later.  Well it is now ten months after I first heard those ALS letters used to refer to me, I progressed from being unsteady on my feet, to using a cane,  to getting ankle foot orthotics, to using a walker, to now using a manual wheelchair.  I will be accepting delivery of an electric wheelchair in a few weeks.  

     I have sold my motorcycle, tractors, pickup truck, my woodworking tools and machinery, as well as all the farm equipment I had built up over the years.  My purchases now consist of medical assistive devices which help me manage my disability.  We are moving from the home that we love and had dreamed of for years, moving south to a Condo where family and friends can assist with my care.

     Yes you are right this is not how I pictured the final chapters of my life unfolding.  Yes there is struggle every day, but every day there is kindness and love shared by friends, family and sometimes strangers.  Just like nothing in life is all good, nothing in life is all bad either.

      So what are the Reviews for David and Goliath, The Remake?  Apparently it is a flop, nobody likes it.  Sad stories don’t often sell in Hollywood, people want Comedies, Action or Superhero movies.  Nobody wants a movie where the underdog dies in the end….but for now life goes on.  There will be no sequel.  

[wackybuddiemewbs]

WIP Wednesday Buddie Edition

What can I say? Buck is one of my fave wump characters and I kinda dig this idea of him having his "oh" moment on the verge of dying. More so since of what we saw in season 6 thus far. Still don't know what I'm doing. Won't ever. But I'm rocking it, for better of worse. Cheers!

Working title: Reenact My Pain of Losing You

Basic idea: When the 118 is summoned to a field with actual trenches and not at all real soldiers of a world war, everyone is in for a bad surprise when the play turns dead serious. And it’s not just time that’s ticking for Buck and Eddie.

Find out more here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

“… I still wonder what the odds are,” Buck blurts out, asking.

“Odds for what?” he can hear the frown on Eddie’s face even down in that trench, looking at the stars above.

“To nearly die in a bombing, only to end up on a bunch of grenades. Like, what are the odds?” Buck heaves a small sigh, reminding himself not to move too much. “I mean, not that you would know. You suck at math, after all. I guess we both won’t ever know. But yeah… what are the odds, right?”

Buck is aware that he’s been battling the odds long before the bombing, long before he ever tried out as a firefighter. As he learned some time back, his life started against a great many odds. And while he dares to think he came to terms with it for the most part, there is no denying that he battled the odds, tested their limits, and sometimes even went well beyond them.

Still, it remains his shit luck to seemingly lose against the odds unintentionally. Because some guys wanted to play at war. Well, at least that proves him right about not having gone through with the SEALs training. Buck is not cut out for war either. Or rather, he doesn’t have the nerve for any of this.

“Well, maybe that means the odds are on your side,” Eddie argues. “Because someone who survived a bombing might just as well survive a second. Like people winning at the lottery who’d won before.”

Buck snorts at that. “You know that whole thing’s a scam, right?”

“Tell my abuela that.”

“I might jinx it.” He smirks. “Like, if I go tonight, she won’t get to me.”

“Buck.” Eddie’s tone is a warning.

“I’m kidding,” Buck assures him quickly. He knows he should cut that out. Eddie is clearly not taking well to his gallows humor, and that is likely the appropriate reaction. But Buck can’t seem to stop himself.

What’s the point anyway, right? If I don’t laugh about it, I might just as well cry about it. And what’s gained from that?

“Alright…,” Eddie mutters, then pauses. “You’ll have to pick a new category for quizzes, though. We’re through with geography, biology, and astrology.”

“I don’t wanna quiz anymore,” Buck whispers, feeling his chest tighten.

No, he isn’t going to cry. Not yet, at least. But he doesn’t want to think about lakes or constellations or weird animal facts anymore, either. Because they tend to make him think about Chris. And then he is this close to choking up after all.

“Sure, whatever you want,” Eddie answers quickly. There is another pause on the other end of the line.

Buck screws his eyes shut. Truthfully, he is more than grateful that Eddie has been keeping him preoccupied this whole time. It takes his mind off of the obvious. And Buck always found something particularly deafening about silence. Lying in that trench all by himself when Eddie is not there to fill the silence nearly makes him lose it every time.

“So, ugh… What else do you wanna talk about, then?” Eddie asks, his voice soft, almost too soft for Buck. But that’s just Eddie.

Buck licks his lips.

What do you want to talk about before you die? Might die?

Loaded question, he supposes. One he maybe should have taken to Dr. Copeland before. After all, it’s the kind of question that may come up on any call. But it never came up for Buck until now, oddly enough. Because it’s not his first time dancing the dance of death. He had close calls before, very close calls.

Like the bombing, the ladder truck. But back then, he didn’t think about that. He was scared, downright terrified. And in pain. Lots of pain that even the adrenaline couldn’t wash away. It happened too fast for him to start crafting a speech or whatever else. He just dug his nails into the gravel and tried to stay awake, grappled on to life in a desperate attempt that somehow went in his favor at long last.

When he did that rescue by the construction after Eddie got shot, Buck didn’t think about any last words as well. Sure, he didn’t have much time either. But the climb was long enough to think of something, had he put his mind to it. But back then, he tried not to think at all. Because thinking lead to feeling. And he didn’t want to feel what he felt. Buck didn’t want to feel like he had when Eddie got shot. Then he rather would have died. Literally. If only to make that stupid life matter somehow. Anyhow. To keep his loved ones safe.

Not that he has a death wish, he really doesn’t. Contrary to what some people think, Buck isn’t chasing death. He isn’t chasing a glorious exit from this world. Some time back, Maddie said that they are opposites, the fugitive and the settler. Settling means wanting to stay. So Buck doesn’t have a death wish, he has an undying will to live, and perhaps a certain talent not to jump the knife despite the close calls he’s had.

But now he is lying here, he can’t move, there is not enough adrenaline left in him to keep all thoughts and feelings out of his head, away from his heart. They are spinning freely, round and round, taunting him, just to spin another time. Which means he may have to answer some of the questions he’s managed to dodge for quite a few years by now.

He had been thinking about some of it, following Lev’s death. He tried to find the answer to his own happiness. And Lev only found it the second before he left this world. And no again, Buck didn’t chase death after that either. Despite a certain stunt he pulled involving a bike. But Lev’s death got him thinking about the things Buck tends to push away.

If you had just one more day to live, what would you do? What would you say? And to whom?

“Buck?” he can hear Eddie’s voice call out.

Buck blinks. “Oh, ugh, sorry. I… drifted off.”

“That’s okay, just making sure. I bet you’re exhausted, but we can’t have you doze off. So you gotta hold on tight, remember,” Eddie tells him.

“Right. Yeah, of course. Holding on.”

He’s accustomed to that. Has done that for the better and worse part of his life. He held on tight. He clutched, clawed, clung. Because he was desperate to be left behind. Because he was desperate to stay, so others may stay with him.

And has anything truly changed about it since then?

“So what do you want to talk about, if not random trivia?” Eddie questions.

“You.” The word comes to Buck with unexpected ease, even less expected resolution.

Maybe the universe is answering at the worst of times yet again, huh? Which might be just about the shittiest sense of humor anyone could possibly have.

“Me?” Eddie asks, confused.

“Mhm,” Buck hums, settling into the feeling spreading throughout him. Because it’s comforting. It’s not cold and damp. It doesn’t taste of dust. It doesn’t make his ribs ache from having to remain in that awkward position. It’s warm and bright and makes his stomach flutter in a most pleasant way.

Maybe it really works like that. Maybe that’s how Lev found his answers. When you find yourself in an everything-or-nothing kind of situation, it creates a certain clarity that you lack in normal life. Normal life is muddied by a lot of things. There is just so much noise.

So much is going on, so much life happening, all at once and very loudly. And Buck loves that about life. How full it is, how much it is, how loud it is, never once being sorry for it being there. But sometimes, it makes it hard to see that one single thing you want to look at, hear one voice you want to hear above all else. Because life keeps happening around you, pulling you all kinds of directions, so you lose focus.

Like spinning in a circle too many times and then trying to walk in a straight line.

But in situations that are either or, nor or neither, you don’t have that. It’s this way or the other, left or right, back or forth. There is no staggering, no escape. It’s very still, very timid, and in that way, absolutely clear.

If you had just one more day to live, what would you do? What would you say? And to whom? Whose voice would you want to hear? Whose stories would you want to listen to till last?

“What do you want me to say about myself, then?” Eddie asks.

And Buck can’t help but smile. “I don’t know. Like, plans for the weekend or how breakfast was today. I didn’t ask.”

There are so many things he didn’t say, didn’t do. There are things Buck could have added to his memories. Like how Eddie’s day was before he got to the station. But they had a call early on, so he didn’t have the chance to ask. It’s mundane, he knows, but Buck loves the mundane. Because even the quiet life is loud in his head, in his heart, small treasures he’d want to preserve. So maybe he can add some more, as many as he can.

“You know you’re being odd right now,” Eddie comments.

“So?”

He gets to be, right? Buck can leave being sensible to the rest for now. He just lies here and he feels. Lets the feelings bleed out of him, ready or not. And Buck is done shutting those emotions out, no matter how many questions and troubles they may add to a life that lies on the knife’s edge right now. The sky is clear above him, and so seem some things that normal life tends to leave in the fog and constant noise of its recurrence.

Maybe, had he stopped and stared some time ago, it would have come to him sooner. But the matter of fact is that it’s coming to Buck now, slowly creeping up his spine. And against the odds of the situation, it’s not that scary.

“Fine. Breakfast talk… Ugh, lemme think. I wanted to have cereal, but I forgot to buy a new package, so I had a PB&J sandwich instead. Plus coffee, of course,” Eddie tells him. “There, happy?”

Buck smiles. “Very.”

If you had just one more day to live, what would you do? Who would you want to be with? What would you say? And why?

“So I’ll have to get a new package of cereal on the weekend. I… we should go together, you know? Coz I was thinking about having a picnic in the park. Chris is aching to skateboard again, because he’s apparently not too old for that yet. So we could pack some things and head straight there. He’d sure have a blast.”

Buck smiles, feeling his eyes water. “That… that sounds great.”

He knows what Eddie is doing. Because Buck has done it plenty of times, talking to people on calls in an effort to calm them down. You don’t promise that you get them out, but you leave them hoping, so long there is as much as a slight chance they might make it. You help them visualize the future after the event. Sometimes, they get to it, and it serves as motivation to reach it. Other times, Buck supposes, it’s a small comfort. Not a lie, really, but a way of escape from an otherwise frightening and horrid situation. To a future that may never be, but at the same time just might.

“Then we’re gonna do that,” Eddie says, nearly choking on the words.

“We should, yeah.”

If you had just one more day to live, what would you do? What would you say? And to whom? And why? Why?

Buck has a feeling he knows at long last, glancing at the stars above him. If they are mocking him, he has no care in the world for it. Because he has the answer right in front of him, despite the universe’s bad sense of humor to only have him hear it.

A day in the park with Eddie and Christopher. Smiling and laughing with them. Be with the people who are most important to him in his life. Live with them, happy and loud and unashamed.

A day in the park with Eddie and Christopher. One more day to say what’s been bubbling underneath the surface of a fast-paced life that didn’t leave Buck the room to fully comprehend until now that this was a truth he’s known well before. His way to happiness all along.

A day in the park with Eddie and Christopher. One more day to chance it, throw the dice, steal a kiss, and see where it leads him. He’s kissed guys before. Some time back, even dated some. So that’s not what would have him scared. Just Eddie saying no thanks. Eddie withdrawing. But he’d try anyway.

After all, it’d be his last day. If tomorrow isn’t promised to him, then, doesn’t that set him free to follow his heart no matter what? Because he’d only have one more day promised to him. So why wouldn’t he use it? To steal a few more seconds than were granted to Lev before he found his answer?

If Buck had just one more day to live, he’d want to spend it with the people he loves, that’s what Buck knows without a shadow of a doubt. Because it is those people who are his happiness.

If Buck had just one more day to live, he’d say how he truly feels. To Eddie. For Eddie.

But that’s the treacherous thing about it.

Buck may not live another day to do it.

Still, he should.

Maybe.

Probably.

“We definitely should.”

I have to.

[godstrain]

ougheheue doing an ask reply but before i finish it and confuse the everloving heck out of every person on my dash ever, i have to address my brand of "why does my pathetic meow meow (tell me im wrong [wesker vc] chris stop it - he truly is a pathetic meow meow) die, i have to fix this and make it everyone else's problem" because also if nothing else i love exploring character stories and that's sorta hard when the character dies lmao

so i'm going to start this off with "wesker has survived dying before? he's been set on fire, caught in explosions, and for all the shit he put in his body, he still kept going" this of course includes uroboros which is said to KILL EVERYONE except people who have some sort of genetic link to the ndipaya king- and i've gotta break it to people, i don't think wesker falls under this category. his survival through the mutation is very likely 1 he already has survived other shit (t-virus) and also he may have won the genetic lottery simply by chance which can happen because that's a thing about human beings. sometimes people win the genetic lottery (even if they don't deserve it!)

also ok wesker was straight up in some lava for ... a while lmao. anyone who has seen lord of the rings knows gollum went under in a matter of seconds- anyone who has seen star wars prequels knows that anakin just got screwed, and he only fell NEAR the lava, not in it. wesker's just in there and he's still able to lash out and try to down the helicopter chris is in? uhhhh okay. sure. if everything else hasn't killed this dude, idk if rocket launchers will do it either (tho everyone was hoping!)

so ok then we factor in the whole "uroboros just doesn't let things die" yeah ok cool im dragging this man out of the lava but of course he's severely screwed (until his body heals itself) and ok maybe most people would be like "that failed holy shit yikes" but albert wesker is an entire fool and doesn't know when to give up. ever. and maybe he never will really give up on things, because he's just been sorta programmed into this??? it's actually rather tragic

but getting anything done is not easy especially with limited resources? and so it sorta forces him to uhhh at the very least just observe things and he gets to go through the whole process of "dang everything is super fucked up in my life" but of course we all know he's not going to come to the conclusion of "maybe i should go to therapy" unless he's like forcibly brought there? and even then! the problem is the more he lives the more isolated he makes himself and the worse things get, because it's an entire vicious cycle. one that he has nearly no chance of properly escaping, and even if he did, there are like a million other issues to work through? like the fact he can't fathom being wrong and even if someone was??? unhinge enough to try to give him a chance at healing? would he even take it lmao who knows probably not, he'd probably just be mad, because he also doesn't want anyone's pity he'll break their necks

anyway yeah let him live and let him just sorta struggle and it's everyone else's problem too, thanks for coming to my tedtalk (next meta post i guess ill have to talk abt what the hell combo of t-virus and uroboros really resulted in for the aftermath)

[jim-fetter-illustrations]

The only Winners are the ones who don't play the scam.

How does one win the lottery anyway?

Well if I knew I wouldn't be telling it on facebook, that's for damn sure (Lol).

Because just as soon as someone figures it out by creating some sort of gizmo or a mathematical equation random number algorithm that could pick winning numbers the lottery officials would realize it after someone started winning every lottery and then just stop the lottery as we know it, so even that wouldn't work for long but for a couple of people, and in that scenario the rest of us lottery users would hunt them down for stealing our money.

But I was intrigued by the numerous ways people have tried to win the lottery.

Everything from Ouija boards to Voodoo incantations involving a severed chickens foot.

Not to mention all the advice scams for money telling people to....

Play the Right Game. ... and if we knew that much we wouldn't play at all, because there is no RIGHT game in lottery logic.

Then there's the "Wait for the Jackpot to Stack Up". ... like that's gonna make your odds better, and most likely if you did win during a billion dollar lottery there would be several others that won also, splitting the jackpot down to peanuts for all the winners, and if 10 people pick the lucky numbers for a Billion dollar lottery they get 100 million each, and that's only if they take the money over 20 something years, if they want it all RIGHT NOW they get 50 million each, because every lottery only pays out 50%, and even if you take your winnings over the 20 something years the lottery makes 50% of their investment back in interest,........ the house always wins.

But you only spent a buck or two so really it's quite the haul!

I Don't know what the heck "Avoid Consecutive Numbers" is gonna do, because consecutive numbers come up all the time in lottery numbers???

And Buying Multiple Lottery Tickets Within Your Budget. ... is just another way of saying "I got more money than brains"..........

I was reading about a Random Number Generator algorithm that a bunch of eggheads at MIT were talking about that might well pick winning lottery numbers. Which means the lottery would end just as soon as there's a system that can predict random number generations for painted ping pong balls......

The lottery balls are picked by random order all right, but no one or no method is ever gonna pick the same randomness as those balls blowing around in the vacuum chamber.

My advice is to make your own Home-Made random number generator.

All it takes is a Dart Board and to tape you lottery ticket to the dart board, stand 5 feet from the dartboard so you can't see the numbers on the lottery ticket,... and keep throwing darts until you have the required holes in the ticket to pick your required lotto numbers.

That's just as random as the lottery numbers are picked, and better than random lottery picks from the lottery machine I think.

But then I've never won, so what the hell do I know, Lol

[juanitasuniverse1144]

Active musings/headcanons about the polyband SUAU:

Of course, everyone has their Mains.

Steven has Connie, his wife whom he loves more than anything.

Jacob has Jasmin (and Alex but it’s mostly a weird mix of platonic romantic attraction) whom he would take a bullet point blank in the head for.

Adam, Hazel and Anna are all tightly knit together, the classic “love triangle turned into an impromptu polycule by a happy puppy boy alien” story. You know the one.

But outside of those main relationships, we see that certain people just mesh differently, creating new kinds of love and feelings that make things just better in general.

Here’s my favorites from my top three:

3.) Jasmin and Alex- My god, those two have loathed each other from the very beginning like siblings. They argue and make fun of each other like it might win them the lottery. But when push comes to shove, they work well together behind the scenes. They are practically the same person with some minor personality traits that vary, which is why they struggle to get along on the surface. If I met someone like me I’d hate them too 😂. It’s cute, even if it can be tiring to have to hold them apart so they don’t throw hands. If they were to be let go though, they still wouldn’t hit each other. They’d just walk away all huffy 🥹

⭐️ "Hey Alex, this could be us," Jacob called to the man who was now texting like it was his job. He walked over typing with one hand and his finger up to ask for a second before he responded.

"Jacob, it won't look good if I kick you in the balls for being a flirt," Alex calmly explained, tucking it away.

"Healing powers!" Steven reminded him.

Alex cursed under his breath. "What's my pass toll? I’m already sick of you guys in particular."

"A kiss and a compliment for my fiancee."

Sighing, the promo manager let Jacob present his cheek for a kiss and the photographer giggled to themselves. "These are really good pictures. Your band should do modeling when you're done."

Jasmin pinched Alex and blocked a smack. "At this point, we’re stuck together for life."

"Jasmin, you… look a lot less like someone I want to punch in the mouth today," Alex told her amiably. The angel wings and halo were as fake as his “compliment”.

Jasmin put a hand over her heart anyways and presented her other. "Why, thank you, Alex. Since we're on good terms now, why don't you kiss my hand to make sure your compliment is authentic? Be a gentleman for once.”

Jacob cackled as Alex gagged multiple times before he completed the menial task and scrubbed at his lips. "You taste like perfume."

"Better than tasting like asshole."

Jacob collapsed to the ground in laughter as his legs gave out and the two started arguing. "I'm so in love with you idiots."

"You're the idiot!"

“Jacob, get the bail money. I’m going to jail.”

"These are such good pictures," The photographer repeated.

2.) Steven and Hazel. It’s the bromance story of the EON, my guy. These are the same guys that talk about brands of beer inbetween football commercials (Hazel spends time explaining the rules of the game to Steven) while at the same time being the kind of friends where Hazel bangs Stevens senseless and calls him a princess. Both are kinda a little bit of himbos, and they started off as roommates (*gasp* And they were ROOMMATES!). I’m in love with their best friendship.

⭐️ "Now where oh where have I heard that before?" Steven smacked Connie’s ass and watched it bounce before grabbing a handful and humming to himself. "You're so sexy. Let's wrap this up."

"You're animals," Hazel teased with an eyebrow wiggle.

"So are you," He retorted. "How many times have you casually brought up the fact we fuck every once in awhile?"

“Apparently not enough, Princess. Apparently not enough.”

✨ But my NUMBER ONE FAVORITE DYNAMIC IS JACOB AND ADAM! ✨

It’s not the goofball and goth thing everyone’s always gushing about, that’s not the character troupe I think of when I think of them (shit… now I’m kind of thinking of it). Adam and Jacob have both have the very deepest kind of depression and they just understand each other. If I had been thinking right, maybe I’d have had them together but I think this feels better to me. They ARE together, they just aren’t each other’s mains. HOWEVER, that doesn’t stop them from acting like a married couple. I think they’re really twin flames, which is rare to find. It’s strange though because I wouldn’t call them best friends either, they just feel so much for each other it’s kind of a driving force keeping them close together. Adam makes tea when Jacob comes home. Jacob notices Adam’s depressive spirals before anyone, and he loves him aggressively through it.

⭐️ Jacob finally spoke to him again directly a week later, perched on top of the fridge drinking a beer.

Adam raised his eyes slowly. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Everyone's out. It's my turn to babysit." He took a long drink and crushed it with his hand so hard it cut into his skin.

Adam flushed at the sight of the blood and turned his head away in irritation. It was like he just kept getting more and more fucked up as time went on. "Don't call it that."

The man ignored him and downed another beer to repeat the process. This time as he spoke he crushed it faster, seemingly unfazed by the pain. "Never do it again."

He felt like a liar, but he hoped it was true when he said, "I won't."

Jacob pressed harder, unconvinced and desperate. "I'm serious. I'm so serious right now."

Adam's lips curled. "Why so serious?"

"No way did you just make a clown joke at a time like this." He hopped down and grabbed a fistful of Adam's shirt. "Look me in my eyes and tell me if you think I'm just clowning around, Adam."

He couldn't do it, too much heat was rushing to his face and suddenly he was trying to have a single thought he was proud of. "I-I know. I'm sorry."

Jacob didn't let go, he pulled him closer for a kiss as angry as his words and slammed him against the fridge. Jacob was stronger than he was, though he rarely chose to show it in favor of being submissive to him.

Adam fought the urge to submit instead and scowled into the kiss. "You can't force me to not be suicidal."

"Watch me." His green eyes turned glassy. "I have rarely been more afraid in my entire life." Adam hated hearing his voice break so violently. He hated how his depression made people tremble with too many emotions to hold.

"I won't do it again," He murmured. "I promise."

Jacob pushed off of him, his fists clenched. "Fuck."

He was quiet with his back turned to him, shoulders rising with every erratic breath as he tried to find the right words to say. Adam was ever patient, his patience ran eons long and galaxies wide. With this polycule, he kinda had to be when it was overrun with Brats and cocky tops.

"I don't ever want to lose you, Adam. Okay?" He was clearly crying, but his body language said to be still. Explosions from Jacob were few and far between nowadays. To make him this upset, he must really care.

Adam blinked the tears out of his own eyes, not bothering to wipe them away. "You're not going to."

Jacob chuffed and reached a hand behind him. "Then come and let me hold you."

DO YOU SEE WHY THEYRE MY FAVORITE ASDFGHJKL GOD THE GAY AND THE ANGST AND MANLINESS UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH IM SO IN LOVE WITH THEIR RELATIONSHIP

[dadthinksdoctorwhoisacrimeseries]

Sorry I don't want to be too spammy but putting this in a read more kinda defeats the purpose of people maybe seeing this and using them so.

I'm fresh out of a job so I had a lot of time to look at some of those apps that promise to give you money and a lot were either complete scams or so full of ads it was ridiculous so. Here's my list of kinda good ones? With referral codes of course because in the end the big bucks are reverse funnel systems but still they give a bit of money without that so. Here we go.

This is about the android app versions!

Category 1: You literally have to do nothing to get this money.

https://www.packetshare.io/?code=E65710033076D044

Makes me about 20ct per day and I have to do nothing for it. Depends on your internet speed (mine is dogshit) My code is E65710033076D044 and they give you 5 dollars just for signing up. No ads at all.

•••

Exactly the same deal just under a different name:

They also give you $5 but on my end earning is way slower than with the first one. Also 0 Ads. Connection sometimes fails but is pretty easy to re-establish.

They also seem to have only these methods of paying you:

I personally went for Skrill, they give you a virtual master card you can use in Google pay or similar and use basically everywhere.

•••

I don't have a link for this one but it works just like the other two and has no ads either :

They give you $6 and are somewhere between the 2 above in generating income for me.

•••

This is another one, also no ads. Nobody referred me so I didn't get $5 for signing up but with this link you will: https://earn.fm/ref/LAURYUEO a bit faster earnings than the second one.

Category 2: You don't need to do anything for the money but you can earn extra.

In terms of what the category 1 apps also do this is my least favourite:

Keeps disconnecting and then it activates the annoying overlay feature... They give you $5 for free and here's a new thing: Tasks like filling out surveys watching ads and downloading other apps are available if you want to earn some extra money. No spam ads though if you'd rather not see them.

•••

This one was my first one! https://discoverpawns.eu/3286715 generates even more than the first one passively and also has the option for actively earning with ads, surveys and apps. But no spammy ads! With the referral link you get about $4 for free in total I think?

Category 3: walk walk fashion baby

Ho boy did I sift through some crap in this category. Most of it crypto currency for some reason? And some outright scams. But! I think at least 4 of the 5 I kept are looking quite good and the 5th has a crypto option but also the option to donate what you earn so I kept it anyway.

The App: https://macad.am My Code: V533R9

It counts your steps and gives you points for them and you can earn even more coins with the usual, surveys, ads, apps. Additionally some kind of cashback feature on some online shopping brands! No spammy ads!

•••

https://s.winwalk.app/r/3C94E9550 also steps for coins, can be exchanged for gift cards only but they have some sweet ones plus a lottery every hour where you can win gift cards for free too. No spammy ads and an option to earn more coins by watching ads and downloading apps, doing surveys...

•••

We're still in the same category EART-hpYxZ is my code for https://weward.page.link/invite, gives you 150 extra wards. Next to the walking and the usual ways of earning extra they have a cute panda mascot and some goals like walking in your lunch break to earn extra wards.

•••

http://cashwalk.us/i/7JVQ2 is a bit more annoying with the ads but honestly not the worst I've seen by far. Has some nice gift cards and a community tab and the usual ways of earning extra coins.

•••

https://sweatco.in/i/lauri123 is the crypto one I was talking about, they're on thin ice because they give you the option to not activate the crypto aspect and let you donate what you earn in coins. The other stuff you can get for those coins is pretty shit tho so yeah if you want to walk for other people a bit get this. (Or use it with one of the others like me). The syncing with Google fit doesn't seem to work that well? I couldn't convert my 6000 steps into coins and I hope it will work once I walk while the app is installed because otherwise it will be uninstalled. Will make you watch ads for bonus coins, you don't have to, but like, it's for charity kind of, so.

Category 5: Survey time

It should be mentioned that all of the ones that have surveys a bulk of the surveys will sort you out before you can even earn the big rewards. They're looking for very specific people at times. But usually you at least get a few cents.

That being said the app I use for surveys the most is this one:

https://mingle.respondi.de/registration-refer-a-friend/?sponsorship_token=e9AZjzaFF_lo1SB20Q-zNejrWGXmv4fdbBYqyeKqwRM

It might only be available in Germany though.

Category 6: this is as close to an actual job as it gets

For Be My Eye (not to be confused with be my eyes) my code is 8enweo9 the link below might work too but I can't seem to get to the English page through it but well, I'm in Germany.

https://invitation.bemyeye.com/invitation/8enweo9

You actually work as a mystery shopper here. Or you can if you want to. The only task I've completed so far is treasure hunt, where you go into a store, search for specific products and take photographs. You get 1,50 per product... In theory. I did find and photograph quite a few but only got paid for two of them with no feedback what I did wrong. They give you guidelines but I was pretty confident I stuck to them. Oh well...

Another thing I signed up for is Website Testing, I've been actually signed up for a while on RapidUserTests but I hadn't done any in a couple years. Started again and made 25€ in one day. No available tests yesterday though.

I also signed up for a freelance online transcription job, but they're still reviewing my application.

Honorary mention: if you have a second phone lying around all the apps from category 1&2 will work double if you have a different IP on it (meaning one in WiFi and one in mobile for example) — except for the raven one. But hey that also gets you twice the sign up bonus.

Anyway, phone #2, get Givvy Videos, it has a feature where it just cycles through ads for 1,5 hours on its own.