#sometimes they do have results but are banking on you not knowing enough to know how the product works

[sexc-snail]

I hope and pray that one day the skincare industry will lose its grip on us.

"Celebrity X uses product Y!" They're literally rich and make money off of being pretty and I'm supposed to believe they use a $35 product that was invented four months ago?

Hollywood is a cesspool of looking as unnaturally attractive as possible while maintaining that this is just "how I look normally" because no one can know you had to work for your looks (because that somehow makes you less attractive?)

They use vitamin A supplements or some expensive treatment, or they get plastic surgery and like about it because they've been taught to be ashamed. And that's if their skin isn't already perfect, because;

It's all genetics!!!! That's all it is!!!

Yeah acne begins with puberty and is heightened during - because your hormone are out of wack! But if you have acne beyond puberty you'll probably have it for a while. I had acne so bad I would regularly get abscesses in more humid areas (re: my coochie and armpits). Once it got so bad that I have to have two drained and it was too painful even under local anaesthetic so I had to go under general anaesthetic. I got put on vitamin A supplements, which dry out your skin, which was the best my skin was for a while (at the cost of cracked lips). And while it was less severe after puberty I still have acne!!!

Don't get me wrong, skincare is good for you. But everyone's skin is different in thousands of small ways! The chances that the hot new product on the market is what exactly matches your skin are slim to none! Especially when most of the products are for one type of problem and people have more than one type of problem. Now why could that be? (hint: it's because they want you to buy more product)

All in all, short of literally altering your hormones (which is why the pill helps some people) skin products won't do much for acne. They can still help if you have dry, oily, etc. skin, and even help with acne (but not to the extent of completely clearing it unless your acne is bacterial/environmental), but your goal shouldn't be clear skin it should be healthy skin.

Don't trust the Hot New Product, try different things and see what works for you to get a personalised routine.

And use SPF!!!!!!!

[caffeineandsociety]

There's a specific genre of shitty antisemitic joke that I have seen fly under the radar (as it was designed to) a LOT more often lately - especially since Kanye started going full mask-off nazi - so I feel the need to issue a warning about it. Namely, the genre is jokes that get spread around by people who aren't willfully antisemitic because outside of conspiracy brain rot land, it appears that the point of the joke is absurdism.

As an example, let's examine the 23-and-me lizard DNA test that I've sadly seen floating around unquestioned.

Because, see, to the average person who isn't willfully antisemitic, this genre of joke comes off as nonsequiturs, or hilarious mistakes - you, as a person with some level of basic observational and critical thinking skills, living on Earth and not in whatever batshit mirror dimension conspiracy theorists think we live in, might very well end up getting a giggle out of it because, HAH, we KNEW those DNA ancestry kits were a scam! If you're not a deliberate antisemite but not really up on the dogwhistles, it doesn't scan as anything awful because you're put in mind of things like feeding a photo of something decidedly not human into that one selfie-to-anime neural net, which sometimes works and produces interesting results because the thing is looking for specific patterns and trying to make anything fit - not things like blatantly lying about doing something like that in the hopes that normies who see the absurdity and want to have a laugh at a scummy company's expense will pass it along to people who unironically believe that Jewish people are actual literal lizard aliens and the test proves it.

This is the same strategy that guy at the game awards pulled. You, a person living in reality where the main source of political corruption is just the basic consequence of an economic system that makes power pool in the hands of anyone willing to exploit enough people, a world of banal mundane evil, know damned well that QAnon-pizzagate-satanic ritual abuse cult conspiracy bullshit is, well, bullshit, if you're even familiar with the details of what they believe at all. When someone crashes the stage and thanks Rabbi Bill Clinton, you may very well laugh because to YOU it is a blatant absurd nonsequitur.

Problem is that to someone else, someone who's deep into that shit, it's either someone letting the truth slip, or someone backing the deep state into a corner - whichever is more convenient to believe.

This is one form of how the far right uses memeification (CW: the example discussed in the link is a rape "joke") - it means something totally different to the in-group than it does to the out-group. To you, it's funny because it's nonsensical; to them, it's fun because they think they're onto something huge and they're about to blow this shit wide open and it's going to be their great moment of triumph.

I cannot stress enough that no matter how absurd an antisemitic conspiracy theory sounds to you, there are people who believe it, unironically. There are people who unironically believe that Jewish people are very literally not human and no amount of evidence to the contrary will ever change their minds. There are people who believe that we're born with horns and tails and pointed ears and have them surgically altered to fit in with good Christian humans like some kind of extremely high-stakes game of Among Us. There are people who believe that we steal, ritualistically abuse, and kill Christian babies. These beliefs, while fringe enough that, yeah, most of you who this post is aimed at have never heard them in the wild before very recently, are not nearly as fringe as you probably think they are. Just look at fucking Kanye. This asshole has more fans than there are Jewish people in the world.

So I'm begging you to please, bare minimum, be careful of "absurdist" jokes about Jewish people, especially if they reference lizards, money, banking, or government power. Also, you may see Jewish people debating how religious laws may apply to fictional creatures, but outside of that context you should also be wary of any time Jewish people are mentioned in the same sentence as vampires, dragons, goblins, zombies, fantasy demons, or any number of other fantasy creatures known for greed, feeding on humans, or both.

If the reason it seems funny to you is because you'd have to be really stupid to believe it's true or makes any kind of sense - it's probably looking for you to spread it to people who are, in fact, that stupid.

[save-the-villainous-cat]

hiii love your writing omg could you do like. enemies with benefits banter. (w hero x villain obvi) (eg u don’t have to do the nsfw but like the banter)

“So.”

“So?”

The hero crossed their arms in front of their chest as their eyes scanned the villain. From their feet right up to their head. As always, their eyes were hypnotising and the villain almost got a little too distracted.

Sometimes they wished they weren’t as invested as they were. Sometimes they wished they returned to their bitter and cold self.

But, Christ, they were so much happier.

“Is there something you would like to confess?” the hero asked. They almost sounded disappointed.

“Uhh…like how I’d rather watch you undress right now?”

The hero tilted their head and took a step forward. Immediately, the villain could see how their grip on their weapon tightened and instinctively, the villain reached for their own. They were gonna get their ass kicked if they didn’t make the right moves.

“What?” the hero asked, smirking now. “Are you scared?”

“Scared or turned on. Haven’t really decided yet.” Within seconds, the hero managed to push the villain against the wall. One hand on the villain’s shoulder, pinning them against the hard wall, the other still holding the hero’s weapon — a gun this time — and pressing it against the villain’s jaw.

“Well, you better figure out what you’re feeling in the next few seconds because I’m just gonna ask once. You robbed a bank this morning. Where’s the money?”

“Already spent all of it,” the villain said. They shrugged but had to smile when the hero’s eyes widened in shock.

“On what?”

“Oh, I just…” The villain’s fingertips touched the hero’s wrist gently and followed the large scar down the hero’s forearm. They remembered the injury a little too well. A badly broken arm that had needed months to recover fully. To be honest, they didn’t even need the money. They just (desperately) wanted the hero’s attention. “…I just wanted to spoil a certain someone. You know. Dinner, vacation, shopping. All that stuff.”

“You’re so full of shit.” Despite their words, the hero was blushing. Their grip around their gun loosened as they were lost in thought and the villain seized the opportunity to turn the tables and grab the hero and turn them. As a result, they pushed them against the wall, making sure they were gentle with the hero’s ribs. They were still bruised from a recent fight.

The villain leaned in and let their breath hit the hero’s exposed neck.

Probably one of the most sensitive parts of the hero’s body.

“It’s a bit much. But I’m willing to treat you like royalty. I mean who wouldn’t? After such a night…”

“Hey.” The hero pushed the villain’s face away from them, embarrassed. “I’m here for the money you stole, not for…you know, not for…”

“And I just wanted to see you,” the villain answered. They took in a deep breath dramatically. “Is that such a sin?”

“You know, most people separate their work and personal life,” the hero said. Again, the villain’s face came closer and this time, the hero only rolled their eyes and tried to dodge their gaze.

“Well, the first time we got…personal was at work,” the villain reminded them. It had been a very eye opening experience, that was clear.

The hero’s blush deepened and it became quite apparent to the villain that they were a little tired today. They always got a little shy when they didn’t have enough energy.

“Hm. Alright, alright. I guess that’s all the time I’m gonna steal from you today. Don’t want you to be overworked and then all exhausted next time we have—”

“Alright,” the hero said quickly. “Just give me the money and I won’t arrest you.”

“Mmm…fine.” The villain let their eyes drop to the hero’s lips. One last tease. “Feel free to visit me this evening.”

“We’ll see.” As always, that meant they’d be there.

At eight o’clock sharp.

[winterrrnight]

red carpets without you

PAIRING: drew starkey x gn!reader

SUMMARY: you and drew have been dating for quite some time now, but have not brought your relationship for the public to see yet. Drew has the outer banks season 3 premiere to attend, so he goes without you. He misses you a lot at the premiere, but is completely satisfied with everything when he comes back home and gets to sleep in your arms.

WARNINGS: small mentions of cyber bullying and anxiety

EDITH SPEAKS: one of the biggest things I want to bring light on is how fans at times make their faves relationships uncomfortable. Please don't interfere with their personal lives, it's no matter to you. It's their life and they choose how to live it, and if they wish to be public about it or not. Please don't make their partners feel unloved and unwanted, the world is already a very harsh place, and that doesn't make it any better. Don't make assumptions on their relationships without any proper proof. Spread love and only love 💌🌷

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It is the evening of the Outer Banks season 3 premiere, and your boyfriend Drew is definitely going to be one of the main attractions of the event. He has been gone since early afternoon to prepare for the premiere and get ready, and you have been with him long enough to know that premieres can take a lot of time and he will be coming extremely late at night.

You and Drew have been reluctant to publicise your relationship. The thought of being recognised scares you, and even though Drew does have many supportive fans who will love you, the haters are always present around. You're afraid they will get to your head and make you believe made up stories about your relationship, ruining everything you have with Drew.

Today was one of the moments where you actually wished you could've gone with him. You absolutely adore the entire Outer Banks cast, and it would be nothing short of a spectacular night with them. Sometimes you do like to fantasize about you and Drew being public, you're in the most beautiful outfit and both of you are walking down the red carpet together, your hands intertwined. But you are quick to come back to reality when your mind shows you a scenario of you finding horrifying comments regarding you on a picture of you both, saying how you aren't the one for him and he's better off with someone else.

You remind yourself that the best place you can be at the moment is actually where you are right now: your couch, with a massive bowl of popcorn with you as you start watching the live stream of the premiere. You see all of the cast members walk in, looking beautiful as ever. You watch their interviews with utter love. They really are some of the best people.

Suddenly the cameras are directed towards Drew. He's wearing a dark blue suit, and you can't help but gape at how gorgeous he looks in that color. The fit of the suit is just perfect and he's getting his pictures clicked, his grace coming so effortlessly.

As Drew walks ahead on the carpet he's stopped by an interviewer. "Hello Drew, how are you feeling today?" The interviewer asks him.

"I'm good, super excited for everyone to see season 3," he says in the mic, smiling.

"What is Rafe like in the season? What will we get to see of him?"

"My lips are sealed for any information," he chuckles, "but he has done some... things." The interviewer laughs at his reply.

"Well Drew, is there anything you would like to say to your loved ones and your fans?"

"Thank you for all your constant support," he says, a big smile now on his face. "It makes me so happy to think how much everyone has been loving the show. Nothing is more fulfilling than watching your own hard work reaping you the big results."

At that moment, the interviewer ends his small talk with Drew and he walks on ahead on the carpet. The Twinkie is on the red carpet and watching Drew pose with it makes you giggle, as he goes inside it and looks out the window and gives a cheeky smile. The livestream goes on to show the interactions of the rest of the cast members with the interviewers and among themselves.

↶ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊˎ-

You suddenly wake up from your nap on your couch which you hadn't realised you had started taking. It takes a few seconds for you to realise what's happening; the popcorn bowl is now empty and is lying on your carpet upturned, and the live stream has ended. You check the time on your phone to see it's nearing 1.30 am at night. You had initially thought of staying up until Drew comes home, but your sleepy mind has different plans for you. Giving in, you decide to head in to your bedroom to go to sleep.

↶ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊˎ-

The gentle sounds of shoes being placed on the ground and the rustle of clothes wakes you up from your sleep. You open your eyes groggily and turn around in bed to see Drew's back towards you, as he is getting into comfortable clothes for the night.

"Hey bubs, you're home?" You ask gently. Drew turns around and you can visibly see the tiredness in his eyes.

"Oh, love, yeah I just came home," He walks up to you and bends down at your level. "I didn't expect you to wake up. Go back to sleep," he says, pressing a kiss to your cheek.

"No it's okay, how was it?" You ask, your eyes not fully open from the heavy sleep lying on them.

"It was really amazing. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow okay?" He gets up from the floor and disappears in the washroom. After a few minutes he comes back out, and lies in the bed next to you.

You wrap your arms around his neck and gently pull his head onto your chest. He wraps his arms around your waist, and you start to play with his hair with sleepy motions of your hands, as you both drift off to sleep.

Drew had missed you a lot on the premiere - a lot more than he thought he would. There were so many moments where he wished he was answering the interviewer's question with you on his side. Your presence calms his nerves down whenever he feels a bit anxious, and such massive premieres, especially for a show as famous as Outer Banks, tend to make him slightly nervous.

But he knows you both aren't ready to come out to the whole world. Not yet. The world can be harsh, and even the strongest soldiers fall on their faces from its adversities. What you have is something made for just the two of you, and even though at times it feels like it shouldn't be this way, you know that this is actually the best you can have. And you are completely satisfied with it.

Why wouldn't you be? Drew is yours, and you are his. And that's all that matters.

[rogueolight]

erzajane headcanons…. i have Many….

-Erza suddenly just Remembers that she is ripped and can carry literally anything sometimes. And whenever she does she immediately picks mira up without warning. miras more of the Literal manhandler in the relationship (because that’s how you manage people when u have 2 younger siblings u literally had to raise) but erza is just like …. pick up wife……….. soican carry Her…….. 😊😊and mira is like WAAAH! she gets startled everytime.

-grey is their NUMBER ONE HATER. He gets forced to take pictures of them being gross together and every single time he is DISGUSTED! despite the show giving grey and erza unnecessary weird romantic tension that made no sense i think theyre super siblings & it’s really like watching your older sister be in love type of disgust. Cana was their number one hater when they tore up the guild in fights but now she’s like Awwwwww … Leave them be grey! theyre Cute!

-happy tried. So Hard to do the “she loooooves you” thing to them after they get together but theyre just like yes I do :3 and he gets really pissed off he can’t make either of them mad anymore after the YEARS of pining. and then he extra torments lucy

-any time erza and mira have a nice moment during their rival era natsu jumps in and is like AWWW! GROUP HUUUG! and ruins it

-lucy is sooooo jealous. imagine u have 2 GORGEOUS beautiful friends u lowkey want & they GET TOGETHER. she’s hyping them up but she wants to be both of them. she’s like that one picture “I'm Finna just join somebody else relationship..Bitch scoot over.. I love y'all..” She also spills all her relationship drama to mira (about natsu juvia cana whoEVER (she’s moronromantic)) and since erzas there too she’s like WHAT?! HUH? because her autistic ass had no idea about any of this. she’s like “Guys can i just join your relationship instead im so tired” and miras like Awww silly lucy 😊

-& as an extension of this mira starts spilling ALL. the tea. to erza. mira is the type to stir the pot unnecessarily because she’s bored (i.e her messing with lucy by saying grey and natsu like her) even when she’s absolutely positive something is just a false rumor. she’s been holding all that REAL shit in to herself and as soon as lisanna gets back she EXPLODES with gossip she’s collected to lisanna and erza whenever they get together. she’s a good secret keeper mostly but her sister and girlfriend Will Know. erza starts teasing people (subtly) much more as a result.

-elfever & erzajane in-law shenanigans. They stay over at each others places often all together (with lisanna too. freeloading on either of their couches) and cook dinner together…

-grief made mira give a fuck sooo much less. especially initially after someone would playfully make a jab and instead of dissing back she’d be like Oh you! but erza would get pissed off that she was passive and start fighting people for her. and then mira would just be like wow<3

-for most of their earlier days erza was almost always in a full suit of armor as a coping mechanism. despite really loving to dress up, she never really did it outside of her own room because she didn’t feel safe enough to, so that leads to mira seeing an ankle and being filled with lust like it’s the 1600s. over time she grows more comfortable and stuff but like. jus imagine u see ur crush out of a suit of armor for the first time and she is just absolutely RIPPED. cmon now. you’d die too

-if mira gets notes from secret admirers or letters from fans erza will proofread them. She is a living grammarly. she also just gets jealous

-through mira’s transformation magic she starts hiding her scars from battles when she starts modeling. erza doesn’t say anything about it but it pisses her off so bad because she thinks mira is gorgeous just the way she is. mira just tryin to make that bank now that she can’t work as a wizard 🔥 let her be

-they both dickride each other when they fight other people. especially in the grand magic games arc mira was picking everyone up and spinning them around and screaming BEAT THEIR ASS ERZA!!!!!! n meanwhile erza is just like Heh…. this was only 2% of her power… She could’ve PULVERIZED her…. like okaaay i see u!

[gatheringbones]

[“To Larraine, putting something on layaway was saving. “I can’t leave money in my bank,” she said. “When you’re on SSI you can only have so much money in the bank, and it’s got to be less than a thousand dollars. Because if it’s more…they cut your payments until that money is spent.”

Larraine was talking about SSI’s “resource limit.” She was allowed to have up to $2,000 in the bank, not $1,000 like she thought, but anything more than that could result in her losing benefits. Larraine saw this rule as a clear disincentive to save. “If I can’t keep my money in the bank, then I might as well buy something worthwhile…because I know once I pay on it, it’s mine, and no one can take it from me, just like my jewelry.” Well, no one except Eagle Moving.

Before her eviction, Beaker had asked Larraine why she didn’t just sell her jewelry and pay Tobin. “Of course I’m not going to do that,” she said. “I worked way too hard for me to sell my jewelry….I’m not going to sell my life savings because I’m homeless or I got evicted.” It wasn’t like she had just stumbled into a pit and would soon climb out. Larraine imagined she would be poor and rent-strapped forever. And if that was to be her lot in life, she might as well have a little jewelry to show for it.

(…) When Larraine spent money or food stamps on nonessentials, it baffled and frustrated people around her, including her niece, Sammy, Susan and Lane’s daughter. “My aunt Larraine is one of those people who will see some two-hundred-dollar beauty cream that removes her wrinkles and will go and buy it instead of paying the rent,” said Sammy, a hairstylist with her own shop in Cudahy. “I don’t know why she just doesn’t stick to a budget.” Pastor Daryl felt the same way, saying that Larraine was careless with her money because she operated under a “poverty mentality.”

To Sammy, Pastor Daryl, and others, Larraine was poor because she threw money away. But the reverse was more true. Larraine threw money away because she was poor.

Before she was evicted, Larraine had $164 left over after paying the rent. She could have put some of that away, shunning cable and Walmart. If Larraine somehow managed to save $50 a month, nearly one-third of her after-rent income, by the end of the year she would have $600 to show for it—enough to cover a single month’s rent. And that would have come at considerable sacrifice, since she would sometimes have had to forgo things like hot water and clothes. Larraine could have at least saved what she spent on cable. But to an older woman who lived in a trailer park isolated from the rest of the city, who had no car, who didn’t know how to use the Internet, who only sometimes had a phone, who no longer worked, and who sometimes was seized with fibromyalgia attacks and cluster migraines—cable was a valued friend.

People like Larraine lived with so many compounded limitations that it was difficult to imagine the amount of good behavior or self-control that would allow them to lift themselves out of poverty. The distance between grinding poverty and even stable poverty could be so vast that those at the bottom had little hope of climbing out even if they pinched every penny. So they chose not to. Instead, they tried to survive in color, to season the suffering with pleasure. They would get a little high or have a drink or do a bit of gambling or acquire a television. They might buy lobster on food stamps. If Larraine spent her money unwisely, it was not because her benefits left her with so much but because they left her with so little. She paid the price for her lobster dinner. She had to eat pantry food the rest of the month. Some days, she simply went hungry. It was worth it. “I’m satisfied with what I had,” she said. “And I’m willing to eat noodles for the rest of the month because of it.”

Larraine learned a long time ago not to apologize for her existence. “People will begrudge you for anything,” she said. She didn’t care that the checkout clerk looked at her funny. She got the same looks when she bought the $14 tart balsamic vinegar or ribs or on-sale steak or chicken. Larraine loved to cook. “I have a right to live, and I have a right to live like I want to live,” she said. “People don’t realize that even poor people get tired of the same old taste. Like, I literally hate hot dogs, but I was brought up on them. So you think, ‘When I get older, I will have steak.’ So now I’m older. And I do.”]

matthew desmond, from evicted: poverty and profit in the american city, 2016

[crying-fantasies]

Different versions: Blitzwing

G1/IDW mess

He was a very much organic hater before, now most bots would say he has a very insane fixation over you, who somehow ended up being his conjunx endurae, some still ask if he is treating you in any way because he is Blitzwing for crying out loud, no one wanted to frag him to begin with among his own species.

Yet again, what he could have is some kind of infatuation result of you two being in the constant threatening presence of Earth military, and being in a state terrible enough it ended with you taking pity on him, taking care of him, and it doesn't matter if you are human, mech or a thing, anyone could want to be cared for or being patched up when you get to rock bottom.

He only got Sabersky because he saw on human media (afternoon soap operas) that having a child makes the couple stay together forever and ever, out of it, he sometimes wants to kill his own energon and circuits with his bare servos to have you back to himself, but he reconsiders everytime he is really going to do it to appreciate how much the kiddo looks like you, the kid's only saving grace since he is weak as fuck.

TFAnimated

If he could sing this could have been a musical special of "I won't say I'm in love" between Icy and Hothead while Random proclaims poetic verses over the way you exude sweat and how much he wants to taste it with a lovesick expressions out of Yandere simulator itself that most of the time are intercepted as heated incomprehensible dead sentences, Random is sorry you look so scared of him while the other two are happy with the outcome.

They are not, not really, because you tend to go look for whoever can try to protect you, and it is also a low blow to this ego (egos?) since who could protect you better than him? Still, it's a long ride to even think he can say anything face to face, having in mind Icy hasn't uttered a word in front of you since he realized in what utter mess he got into by liking a human, Hothead shouts profanities more times than he really talks to you in order to have you as away of him possible (he gets nervous okay?) and don't even get started in how Random squeals like a toy everytime he sees you.

You only try to escape because he terrifies you.

Shattered Glass

As quiet as he gets to be he did meet you at some point and also did have an interesting relationship, it started more as a pair of friends, than then became something similar to an Amica, but destiny is cruel for making you be born and live in a planet such as earth that is only half on fire on the best days, even when he tries to think in other ways, it doesn't really matter, he tells himself so, as your life was bound to flicker like a taunt line from the very beginning.

He only follows Earth's grieving traditions and puts flowers on the collapsed building that once was part of the human resistance last stands, the place you contacted him for the last time before the Autobots bombarded the place to their very basement, he can still remember when the first explosion took place, your screams of fear and the first foundations collapsing before every connection is lost, some other mech would have erased such a painful memory from their memory banks in order to remain sane, but he really can't stop from hearing your: "Hope to see you soon, Blitzwing"; he misses you dearly, there are times when he wishes you could have been able to read his EMF to know how much he wanted to start courting you.

[wake-me-up-inside-imagines]

Hello !!!! Could you write something about Yan!Charlie, please ? Maybe something about another powerful mafia leader falling in love with Charlie's love, or maybe about his love trying to escape ? Idk anything about my husband :'(

You're an amazing writer ! Keep up the amazing work !

Thank you, and sure thing! I got a similar request from another anon (specifically what Charlie would do if his darling tried to escape and another mafia leader found out and kidnapped them), so I'm gonna combine your escape request with theirs, I hope you don't mind!

Yandere! Charlie when his darling escapes and is kidnapped

Gn! reader

Warnings: Yandere character, typical mafia violence, kidnapping, murder, non-graphic abuse towards reader (not done by Charlie, dw), suicidal ideation, implied planned suicide attempt, blood, stalking, guns.

Banner credit goes to @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

When Charlie finds out you've escaped, his is pissed. Where did you go?! How could you have possibly bypassed all the security measures he put in place specifically to keep you safe and in the house?! Why would you want to escape when he's done nothing but shown you love and affection?! How could you do this to him?!

And then the self loathing kicks in. He must have done something, right? You wouldn't have gone through all the effort of escaping his high security home if he hadn't done something wrong, right? So what was it? Did he scare you? Were you afraid of being with someone with such a risky, dangerous job? Did the prospect of what he does to others terrify you to the point where you had to escape? Did you think he would hurt you, or kill you, or anything like that? Was living with him, being married to him, really all that bad?

without a second to spare, Charlie sends out every trained tracker at his disposal to find you, threatening to gut them as slowly as possible if they return without you. He knows you can't have gone far, there's only so much a distance you can cover on foot, and besides, how are you supposed to do anything without money? He has control over your previous bank account, and you certainly don't have any access to his, so how are you going to go anywhere? Still, he sends out a couple guys to search a farther, larger area, just in case a hitchhiker picked you up, or someone took pity on you and gave you enough money to use public transportation.

While his underlings are doing that, he's scanning every inch of the house in hopes of finding out how you escaped. Not a single inch of the house is left unturned, he will find out how you left, and he will make sure that you can never repeat that escape route again. Any and all weaknesses his security has are fixed within the day, insuring that once you're safely home, you'll never be able to bypass his cameras again.

He's a ball of rage and sadness for however long it takes to get you back. He's blaming you, he's blaming himself, he's blaming his employees, he's blaming the world, he's blaming anything with a pulse. His emotions flip like a switch, sometimes he's violently angry, but other moments he's horribly depressed. If he wasn't so focused on getting you back, he would have spent all his time in your bed, unable to move in the wake of his overwhelming emotions. He needs you back, he needs you back NOW.

He can feel himself inching closer towards the brink of insanity each hour you're away. He's constantly checking for updates on your whereabouts, growing increasingly unstable when each check in results in absolutely no new information being gained. His threats get more and more deranged with each failure to find you, his mind running through all the worst case scenarios he can think of. You couldn't be dead, could you? No, no, they would have known for sure if that were the case. Did you go to the police? No, you weren't that stupid. You knew he had insiders in the local department, it would have been runaway suicide to go to them. But if you weren't dead, or hidden away somewhere, than where could you possibly be?

Several days pass by, and there's still no sign of you anywhere. Charlie himself spends all day personally trying to track you himself, and still, there's no sign of you. Charlie's hysteria only gets worse, significantly so, to the point where he's seriously considering ending it all if he can't find you in the next couple of days. Without you, he has no reason to live. Life had no meaning. You were the shining light in the long, dark tunnel that was his life, and without that light, he has no reason to go on. His job brings him no pleasure, nor do his riches. He has no friends, no family, and no way to escape his position. Everything he did was for you, and now you're gone. He can't go on without you, he won't, if he can't have you then he won't have anything, please, he needs to find you before he loses it, he NEEDS-

Charlie was quite literally only a couple of seconds away from grabbing the gun strapped to his waist and blowing his brains out when they find you. Or well...They find what happened to you.

To Charlie's dismay, you aren't with the men who found out where you could be. He demands an explanation as to why they showed their faces without you in tow, but grows incredibly quiet when the people in front of him report that you've been kidnapped by a rival mafia leader. No wonder you had been hard to find. There was another organization covering your tracks, hiding you away from Charlie for their own personal benefit.

Charlie learns a lot of new things that day. He learns that unfortunately, one of the rival mafia's men had slipped through the cracks of his defences and become a spy for his rival, reporting back to the other leader whenever necessary. And unfortunately, because of how well known you are amongst Charlie's members, it didn't take long for the spy to figure out who you were.

He found out that as soon as word of your escape got out, the other organization immediately started hunting for you, planning to capture you and extort your connection with Charlie for money and power.

He found out that the organization found you, and now, you were with them, tied up somewhere in an undisclosed location. The only reason they knew you had been captured in the first place is because Charlie has his own spy within the rival mafia, and a pretty high ranking one at that.

Charlie is beyond furious when he finds out where you are. How dare his rival kidnap you and use you! How dare he put you in such danger! And how dare that spy!

He's so beyond angry that he can't even formulate words for several minutes, running his hand over his face and pacing around the room frantically, trying to think up a plan. When he's finally able to speak again, he orders half the men present to find that rival spy and bring him here, and the other half to find their own personal spy and tell him to figure out where you are and who is with you as soon as possible. Now that he knows where you are, he’s wasting no time in getting you back. He won’t let you suffer in the hands of his rival, he swears it.

Before he can get his report back though…he gets a message.

It’s a video of you, tied down to a rickety old chair in some unknown building. Your eyes are covered, but Charlie doesn’t need to see them to know how utterly terrified you are. You’re shaking, as much as your restraints allow you to at least, your normally untouched skin dark with bruises. There’s a guard on either side of you, guns in hand, and as the recording goes on, you’re quickly pulled out of frame, replaced by the big man himself.

Demands are made, but Charlie isn’t listening. All he can think about is you, you and your bruised, trembling body. Despite all the anger he harbors towards your escape, he's overwhelmed with fear and sadness. You've been hurt and bound, left helpless at the hands of his rival. The knowledge that you could be fatally injured or at least seriously wounded is not lost on him. He needs to figure out how to get you back, he needs to devise a plan to save you, he-

It doesn’t take long for him to get a report from his personal spy. This person is someone who his rival trusts after all, someone who’s been worming his way up to the top for years, all under the guise of a loyal right hand man. It was child’s play for him to figure out where you were being kept, even being bestowed the honor to guard you, a decision that Charlie would take full advantage of.

The second Charlie gets the report, he’s preparing for war. He’s not leaving anything up to chance. He knows he’s dealing with someone with a significant amount of power, so he’s getting the most skilled, deadly, dangerous people under his command to accompany him in bringing you home. He won't risk your safety any more than he has to, as much as he wants to tear the building apart and murder anyone in his sight, his main priority is getting you out of there in back home safely. Everything else can come after.

As soon as everyone's armed and ready, they're heading out to save you. Charlie makes sure to keep everyone as undercover as possible in case his rival becomes alert to their plan, only revealing themselves when they get the building you're being kept in. By the time Charlie's spy lets him and his crew in, it's too late for anyone to do anything.

Once in the building, Charlie makes no effort in hiding his presence. He's too pissed to care. He's shooting at any and every living thing that isn't one of his own men, taking down every and any goon who stands in his way. The rival mafia's forces can try to take him down, but chances are they'll be dead before they can get to him, and even if they aren't, a few bullet wounds won't stop Charlie. He's too high off of anger and adrenaline to care. All he can focus on is getting to you.

Charlie and his group travel through each and every room together, too cautious to let anyone stray on their own. Some of Charlie's employee's try to convince him to go back to the car and wait for them, that he's too hurt to carry on but Charlie brushes them off, snapping that he's not leaving until he finds you. He'll gladly bleed out right then and there if it means you'll come home.

Eventually, pretty much every goon hiding in the building is eliminated, minus the ones that are presumably guarding you. A couple of Charlie's men have fallen with them, but Charlie doesn't really care. Their lives were a means to an end, and hopefully, that end would result in your safe return. All they have to do now is find where they're keeping you.

The spy brings Charlie to the room where you're presumably being held, and without hesitation, Charlie kicks down the door, drawing his gun and aiming at anyone who isn't you. There are two guards beside your still-bound form, but within seconds they're laying dead on the floor, gunshot wounds going straight through their heads. Charlie can feel his heart hurting as he watches you flinch with every gun shot, but he reminds himself that this is all necessary to get you back, however scary it may be for you.

As soon as the guards are dead, Charlie's rushing towards you, fumbling with your restraints with shaky fingers. He gets increasingly frustrated when he can't undo them on his own, the blood loss from his bullet wounds beginning to get to him. His employees have to help him out, cutting you free and removing the blindfold that's been covering your eyes for who knows how long.

The second you're free, Charlie's grabbing onto you, bringing you into the most aggressive hug you've probably ever received. He won't let you go for what feels like forever, simply holding you to him, rocking your bodies back and forth while he soaks up your warmth. He's hurt, he's hurt badly, but right now, his priority is you, and reassuring you that your safe now, you're ok. He's not gonna let you go.

It's not until his employees surround him and you, urging him to leave, that he breaks away from you, but even then it's not by much. He's got one hand in yours, and one hand on his gun, refusing to let his guard down, even though he's successfully retrieved you. He would have carried you out of there, but with the injuries he's obtained, it's probably not a good idea. Still, he's determined to protect you, to keep you safe from anyone else that may be lurking in the building. Unfortunately, it appears the rival mafia leader managed to escape the building before Charlie got to him, but that's ok. Charlie can deal with him later. Right now, his priority is you.

The group only comes across a couple more people from the rival mafi, but they're swiftly dealt with, leaving a clear and quick path out of the building and back to the cars. The second you get into Charlie's car, the driver's speeding off, driving as quick as he can to the nearest hospital to get you and Charlie treated. All the while, Charlie's gripping onto you, refusing to let you go. He can tell you're still scared, and he's determined to remedy that the best he can.

It takes a lot of convincing to get Charlie to release you long enough to get treated. He's on the verge of passing out from blood loss, but all he cares about is you, and your safety. He doesn't trust anyone to be with you, but he finally allows himself to be pulled away when a nurse reminds him that it'll be hard to treat you with someone clinging onto your body the way he is, and that letting you go is what's best for your recovery. On his way out, he weakly promises you that he'll be back as soon as he can, and that he'll make sure you get the best care imaginable. His eyes are on you until he can no longer see you, and even then he's still looking in your direction, desperate for any visible trace of you.

It takes a couple hours for Charlie to get stitched up fully, but as soon as he does, he's rushing as quick as he's allowed to to be back at your side. Thankfully your injuries weren't as severe as his, only bruises and a broken bone or two, so you're already healed up by the time Charlie makes his way back to you. He's attaching himself right back to your side the second he sees you, he needs your touch more than anything after the long, horrible days filled with nothing but your absence.

Once he's sure everything's ok with both of you, Charlie takes you home. He doesn't yell at you, he doesn't scold you, he doesn't even say anything about your escape, but despite how cautious he's trying to be, you still look utterly terrified of him. He hadn't fully understood why you would be so scared of him before, not really, because despite his job, he had never, and would never, hurt you in any way, and he thought you knew that. But after all this...

He gets it. He gets it in a way he never considered before, and that understanding causes the most intense wave of guilt to envelop him. Yeah, he's never hurt you before, but he could. He's fully capable of it, and he knows you know he is. He's probably no different from his rival, not in your eyes, because despite their rivalry, they essentially do the exact same thing. Hell, Charlie's done disturbingly similar things to others in comparison to what the rival mafia did to you. He's done worse than what they've done to you. It feels different to him because he knows he would never do anything to you, but you don't know that. In your mind, you could end up just like any other person Charlie deals with at any moment. You didn't try to escape because Charlie had done something wrong towards you, you tried to escape because he could do something towards you. Sure, he had been nothing but kind to you, but how were you supposed to trust him? After all he had done, and was doing, even while you were with him, had he really given you a reason to?

Charlie won't punish you for your escape attempt. He was already unlikely to do so anyway, since he figured that would just make you more scared of him, but now, he's even more determined to earn your trust. Besides, you got kidnapped and injured by an extremely dangerous individual, which must have been a horrifying experience to live though. In his book, that kind of fear was punishment enough. He just hopes you'll be less likely to try and escape in the future, now that your first attempt went so wrong.

As much as it pains him to do so, Charlie gives you your space. For a while, at least. He fears that forcing you to interact with him will only cause your terror of him to grow, and that's the last thing he wants, especially after all you've gone through. He does reassure you that he's not upset with you, and you have no reason to fear him, but he understands that you aren't going to trust him right away simply because he told you you should. It's going to take time to gain your love and trust, and he's determined to do it right this time.

He won't try to rush anything anymore. He's gonna go at your pace, because at the end of the day, if that's what gets him your love, than it'll be worth it.

Oh, and uh... as for that traitorous spy, and his rival for that matter, well... don't worry about it. He's got a plan for them. One he'd rather you not get involved in.

Don't worry about it. Everything's going to be fine, he swears it.

I hope you enjoyed!

[jmdbjk]

He wears his heart on his sleeve

...maybe he should just get it tattooed there too.

Jungkookie was very quiet and reflective during his most recent Weverse live, at least at first.

Perhaps he was manifesting his Jimin to appear in the comments because he stared at them for a while... a long while.

Earlier in the evening, with Tae, he attended the movie premiere of Dream, a soccer movie with a ragtag team storyline. A team of misfits who come together and persevere. It stars Tae's friend, Park Seojoon, Wooga squad and fellow cast member on Jinny's Kitchen.

He looked happy to be there but self-conscious at the same time. Unused to the crowds and spotlight after being out of it for a while. He didn't have anyone to hide behind. It looks like maybe he said "oh my god" when he stepped up in front of the bank of cameras (haha).

After having a supposedly fun outing, Kookie came to visit us on Weverse live and seemed to have a lot on his mind. He said he missed us and wished us good health both physically and mentally. I imagine Hobi leaving for service and Moonbin's tragedy last week are fresh cuts to our Kookie's heart. It breaks MY heart that Kookie has to experience those things. I don't know how close Kookie was to Moonbin. But I do know losing someone so suddenly can make you so scary aware of your own mortality and makes you realize instantly what should truly be important and what is irrelevant.

I am thinking his evening out had him keyed up and he came to visit with us in order to decompress and relax. He said the only ones who could create a calming environment for him right now was Army. However, the (I'm sure inane) comments he was seeing were not doing the trick. He seemed a little perturbed at them so he turned them off.

But he said sitting there knowing we were on the other side was calming and enough for him at that moment. He felt at peace knowing we are all connected. And then he let out a big sigh. Sort of a "I'm doing the best I can" sigh. Oh Kookie, I feel you.

Incidentally, the song he said he was obsessed with that evening and that he had playing in the background on repeat was I Really Want to Stay At Your House by Rosa Walton & Hallie Coggins ... some of the lyrics:

Another evening I'll be sitting reading in between your lines Because I miss you all the time...

...I'm on top of you, I don't wanna go 'Cause I really wanna stay at your house

He said he's working hard on new music but its difficult. If he says its not easy, then the final result will probably be OUTSTANDING because he struggled to make HIS version of perfect. Masterpieces are sometimes not easy to create.

He was steadily sinking, sitting in the dark, sipping his highball through a straw but after 35 minutes of solemnity and saying he needed to go to sleep, he all of a sudden came alive when he began talking about food... go figure.

He waffled back and forth about whether he should just get off his butt and make the noodles or go to sleep, but then he really got into it and explained in great detail this recipe, down to the proper color of the perilla oil to use. Though he didn't have the correct perilla oil in his pantry, he made the sauce and boiled the noodles.

The whole idea of him puttering around his kitchen trying out new ways to make noodle or rice dishes is very endearing. He does have somewhat of a head start in advanced levels of cooking though because of the times they filmed Run BTS episodes with Chef Paik. He learned important cooking procedures like "reduce" the liquid in the pan and desirable "viscosity" of the sauce.

When he's into it, HE. IS. INTO. IT. He adjusted his recipe, repeated the ratios of ingredients, explained in great detail every step.

Please. Someone just hug him. JIMIN COME GET YOUR MAN.

[mischief-lies-and-stories]

I wanna talk about this today.

Mostly I want to talk about objective truth versus subjective truth. But let me start with what's happening in this scene. (Spoilers for Original Sin and Loki: Agent of Asgard)

So in this moment from Original Sin: Thor and Loki in the Tenth Realm, Loki is talking to the queen of the Angels about what happened in the previous issue of Agent of Asgard. Loki has been working for the All-Mothers in an attempt to erase his past crimes and start anew, but discovered that they were taking cues from Old Loki in order to ensure the future he said would come about, a future in which there was (mostly) peace in Asgard, Thor was king and All-Father, but Loki was still the villain. It was a price they were willing to pay for peace. So Loki's grappling with this in this issue, along with having to deal with Thor's reckless attempts at recovering their long-lost sister (not Hela).

So then the queen says, "[The Asgardians will] never understand you, god of what works. Go ahead, use your truth-sword. Tell me you don't know I'm right."

The sword she is referring to is Gram, the sword that Loki stole from Asgard's most famous hero, Sigurd, which was forged at Old Loki's bidding when he went further back in time to ensure it would exist for the current Loki to claim (the timeline gets confusing in AoA). The sword forces those it wounds to face the truth of themselves and their actions.

But truth comes in different forms, objective truth and subjective truth. Objective truth is indisputable fact, and if you say something otherwise it would simply not be true. "Earth orbits the sun" is an objective truth. We can and have proven it. Subjective truth is something that may be true for you but is not necessarily objectively true. This is why the testimony of innocent bystanders is sometimes not permitted in court. For whatever reason, you may be completely convinced that the person you saw stealing a tv from Best Buy at 2:16PM three weeks ago was wearing a blue shirt, so convinced you'd be willing to say so under oath. They could attach you to a lie detector, and the results would say you were telling the truth. However, when they get the CCTV footage, the person was wearing a red shirt. You weren't lying; your memory had you convinced it was a blue shirt. You believed it was the truth, so you believed you were telling the truth. This is how lie detectors work (theoretically; there's also the part that it only detects physical changes that only sometimes mean someone's lying anyway), and how truth serums (in various media or CIA conspiracy theories your subjective truth may or may not have you believe) are supposed to function.

Now, it could be argued that Gram functions as a detector of objective truth. Previously in AoA, it forced Thor to come to terms with the influence an infection of evil had on him (I don't remember exactly what happened, but essentially Old Loki more or less invaded Thor like a virus and forced him to act rather nastily). He didn't seem to realize what was happening until Loki stabbed him with Gram. This is a valid argument, and honestly I don't understand this scene enough (I think a lot of background for it came from other comics if I remember correctly) to make an authentic counterargument.

However Gram acts with Thor, though, I do believe in the above panel, Gram functions like a lie detector or truth serum. The "truth" Loki speaks is subjective truth. He believes it's true, so Gram is essentially like, "Sure, yep, sounds about right."

But because Gram doesn't do whatever it does when someone lies (or maybe because it functions like Wonder Woman's lasso, and you simply can't lie when you're wounded by it), it just further convinces Loki that his beliefs about his inability to be loved are true. Or he's aware that this may merely be a subjective truth, but because he knows how the sword works and he's banking on the queen not understanding the difference between types of truth, he's using it to gain her trust. He still can't lie while holding Gram, so either what he says is 100% indisputably true in an absolute sense, or he wholeheartedly believes it to be true with such certainty that it doesn't matter that it isn't objective. He may be saying it to gain her trust, but he also still believes it.

And I'm in pain.

[mamuzzy-creates-stuff]

E for ALL the ships! Please (:

E - Do you have any favorite headcanons for this ship?

For ALL THE SHIPS!!! You really gave me a homework, love <3 But I really enjoyed writing this little compilation.

Let's see...

-- OrdoMaze --

My favorite thing about them is how they try to understand each other's functioning and motivations in life and usually this leads to conversations that can result in passionate arguments or potential fist fights and then hatesex.

Books are usually a topic they usually don't agree.

Maze is rigid in a way that he wants to feel the accomplishment that he worked very hard for a specific reward or something that is not obtainable in a military, such as: books. Eventually, the free-books available are not enough and sometimes he wants to read something other than dry information from the Jedi archive (free library pass from General Zey).

"Pirate it, then." Ordo shrugs, he doesn't understand why Maze is doing ethical dilemma over getting stuff he needs.

And then Ordo will never hear the end of it how artists, writers, content creators are working hard to tell their story, and is it harming for the creative industry to "just pirate" while not being compensated for it.

"I pirate it for you? So you won't have to feel bad for not compensating them because only I was involved in the... crime" Ordo offers, a sincere gesture to make his boyfriend happy.

Ordo will never hear the end of it but also won't understand the contradictions why morals and being a law-abiding citizen are even question here, when Maze works illegally in a low-level pub as a dishwasher with fake id and has a secret bank account so he would be able to properly pay for his books.

-- OrdoEcho --

Ordo is devastated that he can't express his love toward Echo through sharing food, because Echo is picky as fuck when it's about edibles created by natborns. So he keeps red ration bars - Echo's favorite one-, in his snack-pouches so he can surprise Echo with it~

-- OrdoEchoMaze --

Ordo and Maze is that kind of couple who are getting together and breaking up every two weeks. Maze started dating Echo when they were in this break up period and Maze decided that maybe he deserves better, more understanding and sensitive boyfriend (meaning, not the Ordo-kind of sensitive). Ordo almost killed Echo in jealousy.

-- FoxFives --

Fox and Fives' favorite datenight is going gambling, cheating their way though the games and get away with it, rewarding themselves with greasy junk food at Coruscant's low-level street carnivals, kissing in public to freak out people who think they are twins, and then soaking in naked in a public bathhouse.

-- FoxThorn --

This is an AU were Commander Fox joins later the Guard, reassigned from the fronts. And some eldritch occurences are involved too.

While Thorn was in sleeping-coma, he wasn't sleeping entirely. He heard Fox's every words who was thinking loudly while sitting at his bed or walking around the room. Fox needed someone to talk who wasn't hostile to him and who is better company for that than someone who can't mouth back?

I like the idea that Fox either shared the ideas how he will break this curse on Thorn. But sometimes he just shared that he misses the frontlines, he misses his men, he misses when he was actually knew what he was doing.

-- TEcho --

Tech and Echo first meeting was actually happened much earlier. Tech followed an interesting bug into the ventshaft, which in the end, collapsed under him and he landed in the mess hall, more precisely, in Echo's lap. (yeah. I know. I know. cheesy as fuck shut up) Echo immediately fell in love with this weird guy who protected the bug with all his life.

-- KalWalon --

Kal is shortking and Walon uses this as an advantage when he wants to piss off Kal. He actually has to bend down a bit if he wants a kiss from him.

"Beg."

"What now?"

"Beg for that kiss."

Walon realized too late that it wasn't the usual "Kal is deaf from all those explosions"-what. Kal headbutted Walon on the chin.

[nokingsonlyfooles]

Keep the News Cycle Focused!

Resist, resist, resist - because, sometimes, it gets someone to report. And then more people see it and resist! And the cycle continues - but only if you keep pushing to make it go.

Don't pull back because Trump. They are not taking meaningful action on this because they expect you to pull back because Trump. We're playing election chicken right now and it is not to the benefit of the voters, or the non-voters being killed on our behalf. Oh, I don't doubt Trump would try to make it worse, and he'll flog it to his gullible base, but he's also an idiot who has a very hard time getting results and he is not the President. You say, "But he could...!" Ah-ah! But he isn't. Biden is succeeding at making it worse right now, and banking on your fear of Trump to insulate him from the consequences.

The only way to hold these people accountable is to threaten their power. If this continues and we all vote for it anyway, I don't wanna know what the political landscape is going to look like forever afterwards. Genocide is being included in the sensible, moderate solutions the sane party offers. Historically, it has been! We have a long and terrible association with genocides! But I don't want it to stay like that!

The best way to move the Overton Window back towards human decency is to stop the genocide NOW, before the damn election. But they're still trying to shut the objections down. They redefined this event twice, trying to make it look like NBD, and then they tried to keep the story as quiet as possible. It still is relatively quiet! But it's there. The people resisting got it covered.

I come from a food-centric culture too. This is an ice cold rejection and I hope like hell the folks on Team Biden who agreed to sit down and eat for the damage control told him that. This is almost as bad as throwing a shoe. This is trouble.

And I'm grateful. I want trouble like this now, because it's a lot better than what could happen later. Even a few weeks later. Gaza is STARVING, y'all, and we could stop it. Think long and hard about why we're not. I'm gonna tell you right now, it's not "because democracy!" (ie "but the guy who can circumvent congress and the law to sell more weapons and build more border walls isn't powerful enough to do this!") or "because antisemitism!" (ie "well, Israel and Judaism are the same thing and Jews have been through a lot, so Israel can have a little genocide") it's "because POWER!"

If politicians don't see a threat to their power, they don't listen. There is an entire crazed, fundamentalist religion DEMANDING that Israel exist so God can come back and destroy it, among many other awful things, it is damn near impossible to reason with them, and Democrats want their votes. Democrats want everyone's votes, but they've decided to move towards the fundies on the right and abandon the critical thinkers on the left. (If you think they haven't, PLEASE turn your brain back on and start looking and listening to them!) It's safe to ignore us because we have no other option. We have to get louder and scarier to see results. Hell, we have to get louder and scarier just to slow down the decay.

Keep it in mind when pushing back against all the awful shit that's going down right now.

And keep resisting!

[tiktaalic]

I hope these questions don't annoy you, but whats it like working in a lab?

I'm considering the same career path cause I really like my lab classes so far

Not annoying! from what ive seen there are 3 or so types of labs, which are labs in the hospital, which are obviously a faster pace (did half of my preceptorship in one), reference labs, which get a fairly high volume since they're doing testing everybody's sending out for (did other half of my preceptorship in one), and privately owned labs which pick up samples from clinics urgent cares nursing homes etc (both of my jobs have been with private labs).

I like it! It's very routine. I have my set of tasks i do when i clock in and my set of tasks i do at the end of the night and in between I'm just sticking samples on the machines and releasing results. and there is imo enough variation to it to keep it interesting - troubleshooting failed qc, or double checking criticals, or having to do manual difs. if you're liking undergrad lab work I'm assuming you're doing stuff like pcr and gels and micro plates? which is a lot of what molecular departments do in a lab besides micro which is micro. I currently work in the core portion of a lab, which is hematology, coagulation, urinalysis, and chemistry. You really only break out the microscope for urinalysis and hem. we have a micro department that handles all the cultures, and a molecular department that does molecular testing. lots of labs have small micro factions and do lots of micro send out instead. the last lab i worked at did that. the hospital i did my preceptorship at would do plating, but then send all the plates out to be read and send out all the blood culture tubes to be cultured elsewhere. the lab I'm currently at does most cultures in house.

re: education to work in a lab you have to be ASCP certified. After I got my biology degree, I enrolled in texas tech's CLS certification program, which was 3 semesters of classes (preceptorships were the majority of the coursework the last semester). I didn't mind doing it because I was a fresh graduate and I didn't want to Career Hunt or go to grad school. so 3 sems to get a guaranteed job sounded great to me. Since I had my bio degree, I had most of the baseline credits out of the way. chem biochem ochem cell bio genetics etc etc. And the 3 sems I did were lab specific courses like blood banking, clinical chemistry, molecular methods, immunology, phlebotomy, lab management, clinical micro and hematology. there are tons of post bachelor's cls programs, and tons of them are delivered online so that you can chip away at it part time while working.

A nice thing about it is that you can get work literally anywhere. I moved to a town with a population of 90k. Applied for 3 jobs as a brand new graduate. and got 3 offer letters. the payscale's pretty variable, depending on where you are, but it is nice to know that i'm certified in like. 47 states and could get some sort of job in any of them no problem. i think once you've been certified a year you can get cali state certification, which is the route a lot of people go since cali is on the high end of the pay scale. it'll depend on what the lab you're at is like, obviously, but it is pretty difficult to get day shift positions since what a lot of places do is open internal applications for any night/evening shift people who want to move up. I work an evening shift of 2pm to 11pm and i really like it. A very common complaint i see is that there's no like... career ladder. if you're a bench tech. you're a bench tech. which sometimes gets parlayed into section leader, or section manager, but that's a years of experience thing.

My plan is to work in the same place for a couple of years so I feel more experienced, and then to take a few travel contracts which are shorter term higher pay. again, they're available pretty much anywhere, but sometimes the tradeoff is lower compensation or a worse shift or being in the middle of nowhere america. but i think it'll be fun to get paid to bop around the country for awhile. I like my job and I like that it's very secure, but I do plan to go back to school for Something Else at some point and probably shift careers. My review: good thing to do in your twenties! good thing to have under your belt in general. very dependable.

if you have other questions in general or about anything I said you can 100% msg me! Ik I had a lot of trouble finding info when I was looking into this as an undergrad

[piedpiperart]

Marked for Death pt 16

Chapter 15

“You’ll let me know when they catch him?” Tim asked, standing by the car.

“Yes, I will,”Jason repeated. His men had gotten a sighting of their serial killer and Jason had run facial recognition on the guy and gotten a hit. Gary Newson, 34, worked at the bank across the street from the college. Which meant that after dropping Conan off at school, Jason would apprehend the guy. 

“You sure it’s safe to get him during the day?” Conan grimaced. Jason sighed fondly, watching his kid rock back and forth on his heels. 

“I’ll be safe,”Jason reassured. “I’ll get him, don’t worry.”

“Okay, but text me when you do,”Conan said seriously. 

“You’re supposed to be in class, not on your phone,”Jason reminded him. “And your phone is supposed to be for emergencies, kid.”

“I wanna make sure everything goes okay,”Conan protested. “Maybe I should just stay home-”

“Go to class, Cone,”Jason said, cutting him off. “Everything will be fine and you’re gonna be late if you don’t get to class.”

“But-” Conan protested.

“No, nope,”Jason shook his head.”I’ll walk you to class-”

“Fine, I’m going,”Conan groaned dramatically.

“See you after school, kiddo,”Jason called. Conan pouted exaggeratedly, and walked back to the front doors. On his way, the kid turned to look at Jason with big puppy dog eyes, each time Jason waving him forward encouragingly. Conan heaved the biggest sigh when he’d gotten to the doors, and pushed them open.

Jason watched as his kid disappeared through the doors. A semblance of a smile on his face. He hoped Conan had fun with his friends, but he knew he’d miss him terribly. But, like usual, he had a job to do. 

After Dick’s advice the night before, Jason had started up a program he’d picked up to try to scour social media for any clues for Tim’s whereabouts. It was slow going, but he hoped after Red Hood had apprehended the killer the program would have more results. 

As of now, he had to get home to don the Red Hood outfit and pay Gary Newson a visit. He’d get back to the Robin case as soon as he got back home, and maybe, he’d tell Batman if he’d found anything.

“He was Snippy’s previous owner,”Mitchell whispered. 

“Why are we whispering?” George whispered back. Tim rolled his eyes. 

“It’s just Mr.Sturges,”Amy said, albeit a bit quieter than her normal voice. “He was the second grade teacher and Snippy was his class’s pet.”

“You think he’s sad Snippy’s gone?” George frowned. 

“Wasn’t he gonna give Snippy to Ms. Mouri?” Mitchell thought aloud. 

“Sometimes teachers don’t get to choose when they get class pets,”Tim offered. He looked over at Mr. Sturges, who seemed happy to be on break for once. He was looking at his phone while at his desk. 

“Well, lets go say hi!”Amy exclaimed, skipping forwards. 

“Wait, Amy!” George and Mitchell exclaimed, running after her. Tim heaved a sigh, but followed at a leisurely pace. 

“-you have any pictures of Snippy?” Amy was asking. The man seemed surprised, but happy enough to bring up some pictures on his phone. 

Tim observed from behind the three kids, looking at pictures of a medium sized corn snake. A lot of pictures. So many pictures of snakes, Tim was kind of worried about this man’s well-being.

“Snippy loves mice, that’s his favorite snack,”Mr. Sturges was saying, and the three kids cooed at another picture. “I even learned how to crochet and made him this little hat,”He said, flipping to another picture of a tiny party hat on the snake’s head. Tim had to admit it was pretty cute. 

“Are you gonna get another snake to replace Snippy?” Mitchell asked. Tim kept an ear on their conversation while he looked around the office. One picture of Snippy on the desk, a calendar filled with notes, and a few other knick-knacks. 

Mr. Sturges answered with a sad smile,”Ah, no. I don’t think I’ll have another class pet. Snippy was enough for me.”

“Do you like Ms. Mouri’s turtle too?”George asked,”Her name is Berta.”

A slight frown overtook Mr. Sturges’ face for a moment before he smiled,”Turtles are good class pets, but I still prefer snakes,”He said. 

The kids thanked him after that, making their way back to the playground for recess, considering they’d snuck back inside to question the man. “I don’t think he did anything to hurt Snippy,”Any said.”He seemed really nice, actually.”

“Maybe Snippy just escaped,”Mitchell shrugged. 

“He didn’t,”Tim said, walking over to sit on the swings. “What?!” The kid exclaimed, crowding around Tim in a way that made him want to take a few steps back. 

“Conan, what do you mean?” George asked. “He didn’t escape?”

“It wasn’t aliens either,”Tim said. “Did you notice how Mr. Sturges always talked about Snippy in present tense?”

“Presents?” George repeated, and Mitchell nudged him. 

“He said Snippy loves mice, not Snippy loved mice,”Tim clarified, swinging his feet idly. “And he had a lot of photos of Snippy, too many to not be recent. And judging by the notes on his calendar, he only learned crochet at the beginning of this month. Which means he couldn’t have made Snippy a hat.”

“Unless he took Snippy!” Mitchell exclaimed. 

“Exactly,”Tim nodded. 

“We gotta tell people! The teachers!”George bounced, getting ready to leave,”He stole Snippy!”

“Not exactly,”Tim hedged. 

“What?!” The three exclaimed together, looking back to Conan. 

“You see, Mr. Sturges had a pet snake, Snippy,”Tim started. “He loved his snake a lot so he asked the school to make him a class pet. And they did, for a few years, but then the school heard Ms. Mouri asking about having a class pet for her first graders.”

“So the school was gonna give Mr. Sturges’ snake to Ms. Mouri!” Amy gasped. 

“Right, so Mr. Sturges likely staged Snippy going missing so he could keep him,”Tim finished. “He didn’t do it to be mean, he just wanted to keep his pet.”

“Oh,”George wilted. “I don’t think we should tell anyone,”Mitchell piped up. “He seemed happy with Snippy.”

“Yeah, and it wasn’t Ms.Mouri’s fault either, since she just wanted a class pet of her own,”Amy speculated,”I don’t think she would have known the school would take Snippy away from Mr. Sturges.”

“Well what do we do now?” George pouted, crossing his arms.

“What do you mean?” Tim asked, tilting his head. 

“The Detective Boys’ first case closed and we can’t even tell anyone about it!”George said, and the others frowned. 

“Aha! We’ll just have to solve another case!”Amy exclaimed. The other two crowded around, excited and shouting out mysteries around the school. Tim sat back on the swing with a small smile. Even if school was boring and chaotic, he figured he could at least do something useful while he was here. Why not solve some mysteries?

Jason sighed, wiping blood off his knife. Gary Newson, while an expert at blitz-attacking young women, was not prepared for a fight against Jason. Gary had folded like a wet paper bag when Jason brought out a single handgun. It hadn’t taken much convincing for him to spill everything he’d done. 

Four girls from Gotham University dead, all because of some guys mommy issues, and Jason wasn’t remorseful in the slightest over shooting the bastard in both kneecaps. Hopefully, he wouldn’t ever walk again, much less kill anyone else. The man would spend the rest of his life in jail though, so Jason wasn’t too worried about letting him back on the streets. 

Driving home, Jason couldn’t help but think about Robin. The program he had running on his systems at home should have collected any online social media images collected from the areas Timothy could have disappeared from. Jason was hoping to find some clues to where Tim went, or who might’ve taken him. 

Conan’s school lets out in a few hours, so Jason didn’t see an issue with opening the image searching program the minute he got home. It took him nearly two hours to scope through each individual image for any sign of Drake. Which led him to 3 images out of 238. 

The first image was of some drunk girls leaving a bar, with Timothy Drake passing by in the background. From the timestamp, it was the first image captured and the closest to Stephanie Brown’s house. Jason marked the location on the map, noting Tim’s appearance and direction. Jason figured he was headed home based on direction alone. 

The second image was of a couple and their new apartment, where Tim could be seen from outside the window. The kid seemed to be pressed against a building, facing around the corner. Jason could see the change in route, and wondered if something might’ve caught Tim’s attention. 

Marking that location on the map, Jason continued to the last photo. This photo didn’t have Tim in it, but instead one other figure Jason had become familiar with over the past month. It was a photo of someone’s cat on a balcony, and far down on the street was one familiar figure dressed in black and heading in the direction Tim had gone off course in. In Vodka’s hands was a familiar looking red case. 

Jason heaved a breath, thinking over the case. So Tim was on his way home when he noticed something. Minutes later, Vodka comes up from behind him and Tim is never seen again. It makes Jason want to grind his teeth, but he knows that he can’t do much with this information. Conan and himself have been keeping strict tabs on the Black organization, and so far they’d had no luck in tracking them down. 

With Vodka’s presence, things just got more complicated, but Jason couldn’t help the flare of hope in his chest, because they were one step closer to finding Robin. Jason rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking at the clock. Taking a breath, he sent in the images and his notes on the Black Organization to Batman. Marking Tim’s last known location on the map, he sent Bruce a note to check out the area for clues. 

It was all he could do at the moment, but every second counted. Jason was trusting Bruce to follow the trail while Jason picked up Conan from school. Hopefully the bat had something useful by the time Red Hood left for patrol. 

“And Mr. Sturges didn’t want to let go of his best friend, so he took him home and staged an escape,”Conan said, stirring the pot of sauce in front of him. 

Jason smiled softly at the explanation. He hadn’t thought the Detective boys would actually solve the case, but it seemed he’d underestimated Conan and his friends. “You didn’t tell anyone?”

“No,”Conan wrinkled his nose. “Snippy was his snake, it was rude of the school to try and give him away. He should keep him.”

“That’s nice of you guys,”Jason hummed. “What case are you investigating next?”

“I don’t know yet,”Conan sighed. “They’re kind of upset they weren’t able to tell anyone about Snippy, but Amy’s mom got her some sticker paper and she made us all matching stickers.”

“Oh?” Jason asked, giving Conan a look in between chopping vegetables. “Can I see it?”

Conan sighed. “I guess. I put it on my notebook,”He said, jumping down off the stepstool and ran to the living room to grab his backpack. Jason listened for him, hearing footsteps into the living room before he paused. 

“Uhhh, Batmans here!” Conan yelled from the living room, and Jason held back a sigh. Conan’s footsteps came streaming back into the kitchen and Jason wasn’t surprised to see the bat appearing in the doorway behind him. 

“Alright, don’t panic,”Jason said, putting the sauce on low heat. He lifted Conan up to the step stool, ignoring the looming behind him. “Watch the sauce, and don’t eat any of the noodles while I’m gone.”

“Um, what do I do when-”Conan panicked a bit, not having been prepared to take over the cooking. Jason was sure the kid couldn’t mess up the sauce any way, and he’d been teaching him how to cook over the last month.

“In five minutes stir in one third cup of cream and as much cheese as you want,”Jason said, ruffling his hair. He didn’t mention that there was a limited amount of cheese set aside on the counter, so even if Conan wanted to over cheese it, he wouldn’t. 

“kay,”Conan said determinedly, stirring the sauce once again. 

With that, Jason took one more look at his kid before facing his shadow. “Living room, now,”Jason grunted, pointing with his finger until the man in the full Batman suit turned around. “Sit,”Jason directed, too busy managing his anger and exasperation to play into B’s inability to talk to people like a normal person. 

“Why are you here?” Jason asked directly. 

There was a pause before Jason heard an answer. “The case,”Bruce said, haltingly. Jason was annoyed that he used his gravely Batman voice. 

“I meant what are you doing here, in my apartment,”Jason clarified. “I told you before that we would be working on the Robin case, and I sent you the information. None of which meant you should break into my apartment in full gear and scare my son.”

“It was urgent,”Bruce cut in, but Jason wasn’t done.

“No, this was our deal. I’m not at your beck and call anymore, if you want to work with me, you have to follow my rules,”Jason reminded. “One of those rules was that you stay away from my son. So why did you think it would be a good idea to come here?”

Batman was silent for a moment, and Jason had officially lost patience with the man. He didn’t need to explain this to Bruce again, especially not while his son was unsupervised in the kitchen. He could contact him later, when Red Hood went out on patrol, like they had been communicating.

“Just get out,”Jason said, shaking his head. “Call Dick, and don’t ever do this again.”

“Jason,”Bruce grumbled, but Jason put a hand up to stop him. 

“Out. Now,”Jason directed, pointing to the open window. He couldn’t help but feel relief when the bat finally listened to him and slunk out the window. Jason was surprised that he didn’t feel any sort of vindictiveness at the action. He only felt tired and relieved, and frustrated at Bruce’s actions. He resolved to tell Dick about it later and sick the man on B about it. 

“Jay?” Conan called from the kitchen. Huffing a smile, Jason made his way into the kitchen, hoping nothing was on fire. He sent a quick text to Dick before stepping foot into the kitchen, smelling the garlic permeating the air.

“I put the cream in, and the cheese,”Conan said, “But I ate some of the cheese,”He confessed, and Jason ruffled his hair. 

“That’s alright, we got more in the fridge,”Jason said. He picked up the chopped vegetables to add to the sauce, pretending to ignore Conan’s offended stare. All thoughts of Batman left as he directed Conan through the recipe, joking with his son about vegetables.

Meanwhile, Dick was gearing up to lecture Bruce about valuing personal space and boundaries over casework.

Chapter 17 

[intersectionalpraxis]

Slightly over 24 hours ago, when the medical convoy from the UN arrived to al-Shifa hospital (mind you, it took a MONTH to get there), the single truck still didn't not have enough medical supplies. And now I'm hearing, just this morning, a doctor reported that they have to dress the BURN wounds of a Palestinian child with no sedation and clean wounds using SUGAR AND VINEGAR. We know many medical professionals have had to resort to doing this because they don't have anything to clean wounds properly, but hearing these stories again and again is horrifying.

I posted about how many hospitals are at their breaking point a while ago, and al-Shifa continues to suffer greatly. They're using a smaller, second generator now, and are using their cell phones as lights to take notes, while many sections remain in darkness, and this is another update on HOSPITALS, which continue to be attacked and shelled by Israeli military. This just in:

Speaking to Al Jazeera, al-Shifa hospital surgeon Ahmed Mokhallalati, said “They are killing half of the people directly, but the other half they kill with inadequate treatment." The Director of al-Nasr Children’s Hospital, has also called out the 2 attacks at the hospital today by Israeli bombings, which resulted them to having to close down. They said, "The first targeted the gate while the second was a direct hit on the hospital’s wards. The buildings suffered massive damage." He continues: “The ICUs and newborn incubators are now without oxygen supplies. The entire hospital is out of power except the ICU, where I stand now. Currently, I am attending to eight patients. If the power runs out at any minute, they will definitely die. They already lost a patient in the ICU due to the power shutting off for a FEW MINUTES because of constant shelling. The Director is sending an immediate SOS to "Red Cross, Red Crescent, and all international organizations" to help with the wounded and dying patients

All of the information above can be accessed on Al Jazeera. This continues to beyond a breaking point, and continues to be so for millions of Palestinian people who are trapped and stranded in spaces where they are constantly under attack by Israeli warplanes and bombings. A "humanitarian pause" will do NOTHING, we need a CEASFIRE.

With recent reports from letstalkpalestine, Israel has agreed to stop bombing/the violence for 4 hours a day. This was a result of pressures from the US and also of course from all the international and domestic pressure. Israel can no longer hide behind their propaganda campaigns, but I do fear that there is no way to keep them accountable for this, considering Netanyahu has zero credibility, and Israeli has increased their raids in West Bank. Also, that leaves 20 hours a day of bombings and violence.

*NOTE: I corrected a sentence I conflated treating of wounds in, my apologies. I was just typing out angrily and too quickly. Burn wounds are being treated without sedation, and many wounds/injuries are being treated/cleaned with vinegar and sometimes sugar* just to clarify.

And as always, FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸

[frownyalfred]

Firstly, it is so nice of you to respond to all these asks. My question is, how do you know/go about pulling off some complex highbrow plot? Asking because as a writer I put up a few chapters of a fic and I need to write the rest and I'm kind of panicking haha about what people will think.

Thanks! I try to respond to most asks, but there will always be some I can't get to, or are severely out of my area of expertise.

I am flattered you think I know how to pull off a complex plot. I find my ability to craft a longer plot to be very lacking, most days. Plotting is so hard for me!

What works best for me when I do attempt plotting is going somewhere where my brain kind of switches into "writing" mode -- for me, that's usually when I'm on the treadmill or sometimes when I'm in the shower.

I think about the story and what's happened so far. I think about what could happen and explore various possibilities in my mind (or on paper, notes app, etc). I find the major "waypoints" in the plot, like reveals, deaths, confessions, etc, and work around those.

Sometimes this results in a really detailed outline, and sometimes it's just a barebones series of scenes I want to "get" to at some point. Sometimes, I'll sit down to write out the outline and find that I've jumped the banks entirely and carved a new river.

My advice, which I would take with a heaping handful of salt, is not to worry too much about your plot. In my opinion, taking it chapter by chapter -- evaluating your work after comments or a break from writing -- and writing instinctively can still create amazing plots.

You don't necessarily need to know exactly where you're going during every second of the writing process. Sometimes just having a vague goal -- "I want Bruce to be possessed, and I want Clark to save him" can be enough of a direction for me.

You've got this! Don't worry too much about what people think. At the end of the day, it is your plot. Yours!! You get to choose wherever the story goes, and that feeling can be exhilarating.