#which makes it like I can't have another email id on it

[olsenmyolsen]

A Sokovian Flower

master list

dark master list

Post Age of Ultron MCU (Female Reader X Wanda Maximoff)

Summary: Wanda wanted a tattoo, which led her to you.

Word Count: 4.1K

Content: Mentions of Sokovia, Wanda's Parents, and dead Pietro. But fluff!

Wanda Maximoff was nervous.

She had never done something like this before.

Her stomach was in knots, and she had no one to blame but herself. Well, she could blame Petiro, but that would be unfair. She could blame Natasha, but that would only end up with her ass hitting the floor. So that wasn't an option.

Anyways, like stated before... Wanda had no one to blame but herself.

But Wanda really, really, really wanted THIS tattoo!

She had thought about it for the last four months since the fall of her home country and relocation to the States. She wanted something that was her own. Something that would pay tribute.

Wanda eventually decided on the national flower of Sokovia.

For her parents and brother.

But as Wanda bites her lip and waits for you to come out from the back, does she now realize that she has to go through with it.

This is going to be on my body forever. But that's what I want, right?

Wanda keeps going back and forth in her own mind. Her eyebrows scrunching and lifting up. Her fingers crossing over one another.

Wanda closes her eyes and breathes out. She calms herself down.

Yep, I can't do this!

Wanda picks up her ID and goes to turn around just when you come out from the back.

Wanda barely made eye contact with you before, but now she sees you and feels her mouth go dry.

The first place her eyes go to are your ears. Full of silver. Very reminiscent of Natasha. Wanda's eyes then travel down your sharp jawline to the holes in your black shirt, exposing your soft skin before they land on the art covering your arms.

Wanda loves the stars and hearts filling the space between your larger pieces.

Wanda brings her eyes back up to you as she realizes that you're speaking to her. Your voice is gentle.

"Are you having second thoughts?" You ask, making Wanda open and close her mouth.

You're not an idiot. You can see the worry and nerves dancing over the face across from you. It's clearly her first time, and you feel bad that she has no friend or anyone else here with her.

You also noticed her checking you out, but it happens, so you let it slide.

"Ummm, yeah. I'm sorry." Her soft voice quietly speaks up. And you're not sure how you missed it earlier, but you hear her accent.

You love it.

You smile at her words and nod your head before turning around to grab your tablet. Wanda watches you turn back and lay it next to the blank form she had yet to fill out.

"Wanda, right?" You ask as you look up from the email she had written a few days prior. She nods her green eyes at you before crossing her arms over her body.

Black nail polish catches your eye. It goes well with her black hoodie, skirt, and thigh-high socks.

You look back down as she steps closer to the counter. "Ah, the flower... here it is." Wanda watches you fly from the email to a saved folder of your drawings. There, she watches you move your pen to three different versions of the flower. Each one having more detail than the last.

You turn the tablet over to show her.

"I hope you don't mind, but I added more detail. I think it looks very pretty with the shading and linework in the leaves." You point to the second drawing as Wanda smiles. Her green eyes dance from one to the next.

"They're amazing." She says with awe in her words without looking up. She lifts her hands over the third design. It has tiny stars and sparkles around the flower, as well as a diamond design behind the main piece.

Wanda lifts her head to you, and your eyes trace her face in a second.

She's gorgeous, and when she smiles, you smile.

"I- uh-" You pull your eyes away and turn the tablet around before you fumble and grab the form for her to sign. "I- um, if you want to go through with it." You lift your eyes and smile. "You'll need to sign this." Wanda reaches up and grabs the form. "And I'll need your ID to make a photocopy." Wanda looks up, and you see her decide her eyes. "Okay."

Wanda hands you her ID before she takes a seat at the couch near the counter to fill out the form. Before placing her ID in the printer, you take a glance at it.

She wears a pout in her photo that makes you hold back a laugh. She looks so cute. You then quickly glance around the ID before placing it down and hitting print.

When you turn around, you see Wanda finishing up her signature as she bites her lip. Her pretty pink lips.

You then look away and catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror in the corner.

You had to get a hold of yourself.

She was a paying customer, not a random girl across the bar. However, it's not like that has worked out well for you before. Ex-girlfriends and all.

You shrug and return to grab the copy of Wanda's ID and her physical one.

"Here you go." She lays the form down on the counter as you hand back her ID. She quickly places it in her small red wallet before gazing at you. "I can show you to the table and let you get comfortable as I prepare the stencil."

Wanda nods, and you notice her hands pull at the end of her sleeves. "It'll be fine." You whisper and nod at her before leading her to your section of the shop.

It's a cute corner full of all your favorite photos, knickknacks, and collectibles from over the years.

The owner is your former mentor and teacher. And usually, on a Saturday morning, the shop would be busy, but for some reason, it's just you and Wanda.

Not that the brunette minded. Obviously. The fewer people around, the better.

So, as you slid into your chair and hit a few buttons on the machine, Wanda stood by the table with the sheet on it.

As the stencil finished printing, you turned back. "Oh shoot. I'm sorry." You got up with a laugh. "Would you like a water or soda or anything?" Wanda was about to shake her head before she looked over your face.

Yeah, she was thirsty.

"A water. Please." You smiled at her command. "Of course." You turned and bent down to the mini fridge at your feet. You pulled out a water bottle and got up before handing it to her. "Thank you." She replied as she took it.

"You can set it down right here." You pointed to a spot on the cart next to the table that Wanda would be laying on soon. "And anytime you need to take a break or have a sip of water. Whatever. During the tattoo, say something, and I'll stop." You made sure Wanda found your eyes. "Okay?" You asked again until she nodded. "Okay."

You closed your mouth and turned back to the stencil to hold in a "good girl."

Wanda's eyes went wide as she blushed.

She definitely didn't mean to hear that!

"Okay..." You cleared your throat and held up two different sizes. "We can place them, and then you can decide which size you want or-"

"That one." Wanda cut you off as she stepped closer to the one in your right hand. "This is perfect." She said under her breath, but you heard her, and it made you smile. "This one." She said as her eyes found yours.

You nodded. "Let's do it." You placed the smaller stencil down. "Okay, and placement... you didn't say on the from."

Wanda sheepishly nodded. "I was thinking my back..." You nodded. "Okay." But when Wanda didn't move, that's when you put two and two together. "Oh, sorry! I'll give you some space." You went to get up and walk away after drawing the curtain to your space close, but Wanda, without thinking, grabbed your arm and stopped you. "I wasn't thinking earlier and-" Wanda stopped herself with a sigh before she laughed.

Angelic.

Wanda's lips spread into a broader smile. You saw her begin to come out of her shell just a little more.

"I'm not wearing a bra." She said before she bit her bottom lip and looked away.

You could tell she was trying to hide her embarrassment. So you reached your hand to the one she had on your arm. "That's okay." You said before you moved your thumb over her knuckle.

Butterflies flew in both of your stomachs.

"May I?" You ask as you lifted your hand off of hers. Wanda nodded and watched your eyes lift themselves to her hoodie zipper. She felt your thumb brush the skin just below her neck.

Soft was her skin, but Wanda felt it burn once your touch left her.

And then you moved the zipper south just the tiniest bit before Wanda lifted her eyes to yours. "I-or- uh, you can unzip it a-and turn it around so the back of the hoodie covers your front."

Wanda heard you stumble and watched how your eyes looked her face up and down. She enjoyed it.

"I can do that." You smiled back and removed yourself from the room to give Wanda privacy.

Less than a minute later, she called you back in. She had her arms over her body as she held the hoodie close to her front. Meanwhile, Wanda's back was exposed to you, and you could see a faint tan line and several moles and beautiful tiny freckles along her body.

"You okay?" You asked as you put a pair of new gloves on before getting the spray and stencil ready. "Yeah," Wanda replied. "Just a little cold."

You stopped and looked around the room. In the winter, you had a heater in here, but with it being late spring, that was long gone. But your eyes did find something else.

"I have this." You pointed to a corner with a large hand-knitted red blanket that your friend Darcy made one semester in college before you dropped out. "You could bunch up under you, or I can place it on your lower back once you're on the table."

Wanda loved how kind you were being and thought about your suggestion. "Would it get in your way?" You shook your head. "Not at all." Wanda believed you. "Okay. Thanks." She smiled and grabbed the blanket. You watched her wrap around her lower back. "I guess I shouldn't have worn a skirt today." Wanda gave a laugh that made your heart skip, and your mouth said words before you could stop it.

"I think you look beautiful."

Wanda's face turned red like your blanket, and the stencil went still in your hand.

"Oh shit!"

Wanda heard your thoughts and said something before you could. "Thank you..." She bit her bottom lip and turned around so you could place the stencil on her back.

A couple of seconds when you came back to Earth, you did.

"Okay." You took a step away. "See how it looks." Wanda turned her head to the right and found the mirror beside you.

It was perfect.

She knew the process was going to hurt, but in this moment, Wanda would do anything to feel closer to the ones she lost.

"I love it." She said after clearing her throat.

That's when you realized that this wasn't just a random flower. This meant something.

"Perfect." You smiled at her green eyes. "Here." You took your gloves off. "Get comfortable, and I'll adjust the blanket however you want." Wanda let you take it from her and noticed as you turned around to give her a little privacy as she laid onto the table.

She smiled at that. "Okay." She said, and from her 90-degree angle, she watched you turn around. She then felt the blanket cover her entire lower body. It was nice and warm. The act and the care behind it.

"Good?" You bent forward, making Wanda nod. "Awesome." You said. "Remember, if at any point you need to stop, let me know." Wanda nodded once again before parting her lips. "Should we come up with a safe word?"

Your glove snapped as it went around your hand when you stopped at her words. You weren't sure if Wanda was joking, but when you saw her pearly whites, you once again got to see her leaving her shell.

You smiled back.

"Wow, Wanda, take a girl to dinner first." You said back as you picked up the tattoo gun and tested it. Wanda laughed over the noise that scared her just slightly before saying: "Pancake."

You knew what she meant. Even if her accent made the word sound exotic. "Pancake." You repeat. She nodded, getting hair into her eyesight that she blew away. "Pancake, it is Wanda." You then rolled the stool closer to her. "I'm about to start. Don't be afraid to bunch your hands and scream or whatever. You'd be surprised what people do."

"I'll be sure to do all of those things." Wanda joked with a wide smile before she felt your arm rest on her back. The contact sent a wave of goosebumps over her body once again. "Are you still cold?" You asked with the needle inches from her.

"I'll be fine." Wanda lied. "Remember Pancake." You said, earning a thumbs up from the brunette.

Seconds later, Wanda was receiving her first tattoo.

Time passed as Wanda did her best not to let the tears in her eyes fall. She knew you were being careful and cautious. Gentle and light. But god, this hurt.

As you moved further down the flower, your eyes briefly looked at Wanda's, and you saw the water filling them. "You don't have to answer this if you don't want to..." You were going to talk to her to distract her from the droning buzz of the gun and the pain that came with it. "But." You continued. "I'm always curious about people's first tattoos." Wanda sniffled as her green eyes looked at you. "So why this one?"

Wanda let out a breath. She appreciated that you wanted to know more. "It's the national flower of Sokovia." She said, and you stopped shading as you looked down to her face. She was looking down at you. "Sokovia?" You asked, making her nod.

You knew of Sokovia.

You saw the news reports and watched the footage of buildings falling from the face of the earth. You knew about Ultron and the Avengers. And now how the once Eastern European country was slowly being washed from the world maps.

"You're Sokovian?" You asked. "I am," Wanda replied with her accent heavy. You gave a weak smile and paused before saying. "I'm sorry for what happened."

Wanda swallowed the tears in her throat.

You weren't the first person to apologize for the actions based upon others, but you were the first person who probably meant it.

"Thank you." She quietly replied before letting out a breath and some words of truth. "I was there."

You now leaned back in your stool. Maybe this was a good time for a break.

"When it was lifted into the air?" You asked, earning a nod. And as opposed to asking why she was there or how she survived like Wanda would've expected, you instead asked: "Do you have any favorite memories of Sokovia before you left?"

Wanda took in your words and thought about it.

She nodded.

"Sokovia was always on the brink of Civil War and had an uneasiness to it." Wanda paused and lifted up to drink some water. As she moved, she felt the pain and warmth from the fresh art on her body. Nevertheless, she knew the two of you had a while to go. "But.." Wanda smiled as she laid back onto her stomach. "There was this park close to our apartment. Every day after school, I'd run to the swings and try and launch myself as high as possible." Wanda laughed. "I wanted to fly."

You smiled, and for some reason, it was like you could see the stories clearly in your head.

It was beautiful.

"Nights I loved. After schoolwork and chores when it was just my brother Pitero and our parents watching old American sitcoms and having meals, my Mama grew up with..." Wanda trailed off as her voice became soft. "Those nights I'd give anything to have again."

Wanda didn't even feel the tear slip from her eyes.

But you saw it glimmer in the light, and within a second, your gloves were off as you handed Wanda a tissue.

Her fingertips brushed yours as she took it. "I'm sorry." She patted under her eye. "This is so embarrassing." Wanda balled up the tissue before you reached out for it. "No, it's not." You said as Wanda placed the tissue in the palm of your hand. "I think it's sweet." You smiled at Wanda before getting up to quickly wash your hands.

"I'd love to hear more about Sokovia as long as you want to keep talking about it." You said as you slipped on a new pair of black gloves.

Wanda shook her head yes.

And once the needle made contact with Wanda's skin again, did she tell you stories about the bake shop down the block from her school. Or how her brother was almost kicked off the school's track team. She also recounted her favorite episodes of Bewitched once you teasingly pressured her.

The conversation flowed naturally, and by the end, Wanda didn't feel the pain in her back. She only felt it in her cheeks because she was smiling so damn much.

"Okay." You put the gun down and wiped down Wanda's tattoo one last time. "You're free." You joked with a smile as you tossed your gloves away.

"Oh god, I don't think I've ever been so stiff." Wanda cracked her neck before she moved her legs off the table. She wobbled once her feet hit the ground, but thankfully, you were quick to stabilize her. "Here." You handed Wanda her water. "Don't need you passing out or anything before you see it."

Wanda gladly took a few sips before handing it back.

She then took a few steps forward before turning her exposed back to the mirror on the wall. As her green eyes made contact with the black art, she gasped and let out a ragged breath.

"I love it." She whispered before glancing over at you. Your eyes instantly connected to hers. "I love it." She repeated. Her eyes went back. "It's perfect." Up and down, her eyes went before she turned around to grab her phone.

A smaller iPhone than you were used to seeing.

"Could you take a picture?" She asked you, to which you nodded and smiled like a dummy as Wanda turned her back to you.

"Okay." You said after you perfectly framed her body. "I took about fifteen." You laughed before remembering the phone in your pocket. "Wanda?" You looked up at her. "Hmm?" She lifted her face from her phone. "Could I take a few pictures for my Instagram and website?"

"Of course."

Normally, she would've said no. She hated getting her picture taken. But normally, Wanda didn't get tattoos or become this close to someone like this.

Like you.

You were special.

"Thank you." You nodded to her as you put your phone down and grabbed some hand sanitizer. "Okay, let's get the wrap on, and then I can go over the aftercare."

Wanda's focus was back on you, and she hung on your every word.

"Y/N?" Wanda spoke up as your hand slimmed out the clear wrapping on her tattoo. "Wanda?" You said in the same tone, making Wanda teasingly roll her head away from you.

"I was thinking..." She started as you lifted your touch away from her soft skin. "Yes?" You asked as Wanda turned her face back to you.

She cleared her throat and sat up on the table.

"Could I have the pictures you took?" You easily nodded. "Sure, I can DM you on your Instagram or-"

"You could text them," Wanda said with confidence clear in her voice.

You stopped. "Or I could text them." You smiled as you stood up and grabbed a pamphlet of the aftercare process for Wanda to follow. "Here is everything you need to know." Wanda took it gently from your fingers. "What lotions to use. What soaps to not use... I could also text you this information. If you'd like."

You said as Wanda looked up and handed you back the pamphlet.

"You can text me."

You nodded. "Then I'll text you." Wanda shyly looked away from you as you both wore pink on your faces.

You looked around your space. "If you'd like to use the bathroom, it's just down the hall to the right. If not, I can meet you at the counter, and we can discuss cost. I'll only be a couple of minutes."

Wanda nodded and got up. She pulled the black curtain to your space back and was about to step out when she stopped herself and turned around to you. "Thank you. For everything. I'll probably thank you repeatedly, but I want you to know I mean it. They were with me before, but now their little flower has one for them. " She gave a watery smile, and before you could respond, Wanda walked away.

Wanda pulled out her phone, brushed her eyes, pulled her hoodie around, and stared at the tattoo pictures until you joined her at the front.

When you did, you held the red blanket Wanda had been using earlier. "Here." You said as you sat down next to Wanda on the waiting couch. "I'll text you it later, but one of the final steps of aftercare is to have a warm blanket nearby. So here."

Your kindness throughout the whole day meant more than you'd ever know.

Wanda swallowed and reached over, letting her hand run through the blanket before grabbing yours. Soft was her touch.

You let her fingers brush over your knuckles. "Is there a step about good company?" Wanda questioned as her voice became thicker with her accent. Her body leaning forward. "Yes." You nodded. "Company is supposed to take care of dinner." Your voice had become slow as you carefully weaved into this space with Wanda.

"Dinner?" Wanda husked. You simply smiled. "Text me when you're free?" You raised an eyebrow as Wanda looked up and scrunched her face.

She hadn't felt this way in a long time.

And neither had you. So when Wanda gripped your hand and gave you a very nervous but small peck on the lips, you let her.

And Wanda let you give her a discount even though she used the remaining cash she had as a tip.

Moments later. "Sent." Wanda received your text with a blushing emoji quickly, followed by a detailed step-by-step aftercare plan with a video in case Wanda needed it. "Thank you." She said before she texted back an emoji with a smile.

"I'll text you!" Wanda said in response to you as you closed the door to the shop behind her. Only then did you notice that your open sign had been flipped to close.

You didn't remember doing that.

But it didn't matter. You found yourself smiling and laughing all day. Learning about a country you were going to search traditional dishes from.

You met Wanda.

Wanda Maximoff.

You blushed when she texted you about a half hour later, letting you know that she had made it home safe. Wanda then sent a picture of her with the red blanket wrapped around her body.

You and Wanda texted every single day before and after your first date. You made Sokovian meals for her and took her around the city to let her experience anything she wanted. You held her close and kissed her as the two of you found yourselves under the same red blanket. You told her you loved her two months after she introduced you to her co-workers/housemates.

And now, as you wait for Wanda to text you after her mission in Lagos, are you working on a flash tattoo sheet of a scarlet witch.

Your girlfriend.

Wanda Maximoff. Your Sokovian Flower.

dividers by @/benkeibear

[fuck-customers]

Oh my god they're literally doing it. They're doing the fucking overly memed pizza party unironically. Lmaoo fuck all the way off.

I've bitched about this scam before, so some regular followers may remember the phone number scam, but I'll recap anyway.

GFH has a phone number scam where they pressure us employees into pressuring customers to give us their phone number + full first and last name + email + home address and tell the customer that it's for "rewards" which is a bold-faced lie. We DO have rewards, but they cannot be accessed by the cashier or register AT ALL. The customer has to have the store app downloaded onto their phone and must be signed into their account to get rewards or coupons. Cashiers have NO access to this information and cannot retrieve it for customers if they forget their phone or can't sign into their app. And we do not have printed coupons available. Customer forgets their coupons? Tough shit.

There is literally no benefit for customers to give over their contact info. At. All. A transaction with the signup and a transaction without are EXACTLY the same. So, obviously most customers are not real eager to hand over their info.

But customers that do automatically assume that it's like legitimate stores that do have real rewards systems that are activated through their phone numbers. And it doesn't help that management lies to them by omission/misdirection and calls the signups "rewards system" and encourages naive new hires to lie to customers. So customers assume that because they rattled off their phone number, now they get discounts.

They do not.

Another "benefit" management tried to lie to customers about at first was by saying that they could only do returns without receipts if the customer signed over all their personal info, but that was very quickly disproven and is easily worked around. (For example, a return without a receipt requires a "government ID number" where the cashier is supposed to ask the customer for their ID and type in the ID number, but you can literally keysmash some random numbers and hit enter and it works exactly the same)

(I personally get around all of this by keysmashing a bunch of numbers to make up a phone number and input the customers name and email as x x x@x.com or whatever random letters I hit first. The only "mandatory"- i.e. criteria that the register requires you to fill in- is first and last names, phone number and email, so I skip the address shit, but I know managers do it the "correct" way and bully customers into giving over all of the other personal info)

So now they (management or corporate or both) want us to get an 80%+ rate of signups (new and old customers both count, woohoo I fucking guess) and then they'll give us either the memed pizza party (unironically), or a taco bar (whatever that is) or a potato bar (whatever that is) All of this while being paid minimum wage, no raise or bonus for the extra workload, while each of us gets 3-12 hours a week. Absolutely no mention of increasing hours or pay increases or bonuses.

They also didn't specify what the 80% was a percentage OF. 80% of your daily transactions? 80% of your weekly transactions? Biweekly? Monthly? Fuck knows.

So corporate and management both can take their stupid pizza party, taco bar and potato bar and shove them all directly up their asses.

Posted by admin Rodney.

[gayf1hoe]

Part 1

As I sit down with my bowl of cereal I begin to open my laptop and see an abundance of emails that I have ignored over the course of the past few weeks, because I've been having a full media and work detox.

As the emails load I see the latest email is from Gunther so I decide I best not ignore it otherwise if I ignore it like I did when I first joined the team he will give me a lecture about how rude it is to ignore emails. Opening it I scan it with my eyes whilst spooning my cereal into my mouth. I read that Gunther has called for a meeting for today which isn't much of a surprise given it's only a few weeks until pre-season testing and I don't even know who my teammate is. After last season I need a good teammate. Nikita was a great person but a terrible teammate. It was like Haas had only one driver driving for them because he spent half of his time spinning off the track or going into the wall so this year I need a teammate who will be able to score points alongside me.

I continue scrolling through the emails and curse myself for putting myself in this position, when people say F1 drivers just drive a car they are so wrong. They should try keeping up with all the emails and brand deals we have to do.

I finish my breakfast and quickly jump in the shower and dig out an outfit from my draws that are more than due a clear out but that's very far down on my very long to do list that never seems to be fully complete.

I double check I have everything before shutting the door to my apartment and heading to the factory where the meeting is, thankfully it isn't far away as when I joined Haas I bought an apartment close to the factory and moved.

As I approach the entrance I am handed my ID pass and make my way to Guenther's office. The building has become like a second home to me, in fact I have probably spent more time here in the past 2 years than I have at home, it's full of loads of Haas memorabilia such as the burnt Halo that saved Grosejans life, or the chassis of previous cars. Unfortunately the trophy cabinet isn't as grand or as full as Red Bull's or Ferrari's but it still displays the team's short history.

Eventually after greeting everyone who I haven't seen for a few months I reach the door of Gunther's office and confidently knock and wait for a response from within, it doesn't take long for him to say "come in".

Whilst he is my team principal he is also like a father figure to me and I would be lying if I said I didn't miss his dry humour and constant use of profane langauge over the course of the break.

I take a seat opposite him and see that there is another chair next to me so I assume someone else will be joining us shortly. We take a brief moment to catch up after the break and we discuss what we did and he asks if my swearing is under control yet. As last year every team radio and interview I almost certainly used a swear word, although I don't think he has much room to talk.

I could tell how stressed he was last year having Nikita crashing his car every 5 seconds, Dimitry threatening to pull out the Uralkali sponsor and having 2 rookies on his team was never going to be easy but I don't think he envisaged it being that hard, last year Haas managed to get 112 points all of which came from me so by the end of the year I was very burnt out and spent the entire break doing absolutely nothing.

The conversation bounces back and forth until there is a knock on the door causing silence to hit the room, Gunther goes over to the door and greets who ever is there but I can't see or hear who it is until Gunther moves out the way and motions to the chair, causing me to stand up and prepare to shake the person's hand what I didn't expect was to see that my new teammate was Carlos Sainz.

I knew Carlos was out of a seat this year, with much controversy behind it. I just never would have expected him to come to Haas, it's not that I'm unhappy with the team choosing him but he's going from one of the top teams to a team that is struggling to stay in the fight to be a midfielder.

Another reason I'm stood in silence is because well, Carlos is gorgeous there is no denying that and his natural charm makes him irresistible. I'm snapped out of my thoughts by Gunther repeatedly saying my name until I turn my head towards him and he then motions with his head for me to shake his hand. I shake his hand, make eye contact with him and say hello.

We both take a seat and Gunther walks around to his side of the desk, it kind of feels like you've been called to the Principal's office, even if you know you have done nothing wrong there is always nerves in your stomach.

"So Y/N if you can't tell by now Carlos is your new teammate" Gunther says in his typical blunt tone that makes me smile.

"Yes I had gathered that much Gunther"

We spend ages talking about media and contracts but it's more focused on informing Carlos on how the team works and what the expectations are although I can only assume they are a lot lower compared to Ferrari.

We are doing pre-season testing and revealing the livery in 2 weeks time so there are a lot of things to sort out in a short period of time. But after the meeting Gunther lets us go to lunch and it provides me and Carlos with an opportunity to get to know each other. before we go into the simulator for practice.

The lunch hall is quite full as the preparations for the next season are very much in full swing and with MoneyGram being the new sponsor there is a lot to change, I wish I could say I will miss having Nikita as a teammate but his father and Uralkali made my first season and absolute nightmare constantly accusing me of having a different or better car to Mazepin, I can't even begin count how many times my car was inspected by the FIA last year.

We collect our food and head to a quiet conference room as the dining hall is flooded by engineers, designers and loads of other staff that makes it barely possible to actually hear anyone. We eventually reach a quiet conference room and place our lunch down at the table before sitting down. For the initial 10 minutes we are just sat in silence before I'm the one to ask the first question.

"So why Haas, you must have been pretty desperate for that F1 seat? I say trying to break the silence with some humour.

"No, I wanted a team that would challenge me and I thought you would make a great teammate" as he finishes his sentence I have to look down because I can feel my cheeks blushing bright red like I've just seen my high-school crush.

He has great charisma, humour and looks and he is an extremely talented driver, the polar opposite to my previous teammate so I am elated at the fact he is my team mate although I'm sure my attraction to him will at some point cause a predicament that will arouse drama for us and the team. I can't help but admire him from the opposing side of the table, I probably look obsessed right now - but maybe that's an accurate description.

Throughout lunch we get to know each other more and more. He speaks about what it was like to have Charles as a teammate and I speak about what it was like to have Nikita as a teammate and I think I win at having the more Interesting stories.

But no sooner than lunch had started we have to go and do testing in the simulator which is an all too common thing in preparing for the season however I have never been a fan of simulators I don't feel they give the proper experience and plus 20 to 30 years ago there was no such thing as simulator testing and the drivers managed just as well. Me and Carlos go to separate rooms for the simulator tests and after we have to get our seats moulded so we don't see eachother until about 5 PM when we are allowed to go back home.

Unlike Carlos I live near the factory however he still lives in Spain so he's renting a hotel room. When we meet in the lobby I suggest we go for dinner at a nearby restaurant I know well and he agrees. We both head to my Audi and take a seat, "nice car" he compliments as he buckles his seat belt. We begin driving and in typical England fashion it starts to rain and the sound of rain pelting against the metal is a sound that feels the air of silence. But eventually Carlos sparks a conversation between us that is more personal and detached from racing.

"So do you have a partner?" He asks "nope, painfully single and probably will be forever" I reply further questioning "What about you?".

"Same, still single" he replies, "but sure someone with your good looks would be able to find someone" I instantly regret saying that it sounds like I'm hitting on him and he can clearly tell that I'm embarrassed.

"No need to feel shy, I am very honoured that you think I'm good-looking" whilst his response calms me, I still can't help but feel a little embarrassed still.

Shortly after making a fool of myself we pull into the parking bay of the restaurant and step out into the rain. We hastily rush into the restaurant taking refuge from the rain and are guided to our table by the waiter I know very well.

We are sitting down at the table and the waiter comes by again, "Now Y/N will it be the usual" he says whilst placing his hand on my shoulder, Carlos quickly averts his attention away from us and back to the menu after he's finished taking our orders Carlos comments on his behaviour.

"He's very touchy don't you think, maybe he likes you"

I laugh at his comment, "please I know his mother and he's so not my type"

"Well what is your type?" He presses on.

"The complete opposite of him" I state trying to give as little away as possible.

"Anyway, what's your type?" I ask, trying to deflect.

"Well I don't have a specific type I'm open to all kinds of people" He answers and as he finishes our food comes out putting an abrupt end to that conversation.

Over the course of dinner we talk about the plans for the forthcoming weeks and what the reaction is going to be like when everyone finds out that he's going to be driving for Haas. I can't lie, I can't wait to see the out roar of disappointment when they find out Carlos Sainz, one of the best drivers on the grid is in a Haas. I bet it's an image some can't even begin to imagine.

After dinner I drive Carlos back to his hotel which isn't too far from the restaurant and as I am about to drive off he invites me in.

"Hey, do you want to come in for a glass of wine?" He asks whilst undoing his seat belt.

"I can't, I'm driving" I say.

"Well you can just stay the night", I think about it momentarily and agree to come in. I quickly park the car and walk into the hotel with Carlos.

When we reach his room he quickly digs around in his pocket and pulls out his key card and opens the door. His room is more grand and well decorated than my own apartment and it's fixtures are more extravagant than anything I had ever seen.

Carlos walks over to the mini bar and pours two glasses of red wine and hands me one as I'm walking over to take a seat. I take a moment to admire the rest of the room, and wonder where Haas found the money in the budget for such a nice hotel.

We continue talking about our F1 careers and whilst mine is only 2 seasons old his is much more interesting than mine. We also talk about our personal lives, friends, family, relationships, hobbies and soon one glass of wine turns into a whole bottle.

Whilst I'm not drunk I'm certainly a little tipsy and probably not in the right mind frame to drive or walk home so I decide to take Carlos' offer of staying the night so I quickly get changed into some shorts and a t- shirt Carlos had given me and climb into the bed. Yes it's a little weird sharing the bed with my new team mate but I have known Carlos since last year so I guess it's not that bad.

A little after I had gotten into the bed Carlos comes out of the bathroom and gets into the bed next to me and turns the TV on.

"What do you want to watch?" He asks.

"I don't mind," I respond.

Shortly after he picks a TV show I drift off to sleep and don't really remember much.

Waking up in the morning I feel a headache and a slight hangover sweep over me. I hadn't had a single alcoholic drink since the last race of the season so it hit me pretty hard.

With my eyes feeling extremely sensitive the slight slither of light that bypasses the blinds peirces into my eyes causing me to let out an audible groan that causes Carlos to wake up.

"Are you ok?" He asks.

"Aside from a banging headache I should be fine" I say, pulling myself out of the bed and walking over to his table where there is a pair of sunglasses and putting them on to reduce the strain on my eyes.

I walk into the bathroom and have a shower all whilst keeping the sunglasses on my headache only seems to intensify as time passes.

I get changed in the bedroom whilst Carlos has a shower and we have to be at the factory in less than an hour so I only manage to have an apple and a glass of water for my breakfast and due to my headache I can't drive, so I entrust Carlos with my most expensive possession and pray he doesn't have an accident, but as he is an ex Ferrari driver I have faith in his competence and driving ability.

Although Carlos is a good driver I don't think he understands the speed limit is a limit and not a target and I'm sure when I go home there will be a speeding ticket in the post. However we do arrive much earlier than expected so I guess that's a positive. As we walk into the factory the smell of automotive oil is a smell that doesn't help my hangover at all.

We are left standing around for about 5 minutes before the head of Technical Engineering arrives and tells us what we are doing today, not before he questions me.

"Y/N is there a reason why you are wearing sunglasses indoors when it is winter?".

"I've got a little headache" I reply but he already knows.

"As long as your hangover doesn't impact your performance today I will look past it" he says unlocking the doors to the simulators.

Today is the day that Haas will announce that Carlos is joining the team and we have been informed we are filming a short video which will cause many people to have the shock of their lives.

3 hours of my day is spent in the simulator running through every single setting the car has and the different types of balance settings the car has. It's quite boring but it's also important.

The media manager comes by and pulls me and Carlos out to film the video and we have to do so many retakes because we can't stop laughing and I keep on saying "Uralkali Haas" instead of "MoneyGram Haas" but the final result doesn't show how many times we had to go through it.

"Hi guys my name is Y/N L/N, and I'm Carlos Sainz and we are the drivers for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team"

The team are then going to take that speech and make a promo using photos of me and Carlos in the sim and in our race suits and by 2 PM the video is out and the Internet is going wild especially the other drivers who had no idea Carlos was going to Haas.

I get a text message from George who knows about my slight crush on Carlos and says:

"Don't get too carried away" I laugh at his message and Carlos asks what I'm laughing at but I just say it's a meme, and technically I'm not lying because I am talking to the most meme-able man ever.

Over the course of the next hour the media is going absolutely berserk. They never saw this coming and quite frankly I can't blame them because I didn't either and I don't think Gunther expected Carlos to actually say yes.

Mid way through scrolling through the comments Carlos comes over and says, "I'm going out for dinner tonight with Lando, George and Alex and they told me to tell you that you are also invited" I thank him for telling me and I get back to doing some admin tasks to pass time and clear things off my extensive to-do list.

As the day progresses my hangover eases off and I manage to cope without wearing sunglasses and I vow to myself that I'm not going to drink for a few weeks, but these self promises never seem to stick.

I'm sitting in one of the conference rooms meticulously reading through emails, rules and regulation changes, and other miscellaneous things like sponsorship information. It's all quite banal and mundane but I'm in a great flow and manage to read most of the stuff that I had been tasked with so it should make Gunther and the management team very happy, last year I didn't really make an effort and didn't fully comprehend all the rules and may have accidentally touched Zhou's Rear wing in parc ferme and it was a costly mistake that resulted in me being shouted at by Gunther like a school child.

I decide that I have read enough for one day so I decide to collect my belongings and head down to the reception area to wait for Carlos. He is taking a while so I begin to pace up and down admiring the past cars that are on display showcasing the history of Haas, but eventually Carlos does turn up.

"Sorry I'm late, Gunther was lecturing me" he says sincerely.

"It's fine he does that often" I say putting my coat on and removing my keys from my pocket.

"So what restaurant are we going to?" I add.

"It's a Thai restaurant that Alex found, I'll drive if you want me to".

I think for a moment but see he clearly wants to drive so I chuck him my keys and we exit the building.

When we arrive the guys are already standing outside waiting for us and as we step out the car George is giving me his usual devilish smile that is insinuating something. We greet each other and shake hands and hug each other and they are all excited as they haven't seen each other in a few months. Despite being in F1 for a year I kept myself to myself and maintained a private life and didn't really connect with other drivers apart from George, Lance and Pierre so it's a little awkward for me as I have barely said 10 words to Lando or Alex.

We eventually head in and we are shown to our table. I try to sit next to Carlos but Lando gets there before me so I sit down in-between Alex and George.

I take this time as an opportunity to get to know Alex as we haven't really had much time to talk.

"So how's things going at Williams?" Is the first question that comes to mind but given the results of the season I can sort of make my own answer up.

"Yeah it was a tough season but we are working hard this year, anyway how are things going at Haas especially after Mazepin?"

"Going well, obviously I have a new teammate now so hopefully more points and hopefully the car spends more time on the track than in the wall".

He laughs lightly at my little dig at Nikita and then asks how I'm finding Carlos being my new teammate and I can't really think of an answer as we have only done two days of simulator testing so I can't really give a valid answer so I simply reply "it's going well, I think we get on" George hears my response and I see him pulling that grin again and I lightly hit his leg with my foot under the table causing his grin to dissipate.

Over the course of dinner Lando and Carlos are constantly touching each other and joking with one another and for some reason I feel angry, jealous?

I know I have nothing to be jealous of, it's not as if he's my boyfriend or even remotely interested in me so I have no idea why I'm feeling these feelings that are so irrational.

At one point Lando is holding on to one of Carlos' arms and I excuse myself from the table and head to the bathroom where I take a moment to just cool down and splash some water on my face. I don't intend to make an embarrassment out of myself over a guy I have only really known for 2 days. As I'm patting my face dry with the paper towel I hear the door behind me creaking open and see George enter.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

"I'm fine just struggling with a hangover still" I reply.

"You know you are one of two people after Carlos and Lando is fierce competition. He won't let Carlos go that easily, but don't give up."

"I'm not after Carlos I'm after a race win and more points are the only 2 things I'm after in this world, besides relationships just get in the way" I start heading for the door and George places his hand on my shoulder.

"Believe me trying to block him out it won't work, I've seen Lando try and fail doing that. And you are teammates you are going to constantly be reminded of him"

"Thanks for the words of encouragement George" I say sarcastically before heading back to the table.

I manage to finish my meal and decide I have had enough of watching Lando fanboy over Carlos and say I'm going home and I ask Carlos for my car key.

When he asks why I'm going I say I'm just tired and he asks if I want him to drop me off but I tell him it's fine and he can stay and enjoy his evening.

As I walk out to my car and press unlock I hear someone call my name and turn to see Lando running towards me.

"Is everything alright?" I ask

"Everything is fine, just do me a favour and don't make things difficult for me and Carlos," he says.

"I'm sorry what do you mean exactly"

"Well I like him and I want to get with him at some point but I know you like him too so please let him go and settle for second best"

When he says that I become enraged and say something I probably shouldn't have.

"I guess you know a lot about being second best considering Oscar is always out qualifying you and getting more points than you, McLaren must really love you to still keep extending your contract but you will never be as good as Oscar"

"Don't be bitter Y/N it's not a good look"

During the drive home I am fueled by anger and I have gone over the speed limit a few times but at this point I don't really care, I have never been so annoyed by a single person.

I spent a year with Nikita and Dimitry Mazepin. I thought I had the patience of a Saint to deal with them, yet some McLaren driver comes along, makes a few comments and I see red.

I fumble around with my house keys before eventually finding the right one and open the door. The entire apartment is dead silent apart from the faint ticking of the clock. I throw my keys onto the small table by the front door and sit on the chair by the kitchen Island sipping on a glass of water when my phone pings and it's a message from Carlos.

'Hey Y/N me and Lando are going to a karting track tomorrow for a quadrant video. Would you like to come?"

I can't think of any excuse to get out of it so I text back "sure" despite the fact I'm completely unsure and a day with Lando and Carlos will really test my patience.

[pencil-peach]

G Witch Onscreen Text: Episode 3

This is part FOUR in my ongoing attempt to transcribe and discuss all of the text that appears on screens and monitors in the show! Because it's COOL!!!! HUAHHHH!!!

<< Click here to go back to Episode 2!

Take My Hand..... Let us go....

TEXT (Bottom) No. 001 MOM

This is just the UI that appears during the video call, not much to say, but the fact that No. 001 appears above Prospera's contact name in Suletta's Phone probably means that contacts aren't sorted in alphabetical order, but by the order they were registered into the phone.

Suletta's Mom is No. 001 because she's the first (and by this point in the story, probably only,) contact in Suletta's phone.

Following this same line of reasoning, Sarius is registered 39th in Shaddiq's phone, and his contact name isn't "Dad" or something like that, it's just his full name, Sarius Zenelli. All business with this guy, huh?

TEXT: ID: 5011-01 NAME: PROSPERA MERCURY COMPANY: Shin Sei Development Corporation POSITION: REPRESENTATIVE PLACE OF BIRTH: MERCURY FIELD: PERMET MINING TECHNOLOGY, MS DEVELOPMENT CHILDREN: 1 SPOUSE: DECEASED PERSONAL HISTORY:

Assigned to mercury development group Married in the field Gave birth to SULETTA MERCURY Injuries to half her body from resource mining accident

EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION: Mining accident victim

HOKAY. There's a lot to dig into here.

So first, minor thing but I figure it important to mention, the ID on Prospera's profile is 5011-01. The first half of the ID matches that of Aerial's Permet Id, which is 5011-0083. What this means particularly is beyond me I think. Maybe the first half of an MS ID is in reference to its creator? Maybe it's just coincidence? Who knoooows

It's very interesting how almost all of the data that's recorded here is just straight up wrong. Prospera was not born on Mercury, didn't marry in the field, (well...i guess technically she did. Not THIS field though.)

But what I think is most important here is that Prospera is in fact receiving workman's compensation for a mining accident. It's easy to assume that this is also misinformation, that there never really WAS a mining accident, but lets think about it for a minute.

We first hear about this accident during the Shin Sei hearing, when Prospera claims the accident took her arm and face. We KNOW that she's lying about this, because she lost her arm back when she was a child. It doesn't explain her helmet, though.

Then we see this, and learn that she's actively receiving workman's compensation for the incident. In episode 24, we finally have a name to the condition she has: "Data Storm Infection," and we learn that it's actively paralyzing her body.

So, I think the mining accident did really happen. The resources they were mining for would had to have been permet, which would explain how she became infected with a Data Storm.

This is mostly speculation on my end, but look at Prospera's Permet scar. It's focused around a single point. We can't know what specifically happened, but if I had to make an assumption, during the accident she probably got blasted in the head by a potent chunk of permet at that spot. Or something like that. I could talk about it another time.

Anyway, moving on !

TEXT: (El4n's phone) EXCHANGE COMPLETED PILOTING DEPARTMENT ID No: LP-041 NAME: SULETTA MERCURY CONTACT INFORMATION REGISTERED (When the two are in the process of registering, the tab says ADD FRIENDS instead of EXCHANGE COMPLETED)

Just the contact exchange screen.

Not text, but I think knowing now that Jeturk Heavy Machnery was the top company in the Benerit Group gives new context to how swiftly the company began falling in the ranks entirely because Guel lost the title of Holder. It really does give you a lot of sway within the Group.

TEXT Subject: Regarding the next Duel From: Vim Jeturk To: Lauda Neill

Follow my orders for the next duel. Make sure to look into the attached file.

Regards,>>attachment file

This is the email Vim sends Lauda before the duel, about rigging the sprinklers to go off.

Not going to transcribe all this again, just wanted to point out that when one of the main settings in Aerial is yellow, that means its currently active/online

TEXT: SEMI-AUTONOMOUS MODE [???]

Cant read the sub heading in this shot, but we can see that the Darilbalde is currently on Semi Autonomous Mode

TEXT: INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEM LOCATION: 7TH TACTICAL TESTING SECTOR CURRENT STATUS: ABNORMAL STATUS: LOCAL HEAT ABNORMAL. COOLING BY WATER

Here we get a brief look at the environmental control system that Felsi and Petra messed with for the duel. They turned the humidity up to 98

When Suletta wins the duel, she already has the Holder emblem and colors on her Duel card. She also has 2 wins, so her and Guel's first duel is no longer voided.

TEXT: KP001 ELAN CERES CONGRATULATIONS!

When Suletta wins the duel, Elan is the first person to send her an email congratulating her on the victory

She also gets a bunch of other messages from other students at the school. Most of these are repeats of each other, so I'll go ahead and only type out the unique ones: YOU'VE DONE IT! CONGRATS! SO COOL! WELL DONE, MERCURIAN GIRL! HOW LUCKY! WOOHOO! NICE FIGHT! CONGRATS! YOU WON! MERCURIAN GIRL...G... GIRL, DONT LOSE! I THOUGHT YOU COULD DO IT! YOU'RE A SPECIAL... GREAT! GREAT! BEAUTIFUL VICTORY!

When Miorine tells Suletta to set her inbox only to friends, you can see that she does at the top there.

No text here. I just really like this frame.

TEXT MOTION DETECTOR ON

Nothing super interesting here. I just like it

Anyway!!! THAT IS ALL!! WE HAVE MADE IT THROUGH!!! As a reward, here is a funny image

Me when a pretty girl is nice to me one time.

Lots of fun stuff this episode! Please excuse the tangent on Prospera, I just think she's really interesting. I think my favorite email from this episode was GIRL, DONT LOSE..... GIRL...YOU HAVE TO WIN....!!!! I'm still having a lot of fun with this! And I hope you've been enjoying it too! Until next time....hoyaaaahh...

Click here to go to Episode 4! >>

Click here to go to the Masterpost!

[3hobbitsinatrenchcoat]

Today is a perfect day to post this nonsensical email my dad got a couple years ago:

I do not know what is better: thou could have dollars or Are you inflamed by the post

Regardless, the mix of thine and thou alongside U and biz is BIZZARE and I can't stop laughing.

Photo ID under cut

Photo ID: three images screenshot from an email that reads What a great day, A novel appointment of Boxing Supervisor of our logistic community has been established. Our business offers a very respectable payment and training case to set thou as a partner of our growing and heavily effective partnership.

We unearthed thine contacts via the CareerBuilder online database and ponder that your craftsmanship can be highly profitable for the business. If only ye are called by our concern's offer, would you please give an e-mail to our biz so our comradeship's human Resource leaders are informed about you to report you more precise post's description.

Pay cheque: $4,000 a 1 month.

The suggestion for workers which would like to act from apartment. If U can naturally do the job at thine house starting from 9 AM ending with 5 PM, thou could have dollars. The essence of our partnership's location is to operate with bales. What shall be thine direct capacities: accommodate bundles from single sender, make another pack for them based on our company's guidelines, and to forward them to further organization. Thou will be a perfect suitor for said appointment if you all are a just started to be a mother, a learner of Internet method of studying, retired, unable to work a full day outdoors persona, or the persona who objects against the need to exit place of residence to do function.

You all shall not be obliged to deal with too heavy clots. Mainly, you will see frocks or amusements inside the boxes. Instructions is established without payment. Everything ye should need to be employed by us is a laptop, access to the Internet, & printer to be capable of printing papers. How much you will obtain depends exclusively on ya'll - the more time ye function, the more money you obtain. On average, folks which simply start off functioning for our comradeship obtain approx. 1000 bucks per week.

Are you inflamed by the post? Feel free to give a letter to our business via electronic mail. Also, bear in mind about being at house from nine-hundred hours to 17 o'clock PM is a needed condition to be able to be employed to the mentioned function (or, the mentioned stance isn't for ye, unluckily).

j

[macoto17]

Beware guys, FB/Meta seems to be more actively shadow banning users that support 🍉 and also profiling users while at it.

My FB profile just got locked just moments ago. I was just sharing a GoFund link to an FB group that support 🍉 and suddenly, FB said that I am not allowed to share anything to any FB group anymore...?

Like, I don't even post on FB every day, just about and lurking around.

Then again suddenly after seconds, my profile is locked, and it said that someone is actively trying to hack into my account. I already have the 2-authentication thing set up tho 🙄😮‍💨

Afterwards, it said to retrieve my account, I need to submit a pic of my ID that should at least have the same name as my profile name and at least the same birthday date as on my profile too. Which I did submit the pic, but I guess since my profile name is not my real name and my profile pic on my ID is blurry (thanks to the gov budget camera lol), they further reply through email with this (which really confirms that they really are have been profiling users):

This is actually already my 2nd account, they did a similar thing to my 1st account, which was making users confirm their real names. If you failed to do so, the profile name will be change to your real name and can't ever again be changed. (This may be old school, but it's not actually safe to reveal and use your real name online.)

I guess from that point on, where they make users confirmed their real names, they were already starting profiling users.

I guess with this, I no longer want to make another account coz this is already too inconvenient since it's already my second account.

Oh yeah, don't forget to keep boycotting/cancelling and keep doing the blockout on all platforms guys 🤗 Please don't also forget to keep signing those petitions 💖🍉 TQSM 🙇🏻‍♀️💖

[mandy4ever69420]

what do you think about gallavich having kids

well they both seem to really like kids so i ignore my automatic flinch reaction to the corniness of "tv couple has kids" because its not out of character. you know, it's a stated goal of a nice man. i think it'd be nice for them. certainly not til they're in their 30s at least though Sorry Ian one apartment does not a family ready man make

like obviously the whole yevgeny thing would have to be reckoned with like mickey as a man who likes kids + did not want that child but grew fond of him anyway + was forcibly separated for years by incarceration* and not a single aspect of that is conductive to a good emotional response to just having another one. i don't know necessarily that reconnecting is necessary (as opposed to just, noticing and dealing with how it feels) though i think it'd be nice, maybe to have mickey a sort of more distant family figure for yevgeny - i don't think svetlana would allow yevgeny to live in a way that his needs weren't being met AND i think jumping back into being fully involved would probably freak mickey out

as much as i enjoyed their new apartment i think it's a little sad that they don't live with a couple family members anymore (for now) because i think being able to be close with siblings' kids would be really good for ^^ all that - also it's just safer for kids to have a larger support system than just their parents

there are unfortunately also not a lot of ethical ways for a gay couple to GET a kid... i don't have all the sources, i'd have to ask to get a better explanation, but adoption and surrogacy are both highly flawed systems that often mislead and exploit birth parents. annoyingly enough the most ethical idea presented was probably the "you want me banging your sister??" (IVF exists btw mickey. no you do not have to bang his sister in this scenario) exchange because they know debbie and she'd be able and definitely determined to be involved in the life of any hypothetical child. BUT STILL - even beyond that they'd need to be sure she wanted to be involved, id say it'd be important to know she already wanted another kid. like BEFORE saying anything. pregnancy is a potentially dangerous and traumatic process that it's really not fair to ask of someone!

shameless itself within the show briefly referenced the problems with adoption and surrogacy both - in how objectively horrifying some of the people karen talked to were, in how horribly unfair it would've been to separate v's mom from her child with kevin, in those men who wanted to adopt liam and carl with no concern for their existing family who loved them.

thinking about ian and mickey having kids inevitably leads me also into the philosophy of the "nuclear family" which is just in general not a great setup anyway... having more support and more regular contact with trustworthy loving adults is always healthier for a child. having only 2 people be in control of your whole life + whom you rely on for everything carries more potential for abuse or just flat-out overwhelming the parents. so being in a wider family network is probably not what ian is picturing but if i could email him i'd recommend it wholeheartedly

*and probably not knowing where svetlana is. i assume she gave up hope that mickey would care because they're both such "show by doing" ass bitches which is IMPOSSIBLE to do from inside prison. so he can't express his care for a child he's grown attached to and she can't see him care for her son -> she feels heartbroken and doesn't want her son to grow up around a man who "doesn't care" -> she cuts off contact, leaves the area, refuses to discuss mickey. all speculative

[ohmytamara]

My favorite dark fantasy is losing a life. Not literally I mean, but having a future and opportunities and dropping them to be a slave thing for an owner. It's a fantasy and it's nice as it is. Thing is, I actually did it, gradually, not knowing how far I'll go with it, for a time until I was able to break out from it. Disclaimer: I am sure it's fun with actual responsible owner.

By now she has me tied financially. I got a huge loan taken for our future together which we will pay back together (cause we will right?), and that keeps me well secured against thoughts of leaving. Lately I was punished severly for writing a tumblr post she did not like, so I know better than to express my opinions. I got some skills - particularly writing and very good English. She reassigns them to her advantage. I wrote her twitter posts. I write descriptions for her vids. I do a bit of SEO for her website. Basically i am her little copywriter. Then things get weird.

Things is, she's a bit paranoid, she can't forget and can't forgive what she considers a slight. She's a divorcee, no need to go into details but it was ugly. She wants revenge. She wants me to find a way to inform my country's government that her ex husband was a spy in Ukraine pretending to be diplomat.

Ok, I chewed and swallowed all the whatthefucks that come at this request, riddiculous for number of reasons. I left hanging the question did she consider, if such info was actually treated seriously by any serious agency, what would be consequences. There she was gleefully looking at me. And I said to myself, fuck. Life is short and meaningless. End is coming with heavy steps of the climate change. Nothing matters but I am owned like I wanted and that matters so why not have that fun ride. So I did find an email address of most paranoid MP, anti commie conservative I could think of, created a fake address and send a message. To make thing funnier for me, I named my fake email after one of well known Polish dead communist. I was certain that bait was way too obvious for anybody to catch on it. Nothing ever happened afterwards. She forgot about the thing. MP never caught any spy as far as I know.

While that was a bit fun, another thing had me shivering. It was first day of school for her kid and she had another amazing idea how to kick her ex, who was guardian of that boy. She had me ride to that school with her and wanted me to pretend I'm from social security, asking around, supposedly reacting to a tip about child's harm.

It was so much too dark and wicked for me. Playing with her child's security like that to fuck with a father. Involving me in it on such level. Expecting me to snoop around primary school, adult among children faking my identity, you know what I mean. I dreaded doing it, lying and meeting a teacher who demands my ID. This was terrible idea but I was too scared of her, soon after recent punishment. I went there with her. Fortunately she changed her mind while we were there. So I just moved around the grounds like pervert until new school year celebration ended and she was ready to return.

That event made me question her, well, everything.

[moss-covered-thoughts]

I need a funner way to have clinical depression

Obligatory don't read if you have triggers

Like fuck me

I have a Dr appt today, gonna ask about my crippling oversleeping patterns. I'm exhausted and can barely do anything. I barely want to do anything

I have a dentist appt in 2 days where I'm sure I'm gonna get shit for not taking care of my teeth. Should I tell them I was too busy trying not to kill myself to remember to brush? I feel like I wanna tell them they're lucky I'll be there at all, but I've decided I don't trust med professionals anymore

I probably should find another therapist but that's back to med professionals problem

Which brings me back to sh. Def into it rn. I'm considering pulling out a student loan just to go get a tattoo so I can experience a socially acceptable form of pain

I mean I'm gonna need student loans anyways cuz I can't afford much rn. But does that stop me from wanting to get more tattoos? No

Also I should probably be more invested in helping Gaza rn. There's real families really suffering. I'm emotionally on autopilot. Everything I'm doing RN is on autopilot. I brush my teeth on autopilot. I eat food on autopilot. I write my emails on autopilot.

I wanna die but I told myself id try another 5 years to see if it gets better

But Jesus Christ am I even gonna make it that far? Do I want to make it that far?

Just. Fuck me. I'm so tired. All my friends have real lives and work and school. I haven't done anything in like 2 months except rot. I don't have a reason to be tried but I feel like I'm barely alive either way

[trans-ralsei]

so i have dinner with my ex-boss every once in a while, when she lands in the home city.

those who know me know it as a very nerve-wracking affair.

she was the woman who told me it was possible to be me, because she was at the top of the thousand-strong newsroom I was a mere cog in. she commands a presence at her age. she teaches at the school i want to be in.

those who know me also know how much i made light of it last night. explaining otnk pharma to a 60-year-old trans woman, and homebrew E's recent history with the Ukraine conflict, as she talked about her experience with HRT the only way trans folk talk about this to each other.

cyproterone, spironolactone, estradiol, the risks homebrew caused, safety issues, and how endocrinologists have reacted. navigating the healthcare system in the home city, for which i wrote the guide. the simpler system in her city, where Planned Parenthood and her insurance has it all sorted out. how her gender markers diverged across borders, and how she's still incredibly frustrated that gender self-ID doesn't exist in the home city, which meant that she’d consistently be outed by her passport.

('take your bloods, and change your CV!' she chastised, as she walked back to her hotel.)

i think i'm incredibly blessed, maybe. at networking events with her people would come around and introduce themselves, and if i was standing next to her, she'd introduce me to them.

i also think, repeatedly, that i'm fucking fumbling it all somehow. the way i've struggled to return to news speaks for itself, really. i wonder if i'm cut out for it, if i should reach out to the contacts she's given me. i've sat on an email address for a few days now because i've had no idea how to broach the topic, even as she gave me permission to namedrop her.

i like her company! i like that we are talking.

but i can't help but feel like i'm a mere commoner talking to an Elf of the West. i can't help but realise that she (and by extension, the trans elders and trans senpais around me) didn't ask for me to be here, that i am a mere intruder into their spaces, even as i work intensively to prove my worth there.

would life for them worked out differently if i kept to myself post-transition, if i never transitioned at all? i think the fact that we are together says something about me, and it says something about them.

i am deeply in love with the fact that despite our variances in gravitational influence we are all seeking to make our mark in this rat's ass of a society, in the people around us.

my ex-boss, with her intricate effect on trans journalism around the world, being on the board of the association. being the top trans journalist in the US.

my friend, who was there at the dinner - talking about how she was consistently pestered by the local queer chamber of commerce to be on the board of another organisation that she's set up, not knowing how, by agreeing, she was also fundamentally expressing a degree of care for the things that mattered to her.

and me, standing amongst these larger-than-life figures, trying to do the same.

maybe i should stop thinking of this blessing as a curse.

[translations-dark-matter]

Living as an Extra in an Omegaverse novel

Chapter 79

"Ah..."

As Se-hyeon entered the factory, he raised his hand to adjust his necktie, but instead of grabbing the tie, he caught hold of his sweater, causing a frustrated sigh to escape his lips. He had forgotten to change back into his suit.

"This is awkward."

When dealing with the other party, there is a certain sense of formality that comes with wearing a suit, and it's important to start with that foundation.

Feeling a sense of emptiness from leaving behind one weapon, Se-hyeon briefly clenched and released his hand before lifting his head. He made the judgment that it would be better to handle the work hastily rather than returning to change clothes.

Se-hyeon finished adjusting his sweater with a light brush and entered the factory. He showed his employee ID to the security guard, along with mentioning that he came from the headquarters. The security guard seemed perplexed by the sudden visit but stepped aside, allowing Se-hyeon to enter without delay.

He had reported to his superiors, but he hadn't informed the factory. It could be seen as an abrupt visit, which might make the factory manager uncomfortable... but for Se-hyeon, it was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. Those who prepare and wait in advance often can't obtain what they desire, so a surprise visit was the best approach.

Thanks to the noise of the machines running, many people didn't notice Se-hyeon's presence. As he briefly glanced at the people working in their respective positions, Se-hyeon took a shallow breath when he stood in front of the office.

As he knocked and entered, several pairs of eyes gathered on Se-hyeon, as if they had been waiting.

"What brings you from the headquarters?"

A man dressed in the same work attire as the people outside approached and spoke.

"I'm Ahn Se-hyeon. I've come to meet the factory manager."

As Se-hyeon introduced himself, the man took out his employee ID from his front pocket and hung it around his neck, briefly glancing at another office located towards the back. It seemed to be the office of the factory manager, but no one came out.

"He's not currently here, but if you leave your contact information, we'll get in touch."

In response to the words of the man, Manager Kim Cheol-su, Se-hyeon looked around instead of giving a direct answer. He skimmed through the densely packed documents and casually made eye contact with a woman who pretended to be looking in this direction. After giving him a professional smile, she fixed her gaze on the monitor.

"I'll wait here then."

"Here...?"

As Kim Cheol-su was about to repeat Se-hyeon's words, he added a remark as if something occurred to him.

"But it might be noisy here. The noise from the machines is quite loud, and it gets even louder when the door is closed."

"It's fine."

Se-hyeon responded as if it didn't matter, and Kim Cheol-su couldn't say anything more.

"Alright then."

As Kim Cheol-su nodded, Se-hyeon placed his bag on the sofa and spoke.

"Is there another lounge area here?"

"Yes, it's on the opposite side. It's for the employees to use."

"Then I'll just comfortably sit on the sofa here."

"Since no one else will come in, you can do that."

Kim Cheol-su scratched the back of his head and returned to his seat. From the occasional glances he gave Se-hyeon, it seemed like he had something to say. Se-hyeon pretended not to notice his gaze and walked towards where the water dispenser was.

"Can I have coffee here?"

"Yes, you can."

Kim Cheol-su nodded with a somewhat flustered reaction, and Se-hyeon took out instant coffee and poured it into a paper cup. As he went through the natural process of mixing it with hot water, the office seemed to have an uneventful atmosphere.

After finishing a cup of coffee and checking work-related emails on his phone, three hours had already passed. During that time, the only notable things that happened were Kim Cheol-su receiving internal phone calls more frequently and the machines stopping their noise.

Se-hyeon checked his wristwatch and looked at Kim Cheol-su and the woman.

"It's lunchtime. I'm fine, so please go ahead and have your meal."

"Um... we can't leave an outsider alone in the office."

"Even though I'm considered an outsider... I'm also an employee of SR, just working in a different position."

Se-hyeon responded with a sincere smile, as if emphasizing that they were colleagues in the same group. He seemed to be firmly rooted in his position, making Kim Cheol-su hesitate for a moment before hastily opening his mouth.

"Let's go together! Let's have a meal."

The emphasis on "together" stood out. Se-hyeon nodded, indicating that he was okay with it. Thanks to the snacks he had picked up here and there, courtesy of Shin Tae-oh, he wasn't hungry.

"Please go ahead."

Se-hyeon expressed his intention not to touch anything by hugging his bag placed on the sofa, accompanied by an innocent smile. Kim Cheol-su, upon receiving the smile, seemed to stiffen his expression for some reason.

"Take care."

Just as Kim Cheol-su was about to speak again, the woman stopped him. She practically pushed him forward and, just before closing the door, gestured to Se-hyeon with her eyes, indicating something.

As soon as the two left, Se-hyeon stood up from his seat. He took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and went to where the files were placed.

As Se-hyeon examined the name tags with his eyes, he turned around with a gleam in his eyes.

"Hello."

A middle-aged man who was coming out from a hidden room and heading outside flinched and slowly turned around.

"I didn't even know if anyone was coming because I was focusing on something else."

Se-hyeon approached the factory manager and spoke. He knew that the manager was inside, not coming in but pretending not to know, casually...

From the moment Se-hyeon poured the coffee, he knew that the factory manager was inside. The reason for this discovery was simple. It was the small coffee spoon placed on one side, specifically meant for stirring the coffee.

There were traces of recent usage. If it had been used yesterday, there would have been dry remnants, but there was none. While someone had consumed the instant coffee, the woman and Kim Cheol-su were holding Americanos with a café logo on them.

It could be possible that someone else had come and made the coffee, so Se-hyeon's intuition could be wrong, but it didn't matter. Judging by Kim Cheol-su's reaction, it seemed like waiting would be the right thing to do.

Indeed, as he waited, the person appeared before him just like this.

***

Shin Tae-oh was gazing at the factory when his phone rang. Without even looking to see who the caller was, he answered.

"Lately, you've been acting quite abruptly."

It was SR CEO Jung Mi-jeong. After conveying her message about removing Director Jo and Manager Park, she received this response over the phone. Shin Tae-oh couldn't hide his mischievous smile at his mother's words.

"That's how it turned out."

"You acted as if you were going to keep an eye on them, but what changed your mind?"

Mi-jeong's words were spot-on. From the beginning, she also had no intention of keeping Director Jo and Manager Park around for long. Cutting off rotten buds as soon as they appeared was her mother's temperament.

However, Shin Tae-oh was different. He wasn't satisfied with just trimming the surface. It seemed like he was waiting for it to rot all the way to the roots before taking action. Suddenly, he changed his words. As someone in her position, he couldn't help but be curious, so he had to make the call.

"Hmm..."

Shin Tae-oh turned his head and looked at the driver's seat. The secretary who had been here left only faint pheromones that could be detected by someone who had experienced them once.

Why does a person have such a sweet scent? Was Ahn Se-hyeon made of candy? Or cotton candy?

Whatever it was, the scent that enveloped him shook Shin Tae-oh. His scent was so intoxicating that it felt like his heart or head would explode.

"The fox played a prank on my person."

With a swaying tail and mouth-watering prey, he presented it. It was the confidential data of my company's rival. How could I just sit idly by without taking a look?

"I'll make sure they never play pranks again."

It was regrettable that I couldn't accumulate more evidence against Manager Cho and Director Park, but if I wanted to protect Se-hyeon, I had no choice.

Thanks to Se-hyeon, it wasn't such a bad time to prepare for the consortium.

"Let the prosecution catch a whiff."

"Any evidence?"

"I'll have it with me."

Taking the sight of people pouring out of the factory as a signal, Shin Tae-oh got out of the car.

His steps, rising above the waves of people coming out, felt light as if he could fly. It seemed like something interesting was about to happen today, as a faint flush appeared on his face.

"Who are you?"

Shin Tae-oh, who had entered the factory, smiled at the man and woman who had yet to come out.

"Me?"

I already revealed who I am to the security guard earlier.

"The CEO."

With those words, Shin Tae-oh closed the door to the factory.

***

"Ahem. Who are you?"

"I am Ahn Se-hyeon from the secretary's office."

They probably know who I am. That's why they haven't come out yet.

"I didn't hear anything about someone coming from headquarters."

"I apologize for not informing you in advance."

Se-hyeon acknowledged the situation that could be unpleasant for the factory manager with a polite apology.

"Ahem. Let's go inside and talk."

The factory manager brushed off Se-hyeon's greeting with a dry cough and went into the office. After sitting down first, he tapped his armrest while waiting for Se-hyeon.

Knowing that his mind would be swirling with complicated thoughts, Se-hyeon tried to enter calmly. However, just as he was about to enter, a thud sound came from outside, causing him to stop in his tracks. It seemed like something was happening outside, but there were no emergency alarms ringing.

The factory manager didn't show any particular reaction, ruling out any mechanical issues or other emergencies.

Though Shin Tae-oh did come to mind...

'He's probably sleeping quietly.'

He wouldn't come all the way down here just to cause trouble.

Prev / Next

[health-insurance-struggles]

So you're going to the doctor...

Cool! Well, sorta.

Most doctors do everything they can to help their patients, from advocating for their health to fighting an insurance company over coverage. Some are...less like that. Either way, there's a process and insurance is involved in most of the steps. Let's talk about it!

How to find a provider in a few steps!

(Disclaimer: they are not always easy)

Start with your insurance network. Seriously. You get a lot of protection when your doctor or hospital is legally contracted to bill and perform services in a distinct way. Your insurance company hates spending money! They don't want to pay anyone if they don't have to, which means you can stand behind them and point your finger at the doctor making them write a check.

You can do this in reverse too! If a friend gives you the name of a doctor, you can check what insurance they accept before anything else.

**I cannot stress this enough: use your insurance's website or app to search for a provider. Do not trust what a provider's website says. It can be out of date or flat out wrong. Your insurance website will be significantly more accurate.**

Find what you need. What kind of doctor are you looking for: primary care or specialist? Do you want someone who runs their own practice or is part of a larger hospital system?

Research, research, research. Are you looking for LGBTQ+ friendly? Someone of a specific gender? Race? Someone whose last name starts with H or their location has the number 7 in it?

Narrow it down. Maybe you've found three doctors that you like. Great! Google them. Read reviews from other patients (not on the doctor's website, since they only post positive ones). Google other doctors at the same practice (if they have them).

Contact them. Ah, yes. The dreaded phone call, because you will end up on the phone with them at some point or another. Most doctors will have a 'Contact Us' page on their website. It'll ask your name, phone number, email, and a quick blurb about why you're reaching out.

Make an appointment! The doctor's office should reach out to you about making an appointment with them. Have dates and times already in mind when they do. Are Wednesday afternoons a no-go? Write it down somewhere so when you get on the phone and you forget everything you've ever known, you have a piece of paper or note in your phone that saves you. I recommend writing down your legal name, date of birth, address, phone number, and availability. I also have a picture of my ID card in the note. (Mine is titled: DOCTOR APPOINTMENT GARBAGE and all the things listed above are things I've forgotten when making an appointment. Yes, including my name. Shut up.).

What they'll ask. Your insurance information. This will be the name of the insurance company, your member ID, the group number (if there is one), and the customer service number for the provider.

What next? Bring your ID card with you to the appointment, or email a copy beforehand.

The appointment! It's a doctor appointment. I can't really...tell you what it's going to be like because that's between you and your doctor and god (but in an nonthiest way). Basically, this one is on you buddy. I do have a post with more details on providers themselves located HERE.

Afterwards... Your doctor's office will file a claim with your insurance company. I have more details on claims on another post HERE.

Finally... You'll probably get some kind of bill. Match your bill up with the claim from your insurance company before you hand over a single penny. If you give the doctor's office a credit card beforehand, you better check that whatever they charged you is what they should charge you.

And that's mostly it! Stupid complicated of a process, and one that dumps pretty much all the responsibility on you, but hey. That's how it's set up for now.

[khodorkovskaya]

06.05.23

two things:

i drank 40 year old coffee and now my family is falling apart

my stepmum called me and said some weird shit

story number 1:

so ive been living at my stepdad's old place for a while now and all his stuff is here. one time i ran out of coffee and was too lazy to go to the grocery store. so i started looking around the house if there was any coffee left by any chance cos when i moved in he had like rice and pasta and things like that and he said i could eat it.

and i found this weird looking red packet of coffee

ive never seen this brand before but since im a cheap ass i just thought that maybe this is some fancy brand id never noticed before. and without giving it much thought i opened it and drank it. it wasn't too bad, i quite liked it although it kinda taste like dust but i thought it was the chicory.

fast forward to yesterday, my stepdad was giving me a ride home and we were talking about coffee like what coffee based we like etc. and he said that the best coffee he's ever had was when he went to america in the 80s and stayed with a host family in louisiana and they had this special coffee there he doesn't remember the name of. he said that he brought back a bag as a souvenir and the packaging was red. and that's when it hit me....

my stepdad was furious! ive never seen him so angry before! turned out this coffee i drank was one of his most prized posessions! so he started shouting and me. my mum was there too and now she is very angry at him for shouting at me. so my stepdad is mad at me for drinking his souvenir, my mum is angry at my stepdad for shouting at me and i feel really bad! no one is talking to each other, everyone is angry and the family is falling apart!!!

i emailed the coffee company too see if they have any old coffee left in stock so that i could make it up to my stepdad. but i don't have hope, the damage has been done. so yeah. any ideas of how i could make it up to him????

story number 2:

my stemum called me a couple of times yesterday and i didn't reply bc i can't stand her, god forgive me :///

at around 11pm she called be again and i was like okay maybe it's something urgent idk, she didn't text me anything before so maybe it was sth serious. so i decided to reply. and big mistake!

she was drunk. i could literally hear her pouring herself one glass of wine after another. and she was blabbering such nonsense. it was unbearable. the reason she called me was ofc because she wanted something from me. she was looking to buy tickets from brussels to tivat for her friends and wanted me to see if the prices on the swiss version of the website were cheaper. which is a weird thing to ask in the first place plus like imagine negotiating with a drunk person. i was telling her that the tickets she's looking for cost around 500 chf. and she was like "look at easy jet" and i was like "i am on the easy jet website" and then the next moment she'd ask me to go on the easy jet website again and id be like womannnn that's the website ive been on this whole time ive told you a million times.

then she stated going on about how she's angry with me bc she gave me this vip person's number and i never contacted them. she never gave me this number! i scrolled up to see all of our messages from this year and she never sent me anyhting!

anyway, i was already regretting having picked up the phone. and then she started going on about my father and how his own family (sister+mum) betrayed him. and like. he's the problem. he's the reason no one in the family likes him. like you can blame it on exterior factors all you want but he's the problem.

ive been getting a lot of bojack horseman clips in my recommended (should i rewatch it? 💀) and there's one clip where todd is telling bojack that it's not the alcohol, not the trauma, it's YOU. and that's literally how it is with my father. he (moreso his wife) loves to bring up how his family wronged him and cut him out of their lives. but why did they do it, huh? it's YOU.

[oldageandtreachery]

Monday BOP/DOL/Buses

Fantastic... So I went to the DOL today to get a state ID since I have no ID whatsoever and the FBI opted to never bother returning my drivers license etc so I don't even have the expired one.

The trip itself went poorly, the halfway house had to scramble to find me a bus pass since I can't use my BOP debit card on the bus. By the time they found their Orca card I walked to the bus stop and missed the bus. Fortunately the busses I was taking I intentionally picked for remaining the same throughout they day unlike some of the other route options so I was able to catch the next one. I wouldn't even need to take a bus except the DOL near the halfway house has still been re-opened post pandemic so the closest one is 58 minutes away on foot which honestly I can barely walk 58 minutes post pandemic my lung capacity seems to still be shot and my heart is not in great shape anymore either. On flat ground it'd be one thing but Seattle is basically the same as trail hiking :|

So I arrived at the DOL much later than I intended, then waited 45 minutes, then the one bit of good news. I don't need to get a state ID despite what I was told by the DOL person I emailed I can renew my drivers license. No retest, nothing just a simple $10 fee for an expired renewal so $85 total. Now back to the bad news... my BOP debit card does not working fucking anywhere. It doesn't work on the phone, it doesn't work online, it doesn't work on buses, and guess what it also doesn't work at the DOL. So now I'm at the DOL with the process finished other than paying and my card doesn't work. The guy helpfully directed me to the 2 nearest banks to try ATM options. I did manage to find out which PIN is correct as it is not the one that comes on the form that comes glued to the card but the ATM still wouldn't let me get any money off the card. I returned to the DOL where I was already about as late as possible to maybe still make the bus I had scheduled back. The DOL guy helpfully let me know that no one can pay on the phone or online it has to be done in person... oh and no they can't call the halfway house and don't have a phone I can use to let them know I'll be late (the DOL guy really was nice and trying to be helpful he just works in a bureaucracy so that doesn't matter at all since he can't do anything). He did write me up a helpful note with a business card stapled to it signed and saying what time I left since he couldn't call and couldn't print anything.

I returned to the bus stop now well past when the bus left... Again good news I picked buses that run the same all day so I waited for the next one. More good news the (not trying to be judge) likely homeless individual also waiting for the bus was more than happy to let me use their phone. His response when I showed him the halfway house business card and asked "could you call this number for me?" was to immediately exit what he was doing, open the numpad, and hand me his phone saying "No problem brother, I've been there". There is definitely an extremely high correlation of people who ride buses and people who have been in halfway houses. After calling I spent another hour getting back since I had no idea what other buses I could take and had to wait for the ones that I knew were going to where I wanted. Over all I basically accomplished nothing in my entire trip but I did find out I can renew my license with no retesting or anything, and most people who ride buses have no problem yelling to anyone in general to ask if they know where X is or if this bus goes to X and what stop to get off at etc. Most people riding buses have absolutely no idea where they are, whether or not they are on the right bus, or where they are going.

[madchild-dennis]

Sigh...sometimes I can't be bothered because what's the point.

Because, WHAT?

Ok I get it. Card machines and cashless life seems ideal. I mean I lived it in Canada. Sending email money (e-transfers) for every transaction, even little transactions. I mean transactions like someone I never met/met online (Kijiji) and doing business; it was easy & cashless.

But COME the fuck ON.

First of all, in Canada with an ID, SIN and a proof of address and NO money I can open an account EVERYWHERE (major banks). Even with debts from another bank and problems. Remember I have $30,000+ CAD in debt. Some debts are to other banks, like the one I had when I first moved there. I could open a new account even after racking up debt and unemployed or more. I don't need a JP I don't need money and I don't need a sacrifice a lamb. In fact one bank is free monthly and can open at a post office. That's how easy it is in Canada to have a bank account. Also all done within an hour, once it's a basic account.

Now fucking Jamaican BANKS. I opened an account at JN in 2020 after failing to open one at Scotia in 2019. I mean I had a whole job and more and still couldn't open it 2019. Then to open it at JN I had to dig find leap and jump to open one and they nearly not allowed it because I didn't have my Canadian SIN Card with me. (In Canada they are good with pictures of the original without seeing the original because their system and infrastructure is prepared and intertwined).

JN I found out is a credit union or something like that. Which means unable to do certain things. Or some shit.

Now NCB created an account that you can open with just $100, an ID, TRN, proof of address but you are limited unless it's upgraded. To upgrade you have to have $5000 and a form for the JP to sign (if unemployed or self employed) or job letter (some minimum wage jobs don't give a job letter, even after YEARS with them). Otherwise the account can't take foreign transactions nor go over $250,000. That's only at NCB (to my knowledge).

Then let's talk about banking experience. From the faulty devices to the LONG whole day/half day wait. Nah I know someone who it took 2 days to open an account. Then let's talk resolving issues that take long or workers on the customer service line being clueless. You know that is not even as big as the other issue.

The issue of MISTRUST of ALL BANKS and those working there.

Should I talk about Usain's MILIONS. Or old people's savings. The bank managers and much more stealing?

Who the FUCK TRUST the Banks in Jamaica?

Oh wait I know: People in Kingston.

The discussion of bank cards & cashless transactions, to me is like rich people complaining loudly about the worst flavours of caviar and where they shouldn't park their yacht.

Because the card machine issue to me is a Kingston issue not a Jamaica or a Government issue in my opinion. Yes people are fearful of being robbed at a ATM.

However until Banks/Bank accounts are accessible, safe, easy to acquire and majority of Jamaican citizens (including the poor, unemployed, uneducated and more) has it. The topic of a cashless Jamaica should remain a "High Tea" Party topic of discussion and NOT a political/government issue.

What should be done first is making the Banks secure, accessible, easy, and achievable to ALL.

I get it, being robbed is a fear. And there are much more concerns. Until Jamaica become more FAIR. That I mean, minimum wage is livable and the government is protecting ALL especially in the workforce. That is when you will see LESS CRIMES, like such. OR that is when it would be fair to implement severe punishments that will deter criminal activities. Without doing it as I said (making things fair FIRST, then implement severe punishments), NOTHING WILL CHANGE. They'll find and already find craftier ways to steal and more.

I know it's NOT FAIR. Jamaica as it is NOT FAIR to MANY.

Until it is fair, people will try to even the scales or take what they want as they feel, because the system as it is steals from them if they follow it.

[nina-vonnegut]

This "porn ban" is just as stupid and ineffective as the 1st one.

I understand why a porn ban was needed from tumblrs point of view. The site started out "too big" and "too inclusive" which made it a small wild west heaven.

You can't possibly make a site for and with porn (y content), violence, slashers and death AND minors, a site for everyone and everything. There is no infinite inclusivity. It's impossible without really heavy monitoring of users, perhaps even ignoring privacy, demanding ids and stuff.

Tumblr doesn't have an effective check for legal adults. I have been born in 1988 for over 10 years here. I have never been a minor on the internet even when I was one. Kids these days do suck at pirating cause they never had to but lying about age on here or making another account, or email and lying about age there, isn't that hard.

Besides banning porn there is no way to prevent minors from seeing it without more effort and money spending. Like the ban doesn't prevent that either but it does absolve the people running this site from 90% of responsibility. And shows intention.

As someone whose many fyhorror etc blogs got deleted during the 1st ban, I know that the definition of nsfw is very broad and porn(real porn!!!!!) is like the last concern. I know staff doesn't have the capacity to really look into flagged and appealed shit. A cheeky cartoon is as likey to get banned as a gif of real life humans having sex. As likely to be mass reported and staff just deleting it to spare some headaches. Female presenting nipple just being another insane statement but also presenting a loophole.

After the 1st ban we got the pornbots and the blogs and the weird sugar daddies in the notes. After the 1st ban I still saw, and still see, a bunch of porn here. But have difficulty keeping a fan video of Spartacus, the show, from getting banned. It didn't even include any sex scenes. Some people tagged it as nsfw, which is fair maybe some workplaces frown upon a bloodbath, but that got it banned and deleted within hours.

Now other people/users are allowed to put "labels" on other people's content. Like we don't have "debates" with some rabid people every 6 months about cp on ao3. The cp in question being, 90% of the time, fics of Archie and Jughead blowing each other in their hs auditorium. Oftentimes written by minors themselves. Those crazies, with apparently no jobs or obligations, will mass report. And be very loud and insistent. Remember them misusing a site for helping cp children get out and reporting manga and fanart? The site had to be taken down btw.

A site that has no rules, no content warning as a whole, cannot exist without intruding on someones freedom of expression. Someone will always be offended. Tumblr doesn't want to be a "porn site", cause there just isn't enough porn for that marketing. But it also doesn't want to be a "kid site" cause we do have porn and violence here. Tumblr needs to take a plunge and either make a tumblr kid+ for minors, or the ones who are honest about it, or just declare this an adult website with nsfw content. I honestly don't think much will change anyway.

Btw this is what happens when child spaces get eradicated on the internet and everything is made for profit, aka a broad audience.