#Affordable Places to Live in Texas

[vaguenotions]

I really hate feeling irrational and upset over food. One of the worst things to be upset about. It feels SO fucking stupid.

[neolithicsheep]

I've been meaning to write this down for some time because there are some fundamental errors that people keep making in crowdfunding/sales that shoot their campaigns in the foot. So here's a list of easy principles.

Who am I and why should you listen to me? I am a freelance chaos marketer who has raised well over $100,000 when totaling up various crowdfunding campaigns, mostly for aid to Afghanistan. In addition I've managed to successfully market everything from stuffed plush koalas to hydration salts. Why am I putting this out here for free? Because despite a years long track record of success in social media marketing no one will hire me because I don't have a college degree, so I might as well help people out who can't afford to hire full time marketing. 

If you'd like to hire me to help you evaluate your marketing and sales and teach you better skills on a 1 to 1 basis then hit me up, I am often willing to barter, esp with artists in a variety of mediums! 

Anyway on to HOW TO CONVINCE PEOPLE TO GIVE YOU MONEY:

TL;DR: use positive messaging that humanizes everyone involved and make it as easy as possible for people to give you money.

1. Shame and guilt are demotivators. They will not inspire people to give you money. “Why aren't people helping” “I guess people don't care” “This isn't getting enough shares/donations” etc etc. Online fundraising is often frustrating, heartbreaking, and will make you angry, especially when there's a humanitarian crisis involved. It is critical that if you are raising funds for someone else that you have a place to vent that is not the audience you would like to donate to the cause. 

2. Use motivating messages instead! “You can help!” “Even a small donation is important because it tells Recipient they're not alone, and people care” “We can't fix the whole world, but we can make this one thing right, and that means something”. Emphasize that this is a problem that the reader can help fix with even a small effort. With items for sale, tell a story. "I drew this thinking about how safe I always felt under a tree in my childhood backyard". "I chose the colors in this shawl to remind me of sagebrush and piñon pine in my favorite place."

3. Make it easy for people to give you money. Never talk about your product or cause without a link that leads directly to where people can give you money. They should be able to click one link on your post and land at the fundraiser or your shop. Every required click is going to lose people, so minimize the number of them required. This also means if you have a list of fundraisers for people to choose from the ones at the bottom will be neglected - people will hit the ones at the top. Be sure to take those off when they're met or periodically shuffle the list around to make sure everyone gets a chance to be in the first 5 spots. In online stores people will often only look at the first page or two of items so be sure to shuffle things around and remove out of stock items that are taking up prime real estate.

4. Humanize the recipient - this can be tricksy when raising charitable aid because you don't want to be exploitative. But to use my last Afghan campaign as an example, “We need to raise $500 for an Afghan family” is less effective than “This Afghan family's home was damaged in heavy rains that caused extensive flooding. They only need $500 to repair and rebuild so they can stay in their home and not become displaced.”  If possible, tell as much of the recipient's story as they consent to. Eg “Fred is seven and loves dinosaurs. His favorite is brontosaurus, and he carries a stuffed one with him everywhere. He wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up and discover a complete brontosaurus skeleton that he can give the same name as his stuffed friend. Unfortunately he's also a trans boy living in Texas and his family needs $1500 to rent a Uhaul and get to Colorado so he can grow up in safety and do that.”

5. If you're not the recipient, humanize yourself while you're at it! “I'd be really grateful if you all could share or donate” “This fundraiser really means a lot to me because…” “Thank you so much for any help, whether sharing or donating” 

6. Treat the audience like humans. Speak to them like they are people you're having a conversation with, not ATMs. This ultimately is the goal of not using shame/guilt and humanizing yourself and the recipient. 

7. Set low goals and bump them up when met. One of the weird things about people is they prefer to give to successful fundraisers. Yeah I don't know either. So you're more likely to get the full amount you need if you set a partial goal initially and then raise it when that's met. Raise it in small increments and raise it repeatedly as those goals are hit to keep momentum going. You can't always control this so if you're boosting someone else's fundraiser you can do it artificially via asks like “Hey y'all can we get together and put $500 on this?”

[mssalo]

safety - Part: I

Summary: After years of isolation, Joel Miller's life revolves around control and keeping danger at bay, his past as a soldier leaving him constantly on edge. But when a sweet, soft-spoken young woman starts working at the supply store, her innocence stirs something inside him. Despite his efforts to remain detached, Joel becomes obsessed with keeping her safe from the dangers he’s certain are lurking everywhere.

As his protective instincts morph into darker desires, the lines between safeguarding her and possessing her begin to blur.

Warnings will vary by chapter depending on the content.

Warnings: Dark!Joel, 18+ MDNI, Obsession themes, Stalking, Joel has major Trauma/PTSD, Mentions of military past, Manipulation, Power dynamics, Joel needs a hug and therapy. As per usual.

4k

Enjoy!

Part II Part III Part IV Part V

· · ───────────𖥸──────────· ··

Joel Miller wasn’t the type of man who sought peace or ease.

He’d spent too many years living a different kind of life-one built around routines of survival, discipline, and a level of alertness that never quite faded.

Now, back in Texas, he carried that constant vigilance like a second skin.

He’d settled in a small, secluded home just outside of Austin.

The area was quiet, isolated, the kind of place where nobody asked too many questions.

The locals respected boundaries, and Joel had made his clear. He kept to himself, lived a simple life, and preferred things that way.

People complicated things—something he wasn’t interested in anymore.

Most of his days followed a routine that he clung to with the same intensity he had in the service.

Early mornings were spent with coffee and silence, the smell of pine trees drifting through the windows of his old, weathered cabin.

Afterward, he'd take to the woods, either hunting or just walking trails he knew as well as the lines in his hands.

Out there, he could let his mind focus on something tangible—the tracks of a deer, the feel of the rifle in his hand.

There, his senses sharpened again, always on alert.

Joel’s awareness never dulled, not even after all these years.

Every noise, every shift in the wind or crunch of leaves beneath his boots, kept him on edge.

He was always scanning his surroundings, ready to react.

He knew it wasn’t just about the hunt.

It was the way his brain had been wired, after all the years of needing to be ready—whether it was for survival or something worse.

It wasn’t paranoia, just the reality of a mind that had been trained for danger. He told himself.

He didn't see many people. He didn’t want to.

But the thing about always being on edge was that it left little room for rest.

At night, the memories clawed their way in—images he’d rather forget but couldn’t.

Sleep was shallow and rare.

Even when he managed to drift off, he was often jolted awake by some phantom noise or sensation.

And once he was up, it was hard to shake the feeling that something or someone was out there.

He’d get up, check the locks, sometimes even patrol the perimeter of his land just to make sure.

In the quiet of his cabin, with only the crackling of a fire or the hum of the wind for company,

Joel would pour himself a drink.

Whiskey, usually. Something to dull the noise in his head, to take the edge off the constant tension that never quite left him.

But he never drank too much. He couldn’t afford to. He needed to stay sharp, always ready—just in case.

His life wasn’t complicated, and he liked it that way. He didn’t need company or connection, not anymore.

He kept things simple: survival, routine, and the solitude of the Texas wilderness.

It asked nothing of him, and in return, he didn’t have to share the parts of himself he’d buried long ago.

· · ─────

Waking up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat had become part of his routine, and after tossing and turning for hours, Joel would get up, make coffee, and try to focus on the small tasks that anchored him.

The sun was just beginning to rise as Joel Miller pushed the key into the ignition of his truck, the familiar rumble beneath him a small comfort in an otherwise uneasy world.

He had always been an early riser, but lately, the habit had turned into more of a necessity.

Driving out into the quiet Texas morning was one of those tasks.

The roads were mostly empty, and Joel preferred it that way—less to watch for, less noise, fewer things to trust.

He liked things simple.

Routine. Predictable.

After everything, it was easier to stick to what he knew, to keep the world at arm's length.

It was safer.

His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white as his eyes flicked from side to side, scanning the road ahead and the landscape around him.

There was no telling who or what could be out there, even in a sleepy Texas town.

He wasn’t stupid enough to let his guard down, not after everything he'd seen.

Trust was a currency he couldn’t afford to spend, not anymore.

He kept the radio off, preferring the silence. It gave him space to think, to process.

Most of the time, though, it just made him more aware of the quietness around him.

Every little creak or snap of a twig was magnified, every shadow cast by the rising sun something to take note of.

He didn't trust the peaceful exterior of the world anymore.

Too much could change in an instant.

It was exhausting, always being on edge like that, but Joel had learned to live with it.

He couldn’t imagine doing things any other way.

As he drove further down the road toward the camping&outdoor supply store, he caught a glimpse of something moving in the distance—a flicker of motion between the trees.

His heart quickened, and his foot instinctively lifted off the gas pedal.

He slowed down just enough to check the rearview mirror, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the tree line.

Nothing. It could’ve been an animal, but Joel’s mind didn’t let him settle on that.

Even when he convinced himself it was probably just wildlife, he remained alert, tension rippling through his muscles.

"Could be anything," he muttered under his breath, gripping the wheel tighter. "Ain't takin' chances."

The camping store was a bit of a drive, but Joel didn’t mind.

The solitude of the open road helped him clear his head, as much as his thoughts would let him, anyway.

Hunting was something he could still rely on.

He didn't need anyone else for it, and it gave him an excuse to get away from people.

He wasn’t much for conversation these days, always keeping interactions short and transactional.

He liked the supply store too; the guy who ran it knew not to ask too many questions, just handled the sale and let Joel be.

It suited him fine.

As the store came into view, Joel exhaled, his mind already running through what he needed to pick up.

The truck tires crunched against the gravel as he pulled into the lot, parking in a spot that allowed him a clear view of the entrance and the surrounding area.

Old habits.

Joel turned off the ignition and leaned back in the seat, taking a moment to observe the store.

His hand absentmindedly reached toward the glove compartment, where his gun was stashed, just in case. He didn’t need it often, but knowing it was there kept him grounded.

After a few seconds of scanning the area and feeling satisfied that nothing was amiss, he stepped out of the truck.

The supply store wasn’t busy, just a couple of people browsing inside.

As Joel stepped into the store, the familiar scent of leather and canvas greeted him. Country music hummed low in the background, and the quiet atmosphere brought him a sense of calm.

The simplicity of the place was something he appreciated—straightforward, nothing complicated.

Just the way he liked it.

His boots thudded softly on the wooden floor as he made his way toward the back, scanning the shelves for the hunting gear he needed. It was his routine, one he kept to himself.

The sudden crash jolted him like a gunshot.

Joel’s instincts took over, his body reacting before his mind caught up.

His hand flew to his side, fingers brushing the handle of the knife he always kept on him. His eyes darted around the store, scanning for threats, muscles coiled tight and ready.

He felt that old familiar rush of adrenaline—the kind that came from years of having to be on guard every second.

His heart pounded, the edges of his vision sharpening as he prepared for the worst.

But then, he saw her.

Just a girl. Bending over, trying to gather the gear she’d knocked to the floor. No threat. No danger. Just her.

Joel exhaled slowly, the tension easing out of his shoulders as the world settled back into place.

He let go of the knife, though his pulse still hammered in his ears. He hadn’t been expecting someone like her to trigger that reaction. Not here. Not now.

But for some reason, he couldn’t look away.

She was clumsy, but calm—no panic, no rush to fix what she’d done.

It was as if she was used to things slipping from her hands, not bothered in the slightest. That softness, that ease, it drew him in like nothing else had in a long time.

And even though the tension from the noise had faded, he found himself still rooted to the spot, watching her.

His eyes trailed over her, catching the way her long, soft looking, hair tumbled down her back, how her tender fingers fumbled with the items before her.

She was a mess of soft edges, and he hadn’t seen anything that soft in years.

He’s not used to that.

His world had become hard, sharp, filled with things that made sense, with people who didn’t get too close.

People like him, always on edge, always prepared.

She stood up, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and for the first time, Joel saw her face.

Young. Too young. Early twenties, maybe.

Her cheeks were flushed a soft pink, her lips parted in what looked like mild embarrassment as she glanced around at the mess she had made.

But it was her eyes that hit him the hardest.

Doe eyed, wide, bright, completely unguarded.

So easy to read.

She looked right at him, her gaze catching his, and Joel’s breath hitched in his chest.

What was this girl doing? Looking at him like that?

She wasn’t supposed to look at him that way—not with that kind of openness, that kind of… trust.

Her blush deepened as her gaze flickered to the ground, but not before Joel saw it creep up her neck, warming her face.

She was blushing because of him.

When was the last time that happened?

“Oh! Sorry,” she said, her voice light, soft, but not the irritating kind of soft.

It was smooth in a way that made something settle in Joel’s chest. Normally, he hated small talk.

People’s voices grated on him. But hers didn’t.

Her voice wrapped around him, warm and gentle, and for reasons he couldn’t explain, Joel didn’t hate it.

“I didn’t see you there,” she continued, letting out a nervous laugh, her hands brushing against the fallen gear.

“I swear, I’m always knocking things over.” She smiled shyly, that blush still clinging to her cheeks, and Joel’s chest tightened again.

She was yapping—just rambling on in a way that would’ve made him turn his back on anyone else. But he couldn’t move.

He was locked in place, listening to her soft, musical voice as if it was something he hadn’t heard in years.

Maybe because it was. Maybe because no one ever talked to him like this anymore.

Most people avoided him.

They saw the hard set of his jaw, the cold glint in his eyes, and they stayed far, far away.

And that was just how he liked it. Less mess, less trouble.

But not her. She was still standing there, babbling about how clumsy she was, her voice a soft hum in his ears.

Joel felt something shift inside him, something he wasn’t sure he liked. He didn’t know her.

Shouldn’t care about her babbling, or the way her scent—something fresh and sweet—drifted toward him, making his head swim.

But here he was, standing there, drinking in her voice, her scent, like he hadn’t been around anyone like her in years.

Which, to be fair, he hadn’t.

Joel cleared his throat, forcing himself to speak, though his voice came out rougher than he’d intended. “Don’t worry ‘bout it,” he muttered, his words gruff, but his feet still rooted to the spot.

Her smile widened, and her eyes lit up.

The warmth in them caught him off guard. He wasn’t prepared for that.

“Thanks for not laughing at me,” she said with a small, bashful laugh, her fingers fiddling with the edge of her jacket. “Most people would’ve.”

Joel’s brow furrowed. “Why would I laugh?”

She shrugged, glancing at the gear still scattered on the floor. “I’m kind of a mess.”

Her words didn’t sit right with him. How could someone like her—someone so soft, so full of light—call herself a mess? He is a mess.

But before he could respond, she smiled again, her lips curving up in that sweet way that made his chest tighten all over again.

And that scent… God, he couldn’t place it, but it clung to her, swirling around him like a warm blanket.

His mind raced, cataloging every little detail about her.

Her soft pretty eyes. The way her smile made the corners of her eyes crinkle just a little. The way she smelled, like fresh air and something sweet. Vanilla?

He was reading her, studying her like he used to study his surroundings, picking up on every detail.

But none of it made sense. She didn’t make sense.

Normally, he’d be long gone by now. His thoughts already moving on.

But she was still talking, still smiling up at him, and instead of walking away, he just… stared.

She cleared her throat again, glancing down at her hands before looking back up at him.

“Do you work around here?” she asked, her voice a little softer now, a little shyer.

Joel blinked, realizing he hadn’t said a damn thing in what felt like minutes.

He shook his head. “Nah, just pickin’ up some things.” His voice sounded foreign to him—rough, cold, not at all the kind of tone that matched the warmth she was giving him.

But she didn’t seem bothered by it. Instead, she tilted her head slightly, her lips curving up in that smile again.

“Oh, cool. What are you picking up?”

Joel stared at her, unsure of why she was still talking to him, still smiling at him.

But he found himself answering her anyway. “Just some gear. Hunting stuff.”

Her eyes brightened, her smile widening even more. “Oh, hunting! That’s cool. I’ve never been, but I always thought it seemed kind of… peaceful, you know? Just you and nature.”

Peaceful? Joel had never thought of hunting as peaceful. Necessary, sure. But peaceful? Not in the way she was describing.

He grunted, not sure how to respond, but she just kept smiling, her voice still light, still soft.

“Oh, gosh,” she said, standing up with a bundle of fallen gear in her hands, a sheepish smile on her face. “I could never hurt an animal, though. I don’t know how people do it. Like, I get hunting and all, but... me? No way. I’d be useless out there.”

Joel’s brow furrowed, still caught between the sharp edge of his earlier reaction and the softness of her voice.

“Right,” he muttered, nodding slightly, feeling more awkward than he had in years.

“Well,” Joel grunted, his voice a little rougher than intended, “it ain’t about enjoyin’ it. It’s necessary. You do what you gotta do.”

And for the life of him, Joel couldn’t understand why he didn’t just walk away.

He should’ve. He should’ve grabbed what he needed and left.

But something about her—her scent, her smile, her softness—kept him rooted in place.

He wasn’t good at this. Talking. Interacting. Especially not with someone like her—someone who looked at him like he wasn’t something to be avoided.

But she was smiling at him, her eyes wide and innocent, like she wasn’t aware of how the world really worked.

Before he could say anything else, he saw her blush deepen, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her jacket.

She was nervous, but not in the way people usually got around him.

She wasn’t scared. She wasn’t backing away.

She was blushing because of him.

Hm?

As the awkward silence stretched between them, Joel cleared his throat, the sound rough and abrupt.

He hadn’t realized how long he’d been standing there, just staring at her while she kept talking, her soft voice filling the space between them.

He needed to go.

This whole interaction had lasted far too long, longer than he was comfortable with.

His chest tightened with a mix of confusion and frustration, and he could feel the tension creeping into his limbs, urging him to move, to walk away.

She was still smiling at him, her eyes bright, completely unaware of the storm brewing inside him.

“Right,” Joel muttered, his voice gruffer than he intended.

“I should… get goin’.” He nodded awkwardly toward the hunting gear in his hand, using it as an excuse to leave.

Her smile faltered for just a second, her eyes flickering with a hint of confusion.

“Oh, sure! No problem,” she said quickly, her voice still sweet, but there was something softer in it now, like she wasn’t quite sure what she’d done wrong.

Joel could feel her eyes on him as he turned away, the tension in his shoulders growing with every step he took.

He forced himself to keep walking, not allowing himself to glance back, not letting himself think about the way her scent still lingered in the air around him.

As he pushed open the door of the shop, the cool air hit his face, a stark contrast to the warmth that had been building inside him.

He needed to get out of there. Now.

“Have a good day!” she called after him, her voice still light, still warm.

Joel didn’t respond.

He just kept walking, his boots heavy against the gravel as he made his way to his truck, his mind already trying to shove the whole interaction into the back of his mind.

It shouldn’t have affected him like that.

Joel climbed into his truck, the door creaking as it shut with a heavy thud.

The sun was setting, casting a golden light over the horizon, but his mind was somewhere else entirely.

His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white as he sat there, staring straight ahead.

He let out a slow breath, trying to shake off the strange feeling that had settled deep in his chest.

That girl—he couldn’t get her out of his head. It didn’t make sense.

Her smile. The way her cheeks flushed when she looked at him.

The softness in her voice, the way she smelled—fresh, sweet, and somehow... so pure.

His brow furrowed as the memory tugged at him, gnawing at the edges of his mind like an itch he couldn’t scratch.

He hadn’t felt like this in years—hadn’t felt much of anything, to be honest.

And yet, there it was. Something stirring inside him, something he couldn’t ignore.

With a grunt, he turned the key in the ignition, the engine roaring to life.

He needed to get his mind straight, back to reality, back to the things that actually mattered.

Surviving.

Not some girl in a supply shop.

It couldn’t be because of her.

But as he shifted the truck into gear, his grip on the wheel tightened even more.

He couldn’t deny the physical reaction in his body—the tension building low in his gut, the heat rising through his chest.

Joel shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his breath catching for a moment.

He hadn’t even noticed it before, hadn’t allowed himself to.

But now, as he adjusted himself, the realization hit him with a force that nearly knocked the breath out of his lungs.

He was hard.

His heart pounded in his chest, the weight of it settling low in his gut.

How long had it been?

He couldn’t even remember the last time he felt like this, the last time his body reacted this way.

But it couldn’t be because of the girl in the shop, right?

“Jesus.” He clenched his jaw, the muscles in his neck tightening as he fought the urge to dwell on it. “There was no way.”

She was just a kid. I mean, a woman sure. But so young, soft, innocent.

Completely the opposite of everything he was—everything he’d become.

Joel’s grip on the steering wheel tightened even further, his mind racing.

This was wrong. He shouldn’t be thinking about her like this, shouldn’t be feeling this way.

But the more he tried to push it down, the more it rose to the surface.

Her voice, the way she’d blushed when she looked at him, the scent of her clinging to the air around her like a warmth he hadn’t known he needed.

Joel shifted again, trying to shake the thoughts from his head. He’d drive home, clear his mind, and forget about it.

Forget about her.

But as he drove down the empty road, the tension in his body only seemed to build. It had been years. Years since anyone, or anything, had made him feel like this.

And the truth gnawed at him, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

It was because of her.

· · ───────────𖥸──────────· ··

moodboard:

· · ───────────𖥸──────────· ··

New series incoming!! Thank you for the nice comments, they make me the most motivated to keep writing. :)

[buddiedreams]

falling together | 1.8k, buddie

read here on AO3

rating: general tags: Falling In Love, Pre-Relationship Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Eddie Diaz Loves Evan "Buck" Buckley, Soft Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley Loves Eddie Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley is Christopher Diaz's Parent, Accidental Relationship

They never even get together, is the thing. Not officially, anyway. Chris came back from Texas three weeks after Tommy dumped him, and a week after that, he found out that his building was being sold and converted into condos, which he definitely couldn’t afford, even if he wanted to (which he didn’t; the loft had always been more of a place to crash than his actual home). He’d bitched about the situation to Eddie that Friday night, after Chris had already ditched them to play online video games with his friends. Eddie had frowned and suggested that Buck crash with them while he was looking for a new apartment and… well. Buck is only a man. He’d agreed almost immediately, even if it meant sleeping on Eddie’s way too small couch for the foreseeable future. 

In his defense, he did look for an apartment. He looked for three months for anything even slightly habitable, but with the housing market stupidly inflated and Buck living off the salary of a public servant, there was basically nothing that was available, unless he wanted roaches. Or a studio apartment, which he was vehemently against. He was an adult, he deserved an actual bedroom. Sue him. 

And anyway, it wasn’t like Eddie and Chris were trying to kick him out. Actually, it felt like the opposite, most of the time. He and Eddie split the housework, he took over cooking and Eddie took dishes, and it actually worked so seamlessly that Buck was a little shocked. Obviously, he and Eddie are a well-oiled machine at work, but it was good to know that extended to domestic life too. And it was nice to consistently have other people to try his recipes on. He and Eddie ended up carpooling more often than not, which meant he got to tag along when Eddie picked Chris up after school, and Buck… well, Chris is his favorite Diaz, he can’t be blamed if he wants to spend as much time as possible with the kid, especially since he’s getting old enough to realize that hanging out with his—with him and Eddie wasn’t exactly cool, when he had friends to talk to and video games to play. 

And honestly… it was kind of nice to be around people whenever he wanted. Eddie and Chris are his favorite people, so it’s not exactly a hardship to be around them, and it was especially nice after a rough shift. Before, he’d go back to his loft alone and try to sleep away the crawling of his skin caused by a bad shift, and especially by a loss on the job. After basically moving in with the Diaz boys, though, he gets to see his favorite kid and give him a good squeeze. Chris seems to be able to tell when they’ve had a bad shift, and lets them be a bit clingier than he normally would. Plus, he’s got Eddie to lean on, since they’re usually going through the same thing. It’s… it’s nice. 

He’s been there six months when Eddie nervously comes out to him over the lunch they’re sharing at the kitchen table. Buck really hadn’t seen that one coming, and it makes something odd happen in his stomach, but he grins and reaches over to squeeze Eddie’s hand, telling him how proud of him he is and how honored he is to know. Eddie visibly deflates and shoots him an exhausted grin, squeezing Buck’s hand back. 

They don’t talk about it, but there’s a shift after that day. Eddie is more open about the discovery process that led to his coming out, and how he’d been to see Bobby’s priest, who had actually managed to help him. It seemed like a weight was lifted off his shoulders once he’d come out to Buck, and a warmth Buck wasn’t very familiar with settled into his bones.

They still don’t talk about it, even after the admission leads to more casual touching between them. Buck’s always craved physical affection, and Eddie idly admits that he’s trying to get better at expressing his affection with people other than Chris, and he’s still uncomfortable doing it with words. And it’s not like Buck is going to stop him. His skin always feels so tingly and flushed after Eddie’s hand touches it, always leaving a pleased smile on his lips. 

They don’t talk about it when the casual touches turn to less and less personal space. When he slips behind Eddie to show him the proper way to chop an onion, or how to flambé safely (thank you, Bobby). Or when Eddie says one day that it’s stupid for Buck to keep sleeping on the couch if he’s going to keep staying here, that Eddie has a perfectly good bed and it’s not like they haven’t slept in the same bed before, more than once. 

They don’t talk about it when sharing Eddie’s bed leads to spending far too long whispering to each other in the safe darkness of the room, admitting all their deepest fears and, even scarier, their deepest wants. Buck admits, for the first time out loud, that all he wants is to feel like he belongs to someone. Maddie has Chimney, Hen has Karen, Bobby has Athena. And Buck longs for that, longs for a relationship like that. For someone to have his back. For someone to truly be his partner.

They don’t talk about it when Buck realizes that he’s in love with his best friend, and even scarier, that he has been for god only knows how long. That’s not something he can voice, even in the darkness of their bedroom (because it is their bedroom, Buck’s been sleeping there for two months by this point, his clothes are taking up half the closet, and Eddie’s sleeping in one of his old LAFD shirts). But god does he long to. He wants nothing more than to close the small distance between them and wrap his arms around Eddie, never let go, but it’s not his place. He’s not going to fuck up the one healthy relationship he’s had in his life, not for anything.

They don’t talk about it when the late-night talks turn to what can only be described as cuddling. But again, Buck’s never been one to turn down physical affection, and Eddie’s not complaining. In fact, Eddie is the one that’s more often than not seeking Buck out, pulling his arm over Eddie’s torso as they’re falling asleep.

They don’t talk about it when the flirting starts. They’d spent a rare Friday night off out with their coworkers, getting stupidly drunk and catching up on all the things going on in everyone’s lives. Maddie and Chimney are out for the first time since Kevin Daniel Han was born, and they both look exhausted but so stupidly happy that Buck can’t help but think about Eddie and Chris, and how adorable Eddie is with his son. He doesn’t even realize he’s said as much out loud until Eddie’s cheeks turn a cute rosy color, and it takes all the strength in Buck’s body to keep from leaning over and kissing the spots. That seems to open a dam, though, because after that he and Eddie are trading sincere compliments back and forth whenever they think of them, which quickly devolves into funny pick-up lines when they’ve run out of compliments. The pick-up lines keep going for weeks, until one day, hands still wet from doing the dishes, Eddie grabs the front of his shirt and kisses him. 

They still don’t talk about it, but… nothing has really changed. They keep kissing (which Buck can honestly say is his absolute favorite thing in the world, he’d like nothing more than to die happily with Eddie’s lips on his) and trading flirtatious jokes and compliments. They don’t even talk about it when the kissing inevitably leads to sex. It seems silly, but Buck doesn’t even think they need to. He’s known how to read Eddie like a book for over eight years at this point, he knows they’re on the same page of the exact same book. 

They don’t even really talk about it when they get engaged. They’d had a bad shift and Buck had admitted in the darkness that he feels like Chris is his son. Eddie had smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek, softly admitting that Chris had been his son at least since the well, and then quietly asking if Buck would consider adopting him. Buck had failed spectacularly at choking back the tears the question had prompted, but Eddie had just smiled and brushed them away. Buck agreed (obviously, he’s not an idiot) and Eddie offhandedly mentioned that it would be easier to do if they were married, before pulling Buck’s arm around him and promptly falling asleep, like he hadn’t just chucked a grenade into the middle of their bed. Buck spends a majority of the night staring into the darkness, absolutely dumbfounded. He’s not even mad when Eddie and Chris wake him at lunch time and present him with a ring, which he eagerly accepts.

That’s what breaks the streak, in fact. That night, when they’re laying in bed, Eddie finally addresses whatever they’ve been dancing around for the first time. 

“I know we haven’t really talked about this, about us,” he whispers, shifting around to face Buck, “but is it… you’re okay with it? With this, with me and Chris being who you belong to?”

Buck swallows against the sudden rush of emotion that tears through him at Eddie referencing one of the first midnight chats they’d had. And any other time, any other relationship, maybe he’d be anxious about how little they’ve faced what they are, how they’ve barely addressed it with their loved ones but really… nothing has changed. At least, nothing important. Sure, he’s allowed to kiss Eddie now, and have sex with him, but other than that, their relationship is the same as it’s always been. They’re best friends. 

“I… I don’t think I realized it when I said it originally, but I think I was just waiting for this. For you. Both of you, but mostly just waiting until you were ready, I guess,” he whispers back, smiling when Eddie’s fingers thread through his own. “Besides, I’ve really always belonged to you and Chris, if we’re being honest. It’s why none of my relationships ever worked. I was trying to fill a role that was already occupied,” he admits, bringing their hands up to press a kiss to the back of Eddie’s hand. “It sorta feels like this was inevitable. Does that… make sense?”

He can’t see it, given the darkness currently surrounding them, but he can hear the smile in Eddie’s voice. “The inevitability of us just… falling together like we have? Yeah, Buck, honestly? That makes more sense than anything else in my life ever has.”

[officeshelpdesk]

Throwing together a list of things I consider to be DEI for southerners

College football being shown on television. That's dumb, watch professional football, also every single SEC school is basically a daycare so those colleges also count as DEI for southerners

Speaking of football, indoor stadiums. It's not my fault you decided to live in and play for a team in the devil's asshole. Learn to deal with snow, it's not that hard

Country artists being on SNL (see recent news)

Chic fil a being closed on Sundays. It doesn't quite fit the category but it's stupid and virtue signally, also the chicken is shit so clearly God doesn't love you back.

"southerners are actually one of the most left wing groups in America" discourse. No they aren't, I get coal companies are bad but every southerner is also Hitler

The TV show "the outer banks", don't know what its about, refuse to watch it, just vibes wise seems like it fits the category

"small town values" pandering from both parties, applied to other regions too but also choosing to live in a small town is a moral failing that you should be ashamed of, and there are a lot of them in the south so ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

The Clinton presidency

Allowing Texas to be that large. Doesn't make any sense, it's like half desert and the other half is the dumbest cities on God's green earth

Speaking of Texas and bringing it back to football, still calling the Dallas cowboys "America's team". Although that is fitting because it's a shell of it's former self ran by a decrepit and corrupt billionaire that hasn't won anything important in the 21st century.

Every pickup made by any manufacturer in the last 20 years. Ooooooo you're so tough and country in you're mega tank that you use to go to the grocery store ooooo I'm so scared of you

Bootcut jeans. They're comfy and I like wearing cowboy boots, sadly them being in target makes them make the list not my fault.

Going back to the pickup trucks one, the phrase "country" implying some sort of toughness or machismo, you people would shit your pants if you had to walk through like Cleveland Ohio, you're scared of your own shadow because it's black

Hurricane relief. Sorry, maybe if your house is somewhere that hurricanes rip through every year around the same time, you should consider relocating, we need that money to build affordable housing in places people actually should live

Not making fun of Texans enough for putting steer horns on their cars. Like what are you doing, that looks so corny and stupid, you should be bullied into suicide

Not making fun of how people dress for the Kentucky Derby also. Southerners shouldn't be allowed to wear nice clothes and big hats, we should require them to own one pair of overalls

Ending reconstruction, self explanatory

Am I missing anything? Please let me know!

[freeworldallahmbaclass]

Good morning

I propose that Minimum based wages and salary get a big raise in all regions cities towns and countries California pay $ 20 to $ 22 dollars an hour New York City $ 15 to 17 $ dollars an hour for base salary how about all cities and regions and places like Atlanta , Texas and Louisiana, Kentucky , Alabama raise their pay standards for its every day worker to that same amount of starting out at $ 22 dollars an hour call it eliminating the working poor and poverty in general and paying them a livable wage , pay your workers generously and they will provide better services for your company and represent your companies better with pride and having customers coming back to their second home your store and establishment . This is very sad and needs attention to this some states where people go to work and provide years of hard work to work and get nothing in return from their employers they give great service and keep their customers coming back and yet the minimum wage been stuck since 2009 while so much states have give their workers a raise that is a shame I hope they catch up me and Governor Andrew Cuomo raised for New York state and city and other cities with my incubator my machine and other cities and states followed suit California pay their workers $ 20 dollars now imagine every state in those regions raise their wages to the same amount at $ 20 dollars an hour in Texas , Atlanta , Louisiana , Tennessee, North Carolina and even South Carolina out there hopefully they carry on from there and all states and cities follow suit and raise their wages and pay their workers their fair wage .

Get the message , we made progress if you look at the pay where it used to be now we just need to get these employers to pay us a lot more they get tax benefits to pay you more and we need employers to decrease the taxes on our paychecks , so we can afford to make it to work and to be able to work at a place and a boss we enjoy .

Maura Tracy Healey is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 73rd governor of Massachusetts since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as Massachusetts Attorney General from 2015 to 2023 and was elected governor in 2022, defeating the Republican nominee, former state representative Geoff Diehl

CoverageHealey signs budget bill, vetoes $317 million in spendingUpdated July 30, 2024 Colin A. Young, State House News ServiceGov. Maura Healey signs the fiscal 2025 budget at the State House. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)Gov. Maura Healey signs the fiscal 2025 budget at the State House. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)Gov. Maura Healey gave her OK to sweeping statewide policy changes Monday afternoon as part of the overdue fiscal year 2025 budget, signing free community college, online Mass. Lottery products, free rides on regional transit authorities and more into law while making only minor adjustments to the spending plan crafted by House and Senate Democrats .

Say it out loud we support this , permanent free community college in Massachussets hopefully more states , cities and other countries follow suit , congratulations .

Congratulations on the permanent free community college for Massachusetts I'm self educated but me myself would want my kids or any kids for that matter to have a much better future than I did and education is going to get you there all the time it never fails the magic and wonder of having an education and what it can do for you it opens up different worlds and more opportunities for you .

Allen Henry , Brooklyn NYC Ceo , Incubator and Hospital owner I own my own hospital and incubator in Brooklyn New York City

The Allen Street guy my field of studies until I branched out now my help reach across all races and communities and neighborhoods on promoting betterment in diversity .

And I'm

Spending my summer in Pittsfield Massachusetts living outside to get a free business education .

Governor Maura Healey -

Every taxpayer dollar is focused on making life better for all who live and work in our state."Legislators packed the budget with policy provisions, authorizing free community college, free rides on regional transit services, and legal online Lottery sales to fund a permanent Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grant program that launched during the pandemic with federal dollars — all of which Healey signed off on Monday. The governor also touted the budget's investment in her "Literacy Launch" program, which aims to connect all children from three years old to third grade with high-quality and evidence-based reading instruction, as well as its dedication of 1 percent of total spending to environment and energy initiatives.The Senate initiative to make community college permanently free for all will cost $117.5 million, covering tuition and fees for students. And the House-backed idea of authorizing online Lottery sales is projected to pull in $100 million for the popular C3 early education grant program. Another section of the budget aims to prevent so-called home equity theft, which refers to a municipality taking more of a property owner's earned equity than is owed in unpaid taxes and other expenses."All of these investments are focused on making life better, making life easier for people in Massachusetts, making it more affordable to live here, to work here, to raise children here. This also makes us more competitive — more competitive for our employers, for economic growth, particularly as we compare ourselves to other states," Healey said. "So it's a really important investment, this budget."

Big businesses invite themselves around me where I'm at so good luck to you and your city .

Hopefully and good luck and check out all definitions of what having a credit union does for you and your neighborhoods it equals lower interest rates on car loans and mortgages and even loans to buy you and your families first home every town should invest in a credit union to build your city up and make it better for all people .

Hopefully guys and good luck it usually does happen around me so give it like 1 year and watch your city get much better , good luck .

Bringing business to Springfield , Massachusetts, Lee Massachusetts , Pittsfield Massachusetts North street is that perfect location inviting all business to join this small town and it's flavor and turn into a hub of progress fun great nightlife and economic prosperity for all people .Environmental impact report : Create thousands of more into the tens of thousands of jobs to their country and entertainment and food and fun major national chains to that small town flavor for your city . Inviting

KFC

Olive Garden

Home Depot

Walmart

Whole foods supermarket

State farm insurance

Farmers insurance

Credit unions

NBA store

NFL store

NHL store

Champs sports

NBA cards store

NFL cards store

NHL cards store

Gap

Old Navy

These companies bring jobs full time jobs for part time students from their free community college classes where they could work and support themselves while in school

Jobs such as :

Stock clerk

Cashiers

Cooks

Prep cooking

Maintenance men and women

Janitors

Security

Drivers

Delivery

Warehouse

Bookkeeping

Accountant

General mangers

Regional managers of a stores national chain Jobs is needed just for the culture of the community and to better the roads and the nightlife and the mood of these communities and neighborhoods .

How does a credit union work?

A credit union is a self-help co-operative whose members pool their savings to provide each other with credit at a low interest rate. To be part of a credit union you have to share a common bond with other members. This is something you all have in common such as: living or working in the same area.

How do credit unions make money?Any income the credit union generates through interest, fees and loans is then used to fund community projects, reinvest into the organization or provide services that directly benefit members, like paying higher savings interest rates.Jun 22, 2023

What is the difference between a credit union and a mutual savings bank?

Credit unions are exempt from federal tax and most state taxes. Mutual savings banks pay taxes, including federal income tax. If [insert name of credit union] converts to a mutual savings bank, these additional expenses may contribute to lower savings rates, higher loan rates, or additional fees for services”.

How does a credit union work?

A credit union is a self-help co-operative whose members pool their savings to provide each other with credit at a low interest rate. To be part of a credit union you have to share a common bond with other members. This is something you all have in common such as: living or working in the same area.

Why would you use a credit union?

Profits made by credit unions are returned back to members in the form of reduced fees, higher savings rates and lower loan rates.

Sitting on a bench in front of my building in Pittsfield Massachussets 76 east from greyhound stations using flixbus services I just got here and I brought the vice president to your city already and the Governor passes the free permanent emphasis on the word free and permanent free community college no tuition good advantage for a great future for you , I love living now life has been good to me and now to you .

Taking a year off sleeping in front of my building given to me by 2 politicians now literally no lie that is cool with me , thanks .

Problems fixed my name cleared I own my own incubator my own hospital in Brooklyn New York City attached to my technology hospital and I'm staying with my hospital my incubator and what I'm about I'm keeping mines and move on from people from my past good luck to the common man and woman .

Again

I propose that Minimum based wages and salary get a big raise in all regions cities towns and countries California pay $ 20 to $ 22 dollars an hour New York City $ 15 to $ 17 $ dollars an hour for base salary how about all cities and regions and places like Atlanta , Texas and Louisiana, Kentucky , Alabama raise their pay standards for its every day worker to that same amount of starting out at $ 22 dollars an hour call it eliminating the working poor and poverty in general and paying them a livable wage , pay your workers generously and they will provide better services for your company and represent your companies better with pride and having customers coming back to their second home your store and establishment .

Definitely room for change , the voices are becoming louder to our government for more , more and better .

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Wednesday lovely fandom and readers. :) I won't say this episode was my fav. Parts I liked and parts I didn't. As a whole meh. BUT I am very glad Deric got some serious screen time. This cutie has earned it. I love Texas and I'm happy he got some time to shine. Downside Roge is back. I'm not a fan of Roge as you all know. LOL

With longer seasons there are eps that are more filler-like and that's ok with me. If it gets me a longer season with more fleshed out goodies than not I am down. Which has been the case this season. 11 out of 13 so far have been stellar. No question. I did enjoy the Tim/Miles SL in this one. Even if I didn't get enough Tim for my liking. This will be shorter than normal but I have a feeling next week will more than make up for that heh. Let us begin shall we?

7x13 Three Billboards

We start out our ep with our ship getting ready for the day. Tim immediately senses that Lucy wants to talk, picking up on the fact that something is clearly bothering her. Love this. So tuned into her. It makes my shipper heart happy. Asking her if everything is ok? Lucy mentions Rachel not showing up for an interview and avoiding her. Do love her talking to Tim about this. Was excited they were gonna ride together for a second, but forgot Tim had to train Miles LOL Sorry bud haha

I love her leaning on him for this. As always the little things that delight me so. And in an ep where we only get a little crumb or two, Imma enjoy it, that's for sure. Does crack me up Nolan just waiting in the wings as they hash it out. Hanging back waiting to be included in the convo. Sorry John when they're in their in own world ain't no one else breaking through...

Lucy asking Tim to go with her to talk to Rachel made me smile. Just assuming he would go with her. She’s thrilled to team up with him to do this as well. It's pretty cute. Uh Luce? That’s more of a boyfriend/girlfriend thing to do together. Really a husband/wife thing to do honestly….So I can see why Tim didn’t agree. Their lines are already blurry af. This would only muddle them even further tbh. I do love the little flirty looks with her 'support' line before he turns his attention to Penn. Ya'll are cute and stupid and I'm here for it haha

We start with Miles looking for places and being disappointed. Ahh doom scrolling I know it well. I'm on Zillow looking at houses I legit can't afford but long to. I adore the convo they have in the shop. They're building more rapport with each passing ep. Been fun watching their work relationship develop. How far we've come since 7x01. You can see the pressure on Texas, just driven by the desire to make more money and reach his goals faster than he currently is. I'm sure living next to Smitty is getting old lol

Tim tells him he admires him for holding back. Building up his finances before getting a place before he's ready to. Throwing in a classic Tim Bradford POV on 'treat yo self' culture LOL I love this man so much.*dreamy sigh* Miles takes a little shot with his monastic line and it's cute how he has to back-peddle haha Tim just telling him to stop digging his hole. This was so cute to watch. I have enjoyed their dynamic this season so much.

We get to see a little bit of Sports Tim emerge in this scene. I always welcome him. It's adorable to watch him geek over players and such. I'm the same way. Shock surprise I'm like Tim I know ha Tim bonding with Miles over it is precious to watch not gonna lie. Asking him if it stings a little that he's living the life he could've had?

I love Tim checking on him with this. Clearly still a sore spot for him. It's a theme for him through out the episode. One I think it was good for them to address tbh. He tries to bounce back and tells Tim he's saving lives he's just playing a game...Mmmhmm. Tim doesn't buy it but let's it go.

So there was only one reason I made this gif. Can you guess why? Lucy still has Tim's 'Wanted' poster from 5x03 up. His Officer cop-cake Wanted poster is still on her board. I cannot with how happy this made me fandom. The little details make me so giddy. Looks like the sticky notes are still there too...

We all remember what those were eh? One from Tamara and one from TIm. Saying he loved her......*screams into a pillow* That wide shot was intentional af if you ask me. Especially with the promo for next week. Delighted me to no end.

We end the ep after Miles helps save his old pal from a heist. He's offered him a job on his security team. 300K a year. Would solve his cash flow issue that's for sure. He is torn about the decision. So he picks Tim's brain. I truly love that we've gotten to point where Texas is coming to him about this. Seeking Tim's counsel and he gives it willingly.

He is seriously considering it before his talk with Tim. As always I love the sage advice Tim gives him about it all. He's not wrong... At some point it would eat him alive not having that life. Be looking from the outside in. No amount of money can make up for that. Money isn't everything especially not in that kind of situation. Wouldn't be as glamorous as he thinks.

This is the best part of the episode right here for them. Look at how Tim has grown in terms of praise. Lucy really did make a huge impact on him with this. When she asked if she has softened him at all in 6x03. She truly has. Tim coming in clutch af with his advice and telling him what a good cop he's become. How good he will be when he is done with him.

Once again he's not wrong. The man is a world class T.O. The smile on Penn's face is so sweet. Truly means so much to him to have earned this from Tim. You can see it all over his face. Tim reminding him he chose this life because he wanted to be his own man. To separate himself from that whole world. To not waste this natural talent on the easy road. God I love me some T.O. Tim. He truly is gifted in teaching the next generation. I love watching it.

This is the second best part of the episode for them. I LOVE Tim's smile when Miles declines his offer. He's so proud of this kid it's adorable. It's giving me all the sweet feels. They've developed quite nicely this season. Really enjoyed how they've written them. Texas has really earned his spot next to Tim and it's nice to see. Cracks me up Tim asks for tickets LOL I mean you miss 100% of the shots you don't take they say haha Penn's face when he asks is so funny. This was such a nice scene.

Tim continues his amazing growth train with a second compliment. Letting Miles know he made the right call. Then goes right back into T.O. mode like only our boy can. Miles is still grinning ear to ear though. Knowing he's gained Tim's respect. It's pretty damn precious. I enjoyed them during this episode. It was the redeeming factor for me. If I can't have Chenford I am down to have scenes like this. Deric did a great job this entire ep. He's been a most excellent addition.

Now I'm not sure I understood this SL for Rachel. What I mean by that is, I'm not sure the point of it. I'm all for tying up loose ends. I'm down to have her return so she's not just a one-off from 7x03. I really do appreciate the follow up with her. I guess I was expecting more from her reasoning. I'm not sure tbh. It felt lacking for some reason to me. Maybe I'll have a better answer when I do my in-depth ones this summer. But for now that's all I got.

What I did love about this scene was Lucy of course. One just looking like a friggin stunner in her street clothes. Her hair looked absolutely gorgeous. I swear if there was ever going to be someone to turn me it would be Melissa O'Neil LMAO But more importantly we get to see that beautiful heart of hers.

That never ending empathy that exudes out of her. Even though Rachel all but ghosted her again, she's there for her when she needs it. Because she found out WHY she had done it. *cough Tim cough* Her wonderful heart shinning through this scene. She's there to hug her and offer support. Being the sunshine human we all know and love. The one Tim is completely gone for her. Can't say we blame him hehe Was a very sweet way to end their SL for the ep.

Now let's talk about 7x14 promo. Next week looks GOOOD. Gimme all the bestie time with Tim and Angela plus a Chenford hug?! I’m down. I’ll forgive this weeks meh episode for that. And we are at Tim’s place again. I love that we are living there most of this season. Makes me happy. That 30 second promo had me more excited than most of this ep. I'll be honest. Also Angela's smile is *chefs kiss* She just wants her best friend to be happy and Lucy is that.

She watched how happy Tim was with her. She wants that again. We love you Angela Lopez. Might be able to cross off another bingo card square. With 'Angela gives Tim advice on Lucy.' Also Tim looks scrumptious next week. god almighty that man revs my engine. First on the couch with Angela then in a red henley with Lucy. *fans self* We see him pulling her into his delicious arms. Looks emotional af too. I cannot wait.

Thank you to my amazing readers. Without your likes, comments ( come chatty chat with me) and reblogs these wouldn't be what they are. You are the lifeblood of these. So thank you all. I shall see you all in 7x14 :)

Side notes-Non Chenford

Mmm hello street clothes Tim early in the ep. You are always welcome on my screen sir. Tim eating away I love him sharing with Wes. Was such a cute little moment. Felt more like Eric/Shawn haha

Roger living with Celina? Even temp it's Eww...I hate it. I'm sure Lucy was none too thrilled either.

So smart of Celina to disable that motorcycle. Well done. She is a smart cookie.

Cracked me up Nyla being more upset about the pics they chose than the billboard LOL I love this woman. Angela chiming in it was more fun when it was just Nolan haha Love these two.

Roge needs to GOOOO IMO. His awkward weirdness isn't coming off cute to me. Just annoying. Like the more he talks and is around the more I can't stand him lol Sorry my dude you just don't fit. No offense to anyone who is enjoying him BTW he is just not for me.

Celina you are a certified bad-ass. You could do so much better than this dude. Stick to music my friend. 'Ventura Exit' Still rips my heart out in the best way. You are a wonderful lyricist but actor? Not so much my friend. Hoping that is the last of him for this season.

[samhaft]

Realized I forgot to bring my TDOV post to tumblr! But know what? Trans visibility doesn’t end 11:59pm March 31st, and it can still do some good. Let’s do it! Buckle up, it’s a long post: ⤵️

I celebrate TDOV the same way every year, with throwing fistfuls of money at random trans people direct aid, so let’s celebrate some folks we raised money for and hopefully raise some more for those who still have a ways to go!

First there was Juniper, whose top surgery fund got completed! I’m so happy for you!!

Then we got Brooks, who was forced to travel out of state for top surgery due to vile transphobic lawmakers - we got him to the finish line too! 🎉

Now onto fundraisers that could still use your help: Krow was facing the possibility of homelessness, which affects over 40% of Black trans people, and that’s just unacceptable. We got Krow’s rent for the month taken care of, but that’s still a short runway to get back on your feet and every little bit helps. It’d mean a lot to me if you could help Krow out!

Next up is Brianna, who lives in Texas with her partner and is increasingly unsafe, targeted directly by one of the most repressive state governments in the country. She’s trying to flee to a safer state, and I’m hoping you’ll help me help her do that!

Last is Edrei - and his post is a reminder that being trans is not necessarily the number one issue facing someone’s everyday life. He’s an asylum grantee living in NY, and it is his identity as a Latino immigrant with asylum that has him most in danger right now. To that end - he’s attempting to flee to Mexico for his own safety. It’s fucking heartbreaking, and hopefully we can make it easier by ameliorating the costs of his legal fees to get a passport there as well as the cost of starting over in a new place. Please contribute even a little bit if you can afford!

I know I do a lot of ha-ha-silly-pants posting online but this is something I am really really serious about. I have trans people in my life (and in my home!), there are trans people who I have to thank for career opportunities that have gotten me where I am today, from TLT to Hazbin, and I will fight for the community to the end.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t plug an organization I work with, A4TE - Advocates for Trans Equality - to whom half of all of our royalties from This Comes From Inside go to in perpetuity. In the past year we’ve raised over $26k for them from that one song alone!

Anyway trans rights forever, love y’all a lot 🏳️‍⚧️🫶

[sammyunhinged]

I grew up in South Carolina, in a deep red county of Southern Appalachia. I live in the Boston area now for school and the number of people I talk to and witness who cannot comprehend their privilege—the privilege of simply being born in a northern state—is astounding to me.

The southern states are consistently ranked in the bottom in terms of education, minimum wage, and personal freedom. They are consistently at the top for rates of teen pregnancy, incarceration, poverty, child mortality, and STI (STD) diagnoses.

The conservative, republican policies in place are directly linked to all of these things. In the South we cannot afford to vote third party because our rights our on the line. Our state officials gerrymander to strip rights from black Americans. They incarcerate at mass levels to strip rights from the poor and non-white. They pass laws to take health and freedoms away from women, especially poor women. They refuse to raise minimum wage or give out more aid in order to help people live above the poverty line. They pass laws that make gender affirming care illegal for minors. They ban the discussion of queer identities from the classroom. Even more is at stake this election because of Project 2025. The federal government under Trump would strip away more of those rights and supports state level laws like the ones I mentioned above.

My state will not go blue this election. I don’t know if it will go blue in my lifetime, but my border states have and can again. Those in Georgia and North Carolina need to feel empowered to vote! My birth state of Texas absolutely could. Get out and vote! However, the rights of the people in conservative states rely on people in other states not voting third party.

My rights, my family and my friends rights, the rights of my high-school classmate and the rights of my four year old niece are all on the line. This election is personal to me. It should be personal to you.

[insertcannibalismmetaphorhere]

Theres something to be said about how the beta kids’ upbringings are addressed… yet again, homestuck finds a way to make itself larger on the inside; to put details which in any other piece of m edia would be explained in detail- or at least be considered of importance to the story-in a kind of. Schroedinger’s box.(John is afforded the most leeway with this, at least so far as I’ve noticed it.)

Jade managed to survive a virtually impossible situation, from the time her grandfather died and onward. Especially considering her narcolepsy? Its an outright miracle she made it through. But we as the audience aren’t really supposed to believe that jade simply put to use her survival skills and worked hard to survive. She didn’t fall asleep in inconvenient places and narrowly escape. The time between her childhood and the beginning of the comic neither happened nor didn’t happen.

When we see Dave in his house full of smuppets with his fridge filled with swords, and we hear him explain that bro does not feed him (and presumably never has) it contradicts with a (under normal circumstances) immutable fact of the world: that people need to eat. We know that dave has made it this far because of…? something. But it’s not exactly expected of the audience to fill in what exactly Dave’s been doing. He doesn’t have a neighbor who’s happy to feed him. He doesn’t make the most of school lunch. Functionally, (and excluding bro) not a single other person lives in the whole of Texas! And even if they did, Dave- who FELL FROM THE SKY ON A METEOR- does not legally exist in the capacity which is required to be enrolled in a public school. Simply, dave neither ate nor didn’t eat.

The character who i think is affected most relevantly by these non-facts is Rose. (Although really, all of the strider-lalondes are much more affected by their actual pre-canon lives than any of the other kids.)

For someone whose schooling and social life pre-canon literally do not exist, Rose acts exactly how you’d expect a lonely teenage academic from a small town to act.

Parishville, NY (technically where the lalonde residence is, if we take homestuck way more seriously than im sure was intended) currently has a population of just over 2,000 people. If you’re from a small town (or even if you’ve seen an episode of any 2010s teen drama about “small town life”) you know exactly how suffocating that can be.

Without straying too far from topic, there are innumerable ways in which capitalism has failed america. The “American dream” relies on an idea of upwards mobility that is simply nonexistent for those raised in small towns- those raised without money and without resource. Nonetheless, theres an idea that seems to thoroughly permeate any small community: you have to get out.

You have to get out because you have to become something better than this. You have to get out because you can’t risk becoming your parents. You have to get out because if you don’t, you haven’t done anything with your life. You’ll work at the liquor store or the gas station or whatever adjacent dead-end job until you’re too old to work or you die- whichever comes first.

On my first read-through of homestuck, one of the panels which stood out to me most was 4989, in which Rose explains to Dave that yes, a dream self can be drunk. Specifically, she says “There wasn’t very much to do. But there was a house full of liquor.”

While Rose didn’t *actually* excel in academics- and while she wasn’t *actually* ostracized from her peers for her grim outlook and intellect- we see shadows of the effects throughout her character for the entire run of the comic (And hsbc if you’ve had the displeasure.) Rose is afforded much more significant consequence to her upbringing than most other homestuck characters- especially the female ones.

I don’t really have a conclusion here, just something i’ve been chewing on..

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Tierney Sneed and Tami Luhby at CNN:

The Supreme Court said Friday it will review the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s no-cost coverage mandates for certain preventive care services, putting the landmark health care law in front of the justices again just as President-elect Donald Trump – who tried to repeal the law during his first presidency – returns to the White House.

While not an existential threat to Obamacare, the case could imperil access Americans have to cost-free preventive treatments and services, including HIV prevention medications, heart statins and various screenings for cancers and other diseases. The cost of some of these preventive services can be substantial, which would deter some people – particularly those with lower incomes – from accessing the care and slow the early detection of potentially deadly illnesses. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the mandates in question, based on the recommendations of the US Preventive Services Task Force, violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution because its members are not appointed by the president with Senate confirmation. The 5th Circuit’s ruling was directed at no-cost coverage requirements implemented after Obamacare’s enactment in March 2010.

The appellate ruling only blocked the mandates as applied to the challengers of the specific case, a Texas business and several individuals. But both the Biden administration and the challengers agreed that the 5th Circuit’s precedent set the stage for another party to sue to block the mandates nationwide, and both sides had asked the Supreme Court to take up the case.

Among the other no-cost coverage mandates that are put at risk by the 5th Circuit ruling are prenatal nutritional supplements, physical therapy for older Americans to prevent falls and lung cancer screenings that, according to the Biden administration, could save the lives of 10,000 to 20,000 Americans a year. A variety of other no-cost preventive services – such as well-baby visits and autism screenings for children, cervical cancer screenings and breastfeeding support programs for women, and flu, measles and chickenpox vaccines – are not at issue in the case.

[...]

‘Protections for millions’

In her petition that the Supreme Court take up the case, US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote that the 5th Circuit ruling “jeopardizes healthcare protections that have been in place for 14 years and that millions of Americans currently enjoy.” “This Court’s review is warranted because the court of appeals has held an Act of Congress unconstitutional and its legal rationale would inflict immense practical harms,” she wrote, later adding that the justices should also take up the case because the appellate “decision threatens to disrupt a key part of the ACA that provides healthcare protections for millions of Americans.” The challengers also urged the Supreme Court to take up the case, even as they argued that the 5th Circuit’s ruling was “well-reasoned and correct.” They pointed to the Supreme Court’s typical practice of granting cases where an act of Congress was deemed unconstitutional by a lower court. The Texas business, Braidwood, sued over the mandates because the company had moral objections to covering the HIV prevention medications – known as PrEP. The company also objected to paying for insurance that covered screenings for sexually transmitted diseases and other treatments related to conduct the employer morally opposed.

The MAGA majority on SCOTUS saw fit to review the Becerra v. Braidwood case, which would review Obamacare (PPACA)’s no-cost of HIV prevention medications, heart statins, and various screenings for cancers and other disease.

[circledwithaheart]

Once again did a Sentence Exchange so @diazsdimples will finish an essay for uni. He's still working (but soooo close! definitely go harass him about it) but I decided to be generous because Fuck It, right? Have some more actor au, this time in Eddie's POV. Follows this snippet. ⭐️

The first day at 118 Productions, all told, isn’t bad. Certainly not the worst he’s ever had. He’s met A-listers that deny his existence until they have a scene, and C-list actors who fawn over him like he’s a god. Both situations tend to make him uncomfortable but, given the choice, he’d take the former every time.  He’s made a good living in the acting world, he won’t deny that. It treats him and his son very well, affording them opportunities they never would have had otherwise. But under the fame, the money, interviews and flashing cameras? He’s just Eddie Diaz. Mexican American boy from El Paso, Texas. He thinks maybe he can rediscover that part of himself here at the 118.  Everyone from Bobby, the co-owner and founder, to Ravi, their main camera operator, has been friendly and welcoming. Well, almost everyone.  To say that Eddie found Buck’s ‘greeting’ a touch odd is an understatement. Buck may have only spoken one word, but his body language was practically a neon sign, broadcasting his feelings. Eddie expected perhaps a bit more enthusiasm from the guy. They’re supposed to be co-stars. It’s not like Eddie’s here to replace him or anything. Then again, maybe he’s always like that, or just having an off day. Eddie’s only going off of what he’s heard in various circles, and from Anita. People love to talk and, as Eddie’s all too familiar with, it’s almost never accurate till it winds its way through the gossip mill. Until that pipeline of information gets back to the topic of said gossip, it’s hard to know if they’ve been painted as better or worse than they truly are.  “Is there anything I should know about Buck?” Eddie asks, settling into a chair. Bobby finished showing him around the studios and surrounding lots, ending their tour in his office so they could “chat and get to know each other”.  “Buck?” Bobby frowns slightly, quirking his lips to one side. He steeples his fingers together in a way that reminds Eddie a little of his dad, and even more of the priest from his childhood church. Thankfully it doesn’t appear that Bobby will be handing out punishments when he reaches an answer.  “Not that I can think of.” Bobby leans back in his leather chair, his expression relaxing. “He’s a good kid, leaps before he looks sometimes. But he’s come a long way. I wasn’t always sure that would happen.” Bobby smiles, a hint of fondness to it, like he’s talking about his own child. Then he leans forward again, elbows resting on the high gloss desktop scattered with papers. “Buck really put the work in to prove he was worth it, that he deserves a place here. Can’t think of a better person I’d rather have on my team.” “Present company excluded, of course,” Bobby amends.

np tagging, if you wanna share something:

@diazsdimples @daffi-990 @stereopticons @bidisasterevankinard @actuallyitsellie @wildfluorescent @tizniz @diazheartsbuckley @midsummersmorn @spotsandsocks @theotherbuckley @kitteneddiediaz @your-catfish-friend @thekristen999 @aoubooming @wikiangela @rainbow-nerdss @steadfastsaturnsrings @inell @eddiebabygirldiaz @dr-shortsighted-owl @imtheiliad @bi-buckrights @elvensorceress @bucksbiawakening @giddyupbuck @beyourownanchor6 @indestructibleheart @ladydorian05 @lemonzestywrites @monsterrae1 @statueinthestone @honestlydarkprincess @slightlyobsessedwitheverything @thelikesofus @wildlife4life @eowon @rewritetheending @spaceprincessem @bekkachaos @bucksbignaturals @lovetommyactually @toxicpositivitybuddie @hyperfocusthusly @loucifersbitch @thelikesofus and anyone else who wants to😘

[clowningaroundmars]

aromantic mike chilton for @aggressivelyarospec week!!!! :D

accompanying story under the cut!

It didn't work out with Julie.

They had broken up and decided it would be best to stay friends. After all, with Mike... nothing really changed at all. Like... nothing.

And that was kinda the problem.

Julie didn't think herself to be too judgmental of a person, not after everything everyone's been through. She and the Burners worked hard, played hard, and succeeded together (oftentimes against all odds).

They slept in cuddle piles after dinner some nights whenever Julie could slip away for more than a day without arousing her dad's suspicions. They passed bongs around for a lung-hacking hit or two, went skinny-dipping in the lake at night, patched up each other's bloody wounds countless times.

And then somewhere down the line, Julie fell in love with Mike.

She had no idea when exactly, since she doesn't really do feelings like that, can't afford to with a life like hers. But it happened... somehow.

Julie couldn't quite place exactly what it was that initially drew her to him, especially at first. Sure, the guy was friendly, decisive, assertive without being too overbearing, and unbearably charming. But.

It was the charm that caught poor Julie totally off-guard, really. She'd often hear her father ranting and raving about his golden-prodigal-son-turned-traitor, and his ID photo in his file wasn't really much to look at, either. Julie would never admit it out loud, but she had snuck down to Motorcity for the first time ever with low expectations.

Later, she came back up to her pod in Deluxe with stars in her eyes.

But she wasn't in love with him then, no. She knew this because she was pretty sure her constant Mike Thoughts did not manifest until after the kids all went to Antonio's together for the first time.

It was summertime, around nine months after the group was (un)officially formed. The heat had Mike shirking his jacket and leaving it in Mutt, and his old t-shirt was getting a tad bit tight after all the exercise he was getting around the hideout, especially after Texas moved his workout gear in and Mike took him up on his offer for semi-regular sparring sessions.

And boy, did that Mike fella fill out. Mhmm.

Even Julie-- a girl who was mostly blind to typical male affections directed at her in school-- had to admit to herself that when Mike put on a little more weight in the right places, when his biceps bulged a bit as he flexed an arm and his shoulders got a bit wider... it took a lot more effort to wrench her studious gaze away.

Geez Louise.

Before long, she was doodling their initials and combining both of their names in her little sketchpad. Gag. Gross.

But Mike never seemed to pay attention to her the same way in return. She didn't catch him looking away from her at inopportune times, and he'd never lay a single hand on her aside from a typical friendly pat on the shoulder, or a comfortable lean on an arm while the Burners all lounged around during movie nights. Hell, he seemed more affectionate with his best friend Chuck than he was with her most times.

So she kept her thoughts to herself. Easy peasy. She kept secrets from her dad, from her friends, and now from Mike. Like everything else, she created a neat, separate file in her head and tucked that little secret away. She managed to conceal it for long enough.

Until it became too big to ignore.

And then it happened.

And it really just... happened. Julie hardly registered herself even doing it.

It happened like this: Mike had rescued Julie from certain death at the lake after she crashed an out-of-control 9 Lives out through the barricades and into the water, and they were panting and coughing up water on the sand after Mike succeeded in dragging her out. Dutch and Texas were busy racing around and distracting the Kanebots, luring them all away from the pair.

Julie didn't say anything. Neither of them did. Julie just... surged forward when she blinked the water out of her eyes and saw him, his angelic face hovering mere inches away from hers. She remembered the dewey drops on his long lashes and the warmth of his lips more than anything else.

And then she's pretty sure she blacked out afterwards because the next thing she remembers, she's waking up on the couch wrapped in blankets and towels, wearing Chuck's hoodie.

She doesn't ask anyone why Chuck opted to be the guy to lend his clothes to her.

(It wasn't Chuck who lent it to her though.)

After Jacob makes sure she has a steaming mug of soup in her hands and is generally fussed over enough, he bids her a goodnight and leaves a big holoscreen playing old-timey anime shows for her.

Shortly afterwards, Mike slips into the room on feet far too quiet for a rowdy teenage boy like him. Julie almost misses his entry and startles when she notices him casually leaning on a wall over to her right, almost blending in against the garish grafitti and street signs.

They sat down and spoke quietly, privately.

Julie appreciated that Mike had enough tact and forethought not to confront her in front of all of the guys. Thank god. Julie wouldn't even know how to handle the endless teasing that would inevitably assault her from all angles if they ever even suspected that she had a crush on Mike.

And how embarrassing, really! The only girl on the team falling for the charming and roguish leader of a group of rebels. Double gag.

It was by some miracle that no one ever suspected Julie's true feelings, and that the actual love interest found out before anyone else did. Lucky her!

And incredibly, Mike shared her feelings too! Who would've thought it! Definitely not Julie, that's for sure.

Mike hadn't even seemed to glance her way at all in all the time they had known each other. He always maintained the same level of friendliness with her as he did with the other guys. But he confessed then that he knew Julie was special, and that their bond that grew in the time they had known each other was special, too.

Wow. Look at them, both hiding their feelings so well! It's like they were meant to be.

So they agreed to go steady.

Eventually, they told the rest of the Burners. Well, it really was just that it was kinda hard for them to ignore when Julie would sneak her index finger over to Mike's hand and hook it onto his pinkie as they walked back to their cars after a quick errand run for the Skylarks or an easy mission.

So they decided to make the announcement at Antonio's, which Julie thought was perfectly poetic. It was where she first fell in love with Mike, and now here they were a year and a half later, making it official.

They didn't expect the other guys' reactions, though. The Burners received the news... lukewarmly.

"You guys were in love?" Texas spewed bits of pizza all over the table as he chewed with his mouth open. Ugh. Typical Texas.

"Oh! Wow... uhm. Congrats, guys." Chuck seemed to hide behind his hair even more as his shoulders hiked up in a nonchalant shrug.

Dutch rubbed his chin. "...Yeah. Uh, yeah...? Cool. Congrats, you two."

And then silence fell over the table.

"Is... is there a problem with this, or?" Julie dared to press.

Everyone silently exchanged glances.

Mike-- bless his heart-- misread the situation and clasped his hands together on the table.

"Guys, look," he started, "this isn't gonna change anything about the team. We're still gonna be friends, I’m not prioritizing Julie over anyone else on missions. It's just... we're gonna... we're gonna be the Burners, except I’m dating Jules now! That's all!"

Mike smiled warmly at all his friends. Chuck chewed on his lip.

Dutch bobbed his head thoughtfully. Then, after a while, he said "nah, yeah. We figured. I mean, you're a pretty great guy so it's not like we thought you were gonna up and abandon us or anything. It's just that... uh. So when did this uhhh, yanno, this whole thing start?"

Julie blinked.

Mike cocked his head. "Start?" He asked.

"Y'know, like when did y'all start liking each other? Because uh, no offense, but this is kinda comin' out of the blue for us. Literally nobody thought this was gonna be a thing. Tell us some stories!"

Mike blew out a breath and leaned back in the booth. Julie smiled.

"Weeeellll," Julie squinted with excitement and then let the cat out of the bag.

She told them all about it, how in this very same booth she watched as Mike's t-shirt stretched over his muscles all those months ago and how his smile seemed to shine brighter than the diner's neon signs. Then about how she leaned against Mike's broad chest after agonizing for hours over not being able to free him from her father's maximum-security prison that one time. About all the dreams she'd have of them together, the intimate late-night talks they'd have while having a couple of drinks on the rooftop of some abandoned building. How she loved his bright eyes and strong hands...

When she finished, she had a dreamy kind of look all over her face. Mike had a brow quirked, but he smiled back at her all the same.

Everyone exchanged glances again.

"So Mike. Was it like that for you?" Chuck asked eventually. It had a strange sort of lilt to it, like he was in on an inside joke that Julie wasn't.

She bristled a bit.

"Oh! Uh." Mike glanced around quickly. "Not... really? But Julie's super pretty, so when she confessed to me, I was pretty stoked."

Mike grinned like a goofball. Julie grinned like a goofball. The rest of the Burners looked skeptical.

"Hm. Cool! Well, great." Chuck turned back to his loaded pizza slice.

And just like that, things mostly went back to normal.

And, uh... Mike was right, this... really wasn't changing anything between them and the Burners. Like at all.

A small part of Julie was kind of hurt by it, but she tried to wave the feeling away. It was nonsense, and she should be happy. Mike loved her! He just wasn't a romantic type, that's all. He loved his friends, loved being a Burner... it was fine.

Right?

It was normal for her to have to remind Mike every now and then to go out on a date with her. He's a busy guy, and this was his first relationship. Julie just had to be patient.

Patient... patient. Yeah. She could be patient.

It was when Chuck joined them for their sixth "movie date" in a row that the patience was starting to run a bit thin, though.

Chuck and Mike settled side-by-side on the communal couch, swapping snacks as easily as breathing and nursing a popcorn bowl between them. Mike hooked an arm over Julie's shoulder though, so Julie said nothing.

It was a couple of months later when Mike makes a quiet confession to her as they laid together in his pristine bed one night.

"I don't really like kissing all that much," he mumbles, face half-buried into his pillows. "But I like holding you. Is that okay?"

Julie's heart sinks into the covers. But she nods anyways. "Yeah. That's okay."

"Really? Do ya mean it? It's not weird or anything, right? We can still be together but not kiss. Maybe I can give you forehead kisses instead?"

Julie sighed softly. "Mmnyeah, that's fine."

"It's not you, it's me, Jules. I just--"

"Mike. Trust me, I get it. It's okay, seriously."

Mike gave her a grateful smile back.

Damnit. Well.

Anyways, life continued on. Julie resigned herself to accepting the fact that her boyfriend was just simply a guy's guy.

Julie liked cars but Mike was all over Mutt. Loved the damn thing more than he loved her, honestly. She loved being a Burner, but it seemed like it was Mike's purpose, like he was more devoted to the city under the dome than he was to his girlfriend. And above all, Mike loved the Burners. All of them. He spent a bit more time with Chuck than he did with anyone else in the team, but he was always there for everyone just as passionately.

Which was. Fine.

Freeing Motorcity from her father's reign of terror was indeed way more important than holding hands with a cute boy!

Duh, of course, stupid Julie.

Whatever.

When they inevitably broke up, it blindsided Mike. He thought they were the best of buds! The bestest of buds-- aside from him and Chuck, of course! But while he loved Chuck fiercely, his love for Julie was... different. Fierce but different. He could never describe it in words but he knew what he was feeling was real.

He loved Julie! So when she suddenly broke up with him, it was like getting hit with a sack of flour out of nowhere.

They were leaned up against Mutt's hood on a cliff overlooking Lake Erie when Julie finally broke the news. They were casually smoking a cigarette, passing it back and forth. Mike's idea of a "date." Anyways.

"I can't really keep doing this, Mike." Julie sighed out a cloud of smoke. She said it so matter-of-factly, as casually as if she were simply commenting on the weather.

Mike whipped round to look at her. "Keep doing what?"

"This," Julie threw her hands up and tucked them into her vest pockets after handing Mike the cigarette back. "This... 'relationship'. It's not working out."

"What... whaddya mean? We just started dating, it's kinda too early to tell--"

"No, Mike." Julie interrupted loudly. Her eyes were avoiding Mike's face carefully. "No... it's not. We've been together for months and we have never moved on from our friendship. You... just admit it, dude. You're just not into me."

Mike pushed himself off of Mutt and placed his hands on both of her shoulders, forcing them to stand face-to-face. "Julie, look at me." He had his jaw set.

Julie swallowed as she peered up at him from her bangs.

"I love you more than you can ever know. I know I’m messing up, but... but I’m trying, okay? Just give us one more chance, Jules. I can make it right, I know it!"

Julie took a step back, wrinkling her nose. "Mike! Just give it up, okay? I know you don't feel the same about me as I do about you," she pleaded, mortified. "It's okay! It's fine! We can just move on and let it go!"

"B-but it's not! No, Julie c'mon, bro--"

"Bro?!" Julie exploded, hands in the air now. "Are you hearing yourself right now? Am I your girlfriend, or your bro?"

Mike gaped at her like a fish, mouth opening just to close again. Then, he hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands in his pockets.

He kicked a couple of rocks off the cliff, watching the pebbles scatter and plummet dozens of feet below.

Then he ran his hands through his hair, a nervous habit of his, before returning back to Julie.

He exhaled loudly. "What... what's the difference? You... isn't that what dating is all about? Being best friends with your partner?"

Julie glared at him. "Yes! And it's also about being more than that, too!"

Mike scoffed. "More than friends? What does that even mean? Nothing is more important than friendship, Jules. Not in Motorcity."

"Nothing is more important than friendship?! Mike--" Here, Julie took a step back to pinch her nose and exhale. "Look. When I confessed my feelings to you for the first time, what were you feeling?"

"What was I feeling? Uh, I dunno, happiness I guess? What, did you want me to say that I didn't care? I care about your feelings, Julie! I do!"

"So you started dating me because you didn't want to hurt my feelings?!" Julie shouted.

"Where are you getting that from?!" Mike shouted back.

"Mike! You are just not into me! I can just tell! It's okay! W-we can just be friends, like how we used to be. I don't even know why you're fighting me so hard on this, I'm the one breaking up with you. You can't change my mind!"

"Right," Mike huffed, "because you don't love me anymore. No, I get it. It's fine."

They glared at each other for a beat.

Then, Julie shoved her hands back into her vest pockets. "No, Mike. I do love you. I just think..." she sighed, all the wind in her sails blowing away, "I just think it's best for us to go our own separate ways."

Mike startled. "Wait, what? Jules... are you...? You're not leaving the Burners, are you?"

"No, I'm not leaving the Burners." Julie says through clenched teeth. "I'm just gonna take a quick break and then when I come back? We're gonna be just friends again, Mike. Alright?"

Mike inhales deeply, his own anger trickling out of him like water as well. "... Fine. Fine, yeah. Whatever you want, Julie." He hangs his head.

They then stare off into the horizon together, watching the twinkling star-like pinpoints of light on the underside of the dome. Watching as the lake's waters undulate and shimmer in the darkness of the cool evening, a gigantic dark mirror reflecting the pinpoints back to the ceiling.

Mike idly scuffs his boot on the ground again, putting out their shared cigarette. In a sad sort of way, the dying ember of the smoldering stick being stomped out into rocks and gravel was a lot like their relationship: dead and done. And of course it had to be Mike to put them both out, huh. Right.

Real poetic.

Julie turns around wordlessly, climbs into Mutt and sits in Chuck's seat.

Time to go.

After a few seconds Mike nods once, fixes his collar and slides into his own seat.

The ride back up to Deluxe is quiet.

It was a couple years later when the kids were a bit older --but not that much older at the same time-- that they all filed past the doors of Antonio's and slid right into their usual booth.

Except this time, it had been a long while since they had the time to relax like this. These days, Kane's attacks were getting more and more savage, brutal... and cunning.

Kane's latest attempt at a hostile takeover of Motorcity involved way too many sneaky double-crossing spies all trying to break the Burners up and weaken the city's best defense. Sneaky bastard, that Abraham Kane.

But they thwarted him yet again, despite it all. They beat the bad guys, restored peace back amongst the gangs and the civilians, and saved the day.

It had taken weeks this time, but they succeeded.

So now to celebrate, they're placing their orders for the greasiest, most heart-clogging fast food on the menu and sitting back to happily sip at their drinks. They're finally enjoying their time together again, and Mike is especially pleased that everyone made it out alive.

Sitting elbow-to-elbow with his bestest friends in the world, Mike takes advantage of a lull in the conversation to clap his hands together and get everyone's attention.

"Okay, guys!" He announces. "So, I'm pretty sure we're all kinda fried after... y'know, everything. Everyone's probably too tired to care about what I'm going to say next! So... confession time."

"Hmhmm! Spill, then," Chuck smirks, his chin in his cyborg hand. It was a recent upgrade to his prosthetic, and it shone a beautiful silvery-blue under the diner lights.

Mike chuckles nervously. "Uh, I... I think that... I figured out that I can't fall in love!"

Everyone stares at him.

Chuck casually slurps his milkshake through a straw.

Dutch turns to him then. "Wait. You knew?"

Chuck sits up. "Uhh hahaha, whoa. Where'd that come from? You psychic or somethin'?" He deflects awkwardly.

"You're clearly not surprised," Dutch points out.

"Pfft yeah I'm not surprised. Who's been Mike's best friend since, like, kindergarten again?"

"Ah. And ya didn't think to let me know anything back when we were dating? Sure would've saved us a lot of time," Julie quipped drily.

Chuck holds his mismatched hands up. "Now hold on a minute! I didn't know back then, obviously. Besides, you two dated years ago for like... three seconds!"

"Two years ago, smartass," Julie snips back.

Mike clears his throat conspicuously. "Guys! Guys, no need to fight over me," he jokes awkwardly, "because I, uhm, I've decided I don't belong to anybody! I'm just me, and I'm not dating anyone. Like, ever."

Everyone turns back to him again.

With four pairs of eyes on him, Mike draws in on himself a bit as he continues. "Yeah, it's. It's something that I've been kinda discovering about myself and I'm still... exploring it. But I'm pretty sure I've never had a crush in my life. I was just walking through life distracted by everything else for so long that I never noticed it, but... yeah. I've just. I've just never felt love for anyone else before, I guess."

"Which is fine," Chuck blurts out suddenly. "It's... it's fine! That Mike's never fallen in love with anyone. It happens. Some people just don't experience a common thing most people do... like romance, or sex. Yeah! Totally normal!"

Dutch smirks at Chuck. "You too, then? You a non-romantic as well?"

Chuck shakes his head so hard his bangs swing. "No! Nuh uh, I'm a lover, not a fighter. I'm definitely a romantic!"

"Why so nervous all of a sudden, then?"

"Because," Chuck replies, "because... it's fine! To not ever fall in love or like... date, or kiss or have sex or whatever. We're in Motorcity now, and we can get to do whatever we want. And if we don't wanna date, then we don't have to!" Then he clamps his mouth shut.

Mike perks up then. "That's right! And ah, yeah! Speaking of, Chuckles... lemme tell ya, I really gotta hand it to ya. If it weren't for you, I'd've never figured this one out. So, thanks, buddy! As always, you really had my back on this one."

Chuck and Mike smile at each other and Texas raises a brow.

"Huh?" Texas says. "What's that s'posed to mean?"

Chuck titters nervously as Mike pulls up a screen and opens up a forum.

"It means that Chuckles here helped me find a site that explained everything I was experiencing! Or... not experiencing, really."

Chuck clears his throat, clearly relieved. "Uh, yeah! Well, after Mike's like, 10th girlfriend that one time he couldn't stop bringing people back home, he came to me all frustrated and stuff and... well, we went off to find my friends in the LARPing arena to see if anyone had any idea why he was burning through dates like Mutt burns through tires. And so someone suggested he might be aromantic, and uh... well, the rest is history!"

Dutch and Julie hummed in acknowledgement.

Everyone knew what that was like, how weird it was that Golden Child Mike all of sudden started bringing people home from parties and bars shortly after his breakup with Julie. Sometimes he even had two people on his arms, some men, some women. Never the same person after two or three times, though.

They were all perplexed when they first heard laughing and chattering behind Mike's bedroom door. Once the moaning started, though... well! Everyone poked fun at him the mornings after and teased him to varying degrees, but things were mostly chill in the beginning.

Everyone remembered Mike's frustrations after a while, though. How he could never quite land a steady relationship-- no matter how hard he tried, with whoever. It got to the point where the Burners stopped their teasing and became quite concerned after Mike introduced his 5th girlfriend in the span of like... 6 months, once upon a time.

It was shortly after his final breakup that Mike flopped down onto his best friend's messy bed one evening and finally had The Conversation.

It went well, all things considered. Chuck, patient as ever, listened to his friend and then when he couldn't offer any solid advice, he offered a distraction. The LARPing arena proved to be much better help than they could ever hope for.

Ever since then, Mike's been up late into the night often, completely engrossed in all things aromantic. He wanted to learn more about it, yearned for a community that knew exactly what he was feeling; so he stayed awake just swiping through sites and PDFs on his holoscreens, eating every bit of information up.

Now, it looked like Mike was at peace with himself and his station in life after all this time. That was a relief!

"Aromantic! That's it! Look at this, guys." Here, Mike grins and pulls up a photo of a striped flag. "This is the community flag. Look familiar?"

The colors of the flag had two shades of green at the top that then cascaded into white, then grey and then black.

Texas leaned forward. "It looks like Mutt!" He practically shouts.

Everyone laughs.

"Yeah, that sure is a you flag if I've ever seen one," Julie quips.

"Right? Like it was meant to be! So I guess I'm part of this community, then. I mean, this really is a kickass flag..."

"But what does that mean, though? That you can never fall in love with anyone, ever?" Julie asks.

Mike closes his screens and clasps his hands on the table, exhaling a bit. "Uhh, well? Well, yeah! I can't ever fall in love... but it doesn't feel that way to me! Ugh, I'm probably gonna do such a bad job explaining this," he laughs self-consciously.

"It's okay, dude. Take your time," Dutch smiles warmly.

Mike shoots him a grateful smile back. "... It... it's like. Well? It's like... I've never felt butterflies in my stomach before, so I have no idea what that's like. But I like you guys, a lot. Like a lot, a lot. I love hanging out with you all even though I don't think about any of you guys like that. I love making friends-- like true friends-- and I can't stop thinking about how happy hanging out with people makes me. I guess I'm just way more platonic than romantic, because I am just... so bad at love! God, I've never had so much trouble with anything in my life before like I have with romance," he groans, grimacing.

"And when Mike Fucking Chilton says that, that's how you know he's struggling!" Dutch puts in.

Everyone giggles.

"Wow," Julie gives Mike a side-long glance. "Finally. Something that The Great Mike Chilton is bad at! We've finally got him, boys."

Texas leaps out of his seat and enthusiastically karate-chops the air. "Hoo-WAH!!! Finally! Something I got over on ya, Mike. Texas is better at romancing than you!"

Julie rolls her eyes.

Mike guffaws. "Psshhwhat? C'mon guys, I'm bad at plenty of stuff. This isn't the first!"

"Oh yeah? Name one thing!" Dutch challenges.

"Uhhm well uh, I...? I'm pretty bad at... hm." Mike drums his fingers on the table. "I'm bad at coding! I'm not nearly as good as Chuck at the software and tech side of things!"

"But ya could be! You could totally learn how to, if you'd just sit down with me for more than 20 minutes," Chuck points out.

Mike stubbornly folds his arms across his chest. "Well, I don't wanna! What're you gonna do about it?"

And just like that, the kids all return back to normalcy, bickering and quibbling about nothing as they finally receive their food from the waitress. Soon after, Chuck and Texas are throwing pizza toppings and wadded up paper at each other and Mike is mom-ing at them to quit it before they all get kicked out.

It was as if nothing even happened.

It was simultaneously comforting and also thrilling how easily Mike was accepted back into the fold; the Burners' Heartless Leader who could never fall in love.

On the inside, Mike was deeply grateful and his heart felt full upon learning this, though. It was a nourishing feeling that his bestest friends in the whole world who worked hard, played hard, lived fast and free alongside him... they loved him and accepted him back, no matter what. It was a much nicer and fuzzier feeling than any romance-filled relationship or hookup ever gave him.

Now, the Burners are finally leaving the diner, all tipsy and giddy from their impromptu late-night happy hour session.

Mike has a casual arm slung over Chuck's shoulder as they traipse on over to Mutt. Everyone casually daps each other up and offers quick goodbyes before climbing into their respective cars.

Mike slides behind the wheel and exhales. Chuck clicks himself into his secure harness.

"Well! That went pretty well! A little too easily, honestly but," Mike breathes.

Chuck's blonde head bobs. "Well yeah, dude. Of course. What'd ya think, that'd we kick you out of the team for that?"

Mike shrugs and turns his skeleton key into Mutt's ignition, bringing her to roar awake again. "I mean... no. But, y'know. It's weird, having a leader of a gang that can't ever fall in love, right? Like some heartless freak or somethin'. I dunno," he chuckled wryly.

Chuck frowns. "Mike. You're not a freak," he says firmly.

Mike gives his best friend a sidelong glance. "Chuck..." he speaks, voice low, "it's not like that! You know what I mean... it's just that sometimes people who are different don't get treated so well all the time, yanno?"

"Yeah, sure, back up in Deluxe," Chuck argues. "But it's different down here in Motorcity. It's good here for people like us!"

Mike hums thoughtfully as he drums his fingers on the wheel. "Yeah, you're right..." then, he smirks at Chuck. "So if that's true, then why didn't you come out, back there? I actually thought you were gonna do it. It even looked like Dutch suspected something, too!"

Mike smiles at his friend, who is doing his best impression of a carseat cover now.

"Mmnyeah... yeah, I could've." Chuck gives a noncommittal shrug, hesitating.

"What's wrong?"

After a few seconds, Chuck swipes at his bangs self-consciously and clears his throat. "Uhmm well... being aromantic and never falling in love is kinda... badass, don'tcha think? But for a guy like me, never wanting to have sex and being a dope for romance is just pathetic," he laments. "If people hear that I'm asexual and that I never want to bang anyone, I'd get laughed out of the room! It's not an asexual thing, Mikey, it's a me thing."

Mike throws Mutt into reverse and backs her out of their parking spot with practiced ease.

"Chuckles. My guy. Look, who cares what other people think? If you don't wanna bone, you're just not gonna. That doesn't hurt anyone at all, so screw anyone who says anything about it. If anyone gives you a hard time, call me up and I'll spin the block for you,"

Chuck bursts into a peal of nervous giggles. "Whoa, whoa Mikey, geez! Christ, thanks, man but that's really not necessary. I appreciate you, though,"

They smile at each other again.

Then after a beat, Mike adds, "plus, if they know about aromanticism, they're gonna eventually find out about asexuality, too, dude."

Chuck laughs weakly as he clutches his arms. "O-oh...! Yeah... yeah that's tr--"

Mike suddenly slams his boot down on the gas pedal and Mutt growls as she lurches into hundred-mile-speeds from a standstill. Her tires screech loudly on the pavement and she leaves a giant plume of smoke and dirt behind as everyone careens over a drop straight onto the Deluxian Supply Pipes.

"Miiikkee-eeyyyy!!! We just ate!" Chuck screeches, horrified. He clings onto the car seat with both hands as Mike laughs.

Chuck's screams and Mike's loud, joyous shouting and whooping can be heard far and wide throughout Motorcity as they race all the way back home.

[ahoysteviex]

WRITING COMMISSIONS OPEN‼️IN FINANCIAL DISTRESS

Hello everyone. I'm opening writing commissions because I am in dire financial distress right now. PLEASE consider hiring me or donating to me right now. My family NEEDS help.

MY SITUATION:

I am currently living with my family and we are living with relatives. My father has been nonstop searching for work and getting nothing in return. He will get interviewed sometimes and despite being more than qualified and the interview going well, he won't get the job. My mother is disabled and can only work part time but has also not had any luck getting part time work. I have a younger sister who has to be taken out of school and put into online school because we cannot afford gas to drive her to and from school every day. My mother just got discharged from the hospital two days ago after having surgery to have her thyroid removed because she had thyroid cancer. She's an amputee and cannot afford the supplies for her prosthesis. We have a phone bill to pay as well as a storage unit payment for a unit with all of our stuff in it that we'll lose if we cannot make the payment.

To make matters worse, my maternal grandparents are evil people (I can make a separate post explaining this situation further if need be) and had it out for my parents for months. They are emotionally and mentally abusive and manipulative people. Last month, they started a loud, heated argument, as is typical for them. It was relatively short, but eventually my father leaned over and slammed the bedroom door. Honestly, "slammed" even feels like a stretch. But my grandparents called the police and lied to them by saying my dad slammed my grandfather's hand in the door. The police arrested my dad over this despite there being little to no physical evidence and my mother, sister, and I all testifying that it was not true. This happened the weekend before Christmas. My great uncle was able to call in a friend and get my dad released from jail, but he's going to have to sign bonds papers tomorrow and we do not have the $350 they're asking for, so my father may be detained again. He is just getting his foot in the door at Wal-Mart and is waiting on them to call him to finish his onboarding process and this is throwing a wrench into all that.

We're trying desperately to get on our feet. We want to move in to a place of our own. But it's just one misfortune after another. We need money to pay for my mom's medical expenses, our storage unit, our phone service/Internet, gas, and now legal expenses to keep my dad with us. And that doesn't even touch on the car trouble.

MY WRITING:

These commissions are a desperate attempt to help myself and my family, as writing is my only real skill.

I have experience writing for OR would be able to write for the following fandoms:

Stranger Things

Arcane

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Scream (1994)

Apex Legends

Overwatch

God of War (4 & 5)

Baulder's Gate 3

Dead by Daylight

Cyberpunk 2077

Disco Elysium

My Chemical Romance

Panic! at the Disco

Fall Out Boy

One Direction

I'm proficient in romance, angst, fluff, domestic/familial, and NSFW. I'll write basically anything as long as it isn't a NSFW situation involving minors or animals. I'll write Canon Character x Canon Character, Original Character x Canon Character, and Reader Insert. I'll even do those little head-canon posts. Anything, I just need commissions.

You can find examples of my work on Ao3 here, or under my "my writing" tag here on Tumblr.

I will also beta read for you!

Here is my ko-fi.

Please use that to buy a commission from me! You can also donate there without buying a commission if you want to do that too. And if you aren't in a position to help financially, PLEASE reblog this post to get more eyeballs on it so that other people are given the opportunity to help me.

Thank you for reading. ❤️‍🔥