#I don't want to be in this country anymore

[joequiinn]

The Dos & Don'ts of Fake Dating | E.M. x reader | epilogue

[chap seventeen] | [all chapters here]

Story Summary: You propose a crazy idea to the resident freak of Hawkins, Eddie Munson. But maybe he was even crazier for agreeing to it…

notes & tropes: fem reader, slooow burn, faking dating, opposites attract, bratty rich bitch reader, super minor revenge plot, dysfunctional family dynamics, idiots-to-lovers, smut & nsfw themes

a/n: Well, we've finally made it, everyone, and I'm feeling emotional about it. This epilogue is just a lil something I thought up while I was considering what the future would hold for Eddie and ice princess, and I love it dearly.

wc: 3.2k

Epilogue

September 1985

I want to be somewhere big and interesting. New York, L.A.… fuck, even Florida for all I care, I just want out of Hawkins, out of this town.” “Then I guess we’ll be those high school sweethearts that run off to L.A. together after graduation, huh?” “Oh, I’m sure.”

September 1987

Eddie should’ve been home by now. You’d memorized his work schedule within his first week of starting at VIP Records, so you knew his shift always ended at 6pm on Tuesdays - so where the hell was he? It was nearly 8:30, and you’d been getting more and more antsy as the minutes ticked by, worrying over what could possibly be delaying him like this.

So much had happened in the two years since you and Eddie began dating back in Hawkins - your world had changed so much that sometimes you felt like a completely different person. It started with some big things, like reintroducing Eddie to your parents and begging them to start fresh with him - though your father resolved to never show any warmth to your boyfriend, at least your mother was kinder.

You decide that you wouldn’t be going to college following graduation, instead wanting to take a year to work, which was yet another thing your father didn’t warm to. Somewhere amidst that decision and the subsequent string of arguments that followed, you found yourself spending more nights with Eddie and Wayne than you did with your own parents, until one day you realized you had informally moved into the Munson home. So, by the end of summer ‘86, you were out of your parents’ house and working full-time to save up for whatever may come next (and to pay rent, despite Wayne’s insistence that it was entirely unnecessary).

You weren’t sure who proposed the idea first, but you and Eddie had decided one day that you were going to move out to California. Initially, this was just some fantasy for the two of you, something to give you hope that you’d hightail it out of Hawkins one day, but over time that fantasy started to look more and more real until finally you agreed that maybe the idea wasn’t half bad at all.

So, you began to set aside more cash, began to look into neighborhoods and cities around Los Angeles, began to tell everyone that the two of you would be leaving town soon enough. No one really believed you at first - all your friends were in support of the idea, but they didn’t think it was particularly realistic. And when you mentioned it on one of the very rare occasions you saw your parents anymore, your father had the gall to laugh right in your face. That, of course, only bolstered your resolve to get the hell out of Indiana, and a lot of your freetime was slowly consumed with library visits to figure out how exactly to make this move happen.

You and Eddie finally made the leap a few months back, spending a couple weeks road tripping your way across the country, finally arriving in Los Angeles with only your most important earthly belongings and little else. Leaving Hawkins had been harder than you expected - leaving Wayne being the hardest - but you found California to be utterly refreshing, to fit you almost like a glove.

After living out of a hotel for a while, you found this cozy little apartment down in Long Beach, and you’d been content ever since; sure, it wasn’t perfect and the neighborhood wasn’t impressive, but it was your space, and that made it just right for you and Eddie. You both got jobs to hold you over for a while, you started visiting bars and venues, hell, you even found a stray cat that you quickly adopted without a second thought.

You’d been leaving the dollar theater after seeing a re-release of Labyrinth when the little calico found you - something about the film, and David Bowie, had totally mesmerized you when it came out the year prior, and Eddie was happy to take you to the special showing that night. So, when this cat approached you curiously and began weaving playfully between Eddie’s ankles, you were both immediately smitten. You named the cat Sir Didymus only to discover it was female a few weeks later, but it suited her rascally personality just fine, and thus her name stuck.

And now here you were, five months into your new California life and driving yourself crazy over where the hell Eddie was and why he was late to return home.

You called the record store and asked if maybe he was working late and forgot to mention it, but his coworker informed you that Eddie clocked out right on schedule; he mentioned that Eddie seemed eager to leave, but didn’t have any further information for you. On the one hand, it made you worry that something had happened, but on the other, you were annoyed that he had possibly made plans without telling you, as unlikely as that may be.

You’d tried to think of all the places in town that he could have gone to, but nothing seemed particularly viable - he wouldn’t have gone to a show without you, wouldn’t have gone to the store without you, wouldn’t have gone anywhere without you. Not unless he was keeping some kind of secret, but you couldn’t fathom what that might be.

Considering that today was your birthday, you had originally thought maybe he was making a special stop to get you flowers or a cake or a last minute gift; it was so like Eddie to do that, even after you insisted he didn’t need to get you anything at all. But once 7 o’clock hit, and then 7:30, and then 8pm, you began to doubt this original line of thought and assume the worst instead. 

Decidedly, a few minutes past 8, you’d thrown on one of Eddie’s sweaters and your shoes, and made the short trek down to the convenience store on the corner - the two of you were in there practically every day, so maybe one of the employees had seen him. The familiar night clerks greeted you, but when you asked about Eddie’s whereabouts, they didn’t have a clue, which made your worries grow even more. As if to put your mind at ease, they gave you a free 6-pack and said they’d call you if they saw him.

You returned back to the apartment to Sir Didymus crying for dinner, which made you realize you forgot to set out food for her earlier. Cursing to yourself, you filled her bowl and began to pace nervously, trying to consider where the hell Eddie could be. Did you forget about a show that he had previously mentioned? Or was he hit by a fucking truck? Maybe he got caught up chatting with a customer like he was one to do, or maybe he got fucking mugged. All possibilities were on the table, and you hated each and every one of them for causing you such worry and distress.

Prying open a window, you crawled onto the fire escape and lit a cigarette, hands shaky with anxiety as you pressed it to your lips. The night was relatively quiet for your neighborhood, which wasn’t saying much - there were always cars cruising up and down the road, music blasting from a nearby bar, and people constantly arguing in alleyways and backyards. But the noise was soothing in its way, reminding you that the world was constantly in motion and that Eddie was probably just caught up in it all.

Sir Didymus came to sit beside you, meowing as if she, too, was wondering where the hell Eddie was and why he wasn’t back home. You considered throwing on some clothes to go searching for him, but aside from the bar and the convenience store, there was nowhere in the area that he would be; moments like these made you wish you two hadn’t sold your car, because it would’ve been really convenient to have right about now.

Each time you heard tires screeching or saw headlights shining down the road, you craned your neck to get a better look, but it was never Eddie. You’d already nervously polished off two cigarettes and were lighting up a third; Sir Didymus had retired to sleeping on the pile of blankets that she commandeered within a few days of moving in.

As you were caught up in your anxious thoughts, you thought you’d heard metal music from somewhere nearby, muffled and far off, but it caused your ears to perk; when you realized that it was specifically a Dio song playing, you immediately shot to your feet, clambering back through the window while dropping your cigarette into the ashtray.

Without bothering to slip on shoes, you rushed out onto the breezeway connecting all the little apartments in your complex, gripping the rails as you tried to find the source of the music, which was obviously louder from this side of the building. The street in front of your complex was crowded with cars, so if the music was Eddie’s, he must have had to park way down the block; eventually, the music stopped, and you became more anxious by the second.

When finally you spotted Eddie walking up the sidewalk towards the gate, you all but rushed down the stairs to meet him halfway; Eddie smiled largely, clearly not able to make out your concern under the flickering lights illuminating the path. A glare grew in your eyes as you realized he looked just fine; in fact, it seemed he stopped by the store, if the grocery bag in his hand was anything to go on. He held up his arms to greet you, but before he could get a word out, you hissed while jabbing him in the chest.

“Where the hell have you been?” Your eyes were alight with panicked concern, and you didn’t realize until that moment that you were on the verge of relieved tears. You swallowed, determined to hold them back, “It’s almost 9 o’clock, Eddie, I was worried out of my fucking mind.”

Eddie’s face fell, arms drooping at his sides; he didn’t expect you to have gotten so worked up over him not returning on time. He thought he could surprise you, that he could do something nice for your birthday, but the utter panic in your expression told him otherwise. He dipped his head down towards yours, hoping that he could sooth all the stress that had bubbled up inside you.

“I should’ve called--”

“No shit.”

Eddie clenched his jaw a little, taking a breath - he wasn’t about to get upset with you, he wouldn’t let himself, “Let’s go upstairs, okay?”

The impulsive side of you wanted to argue with him right here and now, wanted to grill him about why he didn’t come home and what he was doing. The more patient part of you, however, held back, shaky breaths heaving in your chest as you nodded with a twisted expression. You spun around on your heels and marched up the stairs, crossing your arms with a scowl; Sir Didymus sat just outside your open door, curiously waiting for you both.

Following just a step behind you, Eddie sighed to himself as he took in your rigid posture, realizing that he should’ve thought this through - after all, since your move to Long Beach, the two of you were essentially attached at the hip, doing absolutely any and everything together. Of course you would worry when he didn’t come home, when he didn’t call or give you a heads up - but, again, he’d just been hoping to surprise you, and hadn’t considered that a few hours would get you as stressed as you were now.

Back in the apartment, you took large strides towards the open window and retrieved your cigarette from the ashtray. To calm yourself down, you began to pace, watching as Eddie closed the door behind him and waited there a moment as if to collect his thoughts; when he turned to face you, you quickly looked away and took a deep drag.

“God, Eddie, I’m trying not to be mad, okay, I was just so worried and I thought maybe there was something you were keeping from me or that maybe you were in an accident or even dead in a fucking ditch, and I know it’s ridiculous to get so worked up over only a few hours but--”

“You can be mad.” He interrupted the inevitable rambling that was about to commence.

You had always struggled to express emotions considering the household you grew up in, so these past two years with Eddie had been a learning experience for you, which led to your feelings often spilling over when they became overwhelming. You shot him a confused look, still struggling to this day with the idea that it was okay to feel something; you bit your tongue so that you wouldn’t keep babbling, trying to collect your thoughts.

“I should’ve told you where I was,” Eddie started, walking the short distance from the front door to the kitchen, gently dropping the grocery bag atop the counter, “but I wanted to surprise you.”

You laughed smally, feeling stupid for getting so worried over seemingly nothing. Shaking your head, you took a deep drag from the cigarette and turned to face the window, eyes unfocused as you looked around. You dropped your head, beginning to feel more and more stupid the more that you thought about it; you could hear Eddie coming up slowly behind you.

“Get out of your head,” He instructed gently, to which you laughed again, “You’re probably already kicking yourself, am I right? As if you did something wrong?”

You narrowed your eyes at his reflection in the window - fuck, he knew you too well. Slowly, you turned to face him again, but you kept your gaze on the floor. Eddie took another couple steps closer, waiting for you to eventually look up at him.

“I’m sorry, princess.” He said simply, and the pet name nearly caused you to smile fondly; even after all this time, it stuck, and you figured it wasn’t going anywhere. You could tell in his voice that Eddie saw you resisting to grin, “I should’ve called, I just got caught up in the surprise.”

The corner of your mouth pulled up, and you looked at Eddie carefully through your lashes; his smile was gentle and sweet, eyes far more adoring than you thought you really deserved. Swallowing your trepidation, you asked smally, “What surprise?”

Eddie’s smile grew larger as he cocked his head, “Your dual birthday-anniversary surprise.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes, relief slowly relaxing your shoulders as you took a final small inhale of the cigarette before tossing it out the window, “My birthday is not our real anniversary and you know it.”

You smiled fondly at the memory of meeting each other at that picnic table behind the football field, at the crazy fake dating scheme you had that ultimately led you to where you were now. It felt like a lifetime again that senior year happened, and yet it still felt as if it was only yesterday.

“So maybe we have two anniversaries.” Eddie teased fondly, his eyes taking you in as if you were still a breath of fresh air to him. Under those soft, adoring eyes, you could feel your ears growing hot even still.

You sighed affectionately with a shake of your head, crossing your arms as a gust of wind came up through the window; being near the beach, the air was always unexpectedly cold at night. As you took in the always pleasant sight of Eddie, you realized he had a bandage just above his collarbone, which caused your brow to furrow with concern as you looked between it and his face.

“What happened?” You asked, closing the gap between you two so you could worry over whatever the hell was on his neck; you wondered if maybe he nicked himself shaving, but the bandage seemed far too large for that. Did he hurt himself at work?

As you reached for the bandage, Eddie laughed, capturing your wrists in his hands before you could touch his neck. You met his eyes with confusion, to which he simply shook his head.

“That’s the surprise.”

Your expression deadpanned, “You getting hurt is the surprise? Geez, babe, how romantic.”

Eddie laughed again, fondly rolling his eyes, “Not hurt in the way that you think.”

Clearly enjoying your confusion, Eddie released your grip and reached for the bandage, hissing a little as he tried to gently peel it off. Your jaw dropped in both surprise and confusion at the injury beneath it, not prepared for what it would be.

It was a tattoo, though that wasn’t the surprising part, considering that Eddie was slowly becoming covered in them. No, what took you aback was that the tattoo was quite clearly your lips, done in a shade almost identical to the lipstick color you’d been trying just the day before. You stared dumbly at it, as if you couldn’t quite compute it, as if you didn’t quite think it was real.

When you finally managed to draw your gaze back up to Eddie’s face, he was smiling from ear-to-ear, eyes twinkling with clear delight at your stunned expression. You opened and closed your mouth a couple of times as you tried to find your voice again, eyes rapidly looking back and forth from the tattoo to his face and back again.

“You… got a tattoo for me?” Your tone was one of disbelief; saying it out loud made the moment more real, and suddenly your throat felt tight as if you could cry.

Eddie nodded with pride, “You like it?”

You stared at the replica of your lips, recalling the evening prior when you’d been testing out make-up samples that you’d gotten from work. Eddie always enjoyed watching you apply make-up, and of course lipstick was his favorite part; when he commented on a shade that he seemed particularly fond of, you leaned over and planted a loud, silly kiss at the base of his neck.

Considering that you crawled out of bed hours before him to get to your shift at the make-up counter, you didn’t see whether or not he’d ever cleaned the lipstick off; evidently, he must have worn it like a badge of pride all day until he could finally get down to the tattoo parlor and make it permanent.

Shaking yourself from your reverie, you looked at Eddie lovingly, your eyes a little more wet; god, you’d gotten so much more emotional since he entered your life, it was nearly ridiculous. Or maybe you’d just become more vulnerable, far less skilled at holding back when it was just the two of you alone.

You cupped his cheeks gently, being extra careful not to go near the fresh tattoo, “God, I love you.”

The smile he gave you was dazzling, mesmerizing even, “I love you, princess.”

You drew his lips down to yours, resting your forehead gently to his; Eddie hummed contently, whispering a tender “happy birthday” against your lips before kissing you fiercely.

.

.

addt. a/n: I'll try to keep this short and sweet. Thank you to everyone who has read this fic and watched it grow, to those that have been commenting and messaging with each update, and to all the incredibly fic writers I've met through this story! And, of course, a HUGE THANK YOU to my dear @eddiernunson for being so invested - you've helped me developed so many ideas, and it's truly warmed my heart to see someone else love the ice princess as much as I do <3 If anyone would like to be tagged in any future outings these two may have in store, please let me know!

@3rd-conchord @a-queen-blr @adelalaaa @adversary713 @avalon-wolf

@costellation-hunter @daisy-munson @daisyridleyss @damon-loves-pie @damp4eddie

@dreamerjj @eddiernunson @feralgoblinbabe @frogtape @fromasgardandback

@fckyeahlames @graciehams @kellsck @kthomps914 @littlexdeaths

@lotrefcp @love-anonymous-writer @marrowfrog00 @maskofmirrors @mewchiili

@miaajaade @miss-celestial-being @mmmunson @moonisu @munsonssweets

@no-bueno-writer @nxrdamp @ollieolive @rach5ive @sapphire4082

@sav12321 @seatbacksandtraytables @sheneedsrocknroll92 @steeldaisies @stormgrl19

@teethvenom @tvserie-s-world @twihard28 @urlivingdeadgirl @v1per1ne

@wefracturedmotivation @welcometohellsock @whats-my-question @xxsxdghxstxx

[allthecanadianpolitics]

i have no clue what to think of immigration anymore. on one hand, i'm very pro-immigration. i think it makes our communities stronger, more interesting, and is a net positive for the country. on the other hand, i hate the idea of welcoming people into our country only for them to end up on the streets because either we have no housing or the housing we DO have is impossibly expensive. not to mention the general cost of living. part of me wants to turn them away for their own sake. i dont want people to have their dreams crushed because our government promised them prosperity and financially ruined them instead.

so yeah. as the child of immigrants, i feel very conflicted. i want kids to have the opportunities that i had, but i don't know if those opportunities exist anymore.

do you think canada is still worth the effort?

~~~~

[cyarskj1899]

Never stop being willing to PROTECT BLACK LIVES never stop being willing to PROTECT TRANS LIVES never stop being willing to PROTECT LGBTQ+ LIVES never stop being willing to PROTECT WOMENS LIVES

I want you to know, MAGA:

You may have won this election, but you still suck.

We supported Kamala Harris because she wanted to help ALL Americans, she wasn't running to stay out of prison or "own Republicans."

She had some terrific ideas, she didn't threaten to use the military on Americans, and she wasn't convicted of any felonies nor was she found liable for sexual assault.

And, unlike you, we're not rioting.

Unlike trump, she is conceding.

We're disappointed about the outcome of this election, not just for ourselves, but for people we care about, people we don't even know... and even YOU.

There is going to be a TON of hardship that billionaire Elon has already warned about -- he will be insulated from it, because he's fucking rich.

But many of you won't be able to afford the gold sneakers, the trump Bibles or NFTs anymore, and your eggs won't be cheaper.

And many of you will SUFFER. And all the shit that is about to happen, just remember that YOU voted for it.

And if you don’t understand now… you will after four years if our country is still has a level of democracy to elect a president democratic or a non maga republican who has a choice to clean up the mess trump has recreated or contribute to the mess until America is broken beyond repair

[witch-craft-works]

I don't talk about politics In fact I hate talking about politics because I really hate bringing real life issues onto my blog. I use this as an escape because I love Pretty Cure and I love Twisted Wonderland and I want to make people laugh with my stupid incorrect quotes because I love making them.

I'm so sorry if I sound crazy but i'm venting rn. But I really feel like I have to now

In the last week I got dog slammed by my dad, stepmom and brother (he's 11 I don't know why he's talking) because I voted for Kamala Haris. My dad even made a comment that I'm not allowed to vote if I'm going to vote for Kamala.

As I was writing this my mom called me to rub in my face that Trump is going to win. I think i'm going to cry as I'm writing this because yeah theres a good chance that Trump will win this election.

I'm going to cry because our rights as women will be taken away. My younger sister, and younger cousins will have to grow up in a country that doesn't value women because old men who look like they came out of the stone age feel that we can't control our own bodies.

There have been women who have died because they couldn't get the care they needed because of those stupid abortion bans. My state is included so if anything happens to me (God forbid) I can't get the care I need. Especally if they decide to make it a law that you can't travel to get care.

So yeah I hate the fact that people feel like an accused rapist and criminal should run our country. So yes if our country starts to look like fucking Gilead from the handmaids tale soon I blame the people who voted for Trump and or didn't vote at all.

This was my first time voting and I was really hoping for the best.I hate it so so much and the bottle of bleach is looking so good rn.

[keferon]

I. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. I’m okay I’m fine I’m okay I’m fine I’m oka

The fic I'm illustrating and losing my mind about 👉 Mistakes on mistakes until

[suratan-zir]

we're gonna freeze in darkness this winter and no one fucking cares

it's only June but our energy infrastructure is already severely fucked by russian attacks and it will only get worse

worse than before

the whole country descending into the stone age worse

and it still won't be an escalation as long as it's Ukrainian lives that are at stake

[ace-hell]

Im aroace jewish israeli who has two bi sisters(its funny bc im also the middle child so its a proper sandwich) and im more annoyed that people claim israel is not safe for queer people JUST bc you can't legally have a same sex marriage

Completely ignoring that israel accepts same sex marriage certificate from other countries and BY LAW same sex married couples are considered married, they'll just have a problem divorcing bc they weren't married under israeli law so they can't divorce

But queer people can have normal jobs, i had a boss who is a proud gay man with an adopted sweet little girl, my younger sister has her pride flag, if a person in a same sex marriage died then the other partner BY LAW is considered a widow and recieve help money, there are open gay bars, we have pride parade, ffs we have like at least.. What, 10 openly gay celebrities, israel sent a transgender to eurovision in the 80's-israel was the first and only one to do it, israel has a beach for queer people if they feel unsafe in a regular beach

Yet they don't care about all that and support a 'country' that ACTUALLY by LAW considered queer people a moral disgrace and jail them for (if im not wrong) 10 years and even kill or torture them them. again, BY LAW.

But when israel points it out we are pinkwashing and then they give out excuses why ITS OK THAT PALESTINE IS HOMOPHOBIC????? but hate israel for not legally allowing same sex marriage??? 😭

And hate trump and jkr for being homophobic and transphobic??? Like bitch pick a lane do you excuse homophobia or you'd fight it to the death? Or only people that are considered POC oppressed minorotoes by the western left have the right to be homophobic criminals? Bc they are 'dying'? Bitch people are dying everywhere all the time it doesn't give them the right to suddenly become a nazi

Idec about aroace representation anymore they all are so hypocritical i don't want them to talk about israel or jews ans just leave us the fuck alone

Honestly, as someone asexual and probably some flavor of aro goy myself, im so sorry to all the asexual and aromantic jewish folks who has to deal with the biggest ace and aro blogs not shutting up about palestine and everything, especially fuckyeahasexual, who has taken ZERO steps in caring for jewish aces and has been INCREDIBLY antisemetic going as far as to yell at people who so much as donate to ao3 instead of gaza, accuse israel of being the main perpetrator of october seventh, spreading intense amounts of blood libel, and more.

It is utterly heartbreaking to see a blog that was once a safe spot for rallying around a shared identity turn so bitter and cruel and actively damaging. You all deserved a safer place to celebrate your asexual and aromantic orientations, and to not be shamed for simply existing, you arent a traitor, or a monster, or anything like that.

Jewish aces and aros are as valid in your identities as any other ace or aro, and im so sorry that so few aces and aros seemed to have learned from the coordinated attacks on our identity/right to exist, and proceed to do the same bullshit to you. I'm sorry for the utter failure of the queer community for jewish queers just in general. It's disgusting, its horrific, and you deserve so much more then just this one ace's apologies

[carmen-berzattos]

I have never felt this level of impatience and frustration in my life before. I want to burst in tears or in screams or both. My head is full of fire and my chest is just acrid acid eating away at my insides. I want to crawl out of my skin and shrivel and dry. Maybe then there will be absolution. All conversations seem like a play, acting at normalcy to suffocate your pain. Smiles seem fake and callous. I look at my American co-workers and friends and I want to scream in their faces: YOU'RE ALL THE SAME TO ME YOU'RE ALL THE SAME. YOU HAVE ALL BECOME MONSTROUS IN THE SPAN OF A FEW WEEKS. I CANNOT STAND YOU I CANNOT STAND YOU I CANNOT STAND YOU.

[vt-scribbles]

Please still be here in 4 years.

Please.

[savyir-genesizz-the-wizard]

Actually hot take today. I wish there was a way to hide posts about USA problems but for it to be possible Americans would have to tag them as American which they'll never do in any setting ever exactly because they are Americans

[cree-n-jewish-thoughts]

Maybe they shouldn't have been so angry, stubborn, and so short sighted. How could you either A. Vote for Trump as a 'leftist' (i have seen posts to this effect), or B they just didn't vote and they literally don't have any right to complain, your vote is your responsibility to society. You lost your voice because when it mattered you wouldn't speak up because you just said "they both suck, poor terrorists" being treated like terrorists. Unlike in canadian government.

They knew what would happen, what he wanted, they allowed it.

If you didn't want this you should have voted for someone and that someone shouldn't have been trump if you did in fact vote if you actually hold these "leftist values" and don't care about anyone but yourselves in reality. Such selfishness but also dangerously blinded by anger during a serious election.

Or maybe they election should have been more focus on your own country and not for a war against terrorism in the middle East. Not like anyone seems to even care about Ukraine anymore. It's weird how silent you are when no one else is talking about it. It's weird how you think you're wolves but every single of you are sheeple wrapped up in literally brainwashing and propaganda tactics.

A true person or group with leftist values, sees the value of supporting their neighbours that are being threatened, their rights have been tossed away. Who knows what will happen and you can let that sit in your head gunk for a bit.

Look what you all did to yourselves, talk about shooting yourself in the leg...

Fuck goyim. Fuck them all. As far as I'm concerned, every single person who sat on their lazy asses and refused to vote Because GazaTM deserve everything that's gonna happen to them under Trump.

Enjoy your forced detransition, babes. Have fun bleeding to death in an ER parking lot while the doctors refuse to treat you. When your gay marriage is dissolved and your kids get taken away to be raised by straight white Christian families and brainwashed into hating everything you are, take comfort in the fact that at least someone who thinks Jews might be human or at least human-passing didn't become president.

Everything that happens from here on out is just as much these whiny, rabid leftists' fault just as much as it is the MAGA cultists' fault. They handed our country over to a fascist on a silver platter because Russia and Iran and Qatar told them to. They have all lost their right to complain.

.

[northwest-cryptid]

I literally feel like I'm dying and I need to see a doctor, but I can't worry about that right now because

My bank account is literally in the negatives because I'm too disabled to work and can't make money but I can't worry about that right now because

I'm months overdue on getting my car new tags, but it won't even start if I could drive it so I need to jump the battery and get gas which I don't have money for, but I can't worry about that right now because

People are still expecting me to be social across numerous friend groups and it's pulling me in so many directions that I'm stretched so thin I'm running on no social battery for the last month, but I can't worry about that right now because

I still need to actually clean the house, do the dishes, clean the cat litter boxes, vacuum, and do my laundry... but I can't worry about that right now because

I still need to actually set up my new desk so I can stream since I haven't been able to do that for weeks and streaming is unfortunately my only source of income for how little I make every month, but I can't worry about that right now because

My partner is going through a really hard time right now and I need to be there for her and do what I can to make sure she's okay.

[aeolianblues]

I'm not an extrovert. At all. In everyday life, I'm a yapper, sure, but I need someone to first assure me I am okay to yap, so I don't start conversations, even when I really want to join in sometimes! It's just the social anxiety acting up. God knows where from and why I lose a lot of my inhibitions when it comes to talking to people about music. I don't know where the confidence has suddenly sprung from. I've made a crazy amount of friends in musical circles, either just talking to people about common music or (since it is after all in music circles) talking to bands about their own music. I let out a sigh of relief any time an interaction goes well, because in truth it's going against my every instinct. I wish I could do that in everyday life

[shacklesburst]

there is redistribution within a country

Often this is implemented very crudely as well! Maybe one of the reasons for structural differences between parts of a country as well.

diversification sounds reasonable but you would think in a balanced trading environment that you wouldn't have the entire world predominantly investing in just a few countries, that doesn't sound very diverse!

I mean, that mirrors classic ETF index fund investing to a T, too. You always want to be super diversified and yet every product on the market will put like half your money into FAANG + Nvidia nowadays. Like, some synthetic China small caps tracker is still gonna have Apple as its largest position because some model says it correlated so well with the index yadda yadda.

Really, companies are kind of a good comparison here, too. They also redistribute internally and they "import" products and services from other companies into themselves to value-add something and "export" them again in a new form to consumers (of whom we usually think that it's "better" if they buy the produced stuff from their savings instead of taking out a loan for it -- well, societal expectations have definitely changed a lot, too, and for some things (cars, houses) nowadays you're essentially expected to be leveraged anyways).

So the basic problem as I understand it is this: Country A is importing $10 worth of steel and spending about $80 internally to make this into a machine and export this machine again for $100, making a $10 profit and a trade surplus of $90 (or even $100? WP says sometimes raw material imports are not subtracted from trade surpluses for some reason?). There's pressure on country A's producers to depress internal costs as much as possible to be competitive in the world market. If they pay their laborers only $70, they would be able to offer their product for only $90. But that would also actually lead to a smaller trade surplus as well? Basically the more value they add, the higher their surplus becomes?

If they instead imported 2 doodads for $40 each and stuck them together (let's say this is very cheap in labor and other costs) and exported them for $81 with a $.1 profit, A's trade surplus would be very small, but it also wouldn't make much sense from a profit margin perspective.

So a balanced trading environment would require all countries to have balanced comparative advantages, too. As soon as any one of them was particularly good at value adding by producing complex products from cheap raw materials, if would amass a large trade surplus quickly.

In a roughly efficient market with companies, we really like these companies! They buy cheap stuff and re-sell it as expensive stuff. The less labor and other overhead they need for that transformation the better!

But when we're looking at nation states and the sum of their companies doing this, we don't like it anymore. Why? Maybe in a vacuum this sounds good, but when we realize that instead of importing and exporting, all of this could be done domestically, the closest analogue to a single company would be vertical integration? That's often said to be more efficient after all and to produce an even nicer end result.

That's also where the analogue fails, because inside a company you don't usually have a "domestic market" to sell stuff internally.

But as long as there's any kind of difference in goods a single country is particularly good or bad at producing (because they have all the necessary facilities, and trained workers, etc), I just don't see a world market that's automatically totally balanced.

I would argue however that we have very little experience in the world of free trade because in that world, countries have balanced trade accounts as they export products in which they have comparative advantage in order to import products in which they don't.

The system in which we live today, however, is almost a classic beggar-thy-neighbor trading system in which countries compete by preventing the income of workers and households from rising in line with productivity. It is a formula for rising inequality.

Pettis

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