#What to do if you fall for a loan scam?

[fincrif]

How to Avoid Personal Loan Scams?

With the increasing demand for personal loans, fraudulent lenders and scams have also surged. Scammers often prey on unsuspecting borrowers, promising quick approvals and low-interest rates while charging hidden fees or stealing personal information. To safeguard yourself from personal loan scams, it is crucial to stay informed and vigilant.

Common Types of Personal Loan Scams

1. Upfront Fee Scams

Fraudsters ask for advance processing fees or insurance charges before disbursing the loan. Once the payment is made, they disappear without providing the loan.

2. Fake Lender Scams

Scammers pose as legitimate financial institutions, using professional-looking websites and fake credentials to lure borrowers into providing sensitive information.

3. Identity Theft Scams

Fraudsters collect personal details such as PAN, Aadhaar, or banking information to misuse identities and take out loans in the victim’s name.

4. Phishing Emails and SMS Scams

Fake emails and SMS messages claiming to offer pre-approved loans often contain malicious links that steal personal and financial data.

5. No Credit Check Loans

Legitimate lenders assess credit scores before approving a loan. Scammers offering guaranteed loans with no credit check often charge hidden fees or impose extremely high-interest rates.

How to Identify a Personal Loan Scam?

1. Verify the Lender’s Credibility

Always research the lender’s background. Check for registration details with regulatory authorities like the RBI, reviews from previous borrowers, and official contact details.

2. Avoid Upfront Payment Requests

Legitimate financial institutions do not ask for large fees before loan disbursement. Any demand for advance payment is a red flag.

3. Check the Official Website

Ensure that the lender’s website starts with ‘https://’ and verify its authenticity through official domain registration details.

4. Read Loan Terms Carefully

Fraudsters often hide fees and unfavorable terms in loan agreements. Always read and understand the terms before signing.

5. Be Cautious of Unsolicited Loan Offers

If you receive an unexpected loan offer via email, SMS, or phone calls, verify its authenticity before proceeding.

6. Protect Your Personal Information

Never share sensitive details like OTPs, passwords, or banking credentials with unknown sources.

Steps to Take If You Encounter a Loan Scam

1. Report the Scam

Inform authorities like the RBI, cybercrime cell, or consumer protection agencies about the fraudulent lender.

2. Contact Your Bank

If you have shared banking details, immediately notify your bank to secure your accounts and prevent unauthorized transactions.

3. Monitor Your Credit Report

Regularly check your credit report for any unauthorized loans or activities linked to your identity.

Trusted Lenders for Personal Loans

Personal Loan - FinCrif

Personal loan scams are becoming more sophisticated, making it essential to remain cautious and conduct thorough research before applying for a loan. Always verify lender details, avoid upfront payments, and protect your sensitive information. If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.

For a secure and transparent loan application process, visit FinCrif today!

[rhenuvee]

Playing Animal Crossing New Horizons with Genshin Boys [Modern AU]

A/N: This is not important but I almost wrote sea bass with the characters

»»———————————-««

Treats it like Minecraft. Farms the heck out of your island for materials, and makes his own little "base" that's bordered by fences. Has enough wood, rocks, iron nuggets, etc to supply him for a year.

Razor, Bennett, Albedo, Alhaitham, Chongyun, Gorou, Kazuha, Mika, Thoma, Tighnari, Wanderer, Xiao

Chaotic. Attacks you with a net, sends you purposely cringey notes with a smelly sea bass attached, dresses like a hot dog after telling him to dress nice for a picture, probably decorates his house like a demon summoning ritual.

Childe, Cyno (does it to make you laugh), Itto, Kaeya, Lyney, Venti

Has sooo many bells... and from what?? He is your resident glucose father, always giving his bells to you to pay your debts. That 75,000 bell piano? It's yours. Really good with the Daisy Mae stonks, buys 100 turnips every time.

Alhaitham (asks you to catch a Coelacanth first), Ayato, Childe, Diluc, Kaeya

Broke. You’re the one with millions of bells. Takes so long for him to get out of the tent, and can't pay his home loans for days- but always has money for buying random things like a chair? Sometimes they have bells, but still ask you for some to annoy you. Also frequently gets scammed by Redd.

Bennett, Itto, Kaveh ("why does this feel oddly familiar..?"), Venti

Trash island. They are hoarders (honestly me). Your island's trees are still at the original random locations, along with weeds you have to pick every time, and some unknown "leaves" scattered everywhere. You say this is the reason Isabel gave your island a 2* rating but he denies it.

Bennett, Razor, Cyno, Itto, Venti

Clumsy. Always gets stung by wasps because he never takes out the net on time, falls for pitfall seed traps, and lots and lots of sea bass.

Bennett, Gorou, Itto, Kaveh

Treats it like Pokemon. Catches every single fish, bug and ocean species, completes the art gallery, every DIY. If you need something caught or made, he's your man.

Albedo, Bennett, Chongyun, Cyno, Freminet, Kazuha, Mika, Razor, Heizou, Thoma, Tighnari

Wholesome af. This one gifts you sweet letters with nice gifts, aw. Plants lots of flowers outside your houses. Always gives you things you need. Probably decorated a small little space your you two, and gives the villagers nice gifts too.

Ayato, Baizhu, Bennett, Freminet, Kaeya, Kaveh, Kazuha, Lyney, Mika, Thoma, Venti

Doesn't really play video games... but he knows you like it so he tries to understand it. He's like a tourist, following you around, occasionally getting sidetracked by random things such as villagers. He doesn't know about the mailing system (yet) so he drops off gifts for you in front of your house.

Alhaitham, Ayato, Baizhu, Diluc, Gorou, Kazuha, Mika, Razor, Thoma, Xiao, Zhongli

Villager drama enthusiast (but chaotic). You tell him about your island and the personalities of your villagers. He goes a step further by making up gossip like "_____ cannot be neighbours with _____ because he cheated on her with _____!"

Childe, Kaeya, Kaveh, Lyney, Heizou, Venti, Xingqiu

The artist. Takes Animal Crossing very seriously. Has only the best clothes and furniture, sometimes making his own custom designs. Terraformed and decorated your island to a T, and takes cute pictures with you in the museum's aquarium, fireworks festival, etc.

Kaveh, Kaeya, Kazuha, Lyney, Venti

The competitive one. Originally he thought Animal Crossing was just a cutesy game. Once you introduce him to it, it doesn't take long for him to complain about Tom Nook being a capitalist and struggling to pay his loans and complete the museum. You offer to help but he insists on doing it himself.

Itto, Tighnari, Wanderer, Kaveh

»»———————————-««

[onthepyre]

a little more about the milkovich crime family (check out the post that inspired this au if you're lost)

mickey and svetlana are mainly loan sharks and fraudsters. the sharking is more mickey's domain; he's downright scary when he needs to be, and with his brothers by his side, he's fucking terrifying. nobody argues with him, and he makes back near double what he loans out. he's also the figurehead for a lot of the smaller theft they carry out - cars, credit cards, petty robberies - it all trickles up to mickey.

svet, on the other hand, has a talent for general racketeering - she deals in stolen goods and counterfeiting, bribery, and money laundering. she dictates the confidence tricks and identity theft they run, too. she's more charming than mickey is, and better at getting in people's heads, but she can be just as threatening as he is.

they've got toes dipped in a lot of other things, too. before terry's untimely death (soon after yev's birth), the milkoviches were pretty deep in the south side's drug trafficking rings. it's definitely still something they do, but since mickey took over, they've backed off on that a little. the other milkovich siblings have their own scams - gambling rings, blackmail, moonshine, you name it. maybe a little murder-for-hire. as a treat.

they've met the gallaghers several times. it started when lip went into college. scholarships didn't quite cover it, and no bank was going to give him a loan. enter mickey. once lip started working for the police, he got a little squirrely, but when svet offered to forgive the debt in exchange for protection from arrest, well. what could he say?

fiona's a gambler, and her run-ins with the milkoviches fall there. she's fucking good at it, and she always seems to take home a little more cash on days when tip-offs about chicago's organized crime end up going to lip or carl.

right around the time lip started college, ian landed a bartending job at the milkovich front. he was too young to be doing it legally, but they payed reasonably well and under the table, untaxed. he left on good terms when he started training as an emt a couple years later. he was nearly fired from that job after missing a chunk of work during a particularly rough low, but something made his boss reconsider. he never found out for sure, but he's got an inkling what (who) it was.

[digo3d]

If Top Cat were to have a proper finale, how do you think it should end?

Hmmmmm good kestion

See my first thought was that Dibble dies which would certainly be *A* way to end the series but that's some shit I'd pull if I'm feeling evil, Hanna n Barbera would never do that.

See when approaching this question you gotta think; is it gunna be an angsty ending or a fluffy ending?

Likely fluff since again, HB.

I'd like to imagine the finale would be a two parter and involve something that really makes the gang's love for each other shine, rather than something like Top Cat's Biggest Scam Ever And Now They're Set For Life type thing. Frankly if the show ended with them leaving the alley some way I think that'd be very dissatisfying since the show's been very adamant about the fact that they're all very content with being alley cats.

I've thought of 3 possible episodes for a finale and will spit them out here:

Christmas episode: We finally get that fuckass Christmas episode that was basically teased in T.C. falls in love (y'know Fancy's line that goes 'And how he used to love Christmas. It was always, well, special with him.') T.C. n the gang have had a particularly hard year due to the weather and an increasingly cat-hating political climate and T.C. fears that the gang's starting to lose faith in him since it's been weeks since their last real meal. In fear of losing the gang and to cheer them up he decides he's gunna make sure they have the best Christmas ever. The first part of this Christmas finale special would show their struggles and how hostile everyone's suddenly become to cats, and then T.C. planning out their Best Christmas, with the first part ending with T.C. asking a favor from a crime boss who's daughter he had saved a while ago (a la Zootopia) and then the second part picks up with T.C. getting everything prepared on Christmas Eve with Dibble's help. The episode continues into Christmas Day where the gang wakes up to see the alley absolutely decked to the halls with a giant Christmas tree and a huge pile of presents underneath it with a freshly prepared breakfast for them. They enjoy some other Christmas festivities before it's finally time to start opening all the presents T.C. got for them. They start off with Brain, who asks T.C. how he managed to pull all of this while he tries to guess what present is in the box. T.C. explains that he just called out a small loan as a favor from aforementioned crime boss and then freezes as he remembers the one small detail that T.C. forgot about. He only had that loan for Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day, and was supposed to have all the money back by 12 PM on Christmas, not midnight like he thought. Some goons bust into the alley and start tearing down all the decorations and taking away all the festivities. One of them even rips Brain's present right out of his paws. T.C. begs and pleads the boss to extend the loan but everything is final. The goons leave the alley with nothing festive remaining. Everyone's quiet as they hear the extremely rare sound of T.C. sniffling at the end of the alley. This would be the first time any of them had really seen him cry like this. He notices that they noticed, and he pretends to act as cool as he always does, but eventually scuttles away. The gang finds him later hiding in a corner trying not to let his emotions get the better of him. Benny taps his shoulder, and T.C. sees him holding one shoddily-wrapped present. He explains that the gang only managed to scrape together enough money to buy one present, and figured that T.C. should get to have it. Although slightly surprised, T.C. takes the present and opens it. He pulls out a luxurious, fluffy blanket. 'Y'know cuz like, uh, yours don't keep you warm anymore.' Spook explains. T.C. smiles and purrs quietly as he rubs his face on the soft blanket. He opens his mouth to explain his grievances. 'I just... I just wanted to-' 'We know, T.C. Don't worry about it.' Chooch says. 'I... Heh. It's a silly thought but I was scared that you lot were givin' up on me.' T.C. admits. 'Duhhhh, we'd never give up on you, T.C.! You're, uhh, you're our Top Cat!' 'And like, uh, we don't need none of those, like, sellout decorations or, uh, wild presents, dad.' 'Yeah, Christmas is special because of you, not some high-end way of living.' Fancy purrs. T.C., with a quivering smile, wipes away some tears. 'You idiots, you're all gunna make me cry.' The episode (and series) ends with them heading back to the alley and huddling all together underneath T.C.'s new blanket. Dibble leaves a big Christmas ham for them as they sleep on his way home.

T.C. gets kidnapped because he tried to scam the wrong person and the gang + Dibble has to save him without his leadership guiding them. I don't have nearly as many specifics for this one as I did the Christmas one but this could be neat. This could also work with a plot similar to The Movie where T.C. gets arrested for a crime he never committed and the gang has to prove his innocence.

Dibble's thinking of retiring and the gang, while initially ecstatic, remembers all the other times some other cop was pounding his beat and desperately try to convince him not to

TL:DR based on how much I've written for each of these, probably the Christmas episode I proposed.

[stuffymcstuffsworld]

Summoning

It all started with a random book. It was plain and rather dull looking. They both had every intention to toss such a useless thing aside. That is... until they saw the cover.

'How to get everything you desire in 5 easy steps!' Of course, the lazy pair would fall for such a scam like title. Of course, they would go through with everything it said.

After all, they were gullible to a fault. Always looking for quick ways to get rich. Always ignoring hard work and effort.

Step 1: Gather the following items. Candles, chalk, blood, & Sage.

Step 2: Find a secluded dark spot. Ensure it's private.

Step 3: proceed to draw the following diagram in both chalk and blood.

Step 4: light candles and read allowed the following lines. "hic meos animos manes. te gelido e tenebris arcesso barathrum. pacisci velim. cupiditas, cupiditas." (Translation: spirits of the deep, here my call. i summon you from the cold dark abyss. i wish to strike a bargain. desire for desire.)

Step 5: make a deal with the demon you have summoned. 'Warning do no cross the summoning circle or allow the demon out of it.'

It was all simple. They had plenty of candles to use, they bought chicken blood from the butcher. Chalk and sage were easy enough to get as well.

They should really make it harder to summon demons. Especially the more powerful ones. But no demons love easy prey after all.

So, in the dark, secluded basement, they proceeded with their work. Working in candlelight as they drew a large circle on the floor. It was almost ridiculous how attentive they were.

And, of course, it somehow works. It shouldn't have worked, but it did. Summoning Sullivan of all demons.

Being the greedy cowards they are, they don't even consider giving their own souls. No. They offer their sons instead. Like he was some kind of coupon!

Not that Sullivan seemed to care about who's soul he received. Although he was happy, he came out with such a great deal. His grandson was worth a x100 what he paid.

Their son, who had been currently at sea, working hard to send them money. Ungrateful ingrates. Scum of the earth.

Not even offering an explanation. Just asking him to do it. Telling him to be good and do this for them. Disgusting, horrible, trash. Sending a child to hell in their place.

And all of this for what? Money? They most likely burned through it in a week or two. Ending up deeper in debt than ever before.

Having no Iruma to work off their debts for them this time. No escaping the loan sharks this time. Nothing left but a life of misery for those two.

[thoraeth]

Words: 2500

A/N: This chapter turned out long af so it's splitted in two parts. I'll see you next Sunday with the juicy fluff 🖤✨

Summary: Cornered by the lack of money, Captain Romi gets into business with the Cross Guild. As the jester worries about his new exlpoding item, things are about to blow up in his face for a whole different reason.

Chapter 4 (PT1) - Ignition

<CH3 CH4(pt2) | Read on Ao3

One hour. Two hours. Four hours have passed.

Kneeling before the cockpit’s closed doors, Meg and Torres are shooing away an irritated Allen from a small box. When Ava appears behind their back, her voice startles them:

“There you are! What’s going on?”

“Shhh!” Torres hisses, alarmed.

“Give the stethoscope back!”

Allen is throwing himself at the box; a quick quarrel and Meg snatches the instrument away from him, pushing it back against the doors’ metal.

“Shut your holes, everyone, they picked up.” the woman whispers.

They all gather around a tiny screen on the doctor’s stethoscope: it’s showing a dark control room. There, a slim guy with black hair and headphones is connecting a Den Den Mushi to a computer; a woman with glasses and a blue-haired man nervously pacing around him.

As the snail's eyes light up, a croaky voice comes out of it.

“You fucking son of a bitch, where are you?!”

Inside the cockpit, Sir Crocodile’s voice explodes with all his wrath.

Buggy runs to the radio “Hey, handsome! Long time, uh? Did you get the papers?”

“Come back to Karai Bari! Now!”

“I will…Eventually.” the jester sweats nervously, his voice lowering and rising again. “Meanwhile, could you read those papers? Pretty please!”

“You’re in no position…you…and…where… Not now, Hawk, I'm on the phone!”

The snail turns to the side, mimicking the scarred man's anger as he seems to be talking to someone far away.

“He sent what?! Buggy, loan’s the last word your filthy mouth should utter!”

“Oh, Crocky. I know our previous ventures weren't all sunshines and rainbows, but you gotta trust me, my Egghead pals did the math this time!” A malevolent grin darkens his face.

“You heard me right. E-g-g-head.”

The radio snail falls silent, paper rustling coming from the other side.

“A device flying across the Grand Line? Clown, they’re scamming you.”

“No scam, sir.” Romi joins in, her voice stone cold. “I’ve been working on The Drifter for years. I'm Romi Hodges, mechanical engineer and…former Labophase trainee.”

“I see.” The Den Den sneers. “Well, Miss Hodges, would you be so kind as to follow the Yonko on his island? I'd like a word.”

“Nice try!” Buggy pushes Romi away “I'm the one who does the talking here, all you have to do is sign the contract.”

Then, slapping the slug shell vigorously, the pirate hangs up.

When the radio rings again, the computers all around it wake up, papers falling on the ground, spitted out of a beeping printer.

“I can’t fucking believe I’m doing this.” Crocodile growls “Miss Engineer, you sure of your numbers? They seem over-optimistic, to say the least.”

“Enough with the boring stuff, we’re gonna own the Grand Line!” Buggy shouts enthusiastically. “Not even celestial assholes can touch us, it’s all legal!"

“Needless to say, clown, that your interest will be sky high, this time. You're not fooling me twice.”

“Oh, c'mon Crocky, help a friend out.”

“And I expect my share, first day of each month.”

“Ugh, deal. But I'm staying here on the Egghead ship.”

“That’s the funniest joke I've heard from you.”

“I mean it. Tell Galdino to make a wax dummy or something, no one will even notice.”

“You out of your fucking mind? Bug-”

The pirate hangs up again, a nervous smile on his face. “Hey, navigator. Back to the Belts, quick.”

At Romi's light touch, the man adjusts his headphones and rapidly types his commands on a keyboard.

“Thanks, JoyJoey. And apologies for the loudness.”

The Captain gently pats the man's shoulder as she reaches for a lever switch.

When the cockpit’s doors slide open, the upset faces of the rest of the crew startles her.

“What have you done!” Meg cries out. “Dealing with the Cross Guild?!”

“Crew, lunchroom meeting in five.” The Captain states.

“They will eat us and spit us out!”

“Enough with the shouting in here. Go, it's an order.”

The whole crew reaches their meeting point, no words uttered but dirty looks speaking volumes.

Sinking back into a chair, Meg breaks the silence first:

“Let me get this straight, Romi: a pirate comes along suggesting we join his pirate alliance and you accept without flinching. So much for years of laying low!”

The woman inhales deeply, rubbing her glasses against her shirt.

“It was a tough call, actually: two weeks ago, we used our last savings. I've been racking my brain these days, trying to find a way to spare you the bad news.”

“Romi, we're in this together.” Allen says softly

“And then food supplies were running out too!” the Captain continues. “Having extra people on board, never touching land…it blew up my forecasts.”

She puts her glasses on again.

“Abandoning the Drifter is not an option, nor is it to let my mates starve. If I'll have to deal with pirates to keep us going, so be it. I take full responsibility.”

Buggy's hand floats around the room, handing Meg a bunch of paper sheets.

“There. Read it yourself.” the pirate says “And have a little trust in your captain's big brains.”

The Challengers take a seat around the table and immerse themselves in the reading. They all discuss the fine lines under Romi's attentive glaze, asking questions and passing the papers around.

Ava is trying her best to conceal a huge smile that’s been stretching her cheeks since leaving the cockpit. She gets up first, lost in thoughts.

“At the end of the day, I’d be mixed up with Cross Guild anyway.”

The woman moves next to Buggy, nudging him playfully with her shoulder.

“Still here? Your men must be soaking their facepaint in tears.”

“Someone insisted I go back to crafting but…no labs in Karai Bari.” the jester winks.

Eventually, papers and numbers are replaced by food and drink on the dinner table, printed sheets crowded in a corner far from the plates.

“By the way.”

Buggy is pointing his fork to the crew, his mouth full: “You think nobody would notice a fucking rocket flying over their heads? Everyone in the Grand Line will want a piece of that cake.”

Romi nods vigorously “Damn right. The Navy will knock on our door no doubt, and y’all know they don't ask nicely.”

“Say no more. To Captain Hodges.”

Meg makes a toast with a bittersweet smile and everyone raises their glasses.

“To Captain Hodges!”

As the tension of that morning gradually melts away, everyone’s thinking about the upcoming projects and how to spend their future money.

Romi's sitting between Buggy and Ava, a glass of ale dangling from her fingers.

“We better make the Drifter fly asap.” She clincks her glass against theirs.

“Ava, how about you move into my room now? You’d have my data archives at hand while Mr. President here gets his private quarters.”

The blonde stares at Romi for a hot minute before stuttering an answer.

“It seems…uhm…convenient.”

Buggy clicks his tongue.

“Bad idea. This one will annoy you in the middle of the night with the most random questions.”

“Come again?” Ava smirks, leaning forward on the table.

“Terrible roommate.” The pirate continues “A ruthless hair brush thief who only leaves chaos and destruction behind her. I'll spare you this horror, Captain.”

He mimics a toast before chugging his ale.

Romi takes a sip and rolls her eyes.

“Whatever guys, nevermind.” she mumbles, her words echoing inside the glass.

That morning, the crew rallies inside lab 01.

Romi paces back and forth in front of her mates, rehearsing aloud every detail of what is about to happen. Her eyes shine in anticipation and excitement, her heart pounding in her chest: it’s test day.

“Everyone in position. Get the data collectors going. Jester, the floor is yours.”

On a large platform, the Drifter lies dormant. Buggy approaches the vehicle, placing a metal box on the ground; he snaps it open and digs his hands into some soft material.

A transparent sphere comes out with a bold ‘x’ painted on its surface; a glowing, dense liquid sloshing inside as the ball moves.

“Let's put this baby to use.” the pirate grins. “This time it's gonna work.”

“Six time’s the charm.” Ava chuckles, while keeping the Drifter’s tank open for him.

As soon as the glowing sphere rolls into the vehicle, Romi saddles up and starts the ignition sequence.

A low grumble comes from the thrusters and the dashboard animates under her fingers.

Goosebumps all over, she observes the front hollow wheel drawing a shiny ring of light. One high-pitched hiss and the Drifter gets off the ground.

"Woohoo!"

Romi cheers loudly while the crew’s excitement grows by the minute.

She fumbles with the commands and steers the vehicle towards the exit, its engines revving full force.

Everything is going exactly as planned when a sudden, scorching heat wave reaches the woman's back, followed by the unmistakable sound of an explosion. Panic spreads as black smoke fills the room.

"Goddamnit!" Allen shouts ��Is everyone ok?”

The doctor grabs his medical kit and runs to the rest of the crew, his ears ringing painfully.

He reaches the Captain first: bent over on the floor, she's punching her tights, tears down her furious face. She’s screaming, out of control.

"Breathing is ok. Motility looks fine.” Allen rattles off the essential checks as fast as he can.

“Doc, help!”

He jumps on the platform, following the jester's shrieks.

The pirate has not one scratch on him but Ava, on the other hand, is resisting the Drifter’s weight, her face covered in blood.

Buggy and Torres are trying to lift the wrecked vehicle away from her, but she’s holding on to it, shouting into the smoke:

“Romi it's ok! We'll fix it!”

“Let go, idiot!”

Buggy is shoving Ava away when the Drifter's bulk in his arms suddenly feels heavier.

“Torres, what the fuck you're doing?”

“No, no, no, no…” The man mumbles, his amber eyes fixed on Ava's face.

“Don't you dare drop it!” the woman shouts

“Y-your face!”

“It's nothing, I'm fine!”

“I need to throw up…”

“You were in the Navy, for god's sake!”

“And why do you think they made him a sniper?” Meg snarls, helping them lay down the Drifter slowly.

As the dense fog begins to dissipate, the doctor lets Torres run away, focusing on the others.

“Romi was lucky. Just bruises and a nasty headache.” His tone is reassuring. “This young lady, on the other hand…”

“Ouch!”

The second he touches Ava’s face she cries out on top of her lungs. Her nose is getting swollen and black, cheeks and chin covered in blood.

Allen opens his kit and cleans her face while Buggy moves frantically around him.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” He whines, peeking out from the doctor’s shoulders.

His floating hands hold Ava still as a metal strip gets applied on her bended nose.

“This will do for now.” the doctor smiles. “Wait a little for the painkillers to kick in then go get some rest. I'll check on you in a couple of hours.”

Allen gathers his tools and reaches Meg, who's carrying a miserable Romi on her back.

With the doctor's assistance, the three of them leave what's left of lab 01.

Watching the sad spectacle, Buggy reaches for two desk chairs then turns them upright.

“Come sitting.” He orders in a flat voice.

“I'm good.”

“Doc said you need to rest. Sit.”

Ava throws herself into a chair, puffing. “How about we use the purple paste instead? Like, a tiny crumble.”

“That’s a great idea… if you want to send your nose on the fucking moon.”

Buggy sits in front of her and falls silent for a bit. “I really thought it would have worked this time, you know.”.

“We’re almost there: it’s just a matter of fine-tuning, at this point.”

“It blew up in our faces, Ava! I’m out of my league, I'm afraid.”

“Well, so is Romi with her Drifter and, frankly, so am I when I get my hand on any cable in here. We’re all learning as we go.”

“How romantic. Sadly, Croc’s breathing down my neck kinda ruins the vibe.”

“Oh, forget about that buttface: one day we'll build a gigantic robot and seize his gold! ” Ava giggles “It will destroy him! While spitting fire.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Buggy leans forward, laughing.

“We'll name it RingMaster, Mark One!” the woman continues, chasing the jester's chuckles as the bad mood seems to leave him.

In the middle of that rambling, though, her smile fades away.

Those clear eyes, his childish grin…Ava finds herself weak, once again.

“It must be the adrenaline. The painkillers, probably.” She thinks, as tingles start running under her skin.

Squinting, Buggy takes some time to inspect the dark metal strip on the blond’s nose.

“Does it hurt?” he asks.

She feels her cheek burning as her gaze tumbles down to his chin.

“I feel nothing. Just a bit light headed.”

“Friggin’ Egghead stuff.”

A slight tilt of her head and a kiss lands on Buggy's lips. A long shy kiss, followed by another peck, and then another.

The jester is stunned: Ava's skin smells too good, her lips, her hands on his jaw, too soft, too inviting. Suddenly overwhelmed, he does not move a muscle.

“Lord, no.” His heart is pounding out of control, dark thoughts crowding in his mind.

“Please, make her stop.” Buggy falls into pure panic. “It had to be fake! She swore to part ways!”

The vivid image of Croc and Hawk laughing flashes before his eyes, he could almost hear them: “you should thank us, clown.” And Ava, clinging to his arm with her shiny wedding band. He'll be stuck with her, forever.

As Buggy snaps out of his visions, he pushes the woman away. She stands up, distraught, her big green eyes darting left and right. “I…I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me.” She whispers in a shaky voice. Lowering her head, Ava dashes out of the room.

Buggy’s head pops off, falling into his hands. “Shit!” He shrieks “Shit! What was that?!”

Hoping to calm his inner chaos, he runs hiding in the chemistry lab for the rest of the day.

It’s been dark for a while when he eventually takes courage and heads back to his room.

“You go straight in there as if today never happened.” The man rehearses. “No kaboom, no smooches, nothing. Just good ol’ chatting.”

As he opens the bedroom’s doors, Buggy sighs in relief. Ava seems to be…not there.

He takes off his clothes and paint, hurrying under the shower, planning to be asleep before his roommate comes back.

The jester dives on his pillow and shuts his eyes: ears pricking up, he expects the sound of her steps at any moment.

Buggy waits for hours on end, wakeful, but no one comes in that night. Staring into the dark, he feels his heart sink.

[queersouthasian]

Jack&Joker - U steal my heart!

One of the most popular Thai BL cps, Yinwar, are back with a heist themed BL after a long hiatus since Love mechanics.

*taps mic*

I refuse to spiral into insanity all by myself, so here is a thread of theories or rather poorly made assumptions regarding the characters and plot.

#1 Joker and Lupin

You know what Joker reminds me of, or rather who? Arséne Lupin.

Arséne Lupin AKA the 'Gentleman Burglar' is a French fictional book character,

There is a French live action drama on Netflix called 'Lupin' where a guy named Assane Diop, a long standing fan of the books, imitates Lupin to avenge his father's death.

Now, why am I mentioning Lupin out of nowhere? I remember binge watching the live action and wishing that one day we would have a BL with a similiar theme. The BL gods heard me lol. Joker, seems to be very similiar to Lupin/Assane. He is cocky, witty, bitchy, sassy and chaotically evil yet cares and loves beyond one may speculate.

And If Joker is our queer Lupin,

Tattoo is our Benjamin,

Benjamin used to replicate intricately made precious jewels/jwelery which helped Assane to rob the original and replace with the cloned item which looked indifferent to the human eye.

If that's that, if tattoo makes shit which gets used during heists, then maybe he was the one to create the gas which puts everyone to sleep. Literally anyone can argue that it could have been chloroform, something that's easy to access. BUT, considering the amount of 'chloroform' which flowed through the ventilators, people would have been dead. Atleast Anan. That shit results in muscle breakdown and can put people in coma.

And if we have the Assane, the benjamin, do we also have the Ganimard?

#2 Cards and Ganimard

Cards play an important role in the world of Joker, it's everywhere,

In his description

on the loan papers

It's his signature, of course.

But you know who else has a card related description?

Yes

Jack has what we call the "ace of spades"...

Now this is where this gets interesting,

If the joker is the 'harlequin' which symbolises chaos, unpredictability, wit and intelligence; who exactly what Joker is, The Lupin, then Jack is THE ace of spades, which symbolises intellectual power or spiritual growth BUT carry the reputation of being the 'Death Card' popularised during the Vietnam War. It's a die or domino with a single pip.

And If Jack is the 'ace', he can be the queer Ganimard,

This makes me think, either Jack will be the hindrance or guidance, maybe both.

It could be that, the only history Jack and Joker share is Jack getting conned by joker. IF joker did scam Jack on the 'superhuman project' which was assumbly his dream project yet Jack helps him, then he can be called inhumanely loyal and hopelessly in love.

"You are still kind and haven't changed"

And if Jack can cooperate with Joker so well (the whole fight scene against the guards), he would be the only one to know how Joker works or atleast have an idea. And If that's what it is, he would either directly join the heist by pretending to stop it and Joker, or he is actually going to do it 'cause, he is the "death card"

He is either with you, or against you.

The vibe till now seem very contrasting to Partners in Crime, while the later was more like a social commentry where two lovers rob the exploited, the rich. But this one is more like a cold witty thief who finds an extremely loyal admirer and falls for him BUT this could turn into a love story with betrayal. This show either is going to be chill, cool and quirky and little bit angsty OR extremely twisted and angsty. Let's see.

[rivetgoth]

Tbh on the topic of college, I am always gonna be thee biggest proponent of community college as a pathway to higher education for those who desire it. It’s such a scam that it’s not talked about more often and the vehement classism associated with it is just wild. I was an extremely mentally unwell teenager whose grades tanked in the latter half of high school, I switched schools and still struggled, and then graduated at age 17… I don’t necessarily think I could’ve gotten into any kind ov “dream school” right out of hs nor would I have been ready to, but going the community college route meant I was able to pay out of pocket for the first 2.5 years of school, I was able to take my classes slowly and experiment around with what I liked without it literally putting me in debt for the rest of my life, I had the time to start participating in clubs, get a job and start saving money, got my associates for transfer, AND I didn’t have to take a single standardized test to get into my dream university :) I left community college with a 3.9 GPA, a scholarship, a full resume, off to my dream city…

It genuinely feels sickening to me how much it’s looked down on as an option. About a fourth of UCLA students are transfers but the stigma against transfer students and community college was massive. I genuinely enjoyed my time at UCLA but the absolute worst part of the experience was the way people talked about community college. So many UCLA students were spoiled rich kids who were paying their way through like $50k tuition and recoiled in horror at the thought of needing to take out a loan. On “transfer day” (special event for newly admitted transfers to come explore the campus for the first time, get info about the program, meet and greet with faculty, clubs and job fair, etc) the speaker gave a whole speech like “People may judge transfer students but we support you and we know the stereotypes aren’t true!” and having never been to a 4 year before I was like… huh? But it was SO BAD dude. I remember having coworkers at the campus tutoring job I worked make comments about how “they could always tell if a paper was written by a transfer student.” I’d be like What do you mean? and they’d go on about how Oh well you know, transfer students just don’t know what they’re doing, their writing is less skillful, they aren’t as experienced… and I’d be like Well I’m a transfer and they’d IMMEDIATELY back down like “oh I don’t mean people like you though.” One of my professors gave a whole speech in the first quarter I was there after our midterm like “Now I know it’s the fall quarter and there may be some new transfers here and this is probably the first midterm you’ve had on a four year university campus, if your grade isn’t what you expected DON’T feel bad, it’s a learning experience and many transfers don’t understand the rigor it takes to get high marks here…” I GOT 100% DUDE!! Not just on the paper but I had one of the highest final grades in the class, so high that my prof actually waived the final paper for me and a small group of other students with the highest marks in the class LOL!! Stuff like this happened alllll the time. I can remember like so many little instances of someone talking about how community college and transfer students themselves just Weren’t As Good, capable, smart, etc as traditional students.

I graduated UCLA with a 3.8 GPA, so my GPA went down by .1 point between community college and four year university. While saving tens of thousands of dollars lol. I don’t really feel like I struggled particularly hard at all, I didn’t feel unprepared, and I honestly enjoyed socializing with my community college peers more than my UCLA peers. I felt a lot of solidarity with all of the transfer students I met in my classes and while working, even the ones struggling more than me. At my tutoring job when I was working with a student who mentioned they were a transfer and I told them I was too their eyes would light up! It was genuinely a really nice connection. But it blows my mind that it was partially formed out of this almost necessary solidarity via the weird fucking way people viewed it. I feel like community college was a huge part of where I started to turn my life around and get my shit together. It was not perfect but it gave me opportunities I never would’ve had otherwise. It’s very obviously classism and it’s very obviously just blatantly false—The whole idea that you’re “less prepared” for college by GOING TO COLLEGE than being a fresh-out-of-high-school 18 year old who took a couple [expensive] multiple choice tests administered by third party organizations is insane. And aside from the classism element the obvious trickle down financial benefit the schools have in pushing four year university is just so nefarious. Like the money being given to the College Board (AP and SAT), ACT, Pearson, etc not to mention the universities themselves… The school district here literally has to keep track of how many 12th graders go off to 4 year universities for funding purposes, community college isn’t even considered, so there is financial gain on all sides in pushing students to rush into life altering decisions that could cost them tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars and push themselves far beyond their limits for no fucking reason and to no benefit to them. Gah I could rant about this forever but omg. If I have any freshly-graduated or about-to-graduate people following me or anyone considering going back to school after taking a break please please consider community college and fuck the haters for real.

[jess-moloney]

Her Instagram latest post got me laugh so hard. Let me ask her a question cause I Know Jess's stalking this blog.

"Hey Jess. Do you really have enough money to afford the trip? Isn't your friend paid all the costs? How can you keep luxury lifestyle still when in your real life you're facing over £200,000 in debt?"

Come on Jess. I know you're dying. You can keep on lying to your brainless stans as long as you like.

but hey Jess don't you forget your DEBT PAYMENT IS COMING!!!

She's definitely one of those fake luxury influencers. She portrays a life of glamour but it's all phony. It relies on someone else paying the bills or having connections to get her where she needs to go. There's no accounting for what her job actually is and we know it can't be some of the things she claimed it to be (in the past) because she doesn't have a license to do those jobs in the states.

Unless her literal two clients Renell and Quil are paying her some massive salary to answer their emails and not do any other work at all for the past few years until extremely recently (and even then all she did was organize one event for a magazine no one cares about nor will they ever care about) she's not affording all of this by herself.

I'm sure Jess manages to surround herself with enablers. People who fall for her lies, sob stories, or anything else that she "just needs a loan" until she gets back on her feet (or some such nonsense) and they let her play the victim. It was obvious when she was with Jamie where the money was coming from but now? I don't have a clue, other than her continuing to scam people somehow (which she's probably good at and knows exactly who to scam).

Obviously, I could be wrong about all of this, but unless Jess herself comes forward and explains what her job is (or one of her friends does instead of covering for her in the most rude and suspicious manner possible) the only thing we can assume is that nothing Jess says about her occupation is accurate, if she even has one, and if she does have one it's not lucrative enough for her to be living how she lives.

I wonder if she's ever going to come clean on this and be a decent person but seeing as how she's kind of lived her life in this manner for over a decade she probably won't change unless she gets caught or people wake up and stop enabling this shitty behaviour.

[byeghostsily]

MUN INTRO: hi folks! happy soft opening, jia (s/h, 21+) here. i'll be writing for daeun, and if she reminds you of d*phne from scooby doo... yeah. ims/discord available for plotting- please ask! ♡

MUSE INTRO: baek daeun, 22, also @danidanidaeuni on the interwebs. making a living out of yapping about gruesome murders (read: disappointing her parents). back in town for her mom's birthday dinner... or so she claims, with a camera and idea for a shiny new series in hand.

when did your muse first arrive in yuseong bay?

got here literally a couple days ago!!! is staying at her parents', but dear god is she regretting it. is already looking at alternative accommodation. has been doing her best to work off the jetlag, but its really mostly been andante for coffee and back to her place to sleep/work.

what does an average day look like for your muse?

wake up somewhere between 9-10, get caffeine in her. hunt down her latest victim for an interview, or whoever was unlucky enough to be scammed into bringing her around. with luck, she gets some footage. sometimes she's got an episode to record, so the yuseongers are rid of her for a couple hours. stay up til she falls asleep on her laptop. what a life, baby!

where can your muse usually be found?

andante, nursing a drink and going cross-eyed staring at her screen. her blue light glasses make her look like a dweeb, and yes, you can laugh. she has no qualms about asking to share a table <3 / lemon martes, wandering around like a lost ghost. she just likes looking at the displays, ok? / staring dubiously @ pierrot's clown mascot, the lighthouse, antique shop, the old mines, and hovering around the mouth of the woods. its like shes trying to stare them down.... see if something goes bump

how does your muse feel about hanhwa resort?

i don't think she even knows about the resort.. jk! its hard to miss a gigantic building smack dab where she used to go crabbing. there's probably a sense of nostalgia for what things used to be, but she understands that capitalism is a necessary and unstoppable evil. if her parents nag her about marriage one more time, she's booking a room there.

is there an aspiration for your muse to stay in or leave yuseong bay?

the expectation's always been that she'll leave--- while she doesn't have a return ticket booked, she's based in the us, and once she's got enough footage, she's gonezo.

extra, extra!

list your muse’s three favorite songs.

sza's saturn (yes, she's always the problem in every relationship) niki's split (asian diaspora reppppp) the japanese house's sunshine baby not a big fan of hearing men talk

describe your muse’s wardrobe.

she likes looking good, and her personal style leans more feminine. doesn't shy away from bright colours, but likes neutrals because she thinks she's taken more seriously like that </3 for brands, she's partial to hermes, chanel (tho she thinks they're losing their touch a little...) and miu miu!

what is a color, word, and emoji that you feel describes your muse?

purple, why?, 🧋

three strong likes and dislikes for your muse.

likes: windy weather, fruit (thinks korea is insane... wtf do u mean grapes are $10), reading comments dislikes: being rushed, not being organised, a meeting that could've been an email slash call that could've been a text

three positive and negative traits for your muse.

+ compassionate, sincere, enthusiastic - oblivious, naive, condescending

three talents and shortcomings for your muse.

has the ability to make you feel like you're the only two people in the room; a wonderful conversationalist, she's always focused on your conversation. good with names AND faces. you're the center of her universe! insane interpersonal intelligence. / no qualms dropping her (parents) money on things. need a loan? sure! some say its buying affection, but hey, she'd do anything for a friend :) / extremely open-minded. realises when she makes a mistake, and is quick to apologise and do her best to learn from it. someone who can put her pride down easily! condescends unintentionally, even though she has nothing but the best of intentions. it’s just what being so out-of-touch with the working class folk does to you, unfortunately. / she eats. so. goddamn. slowly. like its actually terrible. she takes an hour to finish one sandwich, because she chews so carefully, and then wants to say something but refuses to talk because her mouth is full. your muse is offered a meal in exchange for an interview? expect to spend at least 2h, MINIMUM with her. in that vein, also no respect for others' time / you've probably caught on by now, but she is always her first thought. she'll take her own sweet time doing things, and hates being put on others' timeline. everything is framed through her experience, which is an extremely privileged one.

what is a book/tv series/movie/video game character that you feel your character relates to? (you can include who you would say they’re alike, and who they would say they’re alike.)

she was heavily inspired by daphne blake from scooby doo, and even her name's a homage to that! daeun would like how she stays true to herself (and has great style!) while still kicking ass! she thinks daphne was ahead of her time, retaining her femininity while still pulling her weight and being useful to the scoobies in her own way.

a relevant goal or arc for your character to overcome.

accept she'll probably never make her parents proud, fully accept and move on from that. also pay her own bills, damn. something something true independence....

anyway. pls like to plot and i'll slide into ims :^)

[vice-s-assistant]

I apologize again but I'm in desperate need. My rent is $970 but I can pay at least $770, then pay the rest later without being marked as late. Right now, a late fee from a loan, wiped $206 of what I was going to pay. Any help would be most appreciated. Thank you.

DO NOT ASK ME FOR MY ACCOUNT DETAIL TO TRANSFER MONEY TO MY ACCOUNT. THAT IS A SCAM AND I NOR ANYONE ELSE SHOULD FALL FOR IT.

[diaryofvanitas]

It's 4 am and I woke up from hunger

And I couldn't move from the headache that had erupted in my sleep

The last meal I had was biscuits

The last actual meal I had was yesterday's breakfast

Sandwich and cereal sufficed me for a day

I remember being dead thirsty

When I was half asleep

But I think my body gave up

My body isn't proud of my myself

I am a torture to it

I do not eat and I do not nourish

And I make it run like a horse

I work hard and I fall asleep

Cause I can't keep up with my pace

My brain isn't parallel to my anatomy

And I tend to mess up my body because of it

Is being hard on myself the reason

But I'm just testing the waters

When u live alone

When nobody asks u if had dinner ...

When nobody bothers u in your sleep

Like u told them too ...

When ur mom doesn't feed u half asleep

When nobody cares when ur legs pain

When nobody cares if u took ur pills

When nobody changes the sheets u cried on

Except you

Is it liberation from the society

Is it the magnificent individuality

That they talk about

Or is it abandonment from warmth

From tearing u apart from ur bones

It is but a mere life scam and u pay back ur loans .

It's been some years

Since I've been told u are not a child

And yes in some aspects I am not

But to be entirely free from what u were

For all your life

A child in ur mother's eyes.

Reality makes u believe that u are a part of the crowd and not the superhero u thought u were.

It's being ripped off from ur benevolent fiction

And the fiction was ur past not nostalgia

It is not freedom

Nor is it loneliness

It is something in between

Something full of half hatred and half love

Half acceptance and half conflict

It is becoming an adult and already conquering some of it

It is you and it is me

We all are cruel strangers to each other

Search for warmth and love in every other

The one that is unconditional the one that stays

But we are the mighty with the ego

And u won't survive the dumpyard generation

With low esteem , respect or having too much time for someone. ..

And the irony is I'm not alone

I'm not loneliness thou it seems romantic sometimes

I have two roommates

Who have probably felt the same

On a different Saturday from me

And I might have been sleeping when they were crying or thirsty

It's a c word event happening at 3 am to every human

Cause they are the main character

And I forced myself to write

The headache is gone now ..

So is the thirst ..

But the hunger only grows ..

But I get food after 2 hrs because that is

When the mess opens up

That is when I realise this isn't home.

[theculturedmarxist]

I think what artists, musicians, writers, pretty much every creative person really, all need to understand is that under capitalism, everything they make is worthless. AI, piracy, whatever, they're all just windmills you're tilting at. Even if by some miracle you did manage to defeat it, it would soon be replaced by some other terrible mechanism which alienates you from your creation, because that's how Capitalism works.

This is just the latest iteration of a process that's been happening for over 500 years now. It's just now instead of enclosing a physical commons for the private profit of aristocrats, oligarchs are enclosing the digital commons. Consolidating the public spaces of forums, message boards, webrings, and other democratically driven online spaces into the few mega-sites of Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, and so on has run its course. Now the capitalists have turned to trawling the rest of the internet to try and wring whatever value they can get from it.

And just like the process of enclosure or mechanization or industrialization, there's no putting that genie back in the bottle. They've already scoured the internet for untold trillions of pages of data and images and what not. The damage is done. It doesn't matter what further damage is going to come from it either, because the dirty not-so-secret of the tech world is that this is it. They have no more bright ideas. Pretty much every great thing to Google's name, they bought. All their in house initiatives failed. Google video? Google groups? Google glass? They make their money selling ads that nobody cares about. Same with Facebook. They just spent billions to create a crappy Second Life clone that no one gives a fuck about. These tech corporations are massive, lumbering, doomed empires, especially now that covid has pretty much brought the era of 0%-interest loans to an end. Without the billions of dollars of venture capital being pumped into Uber and Twitter and all the rest, now they've got to actually start making money, which none of them are actually able to do. Now they're desperate for some new gimmick to latch onto to try and turn a profit or attract ever dwindling venture capital. Bitcoin was the last big scam. Remember Libra? NFTs were the big thing after that. NFT images! NFT tv shows! NFT games! Here we are a year later and no one fucking talks about them any more. AI is just more of this magic bean bullshit.

Aside from all of that, even if AI was managed to be beaten back, you can assume that whatever the cure the powers that be settle on will be worse than the disease. Whatever "protections" get put into place will only be used against individual artists. At the end of the day, these big corps are just going to end up keeping all the information they've already stolen, the algorithms they used to steal it, and then will put laws into place legitimizing that theft after the fact. You're simply not going to win that fight, because the battle's already been lost.

The only long term solution to this is to attack the root cause, which is a system that relies upon exploitation in order to accumulate profit. Profits are what feed these massive corporate beasts, and as they're starved by falling profits, they'll only grow more ravenous and rapacious. We're only at the opening stages of this trend now, and things are only going to get worse.

[trollprincess]

About a week or so ago, I was at the local grocery store and got to talking with the elderly clerk. She was talking with me and someone else about how she's retired twice but got bored and went back to work. Which is fine! If you're retired and you find you want to go back to work, you should be able to.

But part of her conversation was complaining about how people can stay home and get paid to do nothing, and someone else backed her up, and I had to resist the urge to scream.

I am not going to be able to retire. I know that. Unless by some sort of miracle I win the lottery or manage to help catch a wanted criminal and get a huge reward, there's no way in hell I'll be able to retire. I work two jobs and have a podcast and I still constantly struggle to get anywhere financially. I've got $58,000 in student loan debt that's not budging. And for added fun, I've got a family history of cardiovascular disease where my grandpa dropped dead on the golf course at 52 or so and my grandma died of a stroke at sixty and my mom could die of the same damn thing at any moment. If I don't work myself to death, I'll die before I can stop working.

I wish I could just believe that woman was only talking about people who supposedly scam welfare or disability to stay home even though that's patently bullshit. I did play it off like that, though, and said, "Honey, I've worked with lazy people before I'm much rather pay to stay home than have to deal with in the workplace. You're going to tell me you haven't?" That shut her up.

That said, I don't think that's all that she meant. I genuinely think she meant it about retirees, too. And she's lucky I didn't say exactly what I've been thinking since, which is this:

Bitch, you're lucky you get to HAVE a retirement if you want.

I don't. I know a lot of people who don't. And a lot of the reason we don't is because of people YOU voted into office. Assholes who will definitely get to retire, or won't because sitting in a congressional seat until their skeleton has to be carted out earns them massive amounts of money from lobbyists paying them to do jack shit.

"I was too bored when I was retired."

You're lucky you GET to be bored! I don't get to be bored. I get to work and sleep. I get to research my podcast while at my weekend job while occasionally checking the social media accounts I work on at my part-time job. And then I come home and sleep. I don't have the goddamn energy to do *anything*. I keep trying to squeeze in crafts like making little mini-dollhouses or paint-by-numbers kits as stress relief and all it does is make me feel guilty I'm not working on something else.

You're SUPPOSED to be able to relax! You're supposed to be able to spend an entire fucking day eating Cheetos and watching old episodes of MST3K and only getting out of bed to use the bathroom and retrieve your DoorDash order. You're not supposed to work and work and work until you fall to pieces. I've been making myself go on small vacations since the pandemic because it hit me just how little I've traveled and I refuse to die not having gone anywhere but work, college, and home.

But for Christ's sake, if you have the option of retiring, DO IT. If not for yourself, for the rest of us. Let us live vicariously through you. Go on cruises, or learn how to dance, or just stay home on the couch hanging out with your dog and watching soap operas. Do you have any clue how many people my age and younger envy your opportunity to just do nothing? Absolutely fucking nothing? Because thanks to YOU, more than likely, we won't get that option.

[brehaaorgana]

100%! However, two important things:

1. There ARE reliable resources that can help you recover after leaving if you have a lot of debt. Please know that in the US financial assistance is readily available, especially if you were kept in debt by a financially abusive person, are in debt as a result of leaving, or similar. There are ways to make this easier.

The government has general consumer education resources, advice, guides, and so on:

Then, consider reaching out to licensed credit counselors about what a debt management program can do to help you, and if you qualify. These are not scams, not "settlement agencies". They are non-profits dedicated to helping people recover from debt. but they also do things like help you create a budget, find social assistance or local cost-saving programs you might qualify for, help people recover post-natural disasters, help first time home buyers through the process, etc etc. This is the National Foundation for Credit Counseling: https://www.nfcc.org/ they have a big directory of their accredited members. (Many of the bigger ones work nationally as organizations so it doesn't even need to be local!).

Yes, even a DMP will take time (typically the end of the program is in 5 years or less, as opposed to waiting 7+ for something to fall off). However, it's worth noting that a DMP may be able to negotiate with all of your creditors to lower your monthly bill and interest as part of the debt management program plan to pay off the balance. Yes, creditors DO often agree to this, and the dmp can reach out to every creditor for you in order to lower your overall debt expenses to make the program liveable. It's a holistic approach, and creditors know this is a successful one. Additionally because they are licensed credit counselors, they will be able to counsel if and when bankruptcy is the most viable and helpful option for you, and how to recover from there.

2. a slight correction to what OP said — because these terms get confused or conflated a LOT, and having financial knowledge is power!:

An authorized user is for a credit line/loan of some kind, (usually a credit card). It's actually very easy to remove an authorized user (AU) from a credit card. Both the owner of the credit line and the AU themselves can request to be removed at literally any time. An AU is NOT financially responsible for paying back the debt at any time. Being an AU is NOT the same thing as being a co-applicant (aka 'a secondary owner').

Co-applicants/co-borrowers, co-signers, and joint-owners are MUCH harder to remove from accounts because they share full legal responsibilities and rights in regards to the accounts. If you add someone to an account as a co-owner, they become so difficult to remove specifically because they have more legal rights and protections than an authorized user of an account would. (This goes both ways — if you're a co-owner, they can't simply kick you out of your checking account. They can, however, drain all the funds, since it's also "their" money.)

For checking/savings accounts, there IS a difference between an authorized signer and a joint bank account owner. An authorized signer does NOT have ownership of the bank account or funds.

From Business Insider's explanation:

Authorized signer vs. joint bank account owner

An authorized signer is a person who has been given permission by the account's owner to access a bank account. They do not have any ownership of the funds in the account. However, they possess many of the same abilities as an owner. For instance, a typical authorized signer can write checks, access account balances, and withdraw and deposit money.

Financial institutions may require an authorized signer to be appointed as an agent under a durable power of attorney for property for the account owner. This creates a fiduciary responsibility, which requires the authorized signer to act in the best interest of the account owner.

(...)

The key distinction between an authorized signer and a co-owner of a bank account is that the authorized signer does not own the account. In comparison, both people on a joint bank account are owners. That may seem obvious, but it brings some repercussions that should not be overlooked.

Co-owners on a joint bank account have all of the same access privileges. That means that both parties can complete everyday transactions, similar to an authorized signer. However, either party can also close the account, which an authorized signer does not have permission to do.

Oh also third thing:

Some US states allow spouses to speak about credit cards, even if they aren't on the account, so long as they a) identify as the spouse of the owner and b) can answer the verification questions asked. They are able to be spoken to, but do not have the ability to make any permanent changes or decisions on the account. They could, however, inquire about the credit card balance, the amount due, recent expenses, etc. Some states explicitly disallow this. It's something you'd have to look up based on location.

But anyways there are ways to get help in making the recovery easier.

While we are on the subject - financial abuse is not always just physically taking money away or not having a savings account or escape stash. For a lot of people it is the other spouse sabotaging your credit score, constantly overspending, and you being unable to trust that joint household bills and loans are paid. Did you know that once you add an authorized user to your bank account it’s nearly impossible to remove them without their permission? Did you know that your spouse, who likely knows your birthday and SSN, can often gain access and reset passwords for any online accounts and create new ones?

Financial abuse will ruin your life and there’s really nothing except significant time that fixes it. If you are in a situation where you think this might happen to you you should freeze your credit with all three major agencies. You can find info on how to do this at USA.gov/credit-freeze

This is not something that only happens to tradwives. You are not exempt because you are independent or competent.

[titleloansonline]

Verify Vehicle Title Loans: Safeguard Against Scams Effectively

Table of Contents

Introduction

Common Vehicle Title Loan Scams

Key Red Flags to Watch For

Steps to Verify Legitimate Car Title Loan Companies

Trusted Auto Title Loan Options in Brandywine

FAQs About Verifying Automobile Title Loans

Secure Your Financial Future with Careful Research and Trustworthy Lenders

Protecting Your Finances and Deceptive Practices

Title loans can provide fast access to funds during emergencies, but selecting a reputable lender is essential to safeguard your finances. Verifying Vehicle Title Loan Companies is key to protecting your personal information and avoiding potential fraud. In Brandywine, Title Loans Online knowing how to spot trustworthy lenders ensures you make well-informed choices and avoid falling prey to scams.

Common Vehicle Title Loan Scams

To protect yourself, it’s important to recognize common scams, including:

Fake Lenders: Scammers impersonate legitimate companies to steal personal data.

Upfront Fees: Fraudulent companies may demand payment before offering a loan.

Misleading Contracts: Hidden fees and confusing terms can trap borrowers in unmanageable debt.

Unlicensed Operations: Some lenders bypass state regulations, leaving borrowers unprotected.

Key Red Flags to Watch For

When researching car title loan companies, keep an eye out for these warning signs:

Lack of Licensing: Legitimate lenders are licensed in your state. Verify their credentials.

Unrealistic Promises: Guaranteed approvals or zero requirements can signal a scam.

Vague Terms: Be wary of contracts that are unclear or difficult to understand.

No Physical Address: Companies without a verifiable location are often fraudulent.

Steps to Verify Legitimate Car Title Loan Companies

1. Check State Licensing Use your state’s financial regulatory authority to confirm the lender’s license.

2. Research Reviews and Ratings Visit trusted platforms like the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to read customer feedback.

3. Verify Contact Details Ensure the company provides a physical address and working phone number.

4. Request Transparent Terms Ask for a detailed loan estimate outlining interest rates, fees, and repayment conditions.

5. Avoid Upfront Fees Legitimate lenders do not charge large fees before issuing a loan.

Trusted Auto Title Loan Options in Brandywine

For borrowers in Brandywine, consider these features when selecting a lender:

Flexible Terms: Choose a lender offering customizable repayment options.

Transparent Fees: Look for companies that disclose all charges upfront.

No Bank Account Required: Some lenders provide loans without a bank account.

FAQs About Verifying Automobile Title Loans

1. Can I trust online car title loan companies?Yes, but always verify licensing and read reviews before proceeding.

2. Are loans available for cars with a salvage or rebuilt title?Some lenders may offer loans for such vehicles. Confirm this option with the lender.

3. What documents do I need for a car title loan?You typically need the car title, proof of income, and a government-issued ID.

4. How long does it take to get a title loan?Approval can often be completed within the same day, depending on the lender.

Secure Your Financial Future with Careful Research and Trustworthy Lenders

Securing your financial future starts with careful research and a clear understanding of potential risks. You can confidently navigate the title loan process by spotting common scams, recognizing warning signs, and verifying lenders. Avoid hasty decisions and always perform due diligence. For trustworthy and reliable options in Brandywine, use Online Car Title Loan Verification to confirm the legitimacy of your lender. These essential steps will help protect your finances and ensure a safe, stress-free borrowing experience. Take control of your financial security today and move forward peacefully.

Visit Our Website: www.titleloansonline.com

Publication Date: 25 December 2024            Author Name: Stephen