#and the only one NOT to make a deal with Bill

[pomeraniandancer]

I am on disability, so I didn't directly deal with the health insurance aspect. I got lucky in that regard. But. When I survived getting hit by a car, the thing that disgusted me the most about the whole ordeal (even more than the inattentive driver who hit me) was the insurance company that handled my claim. (1) the experience of dealing with both the hospital who kept trying to get me to pay out of pocket even though the part not covered by my insurance would be covered by the driver's car insurance. My lawyer kept having to send them letters saying "Look, they don't have the money and they aren't responsible for paying what's not covered by insurance, that's the car insurance company's job. Stop sending them these bills." I was pretty impressed with his ability to write increasingly testy but unfailingly polite letters to the hospitals (I was at two separate hospitals, one for the initial ER and the second for surgery and initial recovery). (2) the car insurance company initially offered me an amount that didn't cover all my health bills, and considering part of that payment would go to cover lawyer expenses, would still require me to pay out of pocket after insurance. It wasn't until about a year after my accident -- by which time I was, as far as medical was concerned, fully recovered (I'll always have physical reminders of the accident).

I learned a lot about insurance companies that year. One of the things was that insurance companies don't initially deny or lowball people with the expectation that the person will accept that denial or lowball offer (although the company certainly hope they will). The goal is to delay paying out the claim as long as possible so that they can make as much money as possible out of the money they have in the bank to cover the costs *and* make a profit, before paying out the claim. Remember, this is a car insurance company, not a health insurance company. Car insurance companies jack up the costs of insurance on drivers who have been in claim-causing accidents the minute they get confirmation of such an accident. That means that in this case they were not only taking in more from that insurance holder, but making money on the interest rates, for an entire year before they gave me my final agreed-upon payout (which did allow for complete coverage of both medical bills and lawyer expenses). We're focusing on the failures and flaws of health insurance because it's so immediate; if you don't have insurance to cover you when you have appointments or treatments, then you're bust in this country. But it's not just a failure of health insurance, it's a flaw -- or, in the insurance companies' eyes, a feature -- of all insurance companies. There's a reason why a lot of insurance companies no longer covers housing built in flood-risk areas of Florida.

Health insurance is not a provider. It is a denier.

[vifilms]

tattoo artist!vi who takes notice of just how beautiful you are the moment you step foot in her shop. it’d be the most difficult task in the world to not notice just how insanely breathtaking you are. it’s clear by the smirk on your glossy lips. you know just how good you look. caitlyn, being the woman she is, tries to jump in first. you’re just her type. violet would know, cait’s dated the anti-thesis of her since the moment you broke up. caitlyn kiramman loves pretty girls. anything she can do to be underneath them, she’ll find a way. you fit her bill. violet tried not to take offense of the ways your eyes light up taking to her ex-girlfriend. maybe you’re just nice. that’s it, right? two minutes, someone who is almost as gorgeous as you walks in and then violet forgets about you as her next client walks in. she tries to at least.

tattoo artist!vi who doesn’t stop thinking about you. it’s new york. there’s plenty of pretty girls she can drown herself in. well, if she could figure out how to ask someone out without her crippling anxiety suffocating her. she knows she’s somewhat attractive but her lack of knowing how to efficiently communicate it without sound like the weirdest fuck who has ever lived gets lost in translation. she doesn’t like how sure cait is of herself when she talks about you though. violet doesn’t even know you but seeing the glint in those aquatic-blue eyes make her want to punch something. it’s hard to even tell if it due to her budding crush or that it’s her ex. probably both but she ignores it.

tattoo artist!vi who likes to frequent bars on her days off. it’s when she doesn’t feel alone. it’s fun to bug her sister, powder. she’s always been more of a free spirit out of the two of them. an artist, a wanderer, someone who choses to bartend a couple nights out of the week just because she liked meeting new people, learning their story, what makes them tick. are they a mean drunk, happy, or will they burst into tears when you ask them how they’re doing? vi isn’t either really. she’s quiet, calm even, but tonight part of her wants to cry. she feels lonely, lost, and even a little bit upset caitlyn is your first choice. she only knows your name because of the clientele list and that just feels pathetic. violet’s never been the smoothest of talkers, she knows that more than she feels the blood coursing through her veins. she isn’t the girl and she’s perfectly fine with it. perfectly. fine.

tattoo artist!vi who doesn’t even enjoy work anymore. three months in and you’ve been cait’s girlfriend and the feeling only gets worse. it’s cliché. a little fucked, but being in love with her ex’s girlfriend? it doesn’t get any lower than this. she let it slip days ago, only to powder, thank fucking god. if violet knew one thing, she didn’t wanna deal with caitlyn’s wrath. according to maddie, she’d been a dog with a bone when it came to you. so protective it nearly turned into possession. she wanted everyone to know that you were hers and not anyone else’s. it wasn’t new to violet, cait didn’t like being runner up to anyone. it’s why their relationship ended in the first place, especially when the girlfriend feels inferior to the sister. when powder comes around to the shop, cait can’t help but wear her disgust all over her face like a poorly concealed mask. vi thinks it’s silly. the both of them are nearly the same it’s almost sickening. if only the other took the time to know the object of their disdain, they would see two peas sitting in a pod.

tattoo artist!vi who hates a messy shop. when personal items are left behind or someone’s station isn’t properly sanitized and clean. it’s why she’s here, alone on the sunday, the only day the shop is closed. it’s been too long since she did a deep clean, just a week or too, but that’s long enough for her. she’s always been proud of what she’s been able to accomplish her. even if she didn’t have much, a girlfriend to love on, or if her father was on the other side of the country, she had this. violet ink. it was her name out on the sign over seeing the street, the luminous violet led lights kissing the downtown street. she made it this far and she couldn’t let anyone run her off from something she fought so hard to build from the ground up. it’s why she was surprised when she saw you. your face free of makeup, your hair in it’s natural state, and you appeared more laid back than you ever were — in her shop. it feels like a fever dream she never wishes to wake up from. cait must have given you a spare key to the shop which she would have a discussion with her about that later because what the fuck? but it’s hard for her to stay mad when you’re standing there looking like a million bucks in the most casual pair of sweats she’s ever seen. it feels different to who you usually are. shredded of the image you maintain, stripped back, there’s just a softer version of yourself and vi can’t help but contemplate if this is the side you’re so reluctant to show.

tattoo artist!vi who stutter how some stupid joke, trying to break the ice and it should have made things more awkward than they already were but your laugh full of symphonies just makes violet smile. in her best efforts, she craves to conceal it from you but it’s impossible when you’re looking at her. she can’t help but smile — so she does. desperately, violet tries not to act nervous when you’re looking at her designs on the wall, not saying a word, just inspecting. there’s a chill in her bones she feels, a need for her work to be loved because if it isn’t? it eats her up from the inside out. maybe it’s embarrassing but she needs her work to be loved. what’s the point if it isn’t? it’s always been an extension of her soul, her life, and if someone doesn’t like it? all they say is they don’t like her. it may be the silliest thing in the world, but she needs to be adored. from a complete stranger, from the people who she’s permanently tattooing, and especially from the beautiful women violet can’t stop daydreaming about.

tattoo artist!vi who blushes when you tell her how much you love her designs. there’s a soft touch to her shoulder, your thumb lightly tracing circles in her sturdy bicep. it feel innocent enough but vi doesn’t give herself much time to think about it. painfully, she takes note in how your eyes soar when they make contact with her designs. even if it makes her cocky, violet knows she’s good at her job. clients flying in from all over the country, just to get tattooed by her. with your undeniable charm, you’ve convinced her to do a custom design for you but you wanna discuss it on sunday’s, alone. if anything, she should know this isn’t a good idea. you’re charming, gorgeous and the prettiest thing she’s ever seen. she should be afraid of caitlyn’s wrath, of what would happen if she found out, but it’s innocent…right? she’s a professional. no matter how much she’s attracted to a client, it’s never been an issues and she certainly won’t make it one now. vi nods and the second she does, you’re leaping in her arms, into her space. you smell of lavender and lilies, like spring in the beginning of march. a sun-kissed marvel aching for the shine of summer, for one breath of fresh air. it’s really all she wants, a moment to be in the sunshine with you, if only for a moment at least she could tell the moon about it. her best kept secret and she would cherish every bit of it. 

tattoo artist!vi who tries to keep her head down low as the weeks carry on. even when you try to make more of an effort to speak with her, the last thing she needs is caitlyn to take one final look at her and realize just how much she likes the attention. maddie already made one comment, even if it was light-hearted — it’s enough to keep her on edge. with the design being complete, all she needs is to tattoo but violet’s been avoiding you and what’s worse? you knew it too. in her true avoidant style, violet failed to go to the shop the last two weeks on sunday. the tidiness and damn right organization of her shop was suffering but she still had plans of avoiding it. rather avoiding you, but in her forest fire of a mind, it comes all the same. all of this is so trivial, so stupid, so tragic. it’s kiramman’s day off and violet and sevika are the only artists on hand today which means she’s overworked. the both of them are tired and violet just completed her last session of the day. she sneaks to the back enjoying the cigarette she’d been itching to have. violet’s on her second one when you corner her into the brick wall she’s leaning on. you’re too close. dangerously close, almost as if the fire you’ve created in violet’s lungs might cause her to burn from the inside out. it’s chilling how silent you are until you aren’t. you’re loud about the way you caress her exposed biceps, tracing the lines of her intricate tattoo as it crawls up shoulders and so do your hands. with a sharp graze, you scrap your nails across her skin as if you want to leave a reminder that she was in fact here. should she even even be here? letting you touch her in the way you are? but it’s not like vi has much of a choice when you push the hem of her tank top up to her ribcage, showcasing the flexing abs on her abdomen. it may be faint but there’s a happy trail, one violet wants to see your lips on but she’s scared to say anything, to move, to breathe. “caitlyn said you were ripped underneath. i wanted to see for myself.” then your touch is gone and you are with it. 

tattoo artist!vi who doesn’t show up on sunday…for the first couple of hours. violet thinks of that night, the way you touched her, like you knew exactly what to do before she even could think of what she wanted next. how on earth did you manage to paralyze her with a mere flick of your wrist? when your nails clawed at her toned abdomen, violet felt the stickiness in her boxers and you’d done all of nothing. she had to put an end to things, the private session, violet couldn’t do it. she didn’t want to be caught in some weird and perversed love triangle with her ex. in the back of her throat, violet feels the lump she constantly has to swallow. the only reasonable explanation is that this, you, is all some weird fantasy of caitlyn to get the last laugh. to fully degrade her in a way she couldn’t, not when you’re the person who gets broken up with. it’s not a secret caitlyn’s ego had taken a hit. to anyone, not being the first choice stings but to cait? it might as well be a death sentence and certainly it wouldn’t stand. 

tattoo artist!vi who isn’t one for confrontation but in the need to savor some of her salvation in her dignity, she walks in the shop. you’re still waiting for her. two hours later, you’d hoped she’d show. ”violet, you came.” it’s endearing but violet also sees herself the night before tangled in her black sheets, vibrator on its highest setting as she applies pressure to her clit, fingers nestled so deep inside her cunt as she hears your voice, thinks about your irresistible lips. violet wonders what you sound like when you come and suddenly the thought sends her hurling towards the edge. the smile you offer is almost like you can see right through her, like you know vi came to the idea of you just the night before. 

with a slender smile, you make your way over to her and suddenly the internal dialogue she created to put an end to this arrangement died on your tongue when she shrugs vi’s leather jacket off. she’s only wearing her wrap to cover her chest, not intending on staying for a long time. definitely not enough to finish the beautiful design she created for you. she’d get cait to do it. their styles were similar to it. your girlfriend has to do this. but you’re touching her bare skin. vi is losing focus as she feels the control slip into your greedy fingers. 

“i know what you’re gonna say.” 

“and what’s that?” 

“you wanna stop this, meeting me here, you feel like you’re betraying someone you love and you have too much integrity to keep seeing someone you so obviously want to fuck.” 

“i can’t—” but the words die on violet’s tongue. 

“sense won’t get to you, that’s something caitlyn didn’t understand. you think with your heart of gold. when it drips for someone, you’d let it bleed out if it meant you were saving someone.” you take a pause, slipping off your shirt as your pierced nipples are exposed. violet nearly begins to drool, her eyes unable to look away from your perfect nipples, the swell of your breast how perfectly they fall on your chest, she’s nearly salivating to be offered a taste. “my girlfriend doesn’t understand you’ve found someone else to be loyal to.” 

“this is not, um, i didn’t—” 

sweetly, you kiss her cheek. “it’s such a bitch isn’t it? your heart wants whatever the fuck it yearns for, no damn mercy on who it hurts.”  

violet can only think of how much she wants to be suffocated by your tits, forever trapped in this venus fly trap you’ve caused her to succumb to. with her best foot forward, she wants to tell you to go to hell, that you’re wrong about her — she would never do something like this — until she does. it’s all tongue and teeth, vitriol and lust spills into her mouth as violet pushes you on the bench, ripping your skirt to shreds with her bare hands. only to find nothing underneath. 

bent over the table, ass up in the air, violet wastes not a single moment and stuffs her face in your fat ass. with a gratifying need, she splits your folds on her tongue as she slaps your ass making you whimper and cry out for her name. it’s beautiful, violet thinks. someone needing her to bring them to the edge, and god, you aren’t shy about it either. never has she heard anyone be so loud and proud about sex. so goddamn confident in each moan you let fall from pornogrpahic lips, it’s damn invigorating. the first one comes easily, you spill over vi’s tongue as she moans back into your weeping pussy, liquid gushing over her face violet never wants it to end. the second time violet fucks you with her fingers, stuffing and fucking until there isn’t any part of you that isn’t undeniably shaking. the third time, you’re on top of her, the two of you finding comfortablity on the cot in the break room as violet lets you fuck her. 

exactly what she expects it to be; hot, rough, fast. slippery pussy rubbing against hers until you collapse on top of her, breast pressed against her binded ones. you have a feeling they are there for a reason and you don’t push, for once in your life, you let yourself succumb to sleep as you fall asleep in her arms. 

tattoo artist!vi who doesn’t see you for three months after she had the best sex of her life. even if it does sting, vi knows it’s for the best. six months in and you’re still with caitlyn despite your best efforts. surprising everyone, but violet for different reasons, you admit your slip up to cait but she forgives you. maddie and sevika make a game of it, trying to guess who make you cheat and when violet’s name comes up jokingly, caitlyn’s words leave an unsettling pit in her stomach. 

c’mon, what is violet going to do? look at her. she’s as loyal as a trained dog and i have you trained. don’t i, cupcake? 

tattoo artist!vi who focuses on her work, like a trained dog, she falls back into her routine. sunday’s aren’t as pleasurable as they were with you, or one sunday she should say, but she dismisses the thought altogether. pushing it to the deepest parts of her mind becomes the only viable option. she uses other forms of entertainment to get her mind off of you. powder thinks it’s a good idea to be here but she refuses to step foot in here with her. this is where my path ends, sis. i’ll be just up the hill when you’re ready. a not so subtle wink has her cringing and flipping her off blue-haired braided sister off in the process. this is such a good stupid idea but violet doesn’t manage to convince herself out of this situation she’s conducted for herself. anyways, it’s one night? no one ever has to know. from the moment she steps into the strip club, she knows she never should have been here. she keeps to the bar as she changes songs from the jukebox a few times. this has never been her scene nor will it ever. as she finishes off her class of neat whiskey, the familiar voice whispers into her ear, never thought you’d be here but i guess we’re both full of surprises.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

what do you think is going on with the malfoy family tree? it kinda cracks me up how it’s basically just a trunk, like father and only child son all the way down and they *all* look very similar? it makes me wonder if one of their ancestors made a deal with like, an actual demon to functionally clone themselves forever…and a cursory google search tells me Lucious and Abraxas are demon-y names, although this naming scheme doesn’t quite fit for the entire trunk (i realize the answer is probably just jkr getting lazy/not wanting too many characters to account for but where’s the fun in that)

Hello 👋

I think what's going on with the Malfoy family tree is the same thing that's going on with the Potter family tree or the Weasley family tree — that is, JKR/whoever on Pottermore made them didn't bother writing any family tree in detail other than the Blacks (and even the Black family tree is flawed, but more on that later). It's not necessarily that JKR doesn't know what the tree actually looks like, she just never wrote it out where we can find it. This is the Malfoy family tree:

Looking at the tree, it has more Blacks on it than Malfoys. Hell, even among the Malfoys we are seeing, we're not only lacking the wives of all these Malfoys but potentially generations as well, since Armand Malfoy (unless the one on the tree is a second Armand, which is possible) is the name of the first Malfoy that arrived in England with the Normans in the 11th century. Just from looking at it, it's clear the tree is lacking and is not a full version of it.

And the Malfoy's aren't the only lacking family tree:

If we look at the "official" Potter family tree, not only are there many unnamed members and skipped generations, but we are missing some known members, such as, Charlus Potter, who married Dorea Black and is a cousin or brother of either Fleamont or Henry (we don't really know how old Charlus is and both are a possibility).

The "official" Weasley family tree is similarly lacking. Not only is Muriel on it as a Weasley although she is a Prewett, not a Weasley, and many Prewttes actually are present on this tree as if they are Weasleys. The familial relationships are clearly missing. We know Muriel is Molly's aunt and Ron's great-aunt ("Your Great-Aunt Muriel doesn’t agree" (DH)). We know Lancelot Prewett is Mureil's cousin ("For your information, Elphias, my cousin Lancelot was a Healer at St. Mungo’s at the time" (DH)). We know Uncle Billius is Arthur's brother. That both are sons of Septimus and Cederella and that they have more brothers (as implied at the wedding in DH). Similarly unmentioned is that Ignatius Prewett is married to Lucritia Black and that they are likely Molly's parents. None of this information is on this tree even though it's canon in the books and written there clear as day.

Because of this, I just assume that the trees we have are clearly not the full versions. (I actually have my own version of various family trees that I made based on quotes and book evidence + the bit of info we have from Pottermore and the above trees + some headcanons that I usually work with). Also, I'm pretty sure these above trees weren't made by JKR at all. They were illustrated by Jessica Roux who was a Pottermore artist and I don't know how much JKR gave her to work with. So, I take the various "official" family trees with a hefty grain of salt and take book quotes as evidence over them.

This skeptical approach includes the Black family tree JKR made which I believe has mistakes in it. Not only with the ages of Cygnus and Pollux, but it's missing members such as Araminta ("and Araminta Meliflua . . . cousin of my mother’s . . . tried to force through a Ministry Bill to make Muggle-hunting legal" (OotP)) who should be on it (as Sirius points to her on the family tapestry in the books) but she's nowhere to be seen in JKR's tree.

That being said, I don't think the full version of the Malfoy family tree is much different in the current generation. Like, I think Lucius, Draco, and Narcissa are the only Malfoys around when the books take place. But I believe there were more Malfoys in prior generations and they inter-married other pure-blood families much like any other pure-blood family.

I sort of headcanon that both Narcissa and Andromeda (and perhaps Bellatrix) had certain problems with fertility. I mean, both Andromeda and Narcissa seem to me to be characters who would've wanted more children if they could have them. Both place their families in very high regard, especially their children, so it seems, somewhat off to me they don't have at least 2 children each, you know? It seems oddly out of character from what we see of them. Since it's both of them, and they are sisters, a genetic issue with getting pregnant (or carrying a pregnancy to term) seems like a plausible explanation to me.

(I kind of also think Bellatrix has the same issue and that she and Rodolphus tried to have kids and couldn't. Even if you want to go with some of CC canon and have her have Delphini, it actually makes a lot of sense. Like, if she slept with Voldemort thinking she couldn't get pregnant and then did. idk, I find this hypothetical more interesting for them)

[the-hinky-panda]

War of the Roses: Part V

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Bill’s already in a pissy mood when he pulls up to Cal Thresher’s home. 

Leaving you alone in the hotel room last night took every ounce of his self restraint. Seeing you with red eyes, knowing they were that way from tears of distress, knowing you needed comfort and he couldn’t trust himself to provide only that. He’s never wanted someone as much as he wants you and it both scares and excites him. There’s something special between you two, something cosmic, as silly as it sounds. He never believed in soulmates before that night in the coat room. 

He’s barely slept, thinking about you tucked up in bed at the hotel all by yourself, so he downs about forty ounces of coffee. It makes it easier to blame the shaking in his hands on caffeine instead of want. It takes some mild threatening to get the guard at the gate to let him and the rig onto the property, which also helps with blowing off some steam. He was hoping by showing up at seven am in the morning, they would be able to load the horses and rose bushes and get the fuck out before Cal even knew they were there. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Cal’s waiting outside of the barn for them. Bill releases a deep sigh before climbing out of his car. 

“Morning, Cal.” 

“Bill.” His eyes dart over at the truck and rig that’s parking in front of the barn. “Can’t say I’m surprised  it’s you that she called for help, given the…shine she’s taken to you. I am surprised you actually showed up. I didn’t take you for being a soft touch.” 

“Horses should never be caught in the middle of a personal dispute, Cal. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.” 

“And yet, here you are. Smack dab in the middle of a very personal dispute.” 

“Well, that’s the beauty of personal versus business. They’re separate things.” 

“Are they, Bill? Because it seems a little odd that after only two weeks of becoming business partners, you’re stealing my wife away.” 

“Can’t steal something that doesn’t belong to you.” 

“Land comes with deeds,” Cal says, putting his hands on his hips. “Women come with marriage certificates. We had a business deal for the land usage, not for my wife. And I can assure you, Bill, she’s not worth putting our deal at risk.” 

“That so?” Bill laughs and turns to his barn manager. “Load up all four horses. And when you’re done, there’s three rose bushes in the courtyard that are coming with us, too.” He then turns back to Cal. “Listen to me, our business deal isn’t at risk and here’s why. I am the only fucking marajana supplier in this territory. You don’t have anyone else to sell your product to right now. I’m it, Cal. And I don’t need you or your fucking start-up weed farm. You need me. So here’s the actual fucking deal, you let me take the horses and the rose bushes, and leave me and your soon to be ex-wife the fuck alone. See? Personal,” Bill emphasizes the word with his right hand and then holds up his left hand. “Business.” 

Cal seems to consider his options for a few moments before nodding once. “Fine. If that’s the direction you want to go. Good luck with her.” He starts to walk away but pauses a few paces away. “Do you have any kids of your own, Bill?” 

Bill knows where this is going and if Cal doesn’t keep walking, Bill’s going to enjoy laying the asshole flat in the dirt. “No, Cal, I don’t.” 

“Neither do I. And she’s the reason why. Our businesses are similar, we need people to carry on after we’re not able to anymore.” 

“That the bargain you were referring to the other day, the one that she’s not keeping up?” 

“It is.” 

Bill remembers his mother, curled up on that couch and crying that rainy afternoon. His father coming into the laundry room, soaking wet from the rain and fresh mud on his boots. A couple rose petals stuck to his pants, tears running down his face and mixing with the rain when he washed them down the drain in the stationary tub. “Actually Cal, there’s three rose bushes that are getting dug out today that prove she did keep up her end of the bargain. You want get mad at someone, get fucking mad at God.”

“What good will that do me? God’s not going to give me anything.” 

“And she is? What’s she got? You took everything from her. Even her parents don’t want anything to do with her.” 

Something changes in Cal’s stance, a renewed sense of arrogance or self-righteousness. It causes him to walk back to Bill and stare him down. “And what exactly do you want with her? Are you doing this just to piss me off because you can? Because I can’t find another weed dealer in backwater Oklahoma?” Cal takes another step towards him. “ I can’t imagine she was a good enough fuck last night in the barn to warrent a second round. She’s as barren as a desert and won’t give your family any continuance. So what is it, Bill?” 

“You want to know what it is?” 

“Yeah, I do.” 

Bill closes his right hand and hits Cal square in the nose as fast and as hard as he can. When Cal collapses on the ground, holding his nose, blood starting to spill between his fingers, Bill leans over him. “Because fuck you and your antiquanted fucking ideas about what she fucking owes you.” 

But the truth of the matter is, Bill doesn’t really know what it is about you that is driving him to do this. He just knows he has to because it’s you.

[n0nsensew0rds]

Again, the premiums you're referencing are taking into account specific demographics-- usually the average 27-year-old white male. As a woman my premium was innately higher than a man's living in the same area. Looking at the full demographic average is more important than looking at the lowest possible number; we've all seen sales 'starting from' a particular price and know that, in practice, nobody is getting away that cheap.

Additionally, my issue with the cost is also based on that base cost. I think it's a better situation for everybody to pay less on average than it is for some people to pay nothing while others are paying out the nose for an equivalent product. Of course there are always going to be discrepancies between the needs of demographics and the cost of insurance should be adjusted because of it-- that same 27-year-old man is much less likely to use his insurance for ongoing health care than a 60-year-old man.

However, two 27-year-old men with different income levels shouldn't be paying such a massively different price. The ACA's subsidies (for a Bronze tier plan) will cover the full cost of insurance up to 150% of the poverty line-- currently $22500 for a single individual. Once you start making more than that the subsidies rapidly drop off and the premiums rise, which is the 'donut hole' I referred to earlier-- people making enough money that they no longer qualify for subsidies (thus eating the full cost of the premium) but for whom spending an extra $400 a month on insurance is still untenable. Between grocery shopping, utilities, credit card bills, loan payments, and rent/mortgage, that $400 is a lot of money going toward a service they might not want or feel they need.

Regarding the foundational costs--

We have issues with both the cost of health insurance and the underlying cost of health care. As far as the cost of insurance:

Government guarantees -- when the government guarantees payment then there's no incentive to keep cost down. When you're dealing with individuals you have to make sure your services are affordable to as many people as possible within your target demographic (in this case, you're appealing to every adult in the country). When the government assures you that they're good for payment, you have carte blanche to charge pretty much whatever you want because the government will just make money happen. On the front end this is fine for people who qualify for assistance, but if you don't, you're now saddled with the inflated cost.

Limited Competition -- This is in regards to both overall competition and to the plans offered by each provider. Health care could only be sold within state lines, limiting the available competition off the bat and limiting it even more when smaller companies collapsed when the ACA went into effect, limiting marketplace options to only a couple of providers or, sometimes, only one, meaning there was no competition and no need to offer better services or better prices.

Limited Options -- The options for plans were reduced; where a healthy young adult could previously buy low-deductible disaster insurance (no coverage for doctors or meds but good coverage for emergency hospitalizations) or somebody with a severe condition could get a plan that was specifically made to cover the needs of that condition, the ACA enforced bare minimum coverage. You can no longer buy an emergency plan; you must pay for a plan that will (eventually) cover doctors and medication when you reach the (very high, for Bronze plans) deductible. Women are also forced to buy plans that cover maternity and child care, even if they won't or can't have children, increasing the cost of insurance. Limited options were generally an issue before the ACA s well, as most providers have package deals for plans instead of letting you customize according to your needs, but the government mandates restricting these options even more didn't help.

As for the cost of health care:

Limited Competition -- Again. Only certain drug manufacturers in the US are allowed to manufacture certain drugs. While there are obvious safety concerns to be taken into account to make sure medications are as safe as possible for as many people as possible, in practice this often results in favors being done for a small number of manufacturers, authorizing them to produce medications while preventing competition. Insulin, for instance, is actually a very cheap thing to produce, and we've known how to produce for a century now-- but only one manufacturer was allowed to produce insulin in the United States, allowing them to charge exorbitant rates because they were the only option. The solution here isn't necessarily deregulation (of all the things that have high regulation, medicine definitely needs it) but looking into why only certain manufacturers are given the right to produce these medications and making avenues for others to do the same.

Subsidizing Other Nations -- There's an international drug pricing index that the vast majority of industrialized nations are part of. This index regulates the cost of drugs and caps them at a certain level. For some reason, the United States is not part of this index, meaning that the drug companies make up the profit they're losing in other countries by overcharging the US consumer. I don't know if you recall this but Trump was trying to actually get the US signed on this scheme, which would have dramatically lowered the price of drugs in the US in exchange for raising it in other countries. (The German Prime Minister actually cried about how unfair this would be.) I remember talking about this to a pharmacy wholesaler around 2018-2019 and hearing about Trump's intentions shortly thereafter, so if I'm being charitable it was probably disrupted by COVID. Why it wasn't revisited afterward, I can only speculate.

Doctors are Expensive -- And there are multifaceted reasons for this. Part of it is that the up-front cost of becoming a doctor and opening a practice is very high, between the rising cost of medical school and the regulations that have to be followed to do so, meaning that doctors have to pass their own costs on to consumers. (Another point where regulation and certification are obviously extremely important, but the costs should be easier to mitigate-- but the obscene price of higher education is its own issue.) This winds up also contributing to not having enough doctors for the population at large; offices are packed with people and doctors basically have to address a conga line of patients through the day, leading to higher costs, less specified care, and a probably knock-on effect of sick people not seeking help early in their illness, when it would be easier to deal with, causing greater complications and an increased strain on resources.

General Issues with Individual Health -- We have an unhealthy population and a lot of people actively pushing for people to be and remain unhealthy, which causes an increased strain on resources and leads to overall higher costs. This is a bit more esoteric, but I think we would go a long way toward improving both costs and general health by teaching proper nutrition and cooking to a broader sect of the population. Fixing people's underlying health reduces pressure on the system and mitigates the need for more medical intervention.

We Need Less Medical Intervention -- Kind of related to the above but we also have an over-reliance on medication to fix problems. Reducing a reliance on medication when other options are available should be prioritized. I think this partially ties in to how we have too many patients per doctor; it's easier to throw pills at somebody than to assess their individual needs.

Follow the Money -- This ties in to everything, on every level. A lot of issues are caused by a prioritization of money over health. This can't be entirely avoided and I don't really begrudge manufacturers from wanting to make a profit (especially because R&D is extremely expensive and if they don't recoup the costs, guess what? No more medicine), but there are incentives and blockades up and down the chain that must be addressed. From the aforementioned companies that have exclusive manufacturing rights to government incentives prioritizing medical intervention and higher-cost treatments, there are loads of pressure points where money is used as an incentive to force more expensive (and ongoing) care.

Retail Rates -- This is wildly variable but during my pharmacy work I got to see the price of drugs, from wholesale to retail. My favorite places to work were the ones where I saw both simultaneously. Most common drugs have a minor markup. More specialized drugs might see a markup between 50% and 700%. Some markup is necessary -- you have to compensate for the cost of the distributor buying the drug, transporting it, storing it, the labor involved in processing, it makes sense -- but more specialized drugs almost universally are outrageously expensive on the consumer side. The pharmacy techs would often be appalled when I asked for a price reference. And the reason they can do this?

Obfuscation -- I think this is maybe the most insidious. The fact is, people don't know what health care actually costs. During my work in pharmacies I would see the difference between what a person was paying versus what the drug cost. There's a huge difference in attitude when you see "You pay $0" versus "Your insurance saved you $1970"; they both mean the same thing in this case, but the latter really makes you wonder why is it so expensive? This applies to things like ER stays and testing. How expensive is an ultrasound? An MRI? An EKG? I've recently gone through an extensive gauntlet of medical testing and I have no idea what it cost because my insurance pays for it and we say nothing else. Even my doctors have no idea what it costs. This is almost certainly by design; if everybody knew what the underlying cost of their treatment actually was, they would be furious. That said, I have overheard some of the reasons things cost so much, and one of them surprised me.

Foreign Nationals Getting Elective Surgery -- I believe this only applies to specialized and elective surgery, but we as a nation have many of the best medical facilities in the world. Many foreign nationals prefer to have their surgeries done by doctors in the States than in their own countries. To dissuade this, the base cost of these surgeries is made prohibitively expensive, with the understanding that foreigner trying to use our resources will have to pay the full cost of the surgery while our own citizens who are seeking these services will have them covered almost entirely by insurance. This one I'm less familiar aware of than anything else on this list, but given the above tendency for obfuscation I can believe it. This is probably a pretty minimal issue in the grand scheme, but it does explain why certain procedures have such a high up-front cost when it seems like it shouldn't be necessary.

Finally:

People Taking Advantage of the System -- I don't mean the downtrodden of our own country. Apparently there's an issue near the border where foreign nationals will cross over the border and take advantage of our emergency rooms (where you cannot be denied treatment even if you cannot pay). What I heard specifically is that thousands of people use this to get free dialysis treatments-- done three times a week for thousands of dollars each session. Because it's done through an emergency room there's no up-front payment, because they aren't citizens they don't have social security numbers to track, and because they just run back into Mexico they can't be tracked down and charged. This is tens of millions of dollars every year being bled from these facilities, and the cost winds up being put on our own citizens to make up the difference. I'm sure this is taken advantage of all across the nation in different ways, so the people who play by the rules wind up paying for those who refuse to.

I actually put this at the bottom of the list because, while it's certainly a problem, it's hard for me to justify refusal of medically necessary services to those who can't afford them. While I think that not letting people run across the border to take advantage of our services would be, you know... great... you wind up with situations like how would you enforce that? If a foreign tourist suffers a heart attack do you deny them service because they aren't a citizen, even though they're here legitimately? Do you make people provide some kind of collateral? Do they have to have an address to bill? Then then you can't help the homeless. On and on and... maybe there's a way to address this in a humane and sensible way. Maybe.

However, the addressing the bevy of other reasons that health care is so expensive (and I'm sure this list isn't exhaustive) would go such a long way to helping regulate costs that it would make eating the costs of those abusing the system would be much more tolerable. If treatment itself cost half of what it does now then that's already half the cost mitigated.

And all of that said, I don't think the ACA was an unmitigated disaster. Removing the individual mandate went a long way to easing the burden on people. I think making it illegal to deny coverage for people with preexisting conditions is fantastic. I think that subsidies should be available under certain conditions, but as a separate program rather than baked into the system (to discourage people taking advantage of government guarantees).

But the actual scope and implementation of the ACA was a bandage applied to a snake bite. You're covering up a wound when you need to drain the venom.

[fangedxnight1836]

Characters of the day:

The Flags!! - From Stormbringer.

They were a youth “benefits” society featured within the Port Mafia. They were all successful candidates to become the next executives. They were described as being equal or better than Chuuya. Originally called the “Young People’s association”, with all members being aged 25 or younger.

Piano man

Some facts about him:

Leader of the flags

Eldest in the group

Clothes are always black and white

one who invited Chuuya to be in the organisation

The only person who was good at dealing with the super-bills of the mafia

uses an electric carbon steel piano wire gun which is where he got his nickname

HC’s:

He has a delayed reaction when it comes to people telling him jokes.

He has a lot of blackmail when it comes to all the members of the flags (including Chuuya).

As the leader of the group he makes people do all his work and when they say no he pouts while showing his blackmail.

he has a swear jar which only gets filled by albatross and Chuuya.

Lippmann

Some facts about him:

described as being very attractive, appealing to both genders.

his job was very important as he is the point of negotiation between the port mafia and the public

he is a movie star with “crazed fans all over the world”

His ability directly reacted with the attackers murderous intent, impossible to kill him quietly.

HCs

he’s literally the biggest diva alive.

Everyone loves him in the group.

He is the best judge of character and everyone asks him for advice. He says his favourite movie is the notebook but it’s actually all his own movies.

He is the best dressed, and is never caught lacking or having a bad hair day.

Albatross

Some facts about him:

Chuuya and him live in the same “luxurious apartment complex”.

he drags Chuuya out from his room to various battlefields with different transport methods each time. This annoys Chuuya

the flag which is the closest to Chuuya. (Chuuya does have friends, other than what people usually depict him as)

Good at using different vehicles and was trusted by the mafia to use them, in battle. Gave Chuuya his bike after he died 😭. (The pink one).

Some HC’s:

He often influences Chuuya in joining him on some daily pranks to annoy people.

He creates random cuss words to say at people.

He can skate board.

He and Chuuya bully Doc and iceman replacing their wardrobe with each others .

Doc

Some facts about him:

He has saved and deliberately taken around 800 lives,

Among the Port Mafias medical team, he was the best.

His goal was to get closer to God by saving 2 million people, which is why he joined the Mafia. He is waiting for a large scale conflict to allow him to save those lives.

He got his doctorate in Medical science from North America.

Some HC’s:

If he were to be alive or born in a different time line, the show human earthworm in Jujutsu Kaisen would be one of his favourites.

I fear he has insomnia.

He and Ice man rant all the time together.

He scares Chuuya with random over exaggerated incidents people had coming to get healed from him and how he needs to be careful and the battlefield.

Iceman

Some facts about him:

Second eldest in the group

Doesn’t have an ability

Hitman who uses objects around himself to finish the job, not using an ability or weapons

Has a physical constitution which allows him to sense when an ability is activated nearby

Known as a man of the shadows

His kill ratio is higher than that of ability combat users

Some HC’s:

He shows up to Doc for noreason just to complain.

Ice man has the best drinks stashed in his room. (Gatekeeped)

His most painful experience other than battling Verlaine was probably stepping on Lego.

He’s a chill guy fr.

He’s good at pool and often shows off.

[vacz]

HEADCANON: BEAST WIRT BEING A LEADER WITHOUT NOTICE IT

I always found it so cool that most of the fans put Beast Wirt as the main leader of Bad End Friend (Because he is my favorite bad end) but taking that on Wirt's character I'm not sure if he has the will to be the leader of a group full with villainous and rebilious teens, who some of them are actually possessed by eldritch beings or straight up adults

Then I thought "How could it be that Wirt became the leader of this dangerous group?" So here is my HEADCANON

Basically... He adopted them

At first it was Bipper who started to look for alleys, and he convinced Beast Wirt and Ice Finn to help. The thing is that most of the new members came from the unknown, so it was Wirt's area. They were too complicated to convince with words and he couldn't just fight them, so instead he got the idea to offer them a nice place to stay (Beatrice's old house) and some hospitality, while he waited for Bipper to do the whole "deal thing"

When they were in a more comfy place, most of them turned less defensive and started to feel comfortable with the surrounding and Beast Wirt's presence, and with time Wirt brought more and more people to stay in the house, as a result it became like some safe space for this broken souls, and Beast Wirt took his time to know each other, and oh god, he could NOT sympathize with them

Something incredible was when Bipper offered them the deal to join them, most of them turned back but when it was Beast Wirt, they didn't doubt any longer. With little effort Wirt won the trust of these different dimensional beings by only kindness

But the most fascinating thing was that when they finally left the unknown, they constantly returned to go back to the house. Not only because of wanting to plan the world domination but mostly for passing a good time with their new friends. Even so, when they have a problem or an issue, their first instinct is to ask Beast Wirt for advice, even if they know that he doesn't have any experience with conquering worlds, and when they have discussions they look for Wirt's approval to be the final word

Even so, is not only their perception but also Wirt's actions contribute into this believing of him being the leader:

He was the first one of the main trio to interact with them

The house they all live in is HIS

They all reunite in HIS domain (the unknown)

He is the easiest to reach when they need it

He usually is the one who prepares the food and cleans the house

One of the only reasonable brains around the house

If there is a fight between the members, he is the first who tries to stop it

When things get bad he is the first to take charge and tries to find a solution

He turns horrifying when he gets TRULY mad so they better don't mess with his patience

He is openly caring with the little ones

He is able to call out or stop someone's bullshit, even Bipper's

They know that Bill makes deals to gain something. Since they aren't sure what Beast Wirt could gain if he helps them they think his help comes from a genuine care, which that makes him more trusty than Bipper

And the most important, he is the only one who can stop Bill's bullshit, and seems to have some control over him

Basically he has Mom authority in the house

Bipper is a little bit jealous of how everyone seems to show more respect for Wirt than him, but he tolerates it because at least Wirt's idea was a success and now he has all the alleys he wanted so bad, even more than he could have imagined, and also when things go ape shit he doesn't need to take all the responsibility, so Bipper learned to be fine with it.

The funnier part about this, is that Beast Wirt didn't realize everyone's belief until they pointed out. At first he completely denied it and insisted that it was Bipper's idea to look for other people in the first place, but with their explanation he realized that he is indeed: The Leader of Bad End Friends

[noodles-and-tea]

Little Stan getting manipulated by Bill has excellent angst potential but consider.

Stanley just, keeps tricking Bill. Because Bill would definitely massively underestimate Stanley and how far he’ll go to protect Ford (like in the actual show). We also know Stanley has the street smarts between the twins and could absolutely tell Bill is full of it.

And because Bill would absolutely loose his mind if he kept getting foiled by a snot nosed eight year old that isn’t even supposed to be here

I like to think that he doesn’t even try that hard he just does not even care about bill

[dashamanych]

Hey i am glad yall remember that Will, Wood and the Tapeworms show! Thank you for sharing your memories 🥴📺📼 I remember more about it now....

Ill keep researching just in case ill find something more about this cartoon!

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

Another day of getting paid to eat fries and read my little gay books

[eccentriccryptid]

.

[coridallasmultipass]

I am once again begging online shop payment processing companies to allow me to enter a separate name for shipping and separate name for billing!!

It's the same address, I'm just trans and have not legally changed my personal name, but I still prefer to receive mail as my preferred name! Like it's literally my professional name, I do business as my preferred name.

Annoying as fuck, and I don't want to chance my bank rejecting the payment (though I'm sure someone at my bank has put a note to allow it on my account by now, since I've contacted them a couple times before when I realized too late that the billing section didn't let me input another "address/name" section, and they said the payment was fine in those cases.)

Anyway, legal name changes should be free and non-advertised for everyone. Tbh, you should get a free name change every time you file your taxes on time as an incentive for good citizen behaviour. Once I am elected pres-

[cinemacrypt]

So so so fucking angry tonight

[cementcornfield]

Which duo do you think have the stronger bond or will age better, Josh & Diggs or Joe & Ja’Marr?

(I know it’s a hard question) 😅

Hahahahaha it's a tough one but I love it.

A dear mutual put it best a few days ago when she said that the state of Allen & Diggs' relationship is directly correlated to how well the football is going. And I completely agree. To me they're a very fun duo in that watching them is like watching a train wreck, or when they're doing well, fireworks. Explosions either way though.

Joe'Marr though is the duo i'm most heavily invested in at the moment (the moment being the last year of my life almost). They have their own brand of insanity and while it's less overt than Diggs and Allen, it's very much there and fascinating to me. The little glimpses we get of what they actually mean to each other hidden behind Ja'Marr's constantly changing stories and Joe's rare openness. All of the history they have with each other at this point. The constant gestures of the game ball, the jersey, the pinky promise. The way they just know each other, better than anyone else on the team (how they both always emphasize they don't need words with each other). Ugh it hurts my heart truly and I cannot wait to see them together again in a few weeks!!!

[merkerlerspeaks]

I don't know what's happened in Miraculous Ladybug after the New York special but I have a feeling they took Gabriel and made him even worse so if they did I am simply ignoring that and deciding that he stops being a little punk, asks Ladybug for help with Emilie, apologizes to Adrien and becomes the father he needs him to be and also Nathalie is able to heal both physically and emotionally from the whole "assisting in terrorizing Paris because she's to smitten to say no" situation that happened.