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[chaoticbardlady99]

Nobody's Fool Part 3 (Astarion x GN! Reader)

Synopsis: Astarion reflects on his plan and progress thus far. You and Karlach accidentally eat the wrong kind of mushrooms.

Content Warning: Dead Dove (Astarion), accidental drug use (btw, Mushrooms had a very emotional effect on me so that is my current frame of reference)

Part 2 : Part 4 : Master list

 Here’s the thing. 

  Astarion and Shadowheart had sex, but there was absolutely no chemistry between them. It was awkward in a weird way and they both just kinda ended up… lying there. They blamed it on the alcohol initially, but his brain wandered to you that night and how stupid he was to veer from his initial plan. Shadowheart had no loyalty to him, but you followed him around like an adorable pup.

 You are way too good and of course you would give him another chance. Certainly you can still go “walk along the beach” or whatever the hells you had asked. Astarion would give you a night you would never forget and you would forget about his rejection entirely.

 He figured he would use your little crush to get what he wanted- insured safety. Astarion would provide you with good sex and honeyed words for the duration of the journey and it would all be “peaches and crème” as Gale has said in the recent past. 

  Shadowheart and Astarion agreed that they could not attempt that with each other again and agreed to become temporary allies. She keeps Karlach away from you so Astarion can get back in your good graces and Shadowheart can eventually get into Karlach‘s bedroll. Only, how would he convince you that he actually cares for you when he still didn’t at all?

 Shadowheart obviously didn’t know he didn’t care, but he was a convincing enough liar that the queen of “deception” didn’t even notice his emotional fib. 

 So their next solution was to tell a big, fat white lie. 

 “He said their name during sex!” Shadowheart scoffed as Astarion eavesdropped nearby, “I am broken up about it- devastated.” 

 And how well did that fucking go?

 Piss. Fucking. Poor.

 Astarion and Shadowheart found themselves at a loss. You were still exceptionally distant and wouldn’t engage in a conversation at all and Karlach was too busy spending time with you. Fort Tavlach was becoming a very big annoyance to both of them. 

 So they proceeded to do what they had wanted you both to do. Shadowheart has had a bit easier of a time considering Karlach is more forgiving, outgoing, and confident. However, Astarion is unsure of where he stands with you. 

 At first it made him panic because he had had a plan. Astarion needs you on his side for safety reasons. 

 Why couldn’t you be like everyone else and just… not respect him? This is not how this is supposed to work. You are supposed to ignore his boundaries- insist he be with you. 

 Suddenly, he found himself beginning to genuinely miss your company at night. He wished he had invested a bit more time in your conversations together and the less he got to know you the more he wanted to know. 

 There were snippets here and there- any piece of information anyone seemed to have or whatever you were willing to give him. 

 He pushed the unwelcome warm thoughts away and refocused on his plan. Astarion knows he is going to have to really really work to get back in your good graces so he bought that damn necklace at full price (definitely not because he was actually concerned because that would be nonsense and this is all part of his very well thought out plan). 

 You looked so happy and he became caught up in the conversation with you. You were being less guarded like you had before. Astarion became very aware of how beautiful your eyes are and how expressive they are. Hells, he really noticed how beautiful you are and it hit him like you did the night before when he scared you. He honestly didn’t think you were capable of punching anyone in the stomach that hard and you felt so bad, but he was mostly turned on. Exceptionally impressed too. 

 Your laughter washed over him in waves and he truly felt calm for the first time in the last 200 years. He is safe with you without having to give you every piece of him right away. You have never wavered in your loyalty and support to him- merely just drew back to respect his space and to try to move on. 

 Astarion began hanging out with you every chance he could find- continuously convincing himself that this is all a part of his grand masterfully crafted  

 His trance had gripped him and he felt like he was back in Cazador’s palace. It was the night his scars were carved into his back. Astarion could still feel every single moment of Cazador branding him. 

 He was so grateful you let him spend time with you and that you didn’t kick him out. Astarion listened to your pulse the entire night until he was lulled into a trance- a much more peaceful and happy one. It had been one of the first days you were all traveling together and you fought all those disgusting Gnolls together. 

 You were so beautiful that day- covered in blood and adrenaline in your eyes. You were so protective of all of them and you had checked on each of them a million times. He only woke up again because the end of that memory was you passing out from a wound you hadn’t realized you had. It jolted him awake.

 He has spent every night since in your tent- he is too afraid to bring you to his because it’s not the cleanest and it feels like his very private space. Astarion wants to wait for whatever reason. 

 You have never pestered, asked, or forced your way in while he has pushed himself upon you. Astarion had tried to stay in his tent one night after a hunt and he ended up in your tent anyway. 

 You had been too warm and struggling to sleep. He quickly amended that issue. He hasn’t stayed away since. 

 Except for right now while you are busy. Astarion is trying to read this stupid, probably evil, powerful book and it won’t let him. 

  The thoughts are insane and wild- the spells on the pages and the dark magic calls out to him like a harpy’s song. One of the spells rings louder than the others- playing on his jealousy and new found relationships with promises of a powerful new spell that will dampen his hunger.

 He would if it wouldn’t upset you so much and this book is very convincing. It’s terrible, but he does not want to upset you. He rather likes being by your side lately and most importantly- he has a plan to tend to. 

“No… I won’t kill them!”

 Astarion pauses for a moment- the book coaxing a name out of him anyway.

“Well, maybe Wyll.”

 He has felt bitter towards the Warlock since you walked back into camp with him and then when you began talking to Wyll more than Astarion.

 No- it was not fair. He fucked up.

 It didn’t make him any less bitter though.

“Well if I have a say,” your melodic voice flows through his ears, “could you kill someone, I don’t know, maybe a little less useful?”

 Astarion slams the Necromancy of Thay with a start. He wasn’t expecting you to be back for a while- you had been talking to Wyll after you washed off and Astarion had opened a book about Necromancy to take his mind off of what it would be like to join you- A. At the river and B. Interjecting himself into the conversation. 

 It’s probably a good thing you came over when you did, but now his jealousy has decided to rear it’s ugly head. 

“How useful can he be when he won’t seem to stop talking to you every chance he gets?” He scowls, “hardly the quality of work I would expect from the mighty ‘Blade of Frontiers’!”

“A-“

“You know,” he interrupts, far too heated to notice your confused expression, “Wyll’s the sort of prince type I would have once dreamed of marrying. When I was about thirteen.”

 He realizes his tone is sharp and angry. Astarion also realizes this may not be fair, but his impulsivity seems to be outweighing better judgment. 

He crosses his arm, trying to avoid eye contact without making it too obvious (he actually manages to succeed somehow by staring just past your face).

“So will you be dedicating yourself entirely then to your new, true love? Should I be returning to my tent to-“

“Will you shut your blood hole for a minute and let me speak?” 

 Astarion is snapped back to reality and your eyebrows are furrowed- face screwed up as you search his features and he feels exceptionally vulnerable. Are you deciding if he is even worth spending time with? Maybe you are regretting letting him get close to you again.

 The idea makes his stomach turn. He really screwed up this time. Now he’s going to have to watch you with Wyll and probably hear the act of him ‘burying his blade’.

 Your features have softened significantly- whatever you found in Astarion’s features had been what you needed apparently. Again, he feels naked, vulnerable.

 Like being chained and forced to let Cazador carve into his back. Only, he doesn’t know what his punishment will be for speaking out of turn this time.

 Nothing, he thinks, because they would never do that to me. 

“Where is this coming from?” You ask slowly, “Wyll and I have always talked and it’s never bothered you before.”

 Astarion feels… frozen. He can’t tell you why it bothers him now. Well, he could and it would go along exceptionally well with his plan to reel you back in, but that would be crossing the threshold into reality. The feelings would be too real for that kind of connection and it could be what leaves him open to be blindsided or seriously hurt. 

 “I-I suppose I am just making sure I sleep in the right place tonight,” he chuckles awkwardly, “I would hate to stumble across you and Wyll ‘burying his blade’ if you catch my meaning.

“And I do mean sex, to be clear.” 

 You sigh heavily with a chuckle and an adorable roll of your eyes. He knows you can see right through him. You are exceptionally good at that and he doesn’t care for it a whole lot. 

 To his own surprise, you hug him and it’s probably the most gentle touch he has ever received from another in the last 200 years. 

 At first he is reluctant, but when you go to pull away, he unfreezes and returns it. 

 You smell like fresh laundry and a lovely spring evening. It feels right to have you this close to him and in such an intimate capacity. Astarion has to really keep himself from whining like a child when you pull away and begin your journey to your tent for the night.

 “I can assure you that if anyone is going to share my tent with me, I would choose you over everyone everywhere, anytime,” you say promptly, turning around and calling over your shoulder, “so if you are feeling up to it, you are welcome to join me in my tent for our usual chatting sessions and a cuddle. Otherwise, I will be sleeping alone.” 

 And there you go- leaving him absolutely speechless in your wake. You are much much sassier and sure of yourself than he remembers to give you credit for sometimes. He is trying to ignore the giddiness that lights up his nervous system at your words. 

 He used to thrive off of you being his little pup- following him around and waiting for his direction. Now he’s the hopeless fool in the situation and is quickly on your heels- following you to your tent. 

 You turn and seem surprised that he is there before you flash one of your brilliant smiles. 

 Speechless- you leave him speechless. Astarion wants to kiss you and he wants to ask.

 Yet, he can’t get himself to. He doesn’t want your companionship to turn into a sexual connection just yet- maybe before, but he actually has come to really enjoy your company. In spite of his better judgment and his plan, he does not want to jeopardize every last bit of hard work he put into fixing your relationship. 

 So instead you both sit and talk. Astarion finds himself asking you more questions than he had previously and he is filled with thousands of them. 

“I am excited to get out of the Underdark,” you yawn and stretch, “I miss the sun and the moon. Oh and not accidentally walking into some kind of spore that makes me laugh until I wish to keel over and die.” 

 Astarion grimaces in agreement. He had been the unfortunate victim of those stupid things today and he is very lucky he doesn’t need air. You were very very worried, but he gestured for you to stay back- the last thing anyone needed was for you to pass out. None of them would be organized without you and they would probably all fight over who gets to bring you back or who leads everyone back home. It sounded like too much effort and mental exhaustion for his liking. 

 “I really don’t care for it down here,” he sighs, “I want to enjoy my time in the sun for as long as I can and the lack of Minotaurs is a bonus.”

 You shudder, “those things are absolutely terrifying. I am glad we have been able to avoid them for the most part, but I don’t want to have to fight them head on.” 

 “Don’t worry, Darling, I am sure you can outwit them anyday. They are lucky they have been able to avoid you if I am being entirely honest.”

 Your grin is wonderful and you blush. Astarion can hear your heart kickstart and you are definitely smitten with him. His plan is working- he should be thrilled. He should make his move. 

 You may have become more important to him than a stupid plan and he isn’t happy about it (maybe he is a little). 

 You fall asleep shortly- your head is on his chest and his hand plays aimlessly with your hair. Astarion has noticed that this act helps you fall asleep and it also seems to help lull him into a trance too. 

  Sometimes memories blend together in a negative way. Other times, his trances, like his current one, is imagery of you both destroying Cazador and traveling together in the aftermath. 

 These trances may be his favorite guilty pleasure. Both of you are safe, happy, and definitely enamored with one another for eternity. 

**************************************************************

  You and Karlach keep staring at each other from across the fire, but it’s because you both made a truly terrible mistake. 

 You had both been searching for something to use for kindling and you were both giddily talking about your respective crushes. You have both considered that they may be using you to make each other jealous, but the more they compare notes, the less and less it appears to be the case. 

 It was supposed to be a harmless snack- Karlach insisted that the mushrooms were the “safe and non- magic” kind and that they were ‘delicious’.

 You both feel positively fucking insane. You barely made it back to camp and even then, Astarion walked up to you, said something, and you could only focus on how he kept changing color. Oh and he was speaking in a language you are certain isn’t real either. 

 You feel like you are underwater but your mind could not be more clear. Your eyes hurt from how bright everything is, but you feel like you are finally seeing the world. 

 This really, really needs to end soon. 

“What is with you two?!” Gale asks in exasperation, “it is not dinner time yet! Quit trying to bully me into feeding you. You lot are worse than Tara!”

 However- it sounds like botched common and neither one of you can understand a word he is saying. 

 The silly magic man says silly silly words.

 You giggle like a mad man at Karlach’s telepathic message. She begins to giggle too and Gale’s worry comes off of him in great waves.

 Literally- you are watching it ripple from his body.

 Gale says something again and you both begin laughing harder.

“Silly- silly magic man says silly words,” Karlach wipes away her tears, “what is his name again?”

 What… is his name again? It’s something silly right? 

 “GALE!” You scream, “LIKE THE WIND A MIGHTY EAGLE SOARS ON!”

 You gasp, looking at Gale before looking to Karlach, “HIS NAME IS ALSO A SPELL AND HE IS A WIZARD!!!!!” 

 You and Karlach are crying with laughter 

 You don’t remember standing on the log nor do you remember falling, but you feel Astarion’s delicate fingers on your hips and you bite your bottom lip so hard it bleeds. 

 His touch feels electric. You feel like you are really physically melting.

“Darling?” 

 Swimming, swimming, swimming, and yet he is clear as day. You blink up at him adoringly- awaiting his next words with a baited breath. 

Your mushroom addled mind is certain he is looking at you with equal amounts of adoration, but also a lot of concern. 

 Other people join and eventually you are being dragged to your tent- both you and Karlach screaming your “SEE YA LATER!”s as Shadowheart drags her off. 

 You lazily allow Astarion to guide you to your tent and when you collapse onto your bed roll- he quickly follows. You lay on your back and stare at the ceiling- lost in your silly little thoughts while he is looking at you like you have lost your mind. 

 You want to tell him what you are thinking, but instead, you become sad. Astarion is so beautiful in all the ways and you really wish he felt the way you feel about him. You would take him seashell hunting on every beach that exists. He would never know how it felt to be used or disrespected again and you would willingly be with him. In spite of all the baggage and emotional trauma- the things that “scared Shadowheart off” according to Karlach, you would choose him every time. 

 Technically, you already do. You may not be who he wants and one day you will watch him walk away from you forever, but at least he will know how he should be treated. 

 It doesn’t prevent your wistful and hopeless thinking any less. Your chest feels heavy and you feel burdened with your emotions. They hurt.

 You could fall asleep together every night and share goodnight kisses if you were together. You could talk while being entangled in each other’s embrace, bath together because you really love the idea of spoiling him in that way. 

 Hells, you could even envision yourself having sex with him (and you have envisioned it, but you ignore that). 

 You desire to connect with him on every level, but he will never want that with you and it becomes very hard for you to breathe or speak all of a sudden. 

“Darling?” His voice is soft, comforting, and heartbreaking in the same breath, “what’s wrong?” 

 You look back up at the ceiling and just imagine Selune reminding you that there will be others- trying to think of literally anything else. What happened to your happy mood? Why are you having emotional whiplash? 

 Cool fingers wipe away your tears and a whimper leaves your lips before you begin to cry even harder. 

 Why doesn’t he love you? Why can’t the one person you have fallen in love with love you back? It’s not his fault, but Gods it’s not fair that you will watch him be with other people for as long as you live and doomed to die without him, always wishing you could have at least walked on that damn beach together. At least then you would have that memory to hang on to. 

  You feel him hold you- the electricity rippling through you and you can hear him trying to ask you what is wrong. 

 Your head is spinning- you are so confused and emotionally not feeling well, but now you are beginning to feel better. Co-regulation or something like that. It’s common practice in Selunite Culture- it’s meant to help their youngest members get through uncomfortable emotions. You always loved the concept, but you never experienced it yourself until that one night with Wyll. You never anticipated Astarion being here for you like this. 

  His fingers running through your hair pulls you out of your despair and into a happier mood. Your tears begin to fade to mere sniffles and you swear you feel a soft pair of lips press a kiss to your forehead.

 “That’s it, Darling. Come back to me and out of your spiraling.” 

 You giggle, “spiralinggggggg is my specialty. Have you ever tried to watch Shadowheart read a map? No wonder she got kidnapped. If she had to keep me from spiralingggg I fear I would be lost forever.”

 Astarion pauses for a second out of shock alone before he begins to laugh along with you. The sound makes your heart feel so full. How wonderful it is to make someone else happy after they have been so miserable for so long. 

“I am guessing the ‘magic’ of the Underdark has consumed your mind?” 

 You nod enthusiastically and with a big yawn- your sadness was excruciatingly intense. You feel like you could nap for an eternity. 

 “Karlach thought they were the yummy kind, not the funny kind.” 

 He snorts and you swear you feel another kiss being placed on the side of your temple. You hum happily and curl up against him when he lays you both down. 

“I think this is my favorite place to be,” you say absentmindedly, no longer in a state of mind to be aware of your words.

“Your tent?” His voice is laced with confusion. 

 You laugh, in spite of yourself, “no! Laying here with you, silly.” 

 The quietness in the tent would bother you if you weren’t in la la land. 

“I- I think this may be my favorite place to be too.”

“In my tent?” You mimic.

 You can feel him roll his eyes, “very funny, Darling.

“I meant… laying here with you.” 

 Astarion’s voice is so coy and quiet. You prop yourself up and peer at his face. He looks conflicted and unsure about something. 

“What is it? Did I say something wrong?”

“Not at all,” he says with a smile, “in fact, you say all the right things the majority of the time.”

“Why thank you!” You beam, “I may not be a very wise cleric, but I am certainly a charismatic one!” 

“Hmm I would argue against your statement, but you are currently experiencing magic mushrooms and aren’t clerics supposed to know things like that?”

“I am good at the magic piece,” you grumble, “not so much the herbology shit or whatever. Too much to remember and now my HEAD HURTS TRYING TO REMEMBER!”

 Astarion laughs and shakes his head- you are far goofier than anyone else he has ever met and of course you would say that about herbology. You look like you want to commit a war crime anytime Gale begins talking about Alchemy. 

 “I am so sorry that I have caused you so much distress, Darling,” he says dramatically, “whatever can I do to make it up to you?”

 Your brain hits serious mode and you look at him with the most serious expression you can think of.

“Write to me sometimes when this journey ends?” Your voice strains, “don’t forget about me? Please? Or at least don’t forget about me until I’m long gone in the physical sense?”

 You chuckle awkwardly, but your tears betray you. Astarion is quick to wipe away your tears and he grabs your hand on his chest- kissing your knuckle.

“My Dear,” he says softly, “I have no intentions of forgetting about you and well, the details of after our little adventure can be discussed when you are a bit more clear minded. I don’t want you to suggest we go and ‘explore’ the Cloakwood or something insane like that.”

  You understand what he is saying, but you also don’t so you just grin and scoff.

“I would not say we should travel to the- okay, wait. That may actually be a good idea because all of the people getting trapped there by fey-“

 Astarion interrupts you with a finger on your lips and an unamused expression that makes you giggle.

“You are an insufferable hero and while I adore you for it- I must save you from yourself. No visiting the Cloakwoods.”

“Fineeeeeeeeeeeeee,” you lay your head back against his chest, smiling and the urge to sleep filling your body, “I will win eventually.”

 He snorts in response.

“We will see about that, Darling.”

Tag list: @preciouslittlebhaalbae @xxgrimripp3rxx @alice4wonderland2812 @therobishow @m1ster1e @tragicdruid @katsutoria @aristenfromwarsaw @avabjorna36 @frankie-mercury @golden-baby

[cosmerelists]

If Cosmere Characters Had Real-World Jobs (But Not The Obvious Ones)

In this list, I wanted to try to give Cosmere characters jobs in our world while avoiding the jobs that would be the most obvious picks--like, for example, the real world equivalent of whatever their canon job is.

1. Kaladin: Professional Football Player

It's a dangerous job that Kaladin's dad would scoff at, but the other kids in town think it's really cool and also the recruiters are coming through town and, I mean, he's really good at football.

2. Lirin: Public Defender

If we avoid the obvious job (doctor), then Lirin still needs a job where he is doing good, but it's pretty thankless and the general public are suspicious and think he might actually be evil somehow. So I figure: public defender. He's highly educated, helping people who need it, and just getting nothing but grief as a result. Worst of all, his smart son wants to be a FOOTBALL player!

3. Marsh: Masseuse

I feel like people who are good at hemalurgy know about the body and its pressure points and things like that. And frankly, "acupuncturist" felt too on the nose.

4. Shallan: Park Ranger

Shallan HATES to be confined, so no way she's going into an office job. Plus, she likes nature and animals, but I'm trying to avoid the more obvious jobs (like botanist or ecologist). It's just too bad that Shallan is SO bad at staring a campfire, though.

5. Navani: Wedding Planner

Navani is VERY good at managing people and events, as seen when she had to manage everything while Gavilar was off plotting. She's also very organized and literally invented wristwatches. So I think she's be very good at this job.

6. Elend: Grad Student

This one may be too obvious, but I figure something like "politician" or "philosopher" are more obvious. But to me, Elend has major grad student energy.

7. Nale: Insurance Adjuster

Nale is a cop, of course, through and through. But if he wasn't a cop, then he'd need some other job where he uses the rules to screw people over. So I see him as, like, an evil insurance guy who's denying people medical coverage because the company wants him to.

8. Blackthorn-Era Dalinar: Debt Collector

If flashback Dalinar couldn't make a living mowing people down in battle and had to find a less obvious job, then I could see him being the guy to hunt down people and demand money they don't have. He doesn't really care about the money. He just likes the hunt.

9. Adolin: eSports Player

It's a job where you can head-to-head battle people and your dad is vaguely puzzled and thinks you should be doing something more important with your life.

10. Lightsong: Customer Service Agent

In canon, Lightsong's job is to face down a huge line of people and tell them "no" in response to them asking for something they want. So, I mean, I feel like that's equivalent to one of those shitty customer service jobs where you're not really allowed to help people (until, of course, Lightsong goes rogue and does start helping people, but that's another story...)

11. Stormfather: Bus Driver

He has his route, and he's not deviating from it. And if you miss the bus, he's not stopping. He's not going back. You can try to run, but you will not catch up to him.

12. Tress: Mechanic

As a Sprouter, Tress had to figure out how each of the spores worked and how to use them. I just feel like she'd be good at diagnosing issues in machinery and then fixing them.

13. Steris: Programmer

She's precise, she's smart, she likes rules. I think coding would suit her.

14. Yumi: Waitress

She could stack the plates SO high.

15. Marasi: Investigative Reporter

Which, honestly, is what I wish she had been rather than being a cop like in canon. I think it would suit her! She'd get to research, investigate, find the truth...

16. Kelsier: Motivational Speaker

He tells you about the power of smiling no matter what, so that you are never defeated. He tells you to carry something small, some memento or photo, to help you find your motivation. You tells you that no goal is out of reach--you just have to find the right people and the right steps to move forward. And he tells you that the most important thing is to survive.

[damazcuz]

HELLO

i am having top surgery less than 3 weeks from today (January 22, 2024.) this is as sudden to me as it is to you!

Earlier this week I tried talking to my insurance company about what I am going to pay for surgery. you may recall that at the end of 2023 they refused to give me a dollar amount. Unfortunately they refused again to tell me the number. Truly BCBS is the gift that continues to take and take and take. So I have no idea if I have enough saved to cover the cost of surgery (could be right on the money! could be less than I anticipated! could be twice as much! world's most nerve-wracking gashapon machine.)

I also just had my pre-operative appointment this morning and confirmed with my surgeon what I need in recovery. here is my beautiful amazon wishlist for post-op. if you think i will need something that is not on this list reach out to me, I might have bought it offline or I might not know.

IF you don't want to buy me something from amazon but you still want to help me get through this financially, you can send me a ko-fi to help cushion whatever cost i may not have anticipated, as well as the several days I will be without pay* post-surgery BEFORE my built-up time off can be used.

*my workplace's time off policy works in strange ways it's all kind of silly

my third and final request is for simple recipes. I need these because I'm not a very creative cook, and I need to meal prep the weekend of January 20 so that I don't starve and wither to nothing and blow away in the winds leaving nothing but dust. send me a resippy! tell me how to cook! tell me how to make something that's tasty or at least palatable. i don't like pork and struggle with beef but i'll gladly eat chicken and fish. and fruits and vegetables.

so basically that's it, but also thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support over the past few months especially. this site has its ups and downs and good and bad but i think basically there's a lot of good kind people in the world and some of them are you.

if you can share this please do! I appreciate it a lot.

Links again:

[kingshovelbug]

Hii what is your best advice to younger adults trying to make it independently and make a living? In art, savings or anything you think of. Thank you in advance!

dont be too hard on yourself. its tough out there right now in regards to like everything regardless of what old people say. also this is going to be a lot so im slapping a read more on here

⭐️ first thing id recommend for anyone is to start figuring out a budget. figure out how much youre making monthly. keep all your food receipts for a month or two to see what youre spending on food. find out what youre paying for thats necessary like utilities and whats not

the goal for a budget (or at least mine) is to find a good balance of earning vs spending. im paying off my credit card right now because i ran through all my savings after we had to move last year but my goal used to be to save 1/4 of what i earned after bills and putting money into an emergency fund (usually an emergency fund is 3 months worth of expenses). but it depends on how much you can comfortably put away. if you can put more away do it. but if you never spend money and deprive yourself of joy youre going to burn yourself out regardless of what your job is

⭐️ if youre not already buy store brand for as much shit as you can. if its an ingredient i promise as someone who cooks and bakes you probably wont notice the difference. if its an actual snack it depends. again both from a money perspective and to boycott pro-isreal companies we get a lot of snacks from aldis and theyre awesome. i dont miss anything from mars, oreos etc when i have my chocolate coconut wafers

⭐️ if you have any subscriptions and you need to get rid of something you can probably cancel them. for *most* things theres some kind of free alternative. but again just like with a budget. there are going to be some subscriptions that make your life easier and while youd save money without them it would lead to extra work and burning out. ex willow has kofi gold because it has really cool extra features that help with running the shop. but for streaming services? im going to be so honest. both to save money and with how cheeky streaming companies (in a bad way) have been getting… you can find whatever you want to watch online for free

if you need to use anything from the microsoft office suite, but youre not required by youre job to specifically use microsoft, libreoffice is a free alternative that i actually like better. its what i use to help willow run their shop and its free

for art programs. if you still have photoshop switch. not just for money reasons. adobe is getting bold with what they can claim as their content and use from what people produce in their program. the switch isnt the easiest but there are a bunch of alternatives. some free some like csp offer one time licenses which are so much better than subscriptions. will has spent almost $2k on photoshop and after effects from using it as long as they have. when csp is $50 and they like csp better anyways. i also know of krita and fire alpaca which are free

⭐️ also theres stuff about being an adult that i thought you had to pay for but you dont? like for car insurance i went through an independent insurance agent and they found me a cheaper plan than i could find myself. i didnt pay the guy. they get a cut from the insurance company for finding them another customer. some banks or credit cards offer financial advising sessions to users. its boring but if you can get a copy of your health insurance see if they have any free shit on there thats available for you. my brother gets free doctor finding? like i can call them, tell them what specialist he needs and instead of me calling around to find one that can take him, they connect me with someone. my work offers 3 free therapy sessions (better than nothing) and free food that i take advantage of

⭐️ i think one of the biggest things that makes an impact for us is researching before buying stuff. sounds like a no brainer but you dont just want to find the cheapest deal. you want to find the best bargain, the best bang for your buck. whats the best quality thing you can get that you can also afford? itll prevent your from having to replace stuff all the time and by extension spending more than you need to. we have nonstick pots and pans that are scratched and starting to peel (which apparently can cause cancer??) that were cheap because of being on sale. now after looking into what makes quality cookware i know i should of just slowly bought stainless steel

⭐️ last big one. credit cards. unfortunately we need them so find one with a low apr and that offers decent cash back. use it up to like 20% of your limit and pay it off every month. focus on using it on things that will get you cash back so you can essentially get free money

im sure i could ramble more but this is already super long

[macgyvermedical]

Hi! For the pharmaceutical history: I'd like to know more about the history of loratadine. (If that one's boring, I'm sorry - I'm just really curious about allergy medicine history) Hope you're doing good!

Loratadine (Claritin, approved in 1988) was not the first nonsedating (second generation) antihistamine, but it wanted to be. Terfenadine (Seldane, from a competing manufacturer, approved in 1985) was the first. And because terfenadine got to the FDA just ahead of loratadine, loratadine was put on the FDA's backburner, delaying it's entrance to the market by over 3 years.

Loratadine made up for this by marketing the absolute sh*t out of their drug. If you were watching TV or reading magazines in the late 80s or early 90s, you probably remember. Loratadine was prescription only at the time. But direct-to-consumer advertising still had rules. By the early 1990's you couldn't have an ad that was selling a drug without a list of the side effects. And when you're trying to sell a non-drowsy antihistamine on the merit that it was non-drowsy, having to list the fact that the #1 side effect was still drowsiness didn't go over so well. This wasn't an issue in print so much- you could make the print about the side effects as small as you wanted, and who was going to read 3-pt font? But you couldn't do the same in a TV spot.

This was a problem for the company selling Claritin. So instead of making TV ads for the DRUG Claritin, they decided to sell the BRAND Claritin instead. So the ads just never said that Claritin was a drug, or what it did. They just said things like "Claritin is the non-drowsy brand" and "ask your doctor about Claritin" and the ever popular "live Claritin clear."

"But Ross," you might be asking yourself, "whatever did Claritin do to sell to the previously untapped market of children as drug consumers? I simply must know!" Well, you're in luck, because in 1998, and this is real, they released a 12-page Batman comic centered around Tim Drake having allergies that interfered with his crimefighting career. All other antihistamines made him too drowsy, so thank goodness he went to his doctor to get a prescription for Claritin!

You might also be wondering how insurance companies felt about having to pay for on-patent allergy medication (spoiler alert, they hated it, just like they hate paying for everything). Well, also in 1998, Anthem (the insurance company) petitioned the FDA to approve Claritin as an over-the-counter medication. If a medication was over the counter, they wouldn't have to pay for the medication, nor would they have to pay for the associated doctor's visits to get prescriptions for the medication. The FDA approved the petition, but it wasn't until 2002, when the patent had expired, that the company that made Claritin finally released an over the counter version. Even today, though, over the counter loratadine is so much more expensive than other second generation antihistamines. I couldn't figure out why this is, or why people keep buying brand name Claritin when there's like 5 other cheaper non-drowsy antihistamines to choose from.

Finally, I'll wrap up by telling you about the fate of terfenadine. See, turns out terfenadine is super cardiotoxic, especially when combined with certain antibiotics. It got taken off the market in 1997 after quite a few people died. It was replaced with fexofenadine, a metabolite of terfenadine without the cardiotoxic properties.

[soloh]

Super random question, but does anyone in Aotearoa know what you put in a statement for an insurance company if you're not entirely sure what happened?

For further context: last week while driving I was rear ended by someone, I didn't make an insurance claim because there was only a couple scratches on the back right of my bumper that were not worth paying my excess to sort out (and there had already been scratches there from the previous owner backing into a fence anyway), but the other guy has claimed because he's got a huge dent in the front left corner of his car. He's claiming to his insurance company that I changed lanes into him, despite the fact that a) the damage locations on each of our vehicles to me say he's hit me coming forward on my right, I haven't moved sideways into him b) I had already been in the lane he'd hit me in for a short time prior to the collision, I was not in the process of changing lanes when it occurred and c) after we collided, we both hit the brakes, my car was stopped straight ahead and his was angled to the left behind me, with the back of his car pointed towards the right hand lane (we were in the middle of 3 lanes), which makes me suspect he actually changed lanes into me, or he, for some reason, thought I was going to move left again and tried to maneuver around me. However, I'm not 100% positive on what what happened, my passengers have no idea what happened, and his passengers said they weren't 100% sure who was at fault either.

So do I just say in the statement that I'm not sure what happened but that I believe whatever occurred was his fault not mine for the above reasons or what? Idk how much it'll cost me if his insurance company finds me liable, but I can guarantee it's an amount I can't afford, and I'm fairly certain it was not my fault because as far as I can tell the only way it could've been was if I suddenly started reversing in the middle of the road, which I absolutely did not 😅 I'm also worried that the fact that I've noted details like that he was still angled to the left when we stopped will make it sound like I'm trying to make up some bs, because I've been accused of lying in the past about stuff before just because of noticing details that others didn't 🫠

[greenerteacups]

I power read Lionheart months ago and it's been living in my brain ever since. In random moments, I see/think about your characters in the world around me. Like: a couple in the park holding hands? I start musing on your Draco's PDA thoughts. I remember the handholding moment as the Third Task started. I see a threadbare book in the thrift store? I wonder how fired up Hermione would be if someone asked her if wizards had an obligation to fix Muggle goods. If Reparo can fix a roof (and costs a witch nothing), should impoverished Muggles have to fight with their insurance company after a storm? On and on. I love it.

Thanks for opening up your asks for questions! Seriously, that's a badass move. There have been a few stressful moments in my life where--bing!--I check Tumblr and read one of your answers and I'm immersed in your HP world again, carefree and curious. <3

I have about a billion things I could ask/am curious about, but I'll restrain myself to two. This time. ;-)

Draco's mentioned once or twice that Harry & Ron don't understand him and Hermione. I was interested in that moment right before Draco follows Hermione to the Owlery. Harry stopped Ron from saying anything, and Draco recognizes that he's probably just as ignorant about Harry and Ron's friendship. So: 1) Is it too spoilery to ask what Harry (dear, sweet boy that he is) has noticed about Hermione & Draco? Does he think of them as one nerdbrain, or is he like Draco? Hermione? Weren't they married like, ages ago? I'm so fascinated by what others see when they look at Draco and Hermione because good GOD, what a power couple. And 2) Could you speak to Harry and Ron's relationship? Is Harry like, "Ron, you've gotta kill that Hermione pipedream," or is that topic irrelevant in the face of Quidditch gossip and less relationship-driven moments? Their (Harry and Ron) connection just seems so...necessary. It's beautiful.

I hope you're doing well! Thanks again for sharing such an immersive, gripping story with us.

Aw, this is so touching, thank you! I'll try to answer your questions as best I can without spoilers or breaching any rules on author-answer-ethics. Standard disclaimers: anything not in the text doesn't count, if I want you to believe something I have to give you a reason to believe it in the body of the fiction itself, and you're free to disagree with anything I say here. For the purposes of these types of questions, I'm basically just a fan who knows what the author had for breakfast this morning.

Harry knows that Hermione and Draco are... something. I think this comes through most in the arc of Book 4 where Ron separates from the group, and it becomes a tricycle of Draco, Hermione, and Harry. Harry is miserable, and it's not just because Ron leaves (although that's a large part of it); he's now in the position that Hermione occupies for most of the original series, where he understands very clearly that his other two friends, while both loving him very much, are First in each other's minds. He has a number of remarks that start to show his irritation with this, though he tries his best to be understanding — it is a similar dynamic to him and Ron, after all. (Fun story: I didn't realize until late in my drafting how much Hermione and Draco's dynamic echoes Harry and Ron in canon, from meeting on the train, the paying-for-candy moment, the Sorting, the class partnership, etc.)

All this to say that Harry looks at Hermione and Draco and sees a wall, in the same way that Draco looks at Harry and Ron and sees a wall. He doesn't understand it, but he knows that's deep water, and he knows he's usually better off not touching it. (Some of this comes through in Ron's conversation with Draco by the pumpkin patch; there's a blink-and-you-miss-it reference to "whatever the hell you and Hermione have got going on," along with a quick gloss on their weird pseudo-spiritual mind-meld connection, which was meant to give a glimpse into how the rest of Gryffindor sees them: eerily well-suited people with separately terrifying abilities who, when together, sail merrily off into their own universe of intelligence/plots-and-schemery and become a black hole of You Don't Want To Fucking Know. I sometimes amuse myself by thinking of Dean and Seamus giving the first years PSAs on Do Not Approach the Wild Swots In Action.) And he, like most of Gryffindor Tower, would have to be blind not to see how much they favor each other. They're always together. There's really nothing that they can do to hide it.

Which is probably why he pulls Ron back in the Owlery moment. He understands that what Hermione is dealing with is something that Draco, perhaps only Draco, can fix. She needs to hear a very specific kind of reassurance, and she needs to hear it from him. In the same way, when Hermione tried to calm Harry down before the plan to rescue Sirius in the third book, she failed miserably; they love each other intensely (they're siblings! the muggle-born twins!) but they're extremely different, and of all the Quartet dynamics, they're the ones who seem most at peace with that. Harry and Hermione's friendship works because they get what the other needs and they get that sometimes it's not them. (Harry more than Hermione, because she's still working on the concept of "sometimes people do not want my help" in general, but still.) There's a reason basically no one ever speculates about them being involved outside of a joke, because no one who knows them would think they could work romantically. They love each other, but they weird each other out, and they're content with that.

In contrast, Ron and Harry's friendship is more of the soul-bonded, life-partners, "he is more myself than I am" kind of friendship. Catherine and Heathcliff dig-up-the-corpse-to-lie-down-with-it type of shit. When Ron gets a death scare in the finale of Book 3, Harry goes fucking ballistic. Likewise with Harry's portkey fakeout in the end of Book 4 — Ron loses his shit. They are deeply, irrevocably attached to each other in an almost codependent way, which is the product of Harry's "first friend ever, like literally fucking ever, not nobody else, not one" situation meeting Ron's "first person who ever loved me as Ron and not so-and-so's brother" situation. So just as you put it, really: necessary and beautiful (and messy).

[miramis248]

My Au - Updating, Introducing OC'S and plot divergence

Heh

Hey, how ya'll doing? It's been a while... My work schedule is unforgiving at the moment 🙃

So, i've been working on my Au for the past few weeks whenever I had the opportunity. It is inspired by multiple fanfictions that I've read, and here's how it's going so far:

Jake Sully

When Jake arrived, he was taken aback by how things were being run at Hells gate, lower Ranked workers were being overworked and underpaid, he also heard through the grape vine that many were being threatened and blackmailed into silence by superiors and SEC-OPS about shandy stuff that had been happening, such as the deviation of funds from the mining safety regulation programs towards more poaching equipment, weapons and bigger equipment for intensive mining, as well as lining the pockets of superior assets to the company, he was less than pleased, but what strengthen his resolve was watching how the scientists were being treated by Selfridge, he hates the guy, especially after the accident...

When Jake was in the Avatar for the first time, he had a "seizure", at least that's what the science guys told him, and his human body went into a comatose, almost dead like state, while his mind was stuck in the Avatar, most likely permanently...Selfridge immediately goes into self-preservation mode and tries to make excuses, half-assed apologies, and then just straight-up blames Jake

"You read the contract. You knew the risks. This is all on you."

Now Jake reeeeeeeally wants to screw this guy over, and hopefully find a way to help the other workers and scientists along the way as well, so he starts hatching a plan, he talks to Grace and promises her he'll help them "get out" if they want to, he's leaving, but that doesn't mean he'll leave them high and dry, Grace and the other scientists are apprehensive of the idea, but decide to give Jake a set of Comns for safety and updates on how well his plan will work out.

He stays for around 3 months, getting a feel for his new body, working out, preparing himself...a few days before leaving, Trudy came to him with a serious request. She overhead him speaking to Max and Grace and needed help for a friend. She promised to keep his escape plans a secret.

Trudy took him to a room, there he finds Paz Socorro, an exhauted looking woman, who begs for him to help her, she has an health condition that only seems to be getting worse and she has another problem, Spider...

Spider is born a hybrid, the first human baby on pandora, born with a kuro and faded stripes along his body, covered in light freckles with the cutest little nose and pointy ears, Jake is as shocked as he is smitten by the little guy...how that happened...Paz saw the fruit growing outside, and her cravings got the best of her, they supposedly weren't dangerous for humans... Paz tells him that she might not survive because the human resources and insurance assholes that work for Selfridge keep making excuses as not to help pay for the surgery or having it at all on base, Paz has a heart condition discovered during her pregnancy, without proper help she will get sicker and most likely die, but they rather take their chances and send her back to earth even though she could also die in cryo and Spider would be left parentless, she's also worried about her son, selfridge knows about Spiders "condition" and she scared of what might happen to him.

She begs Jake to take her son, he can breath pandoran air, so he'll be fine, Jake is a bit worried about this decision but Paz tells him this might be the only way to keep her baby safe, he can't say no to that little face,so he accepts and is surprised when Paz pull out official papers

(Paz "His father is a dangerous man, he refused to sign the birth certificate, but I need to be sure he can't get him through any loopholes"

Jake "You're...adoption papers!? Paz, are you sure? Isn't it better to make me like a babysitter guardian guy or whatever? I mean we just met, and you asking me to take your kid, you dont know me!..."

Paz "No, this needs to be ironclad, I need this to be official. He will never get his hands on my baby boy, and I KNOW enough Sully, I know you offered others help to get out, so here i am accepting on the behalf of my son"

Jake "Ok!...ok, just...Jesus..."

Paz "i might not see either of you again...with the way things are going for me..."

Jake "I will take care of him...i promise you this, this kid is gonna be the happiest little guy"

Paz "You better you dumbass, or my spirit will haunt your blue ass")

(SPIDER DESERVES ALL THE LOVE, HE IS BABY)

And so, with the help of Truddy, Jake steals a bunch of supplies, including weapons and ammo, Grace helps cover up for him during their trip to look for samples. From there, with little Spider hidden in his backpack, he slowly shys away into the forest where he starts their new journey...

Still working out how he'll end up stumbling into Omatikaya territory...

So far, I've also been working on some of my Human OC'S that will be relevant to the AU, like the Viperwolf Hunters, we now also have

Maya Aguillar

Maya is an Avatar Driver, she worked in the labs, delved into Bioengineering, making prosthetics for both human nd na'vi alike, along with other medical devices built with Unobtainium, her search was defunded however because Harding's poaching was more profitable and she didn't exactly have the power to protest this decision, with her research on hold, she was then given the job of outside maintenance on her base(she only met Harding and Mercer once when she arrived, she she was tranfered to a lab a bit far out from the main base), Maya was sick and tired of all the excuses for not being able to fund her research, the mistreatment by higher ups and just the overall work conditions, when news of Jake Sullys escape and disappearance got out, aswell as learning that many others started leaving too, including some old friends, she made a risky decision and bounced, she had knowledge of a long abandoned mobile link inside a mountains wall far way, she took a jeep, hid her avatar in it and waited for nightfall, then she was gone... But that just the beginning because what she didn't realise is that the mobile link is very close to the Aranahe Clan, who didn't take long to notice their new neighbour...

(Had the time to doodle her)

John Maverick

Basically, it's a cowboy that came to Pandora, and now drives an Avatar.

Veterinary, big and small port animals, Pandoran Fauna and Flora enthusiast/expert, he was on animal care in a projet to study Pandoran animals, had to restrain himself from finding and strangling both Harding and Mercer after seeing the conditions in which the animals were being kept...he found a way to leave, as a human first, then busting open the gates on the back of an angstik he named Bluebell (like the cow he raised back home has a kid, his best friend), middle fingers up for the cameras with more than 15 heads of Catle and three funny and charismatic Pa'li that love to nip his ears... this man disapears, he finds a place(thank god thes people just abandon mobile links everywhere) where he can safely use the link unit, now he roams the plains with his herd of animals, he keeps them happy and safe, totally decked out in Cowboy fashion, hat and all (I imagine this man looping a rope on one of the bulls because they panic or something, throws himself on top of them rodeo style, lets them tire out and then just spends time sitting there calming this huge creature down with pats on their back and treats till the convince them to join the herd again) he's living his best life...in Zeswa lands...guess he thought the kites where just pretty decorations...(still working on drawing him)

That's it for now, but I'm still working in these OC'S, I'll don't more indept backgrounds for them later on.

There's also my concept of humans adapting to Pandora with Eywa's help. Basically, the Great Mother is loving and mischievous, and she'll use her children to guide these humans who long for a new life, for example, my take on humans being able to breath and eat and LIVE on Pandora will be because she'll use her Atokirina, or maybe animals to guide humans to flowers, moss or fungi, that when exposed to without a mask, changes their biology. Maybe they fall and break their mask and breath in spores or polen, maybe the animal suddenly pulls the mask from their face(A human guided by this nice, cute Syaksyuk getting their mask ripped of and face shoved into a flower) and then boom, they breath and eat from Pandora with no trouble!

Eywa will take to making humans See and learn, but also learn from them and adapt, so that everyone is happy 😊

There, that my Au so far, see ya'll later!

[what-even-is-thiss]

How expensive is it to transition? Honestly the possibility of going into medical debt because of transitioning is the only thing stopping me from medically transitioning.

With insurance I pay like 10 bucks every two months for my t gel and 15 bucks every six months for blood work. At the beginning I had three different doctors appointments. One with my regular doctor, one with a specialist psychiatrist, and one with an endocrinologist. Whatever your copay is that’s basically the price of getting started. If hormones are covered by your insurance they’re no more expensive than any other meds. Generally weekly injections are the cheapest option but I prefer daily gel. If you go on E you also have the option to take pills. For both you could also have daily patches or a pellet injected into your butt that dissolves slowly over 3 months. I don’t do that one because the needle they use for it is massive and it scares me.

If we’re talking surgeries I haven’t done that yet but a lot of insurance companies cover those these days. Depending on where you are you may need to travel for it. So depending on your situation your transition surgeries could cost a 20 dollar copay or it could cost $10,000 including travel. It heavily depends on your local options and your insurance. But there are surgery loans so if you’re comfortable doing that, that’s an option.

[thecorporateweeb]

October 28, 2024

Oof, it's been quite a while. Well, I am happy to report that I have been busy with action after action. Let's list them all up now, shall we? * I have quit my insurance job * I got a new job * I have begun practicing new artistic skills * I now practice more positive self-talk and affirmations

Hell, I even had green tea this morning in lieu of coffee! Who the hell is she?!?! Welp, it's the girl I hoped to be a few months ago.

Quitting my job was undeniably exhilarating. I gave my 2-week notice and was shocked when my boss tried to offer me another position in an effort to keep me in the company. Apparently, I'm valuable! Who knew? Everyone but me it seems. Did I leave hastily before securing another job? Of course I did! Because I am impatient! (oof). It didn't take me long to find a part time job that required minimal brain power, but the double digit pay cut is painful, to say the least. This pay cut has however given me the greatest gift of all, more time.

But what does she do with all this newfound time? I enjoy many, many more things. I am now the furthest I have ever gotten in that damn Artist's Way than I have ever been. It looks like I am finally going to finish it! That alone is a huge win for me. But most importantly, I have become brave enough to start new things. This "start" is a tiny step, daily. Some days I become so excited that I gather the energy to take a big step instead of a tiny one. Before I know it, I have +1 skill on whatever thing I'm doing. Then a week passes, two...and before I know it, I have become more skilled than I was just a month ago. These gradual changes have become addictive to me.

After I started seeing these little improvements, I thought, what else can I do? Maybe I could work on my gut health. I can stick to working out 3 days a week. I can listen to Success Affirmations on drives when I don't have any music I'm that into at the moment. Honestly, I'm out of control with it! I look at where I am right now, today and I am so thankful that I took this big scary step.

Do I have enough money? Absolutely not. Do I have the tools needed to create more? Nope. But somehow, I have more faith that I will have them soon. Good ol' blind and hopeful faith. What an incredible gift. So, what now? What will I do next? I'm not sure but I will make sure that it is fun. I will only do what aligns with my dreams. I will smile through it all. I won't give up! Reader if you see this, trust your gut. I'm rooting for you.

[multi-lefaiye]

oh yeah lol more Storage WIP thoughts! this time... character concepts

not sure on names or designs for anyone yet, but we've got:

- nathan gates, the protagonist and the store manager. i talked about them previously.

- two assistant managers who rotate shifts so nathan can have days off sometimes. one is a stoner girl who never takes anything seriously and is never fazed by anything at work. she's always got a pleasant, slightly vacant smile on her face. and the other is a sweet guy who is so anxious all the time. he's nearly always stressed the fuck out trying to keep everything running.

- the one mechanic the owners are willing to hire. she's an older butch woman who talks kinda slow and has a heavy southern accent, so a lot of people think she's stupid. she's smart as hell, though, and not even just in terms of like engineering and mechanic shit. she's been really into shakespeare lately. sometimes she and nathan chat about whatever they're both reading. jack of all trades type.

- a neighbor, either the owner of a nearby farm or a different store in the vicinity. he's a gruff, no-nonsense middle aged man who always seems vaguely pissed off and has a nasty case of Resting Bitch Face. however, he is INCREDIBLY kind and gentle in reality, always there to help. he used to stop by the facility once a week or so, but now he comes basically every other day, acting as an unofficial security guard for the employees (especially nathan).

- a petty thief-turned-arsonist who initially came to the facility to rob it, maybe scare one of the employees a little. however, they were instead trapped in the labyrinth for hours, only released because nathan intervened. now, they want nothing more than to burn the goddamn building to the ground.

- two shady as fuck representatives for the fictional insurance company Tucker & Lewis, which offers custom protection plans for items stored on the property. the insurance reps are always seen together and always perfectly in sync. only one of them talks, though.

- and ofc the facility itself. jefferson memorial storage, aka jeffy <3 the sentient building that likes to toy with people sometimes.

[fictionalfantasist]

Wanda x reader fan fiction

Summary: Y/N is not a hero—just a stunt double, living in the shadows of others' spotlight. But when her path crosses with Wanda Maximoff’s, their worlds begin to collide in unexpected ways. Drawn together by fate, their bond deepens as they face forces neither of them fully understands. In the fight to protect what matters most, they’ll discover that when two worlds collide, the aftermath leaves nothing untouched—and everything at risk.

Chapter 3

The chaos hasn't settled in.

The collapsed scaffolding had turned the set into a whirlwind of activity. Crew members rushed around like ants, trying to figure out what had gone wrong, and producers were already on the phone with lawyers, agents, and probably a few insurance companies. Y/N found themselves caught up in it too—briefly grilled by the safety coordinator about what they had seen, what they had heard, if they had noticed anything wrong before the explosion.

Standard stuff. They answered calmly, offering reassurances that everything would be fine, though inside, something nagged at them. Something about the whole situation didn't sit right. The rig shouldn't have failed like that. Not with all the checks they had done.

Still, they played it cool, signing off on the necessary paperwork before ducking away from the endless questioning.

As they slipped away from the main set, Y/N could feel a slight tension building in their chest. It was that after-the-fact realization, the weight of what had just happened starting to sink in. They weren't a stranger to danger, but that had been close—too close. The kind of close that sticks with you.

Finding a quiet spot behind one of the trailers, Y/N leaned against the side, letting out a long breath. The adrenaline had worn off, leaving a faint tremor in their hands. They flexed their fingers, willing the feeling away. Get it together, they told themselves. This is what you signed up for.

But as they stood there, alone with their thoughts, the quiet didn't last long.

"Y/N."

Wanda's voice came from behind them again, softer this time, but there was an edge to it that hadn't been there before. Y/N turned to face her, seeing that same mix of concern and intensity in her eyes, except now, it was amplified.

"Hey," Y/N greeted her, trying to keep their tone light despite the heaviness settling in their chest. "Back for another round of psychoanalyzing?"

She didn't smile. Instead, she stepped closer, her gaze searching their face like she was trying to see through whatever mask they were putting on. "I just finished talking to the director," she said, crossing her arms. "He said they have no idea how the rig malfunctioned. They checked everything before the scene—it should have been fine."

Y/N shrugged, shoving their hands into their pockets. "Equipment fails sometimes. Could've been a loose wire, bad timing. I don't know. These things happen."

"Not like this," Wanda countered, her voice a little sharper than before. "That wasn't a random accident, Y/N."

Y/N paused, looking at her more closely. There was something behind her eyes—something they hadn't seen before. It wasn't just concern; it was suspicion. And that made the knot in Y/N's chest tighten.

"You think it was intentional?" they asked, keeping their voice neutral.

"I don't know what to think," Wanda admitted, her frustration clear. "But I know enough about magic—and about people—to know when something feels off. This wasn't just bad luck."

Y/N tilted their head, considering her words. "So what, you think someone sabotaged the set?"

"I'm not saying that," Wanda replied, shaking her head. "But... I've seen things go wrong on sets before, and this doesn't feel like an accident. And you—" She paused, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You didn't hesitate for a second, did you?"

Y/N raised an eyebrow. "What, you think I was supposed to let the guy fall?"

"That's not what I mean." Wanda stepped closer, her gaze sharp. "You didn't hesitate because you knew something was going to happen, didn't you?"

Y/N's heart skipped a beat, but they kept their expression carefully neutral. "I just reacted to the situation. Same as I always do."

Wanda didn't look convinced. She studied them in silence for a moment, and Y/N could feel the weight of her gaze like a pressure on their skin. It wasn't a bad feeling—just intense, like she was peeling back the layers they kept so carefully guarded.

And then, finally, she sighed, the tension in her shoulders easing just a bit. "Look," she said, softer now. "I'm not accusing you of anything. But there's more going on here than just stunts and special effects. I can feel it."

Y/N didn't say anything at first. They just watched her, their mind racing through possibilities. The truth was, they had noticed something—felt something—just before the explosion. A strange sensation, like the air had shifted in an unnatural way. But they hadn't had time to process it before everything went sideways.

And now, here was Wanda, picking up on the same weird vibe. Y/N wasn't sure whether to be relieved or concerned by that.

"Okay," Y/N said finally, their voice low. "I'll bite. What do you think is going on?"

Wanda hesitated for a second, as if she wasn't sure how much to say. But then she took a breath and stepped closer, lowering her voice so only Y/N could hear. "I've seen magic like this before—small, subtle disruptions. Just enough to throw things off without being obvious. It could be anything—someone testing a spell, or a hex gone wrong. I don't know yet. But it's dangerous, and if someone's messing with the set, we need to find out who."

Y/N felt a shiver run down their spine. Magic? This was starting to get into territory they weren't used to dealing with. But if Wanda was right, and this wasn't just a freak accident...

"You think I'm the target?" Y/N asked, their tone half-joking, though the question was deadly serious.

Wanda's eyes softened slightly. "I don't know. But you're in the middle of it now, whether you like it or not. And if someone—or something—is targeting you, we need to figure out why."

Y/N chuckled, though there was no humor in it. "Great. Just what I needed—magic sabotage. Really keeping things interesting."

Wanda didn't smile. Instead, she reached out and placed a hand on Y/N's arm. The touch was light, but there was a warmth to it that Y/N hadn't expected.

"Just promise me you'll be careful," Wanda said quietly. "I've seen too many people get hurt because they didn't take things like this seriously."

Y/N looked down at her hand for a second before meeting her gaze. There was something in her eyes—a kind of fierce protectiveness that caught Y/N off guard. They'd always been the one taking care of themselves, the one diving headfirst into danger without a second thought. But this—this was different.

"Alright," Y/N said finally, their voice softening. "I'll be careful. But don't expect me to sit on the sidelines while things go down. That's not my style."

Wanda smiled—just a small one, but it was there. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

Before either of them could say anything more, one of the producers rounded the corner, looking frazzled and out of breath. "Hey, Y/N! We need you back on set. They're clearing the area and resetting for another scene. You good to go?"

Y/N nodded, already shifting back into work mode. "Yeah, I'm good."

The producer gave them a quick nod and disappeared again, leaving Y/N and Wanda standing in the fading quiet.

Y/N glanced back at Wanda, their usual playful smirk returning. "Guess it's back to the grind. Try not to miss me while I'm off jumping through explosions again."

Wanda rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the small smile. "Just try not to get blown up this time."

"No promises."

With that, Y/N gave her a quick salute and turned to head back toward the set. But as they walked away, they couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning of something much bigger—and much more dangerous.

[layla-was-here]

I've been watching Superstore and like I've worked retail and everything, in fact, I worked at a big grocery store literally called Superstore, but like even in the sanitized toned down version of what retail work is like in the US in the show, oh my god, is it absolutely awful. Like there are things in the show that are just incidental to the plot that I'm looking at and going how is that even possible.

There's an episode where I guy gets his thumb cut off and they try to hide it because they think it's their fault? WTF.

Like people post on here and Reddit and Lemmy and twitter about how awful retail is and I'm like yes, I've done that I can relate comrade. But now I'm like do I even count. I feel like a poser.

I worked in the Real Canadian Superstore but its in Canada and we were unionized with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. so like for the thumb thing, We would immediately obviously report it because workman's comp is literally the law in all of Canada. Like our union rep told us to literally report anything worse than a paper cut even if you don't need medical treatment for it (for good reasons that I don't want to explain rn)

And like the shitbag company I worked for loblaws which is just as scummy and shit as Walmart and whatever paid for dental insurance for all of us out of their pocket, no premiums for us because of our union obviously. If I stayed an extra 15 minutes past my shift time because my manager asked me to and I agreed, I would get paid extra for the extra time because obviously wtf why wouldn't I?

Like I was watching the whole strike 3 parter and I was like just so confused why they didn't just form a bloody union. I'm like 100 percent certain UFCW or another union was present wherever the store was. Seriously they never even bothered to explain why they didn't in the show. Like our scumbag store still had paid maternity leave, it'd be insane not to have it wtf. I was so confused.

Why are labour laws so fucking awful in America. I'm like realising that my experience in retail was literally in easy mode. Like I am so sorry for American retail workers that don't have government or union support. How do Americans work like this?

[jupiterjames]

Hi! I saw your insurance call and am in awe! Also looking for advice, but if you don't have the spoons feel free to ignore! I recently got my fallopian tubes removed and since my insurance is ACA-compliant they have to cover it 100% but they don't want to. I've called multiple times, sent a written complaint I'm waiting to hear back from, but do you have any advice on how to deal with it?

As a former insurance lackey, yes I might be able to place some stones here! Disclaimer as always, this isn't legal or medical advice since I'm not your rep, blah blah. Okay!

So, few things. There are definitely differences between "don't want to cover" and "refuse to cover." Now, since you mentioned they are ACA-compliant, then they are most likely refusing to cover and it COULD be for a variety of reasons.

1) They determined the procedue was not medically necessary.

2) Your doctor/hospital/someone in billing somewhere coded the procedure wrong on the claim, thus allowing the "must cover" to "doesn't need to cover."

3) Someone failed a step in the approval and/or pre-approval process which allowed insurance to deny out of hand.

4) Whoever processed the claim done fucked up and rejected it due to human error.

Now, in 3 out of 4 scenarios, the solution is the same. Filing a compliant does sweet fuck-all. Filing an APPEAL forces them to respond, usually by reevaluating or at least resubmitting the claim internally.

HOWEVER, if the procedure was coded wrong (which doctors and admins at hospitals do all the ding dong day), then you need to speak to the billing and coding to get the hospital or doctor to resubmit the claim wirh the proper codes that will trigger acceptance of the claim for ACA-compliance.

If the claim was rejected out of clinician review at the insurance company as being medically unnecessary or "elective" NOW you need to call the doctor who ordered the procedure, and have them call your insurance for a peer to peer review of the case. That can overturn the rejection because WOW doctors don't like being told by someone who hasn't even looked at your charts, that they're wrong. And they'll fight about it.

And if a paperwork error like improper coding, not getting the necessary pre-approvals, etc. is the issue, then you can absolutely contact your providers and get that fixed and get copies of all pre-approvals plus your records of the medical necessity to file a formal appeal with your insurance if they're gonna be particularly stubborn.

I know this sounds like a lot and a pain in the ass (it is) but an appeal form can usually be found on your insurer's website (if they're a bigger one. Smaller ones you might have to call or email for the form) and are straightforward. But doing that part, even if you don't have all the backing evidence you need yet, is IMPERATIVE to do within whatever timeframe your insurer allows for appeals. There is ALWAYS a time limit, and filing in a timely manner also hits the pause button on them trying to collect payment until a decision is rendered. Ideally. Not saying some insurers aren't super shitty about harassing you for payment regardless. But they SHOULDN'T with an active appeal.

Since I don't know specifically what happened with your claim (and please don't tell me if you do know, as I am a stranger on the internet and you should protect your PPI and HIPPA info as much as possible), I can't really point you in a solid direction, but a good first step is seeing how the procedure was coded and if a coding error is the issue first. That's easiest to fix if your care team doesn't suck at paperwork because they will get everything redone and resubmitted for you.

I hope this helps and isn't super confusing and that you recover well and stay as healthy as possible!

[submalevolentgrace]

i think i just had the most comically chaotic childbirth happen in the sims 3...?

my household is two fairy sisters (one pregnant by her own clone who is now dead, it's complicated), one future robot, and a cat. based on vibes of time i figured the birth would happen in the next day or two, so everybody's at home; mum-to-be is relaxing, the robot's cooking her favourite meal, sister is doing some cleaning, cat is sleeping.

suddenly the childbirth starts! oh how exciting! everyone in the house rushes to have their little panic animations, and amusingly, the cat decides this is the best time to play chase with the soon-to-be-aunt, but because they're all clustered around each other in a cramped room there's not enough space, so the mother currently in the active process of sim-child-birthing pauses her labour panic animation to do a little calm backwards sidestep animation to give the cat some space to play chaseys, and also just then her phone starts to ring, but i can't interact with her to ignore it because she's busy about to have a baby teleport out of her!

i'm having a little chuckle at this when the alarm starts. what alarm? the fire alarm of course! the robot interrupted her cooking process to fuss over the labour starting, and left food on the stove, still cooking, which has now caught fire. all three sims spin a bit awkwardly as they can't seem to decide what to freak out over more, active childbirth at home or fire! eventually they decide fire, and rush to the kitchen to panic. i manage to get the not-in-labour sister and robot to attempt extinguishing the fire, while the other sister panics and the cat wanders off to sharpen its claws on the cat tree outside. most realistic simulation ever.

i'm thinking this is the funniest shit ever i've had happen organically already, when everything grids to a halt. that phonecall that my nearly-not-pregnant-anymore sim had been ignoring was apparently an important enough opportunity that instead of missing the call, the game interrupts everything mid-labour and mid-kitchen-fire to say that the janitorial robots at city hall have stopped working and it would be really great if she would just drop whatever thing she's doing and come to city hall right now to fix them! mid birth. mid fire.

i reject this because i don't even want to know what the behaviour scripting system would do if i didn't, and also: fire and childbirth. let the mayor unclog their own toilets. just as the game unpauses, the comically busty townie firefighter generated and summoned by the fire alarm bursts through the door, and another of the game's many systems kick in: both the firefighter and my probably currently crowning sim get a cluster of hearts over their heads, a sexy little musical queue plays, and the game announces that they're clearly very attracted to each other and should potentially "get to know" each other a little better wink wink nudge nudge! notthetime.jpg

thankfully the three not-currently-generating-a-baby sims manage to get the fire put out, the firefighter admonishes us for not being more careful while cooking, and the insurance company says they're giving us $118 to cover the damaged stove. just as the firefighter starts to have a "oh no childbirth!" freakout, the child is actually finally birthed, and with a swirl of obscuring particle effects, the new mother spins around cradling a fully swaddled newborn clone baby in her arms! awww

presumably because the game prioritises traditional relationships, the new mother gains the wish to get married, because at the time of conception she was merely girlfriends with her clone that was generated by magical elixir. however because that clone has since turned into a ghost and then died (and apparently been deleted from the world because she didn't have a household to begin with i think?), the game has decided that the target of marriage for my sim should be... the firefighter lady that she just met for the first time, mid fire, mid childbirth.

i politely right click this wish away, have the other sister ask the firefighter to leave, and the robot start cleaning up the mess of what remains of the kitchen, while new mum sits in a rocking chair cradling her new daughter.

the baby was born with the traits clumsy and neurotic. cat is asleep on the cat tower. new aunt exclaims she's starving because breakfast never finished cooking. final reminder that bills of $3,658 need paying today.

i fucking wish i knew how to screen record the pc games i play

[sniffanimal]

I try not to talk about work a whole lot on here bc some of it can be sensitive info etc but me, the teacher, my student, and her family have been fighting the district and insurance to get her an eye tracking device bc she currently has no actual Voice to use to communicate with the world outside of smiling or frowning. it's insane to me that it takes 3 years of wrestling over $25,000 for a teenage girl to gain the privilege of speaking. this falls on the proprietary tech company we have to go through because of red tape (Tobii Dynavox, I'll name-drop) and can't use secondhand devices for whatever reason (they're under $1000 on eBay, probably insurance thing). it's just really frustrating how expensive it is to be disabled and be robbed of basic autonomy.

I might be the only person outside her immediate family that can communicate with her somewhat effectively. I've gotten a system of asking predictable yes/no questions and I can generally understand the tone of her shrieks but none of that is compared to having access to real language, something she can do with eye tracking.

at least the device was finally sent, and hopefully I'll get it set up this week. she's used a trial device in the past for a few weeks and showed great success with it, so I'm excited for her to have it again.