#billing discrepancies

[townpostin]

BJM Delegation Meets with GM of Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited

Delegation discusses public electricity issues with the General Manager. Camp scheduled in Karandih and Birsa Nagar to address billing discrepancies. JAMSHEDPUR – A delegation from the Bharatiya Janatantra Morcha (BJM) Jamshedpur Metropolitan, led by District President Subodh Srivastava, met with the General Manager of Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) to discuss public electricity…

[videogamelover99]

I felt I should write this lol.

The point of an unreliable narrator is not to trick the audience. The point of an unreliable narrator is to communicate that this narrator cannot be trusted, and encourage the audience to examine the material with a critical eye. The point is to have a different view of events be obvious enough that the audience can start questioning what is said to them.

And also to show that everyone is biased in their perspective.

Anyway I don't think Alex Hirsch is dropping major lore into a book only to say "haha it was all a lie you fell for it!" like some kind of "it was all a dream" hack of an ending.

[princehendir]

I think the actual biggest risk factor for falling for phone scams is not ever having had to call a government office to get a problem solved.

[swagyna]

A "Quick" Guide to Independent US President Candidates of 2024

Regardless of the party you usually vote for, I encourage you to go over this list

Jill Stein, Green Party

Ballotpedia

Wikipedia

A Jewish Doctor, she's been running in different campaigns for 21 years. This will be her third time running for presidency; her announcement was in direct response to President Biden's lack of action in regards to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Her main concerns are to reinvigorate our lacking Green New Deal, for the right of a living wage in a revised Economic Bills of Rights, an end to discrimination of women, BIPOC, and LGBT+ members; the removal of US influence in wars across the globe, as well as an end to our politicians being bought out by lobbyists.

Dr. Stein learned of the impacts of environmental pollution first hand while she was a practicing physician; her patients' were suffering from the nicknamed "Filthy Five" coal plants in her area. This spurred her into activism, which did eventually lead to the removal of these coal plants. While involved in this activism, she heard how many people had been demanding the removal of the plants for years. Local politicians refused to heed the people's words. Stein eventually learned it was due to lobbying, and helped to pass the Clean Elections Law. This law would only last for 5 years before Democrats removed it. A/N: Dr. Stein has only declared her running just this month on Nov. 9th. This may explain her lacking platform.

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Chase Oliver, Libertarian Party

Ballotpedia

Wikipedia You could describe him as sort of an "average Joe". Before entering politics, he worked restaurant jobs for 13 years. He's previously ran for Georgia's 5th district for House in 2020, as well as running for Senator in 2022 of the same state. He got enough support during his run for Senate that it caused a runoff election. His campaign is addressing many different problems, from positive immigration reform to being prochoice. Here's the list and a brief summary of what his plans are:

○ Healthcare system overhaul, swap to Direct Primary Care ○ Addressing Student Loans, making current loans interest free, ending FAFSA entirely, using Department of Defense money to pay for interest fees lost by this move. Also addressing high tuition costs. ○ Education, removal of the Department of Education to allocate money directly back to the states. ○ Allowing free market on Marijuana, signing full pardons for anyone with a non-violent drug-only criminal charge. ○ Changes to the Justice System, from courts to prisons to cops, removal of immunity from those in power, removal of mandatory minimum sentences, removal of prosecution of victimless crimes. ○ Work Changes, adjustments to taxes to make it easier on lower-income families, as well as law adjustments for people looking to open their own businesses. ○ Immigration reform, simplification for immigrants to become citizens to allow them to work and better integrate into our society. ○ Government invasion of Privacy, the potential repeal of the Patriot Act as well as any other invasive laws the government has passed in the guise of "safety". ○ The rights of bodily autonomy and Abortion, which should be codified. The exception here is that tax money cannot be used for it.

○ Ending the Death Penalty ○ Reducing Inflation by reducing government spending [a/n: this is not what causes inflation] ○ Removal of any Gun Restrictions and will strike down any new one that come up in the future What spurred him into activism roughly 2 decades ago, was President Bush's war campaign in Iraq. In 2008, he initially supported President Obama but later left the Democratic Party as he found that their policies were not anti-war and had no intention of becoming anti-war. He's spoken against regulations that prevent that feeding of the homeless and hungry in the City of Columbia [agenda], and has also made a public comment to the Atlanta City Council against Cop city (time stamp is 2:17:00).

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Independent Party

Ballotpedia

Wikipedia

An avid environmentalist lawyer who has won exceptional lawsuits for Indigenous People. This will be the first time RFK Jr. has officially ran for an election. In prior years, he's considered running for a Senator seat, NY's Attorney General seat, and has previously declined NY's Senate seat.

RFK Jr.'s campaign also has quite an extensive list of problems to address: ○ Housing Crisis and Cost: raising minimum wage to $15 an hour, changing zoning laws, changing taxes, opening ownership to local abandoned housing/buildings ○ Environment: restoring USDA and EPA control, incentivize companies to go green on a global scale, change agricultural practices ○ Ending of Lobbying: prosecution of officials and politicians who have been bought out by corporations, restoration of individual privacy, full government transparency. ○ Ending Party Division: RFK Jr. acknowledges that the Left vs Right is not helpful to the average person and seeks to remedy this divide by listening and compromising. ○ War: the removal of our troops and bases from countries in which we do not belong. The stop of unnecessary and profligate spending in our military machine. ○ Southern Border: Tighten control on checkpoints, restore lighting and motion detectors, but also allocate money into our courts to move asylum cases thru faster. This ties back with his stance on war, however; he wants the removal of our forces and weapons from the hands of the cartel. The US needs to stop funding the displacement of civilians in their own nations. ○ Restoration of Rights: Write into law that tech companies cannot ban, shadowban, or suppress someone if the government asks them to. Removal of government surveillance. ○ Civil Rights: to do this, a complete overhaul of these systems will happen - community repair, prison/police reform, focus on the working class and disenfranchised schooling, find addiction care that is long term, expanded youth programs, and free IDs for US citizens. ○ Native Americans: the restoration of land, the complete adherence to previous treaties that have been written and ignored by the US. ○ Veterans: optimization of the VA, creating a federal Veteran's council, to provide ways veterans can still "serve" in their communities. ○ Student Loans: the repeal of Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act which will allow people to file bankruptcy on student loans, allow people to refinance their student loans, remove interest on student loans, to hold universities accountable and not banks for loan defaults to prevent the rising prices of tuition.

Some things to note; Robert is a member of Children's Health Defense, which is an anti-vax organization that claims vaccines cause autism. Robert doesn't believe that HIV causes AIDS which he writes about in his book The Real Anthony Fauci (pg numbers: 298, 332, 347, 348, 351).

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Cornel West, Independent Party

Ballotpedia

Wikipedia

Another Doctor on the list, Cornel is a philosophy professor at Union Theological Seminary. In his practice, he focuses on how American society treats differences between gender, race, and class. This is his first time running for office, and had previously been with the People's Party which he dropped for the Green Party. In October '23, he left the Green Party to be Independent. Here is a list of what Dr. West is looking to address during his presidency: ○ Environmentalism: Canceling any and all national oil projects, codifying informed consent (FPIC) for Indigenous people and their land, end water privatization by making a clean water committee ○ Racial Justice: Reparations for black residents, following thru on the Civil Liberties Act of '88, public review commissions for all police stations, creating a committee dedicated to finding missing and murdered Indigenous women ○ Prison/Police Reform: End the death penalty, abolish current privatized prison practices, shutting down Cop City, end and ban police training thru military forces ○ Voters' Rights: Election day is to be a national holiday to ensure everyone can vote, term limits for all elected officials, ban on past elected officials from becoming lobbyists, term limits for SCOTUS members ○ Gun Control: Create national gun registry, reduce gun sales at shows, similar requirements for driver licenses to gun ownership ○ Economics: Tax billionaires, remove tax loopholes for the super rich, end Wall Street housing market holdings, ban stock trading for elected gov. officials, national minimum wage of $27/hr, create UBI commission ○ Workers' Rights: Four day work week, review US trade agreements and ban any that exploit domestic and international workers, free pre-K childcare, all for-profit companies must allow the creation of unions ○ Healthcare: Free healthcare, codify abortions, address addiction and help those affected by it, create federal panel to oversee the creation/safety/effectiveness of vaccines, focus on giving more power back to disabled people ○ Education: Redistribute tax money equally across all public schools based on student count (this way rural students still receive the same schooling as urban students), minimum wage of 80k for K-12 teachers, abolish state laws that obfuscate our US history, cancel student debt ○ LGBTQIA+: establish standards for trans healthcare, end assaults on trans people, ban on state anti-LGBTQIA+ laws, codify equal rights for LGBTQIA+ people ○ Global Influence: Removal of military support in all current wars, establish Truth Commission for the global south, disband NATO, cut the military budget, end global patriarchy and help women in Iran and Afghanistan, cancel IMF debts

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A note to end on: Firstly, I will not be discussing who I will be voting for on this post. Secondly, I want to add that just because a candidate has a large list of issues they're addressing doesn't mean they will actually get it done while in office. We regularly see candidates come in with large promises only to "forget" about them once they reach office.

Remember: the presidential election is important, but getting out and voting during midterms is infinitely much more impactful because those are our lawmakers!! A president cannot change anything if there is no house or senate backing her/him!

[averydistinctivestyle]

S5 E1: objection LEADING, c'mon prosecutor, just cause he's pro per don't mean you can't object to blatant leading. Twice. Inmates are allowed access to the law library so you can rake them over the coals in situations like this!

[ceilidho]

prompt: price/reader bear shifter fic. PART 1.

-

“—are priced wrong. You need to fix that.”

“Hmm? Sorry?” you ask, mind snapping out of whatever fog it’d descended into upon seeing John Price’s truck pull up out front of the grocer. You blink a couple times before focusing on the older lady lined up at your till, her face pinched with displeasure. It deepens when she realizes that you haven’t been paying a lick of attention to whatever she’d just spent the better half of a minute complaining about. 

“The beefsteak tomatoes are priced wrong. They’re supposed to be two dollars a pound—it’s in the catalogue.”

Before you can so much assure her that you’ll certainly honour the advertised price and save yourself the headache, she’s already opening up her purse to pull out the crinkled grocery catalogue, unfolding it across your conveyor belt; it goes out in the local paper once a week with all the sales and rippable coupons, and this isn’t the first time you’ve had someone try to lecture you about discrepant prices (Kate, your manager, is a sweet, gungho lady, that often sends off discount confirmations to the editorial staff of the local paper without informing anyone that actually works in the shop day-to-day). 

From the corner of your eye, you see John slam the door shut on his truck and make his way towards the shop, hands shoved into his pockets. Even from a ways away, the sight of him makes your cheeks redden; his beard’s gotten fuller in the week since you last saw him, clad in even more layers of flannel and tweed now with the fast approach of winter. He looks properly ready for the winter months, with just an air of heaviness present in the lines on his forehead and the tilt of his head. 

You feel your lips slip down into a frown. Helpless, you can only watch in defeat as John lumbers into the grocery store, brushing his hand over his hat to shake off the snowflakes onto the mat by the automatic doors. He picks up one of the baskets by the front door before heading down one of the aisles. His eyes don’t flicker to meet yours so much as once. 

Your shoulders slump when he ducks out of sight before you focus your attention back on the woman in front of you. She’s pointing out the tomato print with the little two dollar sign in the advertisement with a stiff finger, eyebrow cocked like she’s pulled one over on you. You really can’t imagine there being anything less important to you than the price of beefsteak tomatoes, never mind having to refund someone a whole dollar because you inadvertently overcharged them and you happened to get stuck with the one customer that would spend a full thirty seconds reviewing their bill before leaving the shop. 

“See?” she says, the word coming out sibilant and stressed. You blink.

Turning back to the till, you click a couple buttons before the register pops back out again and you pluck up a dollar to hand back to your customer. On the receipt that’s printed out, you hastily scrawl the reason for the refund and shove the seller's copy back into the till. The woman stares at the dollar now sitting on the belt in front of her.

“Of course, ma’am,” you say, a robotic smile stretching across your face. “Apologies for the inconvenience. I’ll get someone to reprice the tomatoes so this doesn’t happen again.”

She doesn’t say anything when she snatches up the dollar along with her groceries and hobbles out the front door, the automatic doors swooshing behind her. With her finally gone, you close your eyes for a second, a private moment just to yourself.

Someone clears their throat from just off to the side. Your heart bursts into a frantic pitter-patter when you open your eyes to find John waiting patiently at the end of your till, his basket filled up with bottles of mustard, gherkins, and other preserves. 

“A paper bag, please,” he says in a gruff voice, like he tousled with sleep just a few minutes ago. It makes your head spin. 

You nod, hardly able to even respond.

Up close, he smells like firewood and smoke, the ever-present cigar usually hanging off his lip nowhere to be seen but still clinging to his jacket and flannel beneath it. The mutton chops of his beard have grown out more than the rest, but his jaw is covered in a layer of fur in comparison to the week previous. John doesn’t really make eye contact as you scan his groceries, almost too tired to raise them from the conveyor belt. Not for lack of respect—it comes off as pure exhaustion. 

You know John as the gruff, taciturn park ranger that comes in once a week to load up on steaks, cold cuts and fresh produce, but in the months you’ve lived in this town, he’s always fresh off work, a little rough around the edges and not quite fit for human interaction just yet. He just grunts and nods when you tell him his total, towers over you and never really makes much eye contact. 

It’s always non-perishables with him these days. At least for the past several weeks, as far as you know. Cans and jars and freezer-ready meals. He doesn’t strike you as much of a prepper, but his order speaks for itself. It’s one of the things you like most about your job—getting to peek into the small crack of life laid bare before you. 

“Getting ready for the winter?” you ask. 

John grunts, eyes meeting yours just briefly before dropping down again. Dark brown. Sometimes you swear you catch the faintest glimmer of gold in them, like a honey glaze, but it’s likely just a trick of the lights. 

“Gonna be a rough one.” 

You try not to shiver at the sound of his voice. It’s not often that you get to hear it; even though you moved into the house next to his almost six months ago, he spends most of his days in the mountains, working up there as a ranger. He comes home after dark nearly every day—not so hard now that the sun sets early on in the day, but even back in the summer you’d spy him coming back from his shift well after dark. 

He’s gotten more heavyset in the last couple of weeks, a comfortable weight to his midsection and arms. Beefier, more solid. When John is in front of you, it’s like no one else in the world exists at that moment; he removes them all from sight and mind. It soothes some of the worry that his constant late coming has stirred up in you, knowing that he’s fed. Not all of it though.

“You know the, uh—” you start, clearing your throat midway through, almost losing your nerve under his sudden attention at the sound of your voice, “—the butter’s twenty percent off this week. I, um…I wasn’t sure if you’d noticed.” You catch his little frown and clarify. “You usually get butter.”

“Thank you, but not this time,” he says gruffly. “Got enough of it in the freezer.”

“Oh…well…” you trail off like you’re going to say something else but you let the conversation fall flat instead. 

He’s quiet the rest of the time as you bag his groceries. John always is. There’s a hurt side of you, silently begging for more, but you’ve watched him enough around town to know that this is just what he’s like. Gruff with the other rangers on the mountain, taciturn after a long day’s work, and sweet as apple pie with the older townsfolk. You’ve seen him help people at crosswalks and more than once he’s footed someone’s grocery bill when they’ve come short. 

Maybe you’re not interesting enough to merit conversation or that same goodwill he extends to others. Not that John has ever been anything less than polite with you, but—your thoughts scatter like birds when you recite his total without thinking and watch him wordlessly as he pays. 

“Thanks, honey,” John says, eyes meeting yours again. “See you next week.” He finally manages a smile, his eyes crinkling under the weight of it. 

You could get lost in his smile if you let yourself. It comes freely but seldomly these days, kept at bay by rough days out in the woods helping lost hikers, ticketing hunters for going over their allotment, and managing the wildlife. But when he smiles, you feel the blood go hot under your cheeks and fight every vision you have of him suddenly leaning across the counter and tipping your chin up for a kiss.

Tongue-tied, you nod. You can’t even force a smile on your face, wide eyes still set on him in wonderment. He doesn’t wait around for you to find your words.

But—you think again wistfully as he turns to leave—it might be nice once in a while. For him to look at you like you’re more than a stranger. 

You mourn your chance to talk to him once he’s out the door, wishing you could call him back. It’s not his fault that just the mere sight of him leaves you tongue-tied. It folds up like a cherry stem in your mouth when he speaks to you and you haven’t yet managed to untangle it in his presence. Maybe someday. 

That’s just life though. 

He’s always made you feel nervous, like a schoolgirl with her first crush, but it’s a safe kind of crush. The kind that feels fun to indulge in because there’s no possibility of reciprocation, like you can just ogle him and pine over him without having to worry about what you’d do if he felt the same way. You mourn the loss of him when he leaves, but like a tender bruise on your knee that you sometimes press just to shy away from. 

The rest of your shift pales in comparison to the eight minutes spent in his presence. Rinse and repeat. Someone else complains about the tomatoes and you write a note for your manager to read the next day. It’ll be her fault if someone finally emails in to complain or takes it to the news; there’s always an op-ed in the papers that’s little more than a thinly veiled bad Yelp review. 

John’s car is outside his house when you make it home at the end of the day, the lights still on inside. You sit in your car and stare at the light hidden behind the curtains. 

It would be nice, you think, resting your head back against the seat, to go up and knock at his door. If only you were braver. You’d march right up, knock on his door, and offer him something to eat. You could do it too. In the six months you’ve lived here, it’s not as though you’ve ever treated him particularly neighbourly. 

You squeak when you see John pull the curtain back and peer out the window, sliding down in the front seat so he doesn’t notice you there.

Maybe some other day then.

[trashogram]

He Chose You (P. 5)

Lucifer/Reader — Lucifer wants you to be the mother of his child. Rated E for the smut. FINALLY

(Hope none of y’all were planning to actually get off though).

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 13.5 | Part 14 | End

“You want a… baby?” 

Lucifer looked as stunned as you felt. He reminded you of a spooked deer — frozen and wide-eyed as he waited for imminent death. Or more aptly a dying fish as his mouth opened and closed soundlessly. 

“… To hang out with?”

Lucifer found himself in your apartment for the second time, milling about beside your coffee table. He internally scolded himself for fidgeting and shifting from one foot to the other, but it was either that or burn a hole in your head with his hopeful gaze.

“No!” He let out a pathetic laugh. “Well, yes, b-but obviously not just that! I know there’s more to it than just ‘hanging out’.”  

“I'm not stupid.” He chortled again before glancing at you. “… I’m not that stupid.” 

The King had the uneasy feeling that you might see right through him now; find that inkling of excitement still germinating in his breast, and change your mind. Or worse, you’d withdraw even more and he’d have to feel that dreadful, terrible, no good shame. 

He had practically skipped through the halls of his castle (unbeknownst to you) with the contract held tightly between his claws.  But as soon as he entered your fireplace, the excitement had curdled like milk. It was replaced by that shame when he looked at you and saw your ashen face. 

“Obviously you wouldn’t be doing this for free!” Lucifer gesticulated wildly. “You, you said you wanted to travel right? Right! If you agree, you’d get to travel wherever you want, whenever you want, no strings attached!”

“A-and also! No more costs, period! All your bills and expenses paid forever, in perpetuity, beyond the grave! Capitalism is a bitch? No, capitalism WAS a bitch!”

“No, no! Capitalism will be YOUR BITCH!” 

Your resigned countenance combined with the memory of his pitch made Lucifer flinch. 

——

You were never very good in a crisis. Or under a severe amount of pressure… or a moderate amount, in all sincerity. 

But you’d have thought, even with the prospect of homelessness looming over your head, that you’d have drawn the line at making a Deal with the Devil to avoid it. 

Or at least you would’ve taken more than the time it took to draw up a legal contract to accept your fate.

That time maxed out to 6 days. 

The scroll unfurled before you. It radiated an ethereal golden light, and lined with a litany of official statements occasionally broken up by blank spaces meant for a (second) signature. 

         Lucifer Morningstar was signed here and there, in the same glittery calligraphy as was on his business card.

‘This contract must be interpreted by the Governances of Heaven [Heofon, Himmel, Kem, ἄκμων, آسمان, अश्मन्] and any litigations associated with Hell [Hel, Hallju, Kel]…’

‘… By this contract, Party A agrees to carry the Seed of Party B, hereafter known as “Father”, to the extent of natural gestation as governed by the Law of Nature…’ 

‘… This union shall be recognized only within the parameters listed and not heretofore or after…’

The legal jargon was giving you a headache. You scrubbed a hand down your face, determined to at least read through it all and, if you couldn’t pick out tiny discrepancies, at least find any giant red flags. 

(Even if you’d already reserved the excuse that it was easy to be tricked by the Devil when the Devil was insanely good at presenting himself as a theatrical little man who wore his heart on his suit sleeve).

           Then again, would it not just be easier to sign away your life without regard to the consequences?

Lucifer twitched when you groaned on your seat at the table. “Problem?” 

You rose slowly from your hunched position to make eye contact. “… My pen isn’t working.” 

You demonstrated by scribbling randomly on the sticky notepad beside his scroll. Lucifer responded instantly, left hand flexing in the air and, with a flashy poof, snatching a fancy pen out of thin air. 

“You can keep it” He said, grinning as you accepted it with a sour look. 

“Thanks… show-off.” You began scribbling your name in half-assed cursive on every blank line in sight.

The grin on Lucifer’s face became borderline manic as soon as you’d crossed your ‘t’s and dotted your ‘i’s. His teeth glinted in the light from your cheap-ass lamp and it made you wince as you handed the rolled up document back to him. 

“Um, can we maybe skip the kissing stuff?” You asked. “I don’t really want to cut my tongue open.” 

His wounded expression tugged rather annoyingly at your heart. 

“Sorry.” 

The smile he gave your mumbled apology was strained at best. “No, no I understand. The fangs were daunting to me when I first got them, too.” 

You cocked your head, thoughts materializing like the web of a spider. 

“That’s actually something we should talk about.” You voiced your thoughts. “Are we compatible? Down there?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean — you don’t have teeth down there, too… right?” You asked. “Or some kind of eldritch horror miasma that I can’t touch lest I fall into a coma from ecstasy? Or a tentacle?” 

“No!” Lucifer looked mortified. “Wh-what is wrong with you humans?!” 

“I’m sorry! I’m just asking!” You cried. 

You continued when his expression stayed stagnant. “Look, I’m sorry if I offended you but I’m about to become intimately acquainted with… it, and I think I should be prepared!”

Your hellish companion stood, eyes closed, hands folded over his mouth as if in prayer. He breathed in slowly, then out. 

“You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry it’s… it’s been a while since I’ve been with a human.” He reasoned. “It’s good to ask questions. It’s—that’s a good one. Do you have any more?” 

That made you pause. There were millions of things you could ask the King of Hell and yet not one thing could properly formulate in your brain. 

“Um, I need a second to think about it.” You muttered. “What about you? My setup is pretty basic? I guess? I have a womb. At least I did, at my last physical a year and a half ago.” 

Lucifer’s lips twitched upward in a half-smile and there was an answering flutter from your stomach. “I know.”

Your eyebrows shot up and he immediately started babbling. “I mean! I know because the contract went through! The ink would’ve turned red… or disappeared… To be honest, I don't know. I haven’t made a deal in a long time, ha ha. But I remember something happens when there’s a technical issue!” 

“Ah,” You felt better with that explanation. 

Kind of. 

“I thought of a question, actually. Sorry.” You shrugged sheepishly. “It’s probably in the contract but…”

You swallowed down your trepidation. “… I won’t die, right?”

Suddenly unable to look him in the eye, you faced the floor and missed the way Lucifer’s face fell. 

“Barring the normal risks that come with being pregnant, nothing else is gonna happen, right? Or if it does, it won’t be agonizing?” You asked quietly. 

A moment of silence passed before the ex-Angel’s fingers curled under your chin. Your head rose and you saw Lucifer's eyes soften from something sharper and more determined. 

“I will do everything in my power to protect you and the baby.” He said firmly. “Nothing terrible will happen to either of you. I swear.” 

It was strange, the effect his words had on you. The jittery feeling in your chest slowly disappeared, and the tears forming in your eyes didn’t fall. 

“Okay.” You nodded with a barely there, watery smile. 

——

“I’m gonna turn off the lights, ok?” You said over your shoulder. 

Lucifer was undoing the last of the buttons of his dress shirt, vest and overcoat already laid neatly over your desk. He met your gaze, eyes bright. 

“Of course.” His close-lipped smile struck you, but you flipped the light switch before you could think on it. 

A lack of light did very little to suppress Lucifer. He seemed to glow like the star of his namesake, flourishing in the dark and hard to miss. You simply hoped, as you pulled at your sleeves, his shine wouldn’t illuminate the terrain of your body. 

Cold air hit your skin, goosebumps rose along your bare arms and shoulders, but you persisted. When everything was shucked save for your underwear, you moved to your bed and realized Lucifer was still standing at the baseboard. 

With arms crossed, you assumed the same position at the side of the bed. “Um?”

“Ladies first!” He chimed, as if reading your mind. 

You sighed, then slowly climbed onto the mattress and awkwardly pulled the comforter from under your butt. You settled and patted a spot in front of you. 

Hesitantly, Lucifer accepted the invitation, and he was sitting next to you before you could blink. 

No going back now. 

You shifted in your spot uneasily. Fuck, it had been a long time since you had sex. 

How did you start this shit again? 

No kissing — per your own request. You had half a mind to take it back while you sat there floundering, trying not to let the tangible awkwardness break your resolve entirely. 

You could do this. For a lifetime of no work, no bills, no cares. 

You could do this.

A bit of movement in the dark caught your eye. You glanced down and realized that Lucifer was twiddling his thumbs waiting for you. 

The laugh came bubbling from your throat before you could stop it. Reaching out, you grabbed one of his hands and tugged him forward.

You could see his throat constrict as he swallowed and smiled questioningly. “What?”

Lucifer yelped when you laid back, taking him with you. 

——

“Ah! F-fu — Slow down!” You scolded, words muffled as you were repeatedly pushed down into the pillows. 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, you just,” Every word was punctuated by a sharp snap of his hips against the flesh of your ass. “Feel. So. Fucking. Good.” 

Lucifer moaned loudly as he continued to lose himself in the sensation. You could only groan, irritation building as your partner refused to give you even the most basic attention. The frustration peaked quickly, then unraveled as his pleasured moans and squeaks caused your stomach to somersault over and over again. 

You clenched around his cock when he whined, thrusting into you so deeply you felt the base of him stretching your hole that much wider. 

Well, fuck you for finding the sound of a masculine voice cracking the hottest thing in all of creation. 

But it was actually getting you there, so what were you complaining for?

          Eyes closed, you focused on the feeling, trying to jump off that precipice with only penetration. It reminded you of when you were a teen, awkwardly feeling around down there. Of trying to find the appeal in your fingers inside of somewhere so sensitive against the fear of hurting yourself. All while you worked yourself up with your own imagination. 

In a perfect world, you would’ve moved on from that stage of life with no repeat performances. Hopefully, it could still be salvag—

You gripped the pillows that hadn’t tumbled off the juddering mattress when Lucifer’s claws dug into your hips. He pulled you as close as humanly possible with a strangled yelp, shivering, shuddering, stammering incoherence as warmth flooded your insides. 

Fuck’s sake.

——

You were disappointed, but not surprised. All you could do after the fact was bury yourself in the covers and watch Lucifer catch his breath beside you. 

Not finishing aside, exhaustion from the entire ordeal made you indolent and your thoughts hazy. You studied your partner as he calmed down, clearly trying not to be too close to you now that the deed was done. 

Lucifer’s hair was in disarray, the space between his eyes and across his cheeks rosy like the blots parallel to his smile. 

“Hey.” 

Lucifer looked at you innocently, waiting. You could physically feel your walls crumbling down despite yourself. 

“Come here.” You murmured, hand sliding beneath the covers to touch that poreless skin. 

Damn you and your soft heart. 

‘Actually…’ You had Lucifer in your arms, his body still warm. Once he was in your grasp, the King melted against you. 

He looked a little afraid as you tilted him up by the chin to look at you. The Devil had surprisingly soulful eyes, questioning whatever you had in store. 

The tiny thought that he was being way too vulnerable drew a taut, uncomfortable feeling your chest. 

“Kiss me.” 

Lucifer blinked in rapid succession — surprise, wonder, confusion and hope bloom all at once on his unusual face. 

It made you laugh in the quiet, comfortable darkness of your room before you yourself leaned in and met his lips with your own. The line of Lucifer’s mouth trembled, but he reciprocated with only minor hesitation. 

* Tag List: @crescent-z, @for-hearthand-home, @undertale-is-sansational, @loslox, @navierkalani, @yaimlight, @ivoryviness, @crystalplays28, @flowerempress, @wally-darling-hyperfixation, @altruisticradiodemon, @moonlight-readings, @halparkebitch, @charliecharlie65, @sockgoblin, @cocomollo, @caniseethefourthsword, @squeegeeclean, @crow-twink, @an-emovision, @marydragneell, @lafy-taffy, @fandom-imagines1,

Please let me know I missed tagging you!

[thaifanfests]

🏳️‍🌈Marriage Equality Act & Updates🏳️‍🌈

What we now know as the Marriage Equality Act did not begin as such. Efforts towards passing same-sex marriage in Thailand began with an attempt of legal recognition of civil partnerships in 2012-2014 when the Thai government held its first hearings on a potential civil partnership bill. Despite the support towards legalizing same sex marriage, the Civil Partnership Act, at the time, did not grant same-sex couples the same rights as their counterparts (i.e.: same-sex couples were not entitled to raise children, and the minimum age for those wishing to register a same-sex partnership would be 20 whereas heterosexual couples could register at 17.) In other words, there was an attempt at legal recognition of same-sex couples, but the bill still had the veil of discrimination and other flaws. Other factors, such as political unrest, also stalled the bill. (Prachatai)

Other significant attempts were made as well, especially with mass public support. Petitions that called for the legalization of same-sex marriage led to efforts in 2018, when the Justice Minister of Thailand began drafting a Civil Partnership Bill (Bangkok Post). Despite the support in public hearings and approval from the government, it did not pass in time. However, it’s still important to note that while there was support and tremendous push to pass the Civil Partnership Bill, many felt that recognizing same-sex couples as “legal, civil partnerships” “falls short of marriage” and therefore, could not truly be equal to heterosexual marriages (Bangkok Post).

This brings us to the Move Forward Party, which introduced the Marriage Equality Act in June 2020. This bill is significantly different from the previously mentioned bills, as it sought to amend the Civil and Commercial Code to include gender neutral language (ThaiPBSWorld). Doing so would allow any Thai citizen of any gender to seek marriage. After rewriting, redrafting, governments dissolving, and more scrutiny over a persistent exclusion of certain rights, the Thai government approved several drafts of same-sex marriage law, all of which passed with overwhelming support. The House of Representatives then approved a unified draft in March 2024, and then passed the Senate in April (Associated Press/Time). Finally, after receiving the royal endorsement from the Thai King on September 24th, 2024 and publishing the Royal Gazette, the Marriage Equality Act is slated to take effect on January 22nd, 2025. (BBC News)

Well, it was.

There’s a tiny delay. A discrepancy in the 120 day period has caused the initial January 22nd date to be pushed back to January 23rd. (Bangkok Pride)

The Marriage Equality Act is also missing an important signature. As reported by Bangkok Pride: “Currently, the process awaits the signature of Mr. Anutin Charnvirakul, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, to formally activate the law. However, as of now, Mr. Anutin has not signed the order, which may lead to continued confusion among government agencies hesitant to act without a clear and official enforcement date” (Bangkok Pride). His delay in signing the law is causing some confusion, especially for the public and those who must prepare themselves to provide registration services. 

Beyond legal frameworks, there are other challenges that the Love Foundation anticipates, such as addressing misunderstandings, lack of local government readiness as an influx of legal changes and commitments take place, and opposition from those who dissent. We urge you to take a look at their breakdown of some of these issues and their potential solutions. (LoveFoundation)

Still, even with the delay, Bangkok Pride and several other LBGTQIA+ organizations move forward with plans to celebrate. Mass wedding ceremonies are anticipated to take place across Thailand on the 23rd. Commitments in all forms are slated to continue. While we’ll be a day or two early with our festivities, we hope this was an informative rundown on the Marriage Equality Act and what to look forward to!

🏳️‍🌈 What's ThaiTheKnot2025? 🏳️‍🌈 Guidelines 🏳️‍🌈 Prompts 🏳️‍🌈 Discord & Carrd 🏳️‍🌈

[mindfulmuse88]

Unbiased: Is it true that the SAVE Act will take away the right to vote for married women who have changed their last name?

Disclaimer: I am neither Republican nor Democrat. Everything is purely unbiased and factual. This is false, but we need some context here:

The SAVE Act, officially known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, was first introduced last year. Its main goal is to require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for individuals registering to vote in federal elections.

Currently, while only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in federal elections, the Supreme Court precedent states that documentary proof is not required—it is sufficient to simply attest to citizenship under penalty of perjury. As a result, not all states require proof of citizenship when registering voters. However, if the SAVE Act is passed, this would change.

Under this proposed law, voters would need to provide proof of citizenship with a document that meets REAL ID requirements in order to have their voter registration application accepted for federal elections. This could include a passport or another government-issued ID, but if using a non-passport ID, the applicant would also need to present a birth certificate or a similar document, such as a naturalization certificate. It is important to note that this requirement applies only to federal elections—state election requirements may differ.

Concerns About Married Women and Name Changes

Since the bill’s introduction, concerns have been raised about how it might impact married women who have changed their last names. Some claim that the SAVE Act could effectively prevent married women from voting. However, the bill does not explicitly bar married women from voting.

The concern arises from the bill’s requirement that a birth certificate must include the applicant’s full name, date of birth, and place of birth. For a married woman who has legally changed her last name, her birth certificate will not reflect her new surname, which may create an issue when presenting a government-issued photo ID.

However, the bill does not explicitly state that the name on the birth certificate and the name on the government-issued ID must match exactly in order to be accepted. If discrepancies arise, applicants may need to provide additional documentation, such as a marriage certificate, to verify their name change. This aligns with existing government processes where name discrepancies can be resolved by presenting legal documentation.

Since the bill has not yet been passed, the exact implementation of these requirements remains unclear. However, it is important to emphasize that claims suggesting the bill outright bans married women from voting are false. Furthermore, a woman’s right to vote is protected by the U.S. Constitution under the 19th Amendment. For this right to be revoked, a new constitutional amendment would need to be passed, which is highly unlikely.

What Happens Next?

The bill previously passed the House of Representatives in the last congressional session, with support from five Democrats and 216 Republicans. However, since that session has ended, it must pass the House again before moving to the Senate, where it would need to overcome the filibuster before a final vote.

[townpostin]

Jamshedpur Residents Protest Unfair Electricity Billing

MLA Mangal Kalindi Joins Demonstration Against Irregular Meter Readings East Ghorabandha Panchayat locals voice concerns over arbitrary power bills, prompting officials to pledge corrective measures and improved meter reading practices. JAMSHEDPUR – Residents from East Ghorabandha Panchayat area took their grievances to the streets, demonstrating at the Executive Engineer’s office in…

[kaulitzily]

Art of Loving

PAIRINGS: Bill 2009 x female reader

GENRE: fluff & smut

SYNOPSIS: “Your mom hates me..” She'll definitely yell at him if she sees all those hickeys you gave him. Bill laughs with you, snuggling closer to himself. “Don't worry,” he starts, playing with your hair. “My mom hates me too..”

WARNINGS: sex, p in v, poor relationship with mother, eating disorder, self-esteem issues

A/N: english is not my native language! I'll say in advance that there is a time discrepancy here, since Bill's piercing described in the story was done later.

A strong wind and heavy rain were running through the streets of Magdeburg. Thunder roared in the thick clouds, and lightning frolicked somewhere nearby. The streets of Magdeburg are damp and fresh. People are gloomily walking about their business, busily holding colored umbrellas over their heads. But you and Bill are in your warm, cozy apartment, drinking raspberry tea and sitting on the balcony, watching people and dogs jumping merrily through shallow puddles.

“Hey, Schatz?” Bill's hoarse voice distracted from the dampness of the city.

You flinch and look at him. “Yes, Bill?” There's a cigarette smoldering in your hands. You and Bill.. Old friends.

His pale honey-colored eyes are directed into yours, and he asks with full seriousness, frowning: “Would you love me if I were a worm?”

You laugh out loud, hiding your face in your hands. Bill is still serious. Through your laughter, you say, “Listen, have you been taking anything?” You put out your cigarette on the iron railing of the balcony.

The brunette mutters indignantly, “I'm just curious! Well, answer me seriously!” He frowns and purses his lips resentfully.

“Okay, okay. Yes Bill, I will.” You smile and kiss Bill's broken knuckles, his wounds contrasting strongly against his pale skin. You're frowning. “Where did you get your knuckles hurt like that?”

The grin on his pale face began to play. “I hit the wall, Schatz. Because I'm an angry teenager.”

You let out a small laugh and stroke his hands. “An angry teenager who is 19 years old? Very interesting.” Bill rolls his eyes and clucks.

“And why did you hit the wall? She didn't do anything to you.” You mock him, you smile.

The brunette shakes his head, leaning his hands on the railing, rubbing his painted eyes. “She called me a jerk. What an idiot. Can you believe it?” He looks at you hopefully. You shake your head, laughing, and pull him by the back of his head, gently kissing his mole under his lower lip.

Kaulitz lifts the corners of his lips. “I don't deserve you, Schatz. You're amazing.. I'm just a piece of trash.”

“Stop it, Bill. Your depression shouldn't affect my attitude towards you in any way. You're wonderful.” You easily lift his black sweater, run your fingers over his protruding ribs.

Bill is painfully thin.. He smiles, wincing slightly at the tickle. “Okay, okay, but I still don't understand how you can love me after all that I've done. You're crazy, Schatz. You're an alien.”

“You've revealed my secret!” You laugh softly and kiss his thin, pale neck, removing his dark dreadlocks so as not to interfere.

Kaulitz lifts you up in his arms, holding you by the buttocks. “Come on! I've been waiting for this for so long! Give me your sweet lips..”

You shake your head and frown. “Bill, I'm fat, don't lift me up.” You kiss his neat nose. You can't kiss, it'll cloud your minds, blow your mind off. You feel like he's putting you on the balcony railing. Dangerous. Nice.

Bill presses his weathered, rough lips to yours, the taste of nicotine and berries in his mouth, the wind blows harder, hugs your shoulders, plays with the hem of your shirt, under which only underwear is. “You and I are such good friends, aren't we?” You're smiling, mocking me again.

You feel Bill kissing your neck, gently but biting. See how his hands are shaking. Just a second ago, you were just standing there and having a heart-to-heart conversation. He kisses you wetly and buries his long fingers in your hair. The night sky is covered with stars, like rhinestones on a black velvet fabric.

You wrap your long legs around his pelvis, wrap your frozen fingers around his neck. He holds you tightly by the waist, preventing you from falling from the tenth floor. Your short hair is blowing in the wind, his eyes are completely black, the pupil overlaps his bright amber iris. Tears are streaming from your eyes, you don't understand why.

He whispers, breathing heavily, “I.. Love you..” Lips are joining, rain and wind are hitting in the face, teeth are trembling from the cold. Your bodies are hot despite the cold outside. The skin touches, burning each other. You can feel him biting your tongue and lips. Heartbeat is pounding in temples, and ears are throbbing. Bill's hands creep under your thin shirt, stroke your delicate skin, he does not leave your lips, kisses are more and more ragged, dirty, wet.

Your chest is heaving. Both of them have wet hair from the rain. Bill looks into your eyes, and.. Smiling. You smile back and hold him close, massage his scalp, catch a sigh from his lips. You drop your head on his shoulder, breathing heavily.. You laugh and kiss his bare collarbone: “Your mom hates me..” She'll definitely yell at him if she sees all those hickeys you gave him.

Bill laughs with you, snuggling closer to himself. “Don't worry,” he starts, playing with your hair. “My mom hates me too. She always hated all my girlfriends. She still wants me to be with that empty-headed blonde from my school, her friend's daughter. But I don't give a fuck.. I'm not doing this for her, but for you.” He hugs you tighter and kisses you on the forehead.

You smile and kiss his plump, bitten lips. “Stop biting them, seriously.”

“I can't, Schatz.” He gently kisses your neck, the touch of his lips makes goosebumps run through your body. His hair tickles your body. Some gloomy passerby shouts at you, calling your actions disgusting and depraved, and that you shouldn't do it, because people see them.

Bill pulls away from your lips, looks at you coldly and gives him his middle finger. He looks back at you and kisses you on the forehead. “Do you want more, Schatz?”

“Pervert.” You kiss his nose. Bill has tongue piercings, eyebrows, septum, and snake bites lips. You gently run your thumb over his lip piercing. “Your mom scolded you for the punctures, didn't she?” You're smiling slyly. Bill gently kisses your finger.

“She tried to stop me, but I'm 19, and I do whatever I want with my body. With her screams, she even gives more reason to disobey.” He lets out a chuckle. Bill's mother thinks you're spoiling him. You have a lot of piercings yourself. He lifts his hands under your shirt and runs his icy fingers over your hot skin.

“By the way.. How's your math score? Does your mom already know?” You stroke his face, kiss his forehead, and remove the strands of hair that get in his way.

“She doesn't know yet. The mother will scream, again. She's always screaming about everything.” He kisses you behind the ear, and softly whispers, “Let's skip school tomorrow? Let's say you're sick. We'll be alone in my room all night. Just you and me..”

“I'd love to, but this will be your fifth absenteeism in a month. You'll be expelled, and your mother will hate me even more.” You smile and laugh briefly, even though it's not really funny at all.

He kisses your whole face. “I don't care. I absolutely don't give a fuck about my mother and my studies, I'm so tired of this shit. The only thing I care about is you. You and my desires. Will you stay with me tomorrow, or are we going to continue our argument all night?”

“I love you.” You're kissing his own plump lips. “But, let's take all the exams for five first, okay? I'll help you fix the deuce. Especially considering that you've already passed 4 exams perfectly! Now pass the math and that's it!” You stroke his hair. “What are you going to do after school?”

He strokes your face and kisses your ear, whispers in a hoarse voice: “I haven't decided yet, I have at least a month ahead of me. But first, I'm going to do some wonderful things with you tonight..”

You smile and slap him on the forehead. “You're good at drawing. Why don't you go to an art academy? Like me.”

He kisses you and squeezes you like you're a toy. Finally he pulls away. “Well, I'll think about it. But I don't know. Maybe I'll accept your offer.”

Three weeks have passed since that day. Bill's mother kicked him out of the house when he told her that he was going to art academy, and not to study medicine, as she wanted. Actually, it was expected, so now he lives with you, in your apartment.

Today is an important day - Bill's graduation. You stand and stare at him when he comes on stage to collect his red diploma for his patience and hard work. You're very proud of him.

He was dressed in a classic black suit, and a dark red tie stood out against his snow-white shirt. Yours, by the way. A short jacket was draped over his shoulders, loose trousers were put on, and he tied his dreadlocks into a low ponytail, not wanting to annoy the director with his appearance even more. He was so incredibly handsome and terribly uninterested in the praise of the director and the many teachers who came out to say their last words to him. Most of the students in the junior, middle and senior grades were crying from the realization that they would not see him again.

His father is standing next to you, and on the other side is Tom, who has already collected his diploma. The mother of the twins did not attend the ceremony, being offended, because besides her, everyone supported your relationship with Bill. His family is very proud of him, looking at him with smiles on their faces.

Bill catches your eye and winks, waving his hand at you. He fascinated you with his appearance. You smile and wave back at him, playfully blowing him a kiss. Bill is embarrassed when he finally picks up his "cherished" diploma, he comes down to you, and you meet him with a large bouquet of white daffodils. He takes your hand, smiling happily, and takes a step back, pulling you in so that you don't interfere with the other graduates and their parents. You rise on tiptoe, you feel his happy, loving gaze on you. He kisses you on the cheek, blushing, and you can hear his sweet laugh for a couple of moments, as if the world ceases to exist around you, as if you are alone in the whole boundless universe. You hear loud screams and applause. The boys from the twelfth grade released a pair of white pigeons into the sky.

“Congratulations, my graduate!” You're smiling.

Bill's father and Tom come up to Bill and hug him tightly, patting him on the shoulder, congratulating him on graduating from high school with excellent grades. Bill smiles sheepishly. Many of his friends and acquaintances also congratulated and said goodbye to him. But his eyes were only on me.

“I did it only because of you, Schatz. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have graduated with good grades.” He kisses your cheekbone with his rough lips, and then you can feel them on your lips.

“I'm proud of you!” You kiss him on the forehead, hugging him tightly.

Time has passed, Bill is already in his second year of fashion design, and you are in your third year of architecture. You're sitting together on the bedroom floor in your cozy little apartment. Bill makes sketches for his new collection of clothes, and you build accurate building plans. Kaulitz leans towards you, keeping his hand on your hip. You see that he uses you as a reference, like a living mannequin.

You stare at him and blush when he looks up at you with his piercing brown eyes. “What are you drawing, Bill?”

“I'm painting you, Schatz. You look like a model.”

You bend over to him and kiss his temple, seeing his satisfied smile. He wraps his long fingers around your face and lowers himself down, kissing your neck, whispering in your ear: “You don't even know how often I draw you.. You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. And this beauty exists only for me. You're like a rare diamond that I'm hiding in my hands..”

He kisses your neck again, going down to the hollows of your collarbones, his hands slide up and down your thighs, gently scratching them with his black nails and squeezing, leaving barely visible traces. You smile and kiss his cheeks, stroking them with your thumbs.

“We should not be distracted from our work. The session is coming up, which means that the teachers won't be very happy if they see that we haven't drawn anything yet.” You touch your lips to the mole under his lower lip.

He clicks. “We can't, you're right, but I can't concentrate when you're next to me, honey. Your presence is already making me forget everything. You are my universe.” You can feel his hot lips on your neck, again. He whispers, scorching your thin skin with his hot breath: “My dear..” He kisses you on the line of your lower jaw. “My love.” His lips slide sideways, onto your adam's apple, biting weakly. “My diamond.” He's grabbing your artery with his teeth. “My everything.” He runs a wet path with his tongue. “I love you, Schatz.”

His lips are right next to your ear, his tongue is playing with the auricle, and his lobe with several metal rings is being playfully bitten. A wave of goosebumps envelops your body. You pull him by the back of his head and kiss his sweet, plump lips. You feel him sitting you on his lap, running your fingers over his chest through his black T-shirt, gently massaging his tense, tired shoulders. Bill either sighs or moans, throws his head back, wraps his arms around your waist, running his fingers along your back. His tongue slides between your lips, moistening you better than any lipstick, he lays you back on the cold floor, strewn with your sketchy works. Some of them stay under you, but it's not that fucking important. The only thing that matters to you right now is him. And the works can be redrawn.

Your bodies are pressed against each other, his lips don't leave yours, and you can feel him breathing heavily. He pulls away from you, but he's still holding you tight. He takes off his T-shirt, and you look at his big tattoo on his left side. Beautiful. Your legs were wrapped around his pelvis, your body trembled with anticipation in his arms. He smiles at you tenderly, picks you up in his arms and gently lays you on the bed, taking out a lubricant and condoms from the bedside table. He's kissing you again.

“What would you like to do today, honey? Standard or..” His lips stretch into a twisted grin.

“Pervert..” You lightly pinch his forearm and feel how he roughly turns you over on your stomach, lifting you up, forcing you to arch your back. Bill carefully places several pillows under you, adjusting the height that is comfortable for both of you.

“That's what I'm talking about, Schatz.” He presses his chest against your naked body, biting and kissing the back of your neck. He kisses your ear, bites your earlobe. You can feel the young man descending lower, showering your entire back with kisses and hickeys, leaving traces of his teeth in some places. His belt buckle is cold, metallic, pressed against your belt. Kaulitz sinks lower, you can feel his hot breath below.

Bill bites his buttock, kisses it, and massages the other with his strong hand. His lips slide down the inside of your thighs, to your bent knees and calves. He rises higher again, his lips touching you below. You're trembling with pleasure. He savors it, running his tongue between your labia and collecting moisture, smacking his lips, stroking your thighs and buttocks. His cold tongue piercing touches your clitoris, and with a loud groan, you jump up in bed as if you've been electrocuted. You can hear him chuckle.

Bill kisses slowly, wetly, sucks each crease in turn, and you feel his piercing ball gently sink into the hole, making you sob. Bill slides his hot and damn long tongue into your vagina, making you moan. His tongue slides over the wet walls, draws patterns, rubs the barbell in his tongue. You bury your face in the pillow, sobbing loudly and moving your hips towards it. Bill penetrates you with his fingers, without removing his tongue, and leaves a slap on your buttock as you lean forward, slipping away from him. His fingers spread inside in the manner of scissors, stroking the walls, moving like a wave, while he kisses your back, whispering reassuringly in your ear. You can't make out anything anymore.

“Princess..” His fingers work faster and rougher, penetrating deeper, scratching the walls. You sob loudly and move your hips towards him. You're close to the peak, and Bill knows it. He smiles slyly and slows down terribly much. His lips travel down your spine, leaving wet trails. Soon his fingers leave you altogether, with an indecent squish. Impatiently, you hear his belt buckle rattle and his jeans rustle as he throws them away.

You can feel him opening the lubricant and gently sliding his cold, greased fingers into you. A groan escapes from chest. Bill puts his cock in, sliding slowly and carefully deeper and deeper, making you moan. His hands gently stroke your hips, and he begins his movement. His thrusts are smooth, sensual. Bill carefully pulls your short hair into a ponytail and kisses your neck. You swallowed hard, your adam's apple twitched, and Kaulitz ran his long fingers curiously over it. He squeezed your throat experimentally, and you sob, throwing your head back in pleasure, closing your eyes. You want it to never end.

His thrusts gradually accelerate, the bed starts to creak softly, and Bill thrusts into you more fiercely. With each strong thrust, his hand tightens more noticeably on your neck, pulling more and more moans out of you. His rhythm is frenzied, the skin of his thighs collides with his buttocks, creating indecent slaps, natural lubricant and purchased oil mix and squish. Bill breathes raggedly, occasionally does not hold back and moans, driving his cock deeper, sharper, whispers compliments, kissing and biting hard on your shoulders, his voice occasionally breaks. He slows down abruptly, trying to catch his breath, teasing, barely swinging his hips. Holds you firmly in place, not giving you the opportunity to move back.

“Ask me, honey.. Ask for it, Schatz..” He's breathing heavily, his hands are shaking, squeezing your hips.

“Bill.. Bill, please.. please..”

He smiles contentedly and starts thrusting roughly, squeezing your ass and thighs painfully, moaning. The moment of climax overtakes you at the same time, he abruptly enters you as deeply as possible, and through a thin condom you feel his hot sperm. You're breathing heavily. You feel Bill pick you up in his arms and carry you to the bathroom..

You're both tired but happy, you're lying on Bill's chest, tickling him with your wet hair. His black T-shirt absorbs moisture. You're slowly falling asleep. Your drawings were still lying on the floor.

“Thank you for this wonderful evening, Schatz.” He kisses you on the forehead, smiling like a fool. You kiss the corner of his mouth and bite the guy's lower lip, gently pulling back his piercing and releasing it, fully kissing his plump lips.

“I love you.”

“And I love you more, baby.” He takes your hand and gently kisses your fingers. His lips slide to your wrists, nibbling lightly on the thin skin. You bury your fingers in his damp hair, and you feel yourself finally falling asleep.

The only thing you hear is this.. “Good night, Schatz. You deserve it. I hope you'll see me in your dreams.” He lifts the corners of his lips and you pass out.

Still, it's a good story.

Just about the two of you.

[blueskittlesart]

where do you think eow falls on the timeline? i had assumed it was the alttp incarnations (because it's the same art style as the la remake) but since she doesn't know him, that would only make sense if eow is an alttp prequel, which seems unlikely

this is my current theory. there are several things in EOW that point to it being at a point on the timeline where the kingdom of hyrule and the authority of the royal family has been recently established or reestablished, most notably the fact that very few people outside of castle town recognize zelda and that she's able to introduce herself with the royal family's ancestral name to multiple other characters without immediately getting clocked. this suggests that the hyrule kingdom we're seeing in eow is significantly weaker in terms of influence than, say, botw or oot's hyrule kingdoms.

initially I was thinking about placing it somewhere after alttp and its sequels on the timeline, as that fits the bill in terms of a less-influential kingdom and the map similarities are glaringly obvious. However, there are a few things that make me think that's not where EOW goes. the most noticeable discrepancy is the triforce and how it's referred to in-game. games in which the triforce is not referred to by name usually do so to suggest a level of removal from the creation myth of hyrule--in both twilight princess and botw, it's implied that the triforce is never outright named because, for some reason or another, the people of hyrule forgot about it. because of that, I don't really want to shove EOW in after alttp on the failure timeline, because then we have to somehow justify how the triforce faded in and out of public consciousness so quickly.

what makes much more sense, in my opinion, is to place it on the timeline directly after the zonai era of totk. there are a few reasons for this. It fits the bill in terms of setting--I ascribe to the new-hyrule theory when it comes to totk's timeline placement, so a newer, less-established kingdom makes sense here, and the map is JUST similar enough to botw/totk in terms of major landmark placements for me to justify it. the one glaring flaw is the fact that the rito are missing from eow, but nintendo has historically said some insane things to justify when they exist and when they don't so i've decided it doesn't actually matter. there are a million different ways I can think of to justify that discrepancy if necessary. Similarly, the lack of knowledge about the triforce is consistent with what we know about zonai-era totk--it's never directly named, but does still exist in some form as a symbol of divine power.

The thing that really sold me on this being the placement of eow, though, is the existence of might crystals. To me, this is pretty transparently zonaite by a different name. I think the fact that it's no longer widely used or understood suggests maybe a few hundred years of removal from rauru's hyrule, but not so much that it's completely fallen out of use like in botw. Hell, if I wanted to get a little less canonically backed I could definitely make a connection between the eow rifts and the depths of totk. you see the vision.

anyway tldr i think it's after zonai-era totk but long before botw. hope this helps!

[ltwilliammowett]

The assistant surgeon

In addition to the actual surgeon on board a ship, there was also an assistant surgeon. This was usually a young man fresh from the Surgeons' School in Edingburgh, so please do not confuse him with a loblolly boy, who was simply an assistant from the crew. In Napoleonic times, in addition to a surgeon, it was compulsory to have three assistants on a ship of the line first rate, two on the other larger rates and one on a frigate. The Surgeon and his assistant were not required to wear a uniform until 1805.

Pay also varied according to length of service. A surgeon who had served for twenty years received 18 s. per day. A surgeon who had served for six years received 11 s. per day. Assistants had to serve three years on a ship, Navy hospital or dockyard before they were classed as full surgeons. As a result, each year of service had a different salary. The salary of the first and thus lowest grade was 4 S. per day. The other two grades received 5 S. per day. If they were not employed, surgeons and assistants received only half their salary, as was also the case for officers.

Being a Surgeon was not easy because both he and his assistant had to bring their own instruments, their medicines and other equipment were provided by the government, although there were many who made up their own medicines and passed the bills to the Admiralty.

One of the duties of an assistant was to keep a record of all cases presented to him, which was important in case of discrepancies, so that the Admiralty could compare these records with those of the surgeon and, if necessary, with the official logbooks of the captain and his lieutenants. He had to regularly check on the sick in the sickbay and show new cases to the surgeon.

He dressed the men's wounds every morning and had control of the lighter general cases. An assistant surgeon sometimes accompanied the logging and water parties, especially in places where the men were likely to stay ashore for a long time, just in case something happened. On these expeditions, it was his job to look after the men's health, keep them from drinking foul water and eating sour fruit in the heat of the day, and more.

Naval Surgeon: Life and Death at Sea in the Age of Sail, by J. Worth Estes, 1998

Rough Medicine: Surgeons at Sea in the Age of Sail, by Joan Druett · 2001

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

🥩🍴 AITA for lying about my "criminal activity"?

I live with my girlfriend and neither of us has ever had a lot of money. We get by, but we can't save anything.

I'm pretty harshly anticapitalist, and while she criticizes the system we live in too, the difference is I act on it. Everytime I go get groceries, I steal about 1/4 to 1/3 of the total. Groceries are increasingly expensive, and corporations are increasingly taking more and more from the people while continuing to deliver less in return and I'm honestly so fucking fed up with it. I figure if I'm gonna steal anything, it might as well be food that we need to survive anyway.

The problem is, we aren't absolutely broke. We could afford groceries, we'd just have to be more careful about getting things on sale, buying cheaper brands, and buying cheaper quality meat and veggies. I wouldn't mind that but my girlfriend really likes having good food in the house and I want to be able to give that to her. She's also not the best about food waste and she ends up throwing expensive food away because she lets it go bad. She causes us to have to spend more.

I know my girlfriend wouldn't approve of the stealing. And I know she'd be worried if I got caught I'd face heavy consequences, so I've never told her I steal groceries and since we've never worried about who pays for what while living together, she hasn't noticed our grocery bill discrepancies. This has gone on for about 7 months now.

So AITA for keeping her in the dark, and keeping us well fed for less money?

What are these acronyms?

[fwbjdk]

So, I'm a person outside the USA, but.

It is obvious that Americans overpay for healthcare. The discrepancy between the cost of the service and the bill you receive is outrageously huge. At the same time, there's no shortage of service providers.

So, logically, if you were a healthcare provider, it would be beneficial for you to start offering more accessible services. If you do it, people will choose you: you will sell more services, make more money, and bankrupt your competitors. The existence of this strategy is the reason why we don't expect things like basic clothing, consulting services, or even patented Coke™ to be sold for $5,000.

However, this strategy is never used in the medical industry. It means that, for some reason, it's not [beneficial/possible] for the healthcare providers to lower the prices. This implies that there is some intervention in the market, such as external regulation or criminal conspiracy.

In your place, to find the reason for the overpricing, I would first check the government regulations of this sector. And what you're doing instead is blaming a store owner for inflated market prices.

[stanestreet]

As a November 2024 report by the think tank the Other Half puts it, what are described as “mercy killings” are “very frequently the violent domestic homicide of elderly, infirm or disabled women by men”. Women are the majority of unpaid carers – 80 per cent, according to the King’s Fund. But, strangely, they appear much less likely than men to become “mercy killers”.

This discrepancy is impossible to separate from the wider belief in society that women are a kind of property owned by men. It is seen as a woman’s natural obligation to look after a man, but when a man has to look after a woman, it becomes an unreasonable imposition.

Hence the sympathy a man can draw on if he kills his wife while feeling overwhelmed by her needs. Mungall claimed to have seen an expression in his wife’s eyes “like an animal who needs to be put down and cannot say it” – a comparison that makes him the owner and her the pet.

Are we really supposed to believe that a man who feels that way about his wife is incapable of pressuring her into applying for a medically assisted suicide? In response to concerns from critics of the bill about this possibility, supporters of the bill have pointed to what they regard as its extensive safeguards. Simon Opher MP, a former GP and a member of the bill committee, has even said it is “judging doctors harshly to say that they will not spot coercion”.

Personally, I find Opher’s statement less reassuring and more indicative of a disturbingly blasé attitude to the possibility of abuse. In the limited window of a consultation, it is all too easy for a doctor to miss the signs. A YouGov survey for the charity SafeLives found that half of healthcare professionals felt unable to identify domestic violence. Sometimes, the doctor in question might even be actively untrustworthy: think of Harold Shipman, whose victims were predominantly elderly women.

The more common scenario, though, is the patient who, through lengthy cruelty and coercion from a partner or carer, becomes genuinely convinced that she (or sometimes he) is a burden who would be better off dead. Such a person may even refuse treatment, causing a curable disease to become terminal and placing them within the purview of the bill.

Legislators should be profoundly alert to this danger. Left unaddressed, it could place the state in the grotesque position of becoming a lawful accomplice to abusers. Yet unaddressed it remains. Of the nearly 50 individuals who gave oral evidence to the Public Bill Committee, not one was an expert in male violence or coercive control. (Jane Monckton Smith, an academic who studies femicide, was called but unable to attend; the committee did not attempt to find a substitute for her.)

From the start, the Terminally Ill Adults Bill has been a rush job – in the words of one former Labour adviser, “a quick-and-dirty policy development process that wouldn’t be close to good enough for 99 per cent of the laws made on our behalf”. If it becomes law, Labour risks turning the healthcare system into an executioner for those most in need of protection.

How the assisted dying bill could unleash male violence