#budgeting for hand hygiene

[handwashingday]

Why are clean hands still important for governments?

Clean hands are crucial for public health and global health security. For governments, prioritizing hand hygiene is not just about preventing the spread of everyday illnesses; it is a strategic move to fortify a nation against disease outbreaks and rising global threats, such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Hand hygiene behavior change provides a cost-effective solution – adequate programming would only cost 4.7% of the median health expenditure in the least developed countries and only 1% of a country’s annual aid receipts. Including hand hygiene in government plans and funding not only improves health but also boosts the economy by reducing the burden on health services and promoting high standards of care. Investing in hand hygiene ensures safe and effective healthcare, enhancing the quality of care and patient safety, and promotes wellbeing and resilience among communities.

Hand hygiene is incorporated in current Sustainable Development Goals. Many governments are committed to driving progress toward the sustainable development agenda. Addressing factors to attain high levels of hand hygiene practice can contribute to attaining multiple sustainable development targets, including targets around water and sanitation, nutrition, education, health, and economic growth. Integrating hand hygiene into health, education, and nutrition and child health programs is necessary not only to achieve these targets but to prevent infections and improve health and development outcomes overall.

Some governments are already making hand hygiene progress with tools like the Hand Hygiene Acceleration Framework Tool, which helps integrate hand hygiene into the national joint review process. This framework provides guidance and resources to incorporate sustainable hand hygiene practices at all levels, enhancing public health preparedness and integrating hygiene into broader agendas like health, education, and economic policies. The Hand Hygiene Costing Tool estimates the cost of improving hand hygiene in communities, aiding in budgeting and planning. These tools can support government leadership in developing costed hand hygiene roadmaps to implement and fulfill their hand hygiene commitments.

By prioritizing and budgeting for hand hygiene, governments can significantly enhance public health and economic stability. This commitment improves community well-being and strengthens long-term resilience and development. Such efforts demonstrate a government’s proactive approach to safeguarding its citizens’ health and future prosperity.

[kindaasrikal]

Kai headcanons because I’m tired and cant think of anything else:

Kai both does and doesn’t have a concept of monetary value. Like imagine they go grocery shopping and they need to buy essentials like ingredients, veggies, hygiene stuff to stock up on. Like usually whenever the other ninja went with their families they were able to buy some extras like candy or toys, maybe some more clothes despite having many just cause they like it or smth. With Kai? This guy slaps it out of their hands and says it’s not worth the waste when they’re only here for essentials. Wu gave them money for that only, so they best budget and make sure they can buy everything they need and maybe some extras of those things or else. None of them realise how confused Wu is when a proud Kai returns believing he saved up money by being smart and responsible, when Wu actually gave them extras to use there as like an implied thing. But when it comes to things of value, this guys has no idea what to do, take for example with Ronin. He had no idea how much the thing could cost but knew they had to pay it or else. But he’s also horrible at negotiating because he can’t properly understand the worth of what they’re negotiating the deal on and can’t see when it might be worse or better.

Kai was a shockingly quiet kid. Like yes he was still ‘aggressive’ and rude, but like never spoke on his own. Nya was always the talker between the two, but even she doesn’t talk as much as often. So usually Kai would silently accept a lot of things as a child until he grew older and got a bit of an attitude so despite being often silent that one quiet kid in the back who does everything right will and probably has cussed you out if you step out of line.

Nya actually cut Kai’s hair when they were younger because she was bored and Kai fell for her trap and ended up thinking it wad a great idea since his hair had gotten too long. She messed it up however since, you know, she was like max 6, and Kai’s hair came out nothing like the picture they had of their dads. Kai almost cried at how it didn’t turn out like how he wanted when Nya giggled and said his hair looks like a “Really cool fireee!”. No, Nya does not remember that she’s the reason Kai keeps his hair like that.

Kai loves fish, he likes dragging Nya outside to summon some and makes her stay with him until he’s bored. Nya likes eating fish.

Kai likes jumping into his rlly bulky and tall mechs and then posing like a school girl or a cute model in them. Jay once managed to convince him to Jojo pose and they distracted an enemy because of it. Cole and Lloyd cussed them out, except Cole couldn’t stop laughing and Lloyd’s hair kept blowing in the wind dramatically every time he changed his position so it looked like he posing. He made them run up and down the monastery mountain steps five times each way. Cole too.

You know those really cute candle holders? So like Kai convinced Pixal to make him a fire proof bear suit, wore it outside in the dark, in the middle of the training ground, with everyone asleep. He lit himself on fire and he looked like a glowing monster bear with teeth and blood (shadows and ketchup, he was hungry). He thought it looked cute and cool. Zane screaming, malfunctioning, and then screeching “THY BEAST MUST BE SLAIN!” And shooting ice at him was not a part of the plan (Zane watched Macbeth the movie before sleeping). Both refuse to apologise to each other but after a day of ignoring one another Jay watches as Kai clings to a Zane full koala like when he’s doing chores.

Cole tries to teach Kai how to draw. Kai, for the life of him, cannot. Even stickmen look wonky and wrong.

Kai, surprisingly enough, has amazing handwriting. Everyone gets him to write stuff like letters for them because either theres is worse then a kid in nursery, or they wanna impress someone.

Kai really likes having something around his arms, like bandages, gloves, cloth, anything. For special events, he lets Cole tie silk ribbons around his arms like bandages.

Kai wishes he had soft hands. Everyone loves the feeling of his rough hands though. It comforts them.

Kai also loves cracking his knuckles. He loves doing it around Wu, who hates the noise and smacks Kai with his staff, who cackles and does it again.

At bad times in his life, Kai sits and lights a fire when the moon is at its highest point, out in the dark where it’s cold.

Kai loves stealing Jay’s action figures by accident. Jay was annoyed at first until he saw Nya giving Skylor an unintentional wide eyed look whilst holding a doll after Skylor said “oh, yeah i forget i had this old thing, don’t really like it tbh” disinterestedly. Jay put together whats what when Skylor blinked and said Nya could have it with a grin, who legit giggled. Nya. Giggling. Jay puts his action figures on a shelf and never touches them, giving an impression to someone who isn’t a collector (who couldn’t afford to be one) that they aren’t that important. Jay begins buying more action figures and other stuff he usually wouldn’t but knows Kai or Nya would love and leave it somewhere like it’s always been there. Says something under is breath just loud enough for a peeping ear to hear about how he might throw it away, and the next day its gone. Sometimes, he outright hands it to them saying he doesn’t like it but doesn’t wanna waste it. The other ninja, plus Pixal and Wu, pick up whats going on and do the same. Later in the years (after the re-design and sog) Kai and Nya long picked up on whats going on, they still love it regardless because it makes them feel less guilty (no no guys they definitely didn’t break down sobbing after Jay gave them a water themed colouring book for adults and Kai a mimic of Mitsuri Kanroji’s sword from demon slayer (a fake), definitely not.)

(Lowkey just realised this is very similar to a Morro fanfic of ao3, No i did not realise it when i wrote it but i do now, its where Morro likes collecting seemingly useless stuff left in places no one would leave smth special at. It’s because Morro was a homeless orphan, so he takes useless things in to give them importance. Love that head canon and fanfic it’s on ao3 guys omg. Imagine resurrected Morro doing that and Kai and Nya just realising in horror that THEY do that too. They get it, and dammit Morro is more similar to them than they would’ve liked.)

Kai totally likes wearing those happy birthday head bands even when it’s not his birthday and acts like he isn’t. If someone says happy birthday to him, he looks at them all judgy like and says “Its not my birthday? What gave you that impression?”

Kai actually easily gets sick, and hates it. The others have to time his down so he’ll actually get rest and not just push through it regardless. It takes summoning the duo of Wu AND Maya to get him to stop.

When the og four ninja met for the first time and right after they stopped Garmadon and got back to their realm, they still hadn’t actually gotten to know each other so Kai used to run away from them like the secret introvert he was groomed into being and it took Nya tackling him to get him to finally play those “super cringy bonding games”

Kai was subjected to Lloyd’s glowing green eyes staring at him constantly with no words exchanged. When the silence got too much and Lloyd just kept staring Kai asks what his problem is. Lloyd says “oh nothing, muchacho” and Kai realises Lloyd is still petty over what happened in the first episode.

Yeah thats all i got i think I’m sick shdgfv

[cosmerelists]

How Shallan, Adolin, & Kaladin would Divide up Chores (If They Lived Together)

If these three were roommates (reader's choice as to whether they also share a bedroom ha ha) and also lived in the modern world, here is how I think they would divide up the house chores.

1. Laundry: Adolin

This is because Kaladin & Shallan would both look disdainfully at the "gentle cycle" or "dry clean only" instructions on a piece of clothing, shove it directly into the washer with everything else, and dump on some bargain-brand detergent. "Clothes that cannot survive this are too weak for me," Kaladin would intone and Shallan would be like, "Yeah, if they die, they die." And Adolin in the background would scream, "OKAY I DO THE LAUNDRY FROM NOW ON."

2. Dishes: Kaladin

I'm just thinking back to Kaladin's surgeon training and how his dad was like, "We must wash our hands son" and Kaladin was like, "Nobody else washes their hands are we sure that rotspren even exist" and Lirin was like, "It is the wisdom of the heralds, my son." Or something like that. Anyway, Kaladin seems to be uniquely trained in hygiene and avoiding sickness, so he should take care of the dishes.

3. Dusting: Shallan

Shallan would fill the house with art, and she wouldn't want it to get dusty (plus, I'm feeling knick-knacks from her), so I think she would be the one to make sure all of the art and books and other stuff stays dust-free.

4. Cooking: Shared

I don't think any of the three is a stand-out cook, so they should just take turns. Shallan-as-Radiant follows recipes very exactly, Kaladin keeps making soup, and Adolin is pretty sure adding wine makes any dish fancy.

...Sometimes Rock cooks for them and then they have good food.

5. Paying Bills: Kaladin

Kaladin scoffs that no lighteyes know the value of money and that Shallan & Adolin won't budget correctly, so he'll take care of any shared household finances like paying utilities. I bet he balances checkbooks, too.

6. Taking out trash: Adolin

"You can handle gross things. You poop yourself all the time," says Shallan, a wording that Adolin does not appreciate but cannot argue with.

7. Vacuuming: Shallan

Pattern likes it when the vacuum makes neat lines in the carpet and hums excitedly the whole time.

8. Grocery Shopping: Shared

No particular reason. I just think it would be cute if they all went to the grocery store together.

9. Cleaning gutters: Kaladin

It's high up there, but Kaladin is not afraid of heights. He kinda likes being on the roof. It's like chipping crem off of a roof, only it's leaves. It makes sense.

10. Answering the door: Adolin

When the doorbell rings, the resident extrovert is sent to deal with it while Shallan and Kaladin hide behind the couch.

11. Getting rid of scary bugs: Shallan

If there is a spider or a big moth or even a centipede, it is Shallan who handles it because, as a wise tumblr poster once said, "Cremlings is bugs."

[itsrainingbubbles]

I want Nami to wrangle Luffy into taking regular showers/baths and show him products of all sorts

She sits him down for a full on class with Sanji regularly bringing in snacks that Nami ordered so she could bribe Luffy

Her classes pretty much go like

"so Luffy, this is a sugar scrub. No you cannot eat it, yes I know you can eat sugar but this is a sugar scrub. So here's how you use it..."

"this is body butter, no you still cannot eat it and no it's not regular butter, do not use regular butter Sanji will kill you before I even get my hands on you"

Eventually her hard work pays off but only after law and Luffy start dating and law threatens to break up with him if he doesn't start listening to Nami and Nami is forever grateful because after Luffy got good hygiene Zoro was quick to follow because Luffy made him

("if I'm being forced to do this you have to too!")

They actually end up enjoying it a lot and Luffy told Nami to add in hygiene products into their budget

From then on the crew has regular spa days as ordered by their captain

Ngl this whole thing is just an excuse to say that the crew has regular spa days but I realize Luffy and Zoro would never so I forced good hygiene into them and lawlu is there just because I think Luffy would refuse otherwise and I love lawlu so yeah

Them just on deck with clay masks and cucumbers that Sanji will probably end up washing and making into a snack (idk how unhygienic that would be I just know Sanji wouldn't want to throw the cucumbers away) but he can't even get that far because Luffy keeps eating them

The heart pirates also joining them and laws crew often begging him to meet up with the straw hats because they know a spa day is coming up and they wanna join them

("why are you more insistent on seeing the straw hats than I am when my boyfriend is literally their captain??")

[copperbadge]

Radio Free Monday

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

Just a reminder, I do these every once in a while -- except in specific cases, unless folks fill out the Radio Free Monday submissions form, I generally don't put anything not submitted via form into RFM. Partly this is to ensure I even SEE the request (tagging me on tumblr has no guarantees, I'm afraid) but it's also to ensure that I have all the relevant information. The form is linked in the bottom of every RFM post, as well as in the header of my tumblr; if you want me to see something that's the place to put it, or if you want to direct someone to Radio Free Monday, giving them the link is super helpful. Thanks all!

Ways to Give:

webkinzcode is a disabled artist and unable to work at the moment; he's raising funds to cover rent, and currently accepting donations and offering commissions. You can read more, reblog, and find giving and commission information here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for Ola, a grad student and teacher in the faculty of science at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, whose life is one of many turned upside-down at the moment; she's raising funds to cover basic needs like food and water for her and her family. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

chibifukurou has a friend who has vertigo and EDS, and is raising funds for a second-hand Alinker (a foot-propelled mobility device); following an illness they are at an increased fall risk, and a recent fall subluxed the shoulder and collarbone on their crutch arm. You can read more and give via paypal here.

a-hackneyed-premise is raising funds for a car that is suitable transport for her disabled son; he is neurodivergent and frequently has mobility issues, and they need to be able to get him reliably to and from transport to his school. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to longhorned's fundraiser for Laureae, a small Native farmer who has built up her farm over the last five years and was recently served an eviction notice; she had been promised by the land owner that she would be given a purchase agreement, but the land can now be sold off and both her and her tenants like Longhorned removed. You can read more and reblog here or support the fundraiser here.

liminalweirdo is raising funds for emergency vet fees for their cat Quintin; you can read more and reblog here or support the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for Pillowfort, which needs to meet a $5K goal to keep in operation beyond December of this year; they're currently at just over $3K. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

Recurring Needs:

thegeeksqueaks's school district has shorted her on her summer teacher's budget; she can't afford her own bills much less stocking her classroom for back-to-school. She's raising funds to get her students school supplies and personal support -- food and hygiene tools for underserved kids as well as various aids for neurodivergent kids. You can read more and reblog here, give via DonorsChoose here or via paypal here, or purchase from an Amazon wishlist here.

onedollopofsourcream is raising funds for food and medication for their family including young children; they need medication that is important for family mental health. You can read more, reblog, and find giving information here.

chingaderita's family was recently impacted by a house fire that destroyed their home; their partner has been unable to work and is now ill. They're raising funds for basic needs such as food and water, as well as medication for their partner and other family members. You can read more, reblog, and support the fundraiser here.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can post items for my attention at the Radio Free Monday submissions form. If you're new to fundraising, you may want to check out my guide to fundraising here.

[cheshire-silent-cat]

A Pirate’s married life

Jun Guevara x female! Reader

Author note: this is just fluff, I’ll go back to nsfw soon but for now enjoy this cute dynamic between you two. I hope you enjoy this really short story and please leave your comments and requests I’m open to them all.

***************story begins here************

As soon as you and Guevara start living together as a married couple a lot of things in his life will need adjusting, some against his will, some he doesn’t really mind but ultimately he is trying his best to be the perfect husband for you so as long as it makes his love happy he would do it.

* The first and most important thing is redecorating, although guevara lives a very humble life giving a majority of his earning back to the community his home still looks like a tree house before you. This man had no time for colour coordination and he did not care if his interior looked good because until now he spent the majority of his time out on the sea. But to put it simply almost every aspect of his home was dark Oakwood brown, the ceiling, walls and floor seemed to match, and all the colours of the furniture clashed (green, red, blue, basically anything he looked at and bought for the sake of it).

Once you got his permission you got rid of almost everything in the house leaving the floors as the colour they were, then painting the ceilings white and the walls light grey, even though he wouldn’t boldly admit it he loved the change but he loved working with you to paint and redecorate even more, the furnitures now matched the colours of the ceiling and floor blending well with the environment.

Installing the furnitures took forever because your husband’s large hands prevented him from twisting smaller knots so you had to do it while he watched and then lifted the heavy object sometimes showing off by doing some bicep curls with the objects and winking at you or just lifting you and the object at the same time, it made no difference to him cause he always got a cute giggle out of you.

* The next thing you worked on was comfort, Guevara being a man of the sea was used to sleeping on a hammock without any sheets or anything bothersome for him to tidy up later, his room was quite empty because he was a busy man, switching to a Bed was a no brainier, the issue was finding a big enough bed for him that was also very sturdy for his body weight and when he wanted to have fun with his wife. Guevara might be busy and humble but you were built for the budgeting life so when you saw the prices of some of the beds you both decided to just build your own.

Well he fully intended to help but his big hands put him in the position of muscle, overall he was very impressed with your work, he had no idea your grandfather used to be a carpenter, and you had learned from him so much so that you had engraved carvings on the headboard to keep the bed interesting, and even though Guevara protested about getting the bed the loudest he ended up being the one that slept in it the most, his constant excuse being “well I can’t just let the hard work of my wife go to waste, I’m a good hubby” to which you always rolled your eyes before cuddling with him.

* Another thing you got to was hygiene, we have already emphasised how busy your husband is, being a very important figure in your community, he never had time for change and barely had time for himself, which is on if the reasons why he has always wanted a housewife, sure he is the type of man to obey his wife like a lost puppy led by a string, he is also the type of man that values housework never making the mistake of underestimating his much work goes into the maintenance of a home, he is grateful for you, all your actions makes him want to take care of you so well, spoil you rotten, I mean you have important duties in the community that come with being his wife (making you a half housewife) but you never failed to serve him freshly made breakfast in the morning before work, “Is this freshly squeezed…..where do you get the time to be such an amazing wife” he dotes “bye honey” you said kissing him and then walking out of the door.

What he wasn’t grateful for was you throwing his half dead toothbrush into a black bag you held like a beach cleaner, “ugh so much junk” you moaned getting tired of finding new things to throw out “hey, no I don’t like this” he protested but you did not listen, bending down to clear the cabinet, “I do love the view though” he chuckled, relaxing into the door frame. You threw the bag out with no mercy, cleaning the bathroom like it had been dirty in the first place, then you brought in a new bag organising new essentials that made Guevara nervous, a stack of white clean towels with face towels on the top, 2 toothbrushes and a ceramic toothbrush holder that cutely showed off your marital status, some small decor in the bathroom, cleaning essential for the cabinet under the sink, new soap, soap holder and even better quality sponges. “You are enjoying this aren’t you” he scoffed, “can you tell” you answered sarcastically, letting him kiss your hand, he has to admit your prepared state was very attractive.

* “I’m so bored” Guevara whined as you stared at the blue wardrobe in your room, opening it “no wait-“ an avalanche of clothes buried you, you quickly swam out, pulling out the rest of the clothes, he helped you move the wardrobe out of the house, installing a new one, same size, more organised compartments, better long lasting wood quality and a better design compared to the old one. “Since you are bored come and help me fold these clothes” you said patting the floor next to you from where you sat.

Out of everything he did with you to adjust to the married life, this has to be his favourite, just sitting close to you, folding clothes and talking about nothing that mattered that much, laughing with each other and sometimes stopping to play fight, even if the process of organising your shared wardrobe took forever and a part of the two of you wishes it could be like that forever.

* You both finally finished and looking at the final results Guevara would be the biggest liar on earth if he dude say he was happy with the results, wrapping his big arms around you he kissed your forehead “I’m so glad we did this, I love you so much” he said in his corny Casanova voice, if made you giggle a bit before facing him, a mischievous grin plastered across your face, you placed your hand on his shoulders looking into his handsome eyes “I love you too honey…..but what do you mean we, techno this was me, how ever I do have something for you to do” you said holding him by the wrist and leading him to the backyard.

“Babyyyyy I don’t want to do this” Guevara whined, looking to you for mercy, “if you be a big boy I’ll get you a toy, do you want a toy” you teased sarcastically sipping apple juice with a straw as you watched him. Placing his large masculine hands on the mower he pulled the string to get it started and began to drag it along the grass, a chore that he had been putting off since you both had been dating, you had begged him to just do it claiming that you couldn’t grow flowers in such a messy place only to recieve bouquets after bouquets of flowers, but at least now he was doing it and he was so focused about it to and you could have sworn that he kept glancing at you searching for a gaze of approval from your part, once done he dramatically laid on the floor acting as though he had just solved world hunger, in these small ways he was such a big baby, you walked over to him as he sat up, handing him a cold glass of juice and kissing his forehead, “so I did that good huh?” He asked teasing you, “yes you did, in fact you did so good I got you a toy after all” pointing in the far distance, Guevara stood up to look around, finding his precious hammock installed between two palm trees in his garden, with a hand knitted pillow adorning its comfy cozy beauty, overjoyed Guevara grabs a hold of you dipping you and placing a deep long kiss on your lips, he didn’t care who say because at the end of the day your husband was the type of man that expressed a lot of pda as much as he damn well pleased.

[collidescopeeyes]

Random Relationship Headcanons: Pyke

- Whittles in his free time. Always has a piece of wood and a carving knife on him, his pockets always have sawdust shavings in them. Likes working with bone too, but that's less portable. Forgot about it for a while after he died, but he tries to keep it up after the Deep loosens it's hold on him, it helps keep him occupied. Works more with bone after though; knives are somehow just a bit sharper in his hands. He always gives you the nicest ones, but he's very particular about which ones turned out good enough

- Pre-Deep, wakes up at the crack of dawn. Can be convinced to come back to bed for exactly as long as it takes you to fall asleep again. Post-Deep doesn't need to sleep, but still sticks around as long as it takes you to fall sleep before slipping away.

- Likes salty and spicy flavours, but is also used to eating whatever's convenient for sustenence. He has a few dishes he learned from his mom that he can make really well, but that's from years of practice: he needs to be given Very Specific Instructions for anything else or he's hopeless. Makes a god tier chili but it's so hot you WILL cry and he WILL laugh at you

- Post-Deep, he still needs to eat, but left to his own devices he just eats raw fish like some kind of extremely budget sashimi chef. He came back with sharper teeth, and he can't exactly get sick anymore.

- Speaking of post-Deep changes, doesn't need to breathe, and doesn't have a heartbeat anymore. He can see in the dark and in water incredibly well, but he's actually a bit blind during the day.

- His sense of smell is fucked from years of exposure to chemicals and offal on the slaughter docks, hence why he likes food with strong flavours; aromatics are wasted on him. VERY strict with personal hygiene bc of that, he knows he can't tell if he smells like blood and death and he doesn't want to gross you out. Steals your soap though, if he notices he smells like lavender he doesn't care.

- Forgets to act like a human being sometimes. Pre-Deep that was just peak bachelor behavior like eating a tomato like it's an apple cuz it's food and it's fast. Post-Deep he's just Weird, like stands in one spot looming and not blinking not breathing for an hour weird. Tries not to do it in front of you, but you're the only person he cares about not freaking out.

- Always smells like the sea, has calloused hands but is always very gentle with you (unless in some very specific situations where you don't want him to be wink wonk). His tattoos go up his arms and down his back. Feels kind of uncomfortable when he's out and around other people without his bandana up, he's just so used to it.

- His mother was Buhru serpent caller and his father a Freljordian who joined up with with the Noxian Navy during one of their northern campaigns. Father died young, mother when he was 18. Pretty much been on his own since then, never really had anyone especially important to him in that time and is used to taking care of himself. Pretty much never treats himself to nice things so the task has to fall to you. Consequentially, has zero immunity to you doing nice things for him just because; pack him a lunch with a sweet note and he’s Gone that's It, Pyke.exe has Stopped Responding

- Resting murder face that gets worse when he's embarrassed. His levels of flustered are directly proportionate to how much he looks like he's about to stab someone. His ears get red though, it's cute.

- Punctual and has an excellent memory, if you ask him to do something he'll do it no questions asked. If you tell him to meet you in a random alleyway at 10:05am with a grocery list of 16 things, he's there on the dot and to the letter.

- Fantastic whistler, great singing voice, you'll literally never catch him doing it. If you're sick or something he might be persuaded to hum you a lullaby.

- Thinks actions count more than words, and that being reliable and showing up is way more important than any grand gesture. If you're having a bad day he'll bring you coffee or a snack you like, chores are done so there's nothing for you to worry about when you get home, anything he can do to make your day less stressful. Doesn't mention it either, it's just natural to him, like obviously he's gonna do whatever he can to help. Likewise, it doesn't take much to keep him happy, just as long as he knows he can rely on you.

- Appreciates physical closeness but doesn't usually initiate it. Not really used to recognizing when he wants something, just kinda goes from mysteriously being unhappy to internally having a little :) thought bubble above his head when you sit down next to him (still looks pissed tho but that's just his face don't worry about it). Doesn't need to talk or anything, just likes being close to you.

- Great listener, you might worry he's not paying attention because he tends not to say much, but he'll remember every word. Will happily listen to you talk about literally anything that interests you, if it's important to you it's important to him.

- If there's a problem you need to work out just tell him. He'll notice if something is up but he trusts you'll come to him when you're ready to talk. Great at listening and trying to understand where you're coming from but isn't great at recognizing or articulating his own feelings, so he needs time to think about how to respond. Please be patient with him, he's trying his best.

- Not really jealous or possessive but has a natural ‘don’t fuck with me’ aura that means no one even thinks of getting too friendly with you, even before he became the Blood Harbor Ripper. Ngl, he enjoys it, means he gets to monopolize you–anyone who knows you well know he's harmless (to them).

- Post-Deep, gets more protective and…not really clingy but he Hovers. You're the most important thing in the world to him, you're his reprieve from the voices and the only good thing he has left in a world that's fucked him over and he's shit scared of losing you. Even when he can't actively be beside you, he still prefers to keep tabs on you from the shadows when he can. The Ripper thing gets in the way less than you'd think; no one really lives to say what he looks like and what does get passed on is very exaggerated, and freaky glowing eyes are more common than you'd think in Runeterra--plus, the Ripper's not just gonna be walking around, psh. He hates crowds now though and worries he won't be able to control his reactions, so if you're running errands at a market or something don't expect company. Gets antsy if he hasn't seen you in a while, so don't be surprised if he's disproportionately relieved to see you.

- Post-Deep, has a much harder time relaxing, his memory is a lot hazier, and he gets confused when things don't line up with what he has in his head. The voices are distracting and he's not always sure what's real and what's not. The Deep fucked him up and he's still sort of figuring how to deal with it–its pretty unclear how much of what's going on with him is actual literal magic and how much is a man with severe PTSD struggling to make sense of his new reality

- Anyway I finished playing the Ruined King game and my epilogue hc is the part in that where Illaoi offers to help break his curse and he goes to teach the Buhru about sea monsters. His list becomes his list, not about what the Deep wants but about protecting people who can't protect themselves. He finds connection with an estranged heritage and purpose in helping protect Bilgewater, either through helping the serpent callers or through putting fear into Bilgewaters scummiest.

NSFW (under cut)

- His job keeps him away from you for long stretches of time and by God is he gonna make up for that

- High libido but is used to managing that on his own, jerking off twice a day just was just kinda part of his daily routine; if you're in the mood he much much prefers coming to you instead

- Definitely a dom, likes being a bit rough with you. Gets immense satisfaction out of making a mess out of you, hand in your hair whispering filthy things in your ear while pounding you within an inch of your life. Loves hearing you beg and whimper. Act up if you want a spanking, you're not getting out of here without cumming at LEAST three times anyway

- Loves it when you're loud, it's his personal goal to extract as many noises from you as he can and he doesn't give a fuck who hears. Dirty talk aside, he's not very vocal himself, but God does he sound good when you do get a moan out of him

- Can and will manhandle you. Holds your wrists in one hand or pulls your head back with a firm grasp on your hair, holds your throat so he can feel your pulse pounding, flips you over or pushes you down so he can fuck you better. If you're getting home and he's in a mood you're getting picked up and fucked against the front door, neighbors who?? He wrestles sea monsters for a living, you basically weigh nothing to him, and he loves how cute and pliant you get when he's fucking your brains out ❤️

- Big fan of oral, giving and receiving. Eats pussy like he doesn't need to breath, he thinks you taste great and he loves making you squirm--be warned, this will work him up and you will be getting railed after, how many times you already came on his tongue is really irrelevant. Likewise, he thinks you're so pretty on your knees struggling to fit his cock in your mouth, and he makes sure he tells you that and what a good job you're doing ❤️

- He has thick fingers and by God does he know how to use them, can reduce you to a puddle with one hand up your skirt. If you're feeling bold enough to tease him in public you will inevitably find yourself in some dark corner with one leg hiked up to his hip while he makes you see stars. There are a lot of areas where he's a patient man, and this is not one of them--you fuck around you WILL be finding out.

- If you wear lingerie it's not coming out intact, sorry. Something about it just makes him want to wreck you, prettier the better. That being said, he can't decide whether you look better with his cum dripping out of you or off of you--help him decide, will you?

- Will happily let you take charge, he likes seeing you chasing your own pleasure. If you want to do any kind of edge play on him though he will need to be physically restrained, and he will get so growly about it. At his most desperate he doesn't even sound human anymore.

- Occasionally, just wants something slow and intimate, you in his lap with your arms around his neck, just taking the time to enjoy each other. He's a softy at heart, he doesn't know how to ask for it but sometimes he just craves a bit of romance.

- After, cleans you up and holds you until you fall asleep, occasionally presses a kiss to your hair. Actually gets super sulky if you don't have time to cuddle properly. He's not great with words, so it's an important way for him to show how deeply he cares about you.

[xxsycamore]

𝐈𝐤𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐬… 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐬!

↬ May 10th is Maid Day!! The residents get the perfect idea of letting Sebastian rest for a day while they take care of the chores in his stead... while dressed up as maids. Of course, they need a little guidance about what needs to be done, so naturally, they address Sebastian as their Goshujin-sama and ask for orders!

Napoleon as a maid: The Badass Maid

Initially is assigned to take care of the cooking, and is very skilled at doing so. This maid doubles as a bodyguard! When Master Sebastian is surprisingly attacked by a group of thugs, Napoleon steps in with his rapier in hand - fighting in a maid dress is child's play for him! The long frilled skirts swoosh in the air and the headband is still perfectly secured on his head by the time he's got his high-heel-boot-clad foot on a defeated thug's chest!

Mozart as a maid: The Harsh Maid

This maid will make a disgusted face at you if you're clumsy and spill your tea everywhere, making a mess. Mozart self-appoints himself for everything that involves cleaning, not trusting another maid with this task, as he's quite the pedant when it comes to hygiene. Will scold Sebastian if he abuses his day of leisure by eating in bed. If he's being too cruel, he'll offer to play the piano for his Goshujin-sama as an apology.

Leonardo as a maid: The Lazy Maid

This maid does nothing but sleep! He even gets in the way of the Harsh Maid with his large body blocking the corridor and making it hard to sweep the floor. He doesn't care about manspreading even when wearing a maid dress! But you can't be mad at him, with so many inexperienced maids running around, there has to be someone at the ready for fixing broken gadgets and appliances - he is allowed to nap off the time he's not needed.

Isaac as a maid: The Genius Maid

Managing the budget, listing pending renovations and maintenance work, doing Comte's letter correspondence outside of acquaintances, organizing the upcoming ball... who thought Sebastian did all of this too, on top of his other chores?! Isaac tries his best taking care of these things, which bonds him to a desk for the most of the day - and it's perfect for him, because it means he won't show up in front of the others in this absurd short maid dress!

Vincent as a maid: The Angelic Maid

Vincent's only chore could be radiating happiness, because a room with him in it is a room where smiles and flowers are blooming. This maid has to be kept off the kitchen, and the others ended up telling him to make up the beds instead. Since he got done early with that, Sebastian "ordered him" to paint whatever he wants while he's resting contently in the shade not far from where Vincent happily paints in the garden. His maid dress ends up all covered in colorful stains...

Theodorus as a maid: The Bossy Maid

Wearing a maid dress doesn't stop this maid to be scary when angered! Theo's crossed arms are even more noticeably muscular with the short, frilly sleeves. His job is overseeing the other maids and making sure they're not slacking off. He's a bit of a perfectionist, so much to Sebastian's dismay, he ends up rearranging a whole section of the kitchen or another corner of the mansion to what he believes is more convenient for doing quick and efficient work.

Let me know if you want part two! 🤍🖤

Taglist:

@arsnovacadenza @ale-teodora @kimi00twin @otomelady @privilegedpancake @g-kleran    @pumpumnnnp @thesirenwashere @ravenarld @kimmy-banana @devonares @animeworldsposts @randomanimatedhusbandoseeker @galaxyprison @sadshaxk @starshards26 @pro-cat-stination @acethephoenix256 @ikevamp-shrine-2 @nad-zeta @crystal13unny @keen19thcenturygoatsstudent @lordsister @ikemen-banshou   @themysticalbeing @canaria-blackwell @otome-scribbles @rhodolitesrose @coornn @kpop-and-otome @queen-dahlia @kisara-16 @chaosangel767 @ikemenlibrary @queengiuliettafirstlady @aurora-morning @aquagirl1978 ​ @ikemenlover24 @violettduchess @mcofthemansion @joy-the-reader @katriniac @ikemen-writer @tele86 @cilokgoang Let me know if you want to be tagged/untagged!

[slimearchon]

Artem x Gn Reader Paper cuts and tea cups

You sighed as you flicked through the massive mountain of papers on your desk. You had taken on a case that came with a lot of technical details and it was also heavy on a topic you had no knowledge of so your paper work was doubled due to the research you were also doing to fully understand the case.

You settled into your office chair, thanking the executives that provided the whole floor with an office chair each. You had loved the chair since it was pulled out of the box and researched the brand in hopes of buying your little desk at home a new chair.

The two thousand dollar price tag had sent you running to click the exit on the tab. Way out of your budget. So you settled for simply appreciating the one you had at work that got you through the long hours.

You shuffled through your desk to look for the finger grips that helped you flip through the page’s easier. You only spotted a hygiene balm that replaced the need to lick your finger tip to flick through the pile of pages. You used it a few times before you grew tired of the waxy feel on your fingers.

You closed the drawer closed with more force than needed but the soft close mechanism on the drawer prevented your fellow coworkers from hearing it slam in anger.

There was an office thief around and they had taken your finger grips.

You trudge on through the paper work bare handed. The clock on the wall ticking away, making your last hour of work seem to last longer.

You were unaware of Artem peeking at you from the office kitchen. He had seen how you were diligently working away and wanted to brew you a cup of your favorite tea to help you through the later half of the workday.

His hands were warmed by the mug, his hands somehow transferring the warmth to his face as he gazed at you from afar.

You truly put him under a love spell.

He took a deep breath before making his way over to you, nearing closer he said your name. “I made you some tea.”

He picked up a pile of papers and moved them to the side to be able to set the mug down onto the desk. He peered at the vast amount of papers.

“Let’s hope this court case is over with soon. I can’t have my employees overwork themselves.” He commented, his voice soft and warm.

“Thanks for the tea.” You smiled, reaching to take a sip from the cup.

He didn’t have anything more to add so while he wanted to linger around you and your bright presence he slipped away from the desk and walked back to his office, he left his door open in case you wanted to come to him for some questions you might have.

He was curious when he heard a knock on his door not even a minute later, you two were the last employees on the floor. Even without the workplace being vacant he would be able to recognize your unique knock anywhere.

“Do you know where the bandaids are?” You leaned your head over the doorway, half your body behind the doorway.

He stood up, pushing his office chair back with force. “What happened? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” His blue eyes darted around your form, frantic.

You smiled and lifted a finger, “Just a silly paper cut.”

“An injury isn’t silly. Let me see.” He rushes over to your side and lifts your hand to his eye level.

Beads of crimson pebble on your fingertip. He tutted his lips, his brow pinching. He leads you to the communal kitchen and opens a draw along the way.

Quickly grabbing a bandaid from the box and closing it shut with his hip. He led you to the sink and held your hand under the faucet.

He turned it on and watched as the blood washed down the drain. He gave you a half grimace and smile when you hissed that it hurt a bit.

He had also plucked up some healing ointment from the drawer. He got a napkin and spread the cream onto your cut before carefully wrapping it in the bandaid.

You would think he was performing surgery with the way he was so focused on wrapping the bandage so delicately around your finger.

“You can’t wrap it too tight or else you can cut off the blood flow in your finger.” He said, as he smoothed down the bandaid.

You just nodded at his words, trying to stop the warmth from his body heat and the breath that fanned your hand from sending warmth across your chest and cheeks.

Artem seemed like a stern man but he was always so gentle and kind with you.

“Thanks.” You finally found your words, your hand still clasped in his even after he was done helping you.

He looked down at your intertwined hands and abruptly dropped your hands. “No problem, anything to help out a fellow employee. I have a few papers to look over. Let me know if you need anything.”

He skirted past you and down the hall into his office. Just as he was out of your sight he instantly grabbed at his chest.

His face boiling hot. His feelings for you were just getting stronger, he only hopes you might return his feelings one day.

[fruitchouli]

winter candy apple smells so nostalgic but i don’t really feel fond of it. it’s the kind of fruity that smells just like shampoo—too clean. it smells just like a middle school girl in the late 2000s. i feel like my friend Morgan who liked telling people she was pregnant by the boys she had crushes on,!and ended up moving to Florida before 8th grade must have used some product in this scent. i think this scent would honestly work best in a soap or hand sanitizer because it smells like a fragrance meant for use in some really hygienic product, but I’m am interested to try layering it actually. I smelled it while wearing Twisted Peppermint hand cream and it worked really well.

Now,how do you rank the three winter pillars; Vanilla Bean Noel, Twisted Peppermint, and, of course, Winter Candle Apple? For me, Winter Candy Apple is the clear third place flop because I don’t often find myself with the urge to smell like a 11 year old girl who saturated her greasy hair with body spray instead of washing it before school. Second is Twisted Peppermint, which I find fun and novel in just how minty it is. I do think I prefer that smell in a body lotion or cream rather than a body spritz, though. My number one is Vanilla Bean Noel. Very reminiscent of the iconic Body Fantasies Vanilla spray, so of course I love it. It’s true, I have a weakness for cheap synthetic vanillas. That reminds me, I cannot stand when people think they’re doing something by critiquing a BBW spray, or any other cheap body spray, for smelling cheap and synthetic. It’s like when film hoes (most always the MAN ones) critique 60s and 70s no budget exploitation films for having bad acting. Some people just love getting on my nerves…

[bao3bei4]

zine finance and fulfillment

hi everyone. now that i’ve completed the “spending money” part of “yaoi zine 2” (for the most part. i hope nothing gets lost in the mail, although i’ve resigned myself to it), i thought i would make a long boring post about zine finance and fulfillment. this is because people talk about it less than other parts of zine making online. so i hope this will be of interest or use to at least one person.

none of this should be new to anyone who’s ran a zine before, but my hope is to give people who are interested in it some food for thought so that we have more cool zines that i can buy. 

before we begin. a brief disclaimer: i am kind of half-assed about good zine finance hygiene. that is to say, i keep the money in my personal checking account, i don’t have a llc, etc. i do declare zine income on my taxes (i write it almost all of it off, since i only make not-for-profit zines). this is because i am twenty three years old and i have a small scale operation. i recognize and acknowledge that i do not follow best practices, and someone else should write a long boring post about what all best practices entails. 

this post is about how i price my zines, and my workflow for fulfillment. that’s all it is. i hope that it is useful for anyone else trying to cheaply and quickly make and sell maybe 150 zines or so to their friends and followers. 

so i do a sort of stupid model for my zines, which is that i charge a flat rate to send a zine anywhere in the world. this is a stupid model because, in the case of “yaoi zine 2,” the “real cost” of sending one zine to the united states is $11.58. the “real cost” to send a zine to, say, the united kingdom is $24.20. you may notice that this means it actually costs me five dollars and twenty cents every time someone in the united kingdom buys a zine, as i priced the zines at $19 each. this is generally a horrible business model. as i write this now, i am realizing that i really should have made the zines $24, steep as it is. just because yikes. -$5.20. 

but i like doing it this way because it feels fairer. and also because i’m the sole proprietor of “tshirt zines” and i can do whatever i want. i just am commenting that i cannot ethically tell you to adopt this model, since i’ve signed the hippocratic oath. this is because you need to be okay with using your personal funds to cover any losses that you take as a result of this model. this is true for all zines, but like. especially here. 

back to the matter at hand. how did i arrive at that $19 number, knowing that i would lose money on at least some sales? 

there are basically four components i keep in mind: shipping materials (think envelopes, labels, toner for my printer), printing cost (i just call up printers and ask for estimates), shipping cost (i’ll talk more about this in a sec), and stripe fees (.029 * price + 0.30 atm). use a spreadsheet to keep them straight. 

i went over budget on shipping materials because i last minute decided to make little freebie one page zines and burned through a bunch of toner in the process, so we won’t talk about that. this one is simple, anyway. you know how to figure out the price of mailing envelopes.

printing cost. i like working with local printers, if i can. if the zine is too big for me to print at home, but small enough it can be saddle stitched, i’ve worked with lightning press here in the bay area, and keith has never let me down. great guy. for perfect bound zines, like “yaoi zine 2,” i used mixam.com. i wasn’t the biggest fan, quite a few zines came a little bent or warped (this is why you order extra. that and in case they get lost in the mail). keith would NEVER do that to me. i’ve also heard good things about bookmobile, but i was keeping it simple for this printing. dm me if you’ve used them. 

anyway, all told, the price of an individual zine shipped to me, taxes and everything was $6.14. i estimated that it would cost $6.

shipping cost. so since i do aforementioned stupid model, i have to arrive at a number. PERSONALLY. the number i PERSONALLY have arrived at. based on my particular following. after doing five internationally shipped zines, is that i can usually expect 70% domestic orders, 30% international. i guesstimate the weight of the zine by stacking and weighing other zines i have until i get a decent facsimile (NB you should probably just weigh your proof but i wanted to expedite the timeline), and then i check these charts. peep the “large envelope” numbers. 

domestic: https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#_c037 

international: https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#_c341

i actually used media mail for my domestic orders, this time, because of the size. so it cost $3.92 to mail one zine domestically, and rounding between all the zones, i guessed that it would cost $16 for most international zines. 

i then did the following equation (0.7 * 3.92) + (0.3 *16) = $7.24

actually i’m lying. i did (0.7 * 3) + (0.3 *12) = $5.70 because i underestimated the weight of the zine so that’s on me. i rounded that number to $6. 

“what about canada” shipping to canada is actually basically the same cost as that mean zine shipping cost. so they don’t actually affect my calculations at all. 

stripe fees. self explanatory. remember them, though. 

anyway. zine price = shipping materials + printing cost times two + averaged shipping cost + stripe fees. 

now, you may notice that i underestimated a lot of things. how did i break even? three reasons. 

first, LUCK! that’s right. my ratio this time was skewed more in the favor of us zines than international zines, about 80-20. who knows why. probably the strong us dollar atm made it cost prohibitive for many people. geopolitics strikes again.

and second, actually i made about $580 profit, that i had to disburse. i was never actually in danger of losing money, because of that “printing cost times two” i skipped over really fast. the purpose of that is to cover printing and shipping free copies for all contributors. i arrived at the number two because 1) according to oomf that’s apparently standard, 2) it’s a nice round number, and 3) if i sold 50 copies (my original lowball estimate of how many i would sell) that was my break even number to print contributor copies.

$580/$12.88 (my actual raw cost of a zine, without stripe fees) = about 45. i had 21 contributors, so after mailing them out zines, i had around $300 profit, or 24 zines worth of it, left. this is where the money for the giveaway zines came from!

third. i also had some profit from selling “yaoi zine 1” again which HADN’T gone over my estimate. because i’d shipped them before. this helped pay me back for all the extra expenses. 

let’s talk about more logistics. i use bigcartel for my storefront because it’s free. that’s literally the only reason why. i use stripe instead of paypal because to make it a business account (and not expose my legal name to everyone) i would have needed to update my account with an id and that would reveal to them that i created my paypal account when i was 13. stripe has no such problem for me. 

i fulfilled orders this time using “pirate ship” because, again, free. in the past i’ve used shipstation + stamps dot com combo, because that afaik is the only bigcartel integrated service that allows you to buy letter mail postage (i want to send them as letters, not packages, because it’s cheaper). but that you have to pay money for, or use the free trial. since i was using media mail this time, pirate ship was good enough for me. 

when all of the zines arrived at my house i began stuffing envelopes and printing labels with the help of a lovely friend. don’t do this alone you EITHER get really bored or you slip into that sports manga ass trance that anyone who’s ever done repetitive labor has experienced and the day blips by. instead i had fun with a friend.

now. there is no way. as far as i know. to buy international letter mail stamps online. this is because you are not supposed to use it for your online store because you can only send things with a value of $0. and they have to be documents. so using them for zines is really skirting legality here unforch. 

WHAT I DO INSTEAD. i go to the closest post office with that pitney bowes machine, and i monopolize it printing postage. yeah. go at an off time. BE PREPARED to annoy everyone else at the post office. let them take turns with you obviously, but there will be some mean old lady who will make a snarky comment about you so stay fucking safe. 

 i think that’s everything i have to explain about my process. go make a zine. and consider selling it. 

[rviner]

OUTREACH OFFICES - EQUINOX

Outreach is a nonprofit organization committed to improving the quality of life for residents on The Station, particularly those from The Wards and Equinox. The organization provides a wide range of support services to help individuals overcome social, economic, and health-related challenges, aiming to create a more equitable environment on The Station.

Employment Assistance:

Job Training Programs: Outreach offers hands-on vocational training, from technical skills needed in Silo maintenance to administrative roles on Equinox. These programs aim to equip residents with the skills to find stable employment.

Resume Building & Interview Prep: Career advisors provide one-on-one guidance to improve resumes and interview techniques, giving residents the tools they need to secure jobs in the competitive markets of Equinox and beyond.

Debt Management & Financial Guidance:

Debt Counseling: Many lower-level residents are trapped in cycles of debt. Outreach provides financial counseling to help manage and reduce debt through budgeting and repayment plans.

Credit Repair Programs: Working with Vertex Capital Systems (VCS), Outreach offers workshops on credit improvement and financial literacy, giving residents the knowledge to navigate the station’s financial systems.

Legal Assistance:

Document Support: Residents often struggle to obtain legal documents for housing, employment, or medical needs. Outreach assists individuals with navigating the bureaucratic process to acquire or renew legal documentation.

Legal Advocacy: With connections to law firms, Outreach helps residents with labor disputes, unfair housing practices, and securing basic rights, empowering them against systemic inequalities.

Health and Wellness Services:

Healthcare Access: Outreach works with healthcare providers to help lower-level residents access essential health services, including vaccinations, primary care, and specialist treatments that are often harder to obtain in The Wards.

Health Resources Distribution: Through partnerships with medical suppliers, Outreach distributes essential medical supplies like clean air filters, water purifiers, and basic medications to families in need.

Mental Health Support: Outreach provides access to therapy and counseling services, offering mental health care to those who are struggling with the stresses of life in the lower levels.

Resource Distribution:

Food and Essentials Aid: Outreach runs food distribution programs, providing nutrient-rich meals to struggling families. They also distribute essential goods like hygiene products, clothing, and shelter assistance for those in dire need.

Energy and Water Assistance: Outreach helps residents maintain access to basic utilities by providing support with paying bills or advocating for more affordable rates for those living in The Wards, where resource scarcity is more common.

Community Empowerment & Social Advocacy:

Workshops and Events: Outreach hosts educational workshops on topics like workers’ rights, financial literacy, and community organizing, empowering residents to advocate for themselves.

Civic Engagement: Outreach encourages political involvement, supporting efforts to push for reforms that improve living conditions in The Wards and other lower levels.

However, due to being a non profit and facing many barriers during the two years since starting, Outreach has a limited number of spaces and resources. Waiting lists are long and often times they have to turn people away, meaning there's some mixed reviews floating about how good Outreach even is.

[thedisablednaturalist]

My parents found out about the present I bought myself for my birthday. I worked my max hours to afford it. I had it shipped to my bfs house so they wouldn't see it. Apparently I missed a receipt that was hidden in the box. Idk how they got it anyway cause I put the box out with the trash/recycling. My mom was being so cruel about it and how I keep buying myself "lavish" gifts (most stuff I buy for fun is like $10-$50 max). I always plan my purchases and have never missed a credit card payment. Most of my money goes towards doctors visits, medication, car maintenance and gas, accessibility items/ergonomic stuff, cat food and litter, and hygiene. Recently I stopped most of my subscriptions save for a cheap minecraft server. The bulk of my pay goes into savings which have really grown since I got my raise. I also give my parents $400 in rent each month. I'm trying to save up for a recliner to replace my bed but I don't want to use the money I've already put away.

Like ok, maybe I'm not mr.frugal. maybe i sometimes buy more expensive things because they're more convenient (like already cut vegetables/fruit or preprepared meals) but like my hands fucking hurt and sometimes I don't have the spoons to feed myself. Maybe I fall prey to impulse purchases once in a while. Im learning and I'm trying to learn how to budget bc now I have to also pay for insurance until I can get on medicaid.

My mom acts like I don't care. She sees amazon packages come for me and think theyre all toys or expensive skincare or junk when its actually body wipes for when I cant shower/so i dont come back from the field to the office all stinky. Its a trash can I can keep on my bedshelf so I dont throw trash onto the floor instead. Its knee braces because my knees fucking suck. Once in a while Ill see something on sale that ive been wanting for a while and will grab it. And the most expensive skincare I use is $20 for a jar that lasts me 3 months. I have to keep my skin clear or ill pick and have scabs and blood all over my face again. I spend money on drag because it MAKES me money. Last time I got paid $100 from the venue and $50 in tips. One time I got paid $300 from the venue (i dont remember how much in tips).

Im trying my best. Im working with 3 government agencies rn to get a job and get health coverage. Im working my ass off at my job when i probably shouldnt be working (my mom laughed when I mentioned this). I'm constantly doing things to earn me money or to make life a bit less painful. Even streaming is a desperate attempt to make a career/side gig out of something I enjoy and doesn't make me flare up. I only watch shows when im with my bf or when im doing chores or working. I rarely play video games. When I flare I lay in bed and scroll Tumblr or play a mindless dress up game where I only have to move my thumb. I cry almost everyday. I cry on the way to work. I cry holding my cat in so much pain i cant move.

The only big frivilous purchases I've made is the present and a new graphics card (I haven't replaced my old one in a decade). The present cost $230 and the graphics card cost $800. Both of these I saved for. I might buy a nice skirt once in a while but thats pretty much it. I also spread out big purchases over time when I can.

Am I spoiled? Maybe. Maybe my parents are right and I'm a lazy spoiled kid who just makes excuses. But my pain is real, constant, and severe.

I have friends who's birthday presents consist of trips to fucking italy or the bahamas. Who complain when their parents drag them on yet another international vacation. Some are amazing people who are grateful and work their asses off. And some of them are a bit entitled. My mom said most 26 year olds are living on their own with jobs and I fucking laughed. The only 26 year olds with their own apartments especially in my area either have 5 roommates in a 2 bedroom shithole, got lucky and have a high paying tech job, their parents pulled strings to get them hired, or their parents are paying partly or fully for their apartment.

And when i tried to find an apartment? She discouraged me and told me id never be able to afford one (correct) but now im suddenly able to when it suits her argument? Ive been heavily job hunting for over a year and got ONE interview who ghosted me after two interviews. I make $2k MAX. Rent in my area is $1700-2500 for a freaking studio. The $1700 one doesn't let you see the apartment and gets snapped up immediately. And these are all apartments within a 2 hour radius. All the "affordable housing" is for people 55 and older.

Like I literally have no options. I can't move until I get a job in that area. I can't leave the country cause Im disabled and also thats fucking expensive. My bf makes less than me and even combined we couldn't afford a place.

Literally, I've never been suicidal before. Ive never struggled with that due to my fear of death. But all of this? Ive recently had suicidal thoughts and its fucking scary. Thoughts that killing myself would make it easier for everyone else. That it would be easier to just end it, that life will always be a living hell and i should just give up. And thats fucking scary! I shouldn't have those thoughts! But that's how bad it is.

I try to do what my therapist told me. I try to set boundaries. But setting a boundary means not eating dinner bc I leave when my parents yell at me. I try to think positively and ignore the pain. I probably walk an average of 1-2 miles a day. I try and try and try and it hurts so much. They can't be proud of me? For even big victories? Guilting me about graduation cause I took too long. Keeping a job for more than a year (its not a REAL job cause its hourly and doesnt have benefits).

Like what's the point? I've been fighting and fighting and most of the world wants to see me dead and gone anyway. I'm trying to work in a field that doesn't even consider people like me. If I cant work Ill just bring my boyfriend and my family down. Every step forward I manage to take I get dragged back 10.

Im so tired and ashamed and stressed and my fucking body hurts worse now because of the stress and i just dont want to wake up tomorrow.

[heyclickadee]

I don’t know if it ever reached tumblr, but I remember on the twitter side of the fandom there was this (I think mostly joking? Was it a joke?) debate on Hunter and his hair care routine a long while back, so here’s my completely unsolicited take on it:

I have a low-key headcanon that in normal and/or happy times, or times when the budget allowed, or if he was informed that he could, Hunter would, in theory, be the guy who has a five step hair care routine and a ten step skin care routine. The man has an aesthetic and the most put-together outfit on the crew. That’s a guy who cares at least a little bit about how he looks.

And a low-key headcanon that he has never, in practice, had an over-two-step skin or hair care routine, because the GAR lifestyle doesn’t exactly lend itself to something like that, and he just kind of made do with whatever basic hygiene products they handed out on Kamino—because, like, realistically, that’s what he’d do.

And a high-key headcanon that in the current times he’s going through, he struggles to make it to the shower and he uses space dawn dish soap as an all-in-one shampoo/body wash, because that’s as much as he can get himself to do. And to be completely clear, I mean this in a completely serious “Hunter’s not okay and needs help” kind of way. Dude is depressed and visibly unwell. He had the energy to pick out exactly one pretty rad outfit because he absolutely had to, and now he’s going to wear it until it falls apart.

[world-cinema-research]

Carrie (1976) Movie Essay

By Aiden McKinney

Carrie (1976) was Stephen King’s first published novel and a year later, was the first of his to be adapted into a film. With the creative direction of Brian De Palma, Carrie brought life back to the horror genre and has become a cult classic. In fact, five years after the release of the film, King complemented the filmmaker's work:

"De Palma's approach to the material was lighter and more deft than my own—and a good deal more artistic ... The book seems clear enough and truthful enough in terms of the characters and their actions, but it lacks the style of De Palma's film. The book attempts to look at the ant farm of high school society dead on; De Palma's examination of this 'High School Confidential' world is more oblique ... and more cutting.” 

The movie stars Sissy Spacek as an overly shy and self conscious high school senior who doesn’t have a friend in the world. In fact, she is an outcast with an overbearing, abusive, mentally unstable, religious fanatic for a mother. Margaret White fears everything is a sin in the eyes of the Lord, especially anything remotely provocative, sexual in nature, or regarding the female anatomy and its physicality. She is so out of touch, that she never taught Carrie about a woman’s menstrual cycle. When Carrie suddenly gets her first period in the shower after P.E. in school, she is absolutely horrified and scared to death. Reaching out to her classmates for help, the girls only laugh at her and throw feminine hygiene products at her. The bullying only gets worse for Carrie, who begins to realize she has telekinetic powers. She can move objects with the power of her mind This, of course, only makes her more of an outcast. To better prepare for the role, Sissy Spacek isolated herself from the rest of the cast during production. “In a 2013 interview with Vulture, co-star P.J. Soles recalled how on "the first or second day, Sissy came over to a group of us, maybe at lunch, I don’t remember, and said, ‘I love you guys, we’re going to have a great shoot, I’m very excited to be working on this. But I just want to let you guys know, I’m going to alienate myself from you. I want to feel that alienation. But I really like you and afterwards we’ll party and we’ll have a great time. But don’t take it personally. I just want to let you know I’m doing it on purpose because I want to get into the part.’ We all really respected her for that, and that made us even more eager and able to be as mean as we could to her, because we knew it was going to help her." (Facts about Carrie- Mental Floss) 

It also makes her mother believe that Carrie is the spawn of the Devil, as she was conceived in a moment of impulsive promiscuity, prior to marriage. Margaret White has a monologue that explains her moment of weakness:

Carrie: It was bad, Mama. They laughed at me. Hold me, Mama. Please hold me.

Margaret White: I should've killed myself when he put it in me. After the first time, before we were married, Ralph promised never again. He promised, and I believed him. But sin never dies. Sin never dies. At first, it was all right. We lived sinlessly. We slept in the same bed, but we never did it. And then, that night, I saw him looking down at me that way. We got down on our knees to pray for strength. I smelled the whiskey on his breath. Then he took me. He took me, with the stink of filthy roadhouse whiskey on his breath, and I liked it. I liked it! With all that dirty touching of his hands all over me. I should've given you to God when you were born, but I was weak and backsliding, and now the Devil has come home. We'll pray.

Carrie: Yes.

Margaret White: We'll pray. We'll pray. We'll pray for the last time. We'll pray.

Youtube Carrie trailer

The movie trailer covers quite a bit of the film, but it also gives a genuine vibe and  creepy feeling of the film. 

Box office

Budget

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Gross US & Canada

$33,800,000

Gross worldwide

$33,801,936

Carrie was a box office success both in numbers and in Academy Award nominations. Nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Actress (Spacek) and Best Supporting Actress (Laurie). This is notable, since the horror genre is not ordinarily recognized at the Academies, especially since Saturn Awards launched in 1972 to honor films of science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Original review from Roger Ebert in which he praises director Brian De Palma for creating a horror film that doesn’t rely on the gore and violence of a typical horror film. De Palma focuses on characterization and the reality that Carrie is a teenage girl who everyone can possibly relate to, at least once in their lives.

“I wouldn't want to spoil the movie's climax for you by even hinting at what happens next. Just let me say that "Carrie" is a true horror story. Not a manufactured one, made up of spare parts from old Vincent Price classics, but a real one, in which the horror grows out of the characters themselves.The scariest horror stories -- the ones by M.R. James, Edgar Allan Poe, and Oliver Onions -- are like this. They develop their horrors out of the people they observe. That happens here, too. Does it ever.”

 Roger Ebert Carrie 1976 

Carrie is a conventional film with unconventional technical aspects. There is a central character, Carrie, and she experiences conflict (so much conflict) who has a goal. There are antagonists (so many antagonists) who stand in the way of her goal. The cinematography is unconventional, in the sense that De Palma used unusual camera angles and motions that translate different emotions and feelings in different scenes. For example, at the Prom, Carrie and Tommy are dancing and the camera is spinning around them as they are spinning, creating a sense of euphoria and confusion, at the same time. 

youtube.com Carrie dance scene 

The movie Carrie subscribes to Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension of High Restraint. Carrie is raised by an overly religious mother who controls her and tries to keep Carrie from breaking from her strict upbringing and expressing herself in her own way.

Historical Events

United States - First Space Shuttle

NASA unveils the first space shuttle, the Enterprise.

More Information for the first space shuttle

NASA unveiled the first space shuttle, the Enterprise, to the public during September of 1976. The Enterprise was only a prototype created to conduct test flights and the official launch of the Space Shuttle Program did not occur until April of 1981 with the launch of the Columbia. The Enterprise weighed about 150,000 pounds and cost nearly $10 billion to create. While the first space shuttle never actually made it into space, it did become the first of the space shuttles to fly during a test in the following year after it was unveiled.

Jimmy Carter defeats incumbent Gerald Ford in 1976 Presidential election.

Britannica 1976 Presidential election 

[aquilathefighter]

smapril 11

Day 11 bed sharing | "Then do it already." prompts as always by the lovely @staroftheendless!

Hob almost has a heart attack when Dream appears in his bed. He’s had a long day; more budget cuts and they’re threatening to take even more from the history department. He was just spending some time lying down, playing on his phone, before taking care of grading.

“Dream! When will you learn to knock, good Lord!?” He presses a hand to his chest, feeling it race. Dream at least has the sense to look a little embarrassed at Hob’s chastisement.  He rolls onto his side to face Hob.

“…it is not good sleep hygiene to use your bed for anything other than sleep and sex.” Dream murmurs.

Hob rolls his eyes. “How did you even know I was committing bed crimes or whatever you want to call it?”

“I could sense your mind trying to enter my realm, but you are resisting.”

“Well yeah, I’ve still got some grading to do.” He flops onto his back, sighing. “I’m not going to sleep and I doubt you’re going to pull me out of bed, so it appears we’re at a stalemate, old friend.”

Dream has a devilish glint in his eye. “Not so, Hob Gadling. Recall there was another option that a bed is appropriate for.” Hob tries to remember what Dream had said, but suddenly the man himself is on top of Hob and he finds he can’t be arsed to recall it.

Hob looks up into his eyes, gasping. “Are you… do you… Dream, c’mon don’t mess with me like this.”

“I am not ‘messing with you,’ Hob.” He moves to straddle him, hands running up and down Hob’s sides. “I want this. And I know you do too. I’ve seen your daydreams.”

Hob flushes red at that. He’d hoped he’d been more subtle about his attraction, but it seemed to work in his favor. “Then do it already.”

Dream dives toward him, crashing their mouths together. Hob bucks up into his touch, moaning. Their tongues twine together, trying to taste as much of the other as they can. Dream presses closer, like he’s going to climb inside Hob and make a home there, and suddenly they’re both naked.

Hob groans at the intensity of skin-to-skin contact, their erections pressed together as Dream rolls his hips. Hob moves his hands up to hold Dream’s waist, pushing him back enough to speak.

“Fuck me, Dream. There-there’s a bottle of lube in the drawer. Please!” He pants, beginning to move his legs towards his hips to allow for better access.

“No need. Dream moves between Hob’s legs and presses a wet finger to his hole, teasing around the rim before plunging into him.

“You magical, majestic creature. Don’t stop!”