#but it’s fucking expensive in California

[applecherry108]

[to the tune of the Lego Movie’s “Everything is Awesome”]

Everything is stressful! 🙃

Every-thing causes anxiety! 🙃

Everything is stressful!! 🙃🙃

When you have ADHD! 🙃🙃🙃

[eastgaysian]

100k is still unquestionably fucking upper middle class for a HOUSEHOLD not even a single person in the bay area btw these people are fucking insane 😭😭

[andshewasamovie]

okay, i'll tag this one so you can find it.

to the anons and commenters: thanks for your responses. that was a fun thing to see.

to watcher: can't wait to see what you do when you don't have advertisers looming over you! super excited for what comes next.

the the fans who have left racist comments on steven's posts: what the fuck is wrong with you?

to all the fans of watcher: i am politely bowing out of this one. i'm pretty sure you guys already hate me anyway, or at least the comments and anons have made it seem that way.

[lesbiancloudtail]

every time i think it's expensive to live in the dc metro area my california mutuals keep me humble

[kerosene-saint]

I need to move some where that has lots of trees. mountains too.

[trillionairedemeanor]

kemarilyn

[shithitsmynipples]

Just delighted to discover that "been very emotional about things/ stomach has been very fucked for the last week" is yet AGAIN a result of finasteride really hating me and I'm probably gonna have another surgery 🙃🙃

[chitin-crusader]

kindof losing my mind bc uhhhh. how am i supposed to like. afford to live.

[deletingmyself]

Days like these I wished I had my own place

[fappellmoan]

lost my stupid dumb ass fucking idiot vape

[femslashspuffy]

It is sooo depressing to move from Colorado to Texas I'm applying for jobs for next semester and they're like 'yeah we're so cool we'll pay you $10 an hour" and I'm like I could make double that at Home Depot here bad bad kill

[water-in-the-wind]

It is absolutely insane that the cheapest space for rent in my hometown is a STUDIO with no ac, no washer/dryer hookup, no pets allowed, and street parking only for $1,450 a month 😭 wtf

[svvordsmachine]

hi hope this doesn't sound accusatory bc i totally believe u when u say this and i think i may kind of be in the same boat myself rn (living in california) but can u explain a little more what u mean by it "costing money to work" it's something that i struggle to put into words to explain to ppl that it's a thing

nah youre good! [thumbs up] yeah i dont know a great way to explain this either other then "california (+everything tbh) is expensive and even with a higher state min-wage its still unrealistic" my bad but ill try. also sorta disclaimer i guess? very california-centric pov

i think the point when it feels like, or it actually is, more expensive to work is either one of getting paid enough, not enough hours, or both. (though ive mostly seen and experienced it with low hours/okay pay) because state minimum wage can be 15/hr but when average rent in sac is 2k, gas runs around 5/gal, and a single can of pepsi is 3$ (THREE DOLLARS!!!! im personally mad about that one) 15 is like nothing unless youre doing 50+ a week.

that is not considering: having kids + paying for childcare, working in a different city you live in, other forms of transit (when my car shit itself it was like around 80 a day to get to work), literally any other bills, anything that comes unexpected, so on and so on. if you live half an hour away from work its obvs more expensive then ten minutes or less. also not considering work making you need to get things like new clothes/shoes/etc.

it can be hard to explain cause when saying "yeah im only making 17/hr and struggling" that can sound more like, i dont know, a personal problem? and not something closer to a "im making 17/hr and working 3 hour days so its costing me a ton to get there"

though i guess it could just boil down to: things are expensive and where or what your work is, how sporadic the schedule is can make it so work is costing you. which is a hard thing to articulate because yeah im technically getting paid to be here. but not really.

hope literally any of this made sense!

[bookclubforghosts]

There was that one Reddit post that was like “I just realized you can actually make hundreds of thousands a year, what the fuck am I doing, I gotta go back to school NOW”

and it made me think about how the job I’m doing is something I love but I only made $12k last year and most of that was spent on gas and food and vet bills and programming supplies for work that my work’s budget couldn’t afford

and then I got a raise in January which was great! and I’m supposed to get promoted this year in august and it’ll be a really good promotion that will double my income !!!

but that’s still not really enough to sustainably live on

so I have to go back to school for my masters so I can get a librarian job that’ll pay $60k/year hopefully and I got accepted for a 25-week certificate program (woo!!) so from there starting in January I can go for my masters officially

so Yknow 2 years from now when I have that degree fingers crossed I’ll be a real librarian but then I think about how there are still people who make double that. Triple that. Quadruple that.

And I feel nauseous.

Because while I’m working towards 60k, I’ll be making $15k and then maybe hopefully possibly $30k, and all the while there are ceos making $200 or $300 or $400k and I don’t know if what they do is as meaningful as library work yknow but idk idk idk

So now I am looking for a second job in the meantime right.

And I found some that pay twice what I’m making now in the publishing industry as proofreaders.

And it’s really hit me that I could make my promotion’s annual salary in 6 months of work.

If I was in a different industry my bachelor’s degree would be worth, income-wise, that of my hypothetical master’s.

And Yknow you see that 54% of American adults can only read and comprehend up to a 6th grade level and you see teachers and libraries so underfunded that your staff members are making pennies and can’t afford to live in the area they serve and it’s so disheartening and not even surprising that the literacy rates are so low and keep dropping

And I don’t even know where I’m going with this I’m just frustrated and sad and anyways fingers crossed I get an interview at one of these publishing places I applied to tonight idek I need more money

[howlingwolf23]

And they don't mention that the adobe is turning back into sand so the structure basically needs to be completely teared down as it's not salvageable

I still love New Mexico real estate listings. They’re like “This iconic adobe structure was built in 1843. There is an abandoned flooded silver mine in the back yard. This home served as a brothel, saloon, general store, post office and military base during the Mexican-American War. The abandoned silver mine in the backyard is infested with vampire bats somehow, you’re not allowed to fill it in because scientists are will studying it. The house was remodeled in the 1970s when archeological excavation of the silver mine revealed it had been the dumping site of a serial killer who was active between 1896 and 1901. Three luxurious bathrooms, 5 spacious bedrooms and a lovely courtyard. Billy the Kid stayed here during the Lincoln County War and reportedly haunts the property. In addition to the vampire bat infestation, there are a number of poisonous spiders inhabiting the mine, do not go in the mine. We cannot warn you away from the mine enough. Otherwise, a fantastic property with so much history and so few malicious entities inhabiting the structure and land. $2.3 million dollar asking price.”

[heich0e]

iwaizumi got a lower back tattoo on his 21st birthday.

if you showed one hundred people in the street a photo of 30-year-old hajime, and then surveyed them as to whether or not they think he has a lower back tattoo, it's unlikely more than one of them would say yes—and even the one who did probably just misheard the question. it's as unbelievable a thought as any, and still somehow it's true.

he was 21, legally drunk for the first time in america, and hanamaki and matsukawa had finally come to california to visit him to mark the occasion. it was kind of a stupid trip, they realized afterwards, because issei and hiro were still only 20 and couldn't even go out to the bars near UC irvine that all of iwa's college friends were inviting him out to for the first time.

but he didn't mind.

he bought them beer and sugary canned cocktails from the convenience store near campus using the birthday money his nanay sent him, silently repenting in his mind as the store clerk in the polyester vest rang the expensive purchase through. then they all got drunk in iwa's tiny student apartment while they played video games, called oikawa, and eventually wandered out into the warm california night in search of food.

the details beyond that are fuzzy, but the lines inked into the little space at the bottom of hajime's spine are not—even after nine whole years.

most people have no idea about the tattoo—and hajime has gone to great lengths to keep it that way. he wears a compression t-shirt at the gym so there's no risk of it riding up and accidentally revealing it. he orders patches to conceal it on the rare occasion he goes to onsens. he never showers with the athletes at work, always either opting to shower at home, shower after the team, or use the staff facilities when available.

but in spite of all of that, he's not embarrassed of it.

he doesn't even really regret it.

it's just not anybody else's business.

the ink on his skin is a secret kept between him, matsukawa, hanamaki, the guy who tattooed him, and oikawa who was screaming on facetime in the background while it happened.

and now you, too.

your hand snakes up the back of hajime's sweatshirt as he stands at the stove preparing breakfast, cool fingertips tracing the curls of ink even without seeing them—having long mapped them to memory. hajime suppresses a shiver, not expecting the contact, as you crowd yourself closer to his back and lean your weight against him.

"i was trying not to wake you," he says quietly, the hand not holding the chopsticks he's flipping his omelette with reaching behind him in search of you.

"you didn't," you murmur into his back, catching his seeking hand in yours and twining your fingers together. "smelled food."

hajime laughs to himself, his eyes crinkling. he squeezes your fingers tightly as his heart thuds in his chest.

underneath his sweatshirt, your nails rake lightly against his skin.

"shouldn't i be making your breakfast?"

hajime transfers his omelette to the plate waiting beside the stove, flicking off the burner and then turning to face you. he wraps his arms around you and holds you properly now, your face burrowing into the collar of his hoodie the way you always do, his nose brushing your temple.

"wanted to let you sleep a bit longer," hajime grunts out, his cheeks burning a bit hot—still shy, sometimes, even after so much time has passed. "thought you might be tired after..."

you snort, your head popping up to look at him. "after you fucked me within an inch of my life into the wee hours of the morning?"

the fire burning under hajime's skin grows even hotter. he splutters a little, and struggles to meet your gaze.

"i'm not tired," you whisper, a mischievous smile tugging at your lips. the incorrigible one he fell in love with. "we were celebrating, after all."

hajime's eyes are burning a little bit, to complement the stinging in his cheeks. you lift your hand up to his face so you can feel the heat of his skin, and he rests his own hand—larger, more calloused than your own—to rest overtop of it. he looks at you, and sees happiness reflected back at him in your gaze. so fathomless he thinks he could drown in it.

hajime turns his face into your touch, and his eyes flutter closed as he noses against your palm.

he presses a kiss there. soft. adoring.

then another, just slightly higher, to the ring he put on your finger the night before.

he peeks at you again, that same heat in his cheeks, though not nearly as unbearable.

he's got another secret he doesn't regret now, one just as permanent as the ink in his skin, but this one won't stay hidden long. eventually he'll call his parents, and his nanay will probably get teary. then he'll tell his friends, who will put his mother's tears to shame. he'll leave the tattoo artist out of it this time, though—wherever that guy is now.

"happy birthday, hajime," you whisper to him with a smile he can't help but return.

he might keep this secret between the two of you today, though. just for a little while longer.

it'll be his gift to himself.