#but we made up for it today by spending hundreds of dollars

[mutatedmystery]

Is it weird to celebrate a birthday that technically isn't existent to that specific person?

[cordialsilence]

One of the benefits of having purchased a long charger is that I don’t have to hang off my bed folded at a 90 degree angle when my phone’s battery is low but on the flip side it’s almost 3am and I lay here comfortable and unfolded with my phone on low power mode at 17% and charging I can’t help feeling like it enables my screen addiction a bit

[mostlysignssomeportents]

SoCal Gas spent millions on astroturf ops to fight climate rules

Today (19 Aug), I'm appearing at the San Diego Union-Tribune Festival of Books. I'm on a 2:30PM panel called "Return From Retirement," followed by a signing:

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/festivalofbooks

It's a breathtaking fraud: SoCal Gas, the largest gas company in America, spent millions secretly paying people to oppose California environmental regulations, then illegally stuck its customers with the bill. We Californians were forced to pay to lobby against our own survival:

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article277266828.html

The criminal scheme is spelled out in eye-watering detail in a superb investigative report by Joe Rubin and Ari Plachta for the Sacramento Bee, which names the law firms and individual lawyers involved in the scam.

Here's the situation: SoCal Gas is California's private, regulated gas monopoly. They are allowed to lobby, but are legally required to charge their lobbying activities to their shareholders, and are prohibited from raising customer rates to pay for lobbying.

The company spent years secretly violating this rule, in the sleaziest way possible: working with corporate cartels like the California Restaurant Association and BizFed, the monopoly paid BigLaw white-shoe firms to procure people who posed as concerned citizens in order to oppose climate regulations that are essential to the state's very survival.

The bill topped $36 million – and it was illegally charged to its customers, the Californians whose immediate health and long-term survival these efforts opposed. SoCal Gas refuses to disclose the full extent of the spending, as do its lawyer-procurers, who cite legal confidentiality and a First Amendment right to secretly seek to influence policy in their refusal to disclose their profits from this illegal conduct.

The law firms involved are a who's-who of California's most prominent corporate fixers, including Reichman Jorgensen and Holland & Knight. The partners involved have a long rap sheet for anti-climate dirty tricking, most notably Jennifer Hernandez, notorious in climate justice history for an incident where activists claim she posed as one of them, infiltrating a campaign to force corporate despoilers to clean up their pollution in order to sabotage it, while secretly on a wealthy, prominent landowner's payroll.

Hernandez claims to care about the environment and says that her longstanding, corporate-funded, extensive campaigns and lawsuits against state environmental regulations are motivated by concern over their impact on working people. Her firm, Holland & Knight, denies serving SoCal Gas in opposing gas regulations, but it received $594k in ratepayer dollars, and submitted comments opposing the rules on its own behalf. Those comments were nearly identical to the comments submitted by SoCal Gas.

Hernandez also represents an obscure organization called The Two Hundred for Home Ownership in "a flurry of lawsuits" over California Air Resources Board rules on pollution, seeking to overturn the state's landmark climate change regulations.

Two Hundred for Home Ownership was founded by Robert Apodaca, who told the Bee that Hernandez's work for him is pro bono and not funded by SoCal Gas, but his entry into the fray occurred just as SoCalGas was founding an astroturf group called Californians for Fair and Balanced Energy (C4BES), which pretended to be an independent organization, disguising its relationship with SoCal Gas.

Apodaca is also founder of United Latinos Vote, an organization that had been largely dormant for seven years, not receiving any donations, until 2018, when the California Building Industry Association gave it $99k. The CBIA is a large-dollar recipient of donations from SoCal Gas, and its CEO insists that it was not acting on SoCal Gas's behalf when it made its unpredented donation to Apodaca.

The CBIA donation to United Latinos Vote was forerunner to a flood of corporate donations from the likes of Chevron, Marathon and Phillips 66. Shortly after receiving this cash, United Latinos Vote ran a full page ad in the LA Times, accusing the Sierra Club of pushing for anti-gas appliance rules that would harm working class Latino families.

This ad, in turn, featured prominently in advocacy by the SoCal Gas front group C4BES, funded with $29.1m in ratepayer money, which it then spent seeking to link clean appliance rules with anti-Latino racism. A quarter of California's carbon emissions come from home gas use.

SoCal Gas is regulated by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC), which tolerated this mounting illegal conduct for many years, even as the company circulated internal memos as early as 2015 discussing its plans to oppose electrification in the state on the basis that it constituted "a significant risk to our business."

But last year, CPUC fined SoCal Gas $10m. Now, CPUC's Public Advocate office has filed a damning, extensive report on SoCal Gas's unlawful conduct, seeking $80m in rate cuts to compensate Californians for the funds misappropriated to protect the company's shareholder interests:

https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M517/K407/517407314.PDF

Additionally, the Public Advocate is demanding $233m in fines for the company's refusal to allow investigators to audit its books and discover the full extent of the fraud.

SoCal Gas is the nation's largest utility, but (incredibly), it's not the dirtiest. That prize goes to Ohio's FirstEnergy, which handed $60m in ratepayer dollars to state politicians in illegal bribes in exchange for coal and nuclear subsidies and cancellation of state climate rules. That scandal led to GOP speaker of the Ohio House Larry Householder being sentenced to 20 years in prison:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_nuclear_bribery_scandal

There is something extraordinarily sleazy about using ratepayers' own money to lobby against their interests. SoCal Gas and its Big Law enablers have funneled millions in Californian's money into campaigns to poison us and boil us alive, and they did it while using workers and racialized people as human shields.

I'm kickstarting the audiobook for "The Internet Con: How To Seize the Means of Computation," a Big Tech disassembly manual to disenshittify the web and make a new, good internet to succeed the old, good internet. It's a DRM-free book, which means Audible won't carry it, so this crowdfunder is essential. Back now to get the audio, Verso hardcover and ebook:

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/19/cooking-the-books-with-gas/#reichman-jorgensen

Image: Maryland GovPics (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdgovpics/6635539089/

Jackie (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/79874304@N00/197532792

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[myfictionaldreams]

Day 27: Gloryhole - Nick Fowler

Summary: You worked in a club that catered to the wealthy and powerful, with the job to satisfy them all in whatever way they wished. But what happens when the person needing satisfaction happens to be your boss, Nick Fowler?

Tags: 18+ readers only, smut, reader!stripper/prostitute, multiple customers, oral (m!receiving), degradation, possessive, deepthroat, fingering, glory hole, rough sex, praise kink, sir kink, creampie

masterlist 📚 

kinktober masterlist😈 

AO3 Link 

Everyone gathered in the centre of the club, lounging on the lavish couches or on the edge of the stage that had multiple poles and dancing areas. The place was squeaky clean and, in the brightness, looked pretty respectable for a nightclub, showing the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by the owner on maintaining the building. However, once the lights began to dim and the music turned up to a deafening level, the club became a haven for those with power and money to do whatever seedy activities they wished.

It paid well, especially the tips from specific customers, so you were more than happy to get dolled up every night and pleasure men and women in the back rooms, dance, or perform if it was what they wished.

Picking at your intricately designed nails, you chatted casually with the other girls and one of the security, waiting for the boss to come and inform everyone where they were positioned for the day. To ensure that your skills are kept up to top quality, the girls are usually moved around, and today, you were hoping to avoid being on the stage, needing a break from spinning and dancing as your muscles were starting to feel the strain of it.

The whispers hushed to silence as Mr Fowler strutted in, his signature smirk and crisp suit hugging his body to perfection. You couldn’t help but straighten your posture, the nervous butterflies fluttering in your stomach that always seemed to come whenever he was in the room. He was a powerful man and your boss, making your need to impress him more severe.

“Evening, everyone. I hope you’ve all had a good night's sleep because you’ve got a long night ahead of you. We have some special guests tonight who have heard the rumours on my…samplings”, he gestured to the girls around the room that he’d made sure all had different ethnicities, shapes, heights, eye colours, everything you could possibly think of to appease to whoever would come and spend their money in his club. With his hands in his pockets, Mr Fowler began leisurely walking around the room, addressing each girl and where he wanted them to be.

Your breaths paused as he stopped before you, his startling bright eyes exploring your body, which was covered in a dressing gown as you’d decided to change after finding out where you would be working tonight. Refraining from letting your eyes roll as his exquisite aftershave floated over your senses, you waited for your instructions.

“Sweetheart, you’ll be in the hole. I want you to be at your very best today. I’ll be sending my special guests to you throughout the night as they like to keep things anonymous”. 

He only continued with his instructions to the other girls once you’d responded with a nod and “Yes, sir”, but his eyes lingered on your bottom lip that you’d tugged between your teeth.

It had been a while since you’d been to the glory hole, but you were somewhat thankful for this as it wasn’t as strenuous as dancing on stage for hours. You also took it as a compliment in a sick sort of way that he had trusted you to be in his most famous of locations, especially with there being some important guests.

As everyone was dismissed, you walked to your locker and prepared for the night. There wasn’t much point wearing clothes when you’d be switching between using your mouth, pussy, hands and ass if it was what the customer wished for. So, you kept the dressing gown on and collected a pillow, bottle of water, towel, and some lube.

The glory hole was in a unique set of cubicle toilets; however, even this was luxurious and not anything like the dark and dingy glory holes you were used to seeing on porn websites. Instead, it was bright and welcoming, even if it was designed to be a toilet other than the hole in the cubicle at the end. Waving to the security guy who was stationed outside of the door, you entered and breathed in the regal scents from the air fresheners as you walked to your stall. There was a small shelf above the toilet that you placed all your items on except for the pillow, which you placed on the floor, knowing you’d spend a lot of time tonight using your both and wasn’t prepared to destroy your knees by being on them for hours on the marble flooring.

As the music increased, you sat on the toilet lid and scrolled through your phone, waiting patiently for the first customer. 20 minutes pass, and the door opens, the music intensifying for a moment and then dimming as the door clicks closed. Quietly, you switched your phone off and slid onto your knees, getting comfortable on the pillow as you heard the customer step into the toilet cubicle next to yours and could see a flash of expensive-looking pinstripe suit through the circular hole in the wall.

Seconds pass, and then a had cock is slipping through the hole. Your mouth descends onto it instantly, licking a long strip up the underside. It was a couple of inches long, so you had no issue taking the length entirely, which seemed to please whoever was on the receiving end of the oral sex if the groans were anything to go by.

He didn’t last very long as you gathered the cum into your mouth and quietly spat it into the tissue. You’d learnt from past mistakes that swallowing too much cum on a night like this only made it settle heavy in your stomach and left you feeling queasy by the end of the night. It wasn’t like they could see anyway, as the customers were usually zipping themselves up and exiting.

The next few were in similar situations. They were sticking their dick through the hole, and you were sucking or jerking them off to completion. Every so often, there would be someone who wanted to dirty talk, calling you their slut, whore or other unimaginative derogatory names that increased the firmness of their length. It was all white noise to you. You were here to do one job, which, to be truthful, you did very well, so if they wanted to be vulgar, they could because, at the end of the day, you were still getting a fat paycheck.

There were occasions when the customers would push a wad of rolled-up dollars through the hole as they zipped themselves up again, which you happily stacked on the shelf. These were your favourite customers, and sometimes, when you were lucky, you’d have a couple of fingers stick through the hole, wishing to pleasure you and hear your moans. Most of the time, you faked it as it was always an awkward angle, or they just thought ramming their fingers in and out without any clitoral play would ever be enough. It wasn’t, but they didn’t need to know that you were faking an orgasm as you scrolled through TikTok.

The night passed by steadily, and so far, you’d received very positive responses from the customers, and even though your jaw was aching and hands tingling from the amount of squeezing you’d been doing, it was definitely one of your better nights. It had also become incredibly warm in the windowless room, so your dressing gown had been hung on the back of the door so that you were completely naked.

The door opens and closes as you rush to shut the water bottle in your hand, swallowing the cool liquid that soothed the dryness in your mouth. Slow, calculated steps echo and bounce off the walls as you wait on your knees for the next customer, not thinking anything of the powerful stride walking towards you. The cubicle's door opens and shuts with the lock finding its home as you try to peep through the hole to have a glimpse as to who is next.

A flash of a black suit and then a thick, long cock is passing through the hole. Your eyes widen for a second, staring at the dick in front of you. It was the best-looking cock that had been in here tonight. The dark pubes were perfectly trimmed. Even though it had an incredible length, it still was rock hard and throbbing in the air, the veins bulging along the shaft and the bulbous tip a beautiful deep maroon that you complimented would look good as a lipstick shade.

Whoever it was, had a magnificent member that for once had your abdomen warming with arousal, and you hoped that whoever it was would ask to fuck your pussy, just to feel your walls stretch around it.

You licked the palm of your hand, deciding to get a feel of him first. Your fingers only just reached each other as you wrapped around his shaft, feeling the velvety soft skin and the firmness of the thumping blood beneath the surface. He was hot in your hand, and as you squeezed him tightly and moved your fist towards his tip, a clear drip of precum bubbled into the hole.

Your tongue darted out, catching the liquid and swallowing. The moan you produced was genuine because, for once, whoever it was, the skin tasted clean and not like he’d been sitting in his ball juice for hours on end. Even the precum had a satisfying salty taste to it, but you blamed those thoughts on the increasing flame between your legs.

Sitting up further on your knees, your tongue began to gently lap at the underside of his cock, following the movements of your fist. As you reached the base, the overwhelming scent of aftershave brushed over your nose as you completely froze, eyes widening and breath stilling.

A deep chuckle that you recognised immediately floated from the other toilet. “Hmm, finally recognised me at last, have you, sweetheart?” Mr Fowler confirmed your suspicions. Your body didn’t know how to handle this news. One the one had it still in fear, throat drying and heart pounding beneath your ribs. However, it also burned even more desperately with the need to satisfy him and do something you had been hoping for for months.

Even though Nick Fowler was an incredibly handsome man, he had always kept to himself, never once indulging in the girls he employed, which helped to gain the trust of the employees. This was a double-edged sword for you, having always found him attractive beyond words, but knowing any advances that you made would be worthless and potentially see that you were fired.

So now that he was here, cock resting on your tongue and in your palm, you were conflicted with what to do.

“You see, I’ve been hearing some very, very good things about the goings on in here. So much so that these gentlemen tonight have booked in with us for a further four nights, which means my profit has increased a whole fucking lot. And that’s all down to the perfect princess in the end stall.”

You weren’t entirely sure what to say. It wasn’t like you’d been going out of your way to pleasure the people coming and going from the glory hole; you’d just been doing your regular sucking and touching, so to hear him speaking so highly of your work had a deep shiver running down your spine and pooling between your legs.

“With all the high praise, I thought it would be a good idea to come and see what all the fuss was about. Test the goods, if you will. Do you think you can handle me, Princess?”

Your eyes fluttered close at the nickname, as simple as it was, the way his deep, sultry voice seemed to kiss the air, making everything seem like the most cheek-warming compliment; you were ready just about to do anything your boss asked of you.

“Yes, sir”, was your quick verbal response before your sexual acts continued. Squeezing your fingers around his cock again, your mouth moved at the same time to the very tip, wrapping your warm lips around him entirely and letting the natural weight of him lay against your tongue.

Closing your eyes, you tried to forget that it was your boss on the other side of the wall and that this was probably the most crucial blowjob that you’d ever given before.

Your mouth filled with salvia, helping to wet his length as you lapped over his size with delicate little licks as your hand moved up and down the base of his shaft. Mr Fowler sucked in a breath through his teeth as his cock throbbed in your mouth. “Didn’t think you’d be such a tease, show me what you’ve got, Sweetheart”.

Your smile for a moment before taking more of his length into your mouth, pressing your flat tongue against the sensitive underside and hollowing your cheeks to suck him in. Opening your eyes, you watched more of his cock disappear into your mouth as you forced yourself to relax your throat, a skill you had mastered since working for him.

Nearly the entire length of your boss’ cock slipped down your throat, causing a bulge with how your airflow was completely cut off, the lining of your eyes flooding with tears from the overwhelming sensation. There was still a portion of his member that hadn’t entered the warm cavernous home of your mouth, so your hand squeezed and tugged so he was utterly stimulated.

“Fuck! I knew that pretty little mouth of yours would be trouble”, Nick groaned, trying to push his hips against the wall to try and fuck your face. You tried not to choke on his length at the tiny compliment mixed into his words.

Pulling back slowly, you made sure to suck his cock thoroughly whilst licking every inch that you could. Now you knew he liked what you could do; you were desperate to see just how much you were able to make him moan.

You deepthroated him again, choking and holding your breath, eyes continuing to water and more saliva filling your mouth. Eventually, you were able to find the perfect rhythm of bobbing your head up and down his cock, listening to the gruff quiver of his voice as his palm slapped against the wall of the toilets as he became delirious due to the pleasure.

It was nearly unbearable how turned on you were. Your throbbing clit was begging to be touched so gently you spread your knees and slipped your unused hand to gently circle it, adding pressure whenever he made a noise like a reward for yourself.

The evidence of your arousal was soaking over the tips of your thighs, drenching the two fingers being used to stimulate yourself. Eventually, you needed more, especially as your chin was becoming coated in drool as the blowjob became more sloppy. Lowering your fingers, you couldn’t help and bust in a moan that caused your throat to vibrate around the cock within as those two wet fingers slipped into your hole and curled.

“Holy shit, do that again”, Mr Fowler begged behind the thin wall. You moaned again as your hips bucked to meet your finger's movements. “That feels so fucking good, I knew I’d never regret hiring you. Do you only offer your mouth?”

You pulled off the end of his mouth with an audible ‘pop’ and swallowed thickly the considerable amount of saliva in your mouth as you tried to find your words. “No, they can have any part of me they’d like”. As you explained, you pumped his cock with both hands, forgetting about your pleasure for a moment.

“Good girl,” his praise was like a sweet symphony to your ears. “Has anyone else used the other services tonight?”

“No, Sir. Only my mouth and hands; a couple have fingered me but nothing else”.

Nick growled as his fingers appeared over the top of the cubicle as he tried to hold onto something. As you wished for a moment that, there was a camera in his toilet so you could see him flush against the wall, holding on for dear life. “So you’re telling me that all those powerful people out there are spending all their money for another four days just because of a couple of sucks and tugs? You really are special, aren’t you? Maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick to share you in here and keep you all to myself”.

Biting your lip, you tried to stop yourself from grinning, just listening to him becoming possessive, which was a widespread occurrence during these intimate acts. Many of the people were so overcome with the pleasure that they’d decided that they would keep you all to themselves to use if and when they needed you. Usually, it earned an eye-roll, but right now, you were dripping wet and ready to hand in your notice if it meant you could just stay by his side and suck his cock every day.

“I’d be more than happy to let you feel my other talents, sir”, you suggested before thinking it through properly. Not that you’d regret this offer, as you were incredibly horny and wanted nothing more than to please him further.

The wall between you both creaked under the pressure of Nick’s hands gripping the top as his hips began rocking, causing his cock to push and pull through the hole. “Oh, princess, you have no idea how badly I want that right now”.

With great enthusiasm, you stood on shaky legs, ignoring the pins and needles that formed in the balls of your feet, having been on your knees for so long and turned around, facing away from the glory hole. Spreading your legs and reaching between them, you grasped his cock once more and began to position him between your legs, where you closed them firmly, trapping his length between your damp thighs.

You rocked your hips, causing his dick to press against your pussy folds, rubbing your clit and for him, he was trapped in the tight, wet hold of your legs as he fucked your thighs.

“So fucking wet and soft”, he muttered under his breath, and once more, you wish you could have been watching his face, wondering if his eyes were just as glazed as how yours were feeling at that moment.

You had him fucking your thighs for a few moments longer and then decided to change things up, not wanting to wait anymore as your feet widened the stance, and his cock nudged against your hole.

The moan you released was mouthwatering for Nick as he felt the sensitive tip of his cock become lost within your tight, gummy walls. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as your hips moved backwards, slowly to give yourself a chance to adjust to his thick size until your cheeks were flush against the wall.

“You’re so big, sir”, you blurt out, body shaking with trepidation at the pressure of being stretched for him.

“I am, but you’re taking me so well, Princess”. Even his encouraging words had you mewling with quivers, wanting and needing more of him.

Leaning forward, you reached out to the other side of the wall, pushing off of it to help you ride his cock in the limited position that you had with the glory hole. Thankfully, Mr Fowler began to fuck the wall, so you were both thrusting into each other with increasing speed and strength. He seemed to fit you perfectly, stroking against all of those special nerves that built the tightening warmth in your core. Each time he pushed back inside of you was like a million exploding fireworks of pleasure to blossom throughout your body. You never wanted it to end.

As you tried to rise onto your tip toes to try and push back onto his harder, your pussy suddenly clamped down harder around him, like it was laying claim to him, holding him tightly and never wanting to let him go.

“Sir, oh my- I’m cumming, Sir, please don’t stop!”. You were thinking of nothing else but the cock pounding into your pussy, begging him with everything that you had for this orgasm to reach its peak.

“I can feel you, Sweetheart. So tight around my cock, you’re doing so well for me. Be a good girl and cum for me, and I’ll give you what you really want”.

Nick fucks the glory hole with even more enthusiasm as you are forced to have both hands against the opposite wall to push yourself even harder back against his cock. Your cunt was squeezing him so tightly he was nearly seeing stars as you finally came. Your knees wobbled as your walls spasmed in flutters through the orgasm, more fluid dripping down onto your thighs as you cried out for Mr Fowler.

He was shouting something as well, but you weren’t able to understand what it was he was saying as the faint, satisfied buzz filled your ears, and the edge of your orgasm began to calm. You were exhausted, but you didn’t stop fucking hard back against the cock until you were aware that there was thick, warm fluid seeping into your cunt as Nick’s thrusts stilled, his cum filling you completely.

It took all of your strength not to collapse to your knees as you both tried to recover from the fucking. As the softening cock slipped out, followed by a gush of cum was when you could finally fall back onto the pillow on the floor with a satisfied moan.

Being back in this position, you were able to watch through the hole as Nick began to tuck himself back into his suit, not even bothering to clean yours or his juices that gleamed over his length. Your cheeks warmed at this sight, knowing you’d remember it for the rest of your life.

Mr Fowler released a deep breath and reached into his back pockets, and once more, you wish you could see his face, but all you were able to see was his waistline and hands as they rummaged through his wallet and pulled out a hefty roll up of cash that he shoved through the hole and landed in your lap.

“This’ll cover any further tips you would have made for the remainder of the night. Which you can have off. Get yourself cleaned up, and I’ll drive you home, Princess”.

[queenofthearchipelago]

Long Rant about the Watcher Thing

The thing about what's happening with Watcher is that I'm a musician. I understand deeply the difficulties that come with an artist making their art and needing money and the relationship with the people that art is for. So I understand that Watcher needs money to pay their employees and maintain their business.

That said, they revealed that they have 25 employees (half of which are nepotism hires and friends from BuzzFeed) and that one episode of Ghost Files costs "hundreds of thousands of dollars." (Ghost Files being their most expensive show by bar, not their average spending habits per Watcher episode)

I understand from a few people I've seen who are in their Patreon that they make at least 100k per month from the patreon. And then there's the money they get from youtube itself from the views. And then there's the money they get from the ads.

Now I understand that Ryan said this decision came down to primarily 2 things: the ad companies were making them feel stifled with what they could do (which they don't explain how), and they want more money to be able to keep up a higher production quality.

I'm going to skip past the thing about the ads. They never specified how the ad companies were making them change their content in a way that made them feel unsatisfied. I can't speak or provide any opinions on why they want so badly to escape needing ad deals.

But I can talk about the higher production quality they speak of and that's specifically because Ryan said that they wanted to pay for a higher production quality FOR US. "For you guys."

We... we didn't ask for higher production. This is NOT a decision they need to make on our account. I understand and respect if they aren't creating on they level they want. But it's odd that they're speaking towards not being able to afford their current spending habits, as if this is something we asked them to do.

I've read a lot of comments about this and I agree with a lot of you that it's odd that this decision to switch to streaming coincides with the return of Worth It, a show that when produced by Steven, seems like it could easily cost just as much as Ghost Files to produce.

I understand why it feels like this is all Steven's fault. His vibes in the video today, compared to Ryan and Shane, made it seem like he was the most excited about it. It's Steven that has been highlighted multiple times as the business man, the one who makes the financial decisions. It's Steven's shows on Watcher that get canceled after one or two seasons, meanwhile Ryan and Shane's shows just keep going to 5 seasons and beyond.

Shane even said it explicitly, that there are "shows that didn't do as well on youtube, that might do better on a streaming service."

But most of the fans DO watch Watcher for Ryan and Shane, they always have. Steven's shows don't do as well. When Watcher brings in a new host and makes a new show for them, those shows do even worse.

I know this upsets Ryan, he's been very vocal about wanting Watcher to expand beyond himself and Shane. He wants his company to be successful regardless of whether he's in front of the camera or not.

But I feel like this step is trying to force it. Right now, this is still Ryan and Shane's channel. This is why we're here. The people haven't latched onto Steven as much, and the attempts to bring in new hosts have been unsuccessful.

There are lots of comments floating around about why Watcher didn't do what Rhett and Link did and open up youtube membership. Or why didn't they host more live events. Or why didn't they do more livestreams. These all could have been fantastic ideas that wouldn't betray the fans.

Because I do think they forgot that their fanbase is largely women in their 20s. People are right in bringing up the cost of living crisis, in bringing up how many subscription services we're already subscribed to. And my heart goes out to the international viewers who can't access the website at all in their country and the ones who can't afford it because Watcher forgot to consider the currency difference.

I feel that they have betrayed their fanbase. I remember when Watcher started and Ryan admitted he was scared no one would watch. And then we showed up for them because we loved them and what they did.

But now most of the fans can't or won't follow them where they're going. And I think Ryan might know this too from the way he said If this is goodbye, it's been fun.

I wish they would have tried other things before hard launching a streaming service. I wish they would have had a long game plan to get to the place they wanted to be as a company and as creatives.

I feel betrayed but I also don't want this company going bankrupt. If they go bankrupt, then we truly have lost them forever. I hope they take a look at the overwhelming backlash, at their falling subscriber numbers, and I hope they reconsider doing this.

[homestuckreplay]

Fluthlu Vs Wizards!

(aka: What's Up With Rose And Her Mom?)

The Elephant Shrew is the fastest land mammal on Earth smaller than half a kilogram, and has been recorded to reach speeds up to 28.8 kilometers per hour. This has no relevance to Homestuck, but it's a fun fact I learned today!

This whole section of Rose updates has primarily been about her feelings towards her mother. In Rose's mind, she knows exactly who her mom is and what her motivations are for acting like she does. As readers who are only getting one side of the story at a specific moment in time, I don't think we can draw firm conclusions yet.

Brief analysis below the cut; about 1.4k words.

The first thing we learn about Rose's mom is on page 174, and comes from a conversation with John.

TT: I battled through her cloud of gin and derision once already this evening.

This suggests that Rose's mom drinks a lot, and mocks or scorns her when they interact. In this conversation we learn more generally that Rose doesn't leave her room for fear of an encounter with her mom - on pages 231-232 she sneaks past the hallway to her mom's room, seeming scared.

We then get the following information later in act 1:

Your panoramic window offers a view of your yard below, and the mausoleum housing your dead cat, JASPERS, who died when you were young. Your MOM had the structure erected with a spirit of scornful IRONY in response to your youthfully innocent request to hold a funeral for the animal. At least, that is how you have come to interpret the gesture in retrospect. (p.225)

Hanging just next to your door in the hallway is a painting of an EXQUISITE WIZARD. Your mother collects these awful things IRONICALLY. She must know how much you detest them, and there is no doubt in your mind she stores these dreadful things in the house to bother you. (p.229)

And in act 2, pages 358-380 have primarily focused on Rose's relationship with her mom, including the true extent of her mom's ridiculous number and size of wizard statues (I say this as a wizard lover), and their currently ongoing fridge door battle. Rose takes this battle very seriously, and spends time thinking of the perfect rebuttal.

She also calls her mother a shrew - a term generally considered offensive and sexist, meaning a woman who is unpleasant, argumentative, and nagging. It is not surprising that a child would view their mother this way. However, we haven't actually seen them interact, and all we have is Rose's perspective.

So here's my problem. If we take Rose 100% at her word, then her mom totally sucks - she's a cruel alcoholic who makes Rose feel unsafe in her own house and mocks the earnest, genuine actions and desires of a child. This in turn has made Rose into someone who second guesses all her actions, is concerned about being watched, squashes down the childish parts of herself, and tries to match and exceed her mom's passive aggressive gestures.

I don't want to dismiss this interpretation, or downplay Rose's problems - even if she's wrong about some things, I think that Rose is clearly hurting because of this relationship, and that her mom isn't taking meaningful steps to help. But Rose can be traumatized and still wrong about a lot of things. And I don't think Rose is all that emotionally intelligent or good at reading people - she's dismissed John's problems as less serious than her own (p.174), and her 'condolences' towards other Sburb players do not read as sincere (p.249).

With that in mind, here are some alternative interpretations.

Rose's mom is clearly very well off. She has a large house, far too large if it's just the two of them living there, and one that's designed and decorated around being aesthetically interesting, not around being good to live in. It's even dangerous - the walkway to the observatory has no safety railing, with a several story drop onto rocks and the waterfall.

Rose's mom spares no expense on ultimately empty gestures for her daughter. The few hundred dollars a lifesize princess doll costs are nothing to her. She spent $15,000 on a frame for a child's drawing that any other parent would have stuck to the fridge with a magnet. The lowest estimate I could find for building a private standalone mausoleum is $50,000, and they can be a lot more than that. Rose's mom has the money to make the house safer and more comfortable for her daughter, but she doesn't.

I think Rose's mom has the classic rich parent trait of throwing money at her child as a substitute for love. We see a microcosm of this on the fridge - in addition to the frame, she buys a pack of magnetic Ws to help with Rose's poetry, and she buys a velvet pillow for the thank you note to rest on. She gets the vacuum cleaner Rose bought her plated in bronze to say thank you, instead of just using it and showing appreciation that way (I could not find a solid price estimate for bronze plating a vacuum cleaner). This might be well meaning, but it comes across as cold and impersonal, and as something that takes no effort or sacrifice from her part if she has millions of dollars to play around with.

In contrast, Rose's gestures - a tailored insult to her mother, a handwritten and notarized thank you note, an embroidered poem, and a drop of her own blood - are personalized, handmade, and painful or time consuming. Although we see that growing up in an environment where money is equated with love has left its mark on Rose, as she leaves twelve cents to cover the cost of the letter W. This is an insignificant amount of money to most adults but especially Rose's mom, but she still has to do it, because the relationship is transactional in that way.

On page 377, we get 'She's up to her IRONIC HOUSEWIFE routine again. That mop bucket doesn't even have any water in it!' which to me is really solid evidence that Rose is missing part of the picture. Because an ironic housewife routine is a fucking wild thing to do. If Rose's mom's wealth is generational, she might have grown up with a hired cleaner. She might simply have never been taught how to clean a house. Like, even if it had water, that bucket isn't correctly shaped for that mop. And cleaning in high heels? Possibly thinking the vacuum cleaner would still work when bronze plated, given that she still tries to use it? Honestly, I think she could be just as lost in that big, lonely house as Rose is.

The real elephant in the room is Rose's mom's possible alcoholism. Both times we've physically seen her (p.231, p.376) she's been holding a martini glass, and there are several liquor bottles on the kitchen counter. It is, however, evening. Rose's mom definitely likes to drink, but we don't know if it's to problematic levels that would impact her parenting ability. It's also possible that Rose would prefer to see her mom as an alcoholic because it's an easy and concrete thing to blame their problems on. It means she doesn't have to see her mother three dimensionally - and we know she doesn't want to, given her refusal to psychoanalyze her mom despite her interest in the topic generally (p.360).

By putting the blame on an outside substance that her mom might have been addicted to since before she was born, Rose doesn't have to question if she's done anything wrong as a child. To be clear, when a child is 13 I do think the parent shoulders the blame for an unhealthy parent-child relationship, but it is common for children to blame themselves in that situation and wonder if they could have saved that relationship by being 'better' in some way, and Rose might want to avoid those feelings.

Finally, alcohol is probably something Rose doesn't have access to. Rose, who wants so badly to be taken seriously as an adult and tries to convey intelligence and maturity, lives in a house where this one specific sign of adulthood is very visibly present, but she's probably not allowed to touch it herself. I think Rose wants to see herself and her mom as equals - in their war of passive aggression, Rose doesn't defer to her mom the way John does with his dad (p.92). But Rose's mom wants to keep her young, buying her a princess doll and keeping her childhood drawing welded to the fridge. It makes sense that Rose is angry about the signifiers of adulthood she can't access, like being allowed to decorate the house or drink alcohol.

So, that was a lot of words to say 'I have no idea what's going on between Rose and her mom, or how accurate Rose's beliefs are'. I definitely don't think Rose's mom is a good parent. Clearly, her behavior has meant that Rose doesn't feel she can be honest with her mom or address problems head on, and clearly Rose's mom is not taking action to fix this.

This appears to be the biggest source of problems in Rose's life, so I hope we get some conclusive information soon. Even if their relationship doesn't get fixed, I think and hope that this will go on to be a source of character development for Rose, because - and this is crucial - I need Rose to accept that wizards are cool.

[lyralit]

4.1.24 - the importance of learning new things

As much as I think academic & work focus is incredibly important going into the new year, one of my other goals is to practice doing more: to learn all of the things I want to do, in addition to work, in addition to writing. I want to know how to do thousands of little things, and I think the longer we wait, the less likely we are to do them.

Picking up a new hobby doesn't have to be buying a dozen textbooks and spending hundreds of dollars on lessons because you might have the slightest interest: it can be from whatever you have here, now, and you'll never learn if you don't get started.

Some of the things I've been getting into (as I've mentioned before) are baking & crocheting. it just feels so cozy and nice & I love the idea of comfort.

here is a list of things I want to / you should try that's new!

learning a new language. fifteen minutes a day, I kid you not. I'm learning latin on duolingo and I don't ever think about it, but when I do it (25 day streak 💪🏻), I'm starting to notice my improvements

consuming good media. and that's not scrolling for half an hour on tumblr. it's books—deep ones and silly ones and ones about romance and dragons and apocalypses. it's movies! I watched keira knightley's pride and prejudice twice in the last few months, and also three men and a baby which is something I never thought I would watch, but it was quite funny I think. and I learn from it: I cannot write humour or romance for the life of me, so it's basically studying to write (is the self-gaslighting too evident?)

learning to crochet. I made a silly little headband today, after scrolling through pinterest and desperately wanting one. I started crocheting in december to give as gifts (I completed none of my wips, much like when I write) and used the tools I had around me: an old rainbow loom hook and whatever string I could find. now I'm proud to say I can read somewhat fluently crochet acronyms.

baking. I keep saying this. I know. but when I tell you a two years ago I was exploding cupcakes in the oven and last month I made bakery-style cookies...I made bread! a loaf of bread! (in a bread machine, but it's so good and I instantly made another. there is one in the bread machine right now). honestly it just made me feel that much better about improvement, and trying new things, and that is the mindset I want for the new year.

learning to code. in all honesty, I never thought I was a compsci - engineer kind of person. then this year, out of sudden (masterminded) urges, I joined a bunch of tech and robotics initiatives, and maybe it's the sense of community (I can rejoice in finding another nerdy group) but now I am happily chauffeuring myself to these meetings 4h a week. I'm looking into pursuing more into the fields of eng and science. and I'm learning some code from one of the friends I've made!

starting a blog. ...I know most of the people who linger around my blog stay for the writing content (the last posts have turned this writerblr into a digital diary, and I'm only half sorry for that). but since I've joined tumblr (almost three years ago now!) I've got to meet so many wonderful people (including you!) and want to try so many things.

and I get it. it's overwhelming. so here are some starting goals that maybe I'll try also.

start doing art. -> make a card for someone as a gift.

learn a new sport & start exercising. (I'm trying out track & field in the spring, so stay tuned to figure out how that goes) -> see if someone will come play ball with you. do 1 or 2 youtube workout videos a week.

film videos of your daily life. it doesn't need to be for posting! -> edit together clips you've taken for a last year recape.

start a scrapbook. -> print out photos and dig up construction paper. decorate a page.

make a poetry journal. -> go on pinterest to read poetry! pin styles you like and set fifteen minutes to writing.

make a regular journal! -> write once a day. just try: goals for the day in the morning, or a recap at night.

try your hand at gardening. -> research plants that grow well in your region. see if any of the seeds you may have at home are useful. water your lawn. buy a plant and try to keep it alive (set reminders, leave it in front of your sink)

learn to make candles. -> watch a youtube tutorial. see if you can play around with candles you already have.

play chess. -> see if someone will play chess with you. no? chess.com is right there. go make an account. go find a stranger.

learn to play an instrument off youtube. -> maybe you have a piano sitting around, or a guitar you've never touched. you don't even need to master it. pick a song you like and google that. no instrument? maybe there's a way to play drums with home items.

go for a run. -> once a week. a set time. just shoes and the outdoors. too cold? go to a gym and use a treadmill. maybe that's not possible? skip rope.

start / join a book club. -> just you, or some close friends, or people online. a book a month. talk about it.

** on that note, would anyone like to join a tumblr book club? slide into my asks and maybe we can get a blog list!

thank you for reading again <3 until next time.

k.

[docholligay]

Inspired by the person who asked for essential kitchen/cooking items: What would you put inside a beginner’s baking kit with a budget of 600$? Also, can you recommend a cookbook to go with this kit?

First of all, I want to say that this question is asked perfectly. Firm budget, noted for a beginner, noted that it is BAKING we're interested in mostly. I love the specificity.

Now, you may not be aware of this, but you live in Germany and I live in America. So the prices and availability may differ WILDLY.

But this is how *I* would spend $600 USD, for a beginner, and the cookbook I would include for it. It also assumes that I can't go to thrift stores and get some of this, which is how I slowly built up a kitchen. This is 'I want to buy it from a store, today'

Stand mixer-- Hamilton Beach 7 speed, $120.00

I CAN HEAR YOU NOW. 'but Doooooooooocccccc, what about a Kitchenaiiiiiiiidddddddd?" Kitchenaids are fine. They're fucking fine. They're like Le Creuset though: They are more about the appearance of having one than the having one. ESPECIALLY at the classic level, which is the entry level. * For entry level, the Hamilton Beach is PERFECTLY fine, and costs more than one hundred dollars less. The motor is actually more powerful in the Hamilton Beach!

Why a stand mixer at all? You can absolutely make do without one: My mom and I were talking about how things were at times hardscabble in our family, and she made whipped cream WITH A WHISK AND BOWL. Can absolutely be done. But, it's a lot easier and more fun with a stand mixer. If I had this budget, I would put it toward this.

T-Fal Airbake Cookie Sheet -- $36.00

I have no idea why this is impossible to find all of a sudden, I hope they aren't discontinuing them. Doc, is this really worth the price? Yes. The air circulation in the bottom makes for better cookie outcomes for many types of cookies. I wouldn't use this for anything that's not a cookie, but it helps the cookie be more cooked in the middle without burning on the bottom, which is a common problem.

Fat daddio's 9 inch cake pan -- $15.00 (x2, so $30.00)

Doc, didn't you say you use an 8 inch pan? Yes, I prefer the higher loft of the cake and also I know how to adapt cook times for it. I would not do that to a beginner. Most recipes are made for 9 inch pans! I say buy two because many recipes call for two 9 inch rounds and it can cause problems to cook them back to back instead of together. We want to help out where we can.

Nordicware Baker's half sheets-- $30.00

Doc, you already had me buy a cookie sheet. Yes well, rolls, croissants, macaroons, tuiles, sponge cake for a jelly roll, etc, none of those can go on an airbake. These are more all-rounder workhorses.

Nordicware one pound loaf pan -- $13.00

banana bread is one of the easiest things to make, and you need a loaf pan for that. It's good to have even if you are not a crazy person who never gets into bread! Also essential for pound cakes.

Nordicware cupcake/muffin tin -- $18.00

I know I'm bringing Nordicware up a lot, and there are other brands I use and own FOR SURE, but it's just a really solid quality one stop shopping brand. Anyway, you need to make cupcakes!

Emile Henry pie dish -- $50.00

Bitch, why are you all of a sudden having me buy a fifty dollar pie dish? Because I have a great budget, and pie is one of the few things you basically have to serve out of the container you cook it in, so when possible, I like it to look nice. Also, like most of the things I have here, it will last FOREVER. 90% of this list is ALSO great for people looking to trade up to better quality stuff. I have two of these, I fucking love them, and there is a huge difference in bake quality between them and the Albertsons brand ceramic one because of the clay in it.

Fire-King Glass 9 x 13 Pan -- $16.00

This is for brownies, sheet cakes, cookie bars, and cinnamon rolls in some styles of making them!

Fire-King Glass 8 x 8 Pan -- $12.00

I mostly use this for fudge, but bear in mind I cook for a lot of people--this is a great size for small amounts of bread pudding, a small thing of brownies, etc.

Marble rolling pin -- $30.00

So people who bake have OPINIONS on rolling pins, and different styles and materials. This is my guy. Marble, standard American style rolling pin. I don't like French style rolling pins, but plenty of people do! Your person will not know what their individual preferences are until they get into it themselves, but for now let's assume I'm right about everything.

Danish dough whisk -- $12.00

Great for breads, batters, things that you want to be careful not to overstir. It's one of the best things I've found in the last few years.

So I've spent $349.00 of your money. From here all you need are really straightforward basics that I don't think I need to suggest brands for: Spatulas, scrapers, a whisk, a mixing bowl or two (Though if anyone would like to buy me a huge mason and cash bowl, I'm all ears. But, like, a mixing bowl is a mixing bowl). Measuring cups and spoons if they don't have that, obviously. I would say a digital scale but most American beginners are not going to fuck with that, *I* barely fuck with that unless I'm doing bread. You could upgrade the stand mixer if you want, though the one I consider an upgrade in a real, tangible way DOES put you right at 600 with very little wiggle room, and for a new beginner I just don't know.

You could buy stuff for bread if they decide they'd really enjoy hating themselves actively.

So I'd probably get some spices and a nice vanilla and do all that with it.

Oh! The Coobook!

The Cookbook I recommend for absolutely everything is The Joy of Cooking. I have given it for countless housewarmings and weddings and graduations. It is the ne plus ultra of learning how to cook. I even use it, often. If I could only keep one cookbook this would be it. Great variety, excellently tested recipes, sections on technique. Best cookbook.

But if I HAVE to pick a baking-specific one, I actually love the old baking books, which were like, 'How not to fuck this up, new homemaking wife' and not made to be aspirational, wow wouldn't it be great if I actually cooked, books, as many are now. But there's two I like! The King Arthur Baker's Companion, and How to Bake Everything by Mark Bittman. I prefer KAF, but Bittman is FANTASTIC at writing very very simple recipes for people who GENUINELY struggle with coking and baking.

*"Well then what do YOU use?" Babygirl the mixer I use was more than the entire budget for this project. It was a combination Hanukkah and Birthday present, and only because I bake enough, and for enough people, to justify it.

[sirfrogsworth]

Isaac Newton Saves the Day

Okay, so I got my battery installed.

I was worried I couldn't drive until next month. On a whim, my aunt decided to stop by the house and buy some of my mom's antiques. It was literally just enough for a new battery.

But it seems everything is an adventure for me lately.

Getting a pizza and needing a jump start. Tripping at the movies and getting laughed at. Driving the wrong direction on the highway and circling the entire city of St. Louis.

I can't seem to go out of the house and not come back with a story to tell. Just once I want a boring excursion where nothing of note happens.

But not today!

I go to my local AutoZone. I request a new battery installed and a very young man (maybe 20 years old) heads to the back of the store and selects a nice Die Hard for me. If it is as good as the movie, I should be in good shape. It has 800 cold cranks... or something.

He starts ringing me up and notices I have cash in my hand. Seems we weren't at the register with a cash drawer. So we had to move to a different part of the store so I could give him my aunt's crisp 20s.

He gave me change, though instead of 3 one dollar bills, he gave me 2 one dollar bills and a bunch of quarters. He had more ones—I could see them, but I guess he was committed to giving me quarters.

It was time to head out to my car. He had a little cart with wheels and it had various tools he might need to install my battery. I pop the hood and he spends about 2 minutes trying to find the latch. I kept offering to do it, but he insisted on figuring it out.

I was starting to sense this AutoZone employee was not a car guy—just a guy that worked at a store.

He eventually pops the hood and starts to look for my battery. I pointed directly at it, but I guess he didn't see my helpful gesture. He finally notices it and has a little eureka expression. Then he notices me pointing and is like, "Oh."

And here is where the adventure begins.

My car has an engine brace partially covering the top of the battery. It must be removed to swap in a new one. It has three bolts and they looked a bit... rusty.

I may not be a car guy, but I watched my dad fix hundreds of cars. And I had a bad feeling about those bolts.

Then I notice he has the world's tiniest socket wrench.

My bad feeling got worse.

He started on the first bolt. It was sticky. Then I saw him visualize "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" making circles with his fingers. This confirmed my suspicion he was not a seasoned mechanic. Eventually he started turning in the proper direction and the first bolt came off.

One down.

The second bolt was a little stickier. He was straining hard, but that tiny handle was not doing him any favors.

Then he went back to his tool cart. I thought maybe he was going to grab a longer wrench. But for some reason he got... a longer bit.

And in my head I was just, "No, that's not the part that needs to be longer." I was trying not to intrude and let him figure things out. He seemed like he was still learning all of this and wanted to do as much as possible without help. And I didn't want to embarrass him.

It was at this time that his friend and coworker came out to assist. He was the more experienced battery installer and started giving him tips. He gave the second bolt a try with the long bit and it finally started budging.

One more to go.

His friend went back in the store and he took back the socket wrench and started on the final bolt.

It was not sticky—it was *stuck*.

I watched him struggle for quite a while. He thought maybe he did righty-tighty, lefty loosey wrong. So he turned it in both directions just to be sure. Then his friend tried with no success and left again.

I couldn't take it anymore, "You need a longer wrench... I think."

He inspected the cart and sorted through a haphazardly organized set of tools. Looking for something to help. Then, inexplicably, he found an extension that made the socket bit even longer.

I was screaming in my head, "THAT ISN'T WHAT I MEANT BY LONGER."

Now I was worried he was going to twist his wrist. Those extensions are really only meant to get in tight spaces. They are not terribly ergonomic, especially for sticky bolts.

I think in total he worked on that third bolt for 35 minutes. His friend brought out WD40 in the hopes that might loosen it. That did a whole lot of nothing.

I was struggling to stand for that long. I really wanted to get this over with. I figured they have to sell socket wrenches at an auto parts store. Maybe I could just buy the proper one for these two battery installation comrades.

They were still tugging so I popped inside and checked out the options. But all of the ones with long handles were $30 to $40. I was not spending that to fix this problem for them. Though if this kept going another 30 minutes I may have pulled that trigger.

I head back outside and I start inspecting the tool cart for myself while he grunts. I saw that he had a different kind of extension and the end fit loosely onto the end of one of the socket wrenches. It was not a snug fit and it jiggled a bit, but it was definitely good enough.

I was able to do something similar to this...

His hands were starting to hurt so he went inside to get gloves. When he returned I said, "I have an idea."

I hold up my makeshift extendo handle. "This will make your wrench almost three times longer. It might do the trick."

He responds, "If I could I would, but I don't think that will work."

I am trying to be patient and not overstep. He starts trying again with his gloves and it still has not budged. But I think the desperation was getting to him. After a few more minutes he went back to the cart and picked up the items I showed him.

He was finally willing to give it a try.

First attempt... the wrench slipped.

He thought he loosened it. Turns out he put the wrong size socket on. I was worried he was going to abandon my idea. But he went back to the cart, got the right size, and tried again.

He suddenly realized he could push with a great deal more force. I could see him starting to feel like he was a superhero using his strength for the first time. Now that he wasn't using the shortest socket wrench in existence, he could put his entire body behind it.

Suddenly, his hand flew forward and he had a shocked expression frozen on his face.

He looked up at me in amazement. "I can't believe that worked!"

I exclaimed, "It's just leverage!"

He starts loosening the bolt and dancing with each twist of the handle. He was so happy to have slain this dragon. His friend comes out to check on the bolt progress... "Did you get it??"

"Look at this thing I made!" *holds up the extendo wrench*

*in my head* "Wait, is he going to take credit?"

"Oh wow! And that worked?"

"LEVERAGE, BOYYY!!!"

"We'll have to remember that for next time!"

"I'm just playin'. He figured it out." *points at me*

SWEET VALIDATION.

Not only did my problem solving skills save the day once again, I got to teach two young men about physics. I told them if the handle is longer then the same amount of energy can do more work.

They said that was "tight" and I felt like a real Captain Smartypants.

The rest of the process was trivial. Under his friend's supervision, he was able to get the battery swapped with no further issues. I started up the car and thanked him for his help.

Adventure accomplished.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Mike Luckovich :: Cartoon dated 12-24-17. Suddenly very appropriate.

* * * *

Trump has also vowed to cut the post–World War II government far more than anyone before him has done. He has put Musk and billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy in charge of a “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE); Musk proposes to cut $2 trillion out of the $6.75 trillion U.S. budget. How he would accomplish this is hard to imagine, since most of the budget is “mandatory” spending already baked into the budget, and much of that is Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. During the campaign, Trump promised he would not cut these very popular programs.

One of the things that constitute “discretionary” spending—which must be renewed every year—is veterans’ benefits, and yesterday Jeff Schogol of Task and Purpose noted “a growing chorus” calling for cuts to Veterans Affairs disability benefits after The Economist on November 28 called disability benefits “absurdly generous.” Disabled American Veterans spokesperson Dan Clare pointed out that the U.S. was at war for twenty years—in Afghanistan for twenty and in Iraq for eight—increasing the VA budget. Since Congress passed the PACT Act, formally known as the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, in 2022, more than 1.2 million veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxics have been treated for resulting health conditions.

Today, Phil Galewitz of KFF Health News noted that nine states—Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia—have trigger laws to end their expansion of Medicaid if federal funding is reduced. As many as 3.7 million people in these states would lose healthcare coverage if these laws go into effect. Other states might then follow suit as lost federal money would have to be made up by the states.

On X this week, Musk commented that a thread by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) attacking Social Security was “interesting.” Yesterday on the Fox News Channel, Representative Richard McCormick (R-GA) suggested: "We're gonna have to have some hard decisions. We're gonna have to bring in the Democrats to talk about Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare. There's hundreds of billions of dollars to be saved, and we know how to do it; we just have to have the stomach to take those challenges on."

[Letters From An American :: Heather Cox Richardson :: Dec.4, 2024]

[tfyoulookingatgiuxs]

Princess Tratment

SugarDaddy!Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: Nothing to worry about, it's 1st of December and this is just your morning routine with your dear and lovely boyfriend.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: SugarDaddy!Steve (He is 57 years old), young!fem!reader (You are a 22 years old), fluff, slight themes about sex, PDA, and everything is cute.

𝐀/𝐍: Nothing to say ;) it's not too much long but i hope you can appreciate! Sorry for my english this is not my native language. Please support and reblog. Hope you enjoy this one! (DIVIDER NOT MINE)

First of December, beginning of the Christmas holidays and therefore starting to decorate the tree. You couldn't be happier. You planned to do a lot of things and do a lot of shopping.

Steve promised you that he would take you to the mall to find the best clothes and decorations for your home.

You have always been a girl who loved holidays, and Christmas ones especially! That's why you got up with a big smile and started preparing breakfast. While your boyfriend was sleeping you made sure not to wake him, wanting to surprise him with a beautiful breakfast brought to bed. As soon as he woke up he found you in front of you holding a vase full of delicacies "Hey, baby you shouldn't have" he told you, sitting up and then giving you a kiss on the cheek. It wasn't the first time you brought him breakfast in bed, but Steve always liked it when his sweet girlfriend served him like this "Don't worry love, today is Saturday, so relax and eat—" you said coming closer and sitting close to him” — Daddy needs energy” You almost whispered as he let out a light laugh placing his chapped lips to yours along with your hand squeezing your ass.

“So this is my reward if I take you to the mall today?” You nodded and he shook his head and you felt bad "Why?" You said it like it was serious. You weren't interested in just spending the money, you just wanted to feel that feeling it gave you when Steve spoiled you. You like being spoiled by him. Taking out his credit card while he tells you how much he loves to spoil you and how it gives him some satisfaction. Treat you just like his little girl, when he says no because you've been a bad girl and you protest and stomp your feet because of how spoiled you are, then end up punishing you and spanking you until your ass cheeks turn purple, reminding you that when he says no it was no. But you really liked arguing back and he couldn't deny the same.

“Just one reward, no no babygirl, you know daddy wants more” he looked at you with seductive eyes and you couldn't help but caress his hair that cluttered his chest while a mocking smile appeared on your face "Well, okay I'll give you something more" You said implying his famous reward "That's much better" he announced satisfied and then hugged you giving a light kiss on your shoulder.

"So shall we go?" You asked giving him your sweet eyes that he can't resist "Okay babygirl" he nodded and a huge smile appeared on your face. You didn't waste any time, you got dressed and jumped in the car as you headed to the mall.

“Please, behave” He reminded you as he gave you his credit card, you nodded and immediately headed to a clothes shop, how can you celebrate Christmas without a suitable dress for the occasion?

You tried on many dresses in the dressing room but only three of them were perfect for this December. You felt surprised when you didn't spend more than three hundred dollars in clothing stores.

After reaching Steve together you headed to get Christmas decorations and the like. You were spoiled for choice and your boyfriend couldn't help but smile at your happiness. You spotted a little angel in a red dress who was glowing and Steve came closer, resting his chin on your shoulder "Do you like it?" You nodded "Me too, it's very cute, just like you" he said placing his hands around your waist hugging you, you laughed at his statement and kissed him while he gave you a light spank on your ass.

There was nothing to say, it was like this every day. Your sweet boyfriend did nothing but give you this princess treatment that you never thought you deserved. Steve loved seeing you happy and didn't care if you spent that much on clothes because he knew you would use them later. Everything you bought you always ended up using and consuming, and Steve was relieved for that. Previously he had had women who used him only for his great wealth and who spent without actually using what they bought. But you weren't like that, you really loved him and as he treated you like a real princess you treated him like a real king. There was love between you and nothing else.

You took the envelopes and headed to the car placing the expenses in the trunk "Is my little girl happy now?" He smiled at you and you did the same "Yes daddy" You replied "I love you princess" You giggled and he placed his hand on your thigh "Me too baby" You replied placing your hand with his driving home with new decorations , but not before rewarding your boyfriend for his kind and thoughtful gesture.

[hihigherdi]

Well it’s an atmospheric river here which for me means two things, I didn’t walk as much as I have been and I didn’t have to water my plants today. Both in the win column.

I had a cardiologist appointment today before radiation. It was fine, there’s a couple of problematic things but they are temporary and will resolve themselves. My weight is still good and he’s happy with the exercise, surprised I’m doing the hills during radiation but said it’s important for my heart to get as strong as possible, so he’s a fan.

My favorite part of today was this nurse - we were chatting and family came up, she is Samoan. I have very dear friends in Seattle who are Samoan and shared how much they made me feel like a part of their family when I didn’t really have one, and how special of a culture it is. She is a little obsessed with Jason Momoa and showed me her Jason Momoa coloring book. We laughed so hard. Amazing.

I walked to radiation from there but took a longer route up Fillmore street which is a famous shopping section in San Francisco I’ve never been to before. It was pretty incredible, I found the coolest thrift shop and some artisan shops that sell sweaters for five hundred dollars each 😂 but they are stunning and I have a feeling people in that neighborhood don’t really look at price tags much.

The rain got bad so I ducked into a Starbucks and ordered a caramel apple cider. I don’t do a lot of coffee purchases these days but I almost laughed out loud when the woman behind the counter said “oh wow, ok, no one ever orders that.” 😂

Today was another difficult day getting my body in the right position, it took awhile. They are learning this new machine. My BPDish tendencies to trust no one scream internally during the process but they aren’t going to shoot bolts of radiation into my body unless they’ve gotten it right. Given I see them everyday now, I always start the session with the most obnoxious phrase I can think of- “there is no ‘I’ in team, everybody, we can do this” and then I wondered out loud at the scientific training it takes to roll my body around using a towel to get me into the right position. “Was it a class? Was there an instructor?” and we all giggle so hard until I realize I’m distracting them. I spend a lot of time looking at these flowers on the ceiling.

Eight more to go, two this week, four next week, two the week after. It hurts now but I can deal. Then it’s over, at least the big stuff.

[loosesodamarble]

Welcome to the Black Bird Part 2: Alexander the Bodyguard

Summary: Introducing Sukehiro as Alexander, the strong and stalwart bodyguard butler of the Black Bird. Genre: general Word count: ~800 A/N: I commissioned the art of Yami from @cringeyvanillamilk.

..........

“We just don’t think you can bring what our business is looking for.”

“There aren’t any open positions, sorry.”

“Sorry, kid, given your record, we’ve decided against hiring you.”

Sukehiro threw his phone onto his bed before flopping down on the mattress.

What was the fucking point of applying to every job he could find only to get turned down by every place? He was starting to believe that there wasn’t a point. He’d be stuck going nowhere. He’d spend the last of his savings on renting out a shithole apartment and once he was out, he’d be on the streets.

He’d probably wind up dead in a ditch soon after.

Because no one would bother caring for someone like him.

And then one day, when Sukehiro was walking to the convenience store for some cheap shopping, he ran into a man.

Short blond hair. Dark purple eyes that seemed wise beyond their years. The oddest name Sukehiro had ever heard, Julius Novachrono.

“The moving crew I hired is a little overwhelmed by how much I have,” he explained with an awkward laugh. “Would you mind lending a hand? It’s just at the apartment building next door. I’ll even pay in cash if you’d like.”

The money was a hundred dollars an hour at minimum. Of course Sukehiro took the chance.

And one chance encounter was all it took…

…..

“My lady, I humbly offer my arm to you so that you may walk without fear of falling on your way to your table,” Sukehiro said as he slightly bowed from his waist.

“No need today, Alexander,” replied Charlotte Roselei, one of the regulars at the Black Bird. She was also a regular to Sukehiro’s butler persona, asking for him whenever he was available.

“I shall still guide you, and I will take care to watch for anything that might endanger you.”

Charlotte laughed softly then replied, “Fine by me.”

On the way to the table, Sukehiro made a bit of a show of himself. He put his arm out, stopping fellow waiter “Flynn” from crossing in front of Charlotte.

“Watch your step, Flynn. You could’ve bumped into my mistress and done her harm,” Sukehiro said sternly, glaring into his coworker’s eyes.

“Flynn” clicked his tongue and replied, “You gotta be a real loser to be so protective.”

Sukehiro scoffed. In the corner of his eye, he saw Charlotte pass by, and so he put his arm down and let “Flynn” by. He hurried back to Charlotte’s side, guiding her. No words were exchanged, not until Charlotte was seated and had the menu in hand.

“I don’t find it lame at all,” she muttered.

“Hm? Whatever do you mean, my lady?” Sukehiro asked, already knowing but feeling the need to entertain a brief conversation.

“Being protective of others, whether it be as intimate as family or casually for a customer, is noble in my opinion. Although…” She turned the page of the menu and stared at the entree selection. “I feel like your effort is wasted on someone like me. Since well…” Charlotte lifted her arm and flexed, showing the lean muscle of her bicep.

Against his better judgment, Sukehiro chuckled. “I would only consider it wasted effort if you didn’t appreciate it.”

…..

Shielded Sea Fry. One of the pricier dishes on the specialty menu, but only because it so heavily relied on seafood.

Sukehiro grew up in a coastal town, eating more fish than beef or pork. So of course a dish based on who he was would have to involve seafood. He preferred cracking a crab open and eating it plain but for the sake of the cafe’s aesthetic, he agreed that a crab salad served in a cleaned out shell would suffice. The entree also had seared scallops, a boiled lobster tail, and an acidic seaweed salad to balance the richness of the crustaceans.

The seafood was plated within the shells, reflecting the protective persona that Sukehiro put on for his customers.

Reflecting the shield that Sukehiro had hidden himself behind for years before. Because, back then, no one was going to protect him except himself.

That was then. In the present though, he was at the Black Bird.

Where everything was clean and polished, even himself. Where the customers would admire his physique rather than take his appearance alone as a threat to be mugged. And where he met some weirdos and made some wonderful friends too.

Never did Sukehiro believe he’d end up where he was. But he was there and he didn’t plan on leaving any time soon.

“One Shielded Sea Fry for Table #10!” the head chef yelled.

“Picking it up!” Sukehiro called back.

.....

[meret118]

The Biden-Harris administration today released numbers revealing that over the past four years, their policies have kick-started a boom in the creation of small businesses across the country. Since the administration took office, entrepreneurs have filed more than 20 million applications for new businesses, the most of any presidential term in history. This averages to more than 440,000 applications a month, a rate more than 90% faster than averages before the pandemic. Black business ownership has doubled, and Hispanic business ownership is up by 40% since before the pandemic.

The administration encouraged that growth with targeted loans, tax credits, federal contracts, and support services. Small businesses are major job creators and employ about 47% of all private sector employees. President Joe Biden rejected the “neoliberalism” of the previous 40 years that had moved about $50 trillion dollars from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1%. Those embracing that theory maintain that the government should let markets operate without regulation, concentrating wealth among a few people who will invest it more efficiently than they can if the government intervenes with regulations or taxes that hamper the ability of investors to amass wealth.

. . .

If the record of the extraordinary growth of small businesses in the past four years is one snapshot, the other is a social media post from yesterday, in which former pharmaceutical executive Vivek Ramaswamy noted that the government spends $516 billion a year on “programs which Congress has allowed to expire.” “We can & should save hundreds of billions each year by defunding government programs that Congress no longer authorizes,” he wrote.

Bobby Kogan, who worked in President Joe Biden’s Office of Management and Budget and on the Senate Budget Committee, explained that Congress often authorizes spending as “temporary” in order “to encourage Congress to revisit it to update various parts of the bill, such as eligibility, benefits, etc.” But Congress can still fund the programs in appropriations bills. Kogan noted that the largest program currently operating under expired authorization is veterans’ medical care.

Trump and his advisors embrace the neoliberalism Biden rejected. Rather than invest in the economy to create opportunities for middle-class Americans and those just starting out, they want to slash the existing government to free up more capital for investors.

. . .

Such cuts would be enormously unpopular, and in the Washington Post yesterday, Stein, Dwoskin, Zakrzewski, and Bogage reported that Trump’s aides are exploring ways to enact dramatic cuts to the government without congressional approval. Key among those is simply refusing to release the money Congress appropriates for programs Musk and Trump want to cut. This is known as “impoundment,” and Congress made it illegal in 1974 after President Richard Nixon tried to shape the government to his wishes by refusing to fund congressional programs he opposed. 

. . .

Now Trump’s team apparently hopes that a pliant Supreme Court will declare the 1974 Impoundment Control Act unconstitutional, permitting Trump—or Vice President J.D. Vance, should Trump not be able to fulfill his term—to shape the government without consulting Congress.

. . .

At the same time, a new study out today from Data for Progress showed that people who paid “a great deal” of attention to political news voted for Vice President Kamala Harris +6, while those who paid “none at all” went +19 for Trump. 

More at the link.

------

He controls congress, the military, the police, and the courts. He can and will do whatever he wants.

Three years ago today, President Joe Biden signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, more popularly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. That law called for approximately $1.2 trillion in spending, about $550 billion newly authorized spending on top of regular expenditures. As Biden noted today, it was “the largest investment in our nation’s infrastructure in a generation.”

In the past three years, the Biden administration launched more than 66,000 projects across the country, repairing 196,000 miles of roads and 11,400 bridges, as well as replacing 367,000 lead pipes and modernizing ports and airports. Today the administration announced an additional $1.5 billion in funding for railroads along the Northeast Corridor, which carries five times more passengers a day than all the flights between Washington, D.C., and New York City.

In his first term, Trump had promised a bill to address the country’s long-neglected infrastructure, but his inability to get that done made “infrastructure week” a joke.

Biden got a major bill passed, but while the administration nicknamed the law the “Big Deal,” Biden got very little credit for it politically. Republicans who had voted against the measure took credit for the projects it funded, and voters seemed not to factor in the jobs and improvements it brought when they went to the polls last week

[aggressivenesswhilecrying]

Raining cards

Summery:

When mumbo isn't one for preforming, but loves feel of watching one. He decides to spend his years watching a particular magician.

no trigger warnings!!

Not proof read or edited!!

(This is a fic for @redscapeweek day 2, magic tricks!!)

Mumbo learned early on that he isn't one for preforming acts, but gods does he love to watch them. The scared man on stage seeming to do some sort of tap dance as the lights come on, shinning in an almost star shape. And mumbo was mesmerized.

He watched as the man he had come to spend hundreds of dollar just to watch over the years tilted up his too tall top hat with a grin. The grey and white cat named jellie standing on his shoulders, looking around in fascination. Scar leaned forward on his cane, looking at the crowd with a large smirk.

"Hello!! And welcome to the goodtimes with scar show!! I'm your host, scar himself!! Kick back, relax, and enjoy some magic!!" The man called out as if he was on a game show, before twirling his wrist, a deck of cards suddenly in his hands. Mumbo didn't have a moment to think before the cards were in the air, and raining down. 

Mumbo let out an amazed laugh as scars once formal suit, changed before his very eyes into a long bright green, fitted coat, undone to show a silly, poofy dress shirt from a few centuries ago. No matter how many times he watched the start of the show, it never got less amazing.

At some point, after the cards had all fallen, a king of diamonds had made its way to Mumbo. The card had been signed on the front, and mumbo waisted just a second tracing the gold checked pattern on the back, before looking at scars signature deck, the king was himself, in all his glory, the queen was always jellie, the jack a pair of tap shoes. And the ace? A cane. Mumbo felt his face heat up as scar put on a rather loud tap dance performance to some song mumbo heard a million and one time. His feet moving faster then mumbo had the time to notice, moving the cards everywhere as he did so.  Some entering the air again.

It always amazed him, how scar moved, in an almost cartoon like sense, body bending in odd ways. If scar wasn't a magician mumbo could confidently say he'd be a damn good contortionist, or a dancer, or a lot of things really.

every time mumbo watched he swore he felt his heart race. When scar would laugh, and suddenly mumbo could see flames come out of scars mouth, he swore he could almost feel the heat.

He didn't know how the man did it really.

He didn't think he cared at the end of the show really

Not when mumbo would wait at the doorway, long after the show ended only for a tired scar to wander out, jellie in her carrier, yawning, and mumbling as he leaned onto mumbo

"I swear it gets later everytime.." he mumbles with a chuckle, cane practically stapping into the ground

"It's what...1am..? That's not too bad!! Last time we left at like..2, 3am?"

He chuckled a yawn of his own riding as they wander over to scars car. Jellie meowing loudly.

Mumbo doesn't think he cares at the end of the show, on how scar does it. He gets too much of a thrill by watching

Additional notes:

I decided, last night, at 2am, I wanted to write this for today, I have a post scheduled for day 4 already, so I wasn't planning on writing again for this event. Cuz deser duo week is close, and I have even more things I'm wanting to write, and ita just, yeah, messy messy messy. But, suddenly I got inspired to write again for this day. And go for the curses parts of this prompt, but, don't know when it'll be up cjlhkdkhddku, today, tomorrow, 3 weeks from now who knows

[matrixxsystem]

Luck Runs Out Part 10

After filling Raph in on the basics of what Leo had been dealing with for the past few days they all headed out with Usagi. Leo opened a portal into the hidden city, following Usagi into the East ends shopping district. He stopped outside a shop waiting for everyone to catch up and gestured to the door, it had two yokai in suits blocking the way in. There was a large sign above the door in glittery lights that read, "La Ruicko's" Usagi looked back to everyone as he spoke, "This is one of my personal favorites, I expect you all to be on your best behavior, this is my treat after all, so please remember that as you are being fitted. I cannot express with words along how grateful I am to have you all in my life.. So I hope this does it some justice." He gave the yokai a glance and they bowed their heads opening the doors for him, "This way." He said, taking Leos hand and leading them all inside, it almost looked like in lobby of a fancy high end hotel.. A small frog yokai in a neat black suit waddled up to the group with a much much taller man walking behind him. It looked like a human, a very tall man with broad shoulders and dark skin. He had dark dreads that were tied back out of his face save for a few bright yellow ones on either side of his face. He was in a suit too, probably just to show that their sizes ranged and could fit even human disguises.. He glanced to the group, his eyes landing on Raphael for just a moment longer then the rest and there was a hint of a smile before he straightened his posture, leaning down and extending his hand for the frog to climb aboard. 

Once he was eye height with Usagi he gave a big smile, "Mr.Tomogui! It's so good to see you again! I so hope you've enjoyed your last purchase! What brings you in today hm? And with such a colorful group no less!" Usagi's expression didn't shift much, "Yes, we have an event this evening and I understand its a little short notice, but we need yukatas for everyone." The frog smirked a little giving a glance to the group, "You understand our fees for rush orders correct?" Usagi still kept his unamused expression, "I do. I was hoping not to spend over 30 but if it comes to more then so be it." Mikey tilted his head, "30 dollars?" The frog let out a loud, boisterous laugh, "Oh no, no no no, thirty hundred! Oh you're friends are so quaint and charming!" Usagi gave a little nod, "They are the few people I would consider to be like family to me." Everyone's jaws nearly hit the floor, Usagi was prepared to spend up to and even over three thousand dollars just for 7 outfits?? That'd be like 430 dollars per outfit- And I mean if they rounded that to 500 each that'd be like 3,500- Exactly how loaded was Usagi here?? And yes I did math for this joke because that's just how rich he is

"Excellent!!" The frog said with a clap of his cute little frog hands, "Right this way everyone! Mica here is my right hand man and will be assisting you all personally so go easy on him alright~" Gave a little wink and hopped off Micas hand, leading the group to one of the bigger rooms in the back, there was a small circular stage with a long curved couch on one side and three large mirrors on the other. "Go on now, have a seat, go on. I'll send Ikari right on over to assist you!" He waddled back outside the room and everyone hesitantly took a seat. Mica stood by the door quietly, I guess he was waiting for instructions or something, he really didn't seem that friendly or like he had much to say.. But he could also just be shy, it was indeed a mystery. After a moment a crane yokai, specifically a secretary bird, but they're pretty dang close to cranes so we're just gonna go with that. She came in wearing an intricate yukata that was a soft ocean blue, lined with a white and silver flower pattern, with a white obi tied around her waist and a darker blue kazari himo made with beads and what looked like gemstones that chimed with each step. And in contrast with her white feathers and black accents it looked incredible on her.. "Usagi-san," She said with a little smile, "I was hoping you would stop by again." Leo glanced over to him, getting a little jealous at the interaction but not saying anything since he knew Usagi didn't like anyone else like that. Usagi stood up and bowed his head a little, "Ikari-san, it's good to see you too. This is.." He gestured to Leo with a little smile, "My kareshi. Leonardo, and his family, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, April and Casey. Please treat them as you would me." She nodded and glanced over to Mica. "Mica, take the three brothers with you and the pale one, I'll fit the rest." He nodded and looked over to Raph again, pulling one of the many curtains back for them to go into one of the conjoining rooms. They hesitantly got up and followed. Leo blushed a little hiding even more behind Usagi now that he had told her they were together, he wouldn't have minded much if he'd just said 'boyfriend' but the way it sounded when he spoke Japanese was just.. It hit different is all I can say.

Ikari stepped past Usagi and took Aprils hand, "You must be April, that is such a lovely name. One of new beginnings and positive change. For you, I see a pink base with white deutzia blossoms, with a light green obi and yellow tie. Disrobe behind the shoji, the divider." She pressed a panel on the wall and it lifted up revealing hundreds of different fabrics, she picked out the ones she'd thought about and grabbed a measuring tape from one of her pockets, tossing the rolls into a another compartment that'd reviled itself. April was still standing there, she'd gotten out of her jacket but seemed unsure about the rest. Ikari tilted her head to the side a bit confused if she'd had a misunderstanding, "Well? Come here, if you want them done in time we must go fast with this." She gently grabbed her arm leading her behind the divider, "Obviously I prefer you to keep undergarments on but to get good numbers clothes should be removed. Don't worry, I am well fed with my partner, I'm a professional after all dear" April sighed a bit and complied, "Y'know I've never been somewhere all fancy like this, didn't know this is how it went down, I mean I'm not complaining or nothin' just, y'know.." She nodded with a little chuckle as she took the measurements, "I do. There are smaller dressing rooms you will be using when the yukata is complete, I would not make a lady undress in front of her family or any dansei for that matter." April laughed a little at that, "Fair enough, and- I'm sorry if this sounds weird, I'm a human so I'm not all caught up on this but your feathers are so soft- Like- It is wild, do you use anything for it?"

"Rice water and aloe, I do not take offence. I was thinking something similar about you as well, it's not often I'm able to work with humans, or soft skin."

"Aww thank you, I use this amazing thing called Life FLO it's, so good- Next time we see each other I can bring you some!"

"I would like that very much, and I can arrange a container for you as well if you would like that."

"Uh yes!? Absolutely!"

-_-_-_-_-

Mica had been going through a similar process with the others, getting everyone's measurements and selecting fabrics he deemed acceptable for them, sorting each roll into their own compartment any questions the had Mica answered, it seemed he just wasn't a big talker, he was really nice despite that though. He was gentle and patient, and he even smiled at Mikey's jokes and listened to Donnie lecture him on the importance of his yukata being made from certain fabrics only with a specific list of colors he would all to be used, he just nodded and even let Donnie look through the selection to make sure he was content with everything before Mica took it out and put it with his things. He didn't talk much but he listened and answered anytime he was asked something which was nice, he couldn't tell if Mica was being polite because it was his job, or because maybe he was just a nice guy who looked intimidating. Raph was last, he had been a bit nervous anyway for, some reason... Totally not because whenever Micas piercing blue eyes met Raph's he felt his heart skip a beat, or knowing Mica was going to have his hands so close against him to measure him.. Totally not that- 

Raph didn't really have anything on today, save for the utility belt he always wore but he wasn't sure if that'd be a problem? Probably, he should be safe and take it off anyway and save them both the trouble.. He undid the belt and carefully removed it, hanging it over the dividers wall. Mikey popped behind the divider, since y'know, he didn't really respect privacy- "Hey Raphie, after this we should get food kay? Me an' Donnie wanna get boba tea!" Raph blushed a little, "Mikey-! Fine, we can see whats around here later just- Go sit back down-" Mikey smirked as he caught the expressions between the two, "Oh~ Well excuse me for interrupting~" He gave Raph a wink as if to say 'good luck' before heading back to the couch to gossip to the others. Raph let out a little sign and rolled his eyes. Mica just let out a soft chuckle, "You have an interesting family. Lift your arms please." Raph nodded and did as told, "Yeah you're tellin' me- Mikey's the youngest so he's.. Got a lot of energy heheh.." Mica nodded, gently sliding the tape down his arm, carful of his spikes and scars. "Its sweet, I used to have a younger sister who was very similar in personality. Personal space was a foreign concept to her hahah.. Oh- Sorry, I'm getting a bit side tracked here. Hold still." He wrapped his arms around Raph's waist passing the tape from on hand to the other and gently tugging as he pulled back. Mica read the numbers then glanced up to Raph, "May I ask how sharp your spikes are? And if you'd prefer to use something that wouldn't rip or if making openings would be better?" Raph was quiet for a moment his eyes stuck on Micas hands around his waist. "O-Oh! Right.. Well usually they rip through everything, My shell doesn't always but the ones on my shoulders almost always ruin my shirts.. Not sure what to do about it honestly.. They are kinda scary, maybe I should cover them up?" Mica gave a little shrug as he let go of the tape rolling it back up and writing the numbers down, "I don't think they're all that scary, I mean it's part of you, and you don't seem all that scary.." Raph blushed a little and smiled with a nervous chuckle, he'd never really been complimented before, well, by anyone other than his family at least, so he was at a loss for words. Mica set everything where it needed to be as Raph put his utility belt back on and joined everyone else, Mikey rushing to tease him about getting extra friendly with the staff. In each compartment the separate orders were placed, they each had a tag with the name and measurements of the person that it would be going to once finished. Those compartments were like mail shoots, being sent down to another level of the building all with the click of a button from the panel on the wall. It was an interesting system but it was very effective still. 

After everyone had their things picked and measured it was all sent off and Mica led the group back to the other room. They'd all finished as well and April and Ikari were sitting on one end of the couch talking and laughing about something, while Leo and Usagi were cuddled up on the other end, Leo had his phone out showing a video to Usagi. Mikey ran over and dog pilled on Leo, "We're gonna get boba! Cause Mica said it'd be a little bit before anything's ready so we have time to go get snacks!!" Leo rolled his eyes and nodded, "Sounds good, though someone should probably stay incase we take too long." Donnie nodded and raised his hand a little as if in a class like he needed permission to speak of be called upon. "I volunteer Raph. He doesn't like boba anyways so.." Mikey gently slapped the back of Donnie's head, "Remember Dee we cannot just volunteer him because he might not enjoy it in the same way. "Although~" He looked at Raph nervously sitting beside them, fumbling with his fingers and glancing to Mica who was talking with Ikari, probably taking more orders or something since she seemed to be in charge of this section. "I think he'd like to stay, him and that dude got this vibe goin' yknow?"

"Not really no, I don't. But that doesn't matter too much, because I also don't care, so..." Mikey got up and went over to Ikari gently tapping her shoulder to get her attention, much like a child tugging at the sleeve of an adult. "Excuuuse me miss, but would it be alright if our big brother stayed here to make sure we don't take too long? I'm sure you'd have a way to get a hold of Usagi but just in case we split up while shopping around it would really help y'know?" She stared at him for a moment, unconvinced that's why he wanted Raph to stay behind, considering Mica had just told her, very quietly mind you, that the big red guy over there kept staring at him like lost puppy.. This was most likely related to that. She didn't mind though, despite looking intimidating and having to keep a professional air about herself she always enjoyed Usagi's company and was fairly close to Mica as well, enough that she could do him a favor like this, just this once at least. She nodded at Mikey, "Of course, we have a lounge area for customers just upstairs, and I'm sure Mica would be happy to chaperone and keep him company till your things are ready." Mikey excitedly nodded, already hatching several plans to get his brother and this new guy to talk more and eventually have feelings for each other then eventually start dating and then eventually get married and THEN eventually have kids and THEN-

Okay we're getting side tracked here, in fact, in the time to took Mikey to overanalyze this moment Donnie had already pulled him away and out of the store, down the street and towards a building that was designed to look like an old tea house. There was a big wooden sign carved with the name "老虎茶" with the carvings burned into the wood to make them darker and stand out. Leo tilted his head a little trying to read it, "Ro.. kou.. cha? Old tiger tea??" Usagi chuckled a little and shook his head, "It's Chinese not Japanese love, Lǎohǔ Chá. The Tiger's Tea. You were very close though." They pushed the gate open and saw a smallish courtyard with tables and chairs spread out, then a small shop behind it all. There were plants along the walls and posters filling in any bare spots, mostly about promotions or events going on in the area. Some in English and Chinese, others in a yokai scribble none of the turtles knew enough to decipher. Usagi stopped at the counter and took a few of the paper menus, handing them out to everyone. "Oh yeah we've ordered from here before-" Leo said as he glanced between the menu and the one behind the counter. Usagi nodded, "Yeah, this place delivers so when I'm too lazy to walk all the way here or try to get a ride this way it's pretty convenient." Mikey gasped a little as he read the menu "Ohmigosh wait wait wait- Look! They have flavored boba!!" Everyone got their orders ready and gave them to the panda yokai behind the counter, he looked so bored with everything it was almost enough to bring the whole vibe down, till there was the sound of drumbs? Out front two yokai, one robin and one sparrow, started gently banging on the drum they each had, slow getting louder and building to a quicker more intense pace. A small group of passer byes came in to see what the commotion was about and several people rushed to take their seats. They all looked a bit confused but after a moment the drums stopped and a mantis yokai in a fancy robe came out, a slightly taller lioness was behind him, she looked nervous, almost scared.. 

"Ladies, gentlemen, assorted guests! Please take in the greatest honor of viewing Naiya's performance with us in our shop. She has been working under me for near 20 years now and will be having her final show tonight at the festival before heading off to better things. Although I am sad to see her go I think her new calling is much more fitting for someone like herself. Give her a hand everyone!" Most people clapped or even cheered for her, but she really didn't look too happy.. Mikey tilted his head a little, getting a really shady vibe from that guy, weird.. The mantis turned towards the girl and whispered something, swooshing his long sleeves away with a huff as he left. She was in the center of the courtyard, dressed in a bedlah with all the colors of a raging fire. Along with cuffs on her tail that jingled when she stepped, her mane hair had been put into braids and tied back with matching flowers stuck in the hair. The lights around got dim as she struck a pose, music fading into the room as a she took the long yellow and red silks off from around her waist. Mikeys eyes lit up as he recognized the slow first movements, he might not be into this kind of music, but as someone who loved dancing himself, there's no way he wouldn't recognize a Dunhuang dance! Weird to combine Chinese dance with Arab fashion but having her dress in a more aesthetic way to bring in customers is understandable. It was also pretty weird that she didn't look excited though, but there was a very brief glimpse Mikey got. When the long skirt was kicked up as she spun he could see bandages on her feet, ones that were clearly too tight and causing her pain, no to mention they didn't look new.. There was suddenly a spark of anger where the whimsy of this experience had once been. He had to find out more, there was no way he could just go about his day now that this girl was clearly not being treated well considering the weird emphasis the owner used and how distressed she looked before putting her stage face on... 

LRO Part 1 Part 11 (coming soon)