#car repair checklist

[justposting1]

Master the Art of DIY Car Repairs: Save Money and Build Confidence

Essential Tips for Beginners to Save Thousands, Stay Organized, and Bond with Your Car Want to save thousands on car repairs? Here’s How! Do you dream of saving thousands by working on your own car but don’t know where to start? Or maybe you’re just looking for a few tips to make car repairs a bit easier? If so, you’re in the right place. In this article, I’ll share the top five tips I’ve…

[a111autoparts]

Avoid Costly Repairs: What to Check in a Used Car Engine - A111 Auto Parts

Avoid costly repairs by knowing exactly what to inspect in a used car engine before purchase. Our detailed guide highlights essential checks to ensure reliability and prevent future expenses. Protect your investment with these expert tips.

[champstorymedia]

From Oil Changes to Tire Care: Your Comprehensive Car Maintenance Checklist

When it comes to keeping your vehicle in peak condition, regular car maintenance is essential. From oil changes to tire care, a comprehensive car maintenance checklist ensures that your vehicle runs smoothly, safely, and efficiently. Not only does this practice prolong the life of your car, but it also enhances safety and performance. In this guide, we’ll dive into a structured car maintenance…

[techdriveplay]

What Should You Know Before Taking Your Car to a Mechanic?

Taking your car to a mechanic can be a daunting experience, especially if you’re unsure about what needs to be done or how much it should cost. Whether it’s for a routine check-up or a more complex repair, knowing what to expect can help you make informed decisions and avoid unnecessary expenses. In this article, we’ll explore what you should know before taking your car to a mechanic, covering…

[physalian]

Checklist of character traits prone to inconsistency:

Heyo, quick one today. It’s great to give a lot of detail to character traits and personality quirks, but they aren’t real people, you’ve made them up, and thus, might not have a perfect memory for how you’ve described them, or drawn them in the past.

So before you post or publish, do yourself a favor and make sure the following are consistent throughout your story, if applicable:

If they’re left or right handed, or ambidextrous.

Which side their hair parts on.

Which side their scars are on (especially facial scars).

Which eye has the patch or is just missing, and how much or little the character fiddles with it.

Missing glasses and how prone a character is to forgetting them or anal about cleaning them. Glasses are always dirty (do they clean them with a proper cloth or the edge of their shirt?).

Which side broken, missing, or bandaged fingers are on.

If they’re wearing a cast, how it inhibits their mobility.

If they have a leg or foot injury, how severely they limp.

If their clothing takes damage, when/how they replace it or repair it, and whether or not they’re wandering around town accidentally covered in blood or grease or all-purpose flour.

Which injuries they sustain that should still be bothering them, like pulled shoulders, bruises, shin splints, paper cuts, sun burns, cramps, carpal tunnel, arthritis, tinnitus, road rash, and stubbed toes or pinched fingers.

Which side of their body buttons, rings, bracelets, pins, brooches, badges, or name tags are on.

If they’re wearing gloves or mittens, when they take them off or how their mobility is impacted by them.

How mobility changes if their fingernails are short and stubby or long, or artificial, like typing, eating, and grabbing objects.

If they have a wheelchair, how they transition out of it, into it, and move within it, like getting dressed or putting on shoes, or lifting themselves up into cars and back down—and how public spaces do and don’t accommodate them.

If they have prosthetics, how they maintain them, how they might sound different than someone else—prosthetic feet for runners won’t sound the same as sneakers.

If they need crutches, a walker, a scooter, or a cane, and how the world accommodates them.

If they're colorblind, how it impacts their day to day and descriptions compared to other narrators.

Jewelry often jingles. Pandora bracelets are loud af especially if they’re on your dominant hand when you try to write on a desk. Charm necklaces jingle if you bounce and some earrings can jingle when you shake your head.

Where tattoos are and if they take measures to hide them and how.

An aside about characters with tattoos (from experience):

If they’re new, they still hurt for at least a week depending on the level of detail.

Tattoos are basically mega sunburns and fresh ink should either be covered from the sun or, once it’s healed enough that the skin isn’t broken, heavily sun-screened to preserve coloration. Newer ink is very noticeable in sunlight, just like a healing sunburn.

Black ink tends to turn a bit green over time and sharp details blur. Tattoos are beholden to the skin they’re on, and how it stretches or sags.

Tattoos stink, as plasma and other fluids build up under the wrap (that can either be straight plastic wrap or a dermal cover akin to the stuff used for burn victims).

Tattoos can burn and ache if they’re on the legs when you stand, as blood and your body weight settles back into place.

Tattoos do very weird things to your body depending on the amount of ink and the time it took to design. Your skin peels kind of, but not exactly, like a sunburn, and every artist has their own tips for aftercare.

If the ink is over thin skin (I have one that ends over my ankle) the ink may have a texture left behind, a raised puffy bump, that fades over time.

A character receiving a tattoo might have this kind of bell curve effect, where it hurts really bad at the start, until adrenaline kicks in and dampens it, and then again once their adrenaline runs out. There is no pain quite like tattoo pain and everyone describes them differently. I like to think of them as itching a bug bite on a sunburn, dialed up to 11.

According to my past artists, women almost universally handle the pain better than men. I have definitely suffered other injuries worse than tattoo pain.

Fine linework hurts more than broad stroke coloring or shading, because the distribution of pressure is wider with more needles packed together. The larger the needle bundle, the less it hurts. All of mine are water color and the *splash* effect for the illusion of water drops uses a single needle and it’s always the most painful part.

Feel free to tag any that I missed!

[sirfrogsworth]

Adventures in Cooling

The 5-star rated HVAC repair service I used kind of depressed me.

It was almost... too good?

Like, they offer 24/7 service. They have a text message system that lets you know when the tech is coming. Every tech has their own custom van that serves as a giant advertisement. The entire process is documented with a tablet computer. Every serial number and model number must be photographed. He has to follow a diagnostic checklist. And an upsell checklist. And a repair checklist. He had so many checklists that at one point he pulled a card out of his wallet to make sure he didn't forget one of the steps. He had a poorly memorized speech for every upsell. You could tell he didn't have "his" tools, but the company's tools that he borrowed.

None of this was "bad" as far as a workflow. The service was flawless and nothing was forgotten. But you could tell that every detail was micromanaged and if the tech didn't follow the procedures to the letter, he would probably get some kind of demerit.

I felt sorry for my tech. He was in his 60s and clearly had a severe chronic knee injury. He walked slower than I do. He was quite monosyllabic and difficult to make conversation with. Not unpleasant, just not great at communicating.

At one point I asked him if I was a good candidate for a heat pump and he was like, "Everyone is."

End of advice.

Oh, and the uniform.

The uniform was very silly.

Every square inch of his shirt was meant to assure people they have a qualified technician. The one sleeve listed his certifications from some Alphabet Association that certifies such things. And then the other sleeve made sure to let me know my technician was drug tested and background checked.

The entire visit I kept trying to imagine how being stoned might negatively affect HVAC repair. I mean, if he was on a little cocaine perhaps we could have wrapped things up 30 minutes sooner. Marijuana might have helped him communicate. Opioids could make his knee feel better. I don't think shrooms would have been a good idea. If he hallucinated an angry fan monster in my A/C unit that could have been really awkward.

He was a terrible salesman—but for some reason, I fell for every upsell. Actually, I sold all of the upsells to myself in my head. I got a new filter and had him install it because I worried I would forget or I would install it improperly (not really possible, you just stick it in). But for the price I paid I could have bought 6 years worth of filters.

I just wanted everything sorted. I am so stressed and do not have the bandwidth to deal with A/C troubles. So I just said "yes" to everything. But the price kept inflating as we went along and every time it inflated he required a signature on his tablet.

This repair business had been corporatized to death and it made me miss all of my dad's friends from the old days who he would ask for favors. He always "knew a guy." He would trade car repairs for discounts on things we needed around the house. And they all worked for themselves and had their own tools and their own shitty truck and they all said, "There's your problem!" with the same masculine affect.

Their uniform was a flannel shirt and jeans and I bet some of them were high as fuck.

And this elderly gentlemen with the bum knee kept checking his checklist to make sure he checked every check because he feared managerial discipline.

He got to the sales pitch for the fluorescent dye. He was like, "Do you want this? You don't have to buy it." And I started selling it to myself in my head despite his assurance it wasn't really necessary. I worried if I had a big leak and I don't discover it until the middle of July, I would regret saying no in this moment. But then I realized he hated the dye injection process. And his poor salesmanship was mostly him not wanting his hands to be fucking radioactive yellow for the rest of the day. He tried wearing gloves to avoid it, but he still ended up with yellow hands and grumbled, "I really hate this stuff." Which was one of the few unrehearsed things he said to me the entire time.

Once the checklist was complete and the house was already starting to cool, he had one final sales pitch for me. He asked that I give his company a 5-star review and to make sure I mention his name. He told me that in July all of the techs with the most 5-star reviews will have their names put in a hat. And "the boss" will give one lucky employee a free vacation.

This vacation thing sounded like such a manipulation. And I'm sure "the boss" has instructed his techs to tell this tale of the free vacation so customers will be like, "Well, shit. I don't want this poor old guy with the shitty knee to miss out on that."

And it was then I realized just how this company got so many 5-star reviews.

Diabolical.

But the good news... my house is cold as heck.

And I keep shivering because I can't figure out the perfect setting on my thermostat. I guess I was used to the inefficiency and I will have to recalibrate.

[piastrispastry]

Logan Sargeant does not deserve what happened today and this is my rant about it.

Firstly, and this is extremely obvious but Logan didn’t crash the car. Alex did. Logan didn’t make the mistake. Alex did. If you crash the car to the point they can’t repair it, it is your responsibility to suffer whatever consequences which come of that.

Now Williams are the only team to do something like this in recent years (to my knowledge) on the off chance they score points? Alex has not scored points this season yet and that is not due to the talent it is due to the car, so it doesn’t matter who drives it at this point in the season the car is just not up to scratch.

I am also a firm believer that if Logan didn’t have that steering issue in Bahrain he would have at least scored a point, so it is not due to a lack of talent on Logan’s part it is due to a lack of faith from Williams.

Another thing to note that jumped into my head is Qatar 2023. Carlos Sainz had an issue with the fuel tank. Despite Carlos being a recent race winner Ferrari did not tell him to jump into Charles’ car did they? Because other teams know that if it is an issue with one driver’s car then it is not the responsibility of the other driver to bear the brunt of the aftermath.

This is not just Logan paying for Alex’s mistake this is Logan paying for the entirety of Williams’ lack of preparation. It is their fault they don’t have a third chassis, it is not Logan’s job to be stood there with a checklist in the manufacturing or transport stage to ensure they are prepared. Why should he suffer?

This also shows a massive lack of trust in Logan from the entirety of Williams, especially James Vowels. Why would you resign a driver, claim that you believe in him when you are going to give him the obvious second driver treatment? This could have been a great opportunity for Logan to build up confidence but instead Williams broke him down inside out.

They can preach all they want about giving Logan another chance. This is a sport. Words mean nothing. Unless you practice what you preach it is honestly worthless. It’s a fat load of good saying you believe in a person if when push comes to shove you decide to kick them out of their own car.

Also, I don’t think Alex could have said no to taking Logan’s car. Maybe he could have protested, and he should have, but it was team orders at the end of the day. But, if he could have said “no this is wrong, it is my mistake I should pay for it” then he definitely should have and if he didn’t then that’s on him.

Ultimately, Logan didn’t deserve any of this and this says more about Williams than it does about Logan. I personally hope he scores points at Suzuka just to stick it to the team.

[outcastpack]

I wanna drown in an ocean of you.

The birthday present moodboard

I'm also using this as a mini celebration for 200 followers because I only just realised I had hit it 😅🤣

Theo entered the garage, following Jenna in as she turns the lights on.

The women immediately went ahead to start routing through the boxes that surrounded the room to begin looking for the photo albums, but Theo's attention was pulled towards something else, in the centre of the garage sat a large sheet covering something- specifically a car if the outline was anything to go by.

"Whats that?" He asks Jenna, pointing at the covered vehicle when she turns to face him. The women instantly looks at the car fondly. "That was my father's car before he passed it on to me." Jenna stands to her feet moving towards the vehicle motioning for Theo to help her.

Together they pull the sheet off the vehicle. Theo's eyes widen as the car is revealed.

A 1970s Ford Mustang.

The vehicle is in definite need of repair and restoration. His eyes skimming over the cars black exterior.

Jenna has moved. Walking along the car stroking her hand over the hood. "I used to drive this car everywhere, even Liam grew up with me driving it." Theo moves along the car looking through the drivers door window.

As expected the interior was in need of help. New seats needed and potentially a new steering wheel not even counting if the car would even start up.

"I wanted to pass it on to Liam one day, but the old girl was damaged and her parts are hard to come by, if not impossible. " Jenna is motioning towards the front of the car now where the front bumper and hood were damaged leading up to the passenger side.

"I couldn't bare the thought of being rid of her though. She was my own father's and is one of the last things I have of him." Jenna’s voice cracks a little as she speaks. Theo turns back to face Jenna seeing the slight wetness in her eyes as she reminisces over the vehicle.

"Does it start?" He asks her. Eyeing the car with interest. A small idea forming in his head.

Jenna turns towards the wall where a rack of keys hangs off it. Pulling out a set and motioning towards the vehicle. She opens the drivers door- ignoring the dust that comes away.

She puts the key in the ignition turning it to try and start the vehicle.

Nothing happens

She tries again- and again.

The engine roars a little before dieing, immediately shutting off.

The women sighs climbing out. Eyeing the vehicle with sadness. "She has been sat here for years now." She sighs sounding a little dejected turning put the key back on the rack.

Theo reachs out, taking the key slowly out her hands. Walking around the car.

Theo stays silent as his gaze returns solely back to the car.

He imagines a younger Jenna driving the car for the first time, to a young Liam sat on her knee holding the wheel while he tries to reach the peddles.

He imagines a 19 year old Liam driving this car.

It being parked outside the beach house or Theo's apartment next to Theo's own truck.

A checklist forming in his head over what the car needs.

New bumper and hood, the interior needing to be restored, issue with the engine needing to be fixed, potentially a full replacement of it, and the exterior needing a complete respray to make it look new along with other things.

Jenna was right. Parts like what it would need would be rare to come by.

Luckily Theo knew just the man that had the contacts they would need. Who had restored other older models before. Theo was sure with his dad's helped, they could both get the Mustang running again.

Theo smiles at Jenna, tapping his hand along the top of the car. "I'm gonna need to borrow her for awhile." The women eyes her sons boyfriend with confusion while Theo's grin just widens.

[hsdiaries]

‘til forever

chapter two - 3.9k

master list

Living on the westside of LA in sunny California was never exactly on my checklist of things I needed to accomplish in life, but opening up a car repair shop was - and this for some reason became the easiest place to do it. Truthfully I owed it all to Mason, the man I ran my apprenticeship under. He took a special liking to me during my time, and when he passed, with no kids of his own, he left his shop to me. My best friend moved out here, helped me run the social media and marketing for the shop, I kept some of the team adding some younger guys for more heavy lifting jobs. We did minor maintenance to the place, spruced it up to appeal to different kinds of people, and the shop has been doing better ever since.

One thing I didn’t expect to get out of this was friendships, but here I was, walking over to meet up with one of my coworkers turned friends, meeting his group of people and new girl. I quickly turn the corner,  walking into the bar, taking the last couple bites of my croissant, licking the left over chocolate off my fingers. Mitch was thankfully easy to spot, taller than most in the room, longer hair too.

“Harry!” He quickly called out when he spotted me, I chuckled, walking over as we quickly embraced, our hands patting each other's backs.

“Everyone, this is my boss, Harry, he owns the car shop I work at. Harry, this is Niall, Chase, Pauli, and of course Sarah.” 

Mitch flushed a deep shade of red as he introduced the woman he was now dating, and I chuckled, lifting my hand up to greet everyone, “Nice meeting you all, thanks for letting me crash.”

“Mitch told us you were new in town when you opened up the shop, so we weren’t going to say no! Everyone needs friends,” the mousy haired man named Niall said.

“He’s not off, just have my best friend from college here, Marlee, she’s actually joining us later as well.” I smiled, Sarah’s eyes perking up.

“Oh thank god, another girl! I was so scared I’d be in a giant testosterone fest all night,” she said, making us all chuckle.

“Well, Horan was supposed to get Bentley here, yet we have no Bentley,” the dark haired tattooed man who I assumed was Chase spoke, hitting Niall hard on his back.

“Listen, I can’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. I don’t want to pressure her into making decisions she’s not ready to make,” Niall said, sipping his beer, a Guinness.

“Including finally giving you a chance,” Pauli quipped, making Niall fake a laugh, flipping them off. I couldn’t help myself and chuckle.

“Who’s Bentley?” I asked, holding my hand up for the bartender, quickly ordering myself a beer.

“She’s our late friend Louis’….ex? I guess that’s what we would call her now. Niall’s got a thing for her since they trauma bonded, but she won’t give him the green light,” Mitch rolled his eyes and Niall scoffed.

“I’ve never asked her to give me any green light. I’m fine just being her friend, that’s all I want,” his tone clearly bothered by everyone’s antics, and I couldn’t help but feel for the guy.

“Seems like you’ve been there for her after his passing, from what Mitch said, I now remember him mentioning the situation, I know she hasn’t let anyone else in, so ignore them. Especially this one, he fucks up a car for me at least once a week,” I teased Mitch; Pauli, Chase and Sarah laughing as I paid for my beer, taking a long sip with a smile on my face.

Niall raised both his eyebrows at Mitch, who quickly shot me a glare. The overall pointing of fingers was quickly broken when the door to the bar burst open, a short brunette tripping over herself, quickly straightening out and looking over in our direction. I broke into a big smile as I saw my pixie like best friend, her smile soon reflecting mine. Her cat-like hazel eyes seemed to glimmer, as she waved at me, her cheeks red with slight embarrassment.

“And that’s Marlee, my best friend,” I said, holding my beer glass out in her direction as she made her way over. She reached me and quickly buried herself in my embrace, my lips pressing a kiss to the top of her head softly.

“Hi guys, sorry for the grand entrance. You will learn I have two left feet,” she shrugged, taking my beer and sipping from it. Everyone laughed, introducing each other to her. It was nice to mix our friendship with Mitch’s friends. I was used to a big group of friends back home, so this just felt right.

“So you two met in college?” Sarah said, bringing me another beer as the boys moved to the side to have a conversation, eyes flicking to us constantly as they did.

“Yeah, we were in American Literature together. He sat next to me, he sucked at annotating his readings, I was amazing at it. One day, he leaned over and asked me to help him. I asked to be paid in pizza rolls and he added root beer on top of it and I was sold!” Marlee quickly explained, smiling up at me and I laughed.

“She always leaves out how I helped her with math, but college calculus is a touchy subject, we shall avoid,” I said, pretending to whisper at Sarah as Mitch called me over to the rest of the guys.

Walking past the girls, I messed with Marlee’s hair, reaching the guys, left hand deep in my pocket as I took a sip of my beer. Chase clearly looked like he might foam at the mouth if he didn’t speak soon, my eyes narrowing at him.

“So that’s just your best friend? Not your best friend you secretly have feelings for but too scared to admit?” Chase said quickly, head tilting forward, eyebrow raised.

“No, that’s my best friend and just that, my best friend.” I peeked over at Marlee, then back at the guys. I wasn’t lying, that’s all she was to me. There was only one moment in time when I thought there might be more, but that was quickly squashed by how wrong it felt when I tried to kiss her. She was like my sister, it couldn’t be anything more past that for me.

“So, she’s free game then?” He raised an eyebrow making me snort out a laugh. This was something definitely I was accustomed to, my best friend was beautiful with a personality to match. The amount of time I was approached for permission to attempt to woo her was anyone I had lost count of.

“Good luck, Marlee ain’t easy, and she’s picky as hell, mate. You can give it a try though, but…” I moved my lips from side to side, leaning in closer to him, “you hurt her, I don’t mess around either.”

Chase chuckled, tossing his hands up in the air, “I’m just here for a good time, friend. I set my boundaries clear and right from the very start. Now if you’ll excuse me, Marlee looks like she needs a refill.” 

He winked obnoxiously at us, my eyes trailing his path to my best friend, my head shaking as I locked eyes with Niall who rolled his, “Ignore Chase, he thinks with his dick, so naturally, he acts like one.”

We both laughed, Mitch choking on his beer as he did as well, “Righto!” He managed out as he cleared his throat, “Even tried to put moves on Bentley, Niall shut that down so quick.”

“He was taking advantage of her vulnerability, trying to get a pity fuck so he could say he did. Louis had just gone, it was fucking wrong!” Niall exclaimed, Mitch sending him a look, teasing the real reason why Niall put a stop to it. I felt for him. You could tell he truly cared for this Bentley character, everyone trying to make it a negative thing.

“Girls that have mates like us are lucky, don’t let these dick heads try and shake how you treat her. She will always appreciate it more than she vocalizes,” I smiled at him, a small nod from him in exchange, Mitch and Pauli looking at each other, then down, embarrassed that they were teasing Niall.

“So you and Harry have been friends for a bit now then?” Sarah asked as I drank more beer. Personally I hated beer and its taste, but the new environment meant I wasn’t ready to dip my toes into hard liquor around them. It was better for all those involved.

“Yeah, I feel like I’ve known him my whole life really. It was just an instant click. Now he can’t get rid of me,” I giggled, shrugging my shoulders as she nodded. Her green eyes and their curiosity let me know exactly what question was next, bracing myself for it.

“Nothing more there?” She leaned in, her eyes hopeful, as if it would add excitement to the situation. I licked my lips, biting down on my lower lip, shaking my head.

“Yeah no. We are just best friends and it ends there. He’s like a brother,” I said, the last sentence feeling like bile in my throat. Truth was, I loved him so much more than just as friends. It would never happen though, it would never be reciprocated; the imagine of him laughing as he leaned in to kiss me forever engraved on the back of my mind. I remember my heart racing, thinking this was finally the moment he would see me as more than just his friend. The moment he realized he felt for me how I felt for him.

It wasn’t. 

Instead, he laughed about how he wasn’t sure what he was thinking, apologizing, head shaking in disbelief. I never in my life readjusted my feelings so quickly, shoving him back and calling him a weirdo for even trying in the first place. The entire time, my heart breaking, eyes fighting the tears that wanted so badly to fall.

“Sometimes that’s for the best you know? I think we all need a best guy friend, but it’s hard when they always seem to want something more. I mean, even us girls cross that line too.” She said, sipping on her beer, so unaware of my feelings.

“What about you? How long have you known the guys?” I said, wanting to direct the conversation away from me and Harry.

“Oh, it’s my first time meeting everyone too. I just started dating Mitch a month ago, thought it was time to meet the friends,” she shrugged. I nodded, licking beer off my lips.

“Well then I’m glad we’ve been thrown into this together, men are strange, women superior always,” I raised both eyebrows at her and she lifted her glass to cheers with mine. I met hers, sipping on my beer as one of the boys approached us.

“It’s Marlee right?” He said, squeezing between Sarah and I, arm resting on the bar as he smiled up at me. I shot him a look of confusion, “Yes and you are? Sorry I’m not good with names.”

“I’m Chase, thought I would personally introduce myself. Just let you know I’m super excited to add you and Harry to the group. Maybe we, you and I, can even grab a bite sometimes,” he pinched his lower lip, my eyes flashing over at Sarah’s quickly. She shrugged, my eyes moving back to Chase.

“Mmm, we’ll see. Have to decide where you rank amongst the other guys. Let’s run the trial for about two weeks and then I’ll give you a rundown on where you land,” I smirked, winking at Sarah before pushing off the bar and walking towards Harry. From the immediate laughter coming from the guys I could only imagine what his face looked like behind me.

Slipping my hand around Harry’s waist, he pulled me in for a hug, shaking his head, “Couldn’t you at least give him five minutes of your time?”

“I didn’t completely let him down, I just let him know that I needed to test out the Irish one as well, Pauli too,” I said so only he could hear, his vanilla scent strong on his hair near my face.

“Marlee, Marlee, this is why we never make new friends,” he chuckled and I shrugged.

“I never needed anyone else so, eh,” brushing it off, because it was true, all I needed was Harry, that was enough. He wrapped me up in a tight embrace, kissing the top of my head like he often did.

Soon Sarah and Chase joined us again, everyone pushing past Chase’s lame attempt to ask me out. We shared embarrassing moments, how everyone met each other, Sarah and I planned to grab lunch later next week. As much as I hated the idea of sharing Harry’s time with other people, it did feel nice to make new friends. We all moved over to the pool tables, taking turns ordering rounds of beer and playing pool against one another.

Niall began asking Harry and Mitch about the shop, hoping to bring his car in for an oil change and to get his brake pads fixed. As always Harry began playing down how good he was at fixing cars and truly how successful his shop was. He was so humble, it was his best trait, and that’s why he had me, so I could sing his praises.

“Did you all know the shop is getting the AAA Award for Outstanding Service?” I piped in, Harry’s eye flicking to me, basically yelling at me for bringing it up. I ignored him, rolling my eyes, “Yeah, he’s the best in town too, 100% mark on the award.”

“Harry, you never mentioned that!” Mitch exclaimed, back handing his chest. Harry coughed, rubbing his chest softly as he laughed.

“It just slipped my mind, I don’t…I don’t really pay attention to those things,” he said, running his ring clad fingers through his hair.

Sarah scrolled through her phone, peeking her eyes up, “Harry that’s a really good award to have. You are registered with AAA and their website. That’s why you guys have been so busy, babe!” She exclaimed looking over at Mitch, “The shop is on the site so it directs more customers! Harry, that's so amazing. Oh my gosh we should celebrate!”

“Guys, please we really don’t have to—…”

“…—no we totally should mate! It’ll be further bonding and welcoming you in the group. Maybe it’ll finally get Bentley to come out,” Niall said, something hopeful in his voice. I had no idea who Bentley was, but she felt like the motivating factor in every aspect of his life choices.

“Yeah Harry, let us celebrate to get Bentley out!” I said, shifting my body next to Niall, pulling his lower lip down gently into a pout, “Do it for Niall and Bentley.”

Niall chuckled a bit, but kept his pout making Harry roll his eyes, “Fine, fine, we can plan something. There’s this arcade bar Marlee and I love, we can do something there, play games and shit. They have food too!”

“Perfect!” Sarah clapped her hands, moving to stand next to me, “Marlee and I will handle everything, you boys just show up, and Niall get the infamous Bentley to join us! It’ll be fun!”

—

Harry and I walked home, it was late but it was our favorite time to be out and about. The city was quiet and besides avoiding the few cars driving by, we could walk in the middle of the street.

“So everyone was really nice,” I smiled over at him, walking along the middle yellow divider, one foot in front of the other.

“Yeah, good people, normal friend group with their issues and drama. They actually lost their friend Louis about six months ago? That’s where that Bentley girl comes into play. She was dating Louis, and from what I gathered, Niall’s soft on her. Took care of her the most when he passed.”

“Mmm, that’s horrible. Do you know how it happened?” I said as he moved in front of me, walking on the same divider backwards.

“Nope. Just still feels new, you know? Mitch can barely talk about it when he does mention it. So I just avoid it,” he said, reaching out for my hands to help keep us balanced.

“I can’t even imagine losing you…I don’t know what I would do,” I said softly, his hands squeezing mine.

“I ain’t going nowhere, they’ll have to catch me first and I’m too fast,” he wiggled his furrowed brows, making me laugh.

“Yeah?” I said, my head tilting in a challenge, his hands quickly releasing mine.

“Oh come on Marlee, I drank so much beer,” he whined and I shrugged, instantly moving to tackle him, his strong arms quickly stopping me and picking me up over his shoulder, “You literally will never learn. I’m always too quick.”

I burst into laughter hitting his back over and over, “Put me down!” 

“Nope, this is how I’m getting you to your apartment. Learn your lesson,” he said, hitting my leg, my arm reaching up to pull his hair, “Ow! You brat!”

We both laughed, Harry staying true to his word, carrying me over his shoulder until we finally got to my apartment. He placed me down on the ground, helping me smooth out my hair like he often did. I inhaled, shivering slightly, something that he often ignored.

“Thanks for coming with me today, it always makes new situations easier,” he smiled, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“Course. I had a good time, and Sarah and I have lunch plans. Me, plans with a girl. Isn’t that insane?” I said with wide eyes, a soft chuckle from him, a smile from ear to ear.

“That is actually, so now I won’t be forced to go on every single shopping trip you decide to take,” he teased, my eyes narrowing.

“You know you enjoy those trips, I always buy you cinnamon pretzel bites!” I pointed at him, his lips pressing together, in a questioning manner.

“I mean…” his eyebrows raised, laughter leaving him as soon as my face dropped in disappointment, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I’ll be incredibly jealous of you and Sarah’s newfound friendship.”

“That’s better,” I said, starting to look for my keys in my purse, “So I finished all the marketing stuff for you, new flyers and all. I’ll drop them off after work tomorrow so you can go through and approve.”

“Sounds good, thanks, Mar, really. The shop got to where it was because of you, so thank you. You marketed the shit out of it,” he stuck his tongue in his cheek.

“I told you we were going to make it happen, but H, you did everything else. You fix the cars, I just let people know the hot guy in town can do the fixing,” I giggled, pulling out my keys.

“And Mitch appreciates it,” Harry joked, my hand moving to shove him back. I turned to my apartment door, unlocking the front door. I pulled it open, holding it open and peeking over at him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then?” 

“Yeah, go get ready. I’ll call you when I get home so we can watch New Girl before bed,” he said, reaching over and holding the door open for me.

I looked at him nodding, wondering if he ever thought it was weird how we did this. How we called each other each night, watching New Girl until we fell asleep. It started as me making him watch it from the beginning, to now just rewatching random episodes each night.

“Don’t forget I get to choose the season tonight, I’m feeling three. It feels right,” I said, and he rolled his eyes. 

“Let me guess, episode five, because you can relate to Jess’ need to stick her nose in everyone’s life?” He tilted his head at me.

“Listen if I didn’t stick my nose in your life, you never would have kept the auto shop, so…kiss my ass, Harry. Night!.” I smiled, blowing him a kiss before turning on my heel and heading into my complex.

“Night you troll!” He called out, my hand sticking up and flipping him off, his laugh trailed behind me.

Everything about tonight felt right, which was a relief, because I didn’t know how I would face Mitch at work the next day if it didn’t work out. His friends were funny, friendly and just the right amount of messy to keep things interesting. Walking to my apartment, I couldn’t help but ponder over my encounter before the bar, the girl and the chocolate croissant constantly popping into my head throughout the night. She had a permanent sadness etched into the furrow of her brows, her lips seemed unable to twitch into a convincing smile.

I couldn’t move past how stunned she was at me using “no drama” a phrase I picked up from the Australian exchange students at Uni, never thinking much of it. I wanted to stop by again every morning and every afternoon at that little shop, hoping to see her again. I wanted to find out why her brows furrowed into such sadness, what put that sadness there.

My phone went off, buzzing on my bedside as I settled into bed; without looking I knew it was Marlee, ready for our bedtime ritual. I pulled the cover on my bed quickly slipping in before calling out to my phone.

“Hey Siri, call Marlee on speaker,” I said, grabbing my laptop and opening up, starting to set up the Netflix party so we could watch together.

“I’m more than positive I grew an inch,” Marlee said when she finally answered, my eyebrow raising in confusion.

“Mar, I’m more than positive you’re past your growing age,” I said quickly sending her the link.

“Can you please just accept I’ve grown an inch?” I heard her clear pout through the phone.

“Fine, fine you grew an inch,” I gave in, adjusting in bed the show starting as she pressed play on her end. The show began playing, filling the space, my body relaxing into my bed. I loved this tradition we had, sometimes we watched, sometimes it just played as we talked or fell asleep. I bit my lip as I thought about the croissant girl again, a sigh leaving me, “I had a weird interaction with a girl today. Not weird, just…interesting.”

I chuckled, Marlee readjusting on the other side of the phone, “Oh?” She said softly.

“I needed to eat something, so I went to the cafe under the apartment—…”

“…—wait like..the store?”

“Yeah, I just knew I would be drinking, so, I just went in. I saw this chocolate croissant, went to grab it and this girl reached for it too. Pulled back freaked out, and I told her no drama, you know, and she knew what it meant - but she was weirded out that I knew what it was. I don’t know…I guess I’m just intrigued by how sad she looked. Her eyebrows were permanently skewed,” I said, realizing I was rambling. I took a deep breath, clearing my throat, “I’m wondering if I’ll see her again.”

“Well. I guess you’ll just have to see what happens. You already sound…enamored? I guess,” she said quietly, clearly tired.

“Yeah, have to see. I’m not enamored…I just, I’m just curious - but, let’s just go to sleep now. I’m exhausted after today. Night fairy girl.”

“Mm, night Harry. Love you.”

“Love you always.”

[shallowrambles]

So, on the subject of Sam being neurodivergent…

If he often struggles to read people and agonizes over moral relativism, I think his season 8 behavior makes perfect sense in some ways…

(Especially when you add in the fight-or-flight seesaw. His wall got terribly broken and repaired; and then he lost both Dean and Cas, and he didn’t just not look for them. He was afraid of looking for them. Sam is the man most afraid of grief. Limbo was preferable to grieving them if they’d turned out to be truly dead. Thus, the resulting deserting his post / utter nervous breakdown).

///

Anyway, Re: Sam’s neurodivergence. Sam, and especially later-seasons Sam, doesn’t seem to operate on gut feeling as comfortably as he does by-the-book type of structures.

And while it hurts a bit to realize it, Sam could be mostly mirroring the assistance Dean and Bobby gave to him in early seasons.

After all, Sam also had a monstrous ally who earned trust and offered assistance over a period of years. An ally who even saved Dean’s life on occasion! It’s not a jump to assume Sam’s mind has created a snapshot of this instance to use in real life the way we use our experiences like a training simulation.

Post-deserting his post, Sam’s horrified by his own weakness and flakiness. So, charitably, we can assume he tries to overcorrect his support. And when he’s “looking out for his brother,” part of him is referring to this neurodivergent “checklisting of items” he’s stored in his head.

In this instance, being wary of self-interested-but-caring-outsiders was modeled by Dean and Bobby!

The Ruby scenario is now a pattern in Sam’s head, embedded like a board of blackout bingo terms.

And Sam is a little bit right in that, that no matter how “arms-length” Dean keeps his partnership, no matter how “controlling the means of communication and controlling the flow of blood donation” Dean crafts it to be, it poses real risk to Dean, which is underlined boldly in text, regardless of the stress-testing Sam engineers.

(But crucially, Sam is also a lot in the wrong, too.)

///

I think this “flight simulation” style of thinking happens in season 10, too.

Dean “at least Sam will die human then” Winchester and Bobby (and Cas) undertook extreme lockdown techniques to get Sam through the “withdrawal” phase of his affliction in a 4-5.

And it was successful! (Drug withdrawal is no joke, but it’s not torture for the sake of torture, or social rejection for the sake of social rejection. I personally feel like rushing to pin it as a crude stand-in for conversion therapy is uncharitable and way off.)

Point is, Sam’s got a pre-existing template for the Demon Dean purification scenario. It’s what was done to him.

His family recognized when it was “the affliction talking” to get Sam to a place of health. Sam knows Dean loves him, loves singing, loves his car…

And lo— when all is said and done, Sam is right about this. Sam’s hypocritical cruelty and evil pragmatism to save his loved ones aside, Sam is right that Dean doesn’t want to lose himself in a numbing world of black-and-white, Purgatory-style numbness and fatalism.

Dean says on multiple occasions just how much he hated becoming “that thing.” He verbalizes that the mark and demonness are an assault on his free will; and he’d rather die before becoming it again.

Of the mark, Dean calls Crowley out for lying and pulling a Metatron on Dean to further Crowley’s own goals. And of the mark, Dean says, after blacking out and losing control a la Godstiel-a-political-convection: “Fellas, this thing’s gotta go.”

Sam knows Dean, and because he knows Dean, he recognizes that the demonness was not a secret true self any more that the suicidal ideation brought on by Sam’s trials was Sam’s secret dream…

And once again, Sam’s actually a little bit right about Crowley; we just tend to politely look away from it. (Draining humans as late as season 9; killing queer suburbanites in s11 to make a hasty phone call etc etc)

That Sam is a little bit right about some details makes parsing his moral relativism even more difficult for him, I think.

EDIT:

(He’s also probably confused by when his emotions irrationally drive him in certain scenarios, like when he makes a connection with a “freak” that’s so strong that he overlooks “rules.” He ties himself in knots rationalizing, perhaps. We all do. It’s horrifying how irrational we are, really.)

///

In his middling-Sam days, when the scenario doesn’t play out according to the checklist/scenario stored in his head, Sam tries to counter-balance the equation so it’s forced to fit.

I.E: “I was wrong, so therefore Dean is also wrong because enough of these checklisted conditions look the same. No? I’ll just have to hit fast-forward on a few things and prove it to him then!”

Obviously there’s a lot more than the above at play. There’s of human emotions, baggage, pettiness, pride etc etc in the mix. But every single person’s got that, too. Being a human is complicated.

But I do think Sam’s dissociative manner of coping is nifty! The neurodivergent scarecrow/brain/head choice is fun to consider in the context of the above, no?

[subwaytostardew]

The sprite work looks amazing as always, you can really tell how much time and effort went into the designs!! It's always a treat to see an update, here or on Youtube. Also, I love how we got a Ginger Island update in Winter and a Winter update in Summer. What's next on the agenda?

I didn't realize the Ginger Island update was in winter... How funny!

(Just to make a disclaimer... Updates may be slowing down from here since I have work/life stuff pulling me away from modding and Kade's route is rocky as she is trying to find a new place to live and barely supporting herself as-is with two jobs.)

As for next on the agenda... I've been meaning to make an updated checklist of things we'd like to finish before the mod is in a state where I'd consider it ready for release- so I might as well update on it here! I probably forgot some things and more things will probably break, but off the top of my head- this is what we have on our intinerary.

▷ Station Steward Thylak

To-do list

Station repair events: These will probably be shorter and not too elaborate (by our standards... They'll be more like vanilla with its 1 minute long events).

Schedules: The pathing broke. I need to figure out how to make Emmet stop sleeping in the middle of the ocean on a Friday night. I'd also like to make new schedules for when the station is built but I need to finish the events for those first so they a flag to activate upon. Cilan doesn't have a schedule at all since he spawns in the station and the game would crash if I tried to load a schedule for him without locking it behind the station repair events.

Fixing events: We need to go back and replace some of the event animations with new commands. The Pokeball effect and battle animations broke. I'd also like to try to edit some other event aspects to be less janky and more concise (the intro events pain me). Emmet's 8-heart event will need to be heavilly edited regarding this... You know how long that is.

Emmet's 10-heart event: Ingo has his done... It wouldn't be fair for him to not have one either! Aside from the station repair events, this is probably the most important event on our to-do list but also... the biggest work-in-progress. We have a lot of asset creation to do (Nimbasa... A dining car interior... Date visuals...) as well as figuring out the script. I have an idea for the main themes and what happens in the event, we just need to figure out how to execute it. We're mostly stuck on the actual... date montage part... We'll figure it out.

1.6 festivals: I felt bad enough having my original plan to have Emmet partake in the Ice Festival's fishing competition (he got sensory overload 😔... coding-wise it's just not possible for me to make him fish in a festival) and then 1.6 added not just one but TWO more fishing festivals for him to feel bad about. He likes winning more than anything, but I don't think Emmet is particularly good at fishing. Eelektross isn't either by Eelektross standards; together they make one average fisherman. I'd still like to have them comment on them (but ahhh.... Sad Emmet...). As for the Desert Festival- they for sure need to partake in that. We just need to scope out coordinates and make dialogue. Maybe make custom shops for them too? (Not too familiar with that... I haven't figured out the whole... Custom items and shops thing yet. Need to do that.)

Year 2 festivals: Apparently custom NPCs don't default to their first year of festival data and will not be present at succeeding festivals unless if I specify festival data for year 2. That means we have to make another round of festival dialogue for all the festivals! Yay... These will probably be shorter/closer to vanilla lines compared to the year 1 festival dialogues.

12-Heart events?: I know I said I would probably leave marriage events for a later update (alongside platonic routes) but... I don't think they're really "complete" as NPCs without marriage events. They're only romancable for now and there isn't really much incentive to marrying them otherwise! The events I have in mind (beachside dinner with Emmet, exploring the tidepool area with Ingo) aren't too elaborate and more just set-up for what I have in mind for the "conclusion" to their story/relationship development. I have a tendency to procrastinate so I might get sidetracked making these later. Besides, I've been thinking about the date ideas from earlier a lot and I miss coding events (my favorite part of modding… As you can probably tell… It's fun to me.)

Ingo's daily dialogue: I've been lagging behind when it comes to reorganizing the lines in Ingo's daily dialogue file to be more cohesive... It's like +20 pages long... I reorganized Emmet's but... Ingo... There's just so much...

Other daily dialogue: Elesa and Cilan have little to no lines (Cilan has ONE). We'd like to make them somewhat worth talking to even if we will be adding in their events/full routes in a later patch.

Marriage dialogue: This actually breaks if all the keys aren't filled out, so we will need to write more lines for them there. Should be easy enough.

Ingo's letters: Kade wrote drafts for them, but I'd like to polish them before release (more train terms!!! and edits for cohesion). Proofreading for Ingo is just a drag... I've also been thinking about giving him matching odd-heart events for if you try to break his heart donate his gifts to the museum.

Side/Passenger events: There's still a few events that we have in the drafts as well as event ideas that should probably be included in the main release as it elaborates more on passenger interactions+worldbuilding. Currently, I'm coding an epilogue of sorts to the Pierre/Saloon event storyline where you get to listen to Ingo infodump in an event conversation with Abigail. There's also another partially finished event of a double battle between submas that would start the Maru storyline which would include more worldbuilding around Pokemon in the valley and end with Maru helping them with care- hence why they make a stop at the clinic on Tuesdays! Buuut... That event broke thanks to 1.6. Oh well. I'll get it done eventually.

[wolf-among-mechs]

Pre-Flight Checklist

Last Chance Car Repair & Scrapyard The Edge Free Rasalhague Republic 18 May 3049

Chance folded down the welding mask and fired up the plasma cutter. It was for the most serious of problems. When all else had failed, the plasma cutter would be able to deal with the matter.

“You sure that's a good idea Chance? There's gonna be a lot of damage and cleanup.” Jake, his business partner and best friend asked.

“I know what I'm doing Jake. All the other tools wouldn't remove it so this is where it's at.” Chance said with a tone of frustration.

“Yeah but the plasma cutter? Are you really sure you've tried everything else? Measure twice and cut once you know.” Jake put on a pair of welding glasses and leaned against the wall to look at what was transpiring.

“I considered using the saw. I wasn't sure the material however would hold up. The torque would probably splinter it.” Chance said as he moved the plasma cutter across the measured line.

“Yeah… That sounds about right. I would have tried hot water.”

“What good would that do?”

“It would make the metal expand which could force it to move.”

“But how would you turn it?”

“Towel.”

“This way is better.” Chance as he finished the cut. He folded up the welding mask. With a gloved hand he reached to pick the top off. Then he took the glass jar and fished out a chili fruit from it. Then gave it a testing bite. Jake removed the welding goggles and stared.

“Tastes good.” Chance said, satisfied that he had finally opened a stubborn jar. Jake helped himself to another fruit and tasted it.

“Lucky.” He shook his head and gave his pal a light jab in the shoulder. “Alright hotshot. How are you going to keep the jar of chilis in the fridge without it going bad without a lid?”

“I’m going to put it in another jar where the lid isn’t stuck.This time we’re not putting it in the back.” Chance got an empty jar from the entry and filled it from the old one.

“If you're done opening jars, Chance, the Honda needs to have the particle filter changed and the servo pump is on its last legs. See if you can’t also figure out why the transmission is so stiff.” Jake said getting a can of cola while the fridge was open.

“Did you check between the steering wheel and seat?” Chance grinned back at him. Jake narrowed his eyes for a moment, then realized what Chance was saying.

“Speaking of piloting error. When you get the chance, come down to the hangar and we’ll need to look at the Turbostalker.” Jake said while the can hissed open.

“You got it.” Chance said as he cleaned his hands up 

—--------------------------------------------------------

Down below the scrapyard, in a secret underground base. Lost to the ages and the ravages of the succession wars. But then recently cleaned out and restored to active use.  An old black and red aerospace fighter sat in a workshop. It had seen battle, fairly recently too. Heat scars showed that lasers had raked across the armour. Small pock-holes on the frontal section were witness to a myriad of long range missile hits.

Jake was busy freeing an armored panel that had gotten hit badly by a laser shot.

“So what’s the problem with her?” Chance asked as he wandered in.

“Myomer strains. Your flying during the last pirate raid a few days ago frayed the myomers going out into the right wing.”Jake motioned at the wing in question.

“It was either that or fly into the Rifleman’s fire. Easy choice.” “Sure. Still needs repairing though. The release system for hardpoints barely works now so we’re going to have to fix that if we want to have those Arrow missiles for the next pirate raid… we better get to work.” Jake sounded a little tired. As though the thankless task they had gotten themselves into helping to protect this side of the planet from pirates and whatever else came from the deep periphery got to him. It made him feel tired in the moment.

“Easy.” Chance as he joined his co-pilot in fixing the plane up. “Just picture the general's face when we pull his ass out of the fire again.” He grinned. Jake’s world felt brighter again.

“Worth all the trouble.” He nodded.

“At the end of the day you gotta admit it was some fancy flying.” Chance pulled loose a panel from the wing to look at the frayed myomers inside.

“Yeah. Just as wasted on the raiders as in the army.” Jake chuckled.

“Heck yeah.”

[tramontane-fire]

I have everything I ever wanted so why am I so alone and want to die all the damn time???

There is literally no reason for me to be sad. I have my dream job that I've wanted since I was 13. I have the kitty. I have a vehicle, all mine, no payments, that doubles as backup housing. I have a place to live with no shitty roommates who give me ahit for everything. Most of all I'm financially secure. No more drinking free coffee creamer by the cup to try and fill up at work. Vet bill, car repair, medical expense, [mine, my family's, or yours, mutuals] covered no problem. This, above all else, should make me very happy and basically sadness proof.

I've checked every box, both my own checklist for the future I had as an unhappy teen and society's checklist for the social determinants of health.

The only reason for me to still be like this, then, is if I'm the problem.

Sadly, I think I'm just evil. This wonderful life is wasted on me. I deserve bad things now.

[manhattanindulgedrp]

The following characters have been accepted and so we ask that you follow the checklist in the server within 24 hours:

Mariposa Valentina Aguirre-Herrera 

Name: Mariposa Valentina Aguirre-Herrera FC: Eiza Gonzalez Age: 29 Gender & pronouns: She/Her 4 personality traits: Meticulous, calculating, aloof, blunt Occupation: Auto Mechanic, Specializes in car modifications/alterations Affiliation: Herrera Filling any connections/positions: Open Herrera family child (of Mistress) 2 facts about your character:

Mariposa is a flighty creature and has been known to disappear for weeks or months on end, just her, her truck, her pup Chaos, and the open road. No matter how far she strays or how long she's gone though, she always manages finds her way back home.

Despite being one of the oldest living children of the family, Mariposa has no interest in pursuing the role of 'heir'. The added responsibilities and duties aren't things that interest her, nor would they exactly mesh with her chosen lifestyle, and so she'd much rather avoid that path if it can be helped.

Bonus: Mariposa has shown a keen interest in working with automobiles since she was young, and she spent most of her teen years under the hood of a car. While she does all the regular repairs expected of a mechanic, her true talents lie in vehicle modification and alterations- usually for illegal purposes.

(Luna)

[ditaliaa]

Skip over this if you don’t want to hear me ranting about my personal life

Just a fun little update on how my life is going because I need to rant. Please feel free to ignore all of this lmao, it just helps me to write it down. 1st off, I finished my antibiotics a few days ago but unfortunately, my strep throat came back and even worse than before. Unfortunately this is no surprise as I used to have it really bad all the time when I was growing up, but it still sucks to experience. Especially since I told the doctors this and that whenever I have strep it is horrible and they still prescribed me amoxicillin rather than giving me the shot of penicillin, which means that I get to pay for another outrageously priced doctor’s visit again tomorrow because they didn’t listen to me the first time. 2nd, the car that I just bought and have had for a little over a month is actually a piece of shit and has so many new problems popping up with it, I can barely keep up. Right now I’m up to about $5000 worth of repairs on it (not including labor) and I am ready to cry. It’s still under warranty, but I am frustrated because every time I have taken it back to get fixed they tell me they have “fixed” the problems, but they are still there. I finally took it to an independent mechanic who found everything wrong with it in less than two hours. So now I’m going to have to call the dealership tomorrow too and see if they’ll buy it back because they sold me a shit car that was supposed to be “certified” and have “passed a checklist” and apparently they did enough to fix shit until they could sell it. Which also makes me mad because now I’m out of money and back to square fucking one. And to top it off, one of my coworkers is angry with me (for reasons I don’t know) but when I asked if I could talk with her about it today, she blatantly ignored me, talked about me behind my back, and left without speaking to me. It’d be one thing if I was used to this, but I thought we were friends and I’m also upset because she is a grown ass woman and -even if I did anything to warrant this behavior- I still think it’s ridiculous that she refuses to talk about it like a fucking adult. Also I love the fact that she told me one time that she “hopes I will come to her and talk to her if she ever makes me upset” to which I had told her that I would as long as she returned the sentiment 🙃

So, not only have I lost hope of getting out of a house I find miserable to live in for the time being, I am sick and get no reprieve at work either. The world is fucking testing me right now

[banaenaenas]

Advice for queers in the US

I will be posting this on all of my platforms

Republicans are directly attacking queer rights and even calling for our genocide. We need to get prepared. I created this list as a checklist of sorts to help people who want to be prepared but have no idea how.

1. Get out of the US if you can. If you have the means to leave, do so as soon as possible. Email the embassy of the country you're looking to move to, even if its only going to be a temporary stay. Ask the embassy about visas and talk to an immigration lawyer. You can get a visa for having descended from someone from that country, for wanting to study in that country, for wanting to work in that country, or for wanting to invest in that country.

2. If you can't leave the country. For most people, leaving the country is a distant dream. That doesn't mean all is lost, there are still some things you can do in the meantime. Although your end goal should be to get out.

A. Get your legal affairs in order. If you're trans, change your gender markers as soon as possible. Go to your local courthouse and ask for a Petition to Change Legal Gender. (Most states will call the document that or something similar) In a lot of places there is also a fee but you can ask for a fee waiver and they will usually give it to you.

If you are married to someone assigned the same sex at birth as you, make sure you have your legal marriage documents in an easily accessible place.

Write your will. In your will, do not refer to anyone as wife/husband/brother/sister, refer to them with their legal names and note the date that that was their legal name.

Keep your passports updated, contact the Department of State to renew or update passports.

B. Have a bugout bag. Have a duffle bag with canned food, bottled water, clothing, legal documents, cash and anything else you'd like to have with you if you have to leave at a moment's notice.

C. Keep your car ready. Make sure your car is full of gas and you have a full can of gas in the back. Keep physical maps in your car of both your local area and the country. Have basic repair tools like screwdrivers, hammers, and wrenches in your car.

D. Connect and organize Go to events in your local community, get to know your neighbors. Make sure they have your back and make sure they know you have theirs. Connect with like minded people online. Make friends and allies. You're not alone.

E. Read the laws. Don't take the media at face value, go and read the laws themselves. Keep tract of local, state, and federal laws. Contest them where you can. All it takes is one voice to stop these bills in their tracks.

F. Up your skills. Its a lot easier to move to places if you have employable skills. Take online and local courses. Learn to code. Learn to weld. These skills could make it or break it for you.

G. Arm yourself. Things aren't going to get better any time soon. Train yourself with guns, buy ammo, and get your gun permit. If you go down, do so fighting.

Things are getting scary here, I'm not going to lie, but we have to stay calm and level headed. Make a plan and stay safe. Best of luck to you my friends.