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brucewaynehater101 · 10 months ago

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I come again w/ another Tim Drake au!!

So there's this fanfic "If We Could Only Utter the Words Left Unsaid" by TaintedCure on AO3

And now I wanna share an idea

TW for suicide because of Timothy + death-fueled-time-travel

Basically, whenever somebody kills Tim, they go back in time, and there's no limit to how many times he can die. they go back far enough to prevent his death or not do an attempt on his life

He dies during Titans Tower? Back in time you go Jason!

Cut his line and he broke his neck and died? Damian is now back in time!

Some goon cracked his skull too well? Say hello to the past bucko!

Hell, even accidental murders still register so if you were to accidentally push him off too high a ledge you're getting the Time Travel Treatment

Hey maybe Tim still is aware of his time travel powers, but only when it comes to natural causes (like hypothermia) or suicides, so as a result he thinks he knows it all when he in fact doesn't

So yeah, unless somebody spills, Tim is clueless to the whole truth of his powers

I imagine only old age would do him in at this rate

It'd be like real interesting to see all the POVs, especially if they think they know all the loops

Like there's Tim who's regularly exploited his powers to get perfect results but is trying to convince himself he isn't being too frivolous with his life since he's saving lives or making them better

Then there's the people who did him in and may or may not even be aware that the time travel they experiences was because they killed the Third Robin or got him killed

Then there's the people who've done him in maybe one, twice or multiple times and have clocked into the fact that murdering Tim is an exercise in futility

TW: suicide (powers revolving traveling time by dying), violence/abuse (skip the angst if you don't want the second one), and death.

Now, this is a very interesting concept, and I'm probably gonna get lost in the setup for a bit.

The way that Tim's powers work would have to be defined really well. How far back can he go? In the fic you mentioned, he has a save point, basically. He can die an infinite amount of times, but he'll only return to his save point unless he reaches past the OG time he died. He can play around as much as he wants between the savepoint and his death, but a new savepoint gets set up after he passes his OG death time. It also indicated a decrease in time he went back (or his savepoint was established) so that he'll eventually die for good if he kept using his powers. That solves a lot of continuity issues.

However, the setup for Tim's powers could be like SSS-Class Suicide Hunter. For those who aren't familiar, the MC revives 24 hours in the past. He ends up killing himself thousands of times to end up at least a decade in the past. It's been a while since I've read it, but that's the basics of it.

If we're working off of those rules, anyone who kills Tim is only working with 24 hours in the past. You can add more or less time to fit your AU better.

I have some questions about the setup. You mentioned that the person who kills Tim would get sent back without his knowledge. Therefore, in Tim's mind, has he never been murdered? Or, is it a two for one ride into the past? Does the villain get sent back into the past, but Tim doesn't know the past has been changed? Or does Tim get sent back as well, but he doesn't know the villain is also sent back?

Imma get into the angst in a bit if Tim doesn't get sent back into the past when he gets murdered.

However, the issue with this is fucking with the timestream. If a goon kills Tim, ends up 24 hours in the past, and past Tim kills himself within those 24 hours, what the hell is the timeline? Does the goon still get sent back in time? Does Tim get sent back, and then, when the goon is supposed to, his consciousness gets sent back during that time? Does Tim killing himself wipe out the goon being able to travel back in time?

Continously, I assume if villains found out about the power, they would gun for Red Robin with prejudice because they know they'll get a cheat that way. They get a ticket to the past if they kill the bird. They get a redo.

Alright. Angst time!

Bruce is the first one to find out about Tim's power. He's training with Tim when, as per usual, he takes it a bit too far. The man has a habit of not pulling his punches in a fucked up version of trying to push Tim away from being Robin. This time, when he punches Tim, the kid doesn't get up. It's a wonder he didn't hear the awful crack or notice Tim's neck wasn't quite right. Only not recieving an answer after berating Tim about not getting up causes Bruce to pause. He doesn't hear breathing.

Oh gods. He doesn't hear breathing. Is Tim dead? Did he kill Tim? Did he break his nec-

Bruce snaps to attention mid lecture to Robin. They are both in the cave (not on the training mats not on the mats not on the mats), and it seems the exact same as it was yesterday when he was yelling at Tim about proper batarang maintenance.

Tim, ever the observant Robin, leans forward as if to ask if Batman was okay. Bruce flinches back.

Tim's eyes widen in shock as he takes a step back. In the year or so he's worked with Bruce, he's never gotten that response to initating touch. Tim's eyes flicker down to his hand in recrimination and puzzlement.

Bruce takes a shaky breath in before dismissing Tim for the night. The child is hesitant to flee but follows the request.

Bruce doesn't know what happened and he's not sure he wants to find out.

This cues Bruce being kinder to Tim and less harsh. The detective figures out that Tim has a time traveling power upon death, but it appears as if Tim isn't aware of it (he doesn't know that Tim constantly kills himself for better results in field). Tim never finds out that Bruce's change in behavior to him was born of guilt. He never learns that his dad killed him.

Next angst!

Two concepts with Jason.

One, Jason creates a fucked up timeloop with Titan's Tower where he kills Tim over and over again in fucked up ways until he satiates his desire for bloodlust. If Tim is still aware of the Tower incident, that's because Jason wanted him to be. Whether Jason becomes guilty about this timeloop he created or not could also be explored. There is a fic out there kind of similar to this concept (timeloop Titan's Tower, not the added element of Tim's powers).

Two, Bruce does end up killing Jason in the showdown with the Joker. He batarang slices Jason's neck, the building blows up, and Jason never emerges. There's a few ways to add on top of this angst. If Titan's Tower happened before this (and Tim was left beaten), that means Tim chose to kill himself to save Jason. Jason will never know. That, or Titan's Tower happens afterwards and Jason tortures Tim not knowing the teen saved him from a second death at the hands of his father (ironically Tim also doesn't know that he's been killed by Bruce).

Last Angst!

Damian finds out about Tim's power and abuses it constantly. He's a kid that was raised to be an assassin and found someone he can kill that also gives him the benefit of getting away with anything. As long as the kill goes through, he's golden.

Eventually, Damian starts to slow down on this. He doesn't really want to see Drake choking on blood again.

He one day finds that he hasn't tried to kill Drake in months and he doesn't really want to try to.

Then he finds that list.

Then he cuts Drake's line.

Then he has to relive those 24 hours again knowing he killed someone he was starting to trust.

Bonus angst if Tim finds out, jokingly asks his family members how many times they have killed them, and finds out Dick is the only one who hasn't (Tim killed himself after the 16th birthday incident and he somewhat blames Alfred for that, though he'll never tell him).

#dc comics #dc universe #tim drake #jason todd #bruce wayne #damian wayne #dc au #batfam au #thank you for the ask!!!!#i don't feel like editing so let me know if there are any errors!

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year ago

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In defense of bureaucratic competence

Sure, sometimes it really does make sense to do your own research. There's times when you really do need to take personal responsibility for the way things are going. But there's limits. We live in a highly technical world, in which hundreds of esoteric, potentially lethal factors impinge on your life every day.

You can't "do your own research" to figure out whether all that stuff is safe and sound. Sure, you might be able to figure out whether a contractor's assurances about a new steel joist for your ceiling are credible, but after you do that, are you also going to independently audit the software in your car's antilock brakes?

How about the nutritional claims on your food and the sanitary conditions in the industrial kitchen it came out of? If those turn out to be inadequate, are you going to be able to validate the medical advice you get in the ER when you show up at 3AM with cholera? While you're trying to figure out the #HIPAAWaiver they stuck in your hand on the way in?

40 years ago, Ronald Reagan declared war on "the administrative state," and "government bureaucrats" have been the favored bogeyman of the American right ever since. Even if Steve Bannon hasn't managed to get you to froth about the "Deep State," there's a good chance that you've griped about red tape from time to time.

Not without reason, mind you. The fact that the government can make good rules doesn't mean it will. When we redid our kitchen this year, the city inspector added a bunch of arbitrary electrical outlets to the contractor's plans in places where neither we, nor any future owner, will every need them.

But the answer to bad regulation isn't no regulation. During the same kitchen reno, our contractor discovered that at some earlier time, someone had installed our kitchen windows without the accompanying vapor-barriers. In the decades since, the entire structure of our kitchen walls had rotted out. Not only was the entire front of our house one good earthquake away from collapsing – there were two half rotted verticals supporting the whole thing – but replacing the rotted walls added more than $10k to the project.

In other words, the problem isn't too much regulation, it's the wrong regulation. I want our city inspectors to make sure that contractors install vapor barriers, but to not demand superfluous electrical outlets.

Which raises the question: where do regulations come from? How do we get them right?

Regulation is, first and foremost, a truth-seeking exercise. There will never be one obvious answer to any sufficiently technical question. "Should this window have a vapor barrier?" is actually a complex question, needing to account for different window designs, different kinds of barriers, etc.

To make a regulation, regulators ask experts to weigh in. At the federal level, expert agencies like the DoT or the FCC or HHS will hold a "Notice of Inquiry," which is a way to say, "Hey, should we do something about this? If so, what should we do?"

Anyone can weigh in on these: independent technical experts, academics, large companies, lobbyists, industry associations, members of the public, hobbyist groups, and swivel-eyed loons. This produces a record from which the regulator crafts a draft regulation, which is published in something called a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking."

The NPRM process looks a lot like the NOI process: the regulator publishes the rule, the public weighs in for a couple of rounds of comments, and the regulator then makes the rule (this is the federal process; state regulation and local ordinances vary, but they follow a similar template of collecting info, making a proposal, collecting feedback and finalizing the proposal).

These truth-seeking exercises need good input. Even very competent regulators won't know everything, and even the strongest theoretical foundation needs some evidence from the field. It's one thing to say, "Here's how your antilock braking software should work," but you also need to hear from mechanics who service cars, manufacturers, infosec specialists and drivers.

These people will disagree with each other, for good reasons and for bad ones. Some will be sincere but wrong. Some will want to make sure that their products or services are required – or that their competitors' products and services are prohibited.

It's the regulator's job to sort through these claims. But they don't have to go it alone: in an ideal world, the wrong people will be corrected by other parties in the docket, who will back up their claims with evidence.

So when the FCC proposes a Net Neutrality rule, the monopoly telcos and cable operators will pile in and insist that this is technically impossible, that there is no way to operate a functional ISP if the network management can't discriminate against traffic that is less profitable to the carrier. Now, this unity of perspective might reflect a bedrock truth ("Net Neutrality can't work") or a monopolists' convenient lie ("Net Neutrality is less profitable for us").

In a competitive market, there'd be lots of counterclaims with evidence from rivals: "Of course Net Neutrality is feasible, and here are our server logs to prove it!" But in a monopolized markets, those counterclaims come from micro-scale ISPs, or academics, or activists, or subscribers. These counterclaims are easy to dismiss ("what do you know about supporting 100 million users?"). That's doubly true when the regulator is motivated to give the monopolists what they want – either because they are hoping for a job in the industry after they quit government service, or because they came out of industry and plan to go back to it.

To make things worse, when an industry is heavily concentrated, it's easy for members of the ruling cartel – and their backers in government – to claim that the only people who truly understand the industry are its top insiders. Seen in that light, putting an industry veteran in charge of the industry's regulator isn't corrupt – it's sensible.

All of this leads to regulatory capture – when a regulator starts defending an industry from the public interest, instead of defending the public from the industry. The term "regulatory capture" has a checkered history. It comes out of a bizarre, far-right Chicago School ideology called "Public Choice Theory," whose goal is to eliminate regulation, not fix it.

In Public Choice Theory, the biggest companies in an industry have the strongest interest in capturing the regulator, and they will work harder – and have more resources – than anyone else, be they members of the public, workers, or smaller rivals. This inevitably leads to capture, where the state becomes an arm of the dominant companies, wielded by them to prevent competition:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/05/regulatory-capture/

This is regulatory nihilism. It supposes that the only reason you weren't killed by your dinner, or your antilock brakes, or your collapsing roof, is that you just got lucky – and not because we have actual, good, sound regulations that use evidence to protect us from the endless lethal risks we face. These nihilists suppose that making good regulation is either a myth – like ancient Egyptian sorcery – or a lost art – like the secret to embalming Pharaohs.

But it's clearly possible to make good regulations – especially if you don't allow companies to form monopolies or cartels. What's more, failing to make public regulations isn't the same as getting rid of regulation. In the absence of public regulation, we get private regulation, run by companies themselves.

Think of Amazon. For decades, the DoJ and FTC sat idly by while Amazon assembled and fortified its monopoly. Today, Amazon is the de facto e-commerce regulator. The company charges its independent sellers 45-51% in junk fees to sell on the platform, including $31b/year in "advertising" to determine who gets top billing in your searches. Vendors raise their Amazon prices in order to stay profitable in the face of these massive fees, and if they don't raise their prices at every other store and site, Amazon downranks them to oblivion, putting them out of business.

This is the crux of the FTC's case against Amazon: that they are picking winners and setting prices across the entire economy, including at every other retailer:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos

The same is true for Google/Facebook, who decide which news and views you encounter; for Apple/Google, who decide which apps you can use, and so on. The choice is never "government regulation" or "no regulation" – it's always "government regulation" or "corporate regulation." You either live by rules made in public by democratically accountable bureaucrats, or rules made in private by shareholder-accountable executives.

You just can't solve this by "voting with your wallet." Think about the problem of robocalls. Nobody likes these spam calls, and worse, they're a vector for all kinds of fraud. Robocalls are mostly a problem with federation. The phone system is a network-of-networks, and your carrier is interconnected with carriers all over the world, sometimes through intermediaries that make it hard to know which network a call originates on.

Some of these carriers are spam-friendly. They make money by selling access to spammers and scammers. Others don't like spam, but they have lax or inadequate security measures to prevent robocalls. Others will simply be targets of opportunity: so large and well-resourced that they are irresistible to bad actors, who continuously probe their defenses and exploit overlooked flaws, which are quickly patched.

To stem the robocall tide, your phone company will have to block calls from bad actors, put sloppy or lazy carriers on notice to shape up or face blocks, and also tell the difference between good companies and bad ones.

There's no way you can figure this out on your own. How can you know whether your carrier is doing a good job at this? And even if your carrier wants to do this, only the largest, most powerful companies can manage it. Rogue carriers won't give a damn if some tiny micro-phone-company threatens them with a block if they don't shape up.

This is something that a large, powerful government agency is best suited to addressing. And thankfully, we have such an agency. Two years ago, the FCC demanded that phone companies submit plans for "robocall mitigation." Now, it's taking action:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/10/telcos-filed-blank-robocall-plans-with-fcc-and-got-away-with-it-for-2-years/

Specifically, the FCC has identified carriers – in the US and abroad – with deficient plans. Some of these plans are very deficient. National Cloud Communications of Texas sent the FCC a Windows Printer Test Page. Evernex (Pakistan) sent the FCC its "taxpayer profile inquiry" from a Pakistani state website. Viettel (Vietnam) sent in a slide presentation entitled "Making Smart Cities Vision a Reality." Canada's Humbolt VoIP sent an "indiscernible object." DomainerSuite submitted a blank sheet of paper scrawled with the word "NOTHING."

The FCC has now notified these carriers – and others with less egregious but still deficient submissions – that they have 14 days to fix this or they'll be cut off from the US telephone network.

This is a problem you don't fix with your wallet, but with your ballot. Effective, public-interest-motivated FCC regulators are a political choice. Trump appointed the cartoonishly evil Ajit Pai to run the FCC, and he oversaw a program of neglect and malice. Pai – a former Verizon lawyer – dismantled Net Neutrality after receiving millions of obviously fraudulent comments from stolen identities, lying about it, and then obstructing the NY Attorney General's investigation into the matter:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/31/and-drown-it/#starve-the-beast

The Biden administration has a much better FCC – though not as good as it could be, thanks to Biden hanging Gigi Sohn out to dry in the face of a homophobic smear campaign that ultimately led one of the best qualified nominees for FCC commissioner to walk away from the process:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/15/useful-idiotsuseful-idiots/#unrequited-love

Notwithstanding the tragic loss of Sohn's leadership in this vital agency, Biden's FCC – and its action on robocalls – illustrates the value of elections won with ballots, not wallets.

Self-regulation without state regulation inevitably devolves into farce. We're a quarter of a century into the commercial internet and the US still doesn't have a modern federal privacy law. The closest we've come is a disclosure rule, where companies can make up any policy they want, provided they describe it to you.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out how to cheat on this regulation. It's so simple, even a Meta lawyer can figure it out – which is why the Meta Quest VR headset has a privacy policy isn't merely awful, but long.

It will take you five hours to read the whole document and discover how badly you're being screwed. Go ahead, "do your own research":

https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/annual-creep-o-meter/

The answer to bad regulation is good regulation, and the answer to incompetent regulators is competent ones. As Michael Lewis's Fifth Risk (published after Trump filled the administrative agencies with bootlickers, sociopaths and crooks) documented, these jobs demand competence:

https://memex.craphound.com/2018/11/27/the-fifth-risk-michael-lewis-explains-how-the-deep-state-is-just-nerds-versus-grifters/

For example, Lewis describes how a Washington State nuclear waste facility created as part of the Manhattan Project endangers the Columbia River, the source of 8 million Americans' drinking water. The nuclear waste cleanup is projected to take 100 years and cost 100 billion dollars. With stakes that high, we need competent bureaucrats overseeing the job.

The hacky conservative jokes comparing every government agency to the DMV are not descriptive so much as prescriptive. By slashing funding, imposing miserable working conditions, and demonizing the people who show up for work anyway, neoliberals have chased away many good people, and hamstrung those who stayed.

One of the most inspiring parts of the Biden administration is the large number of extremely competent, extremely principled agency personnel he appointed, and the speed and competence they've brought to their roles, to the great benefit of the American public:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/18/administrative-competence/#i-know-stuff

But leaders can only do so much – they also need staff. 40 years of attacks on US state capacity has left the administrative state in tatters, stretched paper-thin. In an excellent article, Noah Smith describes how a starveling American bureaucracy costs the American public a fortune:

https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/america-needs-a-bigger-better-bureaucracy

Even stripped of people and expertise, the US government still needs to get stuff done, so it outsources to nonprofits and consultancies. These are the source of much of the expense and delay in public projects. Take NYC's Second Avenue subway, a notoriously overbudget and late subway extension – "the most expensive mile of subway ever built." Consultants amounted to 20% of its costs, double what France or Italy would have spent. The MTA used to employ 1,600 project managers. Now it has 124 of them, overseeing $20b worth of projects. They hand that money to consultants, and even if they have the expertise to oversee the consultants' spending, they are stretched too thin to do a good job of it:

https://slate.com/business/2023/02/subway-costs-us-europe-public-transit-funds.html

When a public agency lacks competence, it ends up costing the public more. States with highly expert Departments of Transport order better projects, which need fewer changes, which adds up to massive costs savings and superior roads:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4522676

Other gaps in US regulation are plugged by nonprofits and citizen groups. Environmental rules like NEPA rely on the public to identify and object to environmental risks in public projects, from solar plants to new apartment complexes. NEPA and its state equivalents empower private actors to sue developers to block projects, even if they satisfy all environmental regulations, leading to years of expensive delay.

The answer to this isn't to dismantle environmental regulations – it's to create a robust expert bureaucracy that can enforce them instead of relying on NIMBYs. This is called "ministerial approval" – when skilled government workers oversee environmental compliance. Predictably, NIMBYs hate ministerial approval.

Which is not to say that there aren't problems with trusting public enforcers to ensure that big companies are following the law. Regulatory capture is real, and the more concentrated an industry is, the greater the risk of capture. We are living in a moment of shocking market concentration, thanks to 40 years of under-regulation:

https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/learn/monopoly-by-the-numbers

Remember that five-hour privacy policy for a Meta VR headset? One answer to these eye-glazing garbage novellas presented as "privacy policies" is to simply ban certain privacy-invading activities. That way, you can skip the policy, knowing that clicking "I agree" won't expose you to undue risk.

This is the approach that Bennett Cyphers and I argue for in our EFF white-paper, "Privacy Without Monopoly":

https://www.eff.org/wp/interoperability-and-privacy

After all, even the companies that claim to be good for privacy aren't actually very good for privacy. Apple blocked Facebook from spying on iPhone owners, then sneakily turned on their own mass surveillance system, and lied about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

But as the European experiment with the GDPR has shown, public administrators can't be trusted to have the final word on privacy, because of regulatory capture. Big Tech companies like Google, Apple and Facebook pretend to be headquartered in corporate crime havens like Ireland and Luxembourg, where the regulators decline to enforce the law:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/15/finnegans-snooze/#dirty-old-town

It's only because of the GPDR has a private right of action – the right of individuals to sue to enforce their rights – that we're finally seeing the beginning of the end of commercial surveillance in Europe:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/americans-deserve-more-current-american-data-privacy-protection-act

It's true that NIMBYs can abuse private rights of action, bringing bad faith cases to slow or halt good projects. But just as the answer to bad regulations is good ones, so too is the answer to bad private rights of action good ones. SLAPP laws have shown us how to balance vexatious litigation with the public interest:

https://www.rcfp.org/resources/anti-slapp-laws/

We must get over our reflexive cynicism towards public administration. In my book The Internet Con, I lay out a set of public policy proposals for dismantling Big Tech and putting users back in charge of their digital lives:

https://www.versobooks.com/products/3035-the-internet-con

The most common objection I've heard since publishing the book is, "Sure, Big Tech has enshittified everything great about the internet, but how can we trust the government to fix it?"

We've been conditioned to think that lawmakers are too old, too calcified and too corrupt, to grasp the technical nuances required to regulate the internet. But just because Congress isn't made up of computer scientists, it doesn't mean that they can't pass good laws relating to computers. Congress isn't full of microbiologists, but we still manage to have safe drinking water (most of the time).

You can't just "do the research" or "vote with your wallet" to fix the internet. Bad laws – like the DMCA, which bans most kinds of reverse engineering – can land you in prison just for reconfiguring your own devices to serve you, rather than the shareholders of the companies that made them. You can't fix that yourself – you need a responsive, good, expert, capable government to fix it.

We can have that kind of government. It'll take some doing, because these questions are intrinsically hard to get right even without monopolies trying to capture their regulators. Even a president as flawed as Biden can be pushed into nominating good administrative personnel and taking decisive, progressive action:

https://doctorow.medium.com/joe-biden-is-headed-to-a-uaw-picket-line-in-detroit-f80bd0b372ab?sk=f3abdfd3f26d2f615ad9d2f1839bcc07

Biden may not be doing enough to suit your taste. I'm certainly furious with aspects of his presidency. The point isn't to lionize Biden – it's to point out that even very flawed leaders can be pushed into producing benefit for the American people. Think of how much more we can get if we don't give up on politics but instead demand even better leaders.

My next novel is The Lost Cause, coming out on November 14. It's about a generation of people who've grown up under good government – a historically unprecedented presidency that has passed the laws and made the policies we'll need to save our species and planet from the climate emergency:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865939/the-lost-cause

The action opens after the pendulum has swung back, with a new far-right presidency and an insurgency led by white nationalist militias and their offshore backers – seagoing anarcho-capitalist billionaires.

In the book, these forces figure out how to turn good regulations against the people they were meant to help. They file hundreds of simultaneous environmental challenges to refugee housing projects across the country, blocking the infill building that is providing homes for the people whose homes have been burned up in wildfires, washed away in floods, or rendered uninhabitable by drought.

I don't want to spoil the book here, but it shows how the protagonists pursue a multipronged defense, mixing direct action, civil disobedience, mass protest, court challenges and political pressure to fight back. What they don't do is give up on state capacity. When the state is corrupted by wreckers, they claw back control, rather than giving up on the idea of a competent and benevolent public system.

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/2023/10/23/getting-stuff-done/#praxis

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goldenchimmy · 4 months ago

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Concert Confessions

Pairings:JungkookxFem!Reader

CW: Smut, cursing,oral(fem-recieving),breeding kink

(This is my first fanfic with jungkook,edits might be needed!! Apologies!)

You confront your boyfriend Jungkook backstage during a performance.

Jungkook knew that he was overworking himself. That he'd pushed himself to his limit once again this past week. But he couldn't help it. He was the Golden Maknae after all. He had to be absolutely perfect at everything he did. Otherwise, he didn't even deserve that title.

The man knew that he was also neglecting your needs. Leaving you for long periods of time without so much as a text letting you know how he was doing or when he'd see you again. But you had let it slide. He was an idol after all and you knew that he had a busy life outside your shared apartment walls.

You had to learn how to balance work and play, just as he had. Or rather... was trying to do. It was still just work for him. He spent less and less time at the apartment with you and more time exercising and practicing his already perfect dance skills.

"Bunny.." You had muttered one night while you layed there in silence together. His cock still securely buried inside you after he had thoroughly used you. "Stay with me tomorrow. We can lay around and binge watch movies. Eat junk food and such..." your voice groggy with oncoming drowsiness as you stroked his hair. Sweat clinging to the long, dark strands.

But he just sighed in return, his half-lidded doe eyes meeting yours. "You know I can't..." He whispered, a yawn leaving him. He was always tired after nights like these. You didn't call him 'Bunny' just for his smile...

"You say that all the time. You're busy all the time. Why can't you just take a day off? Please?" You begged quietly. Listening to his breathing in the ever-darkening room. Moonlight starting to crack through the curtain covered windows of your shared bedroom.

He stayed silent for awhile. You could have almost sworn he had fallen asleep until he let out another sigh. Deep and irritated as he moved to separate from your tangled limbs. Causing the softest of groans to leave your lips as he slid out of you, leaving a trail of your mixed releases on your inner thighs.

"The answer is no. I can't. Not with the concert coming up later next month." His back was to you as he sat on the edge of the bed. His head in his hands as he rubbed at his eyes. The moon outlined the dark ink covering his right arm and the muscles in his back. He definitely had been working out.

A frown set on your face as you gently moved over to lay your head against his back. Your arms wrapping around him. "Okay. It's okay bunny." You breathed into the quiet, before a yawn left you. Jungkook chuckled softly then at your tired state before he turned and pulled you into his arms.

"Go to sleep baby." He hummed, his lips kissing over your forehead and then your eyelids. Over your nose as well before he layed down with you again. Pulling the blankets up around both your naked forms. "I'll be here when you get up, hm?" He whispered against your hairline. The only acknowledgment from you was a faint nod.

----

But that had been nearly a month ago. And since then you've had yet to share a morning with him. If you saw him at all, it was usually when you forced yourself to stay awake or when you'd send him texts asking if he was coming home.

It was getting old. And it was getting on your nerves. Almost a whole month of barely seeing eachother had made you a madwoman. And his concert was tonight. The first leg anyways. It was here in the city, before he would continue his tour to the states. A tour that he hadn't even told you about until last minute. A tour that you couldn't even go on.

Your own plans kept you away from that. You had family here and friends. And online classes in America you needed to attend. A world tour would only distract you. But that didn't stop you from being upset at him for springing the news on you like that.

Through a text of all things!

But tonight you would change things up. You weren't going to wait for him to come home. You were going to him. Sure, you didn't have tickets to his show, but you knew the staff and the other members of BTS. His brothers in every sense of the word. They could easily get you in. Even if jungkook didn't want to talk about this, you were going to make him.

You felt like you had become second to everything in his life. Jungkook had been dating you for nearly a year and a half now. And until now, everything was perfect. You would make it perfect again.

And showing up at the concert that night was only the beginning. The easy part of the whole confrontation. Jimin and Hobi had led you through the back door. They had already performed and now RM was on stage talking to Army as the boys called their fans.

The screams were near deafening as the two men led you around a corner full of staff and bodyguards, into a long hall with doors on either side. Jimim was wiping sweat from his brow before he cleared his throat. "You know...he only works so hard to make you happy."

You stayed silent as you nodded. "I know. But I don't see him anymore. This isn't fair to me or to our relationship."

Hobi shared a look with the younger before shaking his head. The three of you stopping at Jungkooks dressing room. Hobi patted your shoulder as he led Jimin away from you.

You took a few breaths before entering the room. Closing the door behind you, blocking out the noise from the stage and the crowd. "Jungkook?" You called softly. Your eyes searching the room before he came walking out of the small bathroom. His makeup done and his hair wild around his face.

"What are you doing here baby?" He asked, his dark doe eyes wide as he paused across the room. "I thought you were busy at home?" He asked, setting his mic and jacket down on a nearby table.

You watched him for a moment, debating on all the words you had planned to say to him. But nothing came out. It felt like you hadn't seen him in forever. And now you were rendered speechless.

Jungkook watched you, his brows knitted together before he took a few steps towards you. His hand reaching out and cupping your cheek. His ringed thumb stroking over the soft skin. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"This. This is wrong." You whispered. "It feels like I haven't seen you in years, bunny. It shouldn't feel that way." You breathed. Your voice shaky as you watched him frown. "You're always here. You're never home. I never see you anymore unless it's for a brief time when you forgot something at home. You're always busy, and you don't take time out for me anymore."

Atleast the idol had a slight hurt look to his face. Atleast you had explained how you were feeling to him. You had had trouble doing that in the past. But you were tired of it.

"Well?", you asked, your hands on your hips as you stared at him. Jungkook stayed silent for a moment before eventually he let out a soft sigh. The boy chewing on his pierced lip. "I have to be perfect. Always. And that's why I train and work out. Why I leave you all the time. It's not easy. But it's what I do." He shrugged.

"You've used that excuse before. You can't keep neglecting our relationship like this. It's not fair to me. To us." You whispered, moving to place your hand on his arm. "Jungkook...if- if you need time away. If you need a break from our relationship, I understand." You smiled sadly.

Jungkooks doe eyes widened as his gaze snapped to your face. He was quiet as he stared at you. Before his lips were suddenly on yours. His pierced tongue working into your mouth. Fighting for dominance as you opened up for him. Muffling the surprised gasp that left your mouth.

"You're dumb." He mumbled against your lips. His hands holding a tight grip on your waist as he pulled you against him. And when he kissed you again, you leaned into it. Your hands finding their way into his dark hair. Tugging slightly as you used your tiptoes to put more force into the kiss.

Jungkook kissed back with a passion. A hunger. One that he hadn't felt in a few months. Maybe he had been neglecting you, as it was apparent that you definitely needed more than just his lips.

"Baby.." He breathed softly after pulling away. His lips ghosting yours as he spoke. "I have a show soon..." He whispered, a slight smile on his face as he ran a thumb along your bottom lip. His other on your hip still, squeezing gently.

"I know." You smiled up at him. "I don't care...I want you bunny." You laughed slightly. He chuckled against your lips then, looking over to check the clock on the wall. Before his dark eyes were on your face once again. "I think I can spare thirty minutes. Let's see if we can beat your record, hm?" He grinned.

Before you were lifted by his strong arms, the boy moving and setting you on his vanity table the stylists used for his hair and makeup. His lips attacking yours. His hands had secured your legs around his waist, your ass on the edge of the table as your hands dug into his hair.

A shuddered groan left your lips as you felt him push his hips against yours. The obvious bulge in his pants making you more aroused than you already were. "Fuck." You breathed, pulling away for air as jungkooks lips moved to suck and bite at your neck. It had been forever since he had marked you. Had claimed you so proudly for others to see.

Your hands reached down to take off his shirt, but his own hands stopped you. "Not enough time." He whispered quickly, his eyes meeting yours before he nodded towards your pants. "Those need to be off though." He winked before moving his lips to the other side of your neck.

You nodded, leaning back against the mirror. Your head craned back against the glass as your breaths became short. Soft groans leaving the two of you. Jungkook made sure to leave behind perfect purple and red bruises along your neck and collarbone. Your shirt slightly tugged down so he could leave more.

Meanwhile, your shaky hands reached down to unzip and unbutton your jeans, your thumbs hooked in fabric to slide them down your generous thighs. Jungkook pulling away to watch you. His own hands sliding his belt off and unbuttoning his own jeans. Before he moved closer to tug your jeans down. Taking your underwear with them.

Once both your pants and underwear were shed somewhere on the floor, jungkook had you securely bent over the table. Your tear-stained face meeting your own in the reflection of the mirror as you held back your loud cries of pleasure.

Jungkook on the other hand was knelt down behind your bare half, fingers spreading your glistening folds apart as his tongue slid along your pulsing clit. It made your toes curl as you struggled to remain silent like he had asked. The door was locked, but still...you were known to be loud-

"J-jungkook-" you gasped shakily, warmth spreading down your spine as the familiar closeness of an orgasm began. Your teeth working your lip as you moaned softly into your hand. Your hips pressing back against the boys mouth.

"Not yet. Hold it." He breathed against your heat, before he all but pulled away, making you whine, your eyes meeting his hooded, dark ones in the mirror. "I'm not done. We still have twenty minutes." He grinned.

And those next twenty minutes were pure carnal desire. He had you on your back, on your side. Bent over the edge of the couch arm. Virtually any available surface was used in that dressing room.

But right now, he was still driving into you with a force. His cock soaked with your multiple orgasms. The boy panting over you as he pushed your legs back further so he could reach deeper inside you.

"I'm gonna cum baby-" he whined slightly, sweat sliding down his temple as he looked down at you. Your brain was practically numb, so the only thing you could do was nod quickly. Letting him know with your movements that you wanted it. Wanted him to fill you with all his seed.

You wanted him to claim your body again as you moved, locking your legs around his waist tightly. You were safe. Protected from pregnancy. And you loved when jungkook finished inside you. You could say it was almost a kink. A ritual in your relationship.

And when jungkook came, he filled you until you could take no more. Release spilling out of you and around his cock when he slowly pulled out of you. A perfect smile on his panting face as he watched.

You always liked it when he looked at you like that.

"I love you." He breathed, leaning down to kiss your lips multiple times. "I'm sorry I work so much. I promise to make more time with you. Let me finish this last concert and we can go home and talk. Yeah?" He nodded. Finding his pants and sliding them back on after cleaning himself up.

Jungkook helped you up as well, cleaning you gently before he handed you your pants. He kissed your forehead again before he had to leave for his set. The fans outside cheering loudly when he opened the door to backstage.

And when his show started, and he was there dancing and singing perfectly, you were there with a proud smile on your face (and a limp in your step) watching from backstage. With the promise that there would be more time with him in the future.

----

I hope you enjoyed this first story! I hope to write more soon! Leave me recommendations! Until next time!!

💋💋💋

#bts army #bts #fanfic #bts smut #breeding k1nk #jungkook #jeon jungkoooook #smut #bts jungkook #i dont know what im doing #delulu

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ariesqueencobra · 11 months ago

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what we used to be | XV

Pairing: Eli Moskowitz x Fem!Reader

Summary: You didn't think joining Miyagi-Do would end your friendships. But thankfully, you're making new ones.

Warnings: dojo rivalry, karate training, swearing, mentions of heartbreak

Word Count: 1.8k

A/N: A short chapter but its a good one! Have ch 16 done but I'm gonna give it some time to post cause then it'll give me time to edit ch 17. But we're closing out season 2 with ch 17 and season 3 is next! I already have up to season 4 planned out and a little written, still brainstorming for season 5 and even s6 lol!

Thank you to those who already reblog and comment, I see you and I love you all for it!

I don't consent to this work being copied, translated or reposted.

You frowned as another message to Aisha and Tory went unread. A few days ago, they were blowing up your phone, asking if you were okay. You were guilty that you didn’t respond, but you were going through so much heartbreak. You didn’t want to bother.

Now that you were part of Miyagi-Do and you felt happier, you decided it was time to reach out, the only thing—your friends weren’t responding.

Defeated, you walked through the dojo, phone pressed against your ear as it rang. Relief filled you when Aisha answered.

“I’ve been worried sick, you guys haven’t been answering,” you began.

Two voices scoffed.

“So now you’re worried?” Tory asked in disbelief.

“Of course, I am,” you furrowed your brows. “You guys are my friends.”

“Funny, I didn’t know traitors are classified as friends,” Aisha accused.

Confusion filled you. “What are you talking about?”

Tory muttered under her breath and she was annoyed, allowing Aisha to answer.

“We saw you hanging out with Miyagi-Do the other day and we confirmed with Moon that you joined,” Aisha said.

“We thought you just left Cobra Kai, but joining the enemy?” Tory questioned, disappointment filled in her tone.

“I didn’t think I was going to join Miyagi-Do,” you defended.

“So what? You accidentally joined?” Aisha scoffed. “Sorry about you and Hawk breaking up but joining Miyagi-Do is a low blow. Enjoy your new friends,” she said before hanging up.

You stared at your phone in disbelief.

“Everything alright?” Sam asked, holding onto the punching bag to stop it. She glanced at you with wonder, her brow raised and blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

“Aisha and Tory completely blew me off, some friends,” you shook your head. “Sorry, I know you don’t like Tory.”

You frowned, knowing their history. But after what had happened, you didn’t like her so much either.

“Don’t apologize, if they can’t see you’re trying to be better, then that’s on them,” she shrugged before going back to her warm-ups, her punches becoming stronger.

You shrugged off your backpack, warming up alongside her until the rest of the guys showed up.

Mr. LaRusso was nowhere to be seen and with the summer heat, you all made it under a tree in the dojo. Still, the shade wasn’t enough to keep you from burning.

“Oh God, it’s so hot out,” Demitri gasped. “I’m sweating in places I didn’t even know had pores,” he wiped his forehead against your shoulder.

You grimaced at the sweat, shrugging him off.

“Alright guys, get out from under that tree. It’s time to work,” Sensei said.

You all groaned as you got up, the small movement troubling in the excessive heat.

“Mr. LaRusso, it’s like 100 degrees out,” Robby complained. “Can’t we take it easy today?” He was saying what you were all thinking.

“Are you kidding? This heat wave is a gift. Today you are going to experience Shochu-Geiko,” he smiled.

You arched a brow.

“Like the car insurance?” Chris asked.

“Shochu-Geiko is a Japanese exercise where you train during the hottest days of the year,” he explained. “It’s about pushing yourself to the limit. The fight isn’t always gonna come when it’s 75 degrees and breezy.”

“Aren’t we supposed to avoid the fight?” Sam questioned.

You nodded. The whole reason you joined Miyagi-Do in the first place was to stop fighting.

“Sometimes you can’t,” he sighed. “Someday, the fight might come to you. And I want to make sure you’re ready,” he gazed hopefully. “So today, we’re gonna see what Miyag-Do is made of.”

That’s how you found yourselves formed in a circle out front. The sun beating down as Robby stood in the center, waiting for Mr. LaRusso to call out a number.

“Two!”

One of your classmates ran towards Robby but he punched him right in the chest, sweeping his leg and sending him to the ground.

Everyone reassembled.

“Five!”

Sam blocked Robby’s kick before spinning around and landing one straight on his abdomen. “Got you,” she smiled, their gaze lingering.

You sent Demitri an amused glance, one he didn’t match as he let out a groan.

“Alright, Demitri’s turn. Come on, Demitri get in there,” Sensei encouraged.

He reluctantly sighed before going in the middle. He raised his fists before Mr. LaRusso called a number out.

“Three!”

It didn’t take much for Chris to punch him in the stomach.

Figuring it was just a rough beginning, you waited for the next number, which happened to be yours.

“Seven!”

You lunged towards him. You wanted to give Demitri a chance to fight you off but it was so easy sweeping your leg and watching him fly to the ground.

“I hate this!” Demitri groaned.

“Alright, get up!” Sensei encouraged.

You offered your hand, helping him up. “Sorry, Demitri.”

He reluctantly forgave you, putting his weight on you as you made it back to your spots.

“Can we please take a break? This heat is brutal,” Sam sighed.

You all agreed.

“You guys want to cool off?”

“Alright, I think I can accommodate that,” he grinned.

You were hoping for a trip to the pool, not a freaking freezer storage.

“So, you couldn’t take the heat of Shochu-Geiko, perhaps you’ll find Kangeiko more to your liking,” he smiled with that same grin from earlier.

You shivered as you stood in the middle of the room, regretting you wore a tank top today.

“There are no “geikos” that take place in a spa?” Sam asked, the cold evident in her breath.

“It’s not about the heat or the cold. It’s about adapting to the environment around you and using that to your advantage” he said. “Look around, what do you see?”

“Frozen London Broil?” Chris asked.

You snickered.

“No, not the meat, look past that. I see the exhalation of breath,” he pointed to Sam. “The twitch of a muscle,” he glanced at Robby. “The shift of a stance,” he pointed to Demitri. “If you lean into the cold, it will heighten your senses,” he said. “And then you’ll anticipate the moment before your opponent strikes and you’ll always be ready,” he concluded.

You understood what he meant, noticing signs too.

His phone began ringing, hesitating to answer before he told you all to circle up, taking the call.

Now ready, you stood in your place. You watched Sam move about in the circle, looking out for obvious clues. She blocked Chris’s strike before Robby’s turn. They both battled, neither hitting the other and they stopped as they got lost in each other’s eyes.

You used to look at Eli that way. Your heart ached, memories flooding through but they were interrupted when Mr. LaRusso interrupted.

“All right, let’s get Demitri in there,” Mr. LaRusso said.

“Alright, here goes nothing,” he sighed. “Literally.”

He got kicked right in the stomach.

You sighed out in slight disappointment, knowing he had it in him.

“I can’t do it, Mr. LaRusso. Between the cold and the shouting and the hole in my sock. I’m not sure when that happened but it’s really uncomfortable,” he began complaining.

You rolled your eyes. Knowing your friend, he always had something to complain about.

“Demitri, you are the most neurotic person I know. You always expect the worst,” Sensei approached him.

Demitri sighed in agreement, a bit reluctant about it though.

“But you can use that to your advantage. It means you anticipate. Think of it like a spidey sense,” he stated.

“Actually in the comics, they call it Spider-Sense,” your friend corrected.

“Look, Demitri, this isn’t about who’s fastest and who’s strongest. It’s about instincts, using what’s in here,” he pointed to his head, your friend getting it now.

With some confidence, he took his stance, raising his fists.

“Two!” Mr. LaRusso called out.

Demitri noticed Chris, blocking his first strike and his second before he punched him in the gut.

You cheered for your friend, and the rest of the class too.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get the next person.

“Baby steps! It’s alright!” Mr. LaRusso reassured.

You patted Demitri on the back, the rest of the class crowding around you.

“Sam and I are more like acquaintances than friends,” you said.

It was unexpected to have Moon reach out. Knowing your situation with Aisha and Tory and now barely knowing Sam, it was good to have a friend.

“I’m sorry about telling Aisha that you joined Miyagi-Do, I didn’t think this rivalry was that bad,” she said, frowning as she sat on her bed.

“Don’t worry about it, I guess I would’ve had to tell them sooner or later,” you shrugged, sitting across from her.

“Listen, I’m glad we’re doing this, I really meant what I said about being friends. I did want to give you space though,” she offered, tipping her head to the side.

“Thanks, Moon,” you smiled.

It’d been a few months since she apologized before the All Valley. You never considered reaching out, still hurt that she wasn’t true to her word about showing you she was serious. But now she is and better late than never, right?

“So how are doing? With the breakup and everything?” She searched your eyes.

“Heartbreaking,” you hummed self-deprecatingly. “Eli was the first boy I ever loved, love,” you corrected. “I have karate as a distraction, but honestly, sometimes I just want to reach out,” you sucked in a breath. “Am I crazy?” You glanced at her.

“Not at all,” she shook her head. “It’s normal to experience that after breaking up. And considering how long you’ve known Hawk, your souls are connected. Best friends, boyfriend-girlfriend, first loves,” she listed, growing giddy. “I can’t imagine having a close bond with someone and it would suck to be apart even if it’s for the best,” she explained.

“That makes sense then,” you raised a brow. “The longest I spent without Eli was when he’d go to sleepaway camp with Demitri. That was only for a few weeks, this has been almost two months,” you hummed, shocked at the realization. “Thanks for being a friend,” you smiled genuinely.

“It’s nothing,” she giggled. “But as a friend, I have something I want to give to you,” she said, reaching under her bed and pulling out a wrapped gift. “I had this saved for the right moment. You’re right when you said talk is cheap,” she handed it to you.

You hesitated, eyeing her weirdly before you took it and unwrapped the gift, finding a lime green sketchbook.

“Moon, you didn’t have to,” you gasped slightly.

“I did,” she stopped you. “I hurt you, Y/N. I destroyed your property and I can’t undo what I did, but I want us to start new,” she sincerely said.

You grinned, leaning in to hug her and you felt happy as she returned it.

“Thank you,” you beamed. “It does mean a lot.”

#eli moskowitz x reader #eli moskowitz #eli moskowitz imagine #hawk x reader #cobra kai

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moonlight-tmd · 11 months ago

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Continuing on Bee having chronic phantom pains.

So Bee has several medications to deal with this on top of his normal antidepressants and adhd meds. It kinda sucks for him, but it could've been worse...

The worst part about having those pains is that even tho he's taken meds he'll often get these sudden flare ups that'll leave him unable to do anything for an hour or so. When that happens (which is like 2-3 times a week), he has little bottle of medical grade on him to soothe the pain faster.

It definitelly limited his options to do fun stuff cuz if he goes somewhere alone there's more of a chance he'll become stuck in that place for a long while unable to do anything. He still can go skating or do donuts, exercise is good for him but it also sucks cuz most bots can't keep up with him or he can get the flare up during whatever he's doing and hurt himselft of accident.

After the accident, Bee has been mostly going out with other bots- Bulkhead most often gives up his free time to go somewhere with Bee, if he can't do that cuz of something important then Prowl will go.

In other post i said that Ratchet takes some of his medical supplies from Swindle bcuz the usual supplier either won't give certain stuff or doesn't have them. Therefore, the medication for Bumblebee's issues are being supplied by Swindle. And we know how this guy is- snooping into private information to find out what whoever needs so he can have them spend more money on him.

And this is exactly what he did with Ratchet. Old docbot made the supply orders with Swindle in secret. One time Swindle asked why he was getting so many medications, Ratchet declined to tell anything besides what he needs but Swindle's silver tongue turned the conversation in the right direction...

It was nearing christmas at that time and everyone tried to get gifts for one another. They had the usual family party and gift giving. At some point Optimus gave a look to Ratchet who nodded and slipped out to get something.

"Actually, there is one more gift for you, Bumblebee." Bossbot said with a smile. Bee was sitting on the floor with Sari and Prowl, trying out some board game they just unpacked.

"Really? What is it!?" Bee was excited.

"You need to close your optics first." Bee was quick to oblige and slap with servos on his faceplate, he loved surprises! Then Optimus gave Ratchet a signal to come into the room... what the others didn't expect was him leading a small-sized cyberhound in. Optimus quickly gave a signal for the others to stay quiet as Ratchet made it sit in front of Bee.

Bee was both very confused and excited when he was allowed to look. Ratchet explained that this was a service hound for him; her name was Murk and apparently she could sense when the flare ups are gonna start and help him get thru them. This was so cool! And it got confirmed rather quickly; while Bee was petting his new companion she suddenly pulled away and started pushing into him. Bee leaned back to sit on his aft instead of knees and Murk quickly climbed onto his lap and pressed herself into his chassis, she started making this quiet hum similar to a cat's purr. The vibrations and odd feeling seeped into Bee just as the sharp pain hit him. But it wasn't as bad as it was the other times- this time the pain was near unnoticeable and he felt this odd numbness in it's place. He could actually speak and move some while it was happening. Both Sari and Prowl were trying their best to not pet this cute robot dog while it was working.

Swindle had prompted Ratchet into telling him Bee's condition and he gave him contacts to the places with Service Creatures. He also helped him get a hound that will be an good match for Bee. It was a lot of credits spend but definitelly worth it. Who knew Swindle could be actually kind and helpful.

Murk was somewhere above Bee's knees height, smaller horse size really, and similar to a doberman, all black with red optics. She had a special blue paint on her chest armor- a painted-on jacket with white cybertronian writing "Service Hound". She looked quite intimidating... and for a reason.

Turns out, she was also a defence hound on top of being a service hound. Sentinel got to discover that when he came too close to Bee(despite the hound growling) and roughly poked him while arguing. Ratchet almost refused to put his ripped servo back in place, he asked for it.

Bee could once again go back to his usual stuff. Murk was very friendly and tolerated most of folks, she was also playful when it was time for it- although she never played catch with him, Ratchet explained it was cuz her job to stay close to him.

She was also trained to bring him stuff like fuel or meds. If Bee can't get out of his berth in the morning then he'll tell Murk to bring him fuel (a can of oil). It sometimes ends up in her bringing Optimus with a tray of oil and freshly baked goods when he's doing his baking in the morning. (I imagine Murk has this thing where she can play back commands that were said to her when some other bot asks why she's alone. She played back Bee saying "Murk, bring me fuel." to OP and that's how he knew.)

Bee also has more leeway like before, he doesn't need another bot to come with him in case something happens. When he's driving somewhere, Murk sits in his backseat and barks when something is gonna happen so Bee has time to drive off the road and take a break.

Of course, Bee is not really allowed to go fighting anymore. But i suppose it won't be long until they catch Megs and put him in jail so they can live a peaceful life.

#maccadam #tfa #tfa bumblebee #angst

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inevitably-johnlocked · 4 months ago

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Hi Steph, how are you? I hope it's the most comfortable season in your area right now? I had covid in the summer and unfortunately I'm still getting weaker and weaker, so I was wondering if you could recommend some exercises you enjoy? Like YouTube channels or just the names of the exercises would be greatly appreciated. Sending hugs.

Hey Nonny *HUGS*

Yes, we're finally entering the best part of autumn, where the weather is beautiful sweater weather during the day and the evenings are cool. It won't last long, sadly, because we get early wet winters so it will get really cold all the time and just... rain until December, ugh.

Ugh, I feel you about feeling weak after Covid. It took me awhile to get back to my "normal", which is going back to the gym daily and waking up at decent times and sleeping through the night. Took awhile for that.

Oh gosh, okay regarding the fitness thing, I'm trying hard to think back to a couple years ago; I had to get a nutritionist because I had a health scare (I fainted while sitting down and doing nothing) and he wanted me to get back into a routine. Let me tell you, it's SO hard, but his words of encouragement helped SO MUCH MORE than any of those """"fitness influencers"""" and personal trainers (ie. professional torturers lol) ever did because he NEVER expected more than I was comfortable with. He always said "YOU have to want to change, I'm just here to help you on that path".

Currently, I go to the gym pretty much every day for at least an hour and mostly weight lifting. It took nearly a year and a half to get back to that level of fitness for me. Pre-Covid I was doing even more to the point of obsession. Both my nutritionist and my therapist help me with coping mechanisms to ensure that that doesn't happen again. When I was first getting back into exercising, we focussed on the one exercise I LOVED doing: walking. He always said "10 minutes of walking a day is better than not doing it at all." It always started small, and walking was the thing that got me back to exercising. And, little by little 10 became 20 became 30 became an hour, and then going back to the gym was less daunting. My work has a gym which my brain deemed as "safe" in my post-covid anxiety, so I started going back via my work gym. Again, I have previous fitness experience so I started off on machines and then back into my old routines with free weights.

But yeah, definitely some walking or even just some stretching or yoga moves (my nutritionist actually tried to get me to start working out by stretching and meditating, but I don't really like doing either of those). My nutritionist, while he did want me to work towards a healthier lifestyle, never EVER pushed me to do more than I was ready for. So this is my advice to you, Lovely: what kind of exercise do you LIKE doing? Walking? Push ups? Squats? There are simple exercises that people use for physio, seniors, and limited mobility individuals. Getting up and sitting down, wall presses, light lunges, even stretches are great for working towards a more active lifestyle. Heck, even "doing weights" by lifting a full water bottle is an exercise! Mine was walking. Perhaps yours is leg lifts or shoulder rolls. Even just a little activity is GOOD!! This article here is a good place to start if you're limited mobility, and here's a good article for beginners.

Also, search on YouTube for "Workouts for Beginners"; there's quite a few workouts there, hopefully without too many ad-breaks to ruin the flow of the workouts. My favourite workouts, though are Les Mills Body Combat and Body Pump, which are both more advanced once you're into a rhythm. I used to do the classes at GoodLife before Covid, and now my CURRENT routine incorporates moves I learned in both of those (I'm still skittish about being in group settings so I kind of just do them on my own). I'm very proud of myself for how far I've come in a year and a half, when I genuinely thought I would never do it again. I could barely walk because of foot and joint pains, I was always dizzy and I was very lethargic all the time. Changing my diet helped a lot too; my nutritionist recommended a lot more protein to keep me fuller longer, and 3 meals a day with small snacks. Never have a deficit!! He doesn't believe in dieting, just "eating right". AND he doesn't make me weigh myself which helped me overcome my disordered eating triggers. He's a great nutritionist.

It can be done Nonny! Just start small, and stick to a schedule. For me I find it easier to do it during the week during my lunch break at work makes it feel like it's NOT eating into my free time, and on weekends and days off I go first thing in the morning to the gym because it's quieter. So, a routine helps for sure! I think you can do it too!!!!

Let me know if I can help you out with tips that have helped me that I haven't listed here. And, if anyone has something to help Nonny get back into a routine that has maybe helped y'all after Covid, please do offer your support! <3

ALSO as an aside, Nonny, it's recommended you start SMALL after Covid to allow your body to properly heal, so DON'T PUSH YOURSELF nor feel bad if you're slow. Every Body is different! <3

Good luck Nonny!!!

#steph replies #physical fitness #i am not a professional #my advice #life advice #coronavirus #covid 19 #disordered eating mention cw #about me #chatting with nonnies #health advice #BUT TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT #this is just my experience

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your-local-ghoul · 2 years ago

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How To Remember Your Dreams

Whether prophetic or not, we tend to underestimate just how much we dream. The majority of our dreams occur during the REM stage of our sleep when our brain is highly active. This provides insight into the often less significant but psychologically meaningful dreams we experience.

I believe that the human mind accesses something beyond our subconscious when we sleep. This explains how individuals can have visions of their scheduled flights crashing days before it occurs, or seeing family members from distant lands with vivid recollections of their surroundings and clothing. If interpreted correctly, our dreams can provide us with forbidden knowledge and remarkable insight into our past, present, and future. However, what good are these dreams if we cannot recall them? To help you improve your dream recall, here are some tips:

Record your dreams I know, I know. Recording dreams that you can't even remember does sound ridiculous, but the goal here is to increase your awareness of your dreams before and after you have them. By setting the intention to record your dreams before bed, your subconscious mind will start paying more attention to your dreams, allowing you to remember more details upon waking. You can start a dream journal or simply take notes on your phone with as much detail as possible. With practice, you should be able to start remembering your dreams within a week or two, or even sooner if you have a natural talent for it. At first, you may only remember the basic outlines of your dream, but with continued effort, you will be able to recall the themes, symbolism, and messages within your dreams, which will be useful when interpreting them.

Have a proper sleep schedule You cannot expect to have dreams(unless you are a modern-age prophet having some kind of divine revelation though I suspect we get any more of those) when you are running on 2 hours of sleep and copious amounts of caffeine. You should be getting at least seven hours of sleep on a fixed sleep schedule. Make sure you are taking proper care of your body and physical well-being. Always. You cannot expect your body to work with you when you are not doing it justice.

Drink water before bed Dreams and the subconscious are domains of Neptune. Lord of Seas and Freshwaters, he is the ruler of Pisces in the zodiac. So when you are dealing with a topic so deeply linked with water energy, it is best to try and embody that same energy as best as you can. Drinking water 30-60 minutes before bed is perhaps the easiest and most efficient way to achieve this. I have seen people recommend drinking apple juice before bed to ensure a more vivid-and sometimes lucid- dream experience though I think it doesn't have any significant results. Try a glass of plain water- you will see how you can remember even the more intricate parts of your dreams upon waking up.

De-stress before sleep Sleep is an excellent tool for you to de-charge and heal. Whatever might have taken place during your day should not be of concern to you while you are about to sleep. Yes, I know it is easier said than done and there is only so much I can say to consolidate your stress. So perhaps limit your screen time before bed and partake in activities you find calming. Taking a hot shower, aromatherapy and a cup of warm tea might help. I would personally recommend linden, sage, fennel or chamomile tea for their soothing effects.

Meditate You don't need any fancy tools for this. You just have to be alone, in a comfortable and quiet place. Before sleep, situate yourself comfortably in your bed and meditate to clear your mind and relax. If you want to silence your thoughts, I would recommend doing breathing exercises and overall being aware of your breathing pattern.

Oneiromancy is a highly intuitive field. With enough practice, not only will you get better at remembering your dreams but realize that you have also strengthened your intuition. It will especially be of use if you are interested in scrying or fortune telling.

#witchblr #dream interpretation #witchcraft #oneiromancy #occult

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taravali-the-service-pup · 7 months ago

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Things I’m doing differently with my second service dog prospect:

Certified Fear Free Vet only. Mandana had to go into the vet alone a lot since she was a pandemic puppy and while she’s very good at the vet she also has a lot of separation anxiety during appointments and it affected her ability to attend doctor appointments.

First training priority will be cooperative care. I want to try to get a chin rest opt in for the vet before her vaccines are completed. I’ll also be relying on cooperative care for a lot of grooming since she’s a poodle.

More resources for raising a puppy. I raised Mandana in an apartment with limited access to a car. We made it work but it was hard. Taravali will have a house, yard, car, puppy wagon for pre-vaccinated outings, puppy classes at the training center and a behaviorist to help along the way.

Waiting to spay. Unfortunately the only vet we could go to when Mandana was a puppy was very pushy about pediatric spay and it’s one of my biggest regrets. He pushed it at every appointment and implied care might not be continued for Mandana unless I spayed her early which was a big deal since I didn’t have access to another vet at the time. Not only is a later spay in our puppy contract but I’m more confident with telling vet staff to back off when it counts.

No cheese until she’s older. Large breed puppy food is usually formulated with a lower calcium ration which promotes slower bone growth and may contribute to healthier bones & joints longterm. I don’t want to throw this off by frequently using cheese as my high value reward when she’s a puppy. There’s plenty of time for cheese when she’s older.

More emphasis on mobility and less on medical alerts. Mandana is a unicorn in the service dog world. I only trained one medical alert and she developed two separate natural alert+responses on her own. It was incredibly helpful when my health took a dive but now that I’m doing [better and am more active I’d like to focus on mobility tasks instead. Of course Taravali won’t be able to do most mobility tasks until she’s older but for now I can teach light tasks such as retrievals and can foster a strong healthy body with age appropriate exercise and conditioning.

More house guests. Despite being a dogblr, we’re pretty private people IRL and we don’t have a lot of visitors. Because of that, Mandana has some excitement reactivity when people come over. It’s something we’ve been working on with the behaviorist and I’d like to continue those exercises with the puppy.

Get pet insurance at day one. We were on the fence about pet insurance with Mandana. We weren’t sure which to get and most pet insurance requires you to pay for everything upfront anyways and be reimbursed later so we didn’t realize how much we needed it. That was until Mandana came down with a mystery illness that wasn’t showing up on tests. It later turned out to be a combination of a systemic infection/apartment herbicides/rare medications side effect/misdiagnosed back injury that happened all at the same time baffling many vets. You can imagine how much we spent going multiple times a month as we painfully chipped away at a diagnosis. Even after delaying our signup we’ve still been able to reclaim thousands of dollars since we got PetsBest. I will say they are very tricky about what DOESN’T qualify for their add on rehab package and once you have it on your policy you can’t take it off without canceling your plan and making every claim you’ve made now a pre-existing condition. They will go out of their way to try to claim every little thing is related to a preexisting condition so it’s not covered and they have never reimbursed in less than two months but we have a low deductible, a 90% unlimited reimbursement and they haven’t raised our rates much after cashing in on some big bills. So for this puppy we will be signing up with PetsBest the day we get her.

Things I’m doing the same:

Lots of decompression walks & variety in our adventures. I didn’t have regular access to a car with Mandana so we walked everywhere and it led to a lot of unexpected adventures. I want to make sure I don’t miss out on that just bc I have a car so I’ll be focusing on exploring a lot with Taravali.

No free access for at least 6 months. Mandana wasn’t allowed on furniture, sleeping in my bed or crossing certain thresholds until she was an adolescent. It kept her safe and helped establish a very polite rapport between us in the house. I plan to do the same with Taravali, especially since we now have hard floors and we’re working on dog-dog resource guarding with Mandana.

Confidence building exercises from a young age. Mandana has amazing recovery and an optimistic view of the world. Some of that is genetics but a lot of it is from all the types of exercises we did with the service dog academy (My Service Dog & Me LLC with Kate Olson. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!)

Talking Dog. I implemented a modified communication system with Mandana when she was sick with a mystery illness and I was having the hardest time figuring out what was wrong and how it affected her desires & activities. Since then it has exploded and been extraordinarily helpful and I plan to teach Taravali day one. Her first words will be yes/no so we can work on opting in for activities.

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forgottenyear · 1 year ago

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[no triggers, but long-ish text: ~700 wds]

I have always been different. It is something I claimed when I was old enough to see the value in being different.

Over four tests that I can remember, beginning in grade school, I have never been found to be a genius, even if I were to inflate the measures in this direction. (I think the average has been “high gifted,” although I have no memory of having been high during testing, but I may give that impression.)

My gifts appear to be that I can draw connections between disparate concepts, I can quickly identify overlapping structures and hierarchies, and I am unrestrained by false assumptions about rules or limits.

And the above is pointedly written in a vacuum of DID.

I am still different, but now I can see how this difference breaks among parts.

When I finally pieced together how we function as a system (I laughingly write, as though I have finally completed the puzzle), I lost my differences.

I was resentful that everything that made me special was taken from me and distributed among other parts.

I slowly adjusted to the idea that I am merely a custodian of the body.

But now I am seeing that I play a greater role than this.

Life for the parts who fronted before fusion was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and [I would discover, only later] short.” They clawed for their needs out of necessity. They had occasions of kindness and compassion, but they were mostly self-seeking.

I have had the privilege to exercise compassion, although I did not know it for a privilege until recently.

Ignoring how it came to me, I claim compassion to be my specialness within the system.

I think I have written before that I feel myself dissolve into other parts, when I spend too much time trying to understand them.

I approach with compassion, but then I must withdraw for self-preservation. After, I feel like I failed in my compassion.

It is not my intent to cherry-pick through attributes to find the ones I want and then dump the rejects onto other parts. What I am trying to do is to establish what makes me special within the system, and then to assert my specialness when I am nearer the seemingly older parts (although I understand that age is somewhat counterintuitive among parts).

I am trying to retain my compassion as mine to execute in accordance with my overall patterns of choosing (that sentence got complicated quickly). I am trying to keep my compassion from becoming subordinated to the perceived wants and needs of the parts I approach.

It is all but a given at this point, but for habit, that I am at least mostly the child part. When I am unsure or feel a situation is unsafe, I go by the book. I follow our rules of behavior and I do not deviate (unless directed to do so by the unfused part).

This is not meaningfully changed from before fusion, other than I was never front other than for short periods, before. Now I appear to be perpetually front, and we have had to be more cautious in how I am “childish.”

But, before the derisiveness of the fiancée during the breakup, even when we could be childish, the other parts were our guardians, and we had to accept their decisions.

I have been perpetual front for more than half the life of the body. Measuring age by our time in front, I am an adult and older than the others. Even early in my time as front, I have been the most successful adult (with much guidance from the unfused part).

At this time, maybe I am subordinating myself to the other parts only out of sentimentality. Nostalgia for when life was never this complicated. For when I was never expected to be an adult. For when it was safe to be the child in more than just the label.

I am The adult, like it or not. If we are going to find healthiness as a system, I need to start acting like an adult. I cannot keep reverting to childhood when there is adult work to be done.

crying again

some adult

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xi218 · 1 year ago

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୨୧ goals ୨୧

Physical: working on being sober, ab workout routine, getting into bed earlier, not snacking so much, wearing the clothes you're saving for a "special occasion", trying out new looks and clothes, venturing out new styles, upgrading your basic hygiene routine, drink more water

Mental: journaling daily (or near daily..), decorating pages, keeping track of emotions both negative and positive and what triggers them. Get rid of the negative triggers and bring in more of the positive triggers.

Emotional: getting in touch with a therapist, dedicating a journal to release you emotions instead of bottling them in, interpret dreams, talking to friends when things upset me

Professional: working 1 hour more than usual, dont wake up and finish work before class

Personal: find your old hobbies (crochet), discover new ones (shirt making 👀), trying new food even if im nervous, complimenting people out loud, making an effort to hang out with friends when opportunities present themselves, limit youtube time

Finance: learn how to budget, no impulse spending, watch videos about making money with art and follow through

Important habits to have: waking up and going to bed early, using planner, having a morning and night routine but the freedom to change it/ leniency with myself if i dont stick to it

Important skills to build: how to communicate my own needs, learn what the line is between sharing and dumping (rather than choosing to bottle everything ive ever felt lol)

schedule ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭ ੈ♡‧₊˚

So you've picked your goals. Great. Now take a look at your schedule and figure out what things are taking up most of your time. Is it a long commute? Spending too much time scrolling on your phone? Waking up late? Going to bed late?

୨୧ time blocking / schedule:

☆ Mornings:

5-6am: exercise

6-7am: shower, get ready for class / library

7:30-8am: library for breakfast, get ready for the day

~class~

☆ Evenings:

get back from class, shower immediately, change into pajamas

eat dinner

finish homework

plan the next day, journal, go to bed

Assess how you spend your time and utilize it. Instead of scrolling on your phone during your free time, spend time with your loved ones (pets, kids, partner), instead of staying in one place while you're on a call, walk around to get steps in, there is always a way to implement your goals into your daily life.

Notice how I say fit your goals around your life. You don't want to be taking away important things like errands, jobs, school, being a parent just meet your goals- no. Use your time wisely. That's all. You can fit them.

On the larger goals like taking up a class/large skill, like dancing and painting. On fridays, you'll have dance class and on other days that you have free, you'll be painting a piece or reading your anticipated book, learning a language, trying out a new recipe, planning the next day, taking a spontaneous art class, etc!

Weekends.

Because I work a lot, I like to use weekends to really do deep work. Intensive study sessions. And because I deep work (work with no distractions) I don't need to study all day. I'm getting so much done in little time that I'll be done by the afternoon and I can go out and do errands, get all dressed up and have a nice day out in the city, or just have a relaxing day by doing chores, watching a nice movie and more!

3. Setting up a system so you can actually stick to those goals.

Keep a journal to keep track of what you did today. If you didn't reach a goal that day (and that's okay), ask yourself why? and how does it make you feel? Then take action on what you can do to reach it tomorrow.

i think post its in planner should be effective

Switching. We all know it’s best to not push yourself so hard. For example, don’t do intense exercise everyday. Walking and dancing throughout the day counts as exercise too, so by switching (depending on YOUR goals), you’ll have time for your other goals as well. Here is an example: on a rest day of no exercising, maybe that day is the night I have a ballet class. That is exercise as well. So instead of exercising in the very early hours of my day, I can use that time instead to do more studying OR have more time doing something else.

which means I can do one do the following: spend more time with my pet, read a few pages of my book, make a new recipe, etc.

Ex. 4am-5am - on a no-exercise day, i can study during that time instead. 6am-7am - more time to tackle my other goals.

Create a foundation. If you have an amazing day, felt very productive and accomplished, what's a habit that really helped? if you had an off day, figure out why and maybe your foundation can help.

★ That’s all!

#100dayswithddd

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bukkum · 2 years ago

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Why Is It Necessary To Wear Athleisure Wear During Work Out?

When exercising, paying attention to your posture, form, hydration, and many other factors is important. You may be surprised that your gym attire is on that list. What you wear while exercising significantly affects your recovery and muscular support.

It is important to remember, especially at the outset of your fitness journey, that the clothes you wear while exercising have a purpose beyond just aesthetics. Depending on what you wear for your workout, you might impede your development or speed it up.

More Significant Consequences

Athleisure wear while exercising impacts more than just your comfort and sense of taste. It aids in blood flow, improves your performance in the gym, and prevents pain, low impact, and weariness. To keep your blood pumping, you need proper clothing for your activity. It helps the muscle or body portion being worked on throughout the exercise, and the increased oxygen flow helps muscles recover more quickly between sessions.

The danger of muscular tiredness and cramping is reduced, and the circulation of minerals and other nutrients is enhanced. Speeding up your recovery and protection may boost your workout’s effect by increasing your performance, endurance, and muscle health.

Clothing Longevity

You can purchase high-quality, long-lasting fitness attire without breaking the bank. However, this one could help you feel better about your penchant for costly leggings. The best fitness apparel is built to last so that you can get your money’s worth repeatedly.

Wicks Moisture and Allows Airflow

Sweat is an obvious by-product of exercise, particularly high-intensity interval training. That is why it is so important to ensure you have a good exercise outfit to be comfortable the whole time.

The sweat-wicking and breathability qualities come into play here to ensure you have the comfort you need to give yourself throughout your workouts. Fabrics with good breathability enable air to circulate through them, wicking moisture away from the skin. Sweat-wicking provides a welcome cooling feeling, allowing you to focus on your workout without distraction.

Security From Natural Hazards

You may shield yourself from the elements while working out by wearing protective clothing. When working out in the summer heat, wearing loose clothes made of breathable material is crucial. To avoid overheating, it will aid in keeping your body at a comfortable temperature.

It is best to wear athleisure clothing with many layers to keep warm during the winter. Choosing an outer layer with breathability is also wise to facilitate temperature management. If you start to feel too warm, you may remove it. However, a breathable shirt worn beneath may help with perspiration management.

Your Inspiration Maker

Your self-assurance when exercising has a direct impact on your results. Your clothes may boost your self-esteem and encourage you to push yourself during workouts. The psychological impacts of what you wear are not limited to the gym; they occur in all social settings. Whether we feel comfortable, going somewhere depends on how we feel about ourselves and how we dress.

Similarly, it is important to feel comfortable enough with an activity that one can do without thinking twice, focusing intently, and maintaining correct form throughout the workout. Fears about clothing and their capabilities of proper stretches and support can make you feel underconfident and uncomfortable during specific exercise routines like Zumba, weight lifting, and stretching.

Flexibility

Do you have any experience wearing slim jeans while exercising or running? Try it out, and we guarantee you will be in much pain. You will not be able to exercise properly if you wear tight clothes made of an inappropriate fabric, like jeans, which may limit your flexibility. Well, we are talking about jeans, and some of you may not even attempt to utilize jeans for your exercise, but this still holds for the vast majority of the day-to-day clothes that are not designed for physical activity.

The idea here is that if you do not dress appropriately for exercise, you will not be able to give you throughout your workout. Choosing training athleisure wear men that is both flexible and loose-fitting can help you perform better. Do not buy it if you feel like you cannot move freely in anything, regardless of how loose or tight it is.

Conclusion

As a result, fitness clothing is a clear boon for attaining one’s fitness objectives, engaging in physical activity, and maximizing one’s potential. If you want to get the most out of your workouts, you need the proper equipment. It would help to get some good exercise clothes now that you realize their importance.

A stretchy athleisure wear woman that enables the body to move freely is your best choice for maximizing performance. If you feel like your clothes are squeezing you, do not buy them. You need gym clothing from Bukkum that fits you like a glove to move freely.

Source Link[bukkum.com]

#Athleisure Wear #athleisure clothing #athleisure wear men #athleisure wear woman

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visityaratoday · 2 years ago

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FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions/ preguntas frecuentes - Page 1

We often get questions from travelers wanting to know more about Yara before booking their trip. Here are some of the most Frequently Asked Questions in no particular order and our answers.

Q: Is it safe?

A: This is probably the number one most frequently asked question, is Yara safe? As a traveler, yes, Yara is safe. As long as you follow the rules, carry your documentation and passport on your person at all times and obey the FND (Fuerzas Nacionales de Defensa) at all times. Don’t try and act like a fool and you will be safe and enjoy a wonderful stay in Yara.

Q: Is there electricity in Yara?

A: Of course we have electricity in Yara. It’s glitchy at times but, yes. We have cellphone reception too and the internet. It’s slow but it works.

Q: Is it true that there’s no stop signs or red lights?

A: Yes and no. There are no stop signs, that is true. We do have red lights in the capital city of Esperanza but most are non operational and we have grown accustomed to driving without them so we doubt they will get fixed any time soon. To learn more about driving in Yara, you may wish to check out this article: Getting Around Yara: Main Roads

Q:"Is it safe to drink the bathwater?"

A: A very good question. There is drinkable water accessible in most of Yara. It comes from our water treatment plant, but water is expensive to treat as we must pump and treat salt water. You will notice even treated water keeps a slightly mineral aftertaste but you get used to it. Of course, if you have a sensitive gut or are worried about “la turista,” we do suggest you exercise caution when drinking the local water as you would in any Latin American country. Bottled water is also accessible in most stores if you want to stay on the safe side.

As for bathwater specifically, because drinkable water is so expensive, we do not take baths. We take showers. Or as the old saying goes: “who needs a shower when you have the rain?”

Q: Are there dead bodies everywhere!? Will I see a dead body when I visit?!? I’m going with my son and he’s 4 years old and I don’t want him to see stuff like that. Is this something I should be worried about?

A: This one was an interesting one and we do get such questions quite often. How to put this. The situation being what it is in Yara, violence and deadly violence does occur. So your chances of encountering a human corpse are more than likely exponentially higher than in your home country depending on where you live, that’s the truth. However, our authorities work extremely hard to remove and properly bury any human remains found in public areas. We cannot by any means promise you that you will never encounter a dead body while visiting Yara unless you keep to your hotel and the beach right next to your hotel. Perhaps have a conversation with your child and tell them it’s always Halloween in our country and… we like scary decorations?

Q: What’s with the curfews? Is it because of Covid?

A: We did have extensive lockdowns during the Covid-19 crisis but this seems to have fizzled out. The nightly curfews imposed in select cities including the capital city of Esperanza, Concepción, and Segunda, are in place to “limit and control dissident activity.” Please do take the curfew orders seriously as the FND will not differentiate between travelers and terroristas. The exact times will be posted around the cities and also broadcasted over the public announcement systems in Spanish and in English so no excuses.

Q: Can I bring my dog? Is Yara dog friendly?

A: Of course! Yara is extremely dog friendly. Dogs are welcomed practically anywhere and there are no quarantine requirements as far as we know. A few things to remember: the FND utilizes attack dogs that are walked off leash. Do not allow your pet to approach them as these are trained military dogs. Also remember that we have wildlife such as crocodiles and pumas so remember to keep an eye out to keep your mascota safe. Otherwise, yes! Your dog is welcomed in Yara.

Q: are the beaches safe? Are there sharks and stuff?

A: You will find all of that information in this article: Marine Life

Q: Am I gonna get shot?

A: If you aren’t an imbecile, probably not.

Q: Do you eat crocodiles?

A: Yes. It’s delicious. Everyone’s abuela has their own crocodile stew recipe. You should try it.

Q: Does travel insurance cover my camera being eaten by a crocodile?

A: You would have to check with your travel insurance.

Q: "Do I need to use crocodile repellent? If so, can I buy it from you?"

A: So many crocodile questions. Travelers seem to have concerns about crocodiles. We may need to write an article on the topic, but yes, crocodiles are very common in Yara. As for any wild animal, if you don’t go too close to them, they generally won’t chase you. As for repellent, we sometimes see Yarans carry bait rather than repellant, such as random meat to toss at them then run! But carrying meats in the Yaran sun is not something we would recommend.

Q. Can I book a shark cage diving experience through your agency?

A: No but you can book a pool swimming experience with a live Reef shark. It will be in our "Things to do before you die" section in the near future.

Q: Is Diego Castillo Maria Marqessa’s son?

A: We don’t do politics or gossip.

Q: can I literally buy a gun in Yara?

A: Yes. Try Puerto Cuero east of Segunda or the town of Feroza, in the province of Balaceras.

Q: am I gonna get kidnapped when I go to Yara?

A: I hope not. Tourists are generally left alone as Yaranos would be weary of bothering or harming anyone bringing money into our country. Military presence is widespread in all tourist areas so you should feel pretty safe. That being said, if you randomly venture deep into the jungle, we cannot be held responsible for what happens to you next.

Q: can you take a selfie with the guerrillero?

A: You can ask.

Q: Why is everything illegal in Yara?

A: Not everything is illegal in Yara, however, overly rambunctious and disrupting behaviour in public is frowned upon and may be met with FND reprisal. But you can smoke anywhere you want, you can drink although not to excess in public places, you can open carry weapons in most places and you can hunt and fish whatever you want with no permit in most places. Trust us, you can probably get away with doing a LOT crazier things in Yara than you could ever do in your home country.

Q: Does Yara have scorpions?

A: Not that we have ever seen, no.

Q: Why are there no children in Yara?

A: Of course there are children in Yara. Yaranos don’t grow on trees. However, you might notice a notable lack of children playing outside in the streets etc. You need to remember that we have many large wild animals, and some occurrences of violence and people want to keep their children as safe as possible and tend to keep them away from the streets. We have elementary schools, playgrounds, orphanages.. There ARE children in Yara. You just probably won’t see them much.

There are many more questions to respond to but we will leave them for a subsequent post.

In the meantime, if you have any question you’d like answered, feel free to leave them in the comments, DM, or send us an email (in bio.) We will do our best to answer them in a timely manner.

Go to FAQ Page 2

Back to Content Index

Editor's Note:

If you look for bodies, you WILL find bodies. So just don't.

#visityaratoday #visit yara #visityara #far cry 6 #far cry #virtual photography #far cry series #VirtualTourism #YaraFAQ

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neuroticboyfriend · 2 years ago

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ty for the “we don’t have to consider the dui ppl evil monsters forever.” This you can skip I think now if you don’t want a story of why your post is gonna change my life a little bit.

I have a owi from a boss getting drunk as hell with me and I very much went along with the evening for like idk stupid professional relations reasons I guess, and ended up in a ditch etc. I unfortunately received another dui after I was drinking at home in my backyard two years later sorta mid-meltdown, and after an exchange with an equally intoxicated neighbor was chased about 120 ft to my car which I drove to some neighbors (rural area) about 2 min away l, but literally got pulled over by the cops along that stretch as they kinda park-camp there.

My life was ruined. I was not well in jail for 90 days after the second one, as was denied anti-psychotics, sleep aids, and anti-depressants so stuck in a suicide suit and in solitary. I had worked for the state for a decade but no longer could, and I was stuck in the county that had no mental health services for me due to the limits of our CMH. I had to live with friends for two years of probation because I couldn’t drive or work without being able to drive. I did some wfh stuff during Covid (thank god wfh surge saved me tbh) but had to bike 10 miles each way or get a ride a couple times a week for drug tests, support meetings, classes etc for 2 years. I had to borrow money and pay ppl back years later for covering the costs of the drug tests and classes.

I had worked for the state for nearly a decade, graduated with a degree, had an apartment, boyfriend, the whole works: but I had no mental health access for a decade and had essential emergency services trying to toss meds at me, when I would ask to be hospitalized or finally was, and after about 7-8 years I was maladaptive as hell unable to get counseling or med management, drinking with bosses and melting down in my backyard.

I finally got mental health and other services: I have Tourette’s, autism, adhd, and ocd. And a nice helping of the cptsd but idk that one’s pretty managed. I have a bunch of broken teeth from clenching from stress and Tourette’s. The only help I got out of that county was Christian substance abuse services in classes that I had to do for probation for two years. I cannot imagine how different my life would be if I could have gotten the services the judge said I had complete access to.

I have never felt like anyone could be capable of understanding that I’m not a monster and I didn’t want to do anything bad. I understand very well why ppl are so aggressive against drunk driving as I’m in one of the worse states for it and we have some of the strongest laws for it. It’s a felony in Canada and I can’t go there anymore because of it. And it’s been idk 5 years now that I’ve never seen or heard a message like this and it is just so moving.

I’ve been holding myself back so much because I did a bad and I don’t feel like a deserve to like use social services or anything anymore like anything that could burden the state or community. I fell so far like possessions wise, asset wise, materially, professionally, in housing etc. that I need those services frankly. I don’t do things or try to interact with people, I’ve done like 5 years of shame vs regret exercises but it doesn’t matter I just don’t feel like I should get to be part of society and that no one wants me to be anymore. And I think if I saw things like this just once in awhile amongst the regular dui messaging it would be really great.

I do run a smart recovery meeting which is like science backed substance abuse program very much online nowadays but I want to do more but I’m still very in my head about it. I’m gonna try to think about this perspective from time to time. So thank you.

Anon I am telepathically giving the biggest hug ever, and if you dont want a hug then. I'm sending so much support and understanding your way. I'm so happy you found my post, especially since I've gotten a little bit of hell for it. Knowing it comforted just one person makes it worth it.

You're not a monster, and what the state did to you is not okay. It's inhumane, and you didn't deserve a single part of it. It's not even remotely fair that your right to health and safety was so grossly violated. And I'm glad you seem to be doing better than you were. I hope as time goes on, you find more of your place in this world.

I know things will never be the same, and I know how much stands in your way - even though I can't truly conceptualize it. But there will always be more people than you know who see see your humanity. Who want you in this world with us - not just tolerate it. And I think it's really wonderful you run the recovery program. You've probably changed a lot of lives, for the better. That's awesome!

And thank you for trusting your story with me. I've been struggling with some substance abuse lately, and I think getting this ask is gonna get me through another night of not. Fucking up. Sometimes people just need to feel connection, I think. So you changed my life a little bit, too.

#asks #anon #substance abuse #substance use #alcohol tw #drugs tw #abuse #neglect #prison #institutionalization #institutionalization tw #ableism #sanism #drunk driving #driving under the influence

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chartreuseplaidypus · 1 year ago

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Ok, story time.

I (cis/het F) am a US Marine Corps veteran. These days I am approaching old, so I have seen some messaging about theft and shoplifting over the years.

Back in my early 20s when I was on active duty, I was deployed on “the boat.” Typically when my Marine Corps deploys, we’re on a boat, as in a US Naval vessel, and back in my day, this “boat” deployment was 6 months of smaller “work up” exercises before a full 6 month deployment on board ship. Both services have endless things to say about this. Anyway, for my job in aviation maintenance, working in the rotary wing, “the boat” was an amphibious carrier. It has the population of a floating city. I was one of 30 women total on board, and I later learned we were the very first deployment that particular ship had ever had women on board for.

Firsts like that mean we are experiencing change in its first draft. It was something.

So, naturally, I do my job in aviation maintenance when on board, right? Well, not exactly. Some number of bodies get agreed upon between the Marine units and the Naval ship unit for work crew. That is to say, some number of junior Marines get assigned around the ship for a month at a time to ‘help with the operation’ of the ship.

Right. Must be pretty important work, huh? They sent me to work in the Ship’s Store. Functionally about the size of a small gas station’s convenience store, and roughly as well stocked (as in, you would be lucky if there was anything you actually want or need there; it was mostly snacks. It was also the only place for women to purchase hygiene products if they didn’t already have them packed along, or have someone at home to send them).

Why did this tiny little Ship’s Store need a Marine assigned to help them out? Somehow they argued for it. They had at least 6 regular sailors assigned to the store, but they argued, they needed a Marine to do security {completely unarmed}, to stop shoplifting. Apparently the Ship’s Store was experiencing financially significant losses.

Now for one thing, my own shop in aviation maintenance (Aviation Life Support Systems which means safety, survival, and a whole lot of other gear which was treated as an annoying afterthought) had 6 specially trained Marines at a maximum for a whole squadron of several dozens of helicopters and several dozens more aviators. As designed, we were always understaffed and stretched thin, so my being assigned to the Ship’s Store was not easy to stomach.

So I was assigned to stand at the door of the store during open hours. On my feet, not moving, and limiting the number of shoppers in the store at any one time to four people, and trying to watch them for anything suspicious. After the store closed for the day, they might have me restock shelves, with very little instruction, and the sailors who were assigned to the store had me do this, while they stood around, or did “inventory” in the larger storage room.

After a week of this, the petty officer in charge of the store thought it was so great that he argued for more Marines to get assigned to help the store. I think he managed to get two more. I liked that the other Marines and I could rotate out with each other where we were in the store, meaning we could also occasionally sit during the long days. Once the other Marines were added, the sailors assigned to the store did even less during restocking. We rarely saw them.

After about three and a half weeks of my being there, the petty officer was concerned. He saw the numbers, and not only had they not stopped their losses, they had actually lost even more product in the time we had been standing there, watching everything carefully. Huh.🤔

The next night during restock, when we finished, the other Marines and I wanted to leave but couldn’t find the sailors. I walked over to the storage room — a place I had not really been allowed to see beyond the door — and found all the Ship’s Store sailors sitting in it, relaxing, talking and having a good time, each with at least one soda and at least one snack.

Things started clicking. I spoke to the petty officer in charge.

There had been no shoplifting in the classic sense. My presence was unnecessary. All the losses the store had incurred were through their own staff treating themselves to snacks or whatever.

Their losses were real. Their attempts to counter them were tedious. But they weren’t looking at the whole picture.

Don’t get me wrong. I am resentful. Because I wanted to be in my shop doing my important job that I trained for, despite how many others in my squadron failed to understand that it was a real job that mattered, and despite how much ‘fun’ it was to be among the first wave of women in those jobs in the hangar. Seeing & experiencing that change in its first draft.

Instead for that month, I was diligently assigned long hours to watch carefully for shoplifting that wasn’t happening to begin with. It’s time I don’t get back, and I don’t know what came of what I found.

Did the Ship’s Store sailors change their ways? They could have ignored me easily, since I was sent back to my regular shop just a few days after finding out where their losses were being incurred. I rarely set foot in the Ship’s Store afterwards, as I had friends at home to send me supplies I had purchased ahead of my deployment (well, ‘friends’). When I did, they still had at least one Marine watching the door and limiting the number of shoppers.

But the overall message to me is that “shoplifting” as we discuss it, is almost never what we think it is.

Wear your seatbelts, and be safe, y’all.

"if you see someone shoplifting, no you didn't" no but like. i really didn't. i have never in my life seen someone shoplifting because i'm not watching anyone else in the grocery store..? how are y'all noticing things like that. my only goals are enter the store, survive, exit the store

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