#goodbye health insurance

[aradiiaa]

Guess who just lost their job in a mass layoff and is now once again unemployed 👁👄👁

[floral-hex]

woke up at 4am feeling the weight of my life crushing me, so I’ve been sitting out in my car for the last couple of hours because I just need. to. be. somewhere else.

[justsome-di]

how am I supposed to be excited for my birthday next month when I'm turning 26 in America

[anonymusbosch]

yup we both got laid off along with like 60 other people

[greenfiredragonfly]

Reading a fic. Enjoying it. On chapter 11. Read the line "that isn't something you do for someone who's just a friend". Close the fic.

Fuck I hate the way society is

Fuck

Bullshit

I'm so tired

[sparkspropaganda]

i needed gender affirming care and was feeling massively disillusioned by who is in network (after not being listened to for the nth time lol) so i'm glad I went to the clinic I did even if it was out of network but those bills.... okay....

[half-giant]

It's my birthday. Everybody say "Happy Birthday Gwen"

[porceline]

Optimus could never touch you.

No. He would never.

He's seen his fellow Autobots touch your kind plenty of times, holding them up high for a new perspective, settling them on their shoulders just to keep them near. Yes, he's seen it. And he isn't against it. He knows perfectly well how much humans need physical touch, and how much it contributes to their physical and mental health.

He's seen you hug the children many times, such a thing he's come to realize is a symbol of many things. A greeting, a goodbye, an act of adoration, affection, or even Love.

There was only one time he has made physical contact with a human. In a dire situation, he had to move Agent Fowler as to insure his safety. That moment was much too quick for him to linger on the feeling of such a tiny living being in his hands.

At times, he finds himself jealous of the others. Their lack of fear, yet their lingering anxiety that any wrong movement could easily turn your body into.. mush.

It's no secret that he's a steady hand, nearly comparable to Ratchets, but obviously much larger. Though, despite his overwhelmingly cautious steps around your platform, he still doesn't trust himself to touch any of you.

You're too delicate, too fragile. Your bodies are so different, yet so similar. But his fear overwhelms him.

Yes, he knows you're safe in his cabin. Surrounded by over two-tons of alien-grade metal that can withstand the blast of several shots of molten energon, but not the touch of a human. More specifically, you.

It's not just his strength that hes afraid of, no. It goes deeper than that.

His hands have taken many lives, stained with the energon of his own species. He has done many things that he is not proud of.

And he's so, so afraid, that if he were to hold you, even for just a moment, you would be so sickened that you wouldn't even spare him a glance the next time you saw him. You wouldn't bless him with that charming, sparkling smile of yours that you greet everyone with.

No, no matter how much you plead with him, how much you beg to be close to him because you just love him so much..

He will never touch you.

He can never, touch you.

[ns2dstudios]

My EPIC Journey

Where do I even begin? I have dreamt of being an animator ever since I was a little girl, growing up with the Disney animation renaissance era as well as a non-stop barrage of anime, in particular Dragonball Z. I even wrote in my high school yearbook that I dreamed of one day working for the studio that worked on Dragonball Z just so I can animate for that very series. And I made sure everyone knew it LOL

The dream didn't materialize, but after decades of struggle, I got something far better than I could ever have imagined. I get to animate at the comfort of my own home. I get the career I've always wanted, and am able to generally work at my own time. I get to work with a wonderful team (drawmisu, Camalemsy, Novi, Nathan Kuan, Jenny) who are generous with their time and talents and are fun to work with. And I get to work with wonderful clients who have changed my life and afforded me and my family the comforts we are enjoying, from Mortius, to Casper Fox, but most of all to Jorge Rivera-Herrans, whom I fondly call simply as Jay.

Jay gave me the amazing opportunity to be part of the roster of talented (skillented according to Casper) animator for the official EPIC: The Musical animatics and animations. He entrusted me with his vision, is just an overall joy to work with, and as some of you may know during the Vengeance Saga, literally saved my life for the simple fact that he commissioned me two animations (Dangerous and 600 strike finale), which allowed me, who does not have health insurance, to afford expensive care for a bad case of pneumonia. Without Jay, I would not only have reached my dreams, but I would literally not be here typing this. (Don't worry, with the generosity of my clients, I am actually now shopping around for a good health insurance company....which I know is a hot button topic right now, but I don't live in the US and our private health care here is often times better than public).

But I digress.

With the premiere of the Ithaca Saga, comes the conclusion of the concept album of EPIC: The Musical. But as Jay mentioned, the journey is far from done. I have so many things planned: more commissioned animatics from clients whom I also consider dear friends, more EPIC fan animatics and animations, more musical animatics from other IPs, an animated short, an animated trailer for my upcoming animated pilot episode, and so much more in the future!

Everything I have, the happiness and contentment that I am experiencing right now would not be possible had my paths not crossed with Jay's and his wonderful EPIC the Musical project. Our paths would not have crossed where it not for the EPIC fans who relentlessly tagged him in my animated works, which made him take notice and reach out. And I would not have become a big fan of EPIC, where it not for my cousin Julia, who had been relentless in her goal to turn me into an EPIC fan ever since the TROY saga dropped (I will never stop thank you, pinsan! Love you so much!)

This is not goodbye. This is see you again soon.

REAL SOON.

Bye for now, you guys! This has been Gwendy from NS2D Studios saying, I will see you, when I see you.

[mayakern]

upcoming store stuff & why we're doing a super sale

omg hiiii it's devin again, and this time i'm bringing store news

the short version: we're moving ourselves back to minnesota, and we're moving order fulfillment to a fulfillment center

wow, that's big news! maya and i are so so so excited to be closer to our minnesota friends (and also my family lol). i'm hoping to be back in northeast minneapolis, but let's be real we're probably gonna get priced out and into the suburbs

in addition to that, due to a variety of reasons i'll explain in more detail below, we're transitioning from in-house fulfillment to working with a fulfillment center (or 3pl, short for third-party logistics). we're at an awkward size that makes staffing difficult and have had issues with extended processing time. the 3pl should be set up by september, and we're working on the back end to have fulfillment centers in australia, canada, the UK, and eventually the EU. if tax authorities work with us we should have all that ready by december 2024!

to prepare for that we're doing a super sale. ash told me not to call it liquidation but she said that like 30 seconds after i hit send on the marketing email, sorry about that. items that we don't want to pay to move to the 3pl are discounted by 25-70%, with some of them priced at cost. under no circumstances will anything ever be 70% off again

if you're nosy you can read the q&a i made up in my head while eating pigs in a blanket:

how are the labor protections at the 3pl?

pretty good! we were shocked to find anything even halfway decent in the US; we went looking for a fulfillment center in the EU to handle all international fulfillment, and the one we found just so happened to have bought a US location two years ago.

they're located in ohio, pay $19/hr, and provide health insurance and 401k matching. that seemed too good to be true so we dug through employee reviews on places like glassdoor, and while there were some bad reviews those were all dated prior to when the facility was purchased by this new company. they also have a very low turnover rate which is a HUGE green flag

why are you transferring to a 3pl?

the serious

sometimes we have a high volume of sales, and it makes sense to have two full-time employees plus a part timer! but usually we have a low-to-medium volume of sales. we can float by on that, but it gets risky, and the economy is in a bad enough state that we're concerned about the longevity

related, the 2023 holiday sale showed us some major flaws in our fulfillment process. if the same issues were to happen this year the business probably wouldn't survive

we're moving cross-country in early 2025 and would've had to close this location anyway

the dumb:

i'm sick of dealing with commercial landlords and if i have one more wall leak i'm going to throw it into the river brick by brick

what about your staff?

unfortunately we will have to say goodbye to our office staff. they have been given 3.5 months notice and no-questions-asked PTO for interviews with a small severance

why are you moving back to minnesota?

troy was always meant to be a temporary move. initially the plan was to move to vermont or massachusetts, but after being out here for 7 years we just kinda want to go home. the weather in troy is perfect for us, we love the mountains, and we have some great friends here, but for some goddamn reason we want our eyelashes to freeze together.

will you be returning to midwest cons?

if we return to cons at all it will be with ariel and/or ash running the booth, maya will not be involved. this would likely be in california and/or in the northeast US.

my friends are begging me to go to CONvergence as an attendee so ig you might see me there? maya has pledged death before crowded venues tho

will you do any local events in minnesota?

we might do sample sales. honestly idk what we're gonna do with the samples we have in troy, most of them are terrible. do you want samples of the strangest low rise bell bottom pants ever created? please take them from me. my bush hangs out

also my kid brother has gotten really into library events and if he asks nice enough we might do some of those

is there anything else?

i mean probably, but i started this last week and i haven't had any other ideas on what to include

[bullet-prooflove]

Terry Silver + paper clip, padlock, rainy dawn. 🤗🌹

Tagging: @kmc1989 @thedeadsingforme @eddieslut69 @mia1653 @kimbergoldess

Companion piece to:

Sick Day

Love Story

You sleep though the rest of the night. Terry sits there at your bedside watching the rise and fall of your chest as the rainy dawn filters through the blinds of your hospital room. As he holds your hand he thinks about what would have happened if he hadn’t been there, what the doctors have told him could have happened.

You would have asphyxiated. It would have been slow, agonising and the thought of that, it makes his eyes sting, because a world without you, it simply isn’t worth living in.

The ridiculous thing is that all of this could have been prevented if you just had access to the proper health care, but you had no insurance and you couldn’t afford a doctor’s visit so you’d suffered in silence. Terry would gladly have given you the money but you’re a proud woman, you would never have asked.

After you’d returned from Europe you’d returned to your modest living, picking up a part time job at an art gallery. It’s a foot in the door to the career you want, one that your happy to work for no matter how many times Terry may offer up his contacts. You subsidise your income with ad hoc catering jobs, ones that require you to dress in black and deliver canapés to men like him at charity functions. The food at these events costs more that your wages.

It isn’t until tonight that he realises that your worlds are eons apart.

You haven’t told him how you struggle to make rent every month, that you’re dining on boxed macaroni and noodle cups because you can barely afford to make ends meet. Terry finds that out for himself when he starts to investigate your lack of health insurance.

It’s five am when his lawyer Reenie Greene shows up, she hands Terry the documentation he’s requested, all of it held together with a paperclip. Terry flicks through it studying the terms before he signs it, handing it back to her.

“That’s it?” Terry asks her and she nods her head as she tucks the paperwork back inside her three thousand dollar leather satchel.

“All you need to do is transfer the funds and the trust is set up for her. Any medical expenses she may incur in the future with be deducted from it automatically.” Reenie tells him, before she hoists the bag onto her shoulder and says goodbye.

Terry waits until he hears the clack of her heels retreat down the hall before he picks up his tablet and presses on the padlock, waiting for the device to acknowledge his biometrics. He pulls up one of his accounts before making a generous transfer to the healthcare account he’s set up for you. The one that should see you through the rest of your days.

There’s a relief in his chest as he watches the money disappear before it gets to the place it needs to go. He can breathe easy now, knowing you’re taken care of, that you’ll always be taken care of, with him or without him.

Love Terry? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Interested in supporting me? Join my Patreon for Bonus Content!

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[bigfan-fanfic]

You May Sanctuary Find (Winchester!Reader x Winchester Bros [PLATONIC])

A sequel to Brother Mine and Back Into Trouble

The title this time comes from "Little Brother," a poem by Robert W. Service that really, I think, epitomizes the relationship between the eldest Winchester and his brothers, especially the last verse: "Little Brother, how I pray/You may sanctuary find. /Peoples of the world succumb . . ./Fly, poor fools, the WRATH TO COME!"

Anyway, this time, the story takes place after the 1st episode of Season Two, right after John's death.

He's gone. After all that, it wasn't even a direct kill from a monster that did it.

It had been hard - you hadn't been able to see him at the end, because since you actually had insurance, you were able to get some better care. It was only after that you learned about how Dean had nearly passed and John had apologized to him before... taking care of things himself.

Neither one of them is willing to talk. Which makes sense.

This family has never been very good at communication.

Even if he tried his best to make peace at the end, it's still hard not to hate him for what he's done.

Even to save Dean, you hate that he's still messing up your little brothers.

You hate that he never even made an effort to talk to you before it all.

But while you're raw, you know how to deal with this. You've mourned the father you knew better than Sam and Dean ever got to, the one before your mom died when you were seven and he disappeared forever, stolen and replaced by a grieving, vengeful hunter of monsters.

It's rough for Bobby to see you all like this, brought so low after you all had hope that something would change.

That you'd get a win for once.

You call in from Bobby's phone, let your assistant know that you've been in a car accident, that you'll be on the way home soon to recover.

"After all this?" you hear Dean say. "You're still leaving?"

"We did this to find Dad. We found him." you reply wearily.

"What about Yellow Eyes? You're not going to help us take down the son of a bitch that got both our parents?"

He's shouting now, approaching, clutching his side that still hurts from the bruising from the accident.

"I'm tired, Dean."

"Tired? You don't get to be tired! You don't get to leave us again!"

You turn away from him. Trying not to lash back. He's allowed to be angry. It's reasonable for him to be angry...

"You're just scared! You're too damn scared to own up and be part of this family. You never loved Dad like I did! Did you even care that Mom died?"

In a scarily fluid movement, you have him pinned to the wall, an arm across his throat and a hand holding down his wrist, already preventing the counterattack before it happened. The wind is knocked out of him, and for a moment, the hunter you were is back.

Such anger, like it was never dealt with. Like it never left. Like you're still the seven year old who lost his mother. Like the fourteen year old with monster blood on his hands. Like the twenty-one year old who hugged his brothers goodbye without the strength to even pray they'd meet again.

Rage and hate, rage and hate. Monster after witch after demon after trickster after monster.

You let him go. The final monster you kill is that hunter inside you.

"I wrote you letters for your birthday every year. I dunno if Dad gave them to you. I would ask you to visit. To stay." you say, almost whispering. You don't even know if it's loud enough for him to hear. "I sent money for Sam. For college. For a house. For you to settle down."

He's trembling. Anger? Remorse? Sorrow?

"I never wanted to leave you. You're my brothers. And after Mom died, and Dad went hunting... someone had to look out for you. Not just your health, but your futures. I still put money away for you. I keep a couple of rooms ready in my apartment for you two. I can't force you two to come with me. I just have to wait. And hope that I can someday protect you again. It's the hardest thing I've had to do."

You look at him, in the eye, forcing him to look back. "I can't do this anymore. Hunting. It brings out a part of me that... that I fear. A part of me that is angry and hateful, and who likes that because it's easier than facing what he fears. I'm done."

Dean turns away from you, face contorting, and you grab his arm.

"But I will never be done being your big brother, Dean. And when you're finally done too, when you're ready to just fucking rest...

"I will be there. I will be there with a home, and peace, and a life. I promise."

He looks at you, on the verge of breaking. "I can't. I have to do this. I have to protect Sammy."

You pull him into a hug. "Then I'll wait for you."

He melts into you, crying and holding on to you tight.

You remember back when you left, all those years ago - Dean had looked at you with such hate. You were dead to him then, for cutting off the family, for breaking Dad's heart.

And now he holds on, because now he knows what you've tried to do. What you're still doing.

"You do what you have to do, little brother." you whisper. "But when you're done, you come home."

"Okay. Okay, I will." He says, voice distorted with emotion, teeth gritted to try and stop crying.

"C-can I still call?" Dean whispers, when you let him go.

"Of course. I insist on it." You smile at him through tears. "I love you, Dean-o."

"Love you too, big brother."

Dean watches you go to find Sam, to say your goodbyes, and he lets himself cry. Bittersweet. He knows you're growing, that this is good, but already he misses you terribly. How is he going to handle this all alone? This terrible task Dad gave him, to protect Sammy, or take him out.

But though he is full of fear, there's a new sense of hope.

You'll only be a phone call away. You'll be waiting for him.

And to a man that has never once had an alternative, that makes all the difference.

[italianexotiicbeauty]

this is goodbye.

[ this will be inevitably the last post you see from me. due to mental health reasons and the political state of things within the united states, i am uncertain how much longer I will be able to afford to be around. ]

[ i have been TRYING very hard to find a job, so that my mother who is partly retired doesn't have to find a second one. I have signed up for workforce alliance ( otherwise known as the department of labor ). I am taking skill courses through cursa to gain certification in areas that employers would look at and maybe consider me as a candidate. to say it's been hard wouldn't be an understatement, I have been crying a LOT. Feeling like a burden, a failure — and I can't make anyone understand the situation we're unfortunately in. ]

[ I am very scared we're possibly going to become homeless. That we will not be able to afford the bills, or car insurance. Hell, we struggle so badly financially that someone else has to pay our rent. We cannot count on “family” because alls they do is hold it over our heads. With the health situation of my mother she cannot afford to be without extra income … she also cannot fully retire because she has no nest egg. If you're unaware, social security wasn't meant to fully sustain a retired individual — which is why 401ks and/or pensions exist. And when you have NEITHER of those, you have no choice but to keep working even part time. ]

[ anyway. ]

[ you made it this far. you don't have to keep following me since I will no longer be writing on this account or the side blog. I will clear out drafts and turn off the ask box. Discord is an option obviously if you already have me added — you can message me here, if that's the only communication format we have. There's also email — goddessflackitty@gmail.com ( if you prefer ). I no longer use WhatsApp or Facebook, I've long since removed the apps for Bluesky & Instagram from my phone due to doom scrolling and how unhealthy it is for me. ]

[ I am so very sorry to anyone that was looking forward to continuing or starting something with me — but I just cannot do this anymore. ]

[mysandwichgiver]

It's time to break out my

"Repeal and go f🇺🇸ck yourself—GOP" t-shirt again…Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson says the first priority, if trump is elected, is MASSIVE changes to the ACA/Obamacare. Say goodbye to your insurance if you have a preexisting condition.

VOTE VOTE VOTE!

[hole34]

heyo reblog with a color combo or any word u want and i'll make a bracelet out of it

all results will be up for sale this stuff funds food/insurance/health products/etc 4 me

[mitigatedchaos]

Here's my hot take.

The human body is an extremely complex, finely-detailed machine that runs 24 hours a day, and which exists in an adversarial environment (against microbes, mostly). That it will break down eventually is inevitable.

Often, people don't think about their own mortality.

Privatized medicine puts a price on people's mortality. "Would you," it asks, "pay $50,000 to live another 10 years?" As it happens, if it's another 10 healthy years, that's a fantastic deal. However, it's forcing people to confront their own mortality at the same time that it's confronting them with a $50,000 bill and shoving the pen into their hands.

And of course, each year, the human body degrades, so each year, the next deal offered by privatized medicine is worse, until you reach some vague point where further survival is no longer worth the money, or no longer worth the effort it would take to get the money.

If you just want to give medical care to the poor, you could use vouchers. In addition to conventional moral justifications about compassion, fairness, "it could happen to any of us," etc, healing someone can also improve their productivity, and that includes getting them out of an illness-induced low-productivity doom loop where they can't pay for care because they won't be productive again until after receiving the care.

Under socialized medicine, the patient receives a tax bill every year. When they hit the injury, the government, the biggest authority in the land, either tells them yes or no, through their class of certified medical experts, who are also brimming with socially-maintained authority.

So the patient gets injured, and does not get confronted with a direct bill, and as they are facing their mortality, the big authority of the land tells them, "I'm so sorry, there is nothing we can do. 😔"

The price is still there. The procedure still costs perhaps $45,000. There never stopped being a price. We never stopped putting a monetary value on human life, as someone still had to make the call based on that price. It's just hidden.

This upsets a different set of people, who go, "Excuse me, you bureaucratic crank. I have $50,000. I can just buy this procedure. Who are you to tell me that I can't?"

Personally, my experience with the US Affordable Care Act (i.e. "Obamacare") has been that the healthcare.gov customer service has been effective and responsive, and I like not having to worry so much that I'll get dropped from coverage. Every health insurance policy not on the exchange appears to be fake, and moving away from Obamacare suggests turning more claims into simultaneously being sick while fighting a legal battle. However, I don't actually use much healthcare.

In the coming years, we may need to impose a cap on lifetime coverage through Obamacare in order for the system to remain solvent, as more diseases move from "untreatable" to "treatable, but very expensive." I selfishly hope that it will continue to pay spectacular amounts for gene therapies over the coming 5-10 years to build up the industrial base for the industry so that long-term costs come down, and we can say goodbye to, "Oops, my baby got a single mutation that gave him Logan's Run Disease, and is now going to die."