#i missed my last cc payment

[homocannibals]

my friends my pals i am not doing well

[purplesurveys]

1895

How are you doing today? I think I'm doing okay. I felt terrible heading into the weekend and still feel it lingering to an extent, so I'm trying to recalibrate as much as I can because it's Monday again and I don't want to bring in my personal emotions to my work.

In any case, I'm still up (it's 12:40 AM) because Jin is going to be a torchbearer at the Olympics and he's slated to come on at ~2:30 AM hehe, so I'm using the waiting time as motivation to do some work early. I've already finished one Powerpoint I didn't need to do until Thursday, so I feel great about that!

What is the last song you listened to in a car? A Milli by Lil Wayne. It was on the radio and that particular station has a hip-hop and R&B lineup every Sunday, and they're usually able to kill it with the throwbacks.

Do you like prefer apple cider warm or cold? I've never tried that.

When did you last feel misunderstood? Friday.

Have you ever visited The Louvre or would you like to? I haven't, and I would like to.

Have you ever accidentally locked yourself out of your place of residence? Just once, and I was around 10. I had a roaming security guard help me back in.

Do you remember your favorite songs as a kid? I was obsessed with Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend because it had profanity in it and 9 year old me used to get a crazy adrenaline rush from saying "motherfucking" whenever no one was there to hear.

Do you currently feel calm? Yes, and it's such a wonderful feeling to have. I wish I can feel calm all the time, haha.

When did you last lace up a pair of shoes? Today.

What’s your go to comfort meal? Spicy tuna salad.

Do you enjoy cloud watching? When I'm in the mood for it, which admittedly doesn't come up often. It's calming when I do it, though.

Do you currently have any candles lit? Nopes.

If applicable, what’s your favorite sports team?

How many cardigans do you own? I have one, which funnily enough has gone missing. I haven't seen it for a few weeks now, come to think of it...

How much is too much for clothes? Idk, it's subjective for me. I don't typically bat an eye at how much luxury clothes can cost because...idk like it's always been that way I guess. But, and this is just one of very many specific examples, if a brand is going for a tattered, grubby aesthetic and sells a worn-out looking shirt for thousands of dollars, that's when I start to kind of make fun of it and the people who buy it.

How soon do you normally decorate for holidays? We only ever decorate for Christmas, and in our case and because my family is Filipino, we usually have our tree up by early October.

Are there any important things happening this week? We're dropping my dad off at the airport on Friday and it fucking sucks but we gotta do it. 

Do you know anyone who is terrified of dogs? One of my uncles.

What scent was the last soap you used? Just normal soapy soap smell. No added scents to it.

How old were you when you made your first big purchase? I was 24 when I bought my phone. Important disclaimer: I did use my dad's credit card to do the initial payment but only because I don't have my own cc lol; but I paid back the amount the same day and paid for the subsequent installments.

What last made you angry? Being talked down to.

What’s a color you think is underrated? Olive green.

What are you usually doing when midnight comes around and you can’t sleep? I just put a video on and put my phone on low brightness and I can be knocked out in like 5-10 minutes.

What is your favorite way to eat rice? (white, steamed, fried, brown, sweetened…) Steamed, white. In every meal. Eating in Vietnam was such a struggle because it was so hard to find rice anywhere lol. We ended up getting Jollibee on Grabfood and even that was a challenge + culture shock because they also barely had rice in their menu.

What color is the top you’re wearing? Dark green.

When did you last laugh so hard you cried? This afternoon when I was playing card games with my relatives.

What’s your favorite horror movie? The Shining.

What’s your favorite and least favorite fast food restaurant? Favorite is KFC for making the best fried chicken ever. Least favorite, Chowking – I just find their food so blah. Super oily, and their branches are also notoriously gross and poorly maintained. I have yet to see a clean Chowking.

How many pictures can you see in the room you’re in? One – my photobooth photo with my sister when we were in Saigon.

When did you last sign your signature? Around a month ago for my driver's license renewal.

What cover do you think is better than the original song? This is saying it loosely, but I do tend to listen to BTS' cover of Yoongi's So Far Away more than the original. I just feel like it was made more special when the whole vocal line covered it. That said, I love that Jimin and Tae got to do the song for the live performances since their takes didn't make the cut for the studio version.

Are you currently listening to music? Well, yeah, the last question made me want to look for the vocal line's version of the song haha.

What is something you’ve been working on? Being the best leader I can be for my team.

What’s something that excites you about the future? Earning more money and traveling the world.

How often do you drink smoothies? Never.

What’s a TV show you have gotten into recently? Continued from Sunday. None. tbh. It's very rare for me to get into shows.

Have you ever had to have a tooth cut out? Nope.

When did you last rush for something? Last Friday when I left 10 minutes later than I should've.

How many blankets do you own? I think it's around 5.

Have you drank enough water today? Lots and lots of it.

Do you prefer apple pie or pecan pie? I've never had pecan, but I'd go with that as I don't like apples.

What color takes up most of your wardrobe? Blacks and whites.

What makes you feel alive? Crying.

Who is your last missed call from? Just my mom.

Do you have any unusual pet peeves? When people only message "hi" and will type their actual request only after you acknowledge. It's one of the most annoying things Ever and I'm having none of it, so I don't reply whenever that happens and just wait for them to either spit it out or never message again.

What is a food you think is nasty that most people enjoy? Fruits.

Would you rather never be sick again or be rich? I'd take the money.

Do you have a specialty dish that you’re really good at making? Haha, nope.

What video games did you play when you were growing up? Sims 2 is definitely high up on my list. I also played GTA III and San Andreas – did none of the missions; I just really liked the open world concept and spent the whole time driving and following traffic rules, lol. Mario Kart Wii, Super Smash Bros Brawl, and Warioware, too.

Are you good at making big decisions alone or do you tend to seek approval from others? I seek inputs, not approval – just for other perspectives. Otherwise the choice I make is usually what I want to go for or what I think would be best for me.

Does your town or city have good public transport, or is it easier to drive? Neither of those work out for us tbh. The public transport definitely sucks and will suck the soul out of you, but it's no better having your own car because so do 400,000 fucking people. It just sucks having to go anywhere here which is why I'm so grateful to still be WFH.

What was the last cocktail you drank? Ooh I can't remember the name or what was in it, but it was this quirky drink that was topped with some kind of matcha latte or something and it tasted really good!

Are you good at keeping running counts and tallies in your head? Usually yes, but just to be safe I like to keep my phone nearby so I can track there too.

Does your country have its own edition of Big Brother? It does.

How often do you take a nap during the day? Almost never these days.

What social media platforms do you use? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

Are there any foods you hate the smell of but like the taste, or vice versa? Longganisa smells really good but like 97% of time tastes like shit. I can't think of any example for the other way around.

Do you have a dishwasher? Not a thing here.

Who do you live with? Parents, siblings, two dogs and a cat.

Are you listening to anything right now? No.

What is one of your favourite sitcoms? Friends :)

Do you make to-do lists? I do.

If you could magically become fluent in any language, what would it be? Korean.

Have you ever tried vegan ice cream? I don't think so.

What pet names do you use for your friends/loved ones? Sis, siz, sizt, sissymae, mars, sissymars, mare, mum, ate, mima, mumsh, mumshie, mother, motherhood, sissycakes, marecakes...in the Philippines, you can make any word a pet name lmao. You can also make up words and make them a pet name hahaha.

What pet names do you like to be called? Any of the above is fine, hah.

What was the best concert you’ve ever seen? Paramore during their After Laughter tour, or Agust D!

Do you have any hobbies? Sure.

What is your favourite pasta shape? Fettuccine.

Have you ever developed your own film? I have not.

When was the last time you stayed in a hotel/motel and where was that? Tagaytay, around a month ago.

What breed was the last dog you saw? Beagle and Yorkie.

Do you watch the Super Bowl? Nope.

What’s your favourite Disney movie? Toy Story and Tangled.

What’s the most stressful job you’ve ever had? I've had just one so it wins by default.

What was the last text message you received? I don't know and please don't let me check, it's 100% related to work.

Should you be asleep right now? If so, go to bed! Little bit, yeah. Hahaha it's fine, I think I'll hold out for an hour or two more.

[ecodweeb]

What’s going on with Greenlots in NC?

So my husband and I had tickets to see Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Triad Stage in Greensboro today. Since the Hyundai is still at the body shop being repaired, we took the i3. Hubby asked if there was Level 2 charging near the theater, so I pulled up PlugShare and noticed there was a missing orange pin in the downtown area. The Greenlots DC fast charger in downtown was missing from the map, and not just Plugshare’s - it was missing from the Greenlots app too! What the what?! The last time I tried to use that station, the CCS wouldn’t initiate (probably a bad cable). So before we left, we went by there. The machine is there, and it’s powered on, but it’s in “local mode” which doesn’t require payment. I was able to get so far as releasing the connector, but couldn’t test it since our i3 lacks DC fast. I added it back to Plugshare, adding a comment that I’d come back out to test it later in the week….

Weirdness here

It isn’t just Greensboro that has gone missing from the Greenlots app. Both Charlotte stations (AAA South End and AAA on Flat River Dr), Salisbury, Matthews, Wadesboro, Greensboro, Hillsborough, Durham, Chapel Hill, Leland, and Calabash have all disappeared from the Greenlots map (along with VIRginia International Raceway). What’s interesting is some of these locations have been changed from Greenlots to non-networked in the Plugshare listing, and several of them report that the stations now say that they are on the ChargePoint network. One person even said they alerted Chargepoint to an issue with the Salisbury station on September 15. I know that station “works” because my buddy bought a new Energica in Raleigh and charged it at that station on his way home just the other day. I say “works” because the screen is still dead but if you know where to tap on the screen you can get it to start a charge.

A ChargePoint Takeover?

Back in May, I attended a fleet electrification workshop (I was showing off the brand new Hyundai Ioniq to attendees). I spoke with our local accounts rep from ChargePoint, and she said that there are “10 DC fast stations coming to the area.” Coincidentally, I’ve identified 10 NC cities that have “lost” their Greenlots machines and/or the machines now say they are ChargePoint. I suspect that these old Signet boxes are about to be replaced with the Tritium 50kW units like at Lenoir and Wallace. I’ve reached out to my ChargePoint contact to see if she can verify my theory, because in May she wasn’t at liberty to discuss the details. Seems like there’s enough evidence to suggest this is what’s happening. Whatever I find out, I’ll report. Stay tuned….

UPDATE: ChargePoint contact says she’s unaware of these locations becoming ChargePoint sites. The weirdness continues, and I will keep digging for answers.

[ayamturd]

flight│quackity

summary: a late snack run turns into a fun ride; in other words, sleep deprivation and a shopping cart equals helpless giggles and scraped knees

warnings: minor injuries, slight blood descriptions, fluff

pairing: irl cc!quackity

a/n: here’s my sleep deprived, crack continuation of my quack fic payment :P

huge warning in and of itself that it is not edited

wc: (1.3k) - m.list

payment - pt one

Hugging the tub of ice cream close to your chest, you bounced your head to the old song, its tune outdated and staticky on the store speaker. 

Quackity continued to push you in the cramped shopping cart, your lower half completely incased with various snacks and packaged foods. While the trip was originally your idea to satisfy your own guilty pleasures and inability to sleep, dragging Quackity along only fueled your lack of self restraint considering he was now the one adding in the irrelevant items in the cart. 

“Babe,” you called out. Quackity gave out a low hum in recognition that he heard you, his gaze still focused on the shelves of the aisle. 

“Are you sure you want to get these Takis? You’re not exactly one for spicy food.”

He pulled the cart to a sharp stop, the halt jerking you forward as you barely managed to grab onto the sides of the metal basket. Quackity looked at you in disappointment and gestured widely to the snacks you currently sat in. 

“Don’t tell me you’re going to start judging me for my snack choices when you’re the one who’s getting a majority of this shit.”

Your jaw dropped in disbelief, and you quickly narrowed your eyes in turn. The sight alone made him gulp when realized his mistake of questioning you.

“Excuse you. I’m only concerned for your pain tolerance considering how pitifully sad you handle spice. If you wanna judge me then I can just as easily bring you physical pain, since you’re being so insistent right now.”

Eyes wide, Quackity started at you incredulously and shut his mouth close. He barely managed to blink until he attempted to smoothly recover from your none subtle threat. 

“Have I ever told you how much I love you and your snack choices?”

You rolled your eyes and turned before he could see your eased smirk, shaking your head lightly while simultaneously throwing the obnoxiously bright purple bag out of the cart. 

“Mhmm.”

After almost two hours alone in the empty store, both Quackity and you were able to agree that you finally finishing your entire sweep around the entire store and decided to pay. 

Although there was no possible line to stop you, you pulled on Quackity’s sleeve as you  approached the only checkout open, the tired employee sitting against the counter with his head on his hand on the verge of falling asleep after watching your silly antics as his only source of entertainment. 

“Wait, Alex, before we pay, is there anything else we could be missing?”

Quackity gave you a deadpan expression as his only response, words unnecessary to express how stupid your question was in the first place. You nodded immediately with close eyes. 

“Yeah okay, good point. Let’s go already.”

As you began the consuming task of placing each item on the conveyer belt, you attempted to turn it into a fun game when tossing the snacks rather than placing, still sat in the cart crossed legged. 

You got arguably pretty far until the cashier had enough of your game and glared harshly down at you, his glasses reflecting the store light and amplifying his lack of patience so early in the morning. He was no doubt payed too little to deal with people like you. 

With a guilty grin, you slowly placed the last bag of chips for him to scan and waited for Quackity to pay. 

“Will you be needin’ a bag?” the man asked in a dead, monotoned voice. You furrowed your brows and looked to Quackity to respond, his own eyes squinted considering the amount you both purchased and were hypothetically expected to hand carry home. 

“Nah, we’ll be fine,” Quackity pushed off, his tone obviously sarcastic. Whether or not the cashier picked up on his joke or not was at a loss to the couple as he nonchalantly ignored it overall. 

“‘kay.”

He swiftly handed Quackity his spare change without looking, and gave a loud yawn before shoving the purchased snacks away from him. 

“Have a nice night.”

Unsure of how to proceed, you pushed your lips together and decided to take it upon yourself to gather the food in your arms, lifting them in your chest and plopping down with them on top of you. 

Like he could read your mind, Quackity wordlessly pushed the cart away with you in it, away from the counter and through the automatic doors of the store. Without as much as a thank you, you both speed away when the worker noted your departure. 

“Hey, now wait a se—”

Giggles soon turned into cackles as Quackity hurried his pace. As you rode over the small bump of the entrance, you screamed with excitement as you raced against only yourself on the asphalt road, stolen cart in bound. 

Quackity pushed off with his dominant foot and stood on the lower ridge, his added weight yet powerful force quickly increasing your speed down the small hill. 

Together, you yelled at the top of your lungs from the weightless feeling of flying, gravity free of its hold on you and you clung onto the snacks in both fear and exhilaration. Quackity’s warm breath radiated near your left ear, his loud shouts smothered by the wind you were catching as he leaned forward in suspense. 

You flew as far as the hill could take you, until a sudden pothole broke your lifted flight. Like Icarus himself, your risen flight was tragically cut short. 

The front wheels of the tiny cart twisted unforgivingly before snapping upon impact with the small ground cavity, launching you both mid air without the freedom to glide gracefully. 

Landing hard onto your hands and knees before tumbling out, you didn’t realize you held you breath from the anticipation until you were letting out heavy chunks of air from your lungs, the intake harsh and winding to feel. 

You were numb and still buzzed from the adrenaline, eyes wide while unsure of what to think of your current status. 

Sprawled slightly a few feet away from you, Quackity’s own exhales joined yours for what felt like minutes before he sat up. He looked at you in panic, suddenly realizing the possibilities of your own injuries in spite of his. 

“Are you okay? Can you f—” your chuckle interrupted him, arm raised to cover your eyes from the kindhearted pureness of his concern for you over his. 

“Yes, Alex. I’m fine, perfect in all honesty.”

As you laid there with your arm still over your face, you felt Quackity slowly make his way over you, his presence hard to ignore no matter how silent he tried to be. Peaking an eye over your arm, you were met with his huge beam, cheeks full by the pull of his mouth and delighted expression. You rolled your eyes from his cheerfulness, but didn’t dare try to hide your own smile.  

“You’re ridiculous.”

Without a beat, Quackity refuted your admittedly true claim. 

“And yet you love me still.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

Bonus:

“You didn’t tell me you were fucking bleeding??”

Quackity rushed forwards to hover over your knees, the wound covered in sparse blood and bits of the asphalt imbedded into your skin from the impact. 

While you were in immense pain since the throbbing numbness faded, you only grinned brightly from the cause and reached behind you. 

“No worries, babe, ice cream will save the day.”

You placed the wet condescension of the ice cream tub against your skin with a hiss, tears leaking from the harsh stinging you faced from adding pressure and a change in temperature to the sickly warm cut. 

“See?” you asked, with a wavered smile and clenched teeth, “all better!”

Quackity stared dumbfoundedly at you, giving quick glancings to the now bloody cardboard in your shaking hands and your unconvincing smile. 

“That’s disgusting.”

“I know you are, but what am I?”

“…really?”

“I’m bleeding out, give me a break.”

tags! - @notphilosopherstudentblog @mitzimania @basilly @inniterhq @forutheworld @esylwen@sleepysoupi @mayasimagines @dysfunctionalcrab @strxbrymilkkuu​ (feel free to send an ask or comment to be added!)

[gothighunicorntolerance]

Planet Earth is Blue- 2

One

AO3

Logan had been a member of the Silver Serpent for a good three years now, three years being counted in earth time with the calendar app on Logan’s phone (which somehow still worked, despite there not being any internet service in space. Logan had yet to figure out why he could still watch YouTube or access anything with WiFi, really). 

During his three years, Logan learned quite a lot. In addition to learning a few words in Janus’s language (‘hello,’ ‘help,’ and ‘My name is Logan,’ the only phrases Janus said would really be useful), Logan also learned how to commit crimes in space. It sounded much more exciting than it actually was, of course, since most of the crime Janus and the crew committed was the smuggling of slightly illegal goods. The most valuable thing Logan had learned, however, was how to hack alien technology.

He had always been good with computers, but now with access to technology more advanced than anyone on earth could dream of? He was almost unstoppable. He single-handedly erased all warrants for Virgil’s arrest in three different galaxies, as well as cleaning up Janus’s record. 

There had been several close calls over the years, though Janus handled most of them nonviolently. There had only been one occasion where a space cop had gone mysteriously missing out of the airlock. Being aboard a ship with crewmates that had a various amount of arrest warrants on different planets wasn’t perfect, but it sure beat earth. Logan would take aliens over transphobia any day of the week. 

The Silver Serpent’s current load was a cargo hold full of Volatum, something Logan didn’t want anything to do with, as it was almost like a narcotic for the Umutu, the species native to Trappist-E and H, as well as a few weapons, all hidden under what they were legally delivering, a plant native to Kepler-62 called ibiryo.

The journey between planets was low-stress, as the only thing they really had to worry about was raiders- Logan had never met them, and hoped that he wouldn’t. But the entry to Trappist-E where they were to drop off the Volatum? The entire process was extremely stressful. First, permission to dock was needed- Janus took care of that part, as captain. Once permission was given, glorified border patrol guards would inspect the ship for illegal substances. This was the part that always made Logan nervous. What would happen if the Volatum and weapons were found? 

Logan stood in the hallway with the rest of the crew, as per instructed, and watched the guards look around. Virgil glared at them as one opened the door to his room. It was only Patton putting a webbed hand on Virgil’s back that stopped him from hissing. Roman and Remus looked at each other, giggling at something only they heard. 

Janus put a hand on Logan's shoulder and gave a small squeeze. During his time on the ship, Logan found that while Janus wasn’t one to hold long conversations, he instead communicated via physical touch. 

“It’ll be fine,” Janus whispered so only Logan could hear. “I’m confident in my abilities.” 

Logan gave a subtle nod. 

It took an achingly long time, but the three guards that had boarded eventually come back out. 

“You’re free to land, Silver Serpent,” one of them waved as they stepped out of the ship. 

“Thank you,” Janus nodded, gesturing for the crew to follow him to navigation where they strapped into their seats in preparation for reentering an atmosphere. Going back into the pull of gravity was… an experience, to say the least. It reminded Logan of when he had been on a plane that had to land in the rain- bumpy, jarring, and overall making his insides feel like they had been turned upside down and then crushed with a weight. The first time Logan had reentered, he had been sick to his stomach. But now, after hundreds of trips to different planets, reentry was much more bearable, though still not at all pleasant. 

Logan closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, something he found helped. He only opened his eyes once Janus announced, “Gentlemen, we have landed!”

Patton was the first to unbuckle, and he immediately lay down on the floor with his arms and legs spread out. 

“I really don’t like that,” Patton mumbled. 

“Neither do I,” Logan stretched his arms above his head. 

“Alas, it is necessary. Now, we don’t have time to lounge around quite yet. We have to deliver,” Janus helped Patton up. “The ibiryo buyers will be here soon.”

“When will the second customer be dropping by?” Virgil asked. 

Janus just shrugged by moving his top set of arms. “Soon. But let’s get to work unloading.”

He ushered them to the cargo hold, where it was Logan and Patton’s job to hand boxes of ibiryo to Janus, Remus, Roman, and Virgil, who brought the boxes out to the dock to be picked up by the buyers. 

When the ibiryo was finally unloaded, Logan sat with the rest of the crew outside, his muscles aching. Roman and Remus’s words were muffled by their breathing apparatuses, which they had to use to breath in the oxygen-rich atmosphere of Trappist-E, as they needed nitrogen, not oxygen. 

The sunset of Trappist-E was close to that of earth’s sunsets, albeit dimmer, as the sun that the planet orbited didn’t give off nearly as much energy as earth’s sun. The air was thinner, making it a little difficult for Logan to breathe, especially when he was still wearing his binder, but it wasn;t nearly as bad as it had been on Trappist-H, where Logan hard to borrow one of the breathing devices and stop binding. 

Janus suddenly stood up next to him and raised one of his arms in greeting to a figure walking towards the now-empty docking area and began to walk towards them. 

“Is that them?” Logan whispered to Virgil, who sat next to him. 

“Yup,” Virgil replied. “I don’t know who they are, but I’m pretty sure they’re some kind of gang leader. You could probably find out with your fancy computer skills, Teach.”

“Probably,” Logan agreed. “Though it would likely take a lot of sorting through criminal records on this planet.”

Janus and the newcomer walked back to the ship. “Roman, Remus, go get the gifts for my friend here.”

The twins nodded and stood up, hurrying into the ship to bring out the Volatum. The newcomer left their hood up when they spoke to Janus, but Logan could tell they were Umutu- the coarse black fur around their hands gave it away. “I take it that my gift is in good condition?” they asked.

“Of course. Nothing but the best from my crew,” Janus replied. 

“Very nice. Still the price we agreed on?”

“Correct. Who would I be if I changed the price upon delivery? A government agent?”

Janus and the Umutu buyer laughed. “Ah, here it is,” Janus took the boxes from Roman and Remus. 

“Thirty pounds of Volatum. Twelve guns, twelve cases of ammunition,” the buyer inspected. “It seems to be in order. Let me transfer the payment and I’ll be on my way.”

Janus nodded and waved Logan over to wire the transfer. Logan held out a tablet and typed out a code that would allow the funds to be untraceably deposited into an account Logan had set up for himself- most of the funds were used by Janus without Logan’s complaint, as he didn’t really have a need for the money, though he did purchase a small souvenir for himself after every planet he visited. 

Each trinket was put carefully in the drawer of his nightstand, though to anyone else it would look like a drawer full of clutter- a ball of yarn made from a cotton like plant from Roman and Remus’s native planet, Wolf-1061-C. A branch from a tree-like organism from Gliese-667-Cc. It was also comforting to know that the type of shirts that proclaimed “I went to New York and all I got was this t-shirt” we’re not confined to earth’s tourism culture- he had several of those, each from a different planet. 

The Umutu took the tablet, typed in a code, and handed it back to Logan with a nod.

“Crew of the Silver Serpent, I salute you,” they said.

“Pissing off authority is what we strive to do,” Janus grinned. 

“A noble cause. Now, I will be on my way.” 

The buyer left the docks, leaving the crew alone.

“Well,” Logan announced. “I’m going to go to my room and sleep. If you see something interesting in the market, buy it for me?” 

“Of course!” Roman replied.

“Definitely,” Janus nodded. “Well be taking off in a few hours, so now would be your chance to go shopping if you want to.”

“Thank you, but I’m exhausted,” Logan walked back into the ship, where he tugged off his binder and pulled on a sleeping shirt before crawling under his exceptionally warm and light blankets on his small bed and falling asleep almost immediately. 

He woke to shouting. 

Stumbling out of his bedroom, he put his glasses in just in time to see Virgil running past him from the engine room to the front navigation, screaming some untranslatable words at the top of his lungs (untranslatable because there was no English equivalent, not because the translator device refused to translate unpleasant words. He had heard plenty of those streaming from Virgil’s mouth when there was an engine malfunction).

Logan took a moment to realize what was happening before chasing after Virgil. 

“Who’s chasing us this time!?” Logan shouted over the clanking of the engines and the scuttle of Virgil’s spidery legs against the cold metal floor. 

“The cops!” Virgil shouted over his shoulder. 

“Those motherfuckers!” Logan cracked his knuckles as he ran after Virgil. 

Logan slid into a seat and began typing at a tablet. “What’s their ship name? I’m going to slow them down! Wait- are you kidding me? They’re using an unsecured network… hold on. Patton, look out the window and tell me what’s happening.”

“They’re still shooting at us! Wait! They’ve stopped! And now- now they’re… flying in circles?” Patton hopped out of his seat to the thick glass panes that served as windows to report what was going on as Logan typed commands into the tablet. 

“Perfect! This won't be able to last forever, so get out of here!” Logan told Janus and Virgil.

“Virgil, can we warp?” Janus shouted over the engine. 

“Once! Now go go go! Now do it now!” Virgil shouted back.

With a flip  of a switch, the crew of the Silver Serpent successfully evaded the law once again, and with shouts of “ACAB, BITCHES!”, they arrived in the Fireworks Galaxy.

Had Logan been on the spaceship equivalent of a cap car, he would have heard the confused shouts of the space-cops as they tried to figure out what had caused the sudden malfunctions in the steering mechanisms and the reason only the left engine was working. But Logan was not on the space-cop car- he was with the crew of Janus’s ship, with the different species he had learned to call his friends, his family, shouting obscenities at the space-cops, as all upstanding citizens did. 

“Well,” Remus announced. “Fuck the police! Jan, where are we going next?”

Janus shrugged. “Wherever we want, Remus. Wherever we want. Logan, you pick.”

Logan froze for a moment, not used to the spotlight being on him. He looked out the window at the galaxy, at the nebulae and planets and countless stars, at the infinity that was the universe. He had seen things like this before, of course, but he could never get over the sheer vastness of space. 

“Let’s go to that one,” he pointed at a random planet. 

“That one it is,” Janus gave Logan a six-armed hug from behind. 

In addition to learning how to hack spaceships, Logan also learned that Patton’s and Janus’s hugs were quite possibly the best in the entire universe. Janus’s multiple arms made hugging all that better, and Logan leaned into the taller humanoid (Logan still wasn’t quite sure what descriptor, exactly, that he was supposed to use. Janus wasn’t a figure, as those were shapes in fog or darkness. He wasn’t a man, which was made obvious by the four extra arms and shimmering golden scales. Janus wasn’t just a friend, either. Logan considered them all family, but he did occasionally wish there could be something… more with Janus. So Janus was simply the taller humanoid, as not even Logan had the proper vocabulary to describe him).

Logan watched the galaxy pass by, still in Janus’s protective hug, as the Silver Serpent flew to the planet and had pointed to.

Life was good. Life was happy, even! 

Those were words Logan had never thought he would have been able to truthfully say, not when he was back on earth. But now? Now, in space- which had seemed like a far off dream- Logan could truly say he was happy.

[renorasims]

Sooo you've arrived at the post where I'm lining up some of the alternatives you can use instead of adfly! Missed my first post? It's HERE! Let's get to it shall we? =) before we continue I'd like to express my gratitude to a group of people who helped me out in lots of ways! <333 English is not my first language so their help has been highly appreciated!

Patreon.

In my opinion the best method to monetize CC if you want to be sure you get something in return for your time and effort! Patreon has become a widely accepted way in the community to donate money towards some of their fav creators. As a creator, it does not cost you a dime in advance! Their fees will be extracted from the donations you received. I am very pleased with what you get on their site! You can go all out; upload HD images, video's, create goals you can reach with you patron's, etc. The interface is easy to use and the best part is (to me) that you don't have to spend any time worrying about collecting payments, etc. It's all taken care of. You have to find a workflow, balance that works best for you and your followers. Some creators release their cc after patreon every week, 2 weeks, and some once per month. This is completely up to you. I personally try to release stuff not later than 2 weeks after Patreon. This is what works best for my personally.

NOTE: Patreon Exclusive CC tends to get re-uploaded by other people since it's locked behind a paywall then. It's also against EA tou but hey... it's all up to you! Best way to avoid all this (In my opinion!) is to be transparent about when you will release your work and don't go exclusive.

PayPal / Ko-Fi.

a completely different way of trying to get something back for your time and effort since it's an optional donation. I used (still use) PayPal a lot in the past / present and it's a very safe way of getting something back. Ko-Fi is very similar and friends tell me lots of positive things about it.I use both of them a lot to donate to creators I love! I really hope I can expand my donating ways to Patreon as well! I know that it is a non-committal way of monetizing CC which can make it less attractive for some creators to use but the donations I got from when I started with it (when I was a smaller simblr) till this day far exceed the $0,02485 dollars you get per click (highest payout rate, USA) on Adfly.

I personally do not donate to a creator that uses adfly-only links. My mindset behind that is; you're apparently satisfied with the funds you raise with Adfly. I'm not going to support you on that. What I mean with this sentence is; creating goodwill towards your followers is sooo much more valuable! It has definitely paid off for me, from when I was a smaller simblr, till now.

Adsense.

Last but most definitely not least! Adsense can have 2 scenario's depending on your tech levels I will explain both of them;

You're unable to code your own website (me too!). I mean, I know html a little but I'm far from able to create my own website! If you're like me, you most likely have to purchase a package at one of these companies; Wix, Wordpress. There could be more options out there but i'm only talking these about 2 since I have experience with those. You need to purchase a paid package to be able to run Adsense on your website, the free packages do not allow you to do that. The fees are very different between Wix and Wordpress! I believe that Wordpress is cheaper(!) than Wix. I've been at Wix from the beginning and moving a website out of their company is made really hard for customers (to prevent them from leaving of course) + I would loose my URL. That being said; Wix has a drag and drop html editor that lets you customize your site endlessly. Wordpress however provides better care for wordpress sites via plugins etc. Pro's and con's you have to decide whats best for you!

NOTE: Blogger is also an option. I have no personal experience with it unfortunately but loooong ago I looked into it and i thought it also has a free option + running Adsense? This is speculation at best! I'm not sure about this! Though it's worth mentioning it. Google is your friend in this case =) Add-on infoby Jennie, thank you! <3 Adsense for Blogger is free, but you need to fit the criterias set by Google to be able to use it (Blogger is owned by Google).

You're a solid coder that can code your own website. I've looked into this in the past and to me it seems that you only have to purchase a domain in that case. With Adobe Dreamweaver or other coding softwares for websites you then create your own website and include the main code for Adsense. Along with the codes for the ads itself (where you want them, which size, which sort of ads, etc)

From this point it's the same for both scenarios! To be eligible for the program your site needs to be around for a few months and have generated some traffic (visitors)! I don't know the exact numbers Adsense expect to see before letting you into their program. I also read on their forums back then it depends on more factors than just pageviews. It depends on what kind of website you have, what kind of content it hosts, etc. But when I started I had maybe 2000 followers on Tumblr? So its definitely not 100,000 pageviews in a month or something like that. Sucks that I installed my Analytics account only a year ago otherwise I could look up what my monthly traffic was back in the days. Bottom line of Adsense; In the long term this will generate income even if you're not releasing stuff everyday. Which is why I am so fond of Adsense. You need to put in so time and effort + money in my case but it has paid me back every penny I put into it! some months I generate 50 bucks and sometimes more or less. It depends on your own activity and factors you can't always control. For example; I just saw (in Analytics) that my Chablis Coat Product Page has spiked yesterday. This can be due to; Tumblr picking up on my Chablis Coat post or someone on youtube doing a CC haul video. These are estimated guesses tho! In 99% of the cases I have no clue why something gets flooded with visitors.

Some perks of NOT using Adfly / Short.e / Shorteners

Create sustainable bond with you followers for the long term.

Increase chances of people donating / supporting your work.

Increase your download count.

Increase site visitation levels & possible Adsense revenues.

Indirectly; increase you're followers count.

which leads to; more people who will likely support you / donate.

this upwards cycle does not have an end to it if you make the right choices! points 2. till 7. can repeat itself endlessly.

Meaning; every positive change you make affects the next step in this cycle. Same as it works for a downwards spiral I guess. One thing for sure; Adfly users won't experience the perks above to its full extend than users that don't use it. Adfly stagnates blog growth in general.

Sorry for the long post but I really hope I was able to give you guys some insights on other alternatives for Adfly / Short.e / Shorteners in general. Most importantly; it's all up to you! Do as you see fit. All I wanted to say with these 2 posts is, try to be mindful to your followers when you make a decision. Only they made it possible for you to monetize your CC in the first place!

[sycriptouk]

$PSFE - Paysafe ready to beat analyst estimates as BlackRock loads 8.3M shares

TLDR: trading near all time low on zero bad news. None of this long list has been priced in yet. Meanwhile institutions are buying 21x more than selling.

​

In light of China’s recent crackdown on payment processors, FinTech company Paysafe’s strategic move last year to exit those high-risk revenue channels is looking pretty smart. This de-risking will temporarily dampen Q2 YoY revenue growth, as it did with Q1, however, their CC transcripts indicate that tactical exit will likely no longer affect YoY revenue going into Q3 and Q4.

But this upcoming earnings report is less about revenue growth than it is about forward guidance and updates on their ongoing restructuring, acquisition pipeline and how their recent deleveraging will affect margins and free cash flow.

They reported strong FCF growth last quarter and a recent CNNE quarterly report revealed that, along with recently paying down $1.2 billion in debt, upon a Moody's upgrade, Paysafe successfully refinanced their remaining debt. This, overall restructuring could translate to $150+ million in cost savings annually which can dramatically improve their profit, free cash flow and M&A outlook: critical elements of their growth strategy.

EPS

Even if this ER is about forward guidance, there’s a good chance for an EPS beat which will make Q2 Paysafe’s first profitable quarter as a newly public company. Analysts’ average EPS estimate is reported to be 0.01 or 0.02 (depending on the source). We know that in Q1, without the $90+ million in one-time, non-recurring expenses associated with going public and paying down $1.2B debt, they would have beat analysts estimates with a positive EPS. For Q2, they won’t have those expenses so, unless they introduce new costs from refinancing or impairment expenses on intangible assets, there appears to be solid basis for an EPS beat. My loose guess is for 0.05 EPS or better. Not a big deal to me if it doesn’t work out that way, but it’s entirely plausible.

Revenue

Regarding revenue, even though Paysafe is already integrated as a payment processor with 75% of US iGaming operators, let’s ignore the facts that

many new states have legalized sports betting during Q1/Q2 (see below),

Paysafe’s Q2 revenue could be bolstered by the strong growth recently reported by its several partners like Wynn, Caesar’s, DraftKings and Penn,

Paysafe has new revenue streams from recent deals with Coinbase, Microsoft/XBox, Luckbox, Wix, WynnBet, ESL Gaming, PointsBet, Virginia Lottery, Rent Moola, Provena, FoxBet, Golden Nugget etc.,

Paysafe said early Q2 was already showing signs of record growth: “We continue to be pleased with where the top-line trends are going. We've had some actual record days in e-commerce processing, historical records, not just recovery records, but historical records.”

or that the American Gaming Association reports sports betting has generated $1.8 billion in the first six months of 2021, 20% more than all of 2020 combined ($1.5B).

Rather than speculate about how much of that new revenue will affect Paysafe’s Q2 balance sheet, I prefer to keep my sights on analysts estimates and Paysafe’s own guidance, which has conservatively excluded US iGaming growth projections (55% CAGR).

Paysafe offers Q2 revenue guidance of $365 - $385 million. With $341 million in revenue for Q1’20, this represents 7% to 13% YoY quarterly growth. We’ve seen very little reason for them to miss this guidance. Quite the contrary.

Analysts’ average Q2 revenue estimate is reported to be between $371.5 million and $378 million (depending on the source). That's right in the middle of guidance. Last quarter, Paysafe came in at the upper range of their guidance which, given all the good news, suggests that there’s a very good chance that they’ll beat the analyst estimate. That would result in around 9% to 11% YoY quarterly growth, which would be a solid improvement from Q1.

As a long-term investor, I’ll be happy with anything above 7%. From there, any upside surprise will be welcome.

Last quarter, Paysafe confirmed their 2021 full year projections of $1.53 billion in revenue, $930-$970 million in gross profit, double-digit growth and expanding 30-35% EBITDA margins, and $103 billion in transactional volume. Paysafe’s already strong $362 million in free cash flow was reported to be on track for 29% growth in 2021.

This confirmed guidance implies that Q3 and Q4 will likely represent stronger revenue growth to compensate for the sluggish Q1 growth due to the channel exits. By Q3, Paysafe's balance sheet should reflect their many new partnerships and new US state markets opening up to legalized sports betting.

Recent Price Action

As Chairman of the Board Bill Foley recently noted, Paysafe "has been unduly punished as the inevitable shareholder rotation plays out."

Over the last few months many sources confirm regular and heavy intraday short volume (not short interest) which has successfully tanked the stock price on nothing but good news from the company. Meanwhile 13F filings continue to reveal institutions loading shares.

[Side note: Some have a hard time wrapping their heads around this but the SEC allows this type of intraday price manipulation under the shield of making a market. It's a legal loophole that allows market makers to walk down (or up) the price to shake out weak hands in order to fill institutional orders by the end of each day. It doesn't help that many financial news outlets continue to misrepresent Paysafe’s data, claiming they have only 4 employees and falsely reporting a massive Q1 EPS miss of -0.37 and -0.38 (Yahoo/CNBC). It was only 0.02. Such things can definitely deter investors who undertake proper due diligence so, hopefully, these outlets will get around to reporting accurate data.] But I digress.

While the shenanigans have gone on, bringing the price near all time lows and pushing many retail shareholders to capitulation, Fintel reports institutions are accumulating 21 times more than they are selling. Very recent 13F’s show Susquehanna increased their stake by 48% to over 3 million shares, Citigroup increased their position by 5000% to around 1.3 million shares, Bank of New York Mellon bought half a million shares and BlackRock just opened a new position of 8.3 million shares.

Bottom?

Whoever has been pinning the stock down has always stopped near these current levels because its more or less the price paid by respected fund managers like Dan Loeb (Third Point 41.5 million shares), David Tepper (Appaloosa Management, 10 million shares), Aaron Cohen (Survetta Capital, 13 million shares), Dipanjan Deb (Francisco Partners, 20 million shares) and Leon Cooperman (personally owns 1.1 million shares). In fact, the current price is likely below where Wells Fargo bought 13M shares, where BlackRock bought their 8.3M shares and where Blackstone took on another 37 million shares, according to their 13F's.

The current low price poses an interesting opportunity for value investors because, since those major fund managers decided to invest near this level, Paysafe has had zero bad news while steadily executing on their promised strategy to expand to new markets, invest in technology, leverage expertise in risk management and data mining, improve margins, and as Bill Foley put it, “cross-sell, cross-sell and cross-sell.”

Said in another way, because Paysafe has excluded US iGaming growth from its projections, literally none of the following developments in value creation have yet been priced in:

Dec. 15 — Paysafe launches Paysafecash in the US to enable online cash payments

Dec. 21 — Paysafe partners with Amelco to plug US sports books into unified payments platform

Dec. 23 — Paysafe enables online cash payments for Microsoft customers

Jan 11 — Paysafe partners with Colorado’s BetWildwood to provide unified payment platform

Jan 13 — Paysafecard launches in Moldova

Feb 1 — Paysafe expands Virginia Lottery partnership to integrate Income Access, its EGR B2B award winning marketing platform

Feb 17 — Paysafe partners with Luckbox to roll out Skrill and Neteller payment services

Feb 18 — Paysafe expands partnership with ESL Gaming, the world’s largest esports company

Feb 23 — Paysafe’s Skrill launches new fiat-to-digital currency withdrawal service

Feb 25 — Paysafe partners with Austria’s A1 esports League

Feb 25 — Paysafe uses Snowflake to develop new cloud-based data science models

Feb 26 — Paysafe wins “Best Omni-Channel Payment Solution” 2021 MPE Award

Mar 1 — Paysafe partners with RentMoola to enable US renters to pay rent with Paysafecash eCash

Mar 4 — Paysafecard wins gaming industry SAGSE award for “Best Payment Method”

Mar 12 — Leeds United announces partnership with Skrill

Mar 15 — Paysafe expands U.S. partnership with PointsBet into Michigan

Mar 16 — Paysafe partners with Provema to enable online cash payments for loans and insurance purchases

Mar 18 — Paysafe announces new Board of Directors

Mar 19 — Paysafe to Power Payments for Play Alberta

Mar 25 — Paysafe’s Skrill expands offering to US with Coinbase

April 1 — Paysafe’s Neteller launches Knect customer reward program

April 1 -- Moody's upgrades Paysafe to B1; stable outlook

April 15 — Paulo Dybala signs as Skrill brand ambassador

April 21 — Paysafe achieves CarbonNeutral certification for 2021 and 2022

April 27 — Paysafe launches lifetime rewards for Skrill and Neteller customers

April 29 — Paysafe selects AWS for strategic cloud-based services as part of its cost saving restructuring

May 17 — Paysafe partners with TripGift to enable online cash payments for global gift giving

May 20 — Skrill USA launches Skrill Virtual Visa Prepaid Card in US

May 26 — REPAY partners with Paysafe to enable US merchants to accept online cash payments

June 1 — Skrill partners with Wix to support commence business growth

June 2 — Paysafe streamlines US SMB payments with SimplePayMe

June 3 — Paysafe and Golden Nugget expand partnership into Michigan iGaming market

June 7 — Paysafe expands US partnership with IntelliPay to offer online cash payments

June 23—Swiss Residents Now Able to Settle Bills Using Paysafecash

June 29 — Paysafe expands FOXBet partnership into Michigan

June 30 — Paysafe Enables Online Cash Payments on Microsoft Store on Xbox

July 8 — Paysafe wins 2021 EGR B2B award for best ‘Affiliate Software Supplier’

July 8 — Paysafe Launches unique industry-leading global travel safeguarding model, offsetting risks of non-delivery of services due to events like Covid.

July 13 — Paysafe adds 20 new digital currencies to its digital wallet and expands this service to 11 new US states, bringing US presence to 48 states.

July 14 — Paysafe partners with WynnBet to provide US payment and marketing solution

July 19 — Paysafe expands into North American property management space with Smart Property Systems partnership to provide embedded payment solutions for property managers and tenants.

July 20 — Fantasy Sports Platform OwnersBox Launches New Affiliate Program with Paysafe’s Income Access

July 21 — Paysafe Partners with Bankable, a global architect of scalable ‘banking-as-a-service’ solutions, to launch a broad range of integrated, omnichannel banking services. This technology driven partnership works synergistically with several segments including their new global travel safeguarding initiative. It also enables them to make the Paysafecash card brandable allowing their many partners to customize for promotions and gifts to drive customer traffic (and revenue for Paysafe).

July 26 — Paysafe’s Boards adds Mark Booker, former COO of BetFair & Trainline, who brings deep experience in two of Paysafe’s key growth spaces: iGaming and travel.

July 27 — Parx Interactive integrates Paysafe’s full payment suite in the first phase of a multi-state partnership

Aug 2 — Paysafe Acquires PagoEfectivo, a company with strong growth in a rapidly expanding market that will benefit from Paysafe’s cloud-based platforms. This acquisition can offer tremendous growth to their eCash segment and will likely give PSFE’s Q4 top line a solid boost.

Aug 4 — Paysafe Partners with ARC, a payment settlement service that processes $97 billion for over 200 airlines globally. This deal is a direct result of Paysafe’s recently announced travel safeguarding model (July 8) which is unique in the payment industry in improving airline liquidity while reducing their costs and risks. "Paysafe also allows airlines to offer travelers an extended choice of payment methods for direct sales. In addition to credit or debit card payments processed through Paysafe’s leading payment gateway, travelers can also pay using the Paysafecash eCash solution as well as more than 100 other alternative payment methods, all protected from chargebacks." Based on travel in a normal year, this deal can potentially represent a transactional volume of $10 billion in eCash and $87 billion in credit and debit. (Many retail investors seem to not yet understand that Paysafe’s gateway processes all sorts of payment methods including credit cards, debit cards, eCash, and even PayPal.)

Aug 9 — Ambassador Cruise Line appoints Paysafe as payments processor

Aug 10 — Paysafe appoints Chirag Patel, former Head of Payments at Santander and Amazon Intl., as CEO of Digital Wallet division

M&A / inorganic growth

Along the lines of value creation, Bill Foley, Chairman of Fidelity and now Chairman of Paysafe, recently reminded shareholders that Paysafe has, “an aggressive pipeline of M&A opportunities I am leading management in pursuing.”

Inorganic growth through M&A is a major pillar of Paysafe’s strategy going forward and it is significant that Bill Foley, a major shareholder, is leading the charge. Foley is a known M&A synergy wizard, particularly in the financial services arena. He took Fidelity National Financial from $3 Million market cap to $10.8 Billion. Yeah, that's 3,600X. Over just the last five years, Foley successfully grew Ceridian 3.3X ($4.2B to $14B), Dun & Bradstreet 5.6X ($2B to $11.3B), and Black Knight 8.7X ($1.6B to $14B).

Through his proven M&A playbook, Foley is also legendary for growing FIS from $1 billion to over $88 billion market cap: an 88x return. He says “Those characteristics of FIS are right in line with what we plan on doing with Paysafe.” 6,9

Foley discusses the FIS/Paysafe comparison further: “FIS operated in a highly fragmented industry. We utilize platform and technology stack to consolidate and drive organic and inorganic revenue growth and improved margins. FIS expanded its product offering, invested in technology, and improved its scale and margins of the business. Today, that $1 billion investment has a market capitalization of $88 billion. FIS has very similar characteristics to Paysafe – an attractive platform with a defensible market position. Upside from acquisition integration, platform consolidation and cross-selling. We will cross-sell, cross-sell, and cross-sell. There are multiple attractive acquisition opportunities that will strengthen our market position even further and we're positioned to win in key attractive high growth markets.”

Rounding out the Picture:

#1 global leader in iGaming, #2 digital wallet in the world, and #4 globally in integrated merchant processing. Paysafe is an extremely diversified global payment processor that is currently expanding into the US and Latin American markets. It has a transactional volume approaching $100 billion in over 40 currencies.

Through its eCash network, Paysafecard enables those without basic ID metrics, credit cards, or even bank accounts (the 1.7 billion “unbanked” globally) to engage in eCommerce in over 50 countries. This segment grew 63% YoY. Recently, Microsoft introduced Payesafecard to its Xbox platform in 22 countries.

#4 globally in integrated merchant processing, Paysafe’s proprietary scalable electronic payment platform was voted “Best Omni-Channel Payment Solution”, “Payment Processor of the Year,” and “Best Payment Method.”

Paysafe is #2 globally in the digital wallet space with a presence in 120 countries. They own Neteller and Skrill, which was voted “Best Digital Wallet” for “best consumer take up”, “most innovative technology” with “greatest potential to disrupt current ecosystems.”

Trustpilot rates Paysafecard as “Excellent” (4.7/5 stars-31,981 reviews), Paysafe’s digital wallet Skrill as “great” (4.1/5 stars-18,037 reviews) and Skrill Money Transfer as Excellent (4.8/5 stars - 8,349 reviews). 11 -- By contrast, Truspilot rates Stripe as “Average 3.4/5 stars- 6,208 reviews), Venmo as “bad” (1.2/5 starts - 222 reveiews), Zelle as “bad” (1.2/5 stars - 326 reviews) and PayPal as "bad" (1.2/5 stars-18,555 reviews). 12

iGaming Expansion

It's worth repeating that Paysafe's multi-year revenue projections do not include growth from their ongoing US iGaming expansion (projected at 55% CAGR). “At Paysafe, the iGaming market volume was estimated to be $3.4 billion in 2019, and is now projected to reach $47 billion in 2025.”

Paysafe is the #1 global leader in iGaming, a space that is extremely difficult to enter, due a very complex risk and regulatory landscape. Paysafe’s expertise in multi-jurisdictional regulations is an important aspect of its competitive MOAT (as discussed below). Paysafe is also an integrated back-end payment processor so many users don’t realize they are utlizing their gateway, whether by cash, debit, credit card or digital currencies.

In the wake of a US Supreme Court decision allowing state-legalized sports betting, Paysafe is actively laying the groundwork for their US expansion. They are already integrated with 75% of all US iGaming operators.

As Bill Foley says, "we’re seeding the future growth right now by state and by operator... The day a state opens up, we are there ready from a regulatory perspective, from a risk perspective, and from a product perspective. ...It’s our job to be there first and to make sure we dominate."

He continues, "It’s going to be a land grab. We want to be out there about 10 miles ahead of everybody else... I have a vision that we should be THE digital wallet and have tie-ins with every major casino company that’s headquartered or located in Las Vegas. There will be money to be made for everybody... We’ve got a wide landscape we can attack. It’s pretty exciting”

Fund manager Dan Loeb agrees: “We believe the US is poised to become the largest online gambling market globally as it begins to deregulate state by state and Paysafe is exceptionally positioned to capitalize as the global market leader.”

Compass Point analyst Michael Del Grosso initiated coverage with an Outperform noting, “PSFE operates in high-growth verticals, has a unique advantage in its consumer and merchant facing solutions, and offers exposure to a secular growth opportunity in the potential legalization of iGaming in the United States,”

Del Grosso, who gave Paysafe a $19 price target added, “we believe there is upside to our forecasts in the event of state-level legalization of iGaming.” 5 Some headlines since Del Grasso wrote that:

​

"New York State Legalizes Online Sports Wagering"

"Maryland Online Sports Betting Bill Passes Legislature"

“New Hampshire sports betting deal approved overwhelmingly; Hogan likely to sign"

"Arizona governor signs bill legalizing sports betting"

"Wyoming Legalizes Sports Betting"

”Delaware igaming revenue up 74.3% year-on-year in March"

"Pennsylvania gambling revenue rockets 162.7% in March - The biggest increase was recorded for sports wagering, where revenue rocketed by 326.1%"

“Caesars Entertainment (Paysafe partner) announced Official Sports Betting Partner of NFL"

“Michigan’s online sports betting launch hailed a success, Ohio could follow this year”

“Ohio legislators doubling down on legalized sports gambling”

“Louisiana Begins The Process of Legalized Sports Betting”

“Path to legalized Texas sports betting becomes more clear”

“NC lawmakers make push to legalize sports gambling to generate funding for schools”

“Florida poised to offer sports betting under major gambling deal”

“Legal Sports Betting Could Get To California Sooner Than You Think”

“Canada legalizes single-game sports betting”

Analysts universally rate Paysafe as a "BUY"

Some quotes :

RBC Capital 5-star analyst Daniel Perlin: “We believe PSFE offers a unique combination of digital wallet capabilities, accelerated cash conversion for consumers who would otherwise be out of the ecommrece loop, and integrated payments, all focused on specialized & complex end-markets, which creates a competitive moat and pricing power.” “recent underperformance is largely due to the complex nature of PSFE’s business and the FTAC II transaction” and adds his view that Paysafe offers one of the best combinations of services in online payment space: “PSFE has created a unique two-sided network enabling merchants to accept online & in-store payments (in specific niche verticals), while also offering consumers a digital wallet & eCash solution, which converts cash-heavy users to digital users. We believe it’s this combination that enables PSFE to generate superior take rate economics vs. peers.” 4

RBC recently reiterated their Outperform rating saying: “Our positive thesis is predicated on three key points including: (1) PSFE has a unique set of assets within the payments space, in that it’s a digital wallet, an integrated payment platform (with \~50% tethered to online transactions), and provides an on ramp for cash to be digitized via eCash, and it’s the combination of the three that create a two-sided market (serving both merchants & consumers), (2) new secular growth opportunity in US iGaming, which is in its early innings and could surprise investors to the upside, and (3) Bill Foley (Non-Executive Chairman) and his team have a long history of driving share holder value, which we expect to continue at PSFE.

BMO Capital, 5-star analyst, James Fotheringham: “PSFE is a global leader in iGaming (online betting related to sports, poker, and other casino games, as well as lotteries and bingo). Indeed, 36% of PSFE’s revenues are from global iGaming. That is far more than for any of its peers.” iGaming deposit volumes in the U.S. will grow “at more than five times the rate of growth elsewhere in the world” with a "5-year CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of between 40% to 55%." 3

Evercore ISI analyst David Togut 'praised Paysafe for its “robust risk management operation,” and its high rankings in several key performance indictors globally, including cash network, stored digital wallet value, and amount of partnered independent merchants.' 2

MOAT: “robust risk management operation”

So why does Paysafe dominate iGaming and how is it able offer eCommerce services to the unbanked?

Their industry leading multi-jurisdictional regulatory expertise offers a durable advantage in spaces where competing fintechs are hesitant or unwilling to enter. CEO Philip McHugh from CC transcripts : “When we talk about a deep and a wide MOAT, this is absolutely one of the areas that we see that benefit where it’s hard to copy.…We have over 300 professionals dedicated to risk, compliance, and analytics. That is very, very rare in the payments space. It’s a real strength of ours. We’ve been able to track some of the top people in the industry, including the former CRO from PayPal, and we’ve upgraded the team, we’ve built some real data capabilities, and we see this continuing to be an area of differentiation for Paysafe versus others.”

“We can de-risk some transactions where the market has abandoned many of these players…we bring millions of consumers into the ecosystem. We bring unique ways to pay and access funds that a typical card processor certainly can’t do. When you have that two-sided network, you change the conversation. When we speak to some of our largest iGaming customers, we’re not only talking about take rates and comps, we’re talking about revenue-generation, we’re talking about attracting the types of customers that they want and they need in their ecosystem. That’s a really, really powerful position to have.” 9

Valuation

A while back I looked at a basket of fintech peers including PayPal, Square, Nuvei, Repay, Shift4, Adyen, Affirm, BILL, GPN, and Paysign.

Paysafe reports 30%+ EBITDA margin, mid-to-high teen EBITDA growth, and $362 million in free cash flow (now on track to increase 29%),

By comparison, a third of the peer group reported negative EBITDA, half reported negative EBITDA growth, and a third negative free cash flow.

Paysafe also has better EPS than over half the group and better Debt/EBITDA ratio than 3/4 of them.

The group's collective growth rate of ~12.5% is in the range of Paysafe's 10-13% projections but the company's estimates may be intentionally conservative as they do not take into account M&A growth (recent new acquisition) nor their current expansion into US iGaming.

Since 2017, Paysafe grew revenue 65% from $864 million to $1.418 billion (28% CAGR pre-Covid). Last year, due to Covid-related brick-and-mortar business and sporting event closures, along with their exiting high-risk Asian revenue channels, 2020 revenue stagnated. This is the reason they recently reported only 5% YoY quarterly growth. In their Q1 ER, management noted that, without those channel exits they would have reported growth in the “mid to high teens.” But even if you include 2020’s stagnant growth, their overall revenue growth since 2017 was still 18% CAGR. This is roughly the same as PayPal’s current projected growth. Incorporating US iGaming growth will of course reveal a whole new picture.

Given all the above factors, it seems fair to look at Paysafe's potential price based on an average of the multiples for the above peers:

Paysafe’s share price with average of sector peer multiples:

EV/EBITDA ratio : $122.09

EV/Rev ratio : $83.91

EV/FCF ratio : $87.86

Average: $97.95

​

More conservative price after removing all outliers in each category which put PSFE share price over $100

EV/EBITDA ratio : $50.75

EV/Rev ratio : $44.64

EV/FCF ratio : $44.18

Average : $46.52

​

In a nutshell, the basket of sector peers has an average growth within Paysafe’s conservative projections yet they trade at 350-750% higher multiples. With Paysafe having better financials than most, it is hard to argue that this is proportionate. Either the entire field has to come down or Paysafe has to go up. Veteran market analyst Steve Grasso's call for "$45/55" may actually be quite reasonable.

This is not investment advice. For those who do want to invest in Paysafe, my only advice is to stay away from options. I’ve watched this stock for a long time and the market makers have a track record of ruthlessly blowing up those positions. Common shares is the way.

Sources:

(1) see institutional ownership (WSB won’t allow link)

(2) https://finance.yahoo.com/news/paysafe-poised-profit-085250018.html

(3) https://themoneymanifesto.com/2021/06/21/paysafe-is-ready-to-ride-the-igaming-wave-analyst-says-buy/

(4) https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/billionaire-david-tepper-places-bet-on-3-strong-buy-stocks-2021-06-04

(5) https://www.streetinsider.com/Analyst+Comments/UPDATE%3A+Compass+Point+Starts+Paysafe+Group+Ltd.+%28PFSE%29+at+Buy%3B+All-In+on+an+iGaming+Opportunity/18197588.html

(6) https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1818355/000119312520311998/d54063d425.htm

(7) https://www.paysafe.com/fileadmin/content/pdf/Analyst_Day_presentation_March_9__2021.pdf

(8) https://sec.report/Document/0001104659-20-089252/

(9) https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1818355/000119312520311837/d18843d425.htm

(10) https://www.globalcapital.com/article/b1s344yyc1zccx/paysafe-preps-post-spac-refi

(11) https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.paysafecard.com

(12) https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.paypal.com

submitted by /u/RichAdults [link] [comments] from wallstreetbets https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/pemcet/psfe_paysafe_ready_to_beat_analyst_estimates_as/ via IFTTT

[rescueonefinancialnet]

Sudden 6 figure home equity, along with 6 figure student loans

Hey folks,

I'm a lucky millenial. I signed a contract for my family's (first!) home at $363,000 last november. Market value is now, conservatively around $550k as of today (median in my area is now 510, for smaller and older homes). Construction is expected to be completed in December, and our market isn't slowing down. I am considering doing a student loan cashout for our property, once we move in

Current Details:

Household Income - ~$140,000 USD/year (~$180,000 after an expected promotion either next month or in decembe, though not counting on it for budget)

Student Loans: ~$120,000 @ 5.5% average rate/15 years

Current Expected Mortgage - $340,000 @ ~3.00%/30 years

~Home Equity (including our downpayment): $210,000

Other debts: no CC debt, $530/mo note on one car, may need a second once things open up (wife, two kids, dogs, etc), but no rush

------------

Student Loan Cashout Estimates (approximate because each individual loan needs to be paid off in full, haven't run specific numbers)

New Mortgage: ~$440,000 - @ 3.125%/years

New Student Loan Balance ~ $20,000 @ ~3.00%/15 years

New Home Equity ~ $110,000

Net gained MIN. monthly payments: ~$1,000/mo cashflow improvements

So other than losing student interest deduction (which we'll be income'd out of after this tax year, I believe), what am I missing here? Is this a good plan to take advantage of my boomer-esque equity gains?

More debt relief tips at ROF review

[kidungg]

Missed.

I woke up from my nap. It is 06.40PM. Checking my phone and found my bro was reminding me not to forget to pay some monthly family bills. Uh, can I please at least get some romantic text?

This coffee's gettin' cold. I only took a sip and done. Now I remember that last night I promised to call my long distance tinder friend but mercy, I totaly missed. But I couldn't forget to call my boyfriend.

I supposed to attend an online live concert of one of my favorite band but they only receive cc as a payment method. I decided to ask my bro to help me at the meantime but again, I forgot and I missed it.

I even forgot how to make myself happy. Poor gurl.

Okay, a little flash back, while me and mom went to coffee shop, I went to register asked for 1 hot chocolate (which is her favorite) and 1 ice mocha, and DANGGGG what the world I forgot to bring my cash - driving license - card, a.k.a I only brought bag but only my phone was there. I laughed to myself and go to mom (I was laughing here - ok.) and borrowed some cash from her. I needed to go home soon coz I didn't want officer gonna stopped me for some reason.

It is something I hide, which I question myself.

Uh, dumpling seems to be a good appetite for a date. We'll go to the theme park right after, and watching you happy obviously makes my heart blossoms.

Oh my prince charming, where are you?

[missguomeiyun]

my heart beats again.

LOL dramatic post title, I know but it’s true :P

I’m slowly easing my way into eating ‘outside’ food.. . so when I worked evening shift the other day, I ordered Seoul Fried Chicken for work dinner! It has been SO LONG since I’ve eaten SFC, you just don’t understand... It’s been well over 1.5 yrs. YEARS! I missed it so much....

Anyway, some things have changed since the last time I did online ordering thru their app.

[To see what their app looked like in mid-2019, pls see this post: https://missguomeiyun.tumblr.com/post/186427525716/seoul-fried-chicken-delivered]

The most important thing is: no change in their prices. The delivery fee/page changed slightly, & I think it has to do with delivery service (/provider). The previous times when I ordered delivery to my workplace, the fee was more than what I paid a few evenings ago. My workplace & SFC aren’t THAT far from each other; I can’t say what the rates are if you’re in a different radius/zone. Maybe it’s more pricey for you *shrugs*  lastly, the other change is the payment option. Before, you had to pay in-person when the driver comes (either cash or via tap), but now you can enter your CC info on the app to pay in advance. I did this latter option.

It’s here! I was working when I made the order so I didn’t track my order but it is track-able & they actually have text/email updates too. Additionally, I got a phone call about my ‘location’ from the driver- this has nothing to do with them, it’s just.. . the entrance of my work building is like. .. not very clear since it is 1. by a construction zone where there’s a dead end, & 2. it’s a medical testing facility so there’s like no ‘guest’ parking, just a drop off/pick up zone. So it is confusing to a lot of ppl.

Anyway, they made it! & he was actually early :D

My G.P. cheese chicken with corn fritter & kale caesar as sides.

I can’t stress this enough. .. you HAVE to try the corn fritter. It is so good! What makes it good besides the fact it has corn is that the sauce is condensed milk-based! The kale caesar was good too - right amount of dressing & crunch!

Now. .. the chicken. Okay, I was so excited to order SFC that I had forgotten about adding the note about “sauce on side” =( I am a team dip member & I like my chicken as is, with sauce on the side....... anyway, my fault! Chicken was still tasty as always & I loved the sauce. The thing about this sauce is.. . I had traded a piece with a coworker last time to try out this G.P. cheese flavour. From what I remember, it was very cheesy; it was loaded with the parmesan powder & altogether, quite dry-looking. Mine, as you can see, is much saucier. The taste was different too. Still parmesan-y but it had a ranch salad dressing component. It may be another salad dressing but you know what I mean; it had a sour profile to it. It was interesting!

& just as an aside.. . I don’t talk about this stuff but. . . pls #stopasianhate.

[lilymeade]

I am posting this to be transparent, because that’s who I am. I don’t like hiding my vulnerability and truth from you and the truth is: I am taking my laptop to the pawn shop because it’s the only option I have right now. It probably won’t be enough anyway. Our mask business is the only thing keep us going right now, but it’s barely going. Most of what we make has to be reinvested in fabric, envelopes, shipping, thread, etc. my mom is the only seamstress. I do all website, graphics, and customer service. It’s not enough. My mom has been considering risking delivering UberEats (despite being 63, asthmatic, high risk for the virus) but she can’t do that until we can come up with $350 for car tabs and even then we need to fix insurance because we’ve been so swamped she didn’t even realize we lapsed. The insurance company won’t reinstate my mom’s car/rejected her for a new policy despite the fact she’s been with them for 8 to 10 years because she missed two months payments. So now we have to find a new insurance provider and the lowest new quote we got was $700 down payment. Our phone bill expires today, the internet in five days, I woke up to two late payment reminders on CCs I used to stop the bleeding. CCs I had mostly paid off before the virus hit. I have to do what I can to help my family and right now that means prioritizing them. My writing, even if I could sell something soon, wouldn’t patch these holes for several several months at the minimum. My YouTube channel was demonetized for inactivity. I simply do not have time to pursue creative exploits over immediate financial help for my family. Friend suggested another fundraiser, but what am I supposed to say? “Despite you helping me every winter since 2016, I’m no better off and still yet to accomplish anything?” I don’t feel like I have any social capital left and it is humiliating and exhausting to beg for humanity. I can still write on my phone (and I will, because I can’t not write) but this is where I am. I pawned my camera last week, it barely made a dent. This probably won’t help much either. But it’s what I can do right now, so I will do it. I have to prioritize my family. https://www.instagram.com/p/CGsyLKOAhR5/?igshid=utgj47lrosjt

[lyraeon]

Okay wow so, here is the Situation of Suckage™:

Uni I went to last quarter is same one I went to a decade ago

back then I had shit grades and dropped out second quarter tldr because seizures and suicidalness

didn’t know till a month into this school year that those grades still effected current me

had very very strict grade requirements I had to meet to not get “academically dismissed”

missed them because I was an idiot who thought she could jump right back into Calculus after a decade off

could either petition for reinstatement (low probability of success) or

just go sign up for the CC

so I sign up for the CC

except CC’s first payment date = 2 weeks before quarter start

so I sign up after payment due

am entirely reliant on financial aid to pay for classes and living

financial aid can take 3-4 weeks to come through

advisors tell me this is a normal-ish situation

basically every Saturday I’ll be automatically dropped from all classes for nonpayment, but I can keep re-registering

after first week I need professors to give me an override code indicating I’ve actually been going to class

as of Saturday only one teacher has sent me override code

wind up in hospital for four days

go to put in other override codes when I get home

“account on hold for nonpayment”

system has me on hold from just one class this week instead of all three because that’s all I’d signed up for before Monday’s auto holds went into effect

call financial aid office

“you just need to make the down payment and set up the payment arrangement”

“yeah my financial aid was supposed to do that”

“well if your financial aid comes through this week it’ll be based on just the one class”

“yeah that’s what i’m afraid of”

rock and several sharp places

Options basically are:

come up with $581.25 (which would pay entirely for the one class currently in the system and count as my first payment for the payment plan when I signed back up for the other classes)

or

take no classes/only the one class this quarter and figure out some other way to pay to live

which involves finding a job before my gallbladder surgery scars have even healed

Someone plz go put me in a coma for two months

[the-reason-to-sail-home]

Hold Me in this Winter Weather (1/1)

Summary: Killian Jones just can’t seem to warm up. The solution? Professional cuddling in the arms of a David Nolan: handsome farmer and winter enthusiast. 

Romantic Captain Charming, Rated G, 3k words. (Ao3)

For @phiralovesloki, because her birthday was last week and because she deserves a little bit of winter cuddles, no? You requested this some time ago, but I wanted to do it right for you! I hope you love it just as much as I love you!

Special thanks (and my eternal appreciation) to @hencethebravery, aka Queen of the Trashcan, for the excellent beta job AND for making the gorgeous edit seen above. If you want to check out any of her CC fics, you can find them in her CC tag here!

The story of how Killian found the idea was actually rather dull compared to other tales he had hidden up his sleeves. It went like this: man sits at his computer after a very frigid, winter day at the docks. Man cannot seem to warm up, even after the usual reliable methods of heavy fleece blanket, two pairs of wool socks, and a mug of coffee had been attempted. Perhaps out of curiosity, but most probably out of boredom and a bit of desperation, he opens his internet browser and unashamedly types out “Fast ways to get warmer.”  

Spoiler alert: going to a professional cuddler was actually not the first suggestion that appeared on the screen, and it certainly wasn’t the first thing he tried. Turned out, a hot shower did the trick, an idea he came up with himself thank you very much. But Killian was a man of learning, and how could he not read up on the transfer of body heat once it was suggested to him by some hipster blog. Not just any transfer of body heat. Professional cuddling.

Then of course, before he could even think about indulging in a hot shower, he had to answer the question What the actual fuck is professional cuddling? Luckily for him, the internet is a wealth of information.

And oh, he liked what he found. The excitement wasn’t loud in the, “Call your lads and go hire a professional cuddler right this bloody second” kind of way, but rather a quiet encouragement in the back of his mind whispering “Wow, what would it feel like to be properly held?”

Anyone else would have outright laughed in his face if they saw how seriously he scrolled through the exceptionally long list of professional huggers. With a sigh of frustration, Killian glared at the screen. Not one cuddlist looked any more capable than the others. The longer he looked, the more he felt like was shopping for a human person more than looking for the right person to provide a service.

In the end, he e-mailed the company with the request that they choose someone for him. He had no preferences, just that the person be within traveling distance. The next day, he received just what he had asked for. The reply e-mail expressed the director’s elation that Killian was joining their community, ensured the safety of signing up for the service, and asked him when he would like his appointment.

In the week and a half leading up to meeting his cuddlist, Killian only told a select few people about what he decided to do. There were his old navy mates, Robin and Will, who wanted to know why he couldn’t attend their usual Friday evening pub outing. Killian didn’t really see the point in lying, but changed his tune when all Robin and Will wanted to talk about was, What if she’s pretty? and How will you possibly survive an hour in the embrace of a women who specializes in snuggling? They both received proper thwacks on the back of their heads, and only shut up about it when Killian shoved beer into their hands. Perhaps it was his own fault that Killian didn’t correct them when they assumed that the cuddlist would be a woman, because after awhile, he started believing it himself.

In the end, he didn’t care. His own masculinity would survive the trip to the professional cuddler’s house and if he was looking forward to being held for the first time in years, no one needed to know. With Liam gone there was no family to share affection with. As far as romantic affection went, Killian hadn’t sworn it off after Milah’s death, but he was definitely steering clear for a while. His own rules said nothing about platonic hugs, though, and it was a loophole he was thankful he found.

When the day of his appointment arrived, he could count the number of things he knew about his cuddlist on his one hand.

D. Nolan lived on a farm just outside the city. It was exactly 27 miles away, and in traffic and weather, it would take him under an hour to get there on time. Miss Nolan was apparently a favorite of the company. Happy clients had all left five stars on the website, and the company director who sent him there promised that the clean aroma of fresh air would be well worth the lengthy drive.

Miss Nolan lived in a farmhouse the same color of the expanse of glistening snow that surrounded it. It was complete with navy shutters and a porch that wrapped nearly all the way around the home. The air did smell clean, with traces of warm hay and horses that reminded him of those few days Liam took him riding when they were boys. It could’ve been the nostalgia, or maybe it was the warm light that seeped out of the windows, but he felt ready to face whatever he would find inside.

He rang the doorbell, snow crunching under his feet as he shifted his weight. The tips of his fingers began to ache with the bite of the cold, so he shoved his non-prosthetic hand into his pocket, hot breath clouding in front of his face.

Maybe something had gone wrong with the scheduling? Either D. Nolan wasn’t home or she just hadn’t heard-

The door swung open and, oh.

Mister D. Nolan.

“Hi, there. Are you Killian?” the man asked, a stupid welcoming smile on his face that Killian couldn’t help but return.

“I am,” Killian replied, a nervous chuckle intruding his words. “And you’re D. Nolan I take it?”

“David Nolan, but just David fine,” the man supplied. “Please, come in!”

The inside of the house looked exactly like Killian pictured it might look. The inviting, comfortable arrangement of the home looked like it had come right off of some folksy interior design website. He couldn’t tell if it was the constant flow of visitors or just David’s personal taste that the place was kept so clean. Killian’s own woolen socks plodded across smooth hardwood floors as David gave him a brief tour of the house.

Killian followed politely, taking in each room as David explained that he lived alone and had inherited the house and farm from his late mother. He seemed like the type of guy to enjoy the freedoms of living on a farm, slightly calloused hands and scruff along his chin and neck. But there was a softness to him, as well. Compared to Killian, who came dressed in a knitted, grey turtleneck and soft jeans, David wore a loose, red long sleeved henley and sweatpants. He treated Killian as though they had been friends for years, lounging around hugging and enjoying the slight bite of the winter chill.

Then, of course, there was the fact that the inside of the house was still decked out for Christmas. From the soft lights that lined doorways to the lingering aroma of evergreen candles, Killian thought that maybe he had fallen into some Hallmark Channel movie. Lonely man seeks physical affection in a house that tangibly feels like warm holiday cheer.

“Christmas was two weeks ago, mate,” Killian commented, eyeing the wreaths and stockings that hung from the fireplace. David leaned against the mantel, warming his hands by the toasty blaze.

“I like to drag it out as long as I can. There’s something about hugging by a christmas tree that brings people back to their childhoods, but I took the tree down a few days ago. Didn’t have the heart to pack the rest of it away just yet.” Clapping his hands together, he joined Killian where he sat stiffly on the couch.

“I received your payment and signed contract a few days ago, so we’re all set to get started whenever you’d like. Do you have any questions?” David asked.

Killian had read the contract over twice before he signed it, not wanting to accidentally cross any boundaries. It wasn’t rocket science, though. The session would play out platonically, nothing sexual. Even platonic kisses to cheeks or forehead needed to be exchanged on a consent basis. Killian doubted David would want any of that with him. Either of them could terminate the session at any time they pleased, for any reason. Both of them would be fresh and clean, as well, per the contract’s regulations. He’d done the research. He knew what to expect. There was just one thing he hadn’t taken into account.

“Am I your first male client?” Killian asked nervously, fingers winding through those of his prosthetic. David’s eyebrows shot upwards towards his hairline, but then he was vigorously shaking his head.

“About half my regular clients are male. Professional hugging isn’t just for women.”

“No, no, I know. I just didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable at all.” David offered a shrug that was both indifferent and friendly.

“I’m more than fine with having male clients. Are you comfortable?”

“I think so,” Killian said slowly. David paused, seemingly unconvinced so Killian amended, “Yes. Yes, I’m sure.”

“Then let’s get started!”

David led Killian onto an enclosed porch at the back of the house. He’d set up a few atmospheric candles, which flickered in the calming light of the late afternoon. Killian felt the warmth of the setting winter sun through the diffused clouds in the sky. Fuschia light spilled across the aged porch and into David’s hair as he added wood to the small stove. In between the window and the side of the house, a cushiony futon laid on the ground. The sides were caged in by an array of soft pillows. A few layers of fleece and cotton quilts had been spread out on the billowy mattress, enticing Killian to just collapse onto it.

David plopped down first, stretching his legs out like a cat before propping his head up on his hand. The futon had appeared big enough at first glance, but now with David sprawled out across it, Killian wondered if it would fit both of them on it. David seemed to realize what he was thinking, so he gave a welcoming smile and patted the space beside him.

Then, of course, there was the brief moment of sheer panic when Killian remembered he didn’t know how to cuddle with someone who was bigger than him. Most people he’d ever had in his arms enjoyed laying on top of him, head curled under his chin, a handful of women and men who tended to be smaller than him in size.  David was different, and Killian couldn’t help but feel just a bit intimidated.  What if he made a bloody fool of himself because he couldn’t even cuddle without fucking it up?

Killian hadn’t noticed David rise to his knees, but was snapped out of his thoughts when the man grabbed his hand and tugged gently. There was a split second where everything went blank, and Killian couldn’t hear anything except the roaring in his ears, and then there was David.

They fell into place as if they’d done it a thousand times. With David’s gentle guidance, Killian settled onto David’s chest, arms falling to lightly cling at the sides of his shirt. One of David’s hands reached down to tug Killian’s leg over his, a more comfortable position for both of them. Killian had to bite in the inside of his cheeks to keep from sighing too loudly. He couldn’t remember a time that he felt so safe. For what seemed like decades, it had always been “Killian against the world.” But the way David was holding him took the weight off of his shoulders. How could such a simple embrace say so just what he needed to hear so clearly? You can let your guard down, no one will hurt you here.

“How’s this?” David asked, little huffs of breath swirling through Killian’s soft hair. Killian didn’t have words to describe how it was. It was more affection than he’d seen in years, just in the gentleness of the way David ran his fingers down his back and through his hair. It was the ease with which Killian practically melted into nothingness, held together only by the vibrations in his nerves. It was feeling the rise and fall of David’s chest, hearing the steady beat in his chest.

But most of all, it was the quiet desire in the back of Killian’s mind that wanted more than this.

“This is good,” he finally replied, throat dry.

“Good.” David’s arms tightened around him, and Killian felt him rest his cheek onto his head.

They laid like that for three hours, and when Killian realized how much time had passed, he kind of freaked out.

Granted, it was a wonderful three hours, which is probably how it passed so quickly without either of them realizing it. Nearly every second was spent in the other’s arms. As soon as their muscles began feeling stiff in one position, David would lean back and allow Killian to settle back in another way. It was easier as time passed, too. They talked and napped and joked and told stories. Killian admitted that the whole reason he found out about this sort of thing was because he was cold, to which David laughed and replied, “That’s a new one.”

The minutes flew by as David caressed the side of Killian’s cheek and down his neck, his rough fingers a pleasant contrast against the soft scruff of his face. In David’s arms, Killian began to unravel. The last stones of his defenses were torn down with such reverence, Killian found himself not wanting to hide himself anymore. The truth was, he was lonely, a little damaged, and no one had ever held him like they wanted more than just the temporary heat of his embrace. When he told David, the man smiled softly against the back of Killian’s shoulder.

“You’re a good man, Killian,” David told him. “You deserve someone who will appreciate you for all the wonderful things you are.”

Killian’s eyes fell shut, and he turned himself around so that he could gather David into his arms. With David’s lips against his ear, Killian could hear him chuckle, “I’m going to have to keep an eye on you, you might just steal my job.” A gentle smile lifted Killian’s lips, but the heat of the stove and the last drops of the sunset had turned his eyes heavy.

“It’s alright Killian, rest.”  So he did.

And when he woke up, he realized it was eight o’clock and he had overstayed his welcome by two hours. He stirred, still wrapped in David’s arms.

The polite thing to do probably would have been to gently wake David, apologize for staying longer than he paid for, and make sure that David knew the reason Killian couldn’t ever come back again had nothing to do with his his cuddling abilities. He would, of course, leave out the part that it had had everything to do with Killian’s tendency to fall in love quickly, without warning.

So he left. He wrote a note with a brief apology, blew out the lit candles, got in his truck, and drove away. The next morning he contacted David’s company and made sure he received payment for the extra two hours. He even left David five stars on the website.

And that was that.

That is, until he was getting into his truck, enjoying the breezy spring weather as he made his way back to that white farm house in the country. The christmas decorations were finally gone from the window, and it seemed all of David’s horses were roaming the fields. Parked in front of the house, Killian went to war with himself. He rolled up the sleeves of his flannel in a nervous effort to keep himself busy, but he knew what he came here to do. He just had to do it. Against his better judgement, he swung open the truck door and marched up to the front door with false confidence.

David came to the door shortly after Killian managed to ring the doorbell.

“Killian!” he stuttered, surprised. Killian shuffled his feet a little, shooting him a nervous smile that he felt all the way down to his toes. David remembered him which was a good start, he supposed.  “It’s good to see you, but I can’t really take walk-ins. Maybe I can figure something—”

“That’s not what I’m here about,” Killian interrupted.

“It’s not.”

“No.”

David’s hand came to rest on the edge of the door, leaning on it with a twinkle in his eye that seemed a bit uneasy and perhaps a bit hopeful. “Then what did you come here for?”

Killian ran his tongue along the inside of his teeth, reigning in what little confidence he had left.

“I was wondering if you were free for coffee… or something.”

David cocked a brow, and Killian felt himself visibly relax when the man lit up in an affectionate grin.

“I, uh, have a client in a few minutes but there’s this cafe in town that isn’t too far. I could meet you there when I’m finished. That is, if you don’t mind waiting a little bit.”

Killian heaved out a breathy laugh and shook his head.

“No, I don’t mind waiting at all.”

[kinky-miss-quinn]

Kinky Blackmail Secrets It’s a blog, not reality

I told you I’d keep our kinky blackmail secrets to ourselves. I lied. While you were busy sending me that last $400, I was busy preparing your slutty pictures to post all over xnxx.com‘s forums! Hahahaha!

All I have to do is hit one little button and every one of our kinky blackmail secrets will be exposed for the world to see. ‘What’s the likeliness that anyone I know will see it?’ you may be asking yourself.

The risk is actually pretty low, until you realize I’m going to post it on my Twitter and Tumblr too…and maybe even Soundcloud! Hahaha! All anyone is going to have to do is run a Google search of your name and BAM! There you are, buttplug so deep inside of you that you can see the bulge in your stomach.

Give me another $600 or I’m posting it all right now! That’s a good boy, open that wallet wide for your Blackmail Goddess. You really should have known better. I hold all of the cards here. There’s no big, bad phone sex company to keep me from exposing you to the world.

PAYING TO KEEP YOUR KINKY BLACKMAIL SECRETS

So, $1k in less than 15 minutes…that’ll keep your secrets safe for a while longer. You’d better hope that I forget about you for a while though. There’s still the pressing matter of what to do with your wife’s email address. Oh, you thought I’d forgotten about that, did you?

You’re a stupid little cunt. How could a professional blackmailer like me forget about that?! I’m saving that little gem for a rainy day. I never know when I might need a down payment for a new car, or to relocate because I scream at little bitches like yourself too loud.

Don’t you fucking scoff at me, maggot! I’ve been evicted for it already and am actually ready for a move…maybe I should just email her and get it over with, though, if you think it’s so funny. My other boys can pay for me to move, but right now none of them can provide such sweet satisfaction as outing your extra-marital activities to your wife.

Perhaps you’d like to offer your meekest apology now? Get me to backtrack without demanding more money from your pathetic savings account? That’s what I thought. Good boy. I’m still going to prepare that email, though!

FANTASY OR REALITY

I know you thought you’d be getting fantasy and not reality for your kinky blackmail secrets, but you gave me real information! That’s on you. All you had to do was send fake information and it all would have remained play. Instead, you pay.

And that’s on you! Don’t give out real information if you don’t really want to be blackmailed. I’m not going to use your billing information to blackmail you, ever. It’s every other detail that I listened to that spelled your doom.

It’s not my fault you got too comfortable to remember who I am: a sadistic bitch willing to fuck you over until it hurts!

So now I’m going to write out that email, so that should I wake up ready to fuck you over and say goodbye to your pathetic ass I’ll be prepared!

I’M THINKING SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

Dear Annie,

It fills my heart with sorrow to be writing this to you. My job is hard to explain delicately, so I’ll be blunt. I’m a domination phone sex operator. Your husband has been in contact with me for quite some time and recently let slip that he’s not single. As such, I wanted to reach out and let you know what perverse things your husband has been having me discuss with him.

In your position I would be unlikely to believe the word of a stranger, so I’ve attached the photos he has sent me, along with a few emails between us to give you a clear picture of what he’s been up to.

As you can see for yourself, he’s not your run-of-the-mill slut. He’s been dreaming of some very kinky things while you’re away. Feel free to reach out for more evidence. Should you pursue a divorce, I will gladly testify about our ‘relationship’

I hope you heal from this terrible truth and that I haven’t caused too much pain.

love and light,

Miss Quinn

KEEPING KINKY BLACKMAIL SECRETS

Hahaha I wish I could see your face right now. You have no idea what you said in those emails, but I do:

“Mistress Quinn please! I need to cum so badly and I can’t stop thinking of my ass getting torn wide open!”

Hahaha! I know you didn’t actually say that, but it’s so naughty of me to say you did! Go ahead, tell her they’re fake once she looks at the cc bill! See what she says.

I’ll keep your kinky blackmail secrets for now, though. This draft will just sit in my email until you fuck up or I get bored.

[vielmond]

Eu não fazia ideia que você é do Brasil, amei sua arte e gostaria de saber como faço pra comprar seus prints? Abraços!

(It's a question about prints, English translation below the cut)

Adoro surpreender meus conterrâneos com minha nacionalidade! >D

Fico feliz por ter interesse no meu trabalho. Tenho prints em um punhado de lugares, cada qual com suas vantagens e desvantagens. Leitores, se você já compraram/venderam nestes (e em outros) sites e gostaria de dividir sua experiência ficarei feliz em ajudar. Pode dar um reply/reblog ou mandar um ask caso deseje permanecer no anonimato.

Colab55 – Minha loja. Empresa brasileira voltada para o nosso mercado, trabalha com reais. Aceita cartão de crédito, boleto e Paypal. Minha página está desatualizada devido a um bug que cortou meu acesso ao sistema deles, o qual usa contas em redes sociais (Facebook, G+ etc) para acessar as lojas. Isso não só quebrou minha conta no Colab como é impossível recuperar acesso a ela sem clonarem minha loja inteira para uma nova conta. Sempre que penso em passar pelo processo acabo desistindo. O lado positivo, fora usar reais e ter um frete mais rápido, é que o pagamento é automático. Mesmo se sua conta quebrar você ainda receberá os royalties das vendas atuais.

A última vez que comprei itens foi logo quando lançaram o serviço, há anos. Posso falar um pouco sobre a qualidade de impressão, mas não se esqueça que minha experiência está bem desatualizada. A qualidade das prints em si era fantástica. Eram um pouco mais escuras que os originais, porém as cores e nitidez eram maravilhosos e compensavam. As almofadas também tinham uma qualidade muito legal. As canecas eram nítidas, mas saíam um pouco escuras demais. Já as capas de celular deixavam muito a desejar—baixa nitidez e as cores saíam realmente escuras e azuladas. Na época a Colab prometeu sanar o problema nessas linhas de produtos. Não sei dizer como é atualmente pois não comprei mais nada desde então.

deviantART – Minha loja. Lá dá para comprar vários tipos de prints e alguns itens como canecas e cartões. Pessoas que compraram prints minhas e depois me contaram estavam felizes com a qualidade. O DA trabalha com dólares, aceitando Paypal, cartão de crédito e pontos de um sistema próprio deles.

Society6 – Minha loja. Empresa reconhecida na área de print-on-demand, trabalha com uma variedade imensa de produtos, incluindo cadernos e bolsas. Aceita Paypal e cartão de crédito.

Para quem quer vender no S6: Tenho alguns templates de produtos em PSD para download. O kit está um pouco desatualizado, faltam produtos lançados desde meu último update, mas maioria dos básicos está aí.

Redbubble – Minha loja. Concorrente do Society6, também oferece uma variedade de produtos e aceita PayPal, cartão, Amazon (EUA apenas), Apple Pay e gift cards. Nem todo trabalho que tenho no S6 tenho no RB e vice-versa.

INPRNT – Minha loja. Empresa menor, focada em impressões de alta qualidade. Parece que são tão boas ou melhores que as da Colab. Eles também tem capas de celular e cartões. Aceitam Paypal, cartão e gift cards. Sempre foram muito atenciosos e ágeis comigo, imagino que o suporte ao cliente seja tão maravilhoso como é o ao vendedor. O pagamento ao vendedor é automático a partir de $100, antes disso você pode requisitar ao suporte deles sem custo adicional.

E é isso! Espero que isso não só responda à sua dúvida como ajude quem anda pensando em vender prints.

Q: I had no idea you were from Brazil, I love your work and would like to know how do I buy your prints? Hugs!

A: I love to surprise fellow Brazilians with my nationality! >D

Thanks for your interest in my work. I have prints in a bunch of places, each one with its advantages and disadvantages. Readers, if you bought/sold things in these (or other) sites and wish to share your experience I'll be happy to help. You can reblog/reply or use ask if you wish to remain anonymous.

deviantART – My store. You'll find various types of prints, and some itens like mugs and cards. People who bought my prints and told me later were happy with the quality. DA works with dollars, accepting Paypal, credit card and points of their own system.

Society6 – My store. A well known company in the print-on-demand area, offers a wide variety of products, including notebooks and bags. Accepts Paypal and CC.

For those selling on S6: I have PSD product templates for download. This kit is a bit out of date, it's missing some of the newer products, but the majority of the basic ones is there.

Redbubble – My store. Society6's competitor, also offers a wide variety and accepts Paypal, CC, Amazon (only US), Apple Pay and gift cards. I should say my gallery in all these sites slightly differ, and certain artworks can only be found in one or another service.

INPRNT – My store. A smaller company specializing in high quality prints. Their prints seem as good or better than Colab55's. They also have phone cases and cards. They use Paypal, CC and gift cards. They were always fast and considerate with me, I reckon their consumer support must be as amazing as their seller support. The seller payment is automatic over $100, to withdraw lower amounts contact their support. It'll be done without any additional fees.

Colab55 – My store. Brazilian company focused on our market, works with reais instead of dollars. It accepts Paypal, bank invoices (boleto) and CC. My page is out of date due a bug that cut my access to their system, which uses social network accounts (Facebook, G+ etc) to login. It not only broke my Colab account but it's impossible to recover my store without cloning it to a new account. Every time I think about going through this process I end giving up. The bright side, besides using reais and having a faster shipping (for Brazilians), is that the payment to sellers is automatic. Even if your account breaks you'll still get paid your royalties.

Last time I bought there was just after their service began, years ago. I can talk a little about their quality, but take my out-of-date experience with a grain of salt. Their print quality was amazing. They were slightly darker than the originals, but colors and sharpness were wonderful, making up for any brightness issues. The throw pillows were nice too. The mugs were sharp, but a little on the dark side. The phone cases, though, left a lot to be desired—they were blurred, dark and blueish. At the time Colab promised to work on the issues of this line of products. I don't know how it's today, I haven't bought anything since then.

That's it. I hope this not only answers your question but helps people thinking in selling prints.