#insurance is quite literally a bet

[somecunttookmyurl]

insurance makes sense on a conceptual level but in reality insurance companies turn decently huge profits by a) relying on things not happening, which they mostly don't b) ensuring things mostly don't happen by exluding anything that might make "things happening" more likely and stacking it in their favour and then c) finding any excuse and loophole possible to not cover you if anything ever does happen

like. insurance would be good if it wasn't managed by insurance companies

[urie]

my sister would have wanted me to politicize her death so that is exactly what i will do here.

on december 28th, my sister went to the hospital due to severe abdominal pain that she attributed to a UTI. they did a CT scan and found a 14cm tumor. they diagnosed her with stage 4 ovarian cancer and told her to start seeing specialists. for reasons unbeknownst to me, they didn't do a biopsy, or even attempt to schedule one for her, and she went home.

she spent the next 5 weeks being turned in circles by various specialists. the first oncologist told her that she would be fine, that she was young (only 42) and otherwise healthy, and she "wasn't going anywhere anytime soon." however, she could not afford the biopsy that was needed at the time, because she didn't have insurance. the out of pocket cost was too high, and there wasn't an option to be billed later.

these oncologists told her that her best bet was to quit her job and apply for medicaid in order to receive care, but my sister was a normal everyday person living paycheck to paycheck, and that was an impossible request. even if she did quit her job, she would still need to wait to be approved by medicaid.

she called my father on friday, in tears because she was just told by the hospital that she needed to come up with $800 upfront for a PET scan, a 20% downpayment. he had to scrounge up the money to pay for the scan himself.

on monday morning, she woke up with abdominal pain, vomiting, and loss of bowel control. she decided to stay home from work, something she never did, and her roommate offered to stay home with her in order to look after her.

her response: "no, we can't afford for both of us to miss work. i'll just take a shower and go back to sleep."

he came home and she was dead. 5 weeks after diagnosis. she was told she had years but she had a matter of days.

this was her final post on facebook, 2 days before she died. this is literally just the reality of how healthcare works in this country. and she'd want people to know that.

she was a good person doing what was expected of her, she was proactive and aggressive trying to get care, and this is what happened to her. no one gave her care, or tried to help her understand her diagnosis. they just would pat her on the back and say she was going to be fine, without knowing anything, and while refusing to find out.

[freaksstar]

heeseung finds out about your little hobby hc (pt 1)!

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pairing: heeseung x fem!reader

wc: 798

genre: fluff

warnings: silly!!

a/n: i imagine this stuff happening when you guys are just like barely into your relationship lol. but!! im gonna make this a little mini series, and ill do one of these for each member, so expect jay's next!!

first post, enjoy!

↳ m.list for series

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you and heeseung share a pc in your apartment, and take shifts using it, because why wouldn't he let the love of his life use his most prized possession?

anyways, one day he comes back from practice with the boys late at night. and he sees you asleep at his desk with the faint glowing of the pc's screen illuminating your face, wrapped in one of his jackets!! he's like, wow, look, it's my adorable girlfriend!! she looks so angelic!!

so being the loving boyfriend he is he picks you up and puts you to bed with a smile, before running off to the shower to go freshen up.

after, when he comes back to your shared room, he takes a good few seconds to stare at his pc, and decides its a great time to hop on fort (me fr). who cares if its already 2 am?

and so he sits down in his gaming chair and clicks his mouse, the dim light of the pc screen brightening as a reaction to the sudden activity.

he's a bit slow because he's pretty tired, but after processing the black screen that is surely not fortnite's loading screen, rather lines of code, a small little smile of pride makes its way onto his face. he's so proud of you. he always will be.

his darling little dove, writing her own code! you've always been into coding, so he's ecstatic to have been able to come across the project.

now, heeseung is slightly educated in this field. listening to your little rambles about coding did teach him some important things after all. he goes through the code trying to figure out what you could be programming, before he realizes he can just check the project name! he seems to be getting slower by the minute, poor bby :(

and the title? "making a game for hee!"

his heart quite literally melts in that moment. it's an honor to have your hard work dedicated to him. he's always found your little hobby of coding endearing.

and what's even more adorable? the fact the the project dedicated to him is a game. you know he loves gaming, it's what he enjoys doing in the little downtime he gets, aside from doing things with you. even when he games, he finds a way to get you involved, like playing the game with him, or even just having you in his lap, the warmth emitting from you bringing him comfort he wishes he could spend all day feeling.

after a few seconds of falling in love all over again, all while staring at your sleeping figure on the bed, he decides to get some victory royals in, playing as quietly as possible to insure you don't wake up.

the next morning? he doesn't even mention it. the sweetheart realizes you probably want to surprise him with it, but he secretly checks your progress every night when he's sure you're soundly asleep.

and the day you drag him to the chair, tell him to cover his eyes, and surprise him with the game? his surprise is genuine. now heeseung was smart, yes, but he wasn't educated enough on the topic of coding to figure out how to run the program. he was already proud just by seeing your progress, the new lines of code being added to the project every night.

he plays that thing for hours. time for his weekly gaming session? you bet he's hopping on your game instead of fort. he's dedicated, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

once he finishes playing, he'll be begging you for another addition to the "dedicated to hee" series. you're so talented, could you blame the guy for wanting to play your games?

you'd never know how he's secretly so proud of you, how you're his pride and joy. how he brags to his friends, "yeah, my girlfriend codes games in her free time! she works so hard at her job and then makes games for me, she's my hardworking angel!"

if you did find out one day... he'd be shy for a couple of minutes, before stepping up and owning it. "well yeah, what'd you expect baby? you think your amazing skills would go unnoticed by my sharp eyesight?"

this is where you remind him that he actually wears glasses (he's amazingly attractive in them).

"they just help make my vision even better. that's how i found you... this!!" and he just pulls out the pastries you've been craving for months ever since your vacation to france.

and you're just like. baby??? where'd you get these??? i thought we could only find these in france??? and he's just like, told you, my vision's great.

you'll never find out where he got them from <3

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ty so much for reading!! mwah, love you guys <33

requests are open if you'd like to request hehe

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[sillybilly-room21]

words cannot describe how much i love fawfulydoo’s candyman before he got turned into candyman if that makes sense

oh boy henry where do i start 😓

Henry, you are the most jollyest, most jovial person i have ever laid my eyes upon. Your absolute whimsical personality causes innumerable amounts of serotonin to flood my brain. This may sound weird but i have almost all of fawfulydoo’s art of you in my candyman album, quite literally causing me to run out of storage (including the candyman art). Henry you do not understand how 𝒻𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓀𝓉𝒶𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 i want to get with you right now /j. Your funky yet fancy style makes me go “😍” but it’s only special when worn by you though. Everytime i see a drawing or anything that replicates you i start rolling around on the floor to try to release my happiness because if i don’t i’ll spontaneously discombobulate. Henry i cut out a drawing of you with the new curly hair design and taped it to the wall of my desk to stare at intensely.

You are the thorns to my rose, the pencil to my paper, the bullet to my gun and the gasoline to my fire.

Henry you are the most wonderful person i have ever EVER acknowledged in my whole life and you make me go

because of how wonderful you are. I bet your voice is super silly and whimsical and joyful and “hehehuhu” and all that pink and rainbows stuff. Henry.,,,., honey, my pookie bear. I have loved you ever since i first laid eyes on you. The way you hit the anti gravity ball with your cane to absolutely obliterate your opponent. Your dazzling button up, and those snazzy pants. I would do anything for you. I wish it were possible to freeze time so i would never have to watch you get taken by the tri government. You are so awesome sauce, and you are so coolio toolio. You are amazing playing lethal league, you’re a great player with an amazing cane, sometime i even call you my silly billy. I forever dread and weep, thinking of the day you will one day be experimented on. I would deplete my energy if it were the only thing that could give you an advantage on your opponents. You have given me so much joy, and heartbreak over the years (one year). I remember when you got snatched by the tri government and its like my heart got broken into a million pieces. But a tear still fell from my right eye when i watched you laugh in a transparent void (i don’t know any times he was happy with some sort context except for that gif of him crying laughing), because deep down, my hp deserved it. I just wanted you to return home and unmutate. Then allas, you did(n’t), my skrunkly skrungo (didn’t) came home and i rejoiced. 2023 was a hard year for us zude, but in 2024 you made history happen. You could be so whimsical in almost every situation and i couldn’t believe it. I was crying, crying a river even. and then my glorious pal yelled “DRAT!! I’M ALL OUTTA MEDS AND INSURANCE HASN’T APPROVED IT YET!!”

Not only have you changed your silly appearance (you still look silly)

but you’ve eternally changed my life.

And now you’ve got defeated again, but you’re still the silly, MY silly.

I love you pookie bear, my silly man, Henry. 😋❤️❤️

urghh i have homework to do what am i doing..

i don’t know if i want to tag fawfulydoo in this i’m scared can someone do it for me out of spite please

if fawfulydoo is tagged, sorry if this is weird fawful but henry is just so awesome saucr dude 😞

[theorgantrail]

Brian David Gilbert's "cursory and most likely useless guide to American health insurance terminology" is anything but useless, and I highly encourage giving it a watch or a listen. He makes several important points throughout while breaking industry jargon into more digestible layman's terms.

Below are comments on points I would like to echo or add to:

▻ BDG points out that the exorbitant cost of insurance premiums often puts people in a position of "betting on their health" by signing up for plans with lower premiums but higher out of pocket costs, hoping they will not need anything other than preventative care in a given year (5:34). I think this illustrates one of the flaws of privatized health insurance - this risk and cost is weighed on an individual level. I will discuss the cost of healthcare in another post.

▻ When he explains coinsurance, he states that a lower percentage is better because it is the portion that you pay, and that 100% coinsurance is a "dirty trick" (8:24). In my experience, insurance plans sometimes have the percent that the insurance covers written, while other plans are written the way BDG explains it. When evaluating insurance options or trying to understand the benefits you already have, this is important to check, as one document's 80% might be a better benefit than another document's 30%.

▻ In my prior career, I worked extensively with "tiered networks", also known as "narrow networks", and was glad to see BDG bring this trend up in the segment that starts at 14:41. These network structures are typically implemented a cost-saving measure. Sometimes, and ideally, they are supported by a close relationship between insurer and healthcare provider, that can facilitate community health initiatives. Patients are incentivized with a higher amount paid by insurance if they see certain providers, allowing them to afford to see the doctor more often. More people going to the doctor more regularly for low cost preventative care, such as diabetes management, saves the insurer from more expensive care, such as ER visits. The benefits to providers vary more, but can include better health outcomes and a smoother payment process. However, the insurance industry is far from ideal, and some tiered networks might save insurers money but ultimately cause more issues for patients and providers than they solve. The ugly truth is that some of the 'cost saving' comes from denying or paying less for claims from non-'tier one' providers - which just pushes the cost onto patients or their providers.

▻ "Almost every single thing about health insurance has been obfuscated" (25:48) and this hurts everyone except the insurance industry. I saw this first hand when I started working in a call center at 18, a job for which phase one of training took a month just to cover the basics about one type of insurance. No one should have to spend that amount of time just to scratch the surface on a system that can quite literally become life & death.

In the conclusion, BDG laments that he can't "dismantle the whole private health insurance system" in a video, and we are no better situated to accomplish that with this blog. But the effort to bring clarity matters, and so does the call for change. We may not have lobbying money like Blue Cross Blue Shield, but we have voices and can make them heard.

[corners-of-the-skies]

Who are you, Winter Snow?

Where children laughed and played?

I lost my mind in a lakeside tide

Locked inside a February rain

Who were you, Winter Sunset?

Your light so soft and warm

I lost my mind in a lakeside tide

Trapped inside a February storm

Who am I, Melted Winter?

My memory’s wearing so thin

I lost my mind in a lakeside tide

Whistling on a February wind

-February Rain. (2.7.24)

—————————————————

Something that’s been coming up a lot recently is the possibility that I’m quite literally insane.

Things being used by people close to me as evidence of “you need to go see a psychiatrist” are my constant bouts of dissociation, often so heavy that there will be large spans of time that I cannot recall. I’ll wake up in places and not know how I got there. I’ll say things that bring me to court with barely any recollection of what I actually said. Not to mention the constant noise from inside my head. Not sharing everything here, that’d be stupid.

I’ve heard a couple theories, some say I might be schizophrenic, some DID people say those are highly relatable experiences. It’s whatever, honestly. I can’t see anyone about it right now, my mother doesn’t believe in mental disorders and I can’t drive.

But something that was mentioned to me, was that apparently I had a very significant personality shift around middle school. I don’t remember much before then, and what I do remember is often traumatic or hazy.

Apparently this person that I was used to be a lot sweeter, a lot happier, a lot less sui/homicidal. But I’ve never known him. I wish I could have. He seems like he could have done a better job of running things.

I wonder who he was. But his identity is locked away from me. Like the recent winter being filled with rain, as if the snow has been forbidden to fall.

Locked inside a February rain..

Lol guys I get my driver’s license soon and I’m still on my parent’s (really good) health insurance for a while y’wanna place bets on what I get diagnosed with?

[pollylynn]

Title: Wager WC: 800

“I’m just helping out the troop.”  —Richard Castle, The Double Down (2 x 01)

You want in? 

It’s a happy turn of phrase on Ryan’s part that gives him the idea: a friendly bet. Or a not-so-friendly one, but that’s kind of the point. That’s what he’s doing here. He is (sort of) risking her wrath, because this seems like just the kind of opportunity he’s been looking for to do some damage repair with the boys. 

They’ve been decidedly cool toward him since he’s been back, and it’s kind of ridiculous. She’s taken him back, so what do they care? Except that Javier the Complicit is probably projecting, which means Ryan is projecting, because (a) there is no chance that Esposito kept his part in the whole affair from his work wife, and (b) Ryan is such an empath he must be a stealth Betazoid. But whatever. The boys are mad at him. He’s tired of the boys being mad at him, so he’s taking a harmless little gamble here. 

And then it’s a harmless bigger gamble, but still very definitely harmless. Actually, he tells himself, it’s the opposite of harmful, because it’s breaking the ice with pretty much everyone in the precinct. Or re-breaking it, because ten minutes ago—pre-trust-breaking—these people all loved him, so really he's just setting things back to rights. No harm at all there, as people from two floors down, three floors up find their way into the fourth floor break room to exchange a few words and a little bit of cash. 

When she finds out, he’d like to crow about being right. Not immediately. No, immediately, he pictures her kicking him to the curb—quite possibly literally—and he’s panicked. He talks quickly, even for him, trying to get out his great harm-reduction gamble before she changes into her curb-kicking shoes. But then she’s in on the bet, and for a good four or five seconds, he absolutely wants to crow. 

But the urge dies down quickly. He feels . . . unsettled, once she knows—once she’s in on it. He writes it off to embarrassment or something like it. He’s not keen on admitting that he has work to do in winning everyone back. Penance isn’t exactly the Richard Castle brand, after all. Or penance that isn't some kind of grand gesture isn’t, anyway. That must be it, he tells himself a little too heartily. That must be why he’s feeling unsettled, and this, too, shall pass. 

It’s a manufactured explanation, though. He vaguely knows that all along. Being found out, wanting to immediately beg for mercy, his visceral fear of her kicking him to the curb—everything about that sick-making moment before the life insurance lead pops, before she whirls around and declares A hundred on us—he knows in the back of his mind that unsettled isn’t really the word for what he’s feeling, and neither harmless nor little apply to his sudden need to risk her wrath. 

He vaguely knows all of this, but it comes into sharp focus as they sit side by side in front of the dual murder boards. She’s the one to raise the issue—the specter—of her mother and what she might be feeling now that she knows a uselessly small amount more about her murder. Everything he’s been doing since the happy accident of Ryan’s phrasing—You want in?— is suddenly crystal clear. 

Richard Castle may not do penance, but his sins are many and varied. He is a keeper of secrets and a fan of murder and mayhem. He is gambler to the nth degree, but here he is, in far, far over his head. 

She is taking the most painful of risks. She is acknowledging that what she knows now—knows because of greatest sin—is uselessly small. But she's also acknowledging, and to him no less, that it’s painful and it matters. She’s saying it out loud, and in the moment, he’s paralyzed. 

He opens his mouth and a hundred Richard Castle Specials threaten to spill right out. There’s the terrible possibility that he’ll shout It told you so, that he’ll make some kind of wretched joke to break the tension that he’s too much of a coward to endure. There are so many wrong things he might say, and yet he holds his tongue. 

It’s a risk. Silence may not be the thing she wants. It may not be the thing she needs, and it certainly isn't the thing she is expecting. But there it is—a moment of silence he presents with out a flourish that is hers to fill or not. 

This is the real gamble—what the two of them will be around this new bend in their relationship. The other, with its ratty, marked up envelope of cash—that was just a distraction. 

This is the big time. 

A/N: Maybe the real organizing principle of this series is conspiracy theories. I've invoked the Kool-Aid Man and now turned Ryan into an alien.

image via homeofthenutty

[hushedhippie]

It's none of my business but the other day you posted about reaching out to a therapist for your ed. Just wondering if you went through with that. You seem like a really cool person so I hope all is well

TRIGGER WARNING

AH AN UPDATE!!!! I have one!!!

SO, the clinic reached back to me & I didn’t get the best news I wanted to hear as to what they thought was the best path of recovery to take. It was basically decided I should go inpatient which makes me feel so many emotions. Anger at myself, at my younger self for starting this shit & romanticizing it. Fear because I don’t want that at all - obviously. A lot of fear over cost, what about my job I WORKED SO HARD TO GET INTO, what about me having to pay rent but not being able to work. It makes my head spin. It makes me sick. It’s been something that really just sucked more life out of me. BUT that clinic didn’t have any beds atm so they referred me else where.

I called another clinic & asked about the cost of inpatient. I’m so desperate to fucking be free from my god damn ed that maybe I’d be willing to take a month away to get help. They said they were going to run my insurance & call me back with an estimate - they never called me back but you bet your ass imma follow up because I’m DONE suffering.

Which leads me to where I am at now in my journey of truly actually getting my mental health together FOR REAL. I have an in person therapy appointment Thursday with someone new. I was selfish and chose a female therapist to make me more comfortable instead of being like, “oh whatever” & getting a man & 100000% be uncomfortable (sorry male doctors. Truly nothing against you & all respect to your work/practice. It’s just a mind thing, I swear). I was BRUTALLY honest on my intake form as to why I was seeking therapy, what I have been feeling, & what I’m looking to get out of therapy. And I plan to be brutally honest with the therapist because I am so so so tired of being a prisoner of my mind. Tired of years passing by that could have been filled with more memories if I weren’t so stuck in my toxic way.

A lot of my current eating disorder problems have changed from when I was younger. At first, it was about being skinny skinny skinny & not eating & exercising & achieving control/“that look”. But I’m an adult now & I know I can’t do that or I’ll literally fucking die & all my dreams I worked so hard for will go to waste. So my eating disorder became a horrible “habit” I say now. I won’t go into details because I’m ✨not a thinspo✨ BUT what I’m trying to get to is my panic attacks relate a lot to my eating/ed and I think talking to someone about my patterns, triggers, and fears will help guide me to getting fully away from the point of maintaining where I’m at essentially. That’s what I want to try first before I fully commit to inpatient. And if it takes weekly sessions, fuck the cost. For myself, my cloud, and my future, I’ll do it. (So if I post my onlyfans, hml to help pay for my therapy✨✨) I plan to quite frankly because that’s what I feel I need.

So that’s the current update🙂

[anthonybialy]

Joe Biden Decides Not to Run Again, He’s Informed

But who will keep inflation going?  Joe Biden’s unceremonious exit from alleged service serves as the first good thing he’s done for America.  Of course, his transition to president of his local Chuck E. Cheese came by coercion, so don’t worry about crediting a wholly unspectacular dunce who’s gotten every last thing wrong with Darth Vader-style decency at reign’s end.

Trump-style reality show drama was a kindly example of bipartisanship on the way out.  Nobody could determine if Biden was still in the race.  Jöedinger’s cat demonstrated quantum mechanics in a White House that doesn’t grasp economics.

A president who spends most of his waking hours holding conversations with his action figures is ostensibly still in charge of our lives.  Democrats think government should run everything and the president should run the government.  Also, they spent every moment up until late last weekend assuring the nation that Jell-O-brained Biden was the most qualified human imaginable.

The dedicated flunkies who claim the prototypical statesman dropped out to benefit America also assure you their choice is performing his present work tasks despite only being occasionally lucid around lunchtime.  The guy who’s not fit to apply for the job in question continues to staff it.

Yet refusing to quit near the end is the least worst problem about a failure from the start.  Biden declaring he’s started a decline that would leave him unable to be effective by the second term’s end is the least worrisome part about dropping out.  The problem remains how doltish he was when he won.

The stubbornness taking this long to subside is the quasi-incumbent’s defining characteristic.  Fuming like a Warner Brothers cartoon character?  Making everything personal?  Putting his interests ahead of the nation’s?  Are you sure this is Joe Biden we’re talking about?

Determining the approach of the replacement candidate will be the first perfect AI prediction.  Such an easy guess constitutes no victory for the cyborgs who’ll replace elections and civilization.  Economy-kicking, America-enervating policies remain identical.  The White House’s platform will not change with a different Democrat any more than Biden is going to start writing his own tweets.

Biden’s not running anymore.  Someone tell him.  I bet the letter’s plagiarized.  Neil Kinnock left office first.  Continuity remains if anyone feels anxious about the sudden need for a new president or the fact the guy who isn’t running still gets the Oval Office’s comfiest chair.  The Biden White House’s greatest innovation is rendering Biden superfluous.  Whatever person holds the official title is irrelevant.  It’s a triumph for a specific type of principles.

The executive branch has already been run by committee for most of this term.  But the panel has created way more egregious constitutional violations than its existence, so don’t fret.

Barack Obama walked off his eternal lieutenant figuratively this time.  Don’t wait for apologies from operatives who called you a Fox-hugging conspiracist meanie for noticing Biden couldn’t think or walk straight a few weeks ago.  The same people who said Biden wouldn’t leave the figurative stage claimed he left  the literal stage all by himself.  It’s a good thing they got all the lies out of their systems.

A coup is in character.  I’m as shocked as you are that Democrats who thought cramming through the forced purchase of lousy insurance would disregard their own primary.  Any member who quaintly thought voting advice would be heeded by a party renowned for mandates surely appreciates the precedent.

The agenda remains.  Whether Kamala Harris is appointed her way to the nomination or there’s a second plot to overthrow the first, the mouthpiece for compulsion will run on the same pushy ideals.

A person never suited to be president won’t be one anymore.  One candidate leaving irks one staying.  Donald Trump will somehow pout even more.  A Democrat who’s marginally better at forming sentences is a big deal since presidential elections are now about the preferred style of getting bossed around.  Removing the addled option offers the best chance to win against the one who’s semi-coherently angry.

Biden won’t have the chance to beat Trump twice.  Simultaneously, the vengeance tour has lost its villain.  A rosy campaign featuring each hope-filled hopeful vying to be slightly less awful than the other created the precisely expected environment.  Likewise, a mutually inspirational example of attempting to win by claiming the other sucks shows that even enemies share common traits.

The patient dropped out on the medical advice of Doctor Jill Biden.  The need to grift only loses out to disappearing opportunity. Those who urged a deteriorated executive born before D-Day to stay were motivated by the utterly selfless goal of using access to power for siphoning easy cash.  Democrats think everyone else also only profits by skimming.

The true test of familial loyalty takes the form of seeing if they keep praising their meal ticket even after the cafeteria’s closed.  Gramps is upset the chicken nuggets are gone by the time he gets there.

Only one campaign survived an assassination attempt.  Biden exhibited resistance to cognitive functioning during his technically successful presidential run.  A mental meltdown wasn’t going to stop the White House cabal from pretending the puppet could perform complicated tasks like shoe-tying.  The faction who idolizes politicians couldn’t find a better one to explain why paying tuition is a moral burden only for those who didn’t attend college.

It’s reassuring to know how many minutes we have left to treasure the Biden presidency.  That’s unless he gives up on giving up in five minutes.  The supposed leader of the free world wouldn’t shock anyone if he announced he forgot he dropped out.  This canceled series has felt like having George Costanza as president, so showing up to work after he quit would be in character.

Smirking about how the most selfish president possible put the country first is merely one of the final lies from Biden’s dwindling diehards about a rather mendacious term.  Framing the diminished nitwit as a dignified commander for resisting bailing as long as possible so his family could continue to mooch is no more of a lie than his ideology.  Biden would think he was being complimented if he thought at all.  Not plotting anything out is his legacy.

[kierancampire]

I was getting a bit of anxiety yesterday

Due to the assisted living payments, Swan's compensation, and then treating myself with it, it's been hard to figure out my money, what I get, and how I am spending. Initially I thought I could afford the gym, which will be £21.99 going forward, but I saw I actually spent more than I get each month and lost money last month, even though I was good and barely got myself any extras. Like, literally the only extras I could see added up to around £13, I maybe got some small things when going food shopping but it would have been minor things, at most I'd say another £20 or so. The only "rare" purchase was the girls litter, which due to sales came out to around £55

Thing is this month it still will be hard to figure out fully as I ended up spending £12 on 2 locks, then yesterday I bought an ice cream cone for £4. I also wanted to buy myself some gym gear, just better shoes as I don't have any good shoes and I noticed it quite badly yesterday in the gym, as well as some gym appropriate shorts/shirts. But then, yeah, I really need to be good with money and get literally no extras, just to see if I can actually afford it, cause I'm sorta screwed if I can't

I went through and tried to find out what I can cancel on payments to save money, but there really isn't anything. Like arguably YouTube, but YouTube ads have gotten horrific, and I use YouTube and YouTube Music CONSTANTLY, so it'd save £13 a month but massively impact my quality of life. I spend £11-£12 a month on insurance for my fridge and oven, which I have never needed and although it lets me replace them for free, I think I've already spent more in insurance than they cost to buy, but then obviously the older they get (nearly 3 now) the more I could use it, and that's nearly 3 years of £11-£12 a month wasted if I cancel it. And UC covers all my rent, I'm £500 in credit with Swan, so I could cancel the £20 I give them each month as a sort of "Just in case" if they would let me. But those 3 things are the only monthly expenses I could technically cut, everything else are things I literally need to spend money on, like gas, electric, water, council tax and such. Beyond that I think my best bet is to just really only go to Lidl/Aldi and try to keep costs down, which I already do, but just try even more

I don't want to eat into my cushion any more than I already have, I need to save for life's next emergency, so I gotta figure out quickly if I can afford the gym, and it just, yeah, means going back to unfun living. It'd be so much easier if UC increased and I could see by how much, but I have no idea if my UC even is increasing or when I will get it, so I just gotta try and work it out on what I have now

Looking at it I should be entitled to an increase, but it seems like it will come in June? I'm hoping so, not getting it will really screw me, it sucks I haven't got it for May if I am actually getting it. I'll still do everything I can to keep costs down to save money either way, just, yeah, it'd make life easier

[pattywagon2go]

Transit Talk Thursday

Transit Talk Thursday: This post is gonna be quite a bit shorter this time around, as for the first official Transit Talk Thursday post of 2024, I want to talk about the antithesis to transit: Cars. Specifically car dependency, and I want to talk about why it sucks so much. Cars themselves I am okay with, but when you are forced into using a car for literally everything you do, then that's where my issues with it creep in, speaking as someone who just realized how bad they are.

Time to open with something that might be obvious, but car dependency is something that will single out certain people. In this world, you will find a multitude of differing preferences and beliefs, and this extends to how people get around. Some do enjoy cars, while others don't, and that's okay! What isn't okay is when cities are built with massive highways that sprawl out into suburbs which can only be reliably navigated using a car. If you have a car already and can drive it, this isn't going to be that much of a problem. But if you either don't like to drive or can't, well good fucking luck to you! You might as well not even leave your house! Happen to have a job you need to get to? If you're out in suburbia, 99% of the time you'll need a car to get there. Maybe you can carpool with a friend, but that still requires a friend who owns a car and is licensed to operate said car. And in the most of extreme cases, do you expect everything on your commute to go perfectly your way? What if there's been an unexpected road closure on your way? Now what will you do?

A good example of this is when a section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania closed due to an underpass bridge collapsing. If you have a job in the city and rely on 95 to get there, well tough luck buddy! Thankfully, SEPTA Regional Rail does run up the route of 95 and SEPTA did increase service to accommodate more people, but this is the problem with being overly dependent on one mode of transportation: You are screwed if that mode isn't available to you. It will be there in the best of times, but the worst of times will always inevitably happen. That's just life.

It's not just going to be whether you can or can't drive that's going to be the pinch point though. It's also going to be the financial pinch.

Look at these prices. Do you seriously want to fork over that kind of change for an unruly machine that needs constant attention as its your only way of getting anywhere? This isn't even factoring in the cost of fueling the damn thing or even getting car insurance so you don't pay up the wazoo in the event you get into an accident. And if you simply don't make enough to afford a car, well then you're screwed beyond belief. This is why options need to be a thing, having only one option becomes a big problem should said option not be available to you for any reason.

And while on the subject of accidents, here's a grim fact: Car dependency is killing people. In fact, 42,939 Americans alone died in 2021. That's nearly 118 people dead per DAY.

That to me is completely unacceptable.

Now here's the thing. For Americans specifically, I'm willing to bet that when you hear or even see a car crash you are dismayed by it but you don't bother thinking about what's causing fatalities like these to happen. You just shrug it off as bad driving, distracted driving, whatever other excuse it could be. I know I did before I had my eyes opened. And to an extent, yes, part of this is to blame on stuff like bad/distracted driving. But the bigger culprit is the cities that we live in FORCING these drivers on the road. And this is only going to continue to get worse and worse, especially with the boom of SUVs and pickups being more common on our roads. Shocker: Bigger car means higher likelihood of shit going wrong during a loss of control, inevitably leading to a crash or accident.

And as a bonus, here's a little thing dismantling the "Just one more lane bro" argument in regards to traffic.

No matter how many goddamn lanes you put on a highway, it will never fix traffic.

The simple reason is because the more lanes you add, the more you incentivize people to drive. From there, the highways get choked up again, and then you're back where you fucking started. Yay!

The more complex reason is that no matter how many lanes you add, you still have to contend with the fact that other streets are still small, and so as a result, will hold back how much another lane of highway will do. You can try to expand those as well, but at that rate you might as well destroy the city and everything surrounding the road to just have big roads everywhere. No matter how you cut it, you simply cannot add more lanes to fix traffic. Alan Fisher has a great video explaining this topic better here, so if you're interested, give it a watch.

So, what's the conclusion of all this?

If anything, it's to highlight exactly why car dependency sucks. From it being a burden to anyone who can't own a car and/or operate one to how it's killing thousands each year, no matter how you chop it, being overly dependent on the automobile is not the way to go moving forward. The only way to move forward is actually take a look at the past, and how we did public transportation then. Cars will continue to be a thing in society, but when everyone is forced into using one for any task that requires leaving home, you have to wonder: Is this "freedom" truly free?

[pinknightsinmymind]

【 let's drive - ellie williams 】

ellie williams x fem!reader

wc: 1.8k

content: modern!au, so much fluff you got a stomachache, cute gf shit, use of pet names(love, baby, princess, babe, etc.), reader and ellie are between 20-21 here for sake of driving laws lol

based off request prompt: I have a really bad fear of driving and I've been trying so hard to get over it but it's just tough, could you possibly write an Ellie x Fem! Reader where Ellie tries to help her get over her fear of driving?

a/n: i really enjoyed writing this! i'm still learning how to drive myself so this was somewhat comforting. i hope yall enjoy this oneshot! and to the person who requested it, i hope you like it as well! this shit had me screaming and crying and throwing up bc ik ellie is one of the sweetest, most gentlest, and encouraging ppl out there.

Your hands shook nervously as you sat in the passenger seat of Ellie’s car. You bounced your leg up and down as you looked outside the window at all your surroundings. Everything blurred together: the street signs, the trees, the buildings, the night sky, all of it. Ellie kept glancing at you as she drove, making sure only to do it at red lights or stop signs. She felt it’d be kind of hypocritical of her to be that kind of bad driver while trying to teach you how to drive.

She finally pulled into the extremely empty parking lot of a local store and parked. She turned towards you and saw how you continued staring at your shoes. She could always read you so easily. She turned down her music, which was a playlist you had compiled for her to play while she drived.

“Hey…you okay?” she asked. You shook your head. “Nervous?”

“Yeah.”

“It’ll be okay. I’m here to help you, alright? Why don’t you tell me what’s making you so nervous.” She offered her hand out for you, and you gladly took a hold of it. The warmth of her hands comforted you as she rubbed her thumb against your skin. It grounded you, in a way.

“I’m just…This whole driving thing, you know? It makes me anxious and scared. Shit, one wrong move and everything’s fucked. Not to mention all the other drivers that are around you and all the rules you gotta remember. And, God, don’t even get me started on freeways. You literally can’t stop. And the idea of possibly getting in an accident scares the shit out of me. So many things could go wrong. Oh, and not to mention, dealing with insurance and all those sorts of things. Parking, backing up into spaces, parallel parking.” You could keep going for hours on why driving was so scary. The idea of having a whole machine under your operation that could quite literally crash terrified you.

“You listed a lot of things,” she commented in an attempt to lighten the mood. It didn’t work. “I’m gonna start with the most obvious thing I know you’re scared about. You know, car crashes only ever happen when you’re careless or someone else is doing stupid shit. Mostly everybody driving doesn’t want to get in a crash, so they’ll do their best not to. And you’re not a careless driver, and you won’t be doing stupid shit before or while you’re driving.”

“I guess that’s true.”

“It is true. But that’s why you gotta be careful, babe, and you are. I don’t doubt you’ll be able to pay close attention to everything and maneuver around the idiots who can’t drive.”

“Okay, but what about freeways?”

“That’s what the slow lanes are for. You use them when you’re gonna go slow and when you’re a new driver. You’ll be okay.”

“It’s the fact you can’t stop and that it’s an endless stretch that scares me.”

“Think about it a different way, then. Endless freedom.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at her fearless and optimistic attitude. “Of course you’d see it that way.”

“Shit, I’d be a race car driver if I could. Sometimes I sp—Actually, forget I said that. Don’t be like me.”

“Yeah, I bet you were going to say something real insightful then.”

“I said nothing,” she insisted.

“Anyways, what about parallel parking? Or backing up into spaces in general?”

“That’s what practice is for,” Ellie replied.

“Well, what about other drivers? Some of them are such assholes.”

“Fuck other drivers. Literally just don’t care about them or the stupid shit they do, especially if it’s because they think you’re going too slow. They’re not important. You can just flip them off like me.”

“Oh, you mean the famous Ellie Williams technique?”

“Yes, exactly,” she said while smiling at you. She kissed your cheek. “Instead of thinking of all the things that scare you, look at them differently, okay? Don’t see what could go wrong, because then you’ll scare yourself. Just see it as things you want to avoid, and then they become reasons to be careful.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“No, I am right,” she insisted.

You rolled your eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I’m sure.”

“Still nervous?” Ellie asked, looking you earnestly in your eyes.

“A little bit. I don’t know. The thought of driving makes me feel like everything’s out of my control, but also like there’s too much control in my hands. Does that make sense?”

“I get what you mean, but you can’t let yourself get caught up in that. Have some faith in yourself. You’ll do great.”

“It makes me happy you have such faith in me.”

“Of course I do! My amazing girlfriend is capable of anything. You could even pilot a spaceship.”

“That takes it a bit too far,” you laughed. She laughed a little, too, before getting somewhat serious. She moved a piece of hair behind your ear, staring at you as she was deep in thought. You watched as a smile spread across her face.

“Hey, you know how you call yourself my passenger princess? Because you sit there and look pretty, you give me directions, you handle the aux cord, and I get to touch your thighs?”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“Well, I love having you as my passenger princess, but just think about it. I could be your passenger princess.” Ellie didn’t particularly like the term for herself, but if she needed to call herself a passenger princess to encourage you, that’s what she’d do. She liked that term better for you since she loved treating you like a princess, but, hey, she saw how much your eyes lit up when she suggested the idea to you.

“Ellie, you’re a genius!”

“On occasion,” she gloated. “You’re free to put your hands all up on me.” You smiled so big, and you seemed so much happier than you did when you first pulled into the parking lot. “You ready to practice driving?”

“Yeah, just one question.”

“Let me hear it.”

“Are you even legally allowed to teach me how to drive?”

“Uh… I should be. But, if I’m not, doesn’t that make it more thrilling?”

“How long have you been driving for?”

“Well, I got my license when I was sixteen, but I learned how to when I was fourteen because Joel taught me.”

“So way before the recommended age.”

“Yeah, but that’s what made it fun,” she reminisced. “I think you have to be twenty-one to teach someone, so we’re good.”

“Okay.” You took a deep breath. “I think I’m ready.”

“Alright, let’s get to it.” Ellie opened her door and hopped out. She didn’t move to the passenger side just yet as she waited for you to round the back of her car. She opened the door wide for you to step in, and as you did so she smacked your ass.

“Ellie!” you yelled. She just laughed at you.

“Sorry, couldn’t help it,” she said, then walked over to the passenger side and jumped in. “Alright, babe, show me what you got. It’ll be okay. I’ll guide you every step of the way.”

You nodded as you took the car out of park and put it into reverse. You back out of the parking spot slowly, then shift back to drive. You made sure to keep a steady foot on the brakes, and in general you were careful as you shifted between that pedal and the gas.

“What now?” you asked. Your heart sped up somewhat, but that was until you felt Ellie rub your shoulders.

“You’ll be okay. Let’s just try driving around. Can you do that for me, baby?”

“Yeah.” You slowly drove straight, then when you reached the end of the row of parking spaces, you made a turn into the next area. Ellie stayed silent as she watched you.

“You know more than you think, love. You’re doing great.” You made another turn after that, then another, until Ellie spoke again. “You wanna try parking? You can do it, babe.”

“Sure, I’ll try.” You were nervous as you drove forward until you found a spot you wanted. You were careful as you curved Ellie’s car to the left and parked in the spot, making sure not to get too close to the line that separated the two sides. Once you did that you practiced backing up and parking into the space behind it. After you finished you put the car in park and let out a huge breath. “Oh, God, that was stressful.”

“But you did it!” Ellie cheered. “I’m so proud of you! See, it wasn’t so bad.”

“Well, there weren’t any other people.”

“Don’t discredit yourself like that. The way you drove right now, that’s how you should drive when it comes to being around other people. Don’t let them intimidate you. You've been learning how to drive and practicing for a while, and what you did just now was perfect, okay? Perfect just like you.” You could faint because of the way she looks at you. “Next time you practice, I’ll be with you as you drive around other people, okay? And that can be whenever you wanna do it.”

“Alright.” You nodded as you tried to gather your breath and not get anxious again. Maybe if Ellie was with you it wouldn’t be so bad. You could do it with her by your side. “We can do that in a few days, if you want.”

“I’m off work on Thursday. We can do it then.”

“That works for me.”

“Good.” Ellie looked out the window and stared at the moon before checking the time. 11:34 P.M. “To celebrate,” she said excitedly, “let’s go get milkshakes or something. On me.”

“Really?” you asked.

“Yes. You did such a good job, so of course we’re gonna celebrate it. For the time being, you’re still my passenger princess, so I gotta treat you like it.”

“If you insist.” You undid your seatbelt and hopped out the car as fast as you could. You decided to wait for Ellie as she came out from the passenger side to the driver’s side. You pulled her in by wrapping your arms around her neck. Her hands immediately found your waist as you kissed her in thanks, but also with love. “Thank you for helping me out today.”

“Of course, babe. It was my pleasure.” She gave you another small kiss. “Now hop back in so I can buy you a milkshake.” You unwrapped your arms from her neck, and in the split second she turned around, you smacked her ass harder than she did for you. “Ow!” she yelled, covering her ass as she fell into her seat. “[Y/N], what the fuck?”

“Payback,” you said, as you sauntered over to the passenger side. After you got back in your seat and put your seatbelt on, you noticed Ellie glaring at you. “What?” you asked.

“I changed my mind. No more milkshakes.” She crossed her arms and shook her head comically.

“What? No, please, baby, we have to get milkshakes.”

“Should’ve thought about that before you smacked my ass. That’s my job,” she scolded.

“Are you serious?” you asked.

She shook her head and started laughing. “No. Now where do you wanna get milkshakes from?”

[rillette]

mmay i have some nice hal facts/photos/headcanons/really whatever you want i am having a bad day again ^ - ^

I'm sorry to hear that!!! I hope this isnt like horrendously late <- (fell asleep) and I hope ur having a much better day now than when u sent this <3

Kicking my feet um um what haven't I talked about yet for hal. Oh let's talk about his various jobs <3. He was a test pilot at ferris air when he first got the ring, and then he quit when carol got engaged (to some guy idk) and he was tourism pilot in Idaho for like a single issue!

And then he was an insurance claims adjuster for a while until he got sick of that and quit, and then then he was a toy salesman! And then hard traveling heroes happened so he just kinda wandered around with ollie for a bit.

And then he got a job as a truck driver until his truck was totaled by a wave. And then he got a job back at ferris but then ferris was bombed and they were going to start laying people off so he was looking for new piloting jobs but nobody would hire him because he was "too fearless" which made him "a liability". He slayed too close to the sun I guess </3 (<- parallax joke)

Anyways after working at ferris for a bit he was a freelance test pilot and then he ran his own air taxi business <3

Hmm what else.... his mom called him hally :)

Also his relationship with ollie in HTH is so fucking funny because hal will say something like "idk about this ollie this seems suspicious" and ollie will go "UGH you are such a WET BLANKET 🙄"

Any adaptation of hal being like. Some suave renegade ladysman top gun pilot or whatever is so fucking funny to me. Like who is that. Hal, my friend hal who cant lie to save his life? Hal the teetotaler that did math homework instead of getting laid? 🤨

Also I want to talk about the rings bc I was thinking about guy being trans and how he would get T in space, which made me go u know what I bet the ring could permanently alter your physiology if you wanted it bad enough. Guy used the ring to keep himself young its literally canon that you can alter your physiology somewhat with it. Anyways this is me saying that I think hal's massive boobs and hourglass figure is reflective of his need to be a pretty lady

[mamamittens]

Put on a Show (+18)

BuggyXReader (Gender neutral attempt)

I tried really hard to write full on smut without an assigned gender, but don't be surprised if it makes more sense as AFAB (sorry, but for safety reasons you really should not be shoving anything up your ass without prep, pro tip). There is a general assumption reader is very flexible and strong. As should be expected of someone who regularly does aerial silks.

I was lowkey making a joke with myself when the idea first popped up, but if nothing else, this is descent smut practice. Hope the Buggy simps appreciate.

Warnings: Voyeurism, grinding, dirty talk, authority kink, definitely a lowkey bondage kink, Buggy is an ass man here, unconfirmed/no prep anal/or/vaginal sex, and creampie.

Oh! By the way, a "Shill" in a circus is someone that pretends to buy tickets or participate in a show/event/game to remove anxiety for someone else being first so they can make more money! Seemed fitting for a nickname at the time ;)

@lilmissofficial hope this has you convinced lmao (let me know if you'd like me to remove this tag btw, I couldn't ask before I posted)

Word Count: 2,137

There were times you wanted to take the immaculate silk ribbons you were intimately familiar with and use them to strangle the absolute fuck out of your captain.

The prideful man likely thought you and everyone else was dumb as a rock with his piss poor excuses about your presence on his crew. You didn’t really have much in the way of fighting experience. And sure, your impressive upper body strength could be considered an asset—but it was painfully obvious that you were not a part of his crew because of your strength. No. You were definitely on board solely because Captain Buggy was massively turned on by your command of endless silk fabric.

If you could see the hard on while spinning and tumbling in and out of intricate knots, there was no way anyone else was missing that. Somehow no one was saying anything though, which told you that either there were bets going around or everyone was literally that stupid. Including your captain.

But no.

According to your illustrious captain, you were a secret ace in the hole. A veritable death from above!

And to be quite honest, you were ready for the pretense to be done with already before one of you dies from figurative blue balls. There are only so many times you can provocatively do the splits at perfect eye level for Buggy’s elevated vantage point before you gave up on life itself. It might be a little easier on both of you if he didn’t insist on watching over every practice performance you did as well.

But no. As captain, it was his duty to insure the safety of his whole crew.

In truth, he clearly just had a voyeurism kink.

And you had enough of his shit. It was time for Buggy to either man up and confess or stop watching your ass like it was made of solid gold.

Which lead you to this moment. Staring up the seemingly endless twin length of silk as you tested its anchoring high above. It would be very un-sexy of you to smash your face into the ground instead of his chest after all.

There was a flash of color in one of the higher balconies, signaling the arrival of your captain. At times, you suspected he haunted the practice area specifically to ensure he never missed a performance. But it was just as likely he was using Haki to track the general location of his crew. Seemed sneaky enough for him, even though he clearly thrived in the sheer drama of a show. And you were about to put on one hell of a show for him.

Taking a deep breath, you gripped the fabric in both hands and lifted yourself up. Legs swinging out to catch on the silk in wide loops around your legs, hooking into convenient footholds under your feet. Twelve feet in the air, you pushed out your chest, hands keeping you from tumbling forward, spine arched perfectly as you dipped your head back. Slowly, you pushed your body’s half circle form until you were standing again. Then tipping back into a spin so you dropped several feet.

Catching on a knot of silk around your leg just in time.

Slowly, sensually, you twisted and carefully ascended again. Taking care to occasionally perform a split or spin on the silk so it wasn’t obvious what you were doing. And then you were several feet above Buggy, pretending like you hadn’t seen him yet. Completely unaware that your deep split with loops of silk around your thighs and calves put you on a perfect display.

Then you dropped suddenly, sliding down until you caught the silk in your hands, arching your body back and up so you were face to face with Buggy’s shocked expression. You gave a sly grin, pushing out until your noses almost touched.

“Enjoying the show, captain?” You whispered, watching his face flush a deep red that almost matched his nose. He was unusually dressed down today. Carefully crafted ‘captain’ outfit nowhere to be seen. A simple stripped shirt and baggy pants he clearly preferred to sleep in. Blue silky hair pulled back into a ponytail instead of fixed into his hat. He still had on lipstick though, which was almost reassuring.

Even with the distinctive tattoo on Buggy’s face, he looked almost naked without the rest of his usual outfit.

Blustering and surprised, Buggy stammered for a moment.

“O-Of course! Y-You’re as skilled as ever! As expected of one of my valued crew members!” Buggy declared.

You continued giving him a sly smile, eyes narrowing as you slowly grew closer, head tilting to avoid his nose.

Stopping just shy of his lips.

“I’m glad you like the show. Captain.” You breathed out softly before pulling back suddenly. You almost laughed as his body swayed forward unconsciously. “I suppose I should get back to it though. I’m sure you have more important things to be doing right now.” You teased airily, swinging your upper body back around.

Conveniently displaying your ass at perfect eye level.

You yelped at the sudden grip on your inner thigh, yanking you back towards your captain. A single, disembodied gloved hand firmly latched over the tense muscle. Surprised, you tilted back again, arching your spine to face Buggy at an appropriately conversational angle.

He looked flustered and pissed.

“And what the hell was that? You trying to test my patience, Shill?” Buggy hissed. You laughed a little, shaking your head.

“No! Of course not, captain! Just practicing control for the next show is all!” You excused. Buggy’s eyes narrowed further. His hand squeezed harder, jerking you closer.

“I didn’t think you were making so little you’d need to work for extra tips, Shill.” Buggy growled. Buggy… he looked genuinely pissed at the idea you’d kiss audience members as part of an act.

Taking leave of your senses, you cracked a wide smile you knew would piss him off.

“Of course not, captain! But you specifically seem to enjoy a little teasing as part of a show so~?” You sighed, tilting your head and pressing your luck even further, “Not that you ever want to participate—But if it bothers you that much, I can go back to keeping my distance.” You started to return to your previous position, back complaining from holding the pose for so long. The hand on your thigh slid over to grab your ass, Buggy’s other hand catching your head to pull you in close.

Buggy’s lips slid over yours in a harsh press, face noticeably hot as he locked eyes with you. He pulled you in closer still, your legs untangling from the silk so you fell forward, sending him into his back. He grunted but refused to let go or relinquish the kiss. Finally, you pulled away, hands braced beside his head as you looked down in shock. His lipstick was smeared around his lips, undoubtedly coloring your own as well.

“I don’t recall saying you could stop.” Buggy grit his teeth, hands firmly planting on your ass to squeeze the toned muscle.

“You never really said to start either, captain.” You mumbled, still a little shell shocked that he actually made a fucking move. Maybe there was hope for the both of you yet. Buggy smirked.

“Cocky little shit.” His hips bucked under you, grinding his erection against you, “This clear enough instruction?”

“I don’t know… Mm—” You moaned softly at the growing heat in your body from the harsh friction through your leotard, “I-I’d hate to disappoint you.”

Buggy flipped you over, hands reluctantly leaving your body to hold himself over you, hips still grinding against you.

“If I’d known all it would take was a little hands on action, I would have done it while you were tangled in the air.” Buggy hissed, “You look so fucking pretty in silk, you know that? I think this is a close second though—hng! Yeah. Keep making that face, Shill~”

Buggy gripped your thigh, guiding your leg over his waist. Clothed erection grinding into you hard enough to draw a choked moan. You bit your lip as Buggy smeared his lipstick over your exposed neck, kissing the skin with hot, open bites. Your heart was pounding against your chest with every harsh pass of his cock, the friction nearly shoving you up the floor if it wasn’t for his firm grip on your body.

“C-Captain—Fuck~!” Buggy laughed at you, tongue eagerly sliding over your panting cries.

“I can feel how hot you are for me. Good.” Buggy slipped his hands under your ass again, firmly grinding his cock into you as he ruined your leotard with his precum even through his pants, “Keep being so sweet and maybe we’ll do an encore.” Buggy joked despite the raging hard on he kept forcing to slide between your thighs.

He pinned you to the floor with his whole body, fingers sliding the fabric covering your crotch to the side for a more intimate grind. His own pants falling down enough so his cock began to smear precum over your thighs and sex. Thickness trapped between your bodies as he went faster. Pressing his body into yours harder.

“Oh-oh—oh~! Fuck Buggy please! Hng—I-I ca-can’t keep—Ah~!” You shook, hot liquid smearing between your bodies as you came. The heat seeping between you both as Buggy kissed you again, tongue deep in your throat as his cock twitched, cumming hard in the wake of your cries. His hips kept grinding into you, prolonging the sparks along your skin as he tried to kiss you even deeper.

Reluctantly he pulled back.

“Hah… Have I made myself clear yet?” Buggy asked, watching with heated eyes as your mixed cum pooled underneath you, sliding between your thighs and cheeks.

Panting, you smirked, instantly earning a warning look from Buggy.

“I-I don’t know Captain… I think the message needs to sink in a little… deeper.” Buggy grinned, canting his hips back.

“If that’s what it takes~” Buggy cooed, before thrusting his cock to the base. You screamed in surprise, the sound muffled in an unexpected kiss, “I thought this is what you wanted? Can’t handle taking orders? That’s considered mutiny, don’t you know?” Buggy licked up your neck as you sucked in a sharp breath. Your body burning from the sudden thickness.

Buggy pulled out, breathing in your sigh of relief before snapping his hips back to slam into your ass.

You moaned in sharp bursts as he fucked you hard, driving his cock as deep as it would go before his hips bounced off your ass.

“Ah! A-Ah~! Ha~h! C-Ca-ah~pta-ahn~!”

“Fuck that’s more like it~! Not so cocky now, are you?” Buggy laughed, “Is it too much? What are you going to do about it? Cum? Good.” Buggy drove his hips faster, delighted as you keened.

“B-Buggy~! Ah-hnnngg—fuck oh-oh-oooh~!” Your mind was in shambles as your body steadily began to burn in a much different way. Fire growing in your stomach as he split you open, eagerly fucking you through another orgasm.

You screamed as the pleasure took a sharp turn under the ceaseless onslaught. Your hips burned as Buggy pushed your thighs apart into a split, hips forcing your waist up so his cock drove your lower spine down into the floor. Despite not appearing very strong, his grip was unmoving, pinning you in place for his cock to drive you over the edge again.

“Who’s your captain? Who’s fucking you this good? Tell me.” Buggy spat, hot breathe beating over your exposed neck.

“Y-Y-oh—fffuck it’s you B-Buggy~!” You rambled, moans breaking your sentence apart until it was almost incomprehensible.

“That’s fucking right it is! C’mon, show me how good you feel—” Buggy kissed you deeply again, griding his cock against your sweet spot, “One more time for the finale, Shill. I wanna feel you squeeze around me again.”

You slammed your head back against the floor as you shook in his hold, unable to move away from the burning of his cock in your walls.

Finally, Buggy slammed his hips against you, cock spilling deep as he groaned into your lips with gritted teeth. Hissing as you squeezed him hard with a soft moan.

“F-Fuck… I-I’m guessing this is a more… hah… private show?” You laughed, body sinking down in exhaustion.

Buggy gave a sharp laugh.

“Ain’t no one got enough berri to pay for a show like this.” Buggy kissed your cheek gently before whispering into your ear, “I expect a repeat performance though. Can’t afford for you to get rusty. Captain’s orders.”

“Yes, Captain.” You promised with a dizzy grin.

Thank fuck you knew how to put on a show.

The encore was to die for.

[yay855]

I'm willing to bet that they have hydroponics and indoor farms for food production, because no way in hell would they be able to import all of their food during the reign of the Old Heterodynes.

Healthcare is probably free, but you have to pay a fee or else you get used as a test dummy for experimental medicinal practices (or worse, student learning). Locals generally are 100% fine with being a test dummy so long as they're not permanently killed, while tourists may vary. The hospital is also paid using local taxes and a Wulfenbach stipend; prior to it being built, you had to rely on local physicians, who were even less scrupulous.

The schools are likely located in the residential district, so kids don't have to walk very far to get there.

Running a sandwich shop is likely not too bad, save for when Jagers try to steal your hat and wreck the place. So... expensive.

Art funding is actually quite good; the Heterodynes wanted their home to be beautiful, and the Castle appreciates good stonemasonry and painting.

Life expectancy comes in multiple flavors: Jagermonster, Jager-adjacent, and civilian. Jagermonsters are ridiculously hard to kill and can theoretically live forever; Jager-adjacent people such as Old Man Death generally have low life expectancy, because normal humans can't exactly take a Jagermonster-sized beating; and civilians probably live very long lives (assuming the Master doesn't randomly dissect them for parts) thanks to public healthcare and the Castle preventing major household accidents.

The real estate is, in a word, crowded. The town hasn't really expanded much in a long time, and the population boom due to the Heterodynes no longer raiding and attacking neighbors has caused overcrowding, resulting in many people building up and down. The architects are debatably even madder than the Heterodyne, least of all because they willingly collaborate with the Castle.

They do not have insurance agents; the last time someone tried to start an insurance company the Heterodyne of the time turned them into a living campfire which they proceeded to slowly pour a bucket of water on. Everyone who's tried since has gone missing or fled.

The Cathedral is canonically the result of a bet between a former Heterodyne and another nobleman, but it's not actually Catholic (anymore), largely because the Heterodynes refused to accept any religion they didn't control for longer than it took to spite someone else over it.

The manufacturing district makes almost literally everything the town needs. They didn't exactly trade with the outside world for most of the town's history.

Lot of questions about mechanicsburg suddenly. What do their taxes look like. Whats the funding for public services. Do they have free healthcare. Do they charge tourists for said healthcare. They dont seem to have a uni, but wheres their school(s) located. I have my doubts that anything in the greens would be edible (without turning you into a mutant) and the tumbles appear to be paved so its pretty likely that they have to import most of their food. How expensive is it to actually run a sandwich shop in this place. Whats their art funding look like. What is this towns live expectancy. Hows the real estate. Do they have insurance agents. The cathedral

[wlw-multi-fandom-imagines]

Hey, may i ask for a little scenario where Cheryl blossom falls for a new Femreader student who's a pro kick boxer and can kicke asses (but at first sight she doesn't seem like it) when reader intervens on day when Cheryl Veronica and Betty start an argument with some guys from the sport team who are quite violente. Thank you !

Before she signed you up for your first lesson, your mother had very solemnly laid out a few ground rules regarding your year-long campaign start kickboxing.

1.  No hanging out after hours at the gym

You were only 14 at the time, but your mom wasn’t naive and she noticed the intensity in your gaze as you’d pass the gym and the way your face reddened as you stammered out a few words to the older girls standing out front when they asked if you were interested (in kickboxing, of course).  If she was going to pay for lessons, you’d better be focused on your trainer and not securing a hookup for later.

2.  No hiding injuries

You had hated going to the doctor since childhood, and it became apparent early on that you would go to great lengths to avoid doing so.  From denying fevers to the time you had hidden two broken toes for a week, you always made every effort to mend yourself up before revealing anything was wrong.  If you were going to fight, you had to be honest and suck it up enough to see a doctor if you needed to.

3. No fights outside the ring.

That one had been hard to stick to at times.  Though not violent by any means, you were quick-tempered and needed to get a handle on it if you were going to get “punching lessons”.  

You had agreed to all of these rules, to your mother’s subtle surprise, and had been in the gym every afternoon after school since.  And, to her immense relief, you didn’t allow the other women at the gym to distract you.  It was easier than you had initially thought, especially considering most of them were hot-headed and honestly a little too similar to yourself to consider dating.  

Cheryl, on the other hand...Cheryl got you wrapped around her finger within weeks of your arrival to Riverdale.  Your official tour guide to the new school, Betty, had introduced the two of you during your lunch period.  One look at the subtle flex of your muscles beneath the shirt you were wearing was enough to catch her attention, and the game was on.  

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

“Hey, your girl and her little friends are starting a fight.”

You looked up from your phone, frowning in confusion at the unfamiliar person in front of you.  You hadn’t cared to get to know many others at the school once settling in with Cheryl and her friend group, but judging by the sweatshirt, this was clearly the girlfriend of one of the lacrosse players.

“What?”

“Cheryl, Betty, and Veronica are in the parking lot with some of the football-”

You didn’t bother staying to hear the rest, opting instead to zip up your backpack and sling it over your shoulder.  Standing up quickly, you brushed past a few fellow students just arriving in the student lounge and high-tailed it towards the front entrance.

As you neared the doors, you saw a small crowd gathering near the parking spots that were unofficially reserved for the football players (aka: if you parked there and weren’t on the team, your tires were going to be deflated by lunch) and quickened your pace.  

“You seriously don’t have anything better to do than fake an insurance claim against a sophomore?”

Veronica’s voice was the first one that you could make out clearly as you pushed your way through the spectators.  A knot tightened in your stomach as you finally broke into the center of the crowd and spotted her, Betty, and Cherly at a standoff with five douchebags in letterman jackets.  You glanced around the sea of unfamiliar faces, hoping to spot Archie or hell, even Jughead.  

Nope.  You were the only reinforcement so far.

“Look, the little freak clearly came whipping into the parking lot way too fast and smashed into me and I have a few witnesses here that will back me up.”

“As if.  You literally almost ran Jughead and me over the other morning,” Betty pipes up.  

“And for someone always flexing Daddy’s money, you’d think you’d be able to afford to get a little scratch fixed.  Actually, I bet your Daddy would just love to hear all about this and all about that time two summers ago when you-”

“Shut the fuck up, you bitch.”

The Lead Douchebag lunged forward, a sudden surge of anger and panic replacing the smug features that had painted his face before Cheryl began her remark.  Whatever happened two summers ago was clearly something he intended to take to his grave, and she had struck a nerve in the same way that watching him rush her like that struck a nerve with you.

“Oh!”

The crowd reacted to your swift punch with one unified sound of surprise and teenage exhilaration, but the ringing in your ears drowned out any further responses over the next few minutes.  Five against one wasn’t a fair match by a long shot and you took quite a few blows, but the football players didn’t have the form or the stamina that you had.  So, when you landed a solid hit to the face or a kick to the leg, it gave you enough time to move on to the next opponent. 

The scene soon descended into chaos, with more students arriving to add to the jeering, screaming sea of onlookers desperately trying to record every second of action on their phones.  Eventually, Archie and Jughead were among them and turned it into a 3v5 before a few administrators caught wind and rushed outside to break things up.

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

“My mom is gonna be so pissed.”

Cheryl’s head tilted to the side, expression soft and filled with subtle adoration as you pressed an icepack to your cheek and slumped against the back of the bench outside of the principal’s office.  Apart from your face, your left side and your knuckles are really the only things that hurt much right now.

“No she won’t; Principal Honey isn’t even calling home and we aren’t in trouble.”

“Yeah, but this will bruise,” you said, shifting the ice, “and I’m not great at lying to her.”

“God, your healthy relationship with your mother is constantly both surprising and refreshing.”  The redhead reached over to squeeze your leg and you looked away, a little bashful at how she always teased you over the difference in parenting styles your mothers had utilized.  “But is it really that big of a deal?  Surely she has to be used to this kind of thing by now.”

“Not exactly.  I’ve never actually been in a fight outside of, you know, the scheduled ones...” you admitted, once again feeling your cheeks burn with embarrassment.  Cheryl looked surprised and like she didn’t fully believe your statement.

“Never?  And here I thought you spent your days before Riverdale saving many a damsel in distress.”

“Nope.”

“Well today you saved three, since I’m deciding to count Betty and Veronica as my fellow damsels.  And to say thank you, we’re treating you to dinner at Pop’s and then drinks and a little performance in the speakeasy.”

You arched an eyebrow, then grimaced at the flash of pain in your face.  

“Performance?”

“Just something we’re throwing together,” Cheryl winked mischeviously and just like that, any lingering concerns about your mother’s reaction to this disappeared.