#it would be cheaper to just pay even like 100$ to actually keep it

[fur-sure-suits]

Hi. I’m not dead lol

I’ve been trying to 3d model some armor for my hippogryph suit, but the modeling program I’m using (zbrush core mini) wants me to pay a fucking subscription fee to import the fursuits head base into the program so I can use it as a base. So I actually know the dimensions of what I’m fucking working on. Importing should be a basic fucking feature for ANY COMPUTER PROGRAM. And if you can’t tell, I hate subscription services. (I’m tempted to put services in quotes)

Also one of the locking magnets in my printers ams keeps coming loose. So I’m going to have to buy a new part. On a printer I’ve had for four days 🙃

So my creative process is kinda slow rn. Ugh

So I’m still around, I’m trying to work on projects in the studio, but keeping motivation is really hard with all these minor obstacles -__-

Honestly I have some animal minifigures/toys that I’ve been meaning to paint just for fun, so I might do that until that new part comes (and to take a break from printing

[dvandom]

Let's talk about tariffs

One way or another, we're getting more of them soon, so it's a good idea to spread the word regarding how they work. Note, this is a simplified explanation without nuance, but nuance is the sort of thing that you gotta be rich to exploit in this case.

Here's the basics: a tariff is a tax assessed at the point of import, and paid by the importer. Tariffs always make prices go up.

Say a company orders a bunch of stuff that would otherwise cost them $100 each. Adding on their other business expenses, they will sell each for $150, with some but not all of that extra $50 being profit. Let's say at most $20 of it is profit.

Now a 20% tariff is applied, and the company has to pay $120 each. If they want to keep selling them for $150, that will eliminate their profit and might even require selling the things at a loss. So they have to raise the price. Maybe they only raise it to $160 rather than $170, but they gotta make a profit or they get bought out by venture capitalists and gutted.

The original supplier could lower their price too, but again there's only so much they can drop before they're losing money on the deal too.

Why would a supplier even want to do this? Well, let's say that the domestic competition can supply the thing to retailers for $115. The foreign supplier can stay competitive by dropping their cost by a few bucks, so that after the tariff is applied they cost $114, or even $115 but sell it on the grounds of the retailer already having advertised their version. Small, targeted tariffs can coerce foreign suppliers into taking a cut to their profits. But even in this case, no one's going to be buying $150 products on the shelf anymore, it's just that both foreign and domestic versions will be $160-165. The price has gone up a little. Maybe not the full 20% of the tariff, but a noticeable amount.

That was the sort of tariff we mostly have right now, in 2024. We're also ignoring the fact that things are so interconnected that there may not BE a purely domestic version of a particular thing, just companies with completely foreign production versus those who buy all the parts abroad and assemble them domestically. In that case, everyone's getting hit by the tariffs.

However, the "I Love Tariffs" incoming President has threatened things like 100% or higher. This is the sort of tariff you apply when your goal is to protect a domestic company and to hell with the consumers. (Actually banning imports or setting quotas can also do this, but it's harder to enforce. IIRC, Japan has import restrictions on rice so that they don't completely outsource their food supply.)

A 100% tariff means that in the example above, it now costs the importer $200 to pay for each of the things in their order, so even if nothing else changes they'd have to charge $250 each to get the same amount of profit (and a smaller profit MARGIN). Does this mean they'll just go buy the $115 domestic version? Well, they'd like to, but now the domestic version is $160 or $180, because the domestic companies can just crank up their profit margins while staying cheaper than the alternative. Domestic companies are not driven by a desire to serve the public, they're legally required to make as much money as they can (this is a big problem lately, stockholders can sue if they think a company is passing up on profits). Thus, when punitive tariffs raise the price of imports to stupid levels, domestic suppliers (even those who miraculously have their entire supply chain within the country) will run up the price too.

All of this money will come from consumers and go into the pockets of the government. Do you trust the incoming administration to spend this windfall on helping the people hammered by massive spikes in inflation? I sure don't.

[kick-a-long]

so… in your opinion was there ever actually a good mayor of nyc? Because looking at the historical record it looks like anyone who tried to take any position on any problem of the city only made it worse

It’s untrue that all mayors of nyc are bad. They are all hated but most are qualified. They often have to choose which part of the city they prioritize. Most mayors specialize in what they wanted to get done.

like Bloomberg wanted the city to be an economic and cultural center. He beefed up the city cleaning and increased policing (are you seeing the trade offs?) nyc was considered too clean and too safe and too business friendly. This opened up Brooklyn tho. Upside? Lots of people moved there and started business, revitalizing areas that were full of broken buildings and unsafe streets for everyone of all colors. They also helped fund city schools and other stuff that property taxes pay for. Downside? Gentrification. A huge number of home owners sold and cultural institutions that were sustained by unhip, older, more ethnic residents of the city couldn’t afford to keep compared to a hipster bar or restaurant or apartment complex. Rents were cheaper but they didn’t stay that way.

I liked deblazio. Full stop. He was good on police and especially housing. He cared about the city and funny enough he would have gotten more done if it wasn’t for his feud with como.

I liked the mayor who fixed up the subways when I was a kid (Dinkins I think) there are a bunch. Even really terrible mayors like Giuliani were good at their thing (Giuliani actually was really law and order about corruption and organized crime.)

NYC has NEVER had a totally unqualified mayor or at least no one as unqualified and unrealistic as mamdani. I would literally believe in Pete Davidson to run the city better. At least he lives in the reality of nyc. Mamdani is so Twitter pilled he’s basically in a different reality. Just from what he proposed and what he’s done with himself so far you can tell he’s not ready to run a restaurant franchise let alone the largest most complex and economically significant city in America through its most difficult time since the 1970s when it was almost bankrupt.

It’s like electing a reality tv star to run the most powerful country in the world and give him a 100 year pandemic to navigate through … only nyc has fewer back ups and support systems if shit hits the fan. So … best not invest in a life there unless you are good with hard times… in a knife fighting kinda way.

[alex51324]

Another good one from Vox about the upcoming Trump Tariffs, and what they might mean for your near-future spending.

The first thing to understand is that tariffs absolutely do not do what Trump thinks they do. Trump has pitched tariffs as a way to lower prices, which is simply...wrong. He also seems to be under the impression that tariffs are a way to make foreign companies pay taxes to the United States. That is also wrong.

A tariff is a tax on imported goods. The usual reason for imposing a tariff is to protect domestic production from being undercut by cheaper imported goods--if Domestic Company A can produce widgets for $10 a dozen, but Foreign Company B can do it for $8 a dozen, you impose a 20% widget tariff, and Company A and Company B's widgets both end up on the domestic market at the same price. That way, Company A has no particular reason to move their widget factory to another country where it might be cheaper to operate, thus keeping jobs, wages, and prices at the current level.

Economists debate whether tariffs are actually a good way to achieve these goals; however, even if we assume it does, you can probably see a few problems. First, and most obviously, lowering prices is nowhere in the definition of what people who really like tariffs say that they do. On the contrary, they are intended to prevent prices from dropping due to cheaper imports, and they do that because the tariff is paid not by the foreign manufacturer, but by the domestic distributor, who typically passes that cost directly to the consumer.

Second, if we were going to use tariffs to support American manufacturing, it would have been a good idea to do that back when there was some American manufacturing left to protect. Like around the time Trump was in kindergarten, would have been a great time to start. Even 1980 might not have been too late.

If--and this is a big if--heavy tariffs on imported goods are maintained for a long time, it could happen that tariffs eventually slowly start to bring manufacturing, and manufacturing jobs, back to the US. It could happen.

But if it did, it would take a lot longer than four years. And what happens in the meantime, is that prices on everything we import will skyrocket. And what we import includes most of our clothing, electronics, household items, large appliances, small appliances, cars, children's toys--just about anything you can name. And a fair bit of our food. (We also export a lot of food, so unless climate change wallops us real hard in the next few years, we don't have to worry a whole lot about actual food shortages, but it will not be surprising if we see higher prices and less selection as a result of tariffs, let alone other policies that Trump has discussed.) While Trump has been (of course) light on policy specifics, some numbers he's floated are 10-20% tariffs on imported goods in general, rising to 60% on Chinese goods, and 100% on imports from Mexico.

Some sources are suggesting that, since tariffs are such a completely boneheaded idea that will not do any of the things Trump claims to believe* they will do, surely someone will manage to explain this in a way that he can understand, before he actually imposes them. The author of the Vox article above thinks that's unlikely, and that having made such a big deal about tariffs on the campaign trail, Trump will charge ahead with them anyway. I don't know.

However, the point is, if you're thinking about a major purchase, you might want to do that before January 20. Especially if it's something where the manufacturing is concentrated in China, like laptops, phones, that kind of thing. According to the article, the Consumer Technology Association is saying prices in that category could go up as much as 40%, if Trump follows through on what he's floated.

And he might not! We simply do not know. However, my laptop has started doing that thing where you have to wiggle the charging cable to get it to connect; in the before-times, I'd figure I have a few months before I really have to worry about it, but as things are, I'm keeping an eye on the Black Friday sales.

(*There's some speculation that what Trump actually wants to do is weaken China's economy, which happens to be something that Putin would like to see. Another possibility is that he has some idea about reducing America's reliance on/relationships with other countries, as a way of furthering some goal of his. Or maybe he just wants to start selling Trump-branded phones, IDK.)

[supercantaloupe]

okay don giovanni review from last night. under the cut bc it's me. tldr the vocal performances were great, leporello carried the show, one of the most insane productions i've seen thus far but somehow in a new bizarre direction from normal. good snacks.

first of all i don't care how much wine you offer i think it's kind of ridiculous to charge $165 for a base ticket price for a performance that 1. isn't even in a concert hall or theater 2. is a concert performance rather than a staged performance (which was not advertised ahead of time) and 3. was not even a full production because they made the absolutely mind boggling decision to cut 100% of the recitative and replace it with Some Guy sitting on the stage narrating the plot between every 1-3 numbers

i did not pay that much gd bless. the student ticket was way cheaper.

the narration wasn't even good it was weirdly ungenerous to the women (like how do you even make elvira out be a "women, amirite" thing and also vaguely imply anna was into it in a production with zero acting? well they figured something out) and i don't think it even explained well enough what happens between each number to truly give a first time watcher a good idea of what's actually going on. not to mention that it absolutely kills any sense of momentum in the plot and makes the entire show drag like hell, because you have to wait between every single aria for either Some Guy to talk at you for three minutes straight, or wait awkwardly while people onstage walk off and people offstage walk on. it was so painfully clunky

they had a piano up there but since there was no recit it's not like she was accompanying much of anything. in practice what it ended up being used for was 1. the mandolin part for deh vieni (acceptable in the absence of a mandolin player; they were working with a limited chamber ensemble of musicians so i get it) 2. the party music at the end of act i (egregious fault imo because it absolutely kills the vibe of the scene and completely obfuscates the way the music is supposed to be adding to the tension and chaos with its different instrumental groups playing in different meters)

and 3. used to give singers their notes when the vocal line of their arias start on beat 1 measure 1, which they otherwise would have been able to get from the preceding recits (which is imo painfully amateurish for an ostensibly professional production)

all the numbers in act i were there although the narration was so bad i got jumpscared by fin ch'han dal vino because i forgot it was supposed to be there and thought we had skipped over that point in the plot. act ii had some really bizarre additional cuts made, notably they just entirely skipped over meta di voi and vedrai carino. it was like masetto and zerlina fuck off for the entirety of act ii save for, like, mille torbidi (they VERY briefly mentioned masetto getting beat up in the narration and i don't think they mentioned vedrai carino at all, they just skipped straight from deh vieni to sola sola. and also there was a painful awkward pause before deh vieni because i think the pianist forgot she was supposed to play there and the narrator jumped ahead to the next chunk of plot explanation too early). kept both dalla and tesoro (i'm fine with this ottavio was quite good though could've used a bit of ornamentation imo), kept mi tradi, kept non mi dir (more on that in a bit). no per queste which is probably a good thing not only for the show itself but also my head would have absolutely and irreversibly exploded if they had, probably

the whole thing kind of felt underrehearsed. like a quarter of the time it seemed like people didn't know what they were doing or had to be reminded where to be at that point in the show. and there were a few moments throughout where the orchestra struggled to keep up with the singers, but i really don't think they had much time to rehearse together, honestly.

and then, to my utter shock, the finale was actually really good?? like. insane compared to the rest of the show thus far. though it helps that 1. i absolutely love the harmonieband arrangements of cosa rara/i litiganti/non piu andrai, after possibly the draggiest non mi dir i've yet experienced it was like a breath of fresh air to hear that (and non mi dir was actually well performed i liked this anna but considering how much the Entire Show was dragging, the fact that they cut meta di voi and vedrai carino, AND the fact that they promised this act would be short, it felt crazy to me to keep it at that point.)

2. leporello and the don were by far the best performers of the night. so much so that i sought them out during the post show reception to tell them how great they were and enjoyed their performance. which i usually do not do, but in this like, high school recital ass production value. unbelievable relief that the final scene is dominated by the two actors in the show who most remembered that they can, and in fact Should, be acting. so much more movement and physicality and expression from those two compared to most everyone else. leporello especially, his actor apparently specializes in comedic bass roles and it shows, he was the standout all night

and 3. for the first time in the entire production they made an interesting decision regarding the physical space and staging! they had the commendatore sing from up on a balcony overlooking the audience in the foyer. the bar admittedly was set very low in the previous act and a half but the finale reminded me that i actually like this show again which is appreciated

though they then threw another curveball at me by Cutting the sextet at the end. which like didn't even piss me off at that point i was just baffled. like the don sinks down in agony and leporello sinks down whimpering in fear and the orchestra cuts off. and i'm expecting an awkward pause while they quietly get up and shuffle off so the rest of the cast can come back but nope. big orange title slate appears on the big screen behind them and the audience breaks into a roaring applause and the announcement of the wine and dessert reception. felt like i was in a fever dream

i will say the desserts were very nearly almost worth the bullshit that was the preceding show. they were so good. thank you austria for your dedication to pastry. and because i don't drink and couldn't appreciate the free wine offered i had to indulge in my own manner. spread contained chocolate oat bites (tasted as much like espresso powder as chocolate and coated in coconut, 4/10), almond sponge cake (classic, 7/10), cardamom apple bread pudding with caramel cream (not enough cardamom but otherwise very tasty and autumnal, 8.5/10) and honey cake (11/10. i don't know how they made this so good. i want more right now so much). i take both my mozart opera and my desserts very seriously.

anyway overall the production was. i would say frustrating. the singing quality was Really Good (leporello was the clear standout, probably followed by the don though i prefer my dons with a lighter voice but technically he was very good, then probably ottavio, then maybe masetto or anna. the commendatore was great but he's in it so little it's hard to compare)

i just wish they could have, like, actually done a full production. it would have been so great if they had gotten to tell the actual story and had been fully allowed to act. when there Was acting were the best moments of the show, and it's really unsurprising that most of that came from leporello, the absolute legend.

[chettercheese-the-fnaf-lover]

Idea 3: Pizzaplex is an engineering disaster waiting to happen.

An idea that I don't see brought up at all, is the idea that the Pizzaplex is not constructed well.

Remember in FNAF 6 when the tutorial unit said this?

"There may be times when you purchase something of questionable quality, and we don't blame you. Cutting corners is just good business."

Keep this statement in mind while I bring up my next point. As someone who's taken an engineering class, when you are constructing a building, there are a VERY large number of codes (rules) that you need to follow for every conceivable part of it.

Fazbear Entertainment would probably find it a lot cheaper just to pay off the people inspecting the plex than to actually put money into making sure everything is up to code.

They would also try to construct the building as cheaply as possible, trying to "cut corners" wherever they could. They use substandard materials and contractors that don't double-check their work. They built the mall itself over the subterranean remains of their old restaurant, despite this making the ground very unstable.

This all works in my mind because Fazbear Entertainment has been proven to follow the "be as cheap as possible" and "maximize profits by any means necessary" approaches many times in the past.

Here is just one example of a code being violated, according to Section 1006.2.1.1 of Utah Building Codes, "Three exits or exit access doorways shall be provided from any space with an occupant load of 501 to 1,000. Four exits or exit access doorways shall be provided from any space with an occupant load greater than 1,000." We only see 2 public exits in the game, and the Pizzaplex likely holds well over a thousand people at any one time. What's worse is that one of the exits, the only one designated for emergencies, requires a VIP pass in order to be used.

If Fazbear Entertainment is willing to do this to cut costs, who knows what else they have done?

It's why, in my mind, I don't have Gregory live at the pizzaplex after the 3-star ending. Freddy would calculate that it is statistically safer for Gregory to live in his box than at the plex. He instead lives with Vanessa, creating opportunities for them to grow closer.

BTW This has happened in real life, even down to the shoddy construction and profit maximization. It was the Sampoong Department store collapse. Link

DUUUUDE I REMEBER TALKING TO MY GIRLFRIEND ABOUT THIS- in the tales of the pizza plex there was a rumer that it was built over some sort of sink whole but i'm 100% sure it's actually built over the fnaf pizza sim location or maybe even THE FUCKING SISTER LOCATION LOCATION BECAUSE OF THE SCOOPER IN THE RUIN DLC i will die on that hill lol

[lys-9-10]

When you realize you did not understand your own fanfic at the time of writing it.

This is both a humbling and extremely satisfying realization... About a year ago, I wrote "No Strings Attached," a Les Mis fanfic in which Grantaire essentially shows Éponine that friends don't keep tallies of favours. But here's the thing. At the time of writing it, I 100% kept favour tallies with my friends. If I paid for a friend's meal and they said they'd pay for the next one, but the one they paid for was $5 cheaper ... I would notice. And feel resentful. And it's not even like I was writing this fic b/c I knew favour tallying was something I struggled with, and therefore wanted to ruminate on that theme. Nah. The incongruence/hypocrisy just didn't occur to me (Which I find so baffling now). It's only recently, as I made a couple new remarkable friends, that I experienced what NOT tallying favours looks like. Before Halloween, we were all working on our costumes together, and I remember marveling over way we would just ask each other for things and/or offer things, without expecting anything to be repaid: "I'm heading to the mall, want me to look around for your flowered shirt?"

"I'm at Walmart, anyone need something?" - "Yes pls pick me up a large bottle of white glue."

"I have a brown leather bag you can cut up for your wand handle." "Anyone got beads, white paint, and chopsticks?" etc It sounds so, so dumb ... like, who would worry about repaying beads, white paint, and chopsticks? Who would worry about being repaid for a bottle of glue? But believe me -- prior to these 2 ppl, I would. So ... I guess I'm feeling grateful for these 2 friends, who taught me what my fanfic actually means.

[nickgerlich]

Back To Size...Again

I laughed yesterday when I read another installment of the “Size Matters” debate. Earlier this week we read about how some people were “disappointed” that the Burger King Whopper in photos was not anywhere near as big as the ones being served.

And now comes an interesting retail debate being played out between JC Penney and Macy’s, both time-honored participants in the effort to keep Americans clothed and their homes filled with housewares. Both chains have suffered through some very tough times this century, with both shuttering numerous storefronts.

Interestingly JC Penney was acquired in 2020 by what may appear as strange bedfellows, competing major mall owners Simon Property Group and Brookfield. The duo just allowed Authentic Brands Group to buy a 17% stake in the company.Apparently the threesome thinks the JCP brand still has a lot of value.

But for Simon and Brookfield, though, buying Penneys ensured they would have at least one major tenant in their enclosed malls, a wobbly proposition if there has been one the last few decades. Even more intriguing is that, while Simon and Brookfield are up to their necks in retail, they actually don’t know anything about how to run a store.. They just know how to manage malls.

JC Penney is Middle America, though, and on par with another giant in the field, Kohls. Together, they provide affordable products to a huge portion of the US. But JCP has made one mistake after another, first ditching weekly sales in favor of EDLP (Everyday Low Prices), then reinstating the old model, and also being one of the first to offer their complete catalog on a Facebook page more than a decade ago. As forward-thinking as that was, we simply were not ready for it. Recently, JCP lost its beauty collaborator Sephora, who jumped ship and moved over to rival Kohls.

Penneys just announced they are putting $1 billion into operations and the customer experience, improving everything from the technology running it all, to supply chain matters and merchandising. They are trying hard under the new owners to pull out of bankruptcy, but revenues and profits are dropping fast. Rather than close more stores, they are doubling down. And, perhaps most importantly for this discussion, they are not going to shrink stores.

Macy’s just entered the chat, because they are doing the opposite. Instead of trying to operate massive mall anchor stores, they are going the downsize route, with pared-down storefronts now opening in strip malls. Rents are cheaper, and at least on paper, access is probably easier than having to deal with behemoth malls. Apparently they figure they can increase sales per square foot by focusing on best-selling products, and getting rid of the rest.

But the comparison ends abruptly there, because Macy’s is more on par with Dillards, and while these two also carry clothing and housewares, they are at very different price points compared to JCP as well as Kohls. If you like Thanksgiving parades, Macy’s is your pal. Well, as long as you are good with paying nearly $100 for a Polo shirt.

Given the inflation we have endured the last couple of years, as well as lingering fears that a recession is still right around the corner, consumers are delaying a lot of purchases as long as they can. Market uncertainties can make people do that, and any time we can kick the can down the road so to speak, it makes sense.

And that’s where JCP and Kohls look to have good upside potential. An uncertain economy means that people are more willing to trade down if they buy at all. The problem for JCP is achieving relevancy among its target customers, many of whom have allowed the name to slip from top-of-mind to out-of-mind. It is teetering on the same dowdy image that Sears acquired by selling clothing that my dearly departed old aunt would wear. That’s not a good look, unless you are 80.

The opportunity is there for JCP, though, especially given the economic uncertainties. The fact that its ownership group is investing $1 billion is extremely good fortune for a company that would have otherwise become another entry in the book of dead retail chains. It’s just that this money must be spent wisely, from a complete makeover in merchandising, to a fashion-forward digital presence as well. That’s not to say it needs to mimic F21 or H&M, but it does need to work on its coolness factor.

I have been to the Amarillo Penneys store in the last few years, and all I can say is that it is a train wreck. It was a little more than two years ago when I last visited, and I walked out in disgust, it was that bad. Merch was strewn all over, garments were hanging haphazardly, stockouts were rampant, and it looked like nobody gave a sh*t. At that point, I did not either.

Sure, being owned by mall owners is a lot like being owned by the government. You’re probably not going to fail. It’s also a mutually beneficial relationship. Here’s to the new Macy’s on its way to a smaller footprint across America, and to JCP with its continued format. May they both find their way through the morass of today’s economy.

Dr “With Or Without Me” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[cassowary-rapture]

My dad offered to give me his truck. He got a new car last year and apparently he was just hanging onto it for my sister

I guess I'll take him up on it. It is a very generous offer and while I love my car and the thought of giving it up makes me sad, his truck is a very well-maintained 2011 with 230k miles on it. Meanwhile my car is a 2004 with higher mileage (but not by that much) and half the front bumper held on with some rope. I've been lazy about even oil changes and otherwise only taken it to the shop when it broke down

I don't know how much life it has left in it and could not afford to replace it or pay for any major repairs, so I might as well replace it for free when I have the chance. Also it would be kind of cool to have a truck; I've only had sedans. And specifically Toyota Corollas, actually, which is kind of odd, but it just worked out that way and they are very durable cars

The only drawback is that his truck's AC is messed up and we are heading into the very hot South Carolina summer. Sometimes it works but usually it doesn't. He's spent a lot of time and money trying to figure it out and it seems to be an electrical problem. Maybe a short in the system since replacing the sensor didn't do anything

But I might at least be able to keep using my car until fall and if not/for the longer term, maybe I can manage to get it fixed or just adapt. Bring cold packs with me, spray cold water on myself, etc. Also I guess I don't really care about the heat so much as being able to listen to music while driving without blasting it so it's audible over the wind. Though I may change my mind on that once it's like 100 degrees out and I'm sitting in summer traffic

The struts might need to be replaced sometime...not soon, but in the next few years, I guess? But that is relatively minor, can be saved for, and still a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a whole new (used) car

He suggested maybe hanging onto my car for when my niece gets her driver's license, which is only two years off. She'd probably say she doesn't want it. She is kind of embarrassed to be seen in it, which I get lol. But she might be less picky if it's that or no car at all and my dad would probably fix it up a bit for her

[saemihaw]

a long venting I am feeling stressed

I have a mild fever again and am so so exhausted like last weekend and the weekend before I feel like I'm just tired little being.

I'm pretty sure I'm burning out again and also that makes me sick more often and I have stuff in my mind that's been making me just jfhfjhhgfh

Also I'm supposed to be looking for applying going back to study somewhere something but I am feeling so uncertain about everything and don't know what to do and I don't know who to talk to because I'm stubborn and stupid and don't want to tell anyone I'm struggling I barely could tell anyone before either before I had to and even still I didn't tell actually much shit because just ifkxufufhf

I guess I would want to go back studying? but also no. I don't want to keep working here but also I want to and feel like having this job is only safety I feel in my life right now I have no idea what I'm doing and am stressing because my younger sibling lives with me like I cannot fuck anything up right now

If I go back to studying where do I find the money do I need to get more student loan do I need to move to a cheaper house do I need to work while studying if I don't want or can't get more student loan I honestly have no fucking idea how real life is supposed to work like but I am here and my mother thought I'd be just fine so I'm like ok. I can handle everything myself but also don't know what the fuck I'm doing and I'm still trying to just accept that she basically just left me behind all of the sudden.

Also I myself told my sibling they can move in with me so they can go to the high school they want I am happy I did and they're thriving and has many friends here old and new and all. Like I do not want them to have to worry about anything and want them to be able to finish high school without too much stress so I absolutely do not want to have to move. So does that mean I should just keep working until they graduate. Also they're soon 18 so that's at least making me feel little less idk stressed but u know.

If I do go back to studying am I even really ready for it either like can I even get anything done what if I go back and immediately start failing classes and everything again and need to drop and what do I do then.

I cannot burnout now because if I cannot at least work I 100% would have to move.

I don't how I'd be moving either like who's going to be there to help I'd need to buy someone to move our stuff. that's stressful. I have moved like around 11 times in my life my family would almost always have a van to help do the moving but they don't anymore.

I mean I know my grandma would come help with packing and cleaning and moving and stuff and my dad probably helping to move stuff too? but they don't have a van anymore so if I payed someone to move our stuff they'd take care of carrying them too and stuff so there'd be no reason and just ugh.

What do you mean I'm adult not living with my family anymore and I'm supposed to know how stuff work.

I had dream where I was stressing about this and my sibling was like "Hey, can we not move until I graduate?" and I was just like yeah of course. and then cried over it alone or something.

Also had dream where I had bad panic attack in front of my mom and she did not care at all and just ignored and looked annoyed that's so fun. Yeah it's not like stuff that happened years ago still makes me cry and unable to breathe sometimes and feel alone and hurt and stuff😃

I have not been feeling well and I wish I could just cry to my mother and be like idk what the hell I'm doing and feel so tired and jfugihgg

I cannot. Or if I did I don't think that'd make me feel any better would probably end up feeling hurt someway and just worse and yay.

She was understanding when I said I was dropping out. She wasn't mad at all. But I don't remember her asking how I was doing either at all.

I was advised to take a some time for just myself and had enough money at to do so and then figure what to do next.

No one in my family told me to just you know, breathe for a moment or rest.

Just constantly saying how I needed to find a job right away or to apply studying somewhere again as soon as I could and I know it's because they care and want to know I you know have money and stuff but like.

I do not think anyone actually understood the part where I said I had to quit because of a burnout. Even though at was just one thing with all the other things I never even told like or I guess no one also either thought I could be affected by. you knowwwe. stufff

And it hurts because I'd want to tell or be able to tell but I do not feel safe doing so. How am I supposed to tell them about something I had to years try explain to them because of siblings struggling with them too and my parents being just awful about it all.

I had lot of panic attacks over it. I have still pretty regularly panic attacks and I also forget that's not quite normal.

Every time I cry and feel alone I think of all the times they'd ignore and get mad if someone was struggling and blame them and just honestly be mean and make it worse

When I miss my mother I think of the time she said she hates me and how not soon after she just leaves me. Even after promising me not long ago I could live with them as long as I felt I wanted or needed to

I think how I was crying out loud sobbing screaming in my pillow feeling scared and hurt and I didn't leave my house I had nightmares panic attacks just

how bad I was doing after suddenly she took my siblings and family and just leaving me and didn't even fucking text me.

I waited for a month once and she didn't directly contact me at all. Or wonder why she hadn't heard from me not worried at all not caring at all what the hell would I expect

the first time after long time she'd call me to ask if I could babysit my siblings for the weekend. no. not even really asking me but informing me she had promised them I could and it'd be good to inform me about it too like a week before or something.

Also asking if I could skip school on Monday because when would they have ever cared about my school.

ughhhh

I feel so alone sometimes.

I should reach out somewhere to talk again but how do I find the time for that when I'm just trying to work and get by and find energy to do other stuff too.

also then would I be told to take time off. If I do will I lose my job actually lmaooo ughh

Also I don't think I could study and work at the same time there's no way I could manage that

Do I just work here until my sibling graduates and see what then. I don't if they want to move on their own at one point.

Also my other younger sibling is already talking how they want to move studying back here too when they're older. They really miss living here and all and I'm like

Do I need to help them do that too like do I tell them to move in with me I don't think they otherwise can. Am I unfair if I don't since I did with my other sibling? Do I need to be the one helping them to idk go into the 'real world' and when they become adults.

I had to help my sibling learn how to cook and stuff when they moved with me and now they're actually much more capable of doing stuff than me and I'm like😭 sorry I don't know how you do that I need to try do better too I just don't know how you have the energy to do so much

I feel so streets and anxious and just tired and all I feel like I'm still being relied on so much and expected to be able to be independent and everything

Moving out of home was supposed to be the moment I could just live without having to worry about anyone but myself but somehow nothing has changed that much.

or they have

I'm a lot better not living there

but also I am so much worse

I don't fucking know

[randum-famdoms]

Been spending the day looking for things to try and remake my old Kaminari cosplay on a budget. I wanted to do either Reki from Sk8 or Akechi from p5 this year but both would require almost entirely new materials (and reki would require buying a skateboard because I do not do shit by halves).

I had so many PLANS for this shit. but noooooo I had to get in a car crash and destroy my annual cosplay budget. Of course. So instead, remaking Kaminari it is. He was my very first cosplay and holds a special place in my heart, and I was planning on redoing parts of him anyway so this is as good of an excuse as any.

regardless tho, shits still expensive. my old jeans no longer fit, and while i have a good shirt and a sweatshirt that would work, id been planning on buying a yellow and black varisty jacket and ironing lighting decals to the arms. buuut….. jeans and varisty jackets are both expensive. plus i need a new wig because my old one is a cheap amazon wig rather than an actual cosplay wig. and I need to keep this under $100 US.

id also wanted to pierce my ears for this because i found some really sick lightning dangle earrings, but uh. yeah that's nit happening on this budget. so i was like "okay, ear cuffs and clip ons it is!" but somehow all the nice ones are even MORE expensive than paying for both the piercing and earrings? like no joke, the combo of 2 cuffs i liked best are almost $100 by themselves! thats fucking insane!!! no hate to the sellers on etsu tho, they're handmade and I respect the craft.

Anyway, the wig will be $30, I found some cheaper earrings that I like (tho not as much) for ~$20, Lightning decals come out at $20 as well, coloured contacts are $18, jacket is $40, and new jeans are $20….

Yeah, something has to go. It’ll probably be the earrings, they’re just fun. But that still totals 128, and that isn’t even calcuating shipping and tax. I might nix the jeans, except I’ve been wanting some new ripped black jeans anyway. So it’s probably gonna be the jacket and decals, sadly. They would’ve looked so damn cool, but I can always save up to get them another time. Right now the wig and contacts are the most important things, mainly the wig tho cause the contacts won’t last forever. Who knows, maybe I’ll bite the bullet and go slightly over budget to get the jacket and decals plus wig and go without contacts.

Really I just felt like complaining. This isn’t important at all lol, but it brings me joy and I’ve been a bit lacking in that lately so realising that I can’t even afford to do what I was envisioning for my one cosplay this year kinda sucks. Regardless, I’m determined to make it look cool. I’ve had practice styling wigs now, and kaminari’s can’t be harder than Nagito.

[37-children-of-the-dreams]

Also, sorry I'm spaming you with it, but again, I'm sorry and I dont have anyone to share, just other fact, that when I messaged admin to tell him to delete my posts about selling things in one famous group, he said that I actually didnt done anything wrong and that I dont need to pay attention to all those fuckers, but main thing is, these dudes were doing same to everyone here as I searched, and they're like mafia, they're bosses and most famous dudes in local fandom, and if they joined your group, it would be honor, but problem is, they're awful people, and no one would do anything about it, and so admin understand that they're doing bad things, but because of them being bosses he can’t block them so his group wont get bad reputation and wont be in black list. I'm in black list of my local monsuno/bakugan fandom now, but now I'm actually happy about it. But they still messaging me trying to insult me even sometimes as buyers. And these figures, they werent ever sold by 300$ or even 100$, these bosses selling them to each other for 1$ but for everyone they make a lot of posts that they selling figures for 1000$. So, by the fact, these figures werent ever sold by such high price, but they just bully everyone and others under control of bosses too say to someone who wants it cheaper that it's impossible and they should kill themselves. So they just made no choice for anyone to find cheap figures for cheap, and so only people can do is to being mad at situation and when seeing same dudes like them bullying them that they have no chance of finding this figure at all.

And maybe some people see it too, and it would be help for them to know they're not alone and have understanding here, cause only we saw is bullying. And also, here, death threat is not reason for Police to do anything.

Well then… You keep your stuff and be glad you’re black listed from them because from what I can see, they might as well kill the fandom and also might be scalping stuff. Which would mean that the best way to destroy them is to not engage with them.

It’s wrong that scalping isn’t a crime since that can cause economical problems in the long run, but really just make them realize that if they can’t sell, they can’t get money.

Now, any chance you have a Demise toy? I don’t think I have the money, but I just want to know if you have one.

[charity-angel]

My local hospital has a couple of bus routes that run past the main entrance. But their stops aren't actually near the entrance.

On top of that, the main entrance is a quarter-mile road with narrow footpaths and dropped/cut kerbs so steep they're impossible to navigate by wheelchair.

Any wheelchair user has to use the road itself. And, surprise, it's the main entrance of a hospital - that road is pretty busy.

Basically, no one with a mobility impairment of any kind can use public transport to get to the hospital. Parents with sick kids in prams or pushchairs, or who are sick themself but can't leave their child unattended while they go to an appointment, either risk life and limb, or can't use public transport.

The truly stupid thing is that there is a bus stop right at the actual entrance to the hospital building. It is only served by the free shuttle bus that runs between the three local hospitals. It does not stop anywhere other than those hospitals.

Why can the local services not take a tiny detour and use that stop? I mean, the next nearest hospital does that - there's about 10 different services stop there, and share the stop that the shuttle bus uses.

(Don't get me wrong, the disabled parking situation is equally comical, so it's not just public transport users they're discriminating against - it's all disabled people)

--

But that's not even the funniest part. My local hospital has what might be deemed fairly "normal" services. To see a neurologist or endocrinologist (to use my own personal examples), I have to go out of area. That out of area hospital is a 2 hour journey by bus (about 40 by car), and still, the bus doesn't go into the hospital grounds. In this case, the hospital is built in a dip, with the road running higher up. Much higher up. As in, my manual-wheelchair-using ass couldn't manage it.

There are buses I could change onto that do go into the grounds (I believe - never seen one), but do you know how much of a PITA it is just to get onto a bus as a wheelchair user? And how much you run the risk of there being another wheelchair user in the only space you can occupy?

Also, very much worth mentioning - in the UK, wheelchairs are not secured in any way to the bus floor. This isn't much of an issue for someone who uses a heavy power chair, but the rest of us have to cling on for dear life at every turn. And it's a VERY windy road from my town, over the Pennines, to the hospital. I actually have purchased some items to create tie-down points because riding the bus for any significant length of time is exhausting.

And the really, really fun part? Basically any testing my doctors want doing means I can't take my meds beforehand. And, like with diabetics, if I don't take my meds, I'm not legally allowed to drive. All the appointment letters cheerfully tell me I can drive afterwards, but gloss over the fact I can't drive myself TO the appointment.

And, of course, these appointments are really early in the morning (my meds literally keep me alive - they can't deprive me for too long), so the bus I'd have to catch to get there on time doesn't even exist.

And the really, really best part? Because I have to go out of area, I can't get the non-emergency ambulance transport I technically have the right to request, because it's across a regional ambulance service boundary too.

I'm well and truly screwed, every which way. I 100%, at almost 40, have to rely on my parents for transport to my appointments. I literally CANNOT get there without them.

(there are other life dramas associated with that particular thing, but they're not relevant here)

What if I didn't have that support? My literal only option would be a taxi, and who the heck can afford that? It's a 35 mile round trip, plus the waiting time where they can't take another fare. But paying for that wait time would definitely be cheaper than me having to pay for 70 miles of taxi trips (them going back to their home base, then another cab coming out to collect me).

And this is in the UK - the land of (mostly) free healthcare. I can't even imagine what this would be like in the US. I'd probably qualify for Medicare or Medicaid, and thus be luckier than some, but even so...

Cannot believe that it would take two hours, 30 minutes of which are spent walking, to get from my house to the physical therapy clinic on public transit and 13 minutes by car, with construction backups. Except I can believe that. Totally. Because our public transit is a fucking disgrace.

Even if I was willing to take two hours to get somewhere, I can't walk for half an hour so I can get to physical therapy for my fucked up ankles. That's insane.

No, not everyone has "the same 24 hours" and no, we don't need to make cars harder to get or more expensive to run.

When people talk about how it's harder for poor people to access medical care, this is part of it too.

Also, if you can't get to something like PT for pain relief, which your doctor wants to try before meds that actually help...wouldn't buying painkillers off the street seem a lot more reasonable? Like maybe it would be the only option?

I'm not in that situation but boy is it real.

[friskbitz]

after finally being able to move into a decently sized apartment after living 3 and a half years in a micro studio i fully believe micro studios should be illegal

scumlords actually went "yeah we wanna build this building and cram as many people as we possibly can into it and give each of them hardly even enough space to walk around in their homes and we're gonna charge each of them $10 per square foot for it" and everyone just let it happen

[bitchesgetriches]

More like buy now pain later, amirite?

Here are some of the ways BNPL isn’t just kinda shifty and gross, but verifiably predatory, empirically evil, and absolutely nothing new. (Coincidentally, Verifiably Predatory, Empirically Evil, and Absolutely Nothing New was the alternate title for our podcast.)

BNPL sneaks around regulatory agencies

Most forms of consumer lending in the United States are regulated by state and federal laws of one form or another. But the extent to which BNPL is regulated is kind of up in the air.

For example, the Truth In Lending Act (TILA) handles almost all traditional loans. Its purpose is to protect you against “inaccurate and unfair credit billing and credit card practices.”

Yet TILA only kicks in for loans of five installments or more. Remember how I said almost all buy now pay later loans are broken into four installments? Yeah. That’s intentional.

BNPL mostly operates just below the threshold of regulatory scrutiny. That way BNPL customers are left with little legal recourse to fight back against their shittier business practices. Which brings me to…

BNPL comes with exorbitant fees

On its surface, buy now pay later looks like a generous interest-free loan. But make one misstep and they’ll slap you with ALL THE FEES.

Late fees! Return payment fees! Missed payment fees! Account reactivation fees! Rescheduling fees! Prepayment penalty fees—is there no justice?!?! Some late fees are at least $20, and others charge an interest rate of 30% on late payments. Others offer long-term payment plans at 25% APR! Which really kind of negates the frugal benefits of buying now and paying later.

And lest you think it’ll be easy to avoid fees, Lending Tree found that 42% of all BNPL customers make at least one late payment… and are penalized accordingly.

But that’s not even where most of the buy now pay later apps get their profits.

BNPL is better for merchants than consumers

Buy now pay later apps make most of their money from charging merchants to include them on their checkout pages—a cost of 2-8% of customers’ purchases (for context, credit card companies charge a merchant fee of 1.3-3.5%). And retailers are happy to share a cut with BNPL apps! Because customers buy more when they use BNPL.

In addition, the retailer’s problem of “cart abandonment” (when you fill an online shopping cart then get spooked by the total price and just decide to buy nothing instead) is reduced with BNPL. It’s a devil’s bargain between vendors and BNPL apps to get people to buy more, spend more, and stop abandoning carts. Which leads me to…

BNPL makes you more likely to overspend and overdraft

Studies show people are easily seduced by smaller dollar amounts. Four payments of $25 each just looks cheaper than $100, y’know?

When you make multiple purchases with BNPL, it can be hard to keep all those payments straight. That’s why BNPL users are more likely to overspend, paying money they don’t have in their bank accounts, which leads to expensive bank overdraft fees. In fact, 70% of BNPL customers admitted they have spent more than they otherwise would if they paid for everything upfront.

Which sucks, but at least all these lil’ BNPL loans are helping to bulk up your credit score, right? … right?

BNPL is more likely to hurt your credit than help it

Far from helping you build credit, buy now pay later is actually more likely to hurt your credit score.

Recall our lesson on the recipe for a good credit score. Three of the ingredients are 1) a low utilization rate (don’t max out your credit card limit), 2) credit accounts that have aged like a fine wine (the older the better), and 3) not opening too many accounts too quickly.

Let’s say you make a $100 purchase with BNPL and pay it off over four months. To the credit reporting bureaus, that’s basically the equivalent of opening a credit card with a $100 limit, maxing it out immediately, and then canceling it four months later. And if you frequently use BNPL, the bean counters behind your credit score interpret that as you doing this credit-risky thing over and over again!

And you best believe the credit reporting bureaus know the instant you miss a payment.

Read more.

[gothicdreamon]

I guess I'm here to defend Dream because it's the first time I see a content creator do something to donate to LGBTQ+ charities and people hating on them for it.

First off, let's get some facts right about things Dream had said before the pride merch announcement:

He is aware of rainbow capitalism and wasn't sure about doing this kind of merch because he didn't want people to believe he was using the LGBTQ+ community for profit.

He said that he would consider doing it if, and only if, his LGBTQ+ fans really wanted it.

In other words, he is doing it because his fans basically begged him to do it. And in exchange, he will be donating 10% of the revenue to charity.

Now, a lot of people are mad that "it's only 10%" and "he will keep 90%". That's just wrong. That's not what revenue means (google the difference between revenue and profit, at least) and that's not how businesses work, not in this case. The company Dream uses to make his merch is his own company, that means it's probably self-run and self-financed. Do you know how hard is that? Even if he makes millions, it's incredibly difficult to keep afloat, even more than normal nowdays because of the pandemic. So right now, almost all of the money he makes from merch goes back to the company to pay for production costs, pay business taxes, pay his workers a fair wage (and he puts a lot of emphasis in being ethical), etc. In other words, 10% is a lot and most likely all the profit he would usually make (though I'd dare to say he makes even less than that).

If he gave more of the revenue, he would have to get cheaper worse-quality materials, not pay his workers or operate at loss. None of those are a viable options... and you want him to give 100%? Get out of here and read a book. 10% is something. It can help more than you think. So tell me, how much are you donating?

Hate and be critical of capitalism all you want, but to start calling names and making Dream seem like this awful anti-gay person is too much. All he is doing is making MERCH for his FANS with his INDEPENDENT company and DONATING the profits to charity for LGBTQ+ Youth (+ he's also giving all the money he makes while streaming this month).

He isn't profiting off of this. Stop being weird and focus your energy into real problems (like the actually large companies that control media that cause real harm while dressing in rainbow colors).