#it's not like “oh you can pay a premium for this because it isn't really your money.”

[alex51324]

It's actually stupider than that; you can't buy hot food. Prepared food that is meant to be cold (like salads or sandwiches) is fine, and so is food that you're supposed to take home and microwave.

But if the store has the same item sitting under a heat lamp, you can't buy it with food stamps.

So, rotisserie chickens--near-universally lauded as both an economical source of protein and a efficient way to get a "real" meal on the table after work--are unavailable to poor people on public assistance, unless the store puts some in the cold case (& labels them as cold, so they scan as SNAP eligible).

Some stores (coughWalMartcough) like to do this with chicken that has been sitting under the heat lamps for a while and doesn't look so good. This "EBT Chicken" isn't any cheaper than fresh, hot chicken that has not been repeatedly rejected by other customers, but you can buy it with food stamps.

And there's no ambiguity whatsoever about who this chicken is for; the new stickers they put on it literally say "EBT Chicken."

So what the store shown above is doing is emphatically not that: they are offering fresh, hot chicken in a way that gets around the SNAP rules.

(Note: SNAP and EBT aren't technically the same thing, but for some reason grocery stores tend to say EBT when they mean SNAP. SNAP is Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps; EBT is Electronic Benefits Transfer, which is when benefits automatically load onto a debit card every month. The same physical card can do both SNAP and cash assistance*, but the eligibility criteria for SNAP are usually broader, so a lot of people only have SNAP on their card. And, of course, if you do have both, when you're at the grocery store you'll probably run your card as SNAP first, and then use your cash benefits for whatever didn't go as SNAP.)

(*Not actually cash, since it's on the card, but unrestricted funds. Most public assistance programs try to do as little cash as possible; they'll do direct payments for housing, utilities, etc., so the person receiving the benefits never actually has control of the money.)

Solidarity

[artsekey]

I really hate how ads have taken over the internet. On one hand, I know that hosting a website costs money, right? And ad revenue is one of the simplest ways for free-to-use websites to cover their operating costs.

My question is-- and I would genuinely love an answer-- is this ever going to stop? Tumblr ran for a long time without ads. So did Youtube. I know that the cost of hosting so much media has gone up, but there are a lot of users on these websites that make the content that drives people to use the service that don't see any of the money generated by this revenue. On Youtube, there's at least a way for creators to make some money from what they do. For most, it isn't much, but the opportunity is there. On Tumblr, well... the ability to convert the visibility of my blog into any financial gain practically nonexistent, though they did at one point promise that users would be able to make money from ads run on their blogs (whatever happened to that, Staff?).

"You can pay to avoid seeing ads!" Tumblr says, as if the views on my main blog alone over the past few years have not generated more than enough ad revenue to cover the price they're asking me to pay, the person who is actively making content that brings eyes to their ads.

I'm not mad at Tumblr for hosting ads. I get that it has to happen because it's the easiest way to keep the site free, and honestly, I imagine Tumblr's staunch opposition to monetization has been a real obstacle for the team building Tumblr. But at the same time, it feels like yet another small concession in the usability of the site. I'm tired of ads that auto-play with blaring audio while I'm scrolling. I'm tired of adds that, if I touch them while trying to scroll past them, take me to an external site. Outside of tumblr, I'm tired of looking for information online only to get a webpage that's 95% ads and otherwise illegible. Hell, I recently got an ad on Discord. Was it unobtrusive? Maybe. But it was there, for the first time, and I know that won't be the end.

I know the first reply I'm going to get on this is "use adblock", and yes, that's a solution, but think about how much the landscape for media has changed in just ten years.

Popular forums are basically gone outside of reddit.

Youtube, without Red, is ad hell. You can't watch more than 3-4 minutes of video without getting sent to marketing hell.

Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter-- it's terrible. I firmly believe they've manufactured a worse experience through the implementation of ads to convince you to buy into their premium services.

Just Check out this video of Penguinz0 trying to watch a video on a third-party site.

There's discussion of putting ads into video games.

Remember when games didn't include micro-transactions? Blizzard is charging $70 for one mythic skin. You could almost buy Overwatch 1 twice-over at that price-point.

Influencers make a living by making their lives into advertisements.

Youtube has retaliated against users using ad-block on non-chrome browsers by artificially inflating the load times of it's videos.

What can we do about this? I imagine companies see it as an infinite money hack; users can't stop companies from hosting ads, and the action they could take to voice their displeasure-- leaving the site, using other competitive services-- has been all but obliterated thanks to the homogeneity of popular social media outlets. If someone is truly so incensed about ads, well-- it isn't like they have to engage with them, right? They can enroll in a cheap, auto-renewing service to get rid of ads entirely. Well, wait, the price of premium might just have to go up. Don't worry, it's auto-renewing! You won't even notice it. Oh, no, it's got to go up again, you won't even notice it.

There's no incentive for them to cap this behavior, and no way for us as users to pressure them to do so. We create these spaces; we fill them with color, art, activism, community, and the companies that ride on the tailcoat of the spaces we create tell us to give them more. What comes next?

[viatagrinner]

Gilbert von Obsidian. The Prince is a bodyguard. Premium End.

Chapter 3

Part 3/1

Where did this incident come from in the plan? The answer is: "All of it".

Gilbert: Hey, you want to help me do something bad?

Silvio: Idiot, don't bullshit.

One evening I visit Silvio in his guest room and am met with a cold welcome. I sit next to him on the couch, where he is enjoying a rosé wine.

Gilbert: As a businessman, you should at least listen to what I have to say.

Silvio: Only if you're dealing with a decent person.

Gilbert: Silvio is also a navigator, so you like to take risks and get high rewards, don't you?

(How could you miss such a lucrative opportunity?)

I put on the table a small box that I had prepared in advance. Silvio puts his glass down with a wary look, opens the box with one hand, and exclaims.

Silvio: You, this is.....

Gilbert: Rare ore... the amount of extraction is small, and its purity is probably the only one of its kind in the world.

Silvio: Idiot! Don't take such a valuable thing out of your pocket so easily!

Gilbert: To me, it's just a stone. But to those who know its value, it is a great treasure.

Gilbert: So...

Silvio: What's the story?

(His gaze changed.)

Chuckling inwardly, I lean back deeply against the sofa.

Gilbert: Do you know that doggy who's always hanging around Miss Bunny?

Silvio: Oh, that damn dog?

Gilbert: Yes. I just need you to separate the doggy from his owner tomorrow.

Silvio: ....... And that's it?

Gilbert: Yes, that's it.

Part 3/2

Tomorrow Miss Bunny is going to a friend's tea party.

(She's so looking forward to it. ..... She doesn't even know she's being taken advantage of).

The only people who approach Miss Bunny already know about the shadow of the Obsidian Prince standing behind her.

The noble girl had already been investigated, and if it came down to black/dirty and white/pure, she was black/dirty.

It seems that the father, not the daughter, had made several attempts to contact Obsidian, and this time may have been part of it.

(At the tea party, she chats up Miss Bunny, take her hostage, and interact with me... This filial piety is like one cage.)

(Well, it looks like I'm about to see something interesting. I don't want to miss it.)

Silvio: That's the amount of money you can ask to kill about 100 important people.

Gilbert: No, murder is a Obsidian specialty. We don't trust it to others.

Gilbert: ...I don't think you should be proud of it.

Silvio: How much money are you willing to spend to harass that woman?

Gilbert: I'm willing to pay as much as I can for Miss Bunny.

Silvio: .....What do you want to do with this woman?

Perhaps it was the price that was too high, but Silvio got suspicious.

Silvio: Everything you do is harassment, isn't it? What do you have against this woman?

Gilbert: It's so cruel to blame me for expressing my affection.

Silvio: Answer me seriously.

Gilbert: I have nothing against her. If I had, Miss Bunny would be dead by now.

Silvio: ....Then what do you really want?

("What" is it so...)

Of course, I have a clear goal, but I'm not going to reveal it with silly candor.

Gilbert: Don't you know my nickname?

Silvio: The Damn Eye Patch, The World Disaster, The Invincible Original Master, The Trampling/Conquering...

Gilbert: Yes, that's right, "The Trampling/Conquering"...

(.... I'll pretend I didn't hear about The Damn Eye Patch.)

Gilbert: Because I have trampled and dominated so many, people have come to call me "The Trampling Beast".

Gilbert: What we do in Rhodolite is no different.

Silvio: .....Even I feel sorry for that woman.

Gilbert: So am I.

Silvio: ......Don't say it to yourself.

I return the smile to Silvio, who is frowning, and get up from the couch.

(Now I'm ready to go.)

(After tomorrow, Miss Bunny will no longer be able to trust anyone.)

(You will be betrayed and sold by a close friend......)

Gilbert: ......I'm looking forward to it.

(........)

(........How did it come to this?)

Part 3/3

The plan must have worked.

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

Flashback:

After Miss Bunny had gone to the library for a while, a pale-faced girl came to call me.

She can't seem to hide her guilt because of her character, and she smiles more wryly than the last time we parted.

(If you feel guilty, you didn't have to do it in the first place, right?)

I obediently followed the lie that "MC was calling" me, and was invited into the warehouse.

Earl and some of his mercenaries were waiting for us, taking Miss Bunny hostage.

I laughed again at the look of the place, which looked more like a rude town huddle than a noble mansion.

Gilbert: Oh no. If you're going to negotiate with me, you'll need at least three times as many mercenaries.

The mere hint of lethality made the earl and even the mercenaries shudder.

It may be that they have indeed assembled the city's brutes, rather than mercenaries who know the battlefield.

(It would be nice if they were, but that doesn't make me feel any better...)

With the exception of the Earl and the young lady, I chopped up all the people who picked up swords.

Needless to say, I was outraged by the fact that they couldn't even properly use a hostage, even though there was a defenseless Miss Bunny in the room.

Gilbert: Now I'll just listen to what you have to say before Miss Bunny wakes up. Go ahead?

Eventually, Miss Bunny woke up and realized that her friend had betrayed her, and her face was stained with despair.

The girl, caught up in the atmosphere of murder, decides to abandon Miss Bunny instead of saving her, as she was supposed to.

(Everything was supposed to be fine.)

Flashback ended.

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

MC: Lady Louise...?

Just as our lips were about to touch...... The door to the living room swung open, revealing a young woman with a sword in her trembling hand.

It seemed as if Miss Bunny, sitting in the lap of the great villain, had been attacked.

Louise: Please let Miss MC go......!

(...I thought she was supposed to be sitting on her backside.)

Gilbert: That's a funny thing to say. You betrayed Ms. Bunny, didn't you?

Part 3/4

Gilbert: It's your fault that we're in this situation.

You can play the good person, but that doesn't make the fact that you sold out your friend go away.

I hate people like that so much I want to kill them.

(This is not unusual, for the aristocracy is full of such "narcissistic" people.)

Louise: I know. ......I am a shy person who approached Lady MC at my father's request.

Louise: But I'm such a lousy person... Lady MC says I'm her friend.....

Louise: She told me she was my friend.

(.......)

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

Flashback:

???: Listen, Gil. I'm on your side no matter what.

???: I promise. I promise I won't leave you alone. So... okay?

Flashback ended.

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

(.......Disgusting.)

MC: Lady Louise....

Louise: I'm sorry... for being so selfish. But... I don't want to hurt you any more!

Louise: It was not Lady MC who disrespected Prince Gilbert, it was us!

Louise: So please...punish me.

Gilbert: Hmm? Well, then, as I originally planned, I'm going to....

MC: No, Prince Gilbert! Please.... Please, don't hurt Lady Louise!

Louise: Lady MC! I'm fine, don't cover for me!

MC: I can handle it. Please run away now!

Louise: I won't run away, I promise!

MC: Lady Louise!

Gilbert: ........

(Oh, no, the farce has begun.)

(What should I do?)

I was ready to console Miss Bunny, who had been betrayed by her friend.

However, if that happened, everything would be ruined.

(This young lady was undoubtedly an aristocrat. She was defending herself and selling out her friends).

(And yet, she rolled over... I showed her the blood in front of her and soaked her...)

To think that Miss Bunny's purity touched her heart, "Belle" is even more troublesome than I thought.

(I blur my enemies with malice, but Miss Bunny is just the opposite.)

(If it is not dyeing white to black, but dyeing black back to white is not a good match for me.)

(Maybe... she's my natural enemy...)

The color of both Ms. Bunny and the young lady has returned to normal.

She must really believe that "even if I might be hurt badly, it would be better for me".

(..... I'm a little frustrated.)

The desire to kill fades, and the "anger" recedes like the tide.

Sigh... and admit defeat.

MC: Let's go home, Ms. Bunny. I hope you had a good time at the tea party?

MC: .....Yes.

The look of obvious relief on Miss Bunny's face made my heart flutter in my chest.

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

Gilbert: Here we go, Miss Bunny.

MC: .....

(Not awake at all.)

Perhaps Miss Bunny was overexcited, she fell asleep in the carriage, but she showed no signs of waking even after they carried her to her room.

Even when I put her on the bed, her eyes would not open.

(Speaking of...)

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

Flashback:

Gilbert: Whether in front of a prince or a servant, you will always kiss me if l ask you to....

Gilbert: That's a good enough balance, if you ask me.

MC: ......

Gilbert: What do you do?

Flashback ends.

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

(In the end, I didn't get a chance to kiss you because I was interrupted.)

(....Different interesting things would happen if that happened.)

I press my finger to Miss Bunny's lips.

(But I'm a big bad guy.)

I put my hand on the side of the defenseless Miss Bunny, put my face close to hers, and....

Part 3/5

(...... But... I won't kiss you now, because it won't mean anything...)

I'm getting closer to the ears than the lips.

MC: ....Oh.

Gilbert: ...Yes, I knew it...

(I thought you were saying something earlier, but...)

Judging by the whispers, she seems to be suffering from a nightmare.

(Dreams do not lie, no matter how much you think you are okay.)

There is no way that today's events have not left a scar on Miss Bunny's heart.

Even if friendship returns in the end, the fact that a friend betrayed you never goes away.

Gilbert: But that doesn't stop you from trusting people, does it?

(You're an idiot, you know that?)

Gilbert: You're kind, and I'm sure a lot of people will hurt you in the future.

Gilbert: When you've been betrayed and hurt... so many times, can you make the same choices you do today?

(It's easy to paint white black, but hard to paint black white.)

(How many more times can you endure this?)

(..........)

For some reason it annoys me.

I'm confused.

MC: Um... It's...

MC: ........

MC: !?

Gilbert: Hmm...

When Miss Bunny woke up, she was probably surprised by the closeness of my face.

She blinks a few times, turns red all over, pulls up the sheets and hides.

Gilbert: Hmm, what did you imagine?

MC: I didn't do anything! Nothing!

(This reaction makes me want to tease her immediately.)

(Poor thing. I wonder if there is anyone who can protect Miss Bunny from me.)

When I lie down next to Miss Bunny and look at her, his face looks like she's afraid...

MC: You ....didn't do anything, did you?

Gilbert: Who knows?

MC: ........What, what did you do?

Gilbert: Hmmm....

(I made a mistake.)

I kiss her lips gently and smile as usual.

(Sorry, I'm in a bad mood right now.)

Miss Bunny, who believed in his betrayed friend to the very end, turned black into white.

The truth is, she must be so wounded that she's having nightmares, but she doesn't show it in any way.

(So... hey.)

Gilbert: Do you need me to remind you?

All rights reserved by Cybird. Translation is not 100% accurate.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Sweet End

Gilbert's Masterlist

[power-chords]

It turned out that this was an Emanuel Wolff who had found and enjoyed a Heidenreich painting, but it wasn’t the Emanuel Wolf. It was really ridiculous.

Well, then Catherine and I found an address in upper Manhattan. We just checked every Emanuel Wolf, everyone there, and there was no Emanuel Wolf there anymore, but there was a super who had said, “Yeah, there had been a guy here. Yeah, it sort of sounds like what you're talking about.”

So I did have this address in upper Manhattan, 58th Street, Eastside somewhere. We went there and checked all of the boxes and found nobody of that name, but there had been somebody there. I asked the super, is anybody here who has lived here for 20 or more years. So he introduced me to some tenant, or maybe some owner of a condo. And he said, "Oh yeah, there was an Emanuel Wolf but he left. I don’t know what he did."

So I was at a dead end. Then, I had a flash of inspiration based on the fact that I'm a lawyer.

I knew that Kalvex had gone bankrupt and there was a system built about 10 years before this in the United States called the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation; it was a public, in other words, a government-owned entity, but it was a separate corporation. It wasn't a department of any government unit. And it was funded with premiums which corporations had to pay so that if some corporation that had had a benefit plan went bankrupt and couldn't honor it, this was the insurer that jumped in. I remember this very well, they didn't pay the Cadillac plans as they're called, but they paid a basic pension.

Next time I was in Washington D.C., I went to the offices of the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, which was quite a fortress. It was hard even to get in the gate you might say and it took a lot of explaining what I was looking for; finally, whoever ran the gatekeeping did call upstairs and said, "Yes, I think this is the office you want to see."

I wanted to see records, whether there had been a record of him. Well, I get up there and a very nice but rather suspicious woman took a lot of explaining. Slowly, I got her to understand that this was kosher, it was not some kind of a scam going on. And I said, "Can you tell me if there is such a person." She said, "Well, all I can tell you is whether we still have a record of a beneficiary receiving benefits. I cannot tell you his name and I cannot tell you his address."

I said, "Since I know his name, I'm only asking you whether there is such a person. Whether it's the right one or not is another matter."

She checked it and said, "Yes, there is an Emanuel Wolf receiving pensions." I said, "Great, may I get his address?" She said, "We can't do that."

Well, I sort of got into an I'll-show-you-mine-if-you-show-me-yours. I said, "Well, was is this address, let me at least go that far." I had this 58th Street address and she said, "Oh, well, it's close but that isn't it, and anyway, sir, that's not the address we have on file anymore now."

Well, she left the room for some reason. I don't want to speculate why. So I kind of partly went over the railing and took a look at the screen and it didn't show much but it showed that this person was receiving benefits under a list of Californians. So now, when I went back to Berkeley, I was starting to look for an Emanuel Wolf who was in California. There were about eleven of them.

I think on the third one or so—it didn't take all eleven—I got lucky. I still remember the conversation and I knew later why he spoke as he did.

I said, "Is this Mr. Emanuel?"

He said, "Who wants to know?"—because he had apparently been threatened with a lawsuit on a copyright issue concerning the movie Cabaret. He had made up a poster [for Cabaret], because he had been a producer on it before he was then pushed off it. That always stung with him. He felt he had been the real producer—and he had! He had gotten the stars together to agree to appear and to sign a contract. But somehow, the thing got away from him and some studio took it over.

So I think he thought I might be a person involved in trying to make a demand of him about this thing.

But then when I explained what it was, first of all he was quite amazed, and then he was just terrific. So he immediately invites me down to look at everything.

Within a week I was there in Carlsbad at his place. From there on, the connection got remade.

[thessalian]

Thess vs the Desert

Well, I seem to have aimed a bit for POSEIDON without really meaning to, but it's been quite the ride thus far.

LAST NIGHT

Hmmkay, what've we got this way? Ooh, a settlement.

...Well, fuck you too.

"Hair like blood", huh? That's ... a descriptor. I guess.

You ... pen the machines and slaughter them that way, huh? HAEPHESTUS probably doesn't like that very much... Yeah, see? You guys are such efficient hunters you get Thunderjaws thrown at you. Yes, I will help.

So ... yeah, I heard something about this from the flood people - you have to trade machine parts for water that's not polluted? This is some Immortan Joe bullshit, right here.

Right. None of this right here is too onerous. No Thunderjaw yet. This here is just a Tuesday, frankly.

(I mean, literally. It is Tuesday.)

So ... "bagged and tagged" means to bury with honours here? That's actually kind of fascinating. Because what it means in the real is just "put in body bag and tie a tag to the toe to identify them", but because they all wear dog tags... Huh. I do love how the Cradle people worked out things based on a combination of religion and really basic anthropology.

Wait. The Tenakth -- the TENakth -- call on the Ten. I checked, and it's not branches of military, unless they added more in this world's future / past / whatever. Hmm. How many subordinate functions does GAIA have? ...Nine. And GAIA makes ten. Clever.

Right. Onward to get your fellow hunters their honourable burial-- Oh, hey, you got a survivor! Great!

Yes. That is a Thunderjaw. Now stop yelling at me I am hiding in this bush for a reason.

Gun gone, gun gone ... Thunderjaw gone without firing off a shot.

Oh, you want me to go on ahead with the hearts? You're trusting me big time. But I guess since I just two-shotted a Thunderjaw for you, that's fair.

I'mma hunt those Frost Bellowbacks first. Sorry not sorry.

And see? I barely just beat you here with your injured comrade.

Oh. You think something bad is going on in your capital whatever. And having to pay that kind of premium for potable water wasn't enough? Yes, fine, I will meet you there later but I kinda need some Tallnecks first.

Also ... hi, Tuvok.

Right. Gonna edge my way south a bit for a few more campfires and... Ooh. Question mark. What is--? Oh. Oseram camp.

Ah. You were waiting on those folks on the other side of the mountains. Yeaaaaaaah that didn't go well. I'll help you deal with that tomorrow.

THIS MORNING

Right. Going to go track what happened to the rest of that dude's crew.

Rumble rumble-- This is going to end with a Rockbreaker, isn't it.

Alas, poor Lunda. Also ... yep. Rockbreaker.

There is some shiny down here. Hope Porguf doesn't mind my having hit this place first. Well, if he does, that's his problem. I've got Burrowers and a probably-Rockbreaker to deal with.

Aha! Way out! ...Wait, did I just get trapped in-- No, there's enough room to sneak through the gap that's left.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Rockbreaker. Sneak. In. Quietly.

Okay. I am concealed in a high place. SHOW YOURSELF, YOU SUBTERRANEAN ANNOYANCE-ENGINE!

Theeeeeeeeeeeere you are. Okay. This might get spicy. POONK.

...

......

.........I. Just. One-shotted it.

I JUST ONE-SHOTTED A ROCKBREAKER AND THEREFORE WIN AT EVERYTHING!

Right. More shinies and ... yes, Porguf, you can have your lockbox back.

Aloy, only you would consider "vertically up a mountain" to be a 'shortcut'.

And now that I've mastered gliding, I can-- SUNWINGS SHIT INTO A BUSH.

Okay, there's you dealt with. I'll turn in this quest and see what I have to climb for the Tallneck--

What do you mean, "it looks damaged"?!?

Right. Porguf, here. I'll be back after I look at that apparently damaged Tallneck and maybe take out a rebel outpost or something.

Oseram have been trying to take down a Tallneck?!? Ambitious little buggers, I'll give you Oseram weirdoes that, but HAEPHESTUS clearly is not a fan of their plans. But I need to do the same idiocy that got you dipshits killed so I can fix your dipshittery.

Okay ... one anchor, and we get Burrowers. Bye, Burrowers.

Two anchors, aaaaaaand ... Sunwings.

YES I KNOW I COULD USE THE BALLISTA ON THE SMALLER MACHINES, BUT I DON'T WANT TO! THESE THINGS HAVE NO PRECISION!

Huh. Bellowback. ...Acid Bellowback, in point of fact. New scan, huzzah. Now, lemme pop you like a pimple-- Theeeeeeeeere we go.

Okay, those are impressive when they go down.

Aaaaaand reboot! Huzzah! BEGONE, FOG OF WAR!

Right. I probably do have time to hit a rebel outpost but I do not have the energy to do so. I need to save spoons for work. So lemme clear these Burrowers out of my way, set up at this shelter, and I can deal with other stuff later or tomorrow or whatever.

I do not know what's been waking me so damn early lately. Maybe I need thicker curtains. Eh, at least it gives me "wake up to the Forbidden West" time...

[mantra4ia]

Excuse me while I go watch City: Primeval for the it's-Justified-time.

I love nearly everything about it:

"Tick tock goes the clock...there's no such thing as on time. You're either early or your late. And where you're going we're going to be early." I love that when we meet teenage Willa, and Raylan's getting her ice cream, it's hard to tell from the relationship dynamic whether he's off or on the clock— whether she's a marshall's daughter or his bounty—only to learn that he's hauling her off to a remedial behavior camp and that the answer is yes to both. 😅 Anyone else get a flashback vibe to Dewey Crowe?

White collar criminal..."what do you think he did to get in the book? Capitalism." The truth.

Doesn't hold back from pointing out the corruption in institutional law enforcement. Gives new meaning to "throw the book at 'em."

Court room: Raylan: "Pretty much" / Defendant: " ******* I wanted Chick-fil-A"

We love Wendell Robinson, "sometimes I guess it takes an angry white guy to catch an angry white guy."

"Even though my premium is up to date, I can't make a claim because what now? Because the police did it?" #white collar crime.

"there are things that I want to do with that book that have nothing to do with what's legal and everything, e-ver-y-thing to do with what's just. Can you understand?" That's funny, you have no idea.

Carolyn, my queen, you exude all the badass chemistry I could ever imagine. You had me at "The marshall isn't the one on trial / give me a minute and he will be." And then:

"Sir, please... don't move, don't say shit."

"Better now that my ****-heel partner is gone..."

(Sees purse, finds a bra) you can't be serious, is she here? Ma'am? This is not Tasha's size...I'm going to come over here and burn your closet. What I wouldn't pay to make you a memory."

"Raylan: How was it for you? / Carolyn: About what I expected."

"Raylan: I'm getting an x-ray with my dinner. / Carolyn: Maybe that's what you prefer...all by yourself power. In my life everyone has their foot on my neck to get what they want. **** them. **** them to be so small they abuse their power."

"I'm leaving. Lea-ving" / "In the eternal words of Ra: **** 'em"

"Carolyn: I got something you want / Raylan: That's fair to say"

About Detroit: "I haven't been here a week and the s*** I've seen gives me pause."

Marcus Sweety sass gives me life!

Sandy's Thai roommate needs her own Justified mini show. I'm convinced that Hina a crime lord's daughter or a marshall in the making. She made Albanian mobsters and their tooth extractors look like boy scouts and the only unbelievable premise of this sequel is that if Sandy wanted out of her toxic relationship with the Oklahoma madman, all she needed to do was stick Clement in a room with Hina. Fast forward to episode 8, conflict resolved.

Clement has some really chaotic Boyd Crowder vibes, second only to Boyd himself, and I can picture some of the lines that he has in this series as things that were on the cutting room floor from Justified. "Hun, do you what cut this is? (The Southern comfort steak). Ding ding ding, ready for double jeopardy. Now I ordered the steak black and blue. Do you know what black and blue means? (Rare) Oh no, ma'am. It does not mean rare, it means god**** bloody red. So here's what I want you to do, I want you to take this and throw it in the trash. Then I want you to get your chef have another steak, smack that over the fire, sing two verses of "Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground," flip that sucker, sing the third verse, yank it off, plate it ... And if I don't hear it moo in pain then we're just going to start this all over again." I half expected him to start singing you'll never leave Harlan alive. #I'm a vegetarian, but if I wasn't before I would be now.

Willa's best line and her whole raison d'etre is giving Raylan a second chance at walking away and setting up her dad for love and a semi-normal life: "he's pretty nice for a white guy." From her first giggle at cat videos that led to contempt, she's pretty much his matchmaker and he's just handcuffed in the trunk for the ride along. "I'm not about to take care of you when you're old."

"What is a Garlick?!" The smatterings of comedic timing slaps.

"Raylan: I ain't gonna sleep at night this SOB wins. / Raymond: Look at you, still giving a ****...[Freddy Keck] I shot him. / He drew on you. / I don't know. / You don't know? / I think it was a church key./ He had a bottle opener. / I clean my fingers [with it] and I slept just like a baby." Ray and Raylan, while painfully on the nose as a metaphor, is stone cold accurate. What a screaming angriest-man-I-know look in the mirror — full circle from my Justified s1e1, complete with pissed off ex-wife the likes of which Winona would drink to. #"Mary Alice only speaks to me on pain of death."

Downsides:

The only thing missing from this series is Marshal Gutterson and Rachel Brooks, and Loretta McCready. Non-spoiler-spoilers ahead for those who haven't finished City Primeval: I'll let you speculate as to who's not missing...

The ending that leaves you wanting more! Willa: "I'd like too see where you're from." Take my money and give me a sequel to the sequel. Lord knows by that cliffhanger you're thinking about it.

[rainofaugustsith]

About that Medicare for All slogan

So I've been seeing 'Medicare for All' slogans again, and while I fully believe in universal health care I think they need to revise that slogan. Right now I also see a lot of people sneering because older Americans aren't glomming onto that slogan. 

They really should, IMHO, be making that slogan "EXPANDED or REFORMED Medicare for all" to get people on board. Because as it is, it can be really costly, and many seniors and disabled people are not able to afford healthcare even with it. Those thinking it's a panacea as it is, without reform? Well, let's have a peek and see.  

1. Background: Medicare is a program mostly for seniors and disabled people receiving SSDI. 

There are two basic ways to get Medicare: be over a certain age (right now 67) and receive Social Security Retirement. OR, be younger than 67, disabled and receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Disabled people who receive only SSI are not eligible for Medicare. 

Original Medicare functions like a PPO. For those outside the States, you can go to any doctor that accepts Medicare and there are little to no prior authorizations required. This makes it easier for people to obtain quality care because they can go anywhere, more or less, and aren't trapped in a narrow provider network. 

BUT: 

2. Medicare is fucking confusing. 

There's Part A (hospital), Part B (outpatient), Part D (drug coverage), Part C (Advantage plans) and several other moving parts, each with their own fee schedules and rules. 

3. Medicare isn't free. 

Part A is free for most, but if you don't qualify for that, it can cost up to $506/month. 

Part A also has a deductible of $1600 every single inpatient hospital stay. For those outside the USA, the deductible is the amount you have to pay out of pocket before the insurance will pay anything at all. 

If someone is in the hospital for a while, they start paying copayments that begin at $400/day, starting on the 61st day. If they need to be in skilled nursing facilities for surgery/injury recovery, copayments of $200/day kick in after the 20th day.

Part B (outpatient) has a premium which, as of 2023, is $164.90 per month, as well as a once-yearly deductible of $226. 

Medicare is an 80/20 scheme, which means they cover 80% of the bill and you get the rest. That might not sound too bad until you look at what medical care in the USA costs. A simple MRI might be billed at $3000. 20% of that is yours. Still sound reasonably priced? 4. Medicare doesn't cover everything. 

Dental, optical and many other things are notoriously not covered by Medicare. That's why you will find people on Medicare buying separate coverage for these things - which means they're paying additional premiums every month. 

5. We haven't even gotten to prescriptions yet. 

So prescription coverage for Medicare is under Part D. You have to choose a prescription drug plan to administer your benefits and they are all different. Some might cost you nothing. Some might cost you a lot every month, so if you're keeping count, that's your fourth monthly premium after Part B, vision and dental. Some change their formulary every year. Those commercials about Medicare open enrollment? That's the period in the fall when people on Medicare have to sift through the formularies and see if their PDP is going to cover their meds next year. Some people do qualify for Extra Help from Medicare which covers the premiums and brings down the coinsurance for meds, but not everyone. 

Oh, and the meds are tiered. Tier 1 are the most basic/common meds that will cost you nothing or very little. Tier 4 are meds that are barely covered, perhaps 30%. 

Wait, there's more! There's a 'donut hole' or coverage cap built into plans. Essentially, when your med costs reach $4660 for the year, the coverage gap begins. Right now you pay no more than 25% of the drug costs, but it used to be a complete gap. This continues until you reach $7400 in drug costs, at which time you enter the 'catastrophic' tier where meds usually cost a lot less. And it resets annually. 

Think this is a hard cap to reach? Remember, common meds for things like cardiac conditions and headaches can cost $1000 each per month. Take a few of them and you're up to that $4460 real quick. 

This is why you may have read or heard stories about seniors taking bus trips to Canada to buy meds. It's honestly cheaper sometimes to take a trip across the border than navigate this shit. 

6. This is why a lot of people get pressed into an HMO. 

In order to navigate a lot of the above, a lot of people get pressed into optional Medicare Advantage plans, technically Part C. These are mostly HMOs run by major insurance companies. They offer the promise of consolidating benefits, eliminating the copays and drug coverage web - at the cost of pressing you back into an HMO with referrals and prior authorizations, as well as their limited network.  OR people get a 'Medigap' supplement that covers the costs that Medicare doesn't, while allowing them to remain with original (PPO style) Medicare. Those typically cost more than the Part C plans.

7. Some people do get help, but it may be hard to navigate. 

Some people have secondary insurance they can keep through a job or spouse. That might have premiums attached to it.  Some states have Medicare Savings Programs to help people pay the costs. But not all.

Some people earn little enough for SSDI or retirement that they also qualify for Medicaid as a secondary insurance. Medicaid generally picks up that which Medicare doesn't - such as that 20% coinsurance and the deductible. Medi-Medis are often pressured into joining HMOs as well, which really don't benefit them. 

Medicare also has some programs like Extra Help and such, which they can help you apply for. But this is a lot for people to navigate.  So- this is why Medicare for All might not thrill people the way you think it might. REFORMED Medicare for All on the other hand might make the same people jump right on board.

[ultravariety]

i decided to pay for linkedin premium since i thought it would help my chances of getting a job but it's really not helping. i keep seeing different posts from people, not just on linkedin but pretty much every social platform talking about how hard it is to find a job. and the amount of times i've gone out for food and the person before me is asking if they are hiring.

i'm still watching the bear season 3 but napkins... i cried. tina's struggle was so real and i was sobbing. and the coldness you encounter during the entire experience. it's so rare to feel like you are getting anywhere.

i've generally just been depressed about the world.

america and it's government for one. it's hard to watch. i think it's even harder to watch the vote blue no matter who crowd. i used to be a staunch believer in being an active participant in voting but ever since i saw that comment that was like "they encourage you to go through their systems for change so that you are stopped in the system" (not exactly but you get the gist) made me rethink it. why bother voting for the change we need when no one is bringing it to the table? it's hard to watch someone BEG for "vote blue!! vote BLUE!!" when active genocide and disenfranchisement has been happening under blue. like.. on god... are you dumb? blue or red you are FUCKED.

i love taking the opportunity to criticize the american government so it's hard to listen to people reinforce the system. voting isn't even equal!!!!! should've been your first clue that it's all fucked up!!!

maybe controversial, but we should start killing people. i wish death upon my premier. may his dumbass choke and fall down several flights of stairs.

i'm so serious tho. it's liberal brain rot to think we can hold hands and peacefully reach a "proper solution" to any issue. we need to start throwing bricks

OMG and the supreme court!!! kill them fuckers too!! everyone is so old and lame, i'm convinced if a firework blew up next to them they would go into cardiac arrest. honestly that goes for all of them, presidential candidates, government employees. all old asses need to GO. yes i am being ageist on this one. no i do not care, get them to do a cognitive function test before they get to work.

i hate it in canada too. and it's so fucked bc the problems just keep compounding and no politician is for the people. pretty much every politician is either a landlord or related to a developer so the housing crisis will never get fixed. and every monopoly insists of making life unbearable here. why was my phone bill $63? because they can. groceries? so expensive. and public transit is dogshit. and they are taking away culture centres too.

i expressed wanting to move away. my shortlist is spain, portugal, the netherlands or brazil

brazil seems to be controversial anytime i talk about it but it feels like people don't think south americans are people sometimes. "so much crime, corruption, it's dangerous, you can't trust".... i have to wait 3 years for 750m of road to be repaired. cops are always just lounging at construction sites. there are way too many charities and foundations set up by billionaires for tax write offs. assaults on transit are so much more frequent. healthcare is getting less and less funding people need to pay for services. kids are stupid as hell because education is also underfunded. mass immigration is burdening social services because we don't have enough resources to accommodate these people AND immigrants who are mostly international students are being targeted by universities and colleges so they can charge ridiculous tuition and leave them with no support. so as if it's really any better here.

and yet, when i talk about wanting to leave, everyone has an opinion. "oh it's not really that great there, it's over hyped" "it's still expensive to live there" "you won't have anyone" pls. i barely have anyone HERE.

i don't feel supported on decisions i want to make for myself. they are selfish wants so yeah i get it, but i don't care. i want it for me!!!! i am miserable!!! my mental health is in the gutter and the more time i'm subjected to living at home, the worse it gets. i'm drowning and people keep high fiving me instead of throwing a life support.

and more than anything, the lack of support makes me doubt my ability to do anything. maybe i'm not capable of finding a better job? maybe i'm not even deserving of better? is this just my burden to bare? will i never escape?

it makes me wish i was dead instead. rather be dead than live through all this. not even a glimmer of hope. there is not light at the end of the tunnel. i rather be dead than have to live all these years just for the pay off to come when i'm 50 or something. that's 20 more years of pain? no thanks.

all this to say, i know im not alone on this. many people are in my scenario. they are probably handling it better than i am. i'm not good at this - i'm not patient, and clearly not optimistic. i feel like i'm reaching the end of my rope.

[bearpillowmonster]

I'm gonna vent again because I just keep falling into it.

Every day is the same day, but I go to work and resort to making home my blueprint, trying to find a way out. Once I get my current writings done then I'll feel at some sort of peace with having tried. But every day I come home and I go straight for the shower and my dad goes "Who's there?" or something stupid and I get tired of it because it's every damn day and you still don't get the routine? Yeah, it's me, get over it, I'm half naked already by the time it takes you to notice.

I don't say hi because it's like I never left, I live here for gosh sake, it's not like they're gonna throw me a party, it's not like I have any news or conversation, we don't eat with each other or have those pass the salt moments, you saw me 3 hours ago for lunch. But because I didn't fake anything and just said "yeah" my dad thinks he's looking into it and says "well that was a sad yeah." or something along those lines. "Yeah, it's nothing. I don't know what you want." and he digs deeper and he asks if I'm mad. Of course, I wasn't mad before this but pointing it out does indeed make me mad because it reminds me that "oh yeah, there is something going on and I can't do anything to stop it." He pries and has the balls to ask for money all in the same breadth and I just say to leave me alone for a while so I can get over it.

I shower, eat, play a game to get it out, my dad seemed to drop it and show me his plane jpg that he saved on his computer that he was excited about and all isn't so bad...then he comes back and he does that ear grating knock, I don't know how to describe it but you know exactly what it is, it's a classic tune of pop goes the weasel or something I don't know. But I turn because I already know who does that knock and I already know this situation is about to be brought up again. It was.

The thing about someone talking about being angry is that it's not just me having a conversation with you, it's me having a conversation with myself and you at the same time which turns into an internal fight that goes beyond our conversation and I try to decide how to mediate it. "Fighting myself, I always lose" but he says that he has a suggestion and it's a kicker. Whether I considered online dating. And I was like- "yeah". I didn't clarify that I tried very nearly every site without paying and ended up deleting them all because they sucked. Here's just one of them. It wasn't really the way I wanted to go about it anyway, it was more to experience what it was but he ticked that "since I don't go out and do anything." uh, yeah, I just said that and complained that that's part of what's wrong with me and said I don't have enough money to do anything like that to which you responded to give you money. So he says that I'm getting in my own way.

What do you want from me? Now I'm all unsettled again. I flicked it off and said that I didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want to explain my love struggles or what I really think. I've considered getting a therapist but insurance is a fraud anyway, I don't even know why I have it if I still need-

So I guess premiums don't count? I get all my pills at a discounted price ($60 a bottle which isn't great but better than list 325) so it was either 11+ bottles of pills to finally hit the mark or use the coupon, I couldn't do both apparently to make it count. You see why I get so worked up? That 125 is actually the therapy charge that was supposed to be free for the first visit...I reported it as fraudulent on my card so it might not even stay there. Shouldn't I get rewarded for not getting hurt? Like wtf. Next you're gonna tell me that people in my area are getting hurt more often so my rates have gone up. The therapist wasn't very helpful either, I might've talked about it already, I don't know. Therapy would be a perfect excuse to build up that deductible but-3700 could be used towards so much, I just can't submit to subscribe to anything.

I saw Scrooge McDuck saying that money shouldn't be dormant, it needs to circulate and that's true if everyone does it and I like that theory but where can I put it to work? Where can I spend to make? I don't like gambling and that's basically stocks so...I'm not sure what specifics he had in mind.

[aromantic-misguide-to-romance]

I come to check in and otome games are deadge?? What happened? Have you known about A Date with Death or is not your style much? [0beyme] (i need to sign with a different name eventually)

Oh wow, seems like I caused controversy 😅 but please hold your horses. I was addressing mobile otome of the dress-up type that was very common some time ago and that the Voltage game in question belongs to.

Before The Purge, there was a real shitload and I was playing... I think 20 or something actively or semi-actively. That's not exactly possible with the card gacha type that started hijacking the target audience (and there isn't so many of them anyway). And with so many games completely gone or discontinued it kind of looks like walking around a graveyard with an occasional zombie here and there.

If I googled the right game, A Date with Death is a PC game. I played some PC games in the past and they were my introduction to otomes but you need a computer for that. I did not have a usable computer until very recently since my old laptop could just fall apart if picked up and throughout last 6 years I generally moved entirely to mobile because that was the devices that were available to me. The game looks good though. Edit: tried it and it's hilarious.

PC/console otome are going strong and have been going strong for a while and probably won't even notice changes in mobile otome trends - they occupy completely different niches, are played on different devices and in different environments. Especially with PC, there's a huge choice of indie otome and amare games. That's wildly different from mobile otomes and husbando card gachas... and I think the indie amares and otomes really deserve more attention.

I'm also planning to turn to them since I'm tired of the card gacha grind and want to have a customisable MC, but I still can't find my laptop comfortable to play on again in comparison to mobile and Switch.

Anyways, games that rely on continuous engagement of the player, with dailies, story tickets, login bonuses, events and new releases and earn by microtransactions to pass the checkpoints faster or for a premium scene aren't exactly comparable to games you pay for once (or don't, if it's a completely free indie game) and can play it all in one go (assuming you don't sleep). Continuous engagement kept up by new stuff getting released in the app also has a much bigger potential to keep the fandom around it going and was once doing that. Seems though like it isn't a big behavioural custom of Tumblr otome fandoms anymore.

[transienturl]

I wonder what the iPhone sales breakdown by model looks like. I was looking at accessories for older models on the used market and—

—oh, wait. hm. I guess, actually, the thing I was going to say that I was confused by (more used phones/accessories for phones in the pro max size than the pro non-max size) depends on the generation you're talking about.

XS, 11: The XS and 11 Pro are smaller than the cheaper XR/11. To get the big one, you must buy a Pro Max. I was surprised not to see that many XS/11 Pro devices and accessories, but I guess few want to pay a premium for a smaller phone.

12, 13: The 12/13 and 12 Pro/13 Pro are all the same size. To get the big one, you must buy a Pro Max. I can see why no one buys the 12 Pro/13 Pro; it's basically the same phone as the non-Pro. (RIP the iPhone Mini, btw.)

14: The 14 and 14 Pro are the same size; you can get a big phone for less by getting a 14 Plus. I can see why no one buys the 14 Pro; it's basically the same phone as the non-Pro. The thing that surprises me here is that there are so many listings for 14 Pro Max devices; I assumed most people would go for the Plus.

In the end, my general surprise at the proliferation of "the most expensive one" iPhones on the used market holds, but I guess I am looking at listings in a pretty tech-enthusiast city, at least reputationally. Also, I guess it makes sense that people who really care about their phones would skew more toward the huge expensive ones than someone like me, who uses a laptop way more and by all accounts probably ought to be using a much cheaper mobile device, which might skew towards Android, I guess?

(But then... eh. iPhones just have so much better longevity because of their lengthy software support, so your total cost of ownership is probably lower just going the used iPhone XR route. Oh, no, this is going to get me cancelled, isn't it.)

[virtue-and-beneviolence]

so hand tattoos fade pretty quick and need regular maintience if you want them to stick right ? alright CONSIDER, you work in a tattoo parlor and Hanma has been a regular there for years getting Sin and Punishment touched up. youve seen him plenty, but never had the chance to work on him as he tended to stick with one artist until one day he comes in for his touch-ups only to be told that his regular artist had called out that day and wouldnt be available. his eyes skate over the shop and land on you "what about her?" thats how you end up him in your chair, trying to focus so intently on the hum of the tattoo gun as to not completely fuck up the clean edge of the kanji. years of watching him, and now you hand him here, in your station and you couldnt work up the nerve to even make polite conversation. "do you do piercings, doll?" --- fuck fuck fuck. fumbling with the clamp on the table you hear his deep chuckle behind you. this fucker was enjoying your nerves. "sure youve done this before?" you shoot him a quick glare over your shoulder as you turn to face him. "yes ive done this before. now shut up, and stick your tongue out" "you could at least buy me dinner first, sweetheart" defiant, but allowing his tongue to loll out. "this is gonna pinch" you say under your breath as you slip the clamp on and position the needle. a deep breath in and press, the needle slips in and though, the ball stud falling into place. Hanma's eyes not leaving yours for a moment through the process. sliping the clamp off you step away, watching as Hanma straitened his shoulders and stood up. "ive had worse. now, i believe i mentioned dinner"

sorry for the wait i had to get dinner. anyway have fun with my like 20 minutes of thoughts

Okay so first, @ Hanma, i swear to fucking god using hand lotion (with SPF) will nOT FUCKING KILL YOU. Alright. it WON'T. JUST DO IT. ugh to have those glorious, prb veiny hands in mine,,,,,under mine,,,, to stab them repeatedly with ink LOL

not him being that good with pain /shudder/ oh my gufckoing mgod

oh my god this is really a whole fic skeleton now oh my god. I think I short circuited.

But hear me out, he can't really eat a proper dinner at the moment, you remind him. so he settles for paying, plus your number an a raincheck on dinner. his tip is like idk a couple 10,000 yen bills and like a solid mf diamond cufflink Shuji stole off another admin for the lols. Luckily, your shift is over and you can reel over the insane generosity of the lanky man.

Wait, doll, where you're going? Bike's this way you were going home, he had you number, what was he playing at? Well, a man like Shuji always comes prepared with a loophole. Because ice cream isn't off limits and he has no intentions of letting you go without a treat.

Shuji's back in like a week, asking for a new tattoo piece, opting early on to do it in long 6 hour session. He wanted to monopolize your time. He takes a liking to teasing you for sport, riles you up or tries to tempt you to laugh so you have to stop the tattoo to relax your hands (and extend his session time).

Shuji's session gets extended by 2 hours and your other regular shows up. The front desk part timer interrupts Hanma's blatant playful flirting and you tear yourself away to profusely apologize to him.

Shuji is...not pleased....by that...

And it shows

He's back way too soon asking for another big tattoo. Nearly a full back piece. Oh god oh fuck the first time you watched that man take his shirt of you just about saw god. But suddenly he refuses to sit for longer than an hour. He's at your station for 2 hours a day (an hour of distractions, an hour of tattooing).

You don't mind.

He agrees to pay a massive premium for your time. Besides, he's hot as fuck and is very entertaining. And he's taken you out for dinner (or brought you lunch) to your favorite places.

The regulars are well used to the glares or bribes to takes on your other clients. But you don't need to know anything about that. Shuji's got your schedule managed. And your bills paid.

Shuji shows up at the shop, with an hour left to closing with dinner from your favorite place. You take him to the back (he is kind of keeping the shop open single handedly, after all, he has special privileges) he sits and pulls you into his lap. You don't even flinch, just take your set like it's natural. He's been pulling this hit since you first met him two plus months ago.

His chin is on your shoulder as you eat like you've never seen food before goddamn workaholics his hands casually massage the bare skin of your inked thighs.

Oh, you ask him, how's the tongue feel?

Why don't you tell me? he kisses your neck and the warm metal ball sliding along the shell of your ear sends shivers down your spine.

I do love dessert, if you recall.

[inquisitorius-sin-bin]

@oh-three thanks for the ask! Putting it here on this blog

Omg like if we put HRH in the Whiskey and Teeth bar specifically, like that place was so seedy and sticky and there was a space rat there...

So already we know how Gaverick feels about Imperials, so if this Imperial walks in with two Royal Guards, I imagine he would definitely be displeased.

HRH is definitely pretty sheltered, but also fancies themselves more worldly because of their occupation- you can see this when they drink the caf on Nur, and in a scene in yet-unreleased Explored and Worshiped where they are admiring their exploration clothes in the mirror and styling themselves a "filthy rebel". It's kind of like that French Aristocracy trend right before the revolution where they would build themselves fake little villages and play at being peasants. So I imagine they might be like, "oo, novel, look at me now, being in a filthy little dive bar, I'm so rebellious, my father would loathe to see me here" meanwhile Renson and Vanyiel would just be palming their pikes, waiting for any of the patrons absolutely glaring them down to make a move.

I don't think that would happen. I mean, HRH isn't a monster. Just a bit aloof and ideologically indoctrinated. They aren't looking to cause any trouble.

As for Utapau, I think they would love it, because from what we've seen, everyone there absolutely respects formality and makes a big affair out of it. I also think it would remind them of their little clandestine encounter to be so close to Nur and surrounded by people who physically remind them of the Inquisitor.

I do like to envision a version of their story where they have a son and take him to Utapau as like, a 7 year-old boy and just let him run around and experience not looking like a "freak" once he's old enough to actually be aware of how his parent's contemporaries treat him, and he's just fitting right in with everyone around him. I do think they would pay a premium to dress him in clothes from Utapau and buy him whatever he wanted from there. Maybe stopping shy of a Varactyl, because that is just not practical when you live in an apartment on Coruscant between dig seasons.

(I also maybe went down one rabbit hole for HRH where they took their son to an event with a bunch of Senators, it caught the attention of the representatives from Utapau, who recognized they weren't married. After some inquiry, they realized HRH somehow managed to accidentally have a Pau'an baby, which shocks them because it normally takes decades or even a century of trying on their end because of low fertility rates.

The conversation leaves HRH feeling a little awkward and uneasy. Very soon afterwards, the Emperor contacts them to tell them he's received a marriage request for HRH to wed a Senator's son from Utapau. He basically tells HRH you shouldn't have a problem with this, this is better for your son because he'll be around his own people, you're spent goods with no better prospects and clearly a particular taste, and you are not supposed to have an individual attachment to the boy's father- definitely not one that gets in the way of my plans. So you're doing this.

The problem is that HRH isn't just into Pau'an men in general, they're absolutely hung up on the individual, but they have no choice. So arranged marriage it is, and they end up moving with their son to Utapau, and kind of their only solace is that their son is happy and they are really close to Nur for visits.)

[goatlingsvent]

I literally have payed over a houndrrd bucks too, I maxed out the BLM donation and a couple other monthly donations, and I haven't won a singular one of the raffles.

Annnnddd I don't really care, I will probably drop more money when they do more stuff like BLM, especially next year for BLM, but I do enjoy helping and donating, and generally supposerting things I like like this site is so much better than any other pet site I've been one, minus Dragon Cave, which doesn't have premium currency and worst flaw is your dragons can die, but also if they grow or are frozen won't ever die.

Neopets has like so many problems that aren't just the NFT related problems, they've been caught stealing art, they've lied to their userbase, and had a history of censoring LGBTQA+ subjects in their site, despite having a mechanism that can change a pets gender (the lab ray and various potions) for years now. Most of the best ways to make money are gone, because they're slow to update the site to mobile. They have the money to afford messing around with NFTs, but not updating their site to mobile.

Chickensmoothie claims they don't do off-site moderating, but they absolutely do, the mods are inconsistent and do infact pick favorites when it comes to being lazy and lax on the rules.

Additionally, it doesn't matter if you and the person your trading with think your two's technically unfair trade is fair, a staff can come in and block you for it and scold for cheating. I personally don't lie staff can come into my private trade and says it's unfair or cheating when me and my trading partner think it's ok, or are off-site trading fairly. I know they'll do so unfairly and only give this nosey attention to SOME 'extrmely unfair' trades while giving more obvious ones a fair pass.

Additionally chickensmoothie staff will NEVER admit nor apologize for being wrong even when solid proof is given to them, meaning you'll never being given composition for being wrongly accused for cheating, even if you had old old valuable rares, you'll never get any of those pets back, all because staff made a mistake. Also the trade community sucks ass and over values pets out of their ass, so good luck getting your pets back when starting from square one, I genuinely mean it.

Pokefarms' creator has a history of transphobia, homophobia, racism and some NSFW (pokemon r34) stuff I won't get into here, the other stuff is bad enough, also the fact he makes money off a site using offical sprites and art work from the pokemon games themselves. Which he has been sued over before, btw, and isn't properly complying with the settled agreements.

The fact this is what the creator is like and he represents himself as an absol who your average edgy stoic emo character who says 'oh yvetal' for context absol can predict disasters and bad events and Yvetal is the PokeGod of destruction (not technically death though, that's Giratina, who created Death). He gives me the edgy incel vibes and honestly it hurts to know this is the person behind, minus the copyright, a fun game that I do have some nice things to say about.

Yes there other staff seem to be a little better, and you can have a gender neutral option for your trainer, but the pokemon won't be able to be trans except in the lore you give them, despite magick being canon to pokemon meaning a pokemon could use magick to magick itself into another gender.

There are others, Webkinz, Flight rising, and others more obscure and lesser known sites with premium currencies, but I don't know enough about them and there flaws or just don't care.

Goatlings is worth it in comparison. I will give money to goatlings, I want to give and support goatlings with my money. Goatling playerbase is the were most of the problems and drama comes from, anyways, this site is very artist friendly allowing artists among the no staff userbase to make offical content, and very rewarding to artists overall.

Goatlings was proQueer rights, proDisabilites rights, proBLM, etc. way way way before most other sites around in 2012 onward, some which have history censored voices from those minorities. It's been way ahead of other sites at being generally more inclusive and user friendly, and I'm not even just talking about the charity drive, it's just generally nice to be much much open about this topics.

I think it's generally worth giving money to goatlings. With it without the secret bonus of winning raffles, though I wish if someone won, they left the out next time they rolled, it's generally more fair for those who haven't won.

🩺

[autumnhobbit]

You keep warning us all against pursuing chemical engineering, considering the fact that it was your field of study and has yet to bring you prosperity. But isn't it a location thing? I know for a fact that where I live, specialized chemical engineers are highly in demand. Anyways, I got accepted into an undeclared engineering major, and have seriously been considering chemical. Amongst aerospace, software and electrical. Its just that, your negativity is making me unsure about choosing

Well first off, it's not my field of study, it's my dad's. :P My negativity is mostly a result of my experiences with the major, which are limited to my life. And yes, if you’re in the right area, it is fairly secure and the like. I mostly don’t want people to go into it thinking that regardless of their location or desired lifestyle it’s a get-rich-quick-trick, because it’s not. Or that if they were good at math that engineering is for them, because not necessarily. It highly depends upon your temperament and lifestyle and environment preferences. If you live in South Carolina or on the East Coast where there are lots of large-company headquarters, your chances are pretty good at the moment.

The problems with chemical engineering as a career path are a few. 1. If you’re not into traveling internationally, it’s probably not for you, because a lot of companies want you to travel a lot, and occasionally want you to relocate to other states or countries, and there’s not usually a lot of warning. 2. It’s a very age-specific career. If you’re straight out of college, you have a good chance at being hired right away, but you will not be paid as much as it was probably implied you were going to be. Fresh-out-of-college kids are easy to hire for cheap—especially considering the schooling costs—on the excuse that they have no experience. You can work your way up to more, but only to a point, and by the time you’re in your late forties/fifties, you’re no longer worth the premium companies have to pay for that oh-so-valuable experience. Also, there tend to be a *lot* of backstabbing, House Of Cards-esque career fiascos in the work environment, ala feuds between coworkers, managers feuding over funding and the like. And if you have an R&D specialization, that’s not generally as all-around secure as a technical specialization, for the simple reason that most companies nowadays don’t *want* to innovate. They’re mostly interested in making more product for less money in less time.

I don’t know your life or situation or personality, and even if I did I couldn’t tell you what you should or shouldn’t do. My experience was that my grandpa flunked out of engineering school and became a teacher instead, my grandma never got over it and so pressured my dad over grades, he got good math grades so the guidance counselors told him he should be an engineer, he went in thinking that he’d get a job at the chemical plant in his hometown and stay there his whole life, and instead wound up moving to New York for a job with GE only to be laid off three weeks later. From which point he bounced around for ten years, sometimes living separately from my mother while chasing jobs that never lasted more than a year or two. He eventually got a job where we live now, which stayed for twenty years until it shut down, too, at which point he bounced through three more jobs to the point we’re at now, with maybe three possibilities with anywhere near his standard salary in a few different states.

I will fully admit I don’t know how much of it is just him, because he has some major personality issues, and how much of it is the career itself. But it is at least partly the career, because a bunch of other people he used to work with here are unemployed or have switched careers entirely to landscaping and mechanical repair.

Like I said, you are perfectly free to put no weight in my opinions on the matter, because I will fully admit I am really bitter about the entire situation. Mostly because honestly my dad could probably have gone into tooling and been much more independent and have way more security with the same creative angle. If you like engineering and want to do it, by all means, give it a go. But regardless of whether it’s an inherently good career choice or not—and this is not necessarily directed at you, just in general—don’t base your entire being around it, because it’s a job, not a way of life or the meaning of life.

[jadelyn]

I don't have time to address this whole ridiculous, racist ass thread, but I just need to try to help you understand the taxes thing that you are so stunningly wrong about. Because you, quite obviously, have absolutely zero knowledge of how taxes and immigration interact and what "undocumented" actually means in immigration terms, and you really shouldn't be opening your stupid mouth to broadcast your ignorance in a discussion you apparently know fuck all about. (hint: it doesn't mean, no documents exist with this person's info on them and no government body is aware of their existence at all. It means more, they aren't documented as a legal immigrant in the systems that track immigration and citizenship status.)

Like, first of all, I sincerely hope you are aware that there are other types of taxes than just income tax, yes?

For example, oh, idk, let's just take the obvious one: SALES TAX.

You know, that thing where when you buy a thing you pay an extra 6-10% on top of the listed price as a sales tax, which gets distributed out to various levels of institutions (city, county, state, etc)?

Like, do you think that an undocumented immigrant goes to the store, walks up to the cash register with their groceries, tells the cashier "oh, I'm undocumented" and the cashier takes the sales tax off so they don't have to pay it?

I sincerely hope you're not that stupid, although I hesitate to extend that much credit based on what you've said so far.

So if nothing else, undocumented folks pay sales tax, which is nothing to sneeze at. They pay on average an 8% premium on every. Single. Purchase. They make. Gas. Groceries. Electronics. Toiletries. Big stuff like vehicles even. Everything. Just like the rest of us do. You with me so far?

That's the bare minimum that undocumented folks who are being paid under the table nevertheless do wind up paying.

And then, there's the ITIN system.

Individual Tax Identification Number.

Basically, a SSN that can be used to pay taxes and file tax returns without having to prove citizenship or work authorization the way a real SSN requires.

Do you know how little employers actually have to do to "document" someone's work eligibility? If you've ever gotten a job in the US since 1986 you've had to fill out an I-9 Federal Work Authorization Form. But from the employer's side, literally all we have to do is look at the documents provided and say "yeah, that looks legit" and sign off on the form. We don't have to submit the provided SSN to the Feds for verification. We don't have to inspect the documents in depth or be experts on detecting document forgery. There are documents other than a Social Security Card that an employee can provide and we are legally not allowed to ask for specific documents. A new hire can present any document off the list of accepted documents, so if they don't want to show us a SSC, they don't have to. They can show us a birth certificate, or a work auth form, or anything off of List C. It's entirely up to them. So we may not even see an actual SSC, just get the SSN they wrote down on the form itself.

Then, if the SSN provided turns out to be invalid - fake, stolen, whatever - the employer liability is actually quite limited so long as we can say to ICE that we saw an accepted document off list C, and it looked reasonably convincing to the untrained eye. The SSN itself being wrong, which the IRS can try to contact the employer about, just means we must exercise "due diligence" which in this case means "contact the employee and request that they update us with the correct SSN as the one we have for them appears to be wrong, according to the IRS." If the employee gives us another wrong SSN, or just says, "no, it's correct", that's all we have to do. So if someone gives an employer a SSN that isn't theirs, the employer isn't going to worry about tracking that down as long as the I9 appears to be in order. They'll just withhold taxes and report it to the IRS using the SSN provided. The employee will get a W2 at the end of the year and everything. Then, the employee can use that ITIN - which they get from the IRS by providing nothing more than basically name and address on a request form - and file a tax return with it.

So yes, you ignorant swine (with all due apologies to pigs, who do not deserve to be maligned by association), undocumented immigrants damn well do pay taxes, at a minimum sales tax, and many also pay income tax as well, as 5 minutes on Google would tell you. It's eminently possible for someone to be documented as existing in the IRS's systems and pay taxes without ever having any kind of documented immigration status, which is all "undocumented immigrant" means.

Now, kindly sit the fuck down and shut up on topics you don't know shit about.