#probably cost less than ten bucks

[nimbus713]

do you ever just silently love people?

like, you love them so very much, and you are aware that they don’t feel the same for you because theres really nothing about your relationship that should make you love them?

you don’t expect them to feel the same because you understand that the things about them that have affected you aren’t like big things or anything, they’re just simple

so like you love them immensely and are happy with the fact that you’re simply an unremarkable friend or even just and acquaintance

but the way they treat you or other people or even just how they act in general invokes such admiration and love, and there’s no reasonable for you to care about them this much but you just do

idk i guess i just love people for simple reasons. i love feeling love.

[glitter-lisp]

@nart-is-a-monster said: Uhhh Hugo and Varian buying a lamp

"I hate it," Varian says.

"I think it hates you too," Hugo says, frowning at the display. "It looks, like... really angry for some reason."

"Why does it have so many corners?" Varian asks, reaching out to poke at one with trepidation, like he expects it to bite him. "Why would anyone make a brutalist lamp? This thing is a lawsuit waiting to happen."

"Does it even have a lightbulb?" Hugo asks, cocking his head to the side like the weird collection of sharp, metallic pieces will start to look more like a lamp from a different angle. "How do you turn it on?"

"I'm scared to find out," Varian admits. "I feel like you have to make a blood sacrifice, and it'll start to glow."

Hugo glances around the room. "I'm scared of all of these lamps. Varian, I've never been scared of furniture. What's wrong with these lamps and why are they so scary?"

"This is 900 dollars," Varian says instead of answering, squinting at the price tag. "Who would pay almost a thousand bucks for a lamp with no lightbulb?"

"We need to get out of these store," Hugo says fervently. "I know Rapunzel recommended it, and I trust her, but–"

Varian backs away slowly, eyes on the lamp like he's afraid it will start moving if he looks away. "But she's artsy as hell and also rich and forgot that we have to save up to afford McDonald's?"

"There's gotta be a thrift store nearby," Hugo says, taking Varian's hand as he starts to ease them towards the exit of the stupidly expensive furniture store Rapunzel recommended. Varian still doesn't look away from the lamp, locked in a staring contest with it. Hugo doesn't blame him. Half of the things for sale look like weapons, and as expensive as everything is, he wouldn't put it past them to come to life. "We can probably find one for like 5 bucks."

"I want to kill it," Varian says, and he's following Hugo but his eyes are still locked on that nightmarish floor lamp. "Hugo, we should see if they do payment plans, I hate that lamp so much–"

"We're not buying a lamp just so you can destroy it," Hugo says, hauling Varian towards the front doors. "We have to eat."

"That thing shouldn't exist," Varian insists. "I could be saving someone. Someone could buy that lamp and then cut their arm off because they walked too close to it. I could be a hero."

"Or you could buy a 5 dollar lamp from a thrift shop and leave rich people to waste all the money they want on their stupid deadly lamps," Hugo says, finally getting them out onto the street. He breathes a sigh of relief as they step outside, free from the insane modern art gallery masquerading as a furniture store that was unlocking homicidal tendencies in his boyfriend. "And still have money left to pay rent this month."

"God, that thing cost more than our rent," Varian says, rubbing at his forehead as he finally seems to break free of whatever lamp-fueled rage he was experiencing a few seconds ago. "What was she thinking? I work for her, she knows how much I make–"

"Thrift store," Hugo repeats, squeezing Varian's hand and starting to tug him towards a more familiar, less terrifyingly wealthy part of town. "Then lunch?"

"If we end up spending more than ten dollars on a lamp, I'm charging Rapunzel for it," Varian says flatly, but he squeezes Hugo's hand back as he follows him down the street.

[magicwithclass]

Squandered resources is a powerful card with a powerful effect. I am actually shocked that this card flew under the radar for as long as it did especially since there was a blog, site, or other form of media that carried the name squandered resources. The card was actually under a dollar until the end of 2016 so there was a time since prices were formally recorded that you could have picked up this card for absolute bulk prices. If every good card on the reserved list has been picked dry and there is nothing left to speculate on then how do you explain squandered resources being 60 cents less than ten years ago? Did no one see the potential in a 2 mana ramp card that is also a free sacrifice outlet. There are many decks that want lands in the graveyard or can easily recur lands so a free sacrifice engine is absolutely paramount for those decks to function. Zuran orb and sylvan safekeeper are cheaper options but redundancy is important and this offers the effect on an enchantment. The payoff is also stronger. Never underestimate extra mana even at the cost of a resource especially if you can easily get the resource back or you are using that sacrifice to you advantage. Many decks can make excellent use of squandered resources in their combos. The gitrog monster, muldrotha the gravetide, and lord windgrace decks all benefit from having lands enter the graveyard and can put them right back into play. Even so, the number of commander decks that use this card on edhrec is astonishingly low. I would think any landfall deck that utilizes combos that sacrifice all lands only to bring them back with aftermath analyst or world shaper would need to use squandered resources. Very few cards let you sac all your lands in a single turn and leave you mana positive but squandered resources has combos and synergies. The card was five bucks after 2016 and reached almost 20 dollars during the initial buyout of 2018. By 2021 the card was about seventy five dollars as a all time high. So why is the cars going up now? Why is there a renewed interest on a reserved list card that has spiked a number of times? In short, the necrobloom. The necrobloom is the second strongest commander released in modern horizons 3. A little birdy can tell you what the strongest commander in the set is. The necrobloom is also highly competitive and is potentially cedh. The card wants lands in the graveyard to dredge and some decks have a land in graveyard theme. Is it any wonder that squandered resources can fit into a necrobloom cedh deck? Desert decks and a jund graveyard commander deck also got a boost in 2024 so it was a good year for squandered resources. Currently, the card is approaching fifty dollars. That is higher than in 2018 but I do not think it will reach its market high. However, this has become a soft staple in necrobloom decks, appearing in over 20 percent of decks. That deck is competitively viable, popular, and new so I think squandered resources will probably hold onto a higher price tag for the foreseeable future. Will it go back down when the hype dies or will you have to squander your resources getting a copy of this card?

[audio-luddite]

I did a browse of Tumblr "Audiophile".

OK weird.

Much of the stuff is photos of old stuff from brochures and magazines (like paper OMG). I guess some people kept all that stuff. Grandpa was a hoarder of audio mags? I see lovely ads for crap product. It was crap 60 years ago and still is today (like the BOSE 901). There are some bits showing good stuff but not much. And there are the confused people who don't understand obsession with vacuum tubes and LP records.

There are links to very artistic audio themed soft-core porn. Some are adds for console stereos draped with girls in lingerie. A good stereo will bring the girls in for sure. At least that was thought in the 60s? And there are people posing as golden ears. Some experts might be expert, but you gotta pay the bills no matter the crap information they put out. Number ten in this guy's top ten turntable list is pure crap now and forever.

I have even seen totally phony photo-shopped systems that I know could never exist. You know a turntable has to be at least a bit more than 12" across to fit an LP which is 12 inches in diameter. So that picture just don't scale right.

I guess in summary it is not much fun to look at that tag as there is so much dross.

If you are an audiophile then you probably know good from bad or want to. If you are just interested or new to this then there is a problem. There is a hell of a lot of misinformation conspiracy and noise.

First problem is the term audiophile. It means literally you love sound. The presumption is you appreciate the quality of sound. That is different than liking music in general, or some specific type of music. That would be a musicophile. All it takes is adding -phile to the end of a word.

So if you like music as opposed to just the sound of steam locomotives passing by and care for good clean sound then you are bumping up against this other -phile thing. Do not be intimidated. I assure you that listening to a favorite artist with all the sounds fully resolved and blasting away in your home is a good thing.

It is strange to me that people will spend a small fortune on a sound system for their car and far less in their home. Though I suppose if you live in an apartment loud music will make no friends, but being a big bass thumper in traffic is OK and even expected. Hey if you love that sound well sorry to tell you... yup audiophile.

Now to cost. There can be a lot of money spent. Some people will spend six figures restoring a car from when they were young. It is a hobby where it is possible to spend gobs of money. And there are many people, and companies who will help you spend your money.

You can spend much less and get good results. My equipment has only two relatively new things in it. One Phono Cartridge, and one vacuum tube. All the rest of the electronics are decades old. My speakers are a few years old but I built those as I know best. The cost has been interesting. By selling off older even collectable stuff I have spent effectively no money over the past 7 or 8 years. Yes I bought that stuff once long ago, but economically it was sunk money.

I have the advantage of experience and know the good stuff from the less good. I know what brands to look for. I also know which products have cults around them that blur the flaws. I call myself a "cheap audiophile" as I will not spend more than low four figures on anything. The most expensive thing I ever bought was under 2k bucks. Most was far less than that.

One of the links the tag search brought up was guy who did not understand why anyone would buy Vinyl Records. The equipment is expensive and the media is less available than digital streams. There was one reply about the tangible nature of an album and actually owning a thing rather than just being allowed to access it. I will go further.

I have avoided high end streaming because of cost and complexity. To get good sound out of numbers you need several lumps and most are expensive. You need a computer or a server that is logged into a provider like "tidal" or "qobuz" or "apple music". Then you need a device that can store the bits on a drive either an SSD or even a spinning magnetic disc to avoid drop outs that can be the music server, but not the computer. Then you need a DAC to convert the particular stream to analog sound which is finally fed into your audio system proper. Aside from the subscription (I have apple music) you need three lumps that each cost more than a good turntable if you want audiophile sound.

In order to add a high end streaming line to my system would cost more than the replacement cost of my system as it is right now. So I have a low end solution. I plug my Iphone into my CD player with a nice-ish DAC in it. It is OK sound. But I swear if I play an LP of the same music after hearing it off my iphone to CD quality there is no comparison the LP is better.

And yes when it comes to vacuum tubes I vacillate. They are expensive and wear out. They sound nice. They have more distortion and artifacts than solid state, but it is nice sounding distortion. A big part of this hobby skews preferences to nice sounding distortion. Vacuum tubes and moving coil phono cartridges are prime examples.

My most recent experience was going from a full vacuum tube preamplifer to a hybrid with only one tube. The sound was rich and deep and involving before. Yummy like a good sticky baklava dripping with honey. Now it is detailed and frankly palpable. I can hear a singer part their lips before a phrase. You have to hear that to appreciate it.

I have been recently been tempted with two vacuum tube unicorn amplifiers for a very good price for that type of device. That price is double what a competitive solid state amplifier would be. And like I say at the local pub after my fourth beer, I want another but I don't need another. I am seriously tempted. I have a nascent love for the sound I know is in them. They have a voice and it is good. Actually this is a key aspect of the hobby. It is an emotional response to something. It is irrational.

Welcome to the irrational!

[calciumcryptid]

It's so crazy to think you're in college now like last time I remembered you talking about your senior trip (and the couple that was getting married on the same day)

Time flies past you, and the couple getting married on the original trip date is a fun anecdote to tell others.

I am in a technical college for my electrical degree, and when I get my driver's license I'll be starting an apprenticeship as soon as possible. I'll probably head back for another degree because my current semester costs less than ten thousand dollars and is entirely covered by scholarship money so a lot of wiggle room!

I can't wait to make fifty-one bucks an hour.

[chaosandthe-deadblog]

howdy abt ur last post bc i am genuinely curious, i think i may have just been misinformed on this so idk (and idk anything abt nintendo but ik people are applying this to game companies in general, like sega as well since they recently announced raising prices) but what is the deal with bigger games having bigger prices? like. frontiers being 60 (and ig going to 70 now? im unsure). i generally thought 60 was seen as a decently fair price for big games, so i kinda just went with it and assumed this was a good thing? i also dont know how fair pricing works so idk maybe thats a factor

im flattered youre asking me this but i know nothing abt the economy or pricing either so im just gonna tell you why *i* think 70 dollars is too much for a game

as someone from argentina (aka, the land of inflation) 20 bucks is like a third of what i have every month (im also someone who doesnt work👍 so that factors in)

(the thing about inflation here is that it's been going on for so long and it's so insane that it's hard to tell whats a normal price for something, so make with this info what you will)

i dont know how it is in the states, but 60 dollars is an insane amount of money at least for me and where i'm from. i consider games to be super expensive because i have to actually consciously save up for a long time to buy one. i wanted to play tears of the kingdom, but when i heard it was 70 dollars i didnt even bother doing the math. thats expensive.

but in a more general sense, i think it's less about how much games cost and more about everything else that comes with the games. nintendo is the one people talk about the most because it might as well just charge you for touching the console (i pay for ns online because i want to emulate old games and play online once in a while, but i think its ridiculous to even charge someone for that. also, whats the point of having emulators for free if you need a subscription to play it???)

of course some games are worth it, i know botw and totk are probably masterpieces and deserve that price tag, and i know thats just what games cost these days, but when an indie game by a team of like ten people is four times cheaper and ten times better than a 70 dollar game... idk, i think that's a problem

again. i also dont know how pricing works, so someone better informed than me is free to add their thoughts. or not. im not your boss

[blogs1241563]

How Proactive Network Maintenance Services Can Save You Money

In today’s speedy-paced, technology-pushed international, groups heavily depend upon efficient, secure, and dependable community structures to characteristic easily. A enterprise’s community is its lifeblood, permitting conversation, data transfers, and lots of each day operations. However, like all piece of generation, networks require normal care and upkeep to run at their excellent. This is in which community upkeep offerings come in. While some businesses may additionally see this as an pointless fee, the fact is that proactive network preservation can keep sizable amounts of cash in the long run.

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Prevent Costly Downtime

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Improved Network Performance

A slow or unreliable community may be a hidden price that many groups fail to apprehend. When personnel are compelled to anticipate pages to load, files to transfer, or packages to characteristic, it effects in misplaced productivity. Over time, those small delays can add up to considerable wasted hours.

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Predictable IT Costs

When companies rely on reactive preservation—simplest solving problems once they stand up—IT charges may be unpredictable. Emergency maintenance, sudden hardware replacements, and unplanned downtime all include hefty fee tags. These unexpected prices can throw your IT budget off path.

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Focus on Core Business

By outsourcing network maintenance offerings to professionals, you and your in-residence IT team can recognition on core enterprise capabilities instead of spending time troubleshooting or fixing network troubles. This allows your team of workers to be greater efficient and concentrate on duties that make a contribution at once to enterprise boom.

Proactive preservation takes the stress off inner teams, ensuring that technical troubles are resolved efficaciously with out pulling key personnel far from their number one roles. As a end result, your commercial enterprise can run easily, reducing inefficiencies and saving money within the long time.

Conclusion

While community renovation services might appear to be an additional cost upfront, the financial savings they provide ultimately are plain. By stopping luxurious downtime, extending the life of your hardware, optimizing network overall performance, enhancing security, and offering predictable fees, proactive preservation can have a substantial superb impact to your backside line. Investing in ordinary maintenance is a small rate to pay for the peace of mind and financial savings it offers within the destiny.

[hairstyleforteen]

8 Causes to Keep away from Low-cost Glasses let's Discover out why

The talk each shopper faces is high quality versus worth. All of us wish to get essentially the most bang for our buck, which implies generally we sacrifice high quality in hopes that it's adequate for our wants. Whereas this will likely work for a pair of types of denim or a few workplace pens, the standard of your glasses shouldn't be one thing you'll want to sacrifice. In case you are seeking to purchase glasses on-line, you'll be able to relaxation the straightforward understanding there are many choices on the market in the marketplace that will provide you with a superb worth for good high quality. Nonetheless, should you nonetheless want a little bit of convincing, then listed below are just a few of the reasons why buying a pair of low-cost glasses will do extra hurt than good. You'll find yourself spending extra In case you are seeking to buy a pair of glasses and go for a budget pair, they might final you some time, however, definitely won't final so long as a costlier pair. Typically, the upper the value of the glasses, the upper high quality you'll get. This implies it is possible for you to put on them longer whereas they will even have the ability to face up to extra put-on. Decrease high-quality glasses are additionally much less prone to have a guarantee which implies if one thing does occur you're out of luck. This differs from high-quality glasses the place a guarantee is an choice and might lengthen the lifetime of your glasses even additional. 2) They appear low-cost In case you are shopping for a pair of low-cost glasses, you'll get what you pay for! Oftentimes low-cost glasses appear like poor high quality and the longer you put on the more serious the situation will seem. This may increasingly persuade you to purchase one other pair to replace your look. You might be higher off buying a costlier pair you realize you'll love and know it should final. 3) High quality over Amount You'll be able to solely put on one pair of glasses at a time, so is it actually value it to have ten cheap pairs over one high-quality pair? Perform some research to seek out some frames you actually love and wouldn’t thoughts sporting often. You'll probably discover that having one good pair over ten, is definitely a lot simpler to model. 4) One dimension doesn’t match all Whenever you buy a pair of low-cost glasses you'll be able to count on a one-dimension suits all strategy. There may be going to be little to no care that goes into ensuring the pair suits properly in your face. This differs from extra high-quality manufacturers which can be comfortable to work alongside you to ensure one can find a pair that matches nicely. 5) Jack of all trades, grasp of none Do you ever discover online how low-cost glasses typically have one million pairs to select from? This differs drastically from designer manufacturers that always have a smaller choice. It's because extra of their finances is spent on analysis, improvement, and design. Whereas, cheaper manufacturers concentrate on placing out a number of totally different choices to solidify a wider web. They aren’t centered on nice high quality or implausible matches. They wish to enchantment to as many individuals as potential, making them a grasp in only a few areas. So whereas this will likely not trouble you and it's possible you'll simply be on the lookout for an affordable pair, it's possible you'll discover over time that the glasses don’t actually serve their meant objective as you as soon as hoped. 6) Warranties We talked about some time again how it is best to think about the guarantee you'll obtain with a costlier model versus a cheap model. If I requested you to call some costly designer manufacturers you might most likely identify a pair. This differs from low-quality manufacturers. Chances are you'll must take one other minute or two to even give you one. Why is that? Designer manufacturers have been around for some time and can probably be around for some time longer. This implies you usually tend to reap the benefits of the guarantee hooked up to your glasses. This differs from cheap manufacturers that come and go extra continuously. Who is aware of how long they are going to be around!? Who is aware of if it is possible for you to reap the benefits of the guarantee while you really need it? 7) Imaginative and prescient Correction Points In case you are getting a pair of prescription glasses then additionally, you will wish to think about the standard of the lenses because it pertains to your eyesight. You now know that decreasing high quality might imply the frames aren’t as sturdy or the lenses might crack extra simply, however now they might even mess along with your eyesight! The place will we draw the road!? This may snowball into different points. If the imaginative and prescient prescription is off, you danger inflicting complications and eyestrain from wanting via lenses that aren't designed on your eyes. 8) UV Safety Some glasses include UV Safety. This can be a choice for both costly and cheap pair, however, you most likely already know which high-quality choice you'll be able to belief! Whereas cheap pairs might be able to cost you a few {dollars} extra for her “UV Safety” it will not be a good safety. There are various ranges of UV safety that may be utilized for a lens. How have you learned if it's a stage you'll be able to believe? This fails compared to costlier glasses place they won't solely inform you there may be good UV Safety, however, they may clarify at what ranges and the way the UV Safety is utilized. However, providing you with extra data you may be assured in your buy and know your eyes will probably be protected irrespective of the circumstances you end up in. Read the full article

[mikesavagenewcanaan]

Mike Savage New Canaan Inexpensive Muscle Mass Automobiles Available - Now is the moment to Get

There has actually never been a far better time than currently to get your desire vehicle. With all the problem over international warming and also the cost of gas, the amount of affordable muscle cars available for sale has increased, with prices going down like insane.

Take my very own current experience. Since I was a wee boy, I have actually desired an Australian XB Falcon Coupe, among the most iconic muscle cars and trucks of perpetuity (It's the auto Max drives in 'Mad Max' as well as 'The Roadway Warrior'). As a young adult I was determined to acquire one, yet back then (13 years earlier!) any type of in good condition were choosing over ten grand, as well as also then they were as unusual as chicken's teeth. Include in this my moms and dads were currently well as well as really sick of having their lawn occupied by rusty 'job cars and trucks' from my older bros, who never ever quite navigated to repairing them up. This lead me to investing a paltry 200 bucks on a used Japanese buzz box, yet the wish for that roaring v8 never left me.

Quick Forward to today. My wife, who is already careful of my propensity to buy job autos and also never fairly get around to completing them, is really feeling forgiving as I have simply stop smoking as well as am looking for something to inhabit my time. Satisfied with her smoke free residence as well as now much less foul-smelling hubby, she provides me the green light to start searching out my dream car.

Mike Savage New Canaan

So I begin striking the public auctions, online and off, as well as what I'm seeing is blowing my mind! Muscular tissue autos are unbelievably affordable, contrasted to even ten years earlier. I'm seeing lovely mustangs choosing fifty percent what they would have a years back, as well as probably in far better condition. The flawlessly restored specimens are obviously still going for a mint, yet those that just require a little bit more love and interest to be of showroom top quality are drastically more affordable.

My theory is that the because of the cost of fuel as well as exhausts problems, these monsters are no more sensible for an everyday motorist. Nonetheless for guys like me, who desire a task to service, and only drive on the weekend break or for showing functions, there has never ever been a far better time to buy a muscle vehicle for a bargain rate.

So my search continues, however with many various other appealing deals, it's tough to remain focused on the XB ... some of those mustangs look magnificent nice!

Stop dreaming as well as snag your dream muscle mass vehicle today! Get in quick, before rust and time takes these attractive makers away forever.

[creative-anchorage]

[ID: photo of a book page that reads:

…inexplicable self-employment and empty space, that we could get kicked out of out apartment at any moment…

At the level of poverty where we exist—not starving but hopelessly locked out of the middle class—it feels like flying over an active volcano on the back of a winged creature that is friendly but also very drunk. America is, after all, full of dirt-cheap comforts. My T-shirts are five bucks at Walmart. The most amazing fast food costs less than what you’d pay to make it yourself. A good coffeemaker will beat anything you get in a fancy café. Cheap alcohol gets you drunk faster than the expensive stuff. So you can chill in a lawn chair on a nice autumn day with a beverage in your hand and say, “This isn’t so bad.” But if one of us gets a toothache or breaks our glasses or, god forbid, both? Well, now our whole world is threatening to come apart. 

The fact that, at any moment, your drunk Pegasus could dump you into the lava lurks behind every moment of joy. I’ll hear about a friend getting pregnant, and the happiness lasts about ten seconds before I think, How is she going to afford maternity leave and diapers, considering she’s a waitress and the father is a dumbass? I’m not good friends with any rich people, but I’ve known plenty on the level of the Galvatrons, the ones who probably don’t think of themselves rich because they don’t have a yacht. Their true wealth is invisible to them because it comes in the form of what they’re missing: that constant hum of anxiety that sucks the energy from the rest of us. If their refrigerator craps out, they can fix it. If they fall down the stairs, their insurance will cover the hospital bill. If the breadwinner loses his job, he’ll have his pick of landing spots. When I daydream about having money, it’s not about jewelry and Jacuzzis and Jet Skis. I dream about having that unseen cushion, that margin of error I can just take for granted. End ID.]

Been reading Jason "David Wong" Pargin's newest book "If this book exists, you're in the wrong universe" and... Damn if this passage just ain't too real

[magicwithclass]

Seeds of Innocence

One of the most interesting cards on the reserved list for multiple reasons. Currently, this card is experiencing a price spike and there are whispers that the card is being slowly bought out again. There is currently no known reason for the amount of sales and purchases for seeds of innocence. Does this mean the market has been corrupted? Is market manipulation responsible for the price changes or is the card experiencing true demand? Is this truly a reserved list buyout in 2024? First, I think that seeds of innocence is an extremely playable card. It is a game piece that has value because of what it does and not simply because of scarcity. 3 mana to destroy all artifacts is actually the most efficient cost for that effect. There are no cards that cost less than 3 mana that can replicate this ability. In fact, most cards that destroy all of a quantity cost 4 or more mana. This card is offering you an effect at the cheapest mana value as long as you are willing to give your opponent a couple of life in compensation. If you control any artifacts then you can also gain some life although the decks you are playing seeds of innocence in are unlikely to run many artifacts. I should also mention that there are many cards that destroy BOTH artifacts and enchantments but seeds of innocence only destroys artifacts. I feel like this is a feature and not a bug. I have several commander decks which substitute artifact ramp with mana dorks or aura land ramp. Many commander decks, even in cedh, rely heavily on artifacts to generate mana so if you are playing a green deck that ramps in another way then seeds of innocence can wreck the mana base of multiple opponents. Destroying all your opponents artifacts on turn 3 can really set them back especially if you did not suffer any consequences. The life they gain is negligible but you can benefit from the life gain if you are playing a life gain deck. Kibo, Uktabi Prince decks explicitly benefit when artifacts go to the graveyard and I believe every commander deck that wants artifacts to go to the graveyard could benefit from this card. The card is in less than 70 Kibo decks and I think that is embarrassingly low. The synergy is there and the card is perfectly playable even without the combo potential. Any deck that focuses on changing the opponent's cards into artifacts should also consider deeds of innocence. Could a future commander turn your opponents stuff into artifacts and would it run this? If viridian revel can see play in almost 20,000 decks then I think this reserved list card is woefully underplayed and overlooked. The seeds of innocence viridian revel synergy should really see play in more decks as the two cards are great by themselves but do really busted things when combined. Right now, seeds of innocence is approaching ten dollars in price again for a near mint copy. I would not recommend you buy in right now as I think the card will crash as interest fades. I do not know why seeds of innocence reentered the public eye but if I am missing something please let me know. The card has always had an unusual price trajectory. Unlike most reserved list cards, the price reached its high in 2022. Most reserved list cards peaked in 2021 and buyouts and market manipulation were much rarer after the magic the gathering crash. In April, 2022 the card was close to fifty dollars but it retracted all the way back to around 5 bucks before this latest spike. I do not see any reason for the card to go up at this time so I think the card will probably settle around 7 dollars in a few weeks. I think seeds of innocence will be between 5 and 20 dollars going forward as it is both a playable card in multiple formats and is on the reserved list. Not many reserved list cards are also so powerful. Seeds of innocence is a card that actually has spiked many times. It spiked very slightly in 2016 during the early buyouts and then again in 2018. The card was almost twenty bucks during early 2021 but did not hold that price. Even now, the card is not as expensive as it was in 2021 or 2022.

[taybatwo2]

Pictures of my Shadow High’s/Rainbow Vision’s Mara Pickett. I picked her and Sabrina St. Cloud up at my local Walmart (they only had the pink girls from the Rainbow Vision bands) as belated birthday present to myself. More info about Mara Pickett under the cut, I’ll cover Sabrina next week.

I actually wasn’t completely sold on either of these girls at first, but after I washed out her hair product, wiped off all of Mara’s blush because it was covering a good section of her right chin/cheek/nose, redressed her (the all black outfit I have her in really helped tone down all the really bright 80’s Barbie pink she had on -which is also cute, but wasn’t my favorite on her- but I have a feeling all this black will stain her) and put her hair in pigtails (thank you to the person on Instagram that did that first), I really fell in love with her and give her a good 8/10, but she’s slowly inching up my list. Some details: I really like the cat mascot patches (like, look at how detailed these guys are) and even her cat-ear hat with the peg (I like that it will stay on her head and I can easily pop it off or on), even if no one else seems to like the peg hats.

My Mara does have side glancing eyes (or was wonky enough to make it look like she is side-eyeing) and I find it really endearing on her. She has Margot de Pearla’s face mold, and I think she wears it well. I also really like the fantasy colors that Shadow High is producing. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but there are so many realistic colored dolls, let me have these techno-colored weirdos. Although, I would like for Shadow High to point out why their students were all black and white and then rainbow skinned (I saw someone’s head-cannon -on Reddit?- that freshmen start out as black and white and earn their “colors,” which is a weirdly fun idea). She only has four outfit pieces to mix and match (plus her hat, pair of socks and two pairs of shoes), but her two jackets and two dresses (mostly) mix and match well. This kinda limits her possible outfits, but I am glad that MGA is still including extra outfits with the dolls…for now (side eyes Pacific Coast and the upcoming Shadow High Fashion Runway line…especially since they’ll probably still cost a kidney or two). Also, her studs are going to pop off her shoes so easily (MGA stop using studs and glued on decorations; it looks really cool but, it makes me really nervous trying to redress them and they will not handle being played with). Also, these pleather outfits will be decomposing in like ten years…sigh. I wouldn’t mind if MGA went back to all plastic shoes (with slits in the back so they actually fit on the doll’s feet). I know Mattel’s glue head is ruining their older dolls, but I feel like MGA is going to ruin a lot of people’s collections with these clothing and shoe decisions (even if they look really cool right now).

Also, her drum set is just a reskin of Venessa Tempo’s. It’s kinda lack luster (besides the angry cat mascot-they are wonderful), and looks really awkward without any cymbals or a place for her to sit down at.

Like what everyone else has been saying, MGA is putting too many dolls out at once, and for too much money (I am glad that these Rainbow Vision girls stayed at just under 50 each, but that’s still 300 bucks for ALL SIX). I have to keep looking up some of the doll’s names and interests because I can’t keep them all straight anymore (I feel like this is almost worse than Monster High at the end of G1 where they had so many great designs but very much unfleshed out characters). *insert Muffy from the Arthur episode where she can’t keep up with all the World Girl dolls* My Walmart JUST got in the Shadow High dolls this week (and FINALLY Marisa Golding from the Slumber Party Line) and only had the Wave 4 girls in ONCE and never again. It’s like MGA is cannibalizing it’s own space on the shelves in smaller stores. I feel like MGA will keeping upping the price and will start including less and less items with this pace. I was excited at the thought of fashion/accessory packs, but I hate that they are blind boxes and 10 bucks a piece (for all 54 items, you would to spend over HALF A GRAND). They could have released two large shoe closets/two purse closets, or smaller packs of shoe and purse closets (like five shoes and five purses in one pack)….or one big mega pack for a hundred bucks (they love doing mega packs with the LOL OMG dolls). I like doll collecting, but MGA needs to calm their titties. Anyways, what are all of your thoughts on MGA/Mara Pinkett?

[thosearentcrimes]

ok, so once again I have done a whole bunch of reading for literally no good reason and I intend to make it the problem of anyone foolish enough to follow me

I think the average person is familiar with two basic kinds of payday lending. The first is legal or semi-legal, and involves probably legally enforceable high-interest short-term loans. The APR on these might be in the hundreds or so. The main excuse offered for these is that they provide an alternative to the second kind, which would otherwise be the only option for some people (what an indictment of our society that is). That other one involves fairly obviously illegal terms, APRs that can’t even reasonably be calculated, because there is just a mobster of some description fronting you a couple hundred bucks and then regularly extorting you, not with the threat of legal action but with the threat of violence from his hired thugs.

The way it works in the Czech Republic, you have the preposterous interest rates and obscene functionally incalculable APR and absurd legally nonsensical terms and the blatant extortion, but it’s all legal. The terms might not technically pass legal muster, but they never have to, because the law doesn’t actually exist. Your debt can be passed to an executor (collection agent) with only a formality in the way of legal review. The executor can seize your property, send thugs into your home without notice, garnish your wages without judicial review. The only thing the executor needs is a single court writ initially assigning them to your case, upon nomination for this duty by the debt holder. If the debtor wishes to object to this, as far as I can tell they are supposed to send their appeal to the Executor Professional Association. These thugs do all of this with the full participation of the authority of the state, personified by its police.

As an example, some sample loans I was able to find online have nominal annual interest rates in the hundreds percent, but an APR in the tens of thousands percent. Would these stand up to legal scrutiny? Well, on one occasion an interest rate of 80% was found to be inherently extortionate by the courts. On a later occasion, a different court found an interest rate of 115% not to be extortionate. There’s no consistency, though I think once you hit the several hundreds it would be hard to defend. But the system is set up such that the debt itself does not go through the courts, it goes through the executors. Anyone poor enough to get suckered into a payday loan does not have recourse to the protections of civil law.

Regarding the wage garnishing (which, again, you effectively cannot appeal, and happens automatically), the minimum amount you can be left with per month, from which you have to cover all living expenses and rent, is around $400 equivalent base, plus $160 or so per dependent. Now, money goes further here than in the US, according to the OECD about 50% further, but it’s still incredibly bad. This of course drives people subject to this regime to find less-than-legal employment whose proceeds can’t be stolen.

You might think, well, the people with debts they couldn’t possibly repay can at least resort to bankruptcy. Kind of, perhaps, if they’re very lucky. Bankruptcy proceedings involve basically the same regime of garnishing, over the course of 5 years. After those 5 years, if you have paid off 30% of the amount you owe, you’re probably going to have your remaining debt erased. If not, better hope the insolvency court takes a liking to you. Oh, also initiating bankruptcy costs like $200 initially, and then a solid $40 a month for those 5 years. Good luck putting that money together, hope you manage to hide it from the executor because he will absolutely try to steal it off you.

The previous government decided to tinker a bit with the laws, because the social democrats were in the governing coalition and the communists were providing confidence and supply. They added regulation regarding the maximum allowed penalty interest rates for loans, to the tune of a National Bank interest rate benchmark, plus 8%. What they did not regulate, as far as I can tell (and the way the law is written makes it extraordinarily difficult to tell), is the maximum allowed regular rate for loans, which seems rather more important. Meanwhile, the current justice minister’s wife is an executor, and in his previous offices of state he has directed government collections to her. So I don’t expect much in the way of legal relief from the current government.

[trashpandacraft]

i'm thrilled to inform you that while this type of esterbrook isn't being made, it's incredibly easy to buy one if you're interested! i have several in various states of repair. this is my favourite:

esterbrooks were very common and very popular pens—the company was started in the mid-1800s, but they became known for their dollar pens, which were released in the early 1930s and cost (shocker) a dollar.

the pen above is one of their j-model pens—specifically the sj, which is the smallest of the three sizes that they made. the j series was introduced in the mid-40s.

one of the cool things about esterbrooks is that they used the renew-point system shown in the ad above. the nibs are a complete unit, and just screw in and out of the pen. the incomparable resource richard's pens has a full list of the nib units they offered, and it's fucking wild. (he also has a great overview of the j line.) generally speaking, esterbrook nibs and pens are mix and match—most of the pens they made will take any of those nibs happily.

so like i said earlier, these pens aren't being made anymore, but they're still easy to get a hold of—there are tons for sale on ebay, and almost as many nibs. at a glance, it looks like you can pick up refurbished pens with common nibs (or in one very 👀 auction, less common nibs) for as little as about thirty bucks usd. if you're desperate for a flex or stub nib, finding and buying the nib will be harder and more expensive than finding and buying the pen itself. while you can pick up the more common nibs for (sometimes) as little as about ten bucks (us), the less common styles are forty-plus, in my experience.

it's a pretty cool experience. they're lever-filled pens, so they work very differently to modern pens. they have a little latex sac inside of them:

on the outside of the pen, there's a little lever:

lifting up the lever presses a little bar, called a j-bar, inside the pen, which forces air out of the latex sac. when you let go of the lever, the bar lifts off of the sac, and the sac fills with ink.

if you have any interest in getting into vintage pens or pen restoration, i can't say enough good things about picking up a few inexpensive esterbrooks and playing around with them. i've only restored a couple pens, but this green one was one of them, and it was really satisfying. when i bought it, the nib was so crusty that i couldn't tell what kind of nib it was, the lever was stuck, and the latex sac was so old that it was partially adhered to the inner wall of the pen, and had hardened so much that it came out in gross hard flakes. all of this is common in older pens, though, and it was pretty easy to fix, and now i have this cool pen!

as a heads up, the original esterbrook went out of business in the early 70s. the name was bought by another company in the 2010s, though, and they've since released a couple lines of pens, including the esterbrook jr. these are not vintage pens, and they have a standard, modern jowo nib—they won't take the cool vintage nib units, and they're probably not what you want. old ones will usually have words like 'vintage' (or less commonly 'vtg'), 'refurbished', or 'nos' (short for new old stock) in the listing title—none of the more modern ones are old enough to need refurbishment.

They are always sold out of #1313 Illegible Gibberish so I have to make do with I can find.

The Saturday Evening Post - December 7th 1946

[hostagex]

Love Against Humanity; ch. 1

Levi first started having wavering feelings for the younger soldier around the time he was appointed in charge of his every move after Eren's titan powers were discovered. Levi spent hours torturing, insulting and berating the young man. 

He watched Eren go through hell. At first, he wanted nothing more than to make Eren behave. Turn him into a proper member of the Survey Corps. To utilize his Titan powers for the good of humanity. 

He may have been a little harsh during the hearing, beating the living shit out of him, but it worked. 

Eren was all his. 

After months of forcing Eren to live in a cold, damp basement barely seeing sunlight unless it was to train for hours. Eren was under his thumb. 

He didn't blame the kid for being so standoffish around him now that they are on their first mission outside the walls. 

It was supposed to be a simple trip outside the walls, as simple as a trip outside the walls could get. But in terms of this particular mission, it was a walk in the park compared to other excursions. 

Eren, Levi and a few others assigned, were to go an investigate a fire that started and had since burned out in the tall, towering forest just outside the walls. It was spotted by someone atop the wall doing routine maintenance to the cannons a few days earlier. 

Levi knew it was a stupid reason to leave the sanctity of his house and the walls, what with the storms they had been experiencing lately. The fire was probably just started by the strike of lightning, but Hange was convinced Titans somehow learned how to start fires. 

As they were riding the wind was beginning to pick up. Levi was riding behind Eren, his horse being rather feisty. What with the large flakes of snow messing with its vision.

"Eren! Watch out!" Levi yelled, as Eren's brown horse bucked its back legs into the air suddenly. Eren has spent maybe five hours in his life riding horses, so he immediately fell to the ground, the horse running off into the blinding white flurry.

"Eren?" Levi notices the boy hasn't moved from the spot in the snow. Promptly jumping off his horse and rushes to Eren's side. "Are you okay?" He asks gently. 

"I hit my elbow on a rock." Eren chuckles under his breath. Satisfied with Eren's answer, Levi quickly stands up and turns around.

"You're an idio-" Levi stops suddenly when he realizes that they are alone. Eren shuffled to his feet, rubbing his elbow with his hand, whilst Levi frantically shoves his thumb and forefinger to his lips to whistle, trying to call back not only Eren's horse, but his now as well. 

 "Captain, it's not safe here." Eren says, Levi stops whistling after minutes if zero luck, the strong wind drowning out the carry of his loud whistle.

"Titans are less active in low tempuratures, or did you not pay attention to that lesson when you were in training." Levi scowls at the young man, already racking his brain of a way out of this situation.

A few meters back, they passed the remembrance of an old, abandoned cabin. Levi starts to walk back, following their old horse tracks in the snow, Eren follows closely behind. 

"The others will realize I'm missing and come find us, hopefully, with our horses." Levi throws his maneuver gear off onto an old rickety wooden chair that lay covered in dust in the middle of the disheveled cabin. 

"Hopefully they come soon. Mikasa and Armin were already worried enough about me going outside the walls." Eren states as he paces. 

"Sit down, will ya." Levi says annoyed. He's more annoyed at himself than anything. Letting his horse run away. Being too worried about a man ten years his junior. If this were a regular mission, it could have cost him his life. 

"It's getting colder." Eren yawns, un-strapping his gear now as well. Levi pulls a hanky out of his inner pocket and dusts off a small cot in the corner. Eren notices it has a military police emblem on it. 

He scoffs at whatever actions the military police have been getting up too that they had to risk going outside the walls to do it. Levi watches as the young boy shift uncomfortably where he stands, rubbing his hands on his arms. 

"Come." He points to the now clean mattress as he sits down. Eren proceeds to sit next to him. He can now feel how much Eren is shivering. Levi puts his hand on Eren's shoulder, his clothes still wet from falling in the snow. 

"Sorry Captain. If you don't want me to get your bed wet, I'll sit on the floor." Eren nervously says too Levi. 

"Nonsense. I'm Im not cruel, Eren. Take off your wet clothes, they are doing you more harm than good." Levi waves his hand. Motioning for Eren to get on with it. 

"Sir, I-I'll only have my underwear on." Eren says, blushing with embarrassment. 

"Eren. I've had to peel blood covered clothing off of you and bath your lifeless body after you accidentally transformed from biting your tongue while eating your lunch. So don't be stupid. You'll freeze in those clothes." Levi says, with a harsh tone. He doesn't mean to be cruel to the boy, as he is eighteen now. 

Eren doesn't need to be talked to like a child who doesn't know up from down, but Levi can't help but keep Eren at a distance. He doesn't want to let the boy know his weakness. 

"Levi, er, Captain-" Eren comes and sits back down on the bed, his wet clothes lay across the dusty table that was once probably in the kitchen, but now mostly filled with ash. 

"We're alone, you can call me Levi." Levi relaxes back into the bed, throwing his feet up. Eren looks at him studiously. "What, did nobody teach you it's impolite to stare?" 

"Sorry- I've just never seen you so...Relaxed?" Eren says, still looking at Levi. 

"I'm human Eren, oh- not like you know what that means, what with you being a titan after all." Levi jokes.

"I am not! Well, not all of the tim-" Eren winces, closing his eyes and frantically blowing his breath into his palms. 

 "Are you still cold?" Levi sits up, putting a hand on Erens bare chest, he feels the icyness of his skin, "Eren. you're freezing!" He says. Eren usually runs extremely warm, considering he's a Titan. 

"I- I don't know why, I used to collect fire wood in the snow all the time as a k-k-kid." Eren shivers through his teeth. 

"I wonder if the snow effects you like it does titans." Levi ponders. Oh, how Hange would get a kick out of this. Eren is in for a world of tests and experiments when they get back. 

"L-l-l-evi" Erin mumbles, shivering even harder.

Levi weighed his options. He could start a fire in the half-destroyed, fireplace, but the smoke might attract any titan who is desperate enough for warmth like Eren. Or he could...He doesn't even let the possibility get spoken into existence in his mind. 

He could embrace the young man for warmth. It's the obvious answer. He is dry. Their uniforms are made for these temperatures. 

"Eren, I don't know wh-" Levi is cut off by sudden movement.

"I'm going freeze to death. Can I-..." Eren pouts, laying back into bed next to Levi, He turns his body towards the older man. 

 "Eren! If Erwin were to come find us... It's completely unprofessional for us to-" Levi can't even begin to object before Eren has his arms around Levi's neck. His cold skin caressing Levi's chest.

"Geez." Levi scoffs. He can't believe this is happening.

 Eren tries to calm his breathing as he embraces his captain. He feels Levi tense up as he wraps his hands around him. Eren would have never thought he would ever do this. 

Be in a bed with Levi, like this. Shirtless. Sure, he dreamed of it. But the man was always so mean and scary. If he ever found out Eren, not only liked guys, but for some reason him, he would have him executed on the spot, for being a titan and a freak. But for some reason, Eren sensed this was okay. Maybe it was his hightened titan senses or he actually was delusional from the cold. 

 "At least turn around, I can smell your breath." Levi says, urging Eren to look away. His cheeks burning red from embarrassment from the long embrace. 

Eren turns over quickly, Levi feeling his shivering quicken when he rolls over. Without thinking, he wraps his arms around the icy mess in front of him. 

Levi feels the smoothness of Eren's shoulders, and the hardness of his tensed muscles as his arms envelope the boy. He can't help but feel aroused. Being in a position of power, having a lot of peoples lives in his hands. He doesn't have time for personal relationships. 

Besides from the few times he hooked up with his bunk mates in training fifteen years ago, he has been alone. 

Until Eren came. 

They spend every hour together besides when they are asleep. Levi has never spent this much time with anyone, and if he felt like he could, they would usually get eaten by a titan before he could fathom even telling them about his feelings, but Eren is different. If he is in danger, he can transform. 

He wont die as easily as everyone else in Levi's life. He and Eren could live together, They could be there for each other on mission, and back home, knowing the other would alway come back home. The thought of having someone he can love, is just too much for his pent up body to handle.

"Um, Levi?" Eren says, shakily. He was distracted by the warmth of his captain, almost in a sleep like trance, when he suddenly felt it. 

A hardness against his lower back. Unless Levi is shorter than Eren remembered and that's just his knee. But he was pretty sure that he could feel the Captain's knees in the crick of his leg. 

Eren goes to stand up, but is stopped by a hand grabbing his. 

"Eren, I-I" Levi's eyes are wide. He lets his mind wander into a fairytale. Something that can never happen. Erwin and the higher ups would fire both of them if this was ever caught wind of. 

"Levi, its alright-" Eren crawls back into bed, this time facing his Captain. He can clearly see the flush of red across his cheeks, the slight bead of sweat on his upper lip. 

Despite the cold, Levi is hot. His breath labored.

Eren's hand comes up to rest on his Captain's face. Was this a dream? It must be. This could never happen in everyday life. Levi's hand comes up to rest atop of Eren's and he closes his eyes. The threat of being caught by his peers was a very real fear in Levi's eyes. He would be demoted and possibly even kicked out of the Corps. 

"Levi..I..I can't hide what I feel for you anymore." Eren says, his voice trembling with nerves. "And I know if people knew what could happen to me, especially what would happen to you." Eren stops and takes a breath, looking his Captain in the eyes. 

"But I just can't seem to care anymore." Eren says and then closes the distance between their faces and kisses the older man. 

Levi's eyes widen as he feels Eren's lips, chapped and rough, on his. Realizing what Eren's done, he quickly pushes Eren away. Levi looks away and then back at Eren, and upon seeing Eren's bashful expression, loses as previous reserve and crushes his lips against Eren's. 

The kiss turns passionate as Levi slides his hands away from Eren's neck and down his bare chest, brushing his fingertips against Eren's hard nipples. The action elicits a soft moan of pleasure from Eren and Levi breaks the kiss to gaze into his subordinate's eyes. Eren blushes and moves to cover himself until Levi grabs both of Eren's wrists and while climbing on top of Eren to straddle him, pins his wrists above his head. 

The action surprises Eren and he can feel himself growing aroused beneath his Captain. 

"Now, now, now. Just what am I going to do to you Cadet?" Levi says with a small smirk on his face. He bring his face down to Eren and begins pressing kisses against his face, slowly drifting down his neck all the while leaving small love bites. He can feel Eren's length beneath him and slowly starts to grind himself on top of Eren. 

"Levi!" Eren cries out in surprise. 

The noise only further stirs Levi to continue his descent down. Upon coming across Eren's nipples, Levi takes one in his mouth and begins to suck. With his mouth latched against Eren, Eren let's out a low groan of pleasure and squirms beneath Levi. 

Levi let's go of Eren's wrists and instead intertwines their fingers together. The action stirs something deep in Eren. That this man cares more for him than a simple Captain and subordinate relationship. 

Eren's nipple is released from Levi's lips with a pop. He opens his eyes and looks down at Eren, what with his red blush tinted face and sweat dotting his brow bone. A lustful feeling comes over Levi and he releases Eren's right hand to trail his own hand down Eren's chest, stopping just above his underwear. 

Eren opens his eyes and gazes down, noticing Levi who looks to be waiting for consent to further this intimate exchange. Seeing no reason to stop, Eren gives a slight nod, his lips forming a small smile. 

That's all it takes for Levi to slide his hand into Eren's underwear and begin to stroke his hard length. The action causes Eren to turn his head and hide his face in the crook of his arm. Noticing this, Levi let's go of Eren's other hand and instead goes to hold his face in between his thumb and forefinger. 

"The time to be quiet is not now Eren. I want to hear you scream my name." Levi brings his face close to Eren's and whispers. "I want everyone this side of the walls to hear what I'm doing to you." Eren shivers and gazes into Levi's eyes, nodding bashfully. Levi smirks and continues to stroke Eren, feeling a small bead of precum form. 

Eren begins to shake and puts his hands on Levi's shoulders, squeezing tightly. 

"Fuck Levi..That feels so good." Eren says in a low, quiet whisper. 

"What was that? I couldn't hear you, you're going to have to speak up Eren. You know it's not polite to mumble." Levi picks up his pace with his strokes and with his free hand begins to rub himself as well. Closing his eyes and letting out a groan of pleasure himself.

"Ungh! Fuck me Levi! I need to you fuck me!" Eren cries out. 

Levi pulls his hand away from himself and Eren and begins to take off his shirt, pants and straps. Tossing the extra clothing on top of Eren's, Levi turns back to look down at him. He brings himself down on top of Eren and presses kisses against the underside of his jaw.

"Now Eren, is this your first time? Have you had sex with anyone of either gender before?" Levi questioned.

"Uhh...No Sir-I mean Levi." Eren let out breathlessly. "I haven't been with anyone before."

Levi, now only in his underwear as well, began to grind himself onto Eren.

"Perfect. I'll make this hurt as little as possible." He whispered into the crook of Eren's neck. Levi picks himself off of Eren and sits on his heels.

"Eren, I need you to turn over and get on your hands and knees." He states. 

With a blush, Eren nods and gets up, turning over and taking off his underwear in the process. He places his arms in front of him and lowers his chest down onto the bed, his backside in the air.

At the sight, Levi bites his lip and begins rubbing himself underneath his underwear. With his free hand, he reaches out and grabs Eren's hip, squeezing tightly. In doing so, Levi was gifted an out cry of pleasure. 

With a grin, Levi let go of Eren's waist and brought his fingers down to Eren's face. 

"Suck, Eren." Levi said. 

Nodding, Eren took Levi's middle and forefinger into his mouth and began to suck, listening to the sounds of Levi's breaths becoming faster. Just the thought of making pleasuring his Captain turned him on more. 

Satisfied with Eren's work, Levi took his fingers away and rested them on top of Eren's rear. 

"Now, this may feel like a bit of pressure at first, but you'll quickly adjust." He said. 

Eren nodded and braced himself. First, Levi inserted his index finger into Eren. Not used to the pressure, Eren let out a loud cry, his eyes watering at the slight pain. 

"Levi it hurts!" Eren says, his face scrunching in pain. 

"It'll pass, you need to relax." Levi says, pressing deeper and then pulling out. Rhythmically going in and out. 

The more Levi continues, the looser he can feel Eren becoming. Once Eren starts to moan in pleasure, Levi decides to add his middle finger to the mix. 

In doing so, Eren brings his fist to his face and bites down, attempting to drown out his cry. 

"What did I say Eren? I want to hear everything you're feeling." Levi says, pumping in and out in quick succession. 

"I-I know Levi. It's just a lot." Eren pants out. He can feel Levi's fingers press against him inside and he moans out. With Levi's fingers in his backend, Eren begins to rock himself back onto those fingers. 

Levi grips Eren's hip with his freehand and leans over, placing a kiss on his shoulder blade. 

"Eren, I'm going to take my fingers out now." He says, preparing Eren. 

With Eren nodding in confirmation, Levi removes his fingers and then leans back, spitting onto Eren's hole before scooting closer. 

Quickly adjusting himself, Levi positions his length to line up with Eren's hole. Once lined up, Levi begins to slowly insert himself. 

Eren shoves his face into the bed, attempting to drown out his cries. 

Levi, once feeling Eren adjusting, begins rocking his hips in and out, forward and backwards. He groans in pleasure and grabs hold of Eren's hips, bringing them back flush against his. 

Reaching around, Levi starts pumping Eren's cock while rocking against him. 

"Fuck Eren.." Levi groans out. 

"Levi, if you keep this up.." Eren let's out a breathy gasp. "I won't be able to last must longer." 

"Just a bit longer Eren. I'm close too." Levi answered back. 

Eren let out a moan of pleasure and threw his head back, resting his head against Levi's chest. With a grunt, Levi lets his load lose into Eren. 

Eren cries out and cum shoots out of his cock and onto the bed as well as onto Levi's hand. 

Levi sighs and let's go of Eren's hips, removing himself from Eren as well. Getting up from the bed, Levi picks up his hanky and cleans off himself as well as Eren. 

Panting, Eren falls into the bed and closes his eyes, attempting to catch his breath. Once done cleaning, Levi gets back into the rickety bed and lays down next to Eren. 

Looking over, Levi traces the planes of Eren's face with his eyes. The silent man fast asleep next to him. Smiling to himself, Levi wraps and arm around Eren's waist, pulling him close. 

"Eren! Levi! We came as fast as we cou-" Armin's voice calls out as the door swings open. Armin stops dead in his tracks and looks, wide eyed, at the scene in front of him. 

Levi, mortified, brings his index finger to his mouth and motions for Armin to be quiet. Armin, eyes still wide with shock, nods harshly and quickly makes his way outside. 

"False alarm Mikasa! I think we need to check the next house!"Armin says, his voice trailing off into the distance. 

Releasing a breath, Levi closes his eyes and adjusts himself to bring Eren closer to him. He turns his head and places a light kiss against Eren's temple. 

Tomorrow he'll have to talk to Armin and see what he can do about not having the news spread to Erwin, but tonight? Tonight he was content with spending his time with someone he truly cared about.