#the cost of driving is insane

[steal-this-idea]

Found a paper I wasn't supposed to see while cleaning and it shows that an employee who has been working for my store for 50 years (fifty!) only makes $23.11/hr. when a living wage (at full time (which is practically impossible to find anywhere)) in my area is something like $36/hr.

Like, my company has become such a hateable place to work ever since the original owner died but holy fuck how do you treat someone who has literally given her life in service to you with two-thirds of a living wage?!

As for why I don't leave, it might be the same reason she hasn't: I'm paid too little to live on but too much to simply walk away

[persona-brainrot-real]

Sae Niijima is such a good character it drives me insane a little. She's not a mother nor a maternal or doting older sister but instead a twenty four year old who was thrown into a position of responsibility that she never asked for. She loves Makoto just as much as she resents her and its so apparent every time they talk up until November. "Are you studying?" (I want you to do well) (I need you to get a job and stop making my life harder) "I'll use any method necessary to get this promotion" (Life will be easier for us) (So stop distracting me with your problems) "Focus on your future" (I know that you're capable) (I can't afford to waste my time on you, so stop wasting time on others)

Makoto is not only the sole reason she pushes as hard as she does for a promotion, for success, and the reason that she loses herself in her animosity over her fathers death, but also someone she can't stand for so long. Makoto was 14-15 when their father died. Sae was 21. As soon as she got the career she wanted and things started to look up, her stability was robbed from her and she was disillusioned with the system that her father had taught her to rely on and completely adhere to. How do you manage, the daughter of a cop, following his footsteps towards law enforcement, when you're suddenly reminded of how unfair it is? You can't quit, your little sister relies on you and she's so young and struggling just as badly with this grief. So you pick yourself up and you get moving again. You push harder, press further. You abandon your morals and your ethics because punishing criminals (guilty or not) is almost like punishing the man who killed your father.

And the whole time she's fighting for promotions, going for drinks with the SIU Director to make herself more favourable for promotions, trying to navigate being a woman in a competitive, suffocating, male-dominated field, falling behind despite doing so much where others are promoted for doing so little - all the while your little sister comes back from school and her biggest issues are so small compared to yours.

Persona 5 revolves so heavily around grief and loss and change and Sae embodies all of that so well, all of the sharp and unpleasant and jagged parts of grief.

[ashleyloob]

ppl keep suggesting to ask for an itemized bill after a hospital visit but idk if y'all realize a lot of hospitals will straight up just list that the Ibuprofen they gave you will cost $200 per pill with a straight face and refuse to budge

[pleasantinternetperson]

In the end, he's always drawn back to her.

---

The aftermath of the battle is terrible.

There are bodies littered everywhere, glassy-eyed and unseeing.

And he is nos stranger to it, to the terrible presence of death, but it-

It still hurts.

---

Vi's screams will haunt him to his dying day.

Her grief is so raw and angry he has to look away, and the words that spill from her lips over and over as she clutches at the ledge are ones he has thought countless times.

It's not fair it's not fair IT'S NOT FAIR-

He knows what happened.

(She's-)

(How-)

(How can she be-)

(After everything-)

(Just like that?)

---

Ekko is the one who hauls Vi to safety before the beam collapses.

She's quiet. Numb, he thinks.

A part of him wants to stay with her.

But he can't. He can't stay here another second or he's sure he won't be able to take one more breath.

(She's really gone-?)

(Jinx?)

(...Powder?)

---

For the first time in his life, the undercity is quiet.

He doesn't even notice, not really, until much later.

He walks through the streets and sees everything Zaun could've been.

He sees Mylo and Claggor in the shadowed corners of their old haunts.

He sees Vi teaching him how to throw a punch in every crack of a wall.

He sees Benzo in the window of every run-down shop of wares.

He sees Vander in the wreckage of The Last Drop.

And everywhere, everywhere, he looks, he sees her.

---

He doesn't know how many times he stops her from detonating the bomb.

Her eyes look so empty.

And it breaks him inside that this girl who used to be so full of life wanted nothing more to do with it after the world took everything from her.

She has caused so much pain and suffering, has continued the cycle of violence by those left before them.

She's well within her rights to want to leave.

But he knows for a fact there's a life where things could be better.

There's a life out there where Zaun thrives because of her.

There's a life where she's happy.

And he'll be damned if he can't make that life a reality, no matter how many times he needs to turn back the clock.

She traces the edge of her bomb, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Just let me die."

He stands.

Her grip tightens.

"No."

She scoffs, though there's no real heat to it.

"Why do you care?"

Because he doesn't want this to be the end for her. Because he knows she can do so much more. Because even under all the anger and pain and grief that makes her now, there's still a chance for her to be that girl from another world.

Because he might just have fallen in love with her.

But most of all-

"Because you're worth saving."

---

He ends up making a mural for her in her workshop. There are many that pop up all over the undercity once the news gets around but...

This one is for him.

To remember her not as the tragic hero who managed to unite Zaun, but for his friend who died.

(He could've saved her.)

The Z-Drive looks up at him darkly whenever this thought comes over him, and his fingers twitch over the dials.

But he doesn't do it.

He sees Heimerdinger's face every time he does.

---

Vi comes to see the mural.

He lights flickering candles and has some of her leftover bits and bobs all over the place - a monkey head here and an old tool there.

He's drawn pictures of her from when they were young, from when they grew apart and puts on paper what he imagined she would've looked like older.

And tucked away in a small corner is the drawing of what she looked like in that other world.

That's the one that draws her sister's attention.

Vi's fingers ghost over the pencil lines, almost reverent.

"...I would've loved to see her like this."

Ekko sighs, not looking at her as he runs a hand through his hair.

His eyes land on a drawing of Powder and Vi, arms looped around each other, young and bright-eyed and joyous.

"Yeah. You would've."

---

Another part of him died with her, he thinks.

Because he knows that grief never really goes away.

It leaves him gasping for air at night and reaching for someone who isn't there when his own mind taunts him with all the what-ifs, and could've been.

Sometimes it leaves him with the memory of her lips pressing against his own, her fingers on the side his face gently.

He hates those ones most.

---

(But really, he'd give anything for the chance to do it again.)

---

What gets to him the most is that he could've saved everybody.

If he had been smarter, of he had figured out faster none of this would've happened.

And the thought crashes into him so hard and fast sometimes, and leaves him with a rage that makes him want to hit anything in sight it makes him sick to his stomach he almost destroys her mural.

He yells and screams and grieves for everyone he's lost, this boy saviour who took the world upon his shoulders.

And at the last second, just as he has his weapon ready to ruin everything, realization rushes through him and he falls to his knees.

She looks at him through the drawings, frozen and smiling.

Finally, he sobs.

I could've saved you.

---

It gets better. Eventually.

He helps with clean-up efforts in the undercity, travels up topside on occasion when Vi needs a hand with something, but sticks to himself for the most part.

While he's helping clear another fallen building a pair of kids bump into him. They're young, and only laugh for a second at their mishap before rushing off again.

He hopes they can live like that for the rest of their childhood.

He wants to make sure they can.

---

It takes a while before he goes up to the rooftop. Their rooftop.

When the grief isn't a raging, alive thing inside his chest anymore and settles deep inside of him instead.

He takes a seat in the edge, and lets his leg dangle in the air.

He breathes in.

(I could've saved you.)

It's recurring thought, now. Always in the back of his mind.

(I could've saved you.)

In another world, there was a happy ending. He hopes.

In another world, there isn't years of resentment and death and violence between them.

In another world he takes her to a party where they dance their hearts out and have the time of their lives.

In another world, they are sitting up here, and he kisses her first.

(I could've saved you.)

Ekko breathes out.

He lets the thought go.

(I'm sorry I couldn't save you.)

(I wanted to.)

(I really did.)

He hopes that wherever she is now she's happy. Or simply at peace, and able to rest from the life she's had.

And something in him feels a little bit lighter.

---

Later, when he gets back to the workshop, something catches his eye near the mural.

A piece of paper, gently blowing in the wind, trapped under a rock.

It's curiosity, more than anything, that leads him to pick it up. It seems too deliberately placed.

Unfolding it, Ekko keeps an eye on his surroundings in case this is somebody's idea of a trap, one hand around his weapon.

Then his heart drops.

It's a map.

And there are bright, colourful lines, squiggles, doodles-

A marked 'X' not too far beyond Piltover, and a message written beside it in haphazard fashion.

(It-)

(It can't-)

(She's-)

(Is she-?)

(Jinx-)

(...Powder?)

You gonna pay me a visit, boy saviour?

[peachzin]

it’s a long way down to the bottom of the river

[wavetapper]

it's GENUINELY INSANE how phones literally halve in price A YEAR after their release. why do people buy new phones even are you not sick of it all

[ancient-romes]

Guys i finished season 14 is it worth it to continue ? like i love Tucker too much idk if i wanna see what they end up doing w him

[isawthismeme]

[daisies-on-a-cup]

the fucking smile hannibal did when will immediately said "i'd be a good father" PAIN AND SUFFERING AND LOVE FOR 1000 YEARS

[spirit-praise-and-beauty]

hey ummmm jsyk the red cross is going through a severe blood shortage. if you are eligible, please donate—from the beginning of august to about mid-september 2023 alone, the red cross has lost about 25% of its blood supply, and has been sending blood to hospitals at a MUCH faster rate than it has been receiving donations.

giving ONE pint of blood can save THREE people’s lives. power red donations (which require certain conditions be met) can allow you to safely give TWICE AS MUCH blood. plasma can be given once every two weeks, making it more frequent, but again, you must meet certain conditions.

also, i’m not sure if this is a thing in just my state or nationally, but if you give blood before October 20th 2023, they give you a free $15 Amazon gift card. i believe we shouldn’t need incentives for things like this but in case that is a motivator for anyone, check what they’re doing in your state!

i cannot understate the importance of giving blood right now if you are eligible and have the means. you could help so many people by regularly giving. someone in the united states needs blood every two (2) seconds, and while three people doesn’t sound like a lot, many people together donating could save up to thousands.

please share this around. it’s something i’m insanely passionate about and i wish more people were.

source for shortage stats: https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/press-release/2023/red-cross-announces-national-blood-shortage.html

schedule near you: https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/find-drive?cid=p-max-oct-23&med=cpc&source=google&scode=RSG00000E017&gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsp6pBhCfARIsAD3GZuZNFjPI2X1wURQ0VQWnVxx-KYW2rV1ASBZWp6cvpehVLl4wHqmlRusaAuQLEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[araneitela]

As I walk around the apartment with my phone, sipping my tea as I'm waking up, and packing up little tidbits in my bathroom; all I can think about is the following sentence: 'She dresses to impress', and how utterly false it is for Kafka. Even within a context where she needs to catch someone's eye, trust me, she doesn't need to "dress to impress". The entire concept of this woman doing anything aesthetically, even if it could also benefit for and/or with others, is absolutely unfathomable to me.

[florida3exclamationpoints]

[sxtystrs]

being poor is a very funny experience because you'll see people around you have fun doing things with people and you're always wondering, "when can i do that next?" but then you realize it's never. because you don't have any money. nor can you get that thing any time soon. then it just boils inside you and you just start to feel like a husk of a person.

[i-turn-characters-2-warrior-cats]

turn your current blorbo into a kitty!! >:D

Anon, I do hope you realize how many options you have left open.

But out of Hetch, Leshy, Habit, The Beast, Albatross, and Shadow Bonnie, the wheel of names chose Hetch, so here I go! (This post will lean into a more morally gray version of Hetch, if you want something different just ask!)

So, I decided on the name Hatchscratch! "Hatch" has connections to plotting, planning, and creating a plot, and "scratch" is connected to wounds, etching, writing, and pain.

In my previous post about FAtWWLi, (WC Genloss), I mentioned something about the employees being the gifted and the controlled. Hatchscratch falls into the first category. The Founder gifted Hatchscratch a few powers, and in exchange, Hatchscratch works for him for.....he's forgotten, honestly.

The whole mountain warps for the entertainment of The Founder, and Hatchscratch is part of it. He's the ideas man, the scriptwriter. Whenever Crashmask, Snowsight, Slimepool, or anybody really is onscreen, Hatchscratch is always behind the 'camera', directing the employees.

This means he has a large part in the blood, gore, and death. He hates himself for some of it and is numb to the rest, but still doesn't want to die. As The Founder is a powerful being, if Hatchscratch attempted rebellion, he would inevitably have caused his own death or worse. So, for now, he's helpless.

Hatchscratch has minor time-warping powers, view-giving (letting someone see from another point of view), he can cast a 'bubble of silence', and a weak ability connected to the transformation of others

That's all! If you desire more elaboration or another request, do not hesitate to contact me!

See ya!

[cappurrccino]

might fuck around and take a copyright class in august

[aidenwaites]

I have gotttttt to get to the dentist