#virtual mail box

[themailcenterkconline]

The introduction of virtual mail box has brought a revolutionary shift in the way we manage our mail, offering a strong and creative solution to the challenges of conventional mail systems.

More info - https://www.themailcenterkc.com/Home-Business/Digital-Mailbox-Rental

[thetriangletattoo]

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[angeltism]

sorry for the emo ask oopsie i feel bad now I just mean I'm scared to because you mainly interact back with people who you're in some sort of relationship with and I'm bad at starting convo shivers but thats probably on me :p Ty for the reply sorry for being cringe in your ask box/lh ^^

That's okay!! Don't feel bad!! I mainly interact with Mary, Rook and Ivette because they're people I've known for a while and I therefore feel more comfortable but like. Seriously I'd love to make some platonic friendsies. If you'd like I could proooobably try to start a conversation, but I kinda suck at it as well, but really that just means I totally get it and it's not a big deal whatsoever!! Worst case we can be socially awkward together I think :3

And of course!! I know I wasn't suppoooosed to reply but I really felt as though I had to say something because. I mean. Everyone who knows of my existence is immediately cool (/hj) and really, I'm just some sillyguy on the internet who only has a handful of friends outside of his partners, so if you feel like giving it a shot I'd be happy to chat with ya <3

[cult-of-husbandos]

yami ai [yandere] - Hot Yandere Singles Near You

synopsis: you click on a random pop-up ad and are visited by weird smiling man in suit.

genre: pure crack (like fr), fluff, tbh there's not really a plot

word count: 4.4k

warnings: implied stalking

Isn’t insomnia just the worst? Like, seriously? What’s the point of being a human being with antiquated thoughts and impressive cognitive and motor skills when your brain fights you on the most basic stuff. For example, like sleeping!!

You must’ve refreshed YouTube and Twitter over a thousand times. Over 8 billion people in the world and there’s no new content anywhere? You groaned and jumped back over onto Twitter, silently praying and pleading for something new to show up on your feed. Maybe a wacky billionaire got eaten by a mob of homeless people or maybe a news article about a Floridian doing something gross and outrageous and virtually impossible.

But nope. Nothing.

Not a single thing piqued your interest. You groaned again and looked at the time on your dimly lit phone. It was past 2 a.m. and you were bored out of your mind. You then lazily clicked on Google and sighed.

‘Maybe someone posted a new fanfic over something…’ you hoped. And even if there wasn’t a new fic uploaded you’ll just read the old ones you favorited. Perhaps reading something might put you to sleep.

As you were scrolling through your favorite ship tags, you were startled by a pop up ad covering up 90% of the screen and flashing emojis.

“Ugh… seriously?” you groaned. “They should make ad-blockers on phones for this shit.” You squinted at the bright lettering emanating from your phone even though it was at the lowest brightness setting.

⚠️(99+) Hot Yandere Singles NEAR YOU⚠️

Yandere’s…? Singles? Near me?

The pop-up ad had flashing peach, cherry, and eggplant emojis with a water splash emoji at the end to signify… well, you’re not sure what it was trying to signify. On the sides of the ad, it showed pictures of very gorgeous men and women, all striking suggestive poses. Underneath the title was a small summary that read. ‘These lonely desperate yanderes wanna meet you! They’ll most likely find you anyway, but wouldn’t you rather be the honey to a bee instead of a fly? Try it NOW for FREE!! No hookups! No catfishes! No sign ups!’ Then below that were a few empty boxes to fill out requiring your personal information.

"..."

Was this a porn ad?!

No way at 2:45 in the freaking morning did you just get a porn pop-up ad while googling mafia au fanfiction. This has to be some kind of joke. Maybe it was prank and someone was just fucking with you. And how and why would there be 99+ yanderes in your area?! You couldn’t be surrounded by that many psychos. Could you? Whatever the case may be, it was now past 2 a.m. and as the rule of life states ‘Nothing good happens after 2 a.m.’. You don’t know if it was the lack of sleep or just reckless curiosity, but you gave your shoulders a shrug and mumbled a ‘fuck it’ as you put in your information. Your name, number, gender, age, preferred sex, email, and mailing address. As you clicked submit and continued scrolling, you gave very little thought about how this would go down.

On one hand, the ad turns out to be real and you get a partner out of this. Or

You get quartered, stalked, doxxed, and murdered like the dumbass you are for putting your personal info into a sketchy porno-like pop-up on Google.

Or, it turns out to be a prank and some asshole sitting in a basement has a good laugh at you.

Meh. You’ll deal with it in the morning.

*****

You were jolted awake with the sound of rapid knocking coming from your front door. You groaned into your pillow as you tried to ignore the person desperately wanting your attention from outside your apartment. You finally got some sleep only for it to get interrupted. Only minutes and minutes of continued knocking without any signs of letting up, you decide to get up and shoo away whoever it was. You wearily grabbed your phone to check the time.

8:02 a.m.

You huffed as you stormed towards the front door.

“If this a fucking Jehova’s Witness, I swear to god…” you grumbled. You swung open the door and threw the person a harsh glare, only to be met with popping sounds as confetti flew in your face.

“Good morning, my dear darling~!! Are you ready to begin on the road to happiness and love?” the stranger shouted a far too happy tone for 8 in the morning.

You took a step back in shock, fully awake as you waved and dusted the confetti from your face and hair. You looked the strange man up and down. He was smiling ear to ear and wore an expensive looking suit to warm for the summer weather. A briefcase stood right beside him along with dozens of other party poppers and a white plastic bag filled with brown bottles with oddly enough no labels on them. You looked at the man’s face. He was surprisingly attractive and without a single flaw anywhere. His hair was jet black and shined a very prominent gloss. You were honestly kind of embarrassed to be seen by him when you looked like such a mess. The man let out a chuckle.

“Oh my.” he said, gently putting his hand over his mouth with vague concern. “I hope I didn’t startle you too much. I probably should’ve sent you an email notifying you of the time I was coming. I’m sorry that must’ve been a troubling awakening.”

You quirked your eyebrow and took another step back, grabbing onto the doorknob so that you could slam it right in his face if things got too weird.

“And… you are?”

“Oh my, oh my. Where are my manners? How careless of me to assume.” The man bowed with a curtsy. “I am the ‘Matchmaker’. My job is to pair two people with their fated soulmate and give each of my clients their happily ever after. It’s very nice to meet you, (Y/N) (L/N).”

You felt a chill crawl down your spine. How’d this weirdo know your name?! You tried to close the door as fast as you could, but the ‘Matchmaker’ was even faster. He clicked his tongue at you, his smile unchanging, but his eyes seemed to harden his gentle tone.

“My, how rude. Is that any way to treat a guest?” He let out another chuckle. “You’ll never find love that way.”

“H-How did you know my name?” you stuttered.

Again, another chuckle. What was so funny? “My dear~. You gave it to me.”

What the hell was he talking about? How could you have given this creep your name? Was he a stalker? A junkie? Noticing the confusion on your face, the man spoke up again.

“Oh my dear. Do you really not remember?” he asked, tilting his head in feign innocence. “You filled out an ad to meet singles in your area. And here I am, coming to fulfill that ad.”

You eased up on the tension you had on the door and tilted your head in surprised confusion. “That was a real ad?”

The man stood up tall and smiled earnestly again. “Of course. However, you are the first person to actually fill out that ad. Really, this is more of a celebration to both of us.”

Huh, so the pop-up ad was real.

Not a prank.

And now there’s a psycho standing at your front door promising you a partner from an actual yandere.

“I honestly thought it was a prank. I mean… yanderes? Isn’t that just an anime thing?”

“Oh, I assure you my darling.” he said with a snide smirk. “Yanderes are real. And when they heard about signing up, it was like tossing chicken in a sea of alligators. All clamoring to be the first person to take a bite.”

Okay, gross but kind of sweet.

“May I come in?”

“Huh?”

“Well, my dear. It would be easier to come in and talk through the process of how this goes instead of standing here.”

“Oh, um… Suuuree-”

“Great! My my darling~. What a lovely home. Very well decorated.” The man quickly strided into your house and made himself comfortable in your living room, looking as if he was analyzing every detail about your house.

Richard Chase would’ve loved your dumbass.

You shut the door and followed him into your own apartment and offered him a seat on your couch. Might as well, right? You’ve gone this far and you're still alive.

“Umm…” you hesitantly shifted from one foot to another. “Do you… um… want some coffee maybe? Or tea? Maybe a glass of water? If you haven;t eaten breakfast yet, I whip you up something.”

Yeah, sure. Feed the man with only a title for a name and waltzed right into your house after showing up after you put in your personal information into a random pop-up ad at 3 a.m. promising you a happy life with hot single yanderes in your area. You are the pinnacle of human genius. The apex of natural selection. The creme de la creme of common sense. Charles Darwin would be so impressed.

“How thoughtful. Just coffee would be fine. Thank you.”

After brewing a quick pot, you sat across from the man facing him heads on and gently slid him his steaming cup. After a while of taking little sips in weird silence, he spoke up again.

“Before we continue, I’d just like to say: Thank you so much for applying for this wonderful opportunity!! Not many people would click on an ad requiring doxxing information to meet their soulmates! Again, congrats on being our number one willing client!”

“Willing client?” you asked.

“Well, of course! For some reason, humans seem to really love the idea of a yandere until there’s one standing on their front porch!” he laughed.

“Humans? I’m sorry. Are you not human, Mr…?”

“Ah ah! No need for formalities! Just ‘The Matchmaker’ or simply ‘Matchmaker’.

“Oh, so… you don’t have a true name? Or is that just a title?”

“Oh darling~.” he sang sweetly. “That’s none of anyone’s fucking business, is it?”

Your eyes widened and let out a nervous chuckle. “Okay, got it! Just Matchmaker. Lovely name. Adore it. In fact, I love when strange mysterious men only give a title for a name.” What the hell does that even mean? You had no idea what you were saying anymore.

“Heh, smart cookie.” He winked. “Shall we begin?”

“Um, yeah, so… how does this work exactly?” you finally asked.

“Simple, my dear darling. Think of this as an ordinary matchmaking appointment. I have a stack of potential soulmates all ready to meet you. I have the same information about them that I also have of you. Each potential soulmate also has a picture so if you don’t really feel up to meeting face-to-face just yet you can look over the picture and see who captures your heart.”

“Face-to-face? So these guys have my picture too?” “Of course! And might I say, those pictures don’t do you justice. In all my years in this business, I’ve never seen such an obsession and overload of potential soulmates for just one person.”

You lightly blushed. “I-I don’t know about that… I barely got any sleep last night so I probably look like a zombie right now…”

“Au contraire, Darling. You look absolutely stunning. If I weren’t such a professional I would burn all these forms and claim you as my one and only~.”

You felt your entire face flush red as the Matchmaker pierced your soul with his longing gaze. It felt like he was staring into your very essence – like he could read you like a book. You nervously cleared your throat and shifted your eyes away, hoping to bring down your blush.

“S-So! Um… should we get started?” you stuttered, internally kicking yourself for being so easily flustered by a couple of smooth words. Ted Bundy would’ve had a field day with your dumbass.

“Ready whenever you are, my dear.” The Matchmaker set his briefcase on your coffee table and pulled out a single form and slid it over towards you. “Let’s start off with an easy one.”

You looked at the form along with the picture of a very attractive man paperclipped to the paper. According to the form, his name is Hamazawa Akita. He was in his early 20’s, had a varying array of hobbies from hiking to scuba diving, and was very much in love with you.

“Well, what do you think?”

“Hm, well, he’s very cute. And very active.”

“Would you like to meet him?”

“Um, sure… is there a number I could call or…?”

“No need! We can bring him in right now.” The Matchmaker snapped his fingers and you whipped your head towards the front door where Akita strolled in, all smiles. You looked back over the Matchmaker. “Did I not lock my door? Wait. More importantly, how’d he get here?!”

The Matchmaker smiled. “My dear, when you’re in this business you pick up a few tricks.” He then turned his attention towards Akita who now stood in the middle of the living room. “No. 1 would you like to introduce yourself?”

Akita stood tall and his eyes seemed to beam directly at you. “My name is Hamazawa Akita. Ever since I saw your picture I’ve dreamed about sweeping you off your feet and claiming you all to myself!”

“So, like 8 hours ago?”

“Yes!! But those hours feel like years when being away from you.”

“Hmm.”

“So, what do you think? Are you feeling the butterflies?”

You looked up Akita up and down and your face twisted as if you’re deciding on whether or not to buy a car or a piece of clothing.

“Um, to be honest my guy. I’m not feeling it.”

“Huh?”

“Excuse me, my darling?”

“Weeeelllll…. I mean, don’t get me wrong! You’re very attractive and your words are sweet, but I don’t think I believe any of it. Like, you just admitted to wanting me all to yourself only 8 hours ago, but I don’t really feel anything. Not even a shiver.”

The Matchmaker and Akita both looked at each other like they weren’t really expecting that. With a quick wave of his hand, Akita slumped his shoulders and headed towards your front door. You shouted out an apology as the dejected suitor walked out.

“Well, I didn’t expect that. I don’t normally get such competent clients. At least those that get past kicking and screaming.” The Matchmaker grinned. You shrugged.

“I guess I just know what I like. All the anime I’ve watched kind of gives you that high standard of what makes a yandere a real yandere, y’know?”

He nodded. “I cannot agree more. Well, we have plenty more where that came from. Shall we continue?”

*****

Papers were strewn across your coffee table in an unorganized fashion as both you and your estranged guest were tired beyond belief. You had no idea how many hours had passed nor how many guests were in and out of your apartment. You’re honestly surprised none of your neighbors complained or called the police. Your apartment would’ve looked like a clown car if anyone had been watching from the outside. You honestly lost count after No. 256. You let out another yawn and laid on your side trying your best to keep your eyes open. Maybe 2 hours of sleep wasn’t enough for the multiple interviews you had to conduct today. Maybe your 9th grade biology teacher was right. Maybe you are going to die alone. A weary sigh brought you from your thoughts.

“My, my. You are definitely the most high standard client I’ve ever had. I didn’t think we’d get to the triple digits in just one day.”

You also sighed and sat up in your seat. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just… All these guys are cute and all, but they’re all lacking something. They’re either too forceful or not forceful enough. Too wimpy or too strong. Or too obsessed or just incredibly so lovesick that I feel like they’d fall in love with just about anyone who’d be willing. Ugh, why can’t this be simpler like adopting an animal?” You groaned. You also hadn’t thought this would take this long. You didn’t really think of yourself as having high standards until today. Until today, you’d be happy with anyone close to you in age and with a heartbeat. Who knew picking out a yandere soulmate would be so challenging. And who knew that there’d be so many willing participants! The Matchmaker reached into his briefcase and pulled another stack of forms and slid them over to you. There must be at least over a hundred papers in front of you. How did he have so many?!

“How about we switch things up, hm? You’ll look over the papers and when you see someone that catches your eye, I’ll bring him in.” He made it sound like you were adopting a dog or a cat. But if this made it go any faster, you were willing to try.

After about 3 more stacks of papers, you were starting to lose hope and patience. When you got to the last few papers, you stopped dead in your tracks. Woah baby!

“Woah baby!” you exclaimed.

“Did you find someone you like?” The Matchmaker asked hopefully.

“Oh yeah. This guy.” You showed him the paper. He furrowed his brows a little.

“Are you sure? I don’t think I remember this man. His name and face don’t seem familiar.”

“Really? Maybe he’s a late entry or something?”

Matchmaker stroked his chin in thought. “I’ll go check it out. Be right back, dear. I’m very sorry for this inconvenience.”

You waved off his apology with a smile and he left your apartment. You then leaned back with a groan. You just wanted to find your ‘soulmate’ or whatever and move on with this day. You closed your eyes for a second and waited patiently for Matchmaker to come back.

Tap tap tap

Just like deja vu, you were awoken by rapid knocking. Except this time it wasn’t coming from your front door.

Tap tap tap tap

It sounds like it’s coming from… your window?

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap

You quickly got up and walked towards your window and opened it.

“Woah!” You jumped back a little as you were met face to face with the man that you had picked out and that the Matchmaker went to go find.

‘Wow… he’s even cuter in person!!’

He let out a delicious chuckle and gave you a charming smile.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, darling~. Hehe, though I think that fear in your eyes was worth it. So adorable~.” For the second time today, a complete weirdo stranger has made you blush. Wait…

“Wait! I don’t have a balcony and I’m on the third floor. How’d you-?” You peeked over the window to see if he was pulling a Criss Angel.

“I have incredible grip strength~.” he winked.

“Oooh I’m sure~.” you swooned. For a weirdo, he was a smooth talking weirdo.

“Oh, I got these for you, sweetheart~.” He pulled himself up and sat on your windowsill and pulled out a bouquet of roughly cut flowers from behind him. You gasped and grabbed them, giving them a smell.

“These are my favorite!! How did you know? I don’t think that was one of the pieces of info required for the Matchmaker.” you asked.

The stranger chuckled. “Easy. I never filled out that stupid application.”

You looked up from your flowers and titled your head like a confused puppy.

“I already know everything about you. I don’t need a stupid piece of paper to tell me what I already know about you. Like, how I know that you have secret sweets hidden all throughout your room. Or that whenever you have a good day you love to sing Stray Kids.”

He inched closer to you as you backed up further into the room.

“You won’t eat frozen pizza, but every so often you eat a lobster roll from a food truck from Gary on Main St.. You have life destroying evidence of your boss that you’re planning on using on your last day. You’ve seen the Barbie movie 5 times. And…”

You felt your legs hit the couch and tried to keep yourself from falling onto your back like a defenseless turtle.

“Your favorite anime is… Dar-” You quickly covered the stranger’s mouth with a furious blush.

“I only watch it ironically!! I don’t love it! It’s not my favorite!” you quickly clarified. The gravity of the situation was made perfectly clear after that. This man really knew all about you. Honestly, you’re so loud that you’re pretty sure that people on the ground outside could hear you singing. And you don’t really pay attention to your surroundings so it's easy for someone to know that you eat from a food truck every other week at specific times. But, knowing your favorite secretly watched anime?

“W-Who… are you?” you stuttered. You’re pretty sure you already knew the answer.

He laughed and you felt his lips brush against your fingers. You blushed and tried to pull back, only to be stopped by his hands.

“Sweetie~. You already know who I am.” He grabbed the paper from the stack and put it next to his face. “See? I’m Yami Ai. Your soulmate.”

Before you could even process what was happening, you were gently pushed onto the couch with Yami hovering over you holding your hands beside your head. You couldn’t stop the blush erupting from your neck to your face. Your heart was beating way too fast and your stomach felt jumpy and queasy. Butterflies.

You cleared your throat. “Um… so, if you didn’t fill out a form then how come The Matchmaker had your profile and picture? And why didn’t you use the front door?”

Yami smirked and leaned in closer. “It’s pretty simple to pull off when your apartment does security checks on new guests entering the building.”

“But, my apartment doesn’t–” you stopped. “Ooooh… So you impersonated a security guard, slipped your profile and info into his briefcase, and were planning on showing up as one of the potential singles? That’s… convoluted. But, smart.” You shrugged. “And since you obviously knew which floor I was on and which window was mine, I assume you’ve been watching me for a while and were watching me last night when I couldn’t sleep?”

Yami laughed again. “You are so smart~. You really catch on quickly, don’t you?”

You shrugged again with a nervous smile. “W-Well, obviously not smart enough to not put in my personal info and have strange men come in and out of my apartment.”

Yami was quick to turn his gentle smile into a hard, harsh frown. His grip on your wrists grew tighter and you winced under the force he placed in you.

“You know, my darling. It’s partially my fault. If I hadn’t backed out and taken you that night, you’d never be in this situation. With those men eyeing you up and down like you were theirs. Having that smiling freak calling you ‘dear’ and ‘darling’ when only I can call you that. I was planning on getting rid of the competition, but you did that for me.”

Yami loosened his grip and lifted you up, staring into your eyes. You blushed again.

“Rejection after rejection. Some guys didn’t even get 2 words out before you turned away. Of course my darling would only want the most perfect man. Isn’t that right, darling~?”

“Hehehe~” you leaned in with a giggle. “You’re so sweet~.”

You are such a baby for flattery.

*****

“My dear darling, I’m so very sorry for the inconvenience. I didn’t mean to be gone for so long, but I could not find this person you–” Matchmaker explained, rushing in and stopping dead in his tracks when he saw both you and Yami, the man who left 30 minutes ago to go find, eating breakfast in the living room.

Sitting in his lap.

And feeding each other.

“Oh! Matchmaker!” you exclaimed, quickly swallowing your food. You didn’t notice Yami tightening his grip on your waist nor did you notice the cold glare and tense atmosphere enveloping the room. “Look who I found~.”

“I see…” he said hesitantly.

“He climbed up the building and came in through the window.”

“My~. How romantic~.” he sang. “So, I take it that you are satisfied with your soulmate? Or… do you wish to continue searching?” he asked teasingly. Before Yami could say anything, you quickly spoke again.

“Yep! I’m sure.” You ruffled Yami’s hair and nuzzled up against him. “I wouldn’t trade him for anyone else.” Yami hugged you closer to his chest as you giggled. “Plus, he makes the most amazing breakfast in the world, so extra points!” you cheered. You reached out towards the Matchmaker’s briefcase.

“Here you go! I put all the papers back in for you.”

Matchmaker quickly walked over and grabbed his briefcase along with your hand. “Well, my dear. It’s been an honor. You are truly the most remarkable and memorable client I have ever had.” he said with a bow and made his way towards the door. However, before leaving he chuckled and looked back at the both of you. “Although, it’s a shame,” he sighed. “Maybe if I had stayed, I would’ve snatched you up myself.”

And with a final loud laugh, The Matchmaker disappeared, but not before Yami stood up to lounge and attack the fleeting man like a guard dog. You snorted and caressed his face to calm him down. “Relax, Yami. He’s just joking.”

“Well, I hated his joke. Fuckin’ freak…” he grumbled. “And it’s Ai. You’re mine now. You should get used to calling each other by our first names.”

You smiled and leaned against him. “Okay, Ai. Whatever you say.”

“And if a man comes to the door, never EVER answer it, got it!”

“Mhm.”

“I’m serious, darling. I’ll gouge their eyes out right in front of you.”

“Yes sir.”

The rest of your life was going to be very interesting. Suck it, Ms. Braxton. I guess you’re the one dying alone. Because you have a yandere boyfriend! And she has gonorrhea. Bitch.

---

a/n: this is so shit. i'm so sorry that i've been MIA for a while. work has been pretty crazy and i haven't really felt much motivated to write. however, i'm trying to get back into it now. with this goofy shit. kind of a joke piece, but i needed to write something silly and not serious at all to relax. (also i've been writing since 4 a.m., so...) anyways, i'm going to try and update regulary or at least post something.

Here's my YouTube. I make anime playlists.

[usacounselingcredit]

United States Mailbox | Post Office | Virtual Mail Delivery: Thieves targeting collection box at College Station Post Office - KBTX

United States Mailbox | Post Office | Virtual Mail Delivery

Thieves targeting collection box at College Station Post Office - KBTX

by United States Virtual Mailbox Digital Mail, Diego Canton on Wednesday 23 November 2022 01:31 AM UTC-05 | Tags: #unitedstatesmailboxpostofficevirtualmaildelivery united-states-mailbox-post-office-virtual-mail-delivery

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - The United State Postal Service confirms it has received reports of stolen mail at the College Station Post Office ... Mobile AL Hempstead NY Michigan Ohio Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana November 22, 2022 at 11:56PM

Tags:

#unitedstatesmailboxpostofficevirtualmaildelivery

united-states-mailbox-post-office-virtual-mail-delivery

Hammond Louisiana Ukiah California Dike Iowa Maryville Missouri Secretary Maryland Winchester Illinois Kinsey Alabama Edmundson Missouri Stevens Village Alaska Haymarket Virginia Newington Virginia Edwards Missouri https://unitedstatesvirtualmail.blogspot.com/2022/11/united-states-mailbox-post-office_984.html November 23, 2022 at 03:04AM Gruver Texas Glens Fork Kentucky Fork South Carolina Astoria Oregon Lac La Belle Wisconsin Pomfret Center Connecticut Nason Illinois Roan Mountain Tennessee https://coloradovirtualmail.blogspot.com/2022/11/united-states-mailbox-post-office_27.html November 23, 2022 at 03:41AM from https://youtu.be/GuUaaPaTlyY November 23, 2022 at 04:47AM

[seelestia]

the butterfly has arrived safely <3 <3

yeppp..... i mean in the end i managed to rewrite it.... at least it's just a 600-700 words drabble i guess? it could be worse ;w;

it does sound like it would make the perfect breakfast paired with sandwiches hehe something decadent to start your day!! oh dear, i hope you're okay ;;;; but... but coffee is so good.... i mean i guess it's more bitter than tea but like. a good brew tastes like a nice-and-tasty kinda bitter!!!

yesyes hehe it was an experience alright. sjldjfklshdf everyone has been saying that and i am. so. excited. hahahah

oh lord.... time to max out electroculus and dendroculus huh? i pray for you.... isn't sumeru's total land size twice or thrice inazuma? 👀

artifact farming sounds like it would be a productive activity while the story takes a backseat! you can do it!! may the rng gods bless you <3 50/208 oh my god you're a chronic simp

yesyesyes!!! it's so nice to see the varieties in genshinblr hhhh i am constantly just in awe at the other writers... how are yall so good and talented aaaaaa and i am sure it would turn out great!!!! and hey, at the end of the day, it's good writing practice :3

let us put on our aviator sunglasses to combat the blindingness that is our husbands slkjdflskjdf

your puppy eyes + the turtles + the actual puppies' will be the downfall of ayato lol 

now then, go forth spirit puppy, deliver my mail to your brethren!! 💌🐾

i love how my messenger is a butterfly and yours is puppies... something is oddly flipped here. (/j) AND TRUE 😭 this is why i only write on google docs because i'm scared that tumblr won't save my progress or my finger slips and delete my tab. at least, google docs has an automatic save feature that doesn't require you to manually save it <//3

i'm indeed a good option to consider if you want to have picnics, hehe~ sandwiches with chicken slices are my beloved. (/lh) and no worries, headaches from caffeine are nothing i can't handle. i think i'll just stick to my cocoa latte order from now on 😭

I SAW THAT YOU ALREADY MET FERAL HAITHAM. iirc, alhaitham's jp va is umehara yuichiro (vv deep voice), so that azar scene must've been a joy to watch 🤫 that scribe should get an oscar, my gosh, his acting was fr smth else. also, i really loved his interaction with kaveh + at the end of the quest, where he was like "oop, i accidentally brought two keys with me today... heh." (kaveh is sleeping outside /j)

the electroculus search is still ongoing and i fear for my life in sumeru... hoyoverse really likes underground places, huh (i'm suffering here) 😭 mhm, i'm trying to build my c1 mona by alternating between the noblesse oblige and the severed emblem! rng is painful, but at least, i got to use all my resin. (i thank your hubby, zhongli for ensuring my team's survival with his mega shield and burst DMG i finally got the catch to r5!)

unfortunately, my dear cousin, i shall take the "chronic simp" title with open arms. it's now 60/208, apparently and OH, i saw some leaks that said ayato is going to rerun with ei on v3.3's 2nd phase! the sigh of relief i let out, HELP. but i fear for you, rin jie... childe is coming soon, scara is coming soon, and ayato is coming soon... who shall be your choice? I'M SCARED FOR YOU FHJEDK

hehe, the fic is still in the works~ i still haven't decided whether it should be simple or more story-driven and i feel bad for it — but ik that you'd tell me to take my time, so i'll try! i really loved the one with husband!zhongli and baby!xiao, hehe (the way baby xiao was like "birds. birds!") <3

[super-lovely-star]

Fun and nostalgic gifts and treats for Middle Regressors and Dreamers

This is a list of cute little things you can get for yourself or your middle friend! I will generally list them from cheapest to most spendy- but remember, just because something is cheap doesn’t mean it’s a bad gift. Don’t spend beyond your means! And also, you DO NOT need these things to “properly regress!”

Mood Jewelry ($) These were popular when I was a kid. You can get mood rings, necklaces, bracelets, and probably even earrings.

Age appropriate cosmetics ($) Like scented lip creams and gloss, or body glitter.

Glow in the dark stars ($) you can get these in the classic color, or bright colors!

Fidget toys ($) I especially like Tangle! These are good if you have anxiety or are just fidgety.

Small collectable toys ($) Like matchbox cars, littlest pet shop, blind box toys, etc!

Candy ($) Just make sure you don’t get too much, or you might get sick! I especially like sour patch kids, and yan yan.

Stickers ($) I like to get these at Daiso, but you can get them pretty much anywhere! Especially good of you/your friend keeps a journal or writes letters.

Cute plushie keychains ($) To clip onto your bag!

Art supplies ($-$$) If you/your friend likes to draw, you can get some colored pencils, markers, etc! Even a new sketchbook!

Stuff with a First initial on it ($-$$) like pillows, jewelry, little compacts, keychains, etc.

Kids craft kits ($-$$) they have plenty of these at craft stores! Jewelry making kits, paint a sculpture, you name it!

A cute character waterbottle ($-$$) choose depending on your/their favorite character/franchise! I have an usahana water bottle coming in the mail!

A lava/glitter lamp ($$) A cool way to add atmosphere to your/their room, and super relaxing to look at.

A caboodle ($$) To keep your/their accessories, makeup, art supplies, or small toys organized.

Plushies, duh! ($$) If you’re on a budget, you can get these at thrift stores! Just make sure to clean before cuddling.

Action figure or Fashion doll ($$) If you/they are less into plushies, these make equally good companions.

Video games ($$) for whatever console you/they use. I like nintendogs games best!

Tamagotchi ($$) or a similar virtual pet! I never had one, but they look fun!

A DVD of a favorite movie ($$) You can get these cheaper secondhand! Just make sure they still work.

A cute journal ($$) I like the ones they sell at Claire’s best. They look like cute animals!

Vintage Clothes ($$-$$$) If your shopping on ebay or depop, make sure you know the measurements. Especially if you’re going for actual tween brands like Limited Too or Mezzo Piano Junior, which run smaller than adult sizes.

An inflatable or beanbag chair ($$-$$$) Just make sure you/they have space for one!

MP3 or CD player ($$$) Especially good gift for a music lover!

Last but not least, a Razor scooter! ($$$) Did you know they make these in adult sizes? I have one named Jazz and I love it dearly.

Love you all, platonically ofc! 🎁💝

[growingstories]

Side business

Gianni, a 23-year-old marketeer that recently graduated, landed a job as a junior press officer at a prestigious Italian fashion brand. As he embarked on his exciting new career, he began sharing his adventures on social media. His Instagram account quickly gained popularity, attracting an audience of over 50,000 followers.

His boss discovered Gianni's growing online influence and recognized its potential. Impressed by his ability to engage with an audience, Gianni was promoted to a senior position within the company. His boss even suggested a plan for Gianni to collaborate with other influencers and showcase outfits before they hit the stores. This strategy greatly boosted the brand's sales and left everyone involved thrilled with the results.

Gianni's online presence caught the attention of travel brands, who saw a perfect opportunity to collaborate with him. Combining his passion for travel with his current job seemed like a dream come true. Eventually, Gianni was offered a different position that allowed him to travel the world as a brand ambassador and head of social media. This proved to be a tremendous success, as he earned money by partnering with other brands and posting about their products. His healthy lifestyle and fitness journey also made him a sought-after expert, leading to features in renowned publications like Vogue, Vanity Fair, and G.Q Gianni's popularity continued to rise, and he enjoyed the luxury of a lavish lifestyle, complete with a glamorous personal trainer, Francesco. Francesco drives a Porsche and loves fancy watches.

For many years, Gianni thrived, giving Ted talks and attending exclusive parties, collaborating with numerous companies and earning substantial amounts of money. He even purchased a grand house in Tuscany and shared the renovation process online, engaging his followers with step-by-step updates and showcasing furniture brands.

Eventually, Gianni decided to leave his day job and focus solely on endorsement deals. He started offering online courses, recording podcasts from his home studio, and hosting, pay exclusive-per-view live Q&A sessions for his subscribers. While Gianni received many tempting offers of a sexual nature, he always declined. However, one evening, after consuming a few drinks, he engaged in a private, sexually explicit Q&A session with a follower named Franco89. This opened the door to more explicit conversations and eventually led Gianni to create a secret OnlyFans account. There, he redirected fans who desired sexually oriented content, including Franco89.

FitFrank, who Gianni initially didn't recognize, messaged him one day. Their conversations quickly evolved, and they eventually engaged in virtual intimate encounters. Although Gianni had his reservations, FitFrank eventually persuaded him to participate in paid jerk-off sessions, which they conducted weekly.

Amidst his immense success, Gianni received fan mail, flowers, and outfits from well-known brands. Due to his excellent physique, he could easily request any outfit he desired. One day, he found a box of cupcakes and received message a from FitFrank insinuating that he knew about the cupcakes. Initially Gianni dismissed, it, assuming it was a coincidence. However, after tasting and enjoying the cupcakes during one of his live sessions, FitFrank sent him a message, revealing that he was aware of Gianni’s indulgence. Intrigued, Gianni engaged in a conversation with FitFrank, who made an unusual offer: €100 for each cupcake Gianni ate during a live session. Although Gianni hesitated at first, FitFrank increased the offer to €1000 for two live eating sessions per month. Succumbing to the allure of the lucrative deal, Gianni agreed to indulge himself weekly.

Gianni's popularity continued to soar, and endorsement offers poured in, particularly for swimwear. Whenever he posted about a particular brand, it sold out immediately. His fit body, dedication to fitness, and healthy eating habits had transformed him into a lifestyle specialist, attracting media attention from magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and GQ.

However, as Gianni's workload increased, he found less time for travel and decided to reduce his trips. Instead, he focused on providing online courses and hosting events exclusively in Italy. He also introduced paid subscriptions for his live Q&A sessions, further boosting his income.

Despite his success, Gianni couldn't help but notice his clothes becoming tighter. Concerned about his appearance, he decided to end his deal with FitFrank and ignored his messages. However, FitFrank responded by sending cupcakes every morning, tempting Gianni to continue their arrangement. Eventually, FitFrank offered even more money, €1000 per cake. Gianni decided to extend the deal for one more month.

The cakes became larger and more challenging to consume, but Gianni managed to complete each one. FitFrank saw Gianni's dedication and increased the offer to €5000 per month after the last cake. Although the cakes grew in size, Gianni determination remained unwavering.

Despite his success, Gianni's lifestyle began to take a toll on his physique. Personal trainer Francesco expressed concern and suggested a diet to help Gianni lose weight. Francesco feared that having a visibly overweight ambassador would harm his own reputation. Gianni understood the need for change and revealed his to followers that he had gained weight during a renovation project. He created a weight loss program with Francesco for his fans, which received a positive response during the pre-sale phase.

However, Gianni's weight gain continued, exacerbated by his ongoing indulgence in FitFrank's cakes and cupcakes. Francesco confronted Gianni during a live session, shocked by his additional weight gain. Promising to do better, Gianni continued his collaboration with Francesco, now paying for the fitness program.

After two weeks, Gianni realized that his efforts were futile, and he had only gained more weight. Francesco, furious with Gianni's lack of progress, demanded that he publicly announce the end of their collaboration or face legal consequences. Gianni reluctantly complied, confessing to his followers that he was too weak to continue the program. He stepped on the scale and broke down in tears at realization that he the had gained a significant amount of weight.

Confused and desperate, Gianni questioned why he had continued the eating sessions despite having no financial need. Was it simply for attention? FitFrank, aware of Gianni's struggles, initiated a deep conversation that evening, forming a strong connection between them.

As Gianni's weight continued to increase due to FitFrank's challenges and his own overulindgence, he embarked on a four-week, all-inclusive trip to various resorts. The luxurious accommodations offered exquisite indulgences, leaving little time for exercise and fitness. He found himself in a predicament when thewear swim brands he had collaborated with realized his significant weight gain, causing them to distance themselves from him. Gianni grew about anxious his future and impact the his weight gain would have on his career.

During this uncertain time, FitFrank remained a constant presence, sending messages and offering support. Feeling a sense of care and connection, Gianni appreciated FitFrank's attention. They grew closer, building a relationship that felt as though they had known each other for years.

 To salvage his career, Gianni had to lose weight, but the temptation of indulgent food and alcohol endorsements made it difficult to stick to his diet. In a desperate move, he accepted a deal with a champagne brand to become their brand ambassador for a year. This involved a week-long trip to a champagne mansion to sample the entire range and create content. The trip consisted of lavish tastings and extravagant meals, leaving Gianni hungover and on the brink of failure. He returned home feeling exhausted and defeated.

Gianni's weight became a source of worry, both for himself and the brands he had collaborated with. FitFrank continued to send him chocolates, and Gianni, feeling discouraged, started eating them. When FitFrank reached out, Gianni confessed his struggles, and their conversation became progressively intimate. However, during one chat, a technical glitch revealed FitFrank's identity, leaving Gianni enraged.

Confronting Francesco at the gym, Gianni discovered his personal trainer's secret life as a creator of weight gain content. Francesco had been secretly livestreaming and profiting from Gianni's weight gain journey, while driving an extravagant lifestyle. Francesco confessed to making over €450,000 from donations by viewers fascinated with Gianni's transformation.

 Feeling betrayed by Francesco, Gianni hatched a plan to regain control. He proposed a new arrangement to FitFrank, demanding a majority of the revenue, FitFrank's authentic appearance and FitFrank joins in on food challenges. If FitFrank refused, Gianni threatened to expose him to his clients. Relantly, Francesco agreed, realizing that he had little choice if he wanted to maintain his luxurious lifestyle.

Together, Gianni and FitFrank continued their indulgent food challenges, delighting their followers with their ever-expanding physiques. FitFrank's following and body grew, and their loyal fans paid top dollar for their content. The money poured in, but Gianni couldn't help but wonder if his obsession with food and attention had gone too far. And how far will he go?

[britt-kageryuu]

Leo and Donnie are on the the beach set/green screen, both in swin trunks, Hawaiian shirts, crocs, and masks, color coded. Shelldon and River are zooming around with a couple of toys. They're doing the promised FanMail opening stream.

There's also a virtual sign reading "Roomba at work, might hit the camera later❤"

The brothers have been opening fanmail for about a half hour, though they set Raph and Mikey specific mail to the side, and agreed to not read letters unless it was in a package, because the stream would take forever. They're using a custom AR system to overlay their models on top of themselves.

"Gotta love the fact you guys are guessing our heights based off our models, but you don't need to send us clothes." Leo says while holding up a shirt that read 'Turtley Gay' with a cartoony turtle with a gay pride colored shell, that was a couple sizes to small against the model. "It's still very cute. Maybe I'll cut out the graphic and attach it to a different top?"

"Well the fans at least picked up on my love of oversized clothes, but I don't know about the fabric just yet." Donnie has a hoodie spred out that while purple in color also had the Nonbinary pride colors across the front. It was a bit huge compared to Donnies model.

They put the clothes aside, and grab a couple more boxes. The roomba goes passed with River sitting on top. Shelldon pops up behind a package with a fairly big box on his back.

"Hey Dee, can you open this one? Please?" Shelldon asked while hovering close to Donnie.

"Sigh, sure Shelldon." Donnie puts down the package he was about to open, and grabs to box from Shelldons back. "Let's see, oh it's for you and River. What could this be?" He opens the box, and pulls out a roughly 10 inch at it's highest point figure of Shelldon flying around River who's trying to smack him with her fan. "Truffle Mac and Cheese! Look at this!! This is amazing, who made this?"

He examines the box, and pulled out some papers, "So, it's from The Crafty SeaCreature, they've been a fan since just about the beginning, and wanted to send us a gift."

"Why do our fans send us this stuff? I'm pretty sure this could go for at least $50 at some places. Also someone sent me some old memorabilia from Jupiter Jim! I know this stuff can be expensive, especially this!" Leo holds up a in box Original Jupiter Jim Space Blaster. He gets up to show the camera, before going off camera to place it on a shelf nearby.

Right as he comes back the camera starts to move slowly before falling over, and the livestream is cut off, leaving a picture of Shelldon and River trying to free Donnie from a bunch of tangled wires, that read Experiencing Technical Difficulties Please Stand By!

The Forgotten Chat is cheering for the Roomba causing Chaos during the stream, with some pointing out the virtual sign saying it might hit the camera later, but didn't think it would mess up the stream.

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

Masterpost

[unopenablebox]

you can learn so much about the little traditions and daily experiences in a location and time period from reading contemporary fiction that you would never learn in a history book. for example, in early 20th century england, if you received a box of violet cream chocolates in the mail they were virtually guaranteed to be poisoned

[themailcenterkconline]

This contemporary solution is specifically advantageous for those that travel often, lead dynamic lifestyles or look for a more effective and comfortable way to manage their mail.

Get service - https://www.themailcenterkc.com/Home-Business/Digital-Mailbox-Rental

[skylermadness]

Projected Reality (Hephaestus TF/MC)

(Original Date of Upload: May 22, 2024)

Original Description:

A bit of a belated birthday gift for my beloved boyfriend. This was a story I've actually wanted to write for a little over a year now. I had first wanted to write out a Hephaestus TF around Spring of last year when I was planning out a concept that I have since long abandoned. During that time I did have a few stories that involved people I was close to, and Arti had volunteered to be used for the Hephaestus concept. Although even after the concept was scrapped I still wanted to write a story for them involving this character! A few months later it's August and Housamo finally translates the Virtual Summer Memories event. It was around this time that I finally come up with an idea for this TF, but due to a bunch of stuff happening at the time I was completely unable to follow through and the story was left unwritten for a very lengthy amount of time. It isn't until Spring of this year that I finally got the motivation to write it out as I realized I could actually use this story as my gift to Arti for their birthday! Thus, the story finally came into fruition after over a year of constantly being pushed back. Beyond that though, the actual writing process for this story was extremely fun! I love using random VR nonsense for TFs, and it was honestly extremely easy to play around with that seeing how Hephaestus' one event appearance had a lot of focus on virtual reality. Furthermore I just love using my boyfriend as a TFee, and I gladly wish them a late happy birthday! I do wish I could've written this story out earlier, but college was beating my ass at the time of early May. But I'm still very glad to have gotten this out for them! <3

   Reality is many things. Inconsistent, imperfect, unstable, and almost never lives up to your expectations. It's always ever changing, the world constantly malleable to the whims of fate. Such whims that are beyond the grasp of a mere human. That's why we here at ScybR Essence Technology believe reality should be yours to control.

   With our team of advanced scientists we have invented the next advancement in the field of virtual reality: the Hyperreality Manifold. Using a mix of our patented hardlight technology and neurolink engineering, the Manifold projects small worlds for you to spend time in. With just the single press of a button it can turn your living room into an RPG-style dungeon with you as the explorer; or your kitchen into a bustling tavern bar for you to begin a lengthy adventure in. The possibilities are endless, and the only limitations are the ones your mind would impose.

   While the Hyperreality Manifold is still in active development, pre-orders are available with prices starting at 8500 USD. We will also be releasing Lite versions of the Manifold to carefully selected individuals to test out prior to the worldwide release, with the next major Hyperreality Manifold Lite testing date being May 4. So please keep that email inbox open for any important information regarding your potential selection!

   ScybR Essence Technology: We bring the future to the present to change your reality to whatever you desire…

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

   The advertisement on Arti’s phone proceeds to come to an end. This is perhaps the third or fourth time they've watched the strange video ever since they got that email a few days ago telling them they've been selected as a tester for this Hyperreality Manifold thing. Initially they had assumed it to be some kind of spam mail, and even after they got a tracking number for the package they weren't fully convinced it was real. But then the fourth of May had arrived, and roughly a few minutes before noon Arti had been notified their package was delivered. The open box of that package was what sat on their living room table now, and the contents of it sat beside the cardboard container. 

   “No matter how many times I watch that ad, it never sounds any less pretentious…” Arti muttered to themself as they shoved their phone back into their pants pocket. Their gaze then drifted over to the unpacked objects of their recently acquired package.

   The most important object was of course the Hyperreality Manifold. Despite the complex sounding name, all it looked to be was a simple white cube with dim gray circuit lines etched across five of its six faces. The only face without circuitry just had absolutely nothing on it. To Arti it just looked like some kind of fancy paperweight. Perhaps an expensive one too if that eight thousand five hundred dollar price mark was correct.

   The mysterious cube had also come with an instruction booklet. “At least it doesn't look like it has 40 pages worth of information I guess,” they remarked as they booked up the plain looking booklet and began to read through it.

   ‘If you are reading this then that means you have been selected to test ScybR Essence Technology’s Hyperreality Manifold. Your selection means that you have…’

   Arti could already tell the first page had absolutely nothing of value besides boring legal stuff. If they didn't read the terms and services of every website they sure aren't going to read two pages of extremely small legal text. So instead they just started to skim through the pages after to try and gleam whatever information they deemed important, talking to themselves as they did so.

   “This is only a lite version of the Manifold and comes with a pre-installed package, to attain all features for you Manifold you must buy the full version at our store, this is just more boring disclaimer stuff- oh, finally, instructions!”

   ‘The Manifold relies on a mix of physical and cognitive manipulation. To do so requires two important steps in Manifold setup. The first is to place your Neurolink Encephalon Adapter on the side of your face. After the Adapter is secured, press the blank side of the Hyperreality Manifold with two fingers. This will begin the area scanning process which should not take too long.’

   Arti stared at the instructions for a good five seconds, mild confusion already arising in their mind. “The fuck’s a Neurolink Encephalon Adapter??”

   Placing the booklet down, Arti looked back into the box, which was still full of bubble wrap, to see if they had missed anything. They plunged a hand into the box to remove the bubble wrap and they had found one last component they apparently had missed. A small plastic bag containing some kind of thin metal sheet.

   Casting aside the bubble wrap they pulled out the bag, opened it, and removed the metal sheet. It wasn't particularly wide, it was extremely thin, and it was shaped like a crescent. It had the cold gray coloration that metal, typically aluminum, tended to have. Although it also seemed to have circuit lines running through it as well.

   With a brow raised in curiosity, Arti removed their glasses for a moment so they could properly put the unremarkable metal sheet on their face. “I wonder if this'll work…” they thought aloud as they put the crescent-shaped strip around their right eye before putting their glasses back on. They then adjusted the cube on the table so that the blank side faced upwards before doing as the instructions said and pressing two fingers into it.

   Absolutely nothing seemed to happen at first. Arti was going to make a snarky comment saying, “Knew it was a useless paperweight,” but only got half the sentence out before something actually did begin to happen.

   The circuit lines on both the cube and metal sheet started to glow an orangish-yellow, and the cube itself began to float in the air. As the cube levitated it also seemed to release a bright yellow gridline wireframe that encompassed the surface area of the room they were in. 

   “Woah…” was all Arti could think to say as they looked around the room, gridlines just overlaying the walls, floor, and ceiling. “I guess it's not a hunk of metal after all.”

   An automated voice then started to speak from the cube. “Scanning complete. Room dimensions logged. Beginning psychophysical projection in five seconds. Please have any objects you wish to take to the virtual reality on your person at the time of projection. Five, four…”

   “Uhhh-” Arti vocalized, a little confused by the robotic voice’s stream of words. They decided to just pick up the instruction manual, which seemed to be a good move on their part as the moment the voice reached zero everything in the room seemed to straight up disappear. The table that was in front of them, the box the cube came in, the couch that was behind them, even the walls and doorways just blinked out of existence. All that was left was Arti, the cube, and the wireframe outline of their living room's surface area. Mildly panicked at the prospect of having their entire home sucked into some kind of virtual void, the enby looked back at the instruction manual to see what it had to say about this.

   ‘Once scanning is complete the Hyperreality Manifold will begin the psychophysical projection system. The general explanation of this system is that it will trick your senses into believing you're in a void for a few seconds. Your cube will then project the reality that is programmed into it. This projected reality will be completely interactive and will be seemingly realistic for as long as you have both the cube and neurolink active.’

   By the time Arti finished reading through that paragraph, the wireframe began to fade away as their surroundings rapidly shifted. Manifesting into the void was a menagerie of various objects. A sizable table with multiple papers and what seemed to be unfinished metalwork projects. Some kind of large cylindrical object that Arti presumed to be a furnace just manifested in the corner to the left of them. There was an even larger cylindrical object that was on its side that appeared to their right! Some kind of engine if they had to hazard a guess? Turning around they also saw a massive rectangular entranceway that opened to an alleyway. There had also seemed to be a building parallel to the one their living room transformed into. All the while the air of their room shifted, the warm indoor heating fading to the slightly cooler temperature of a room that always has access to fresh air.

   A low pulse came from the cube before it spoke again. “Psychophysical projection complete. Currently active projection: Crafters Workshop at Kamata Technical University.”

   “Okay then…” Arti responded, slowly circling around in place to take in their surroundings. They were astonished, to say the least. That cube managed to project all of this? And why does it feel so realistic? This all felt so… impossible to them.

   Logically this meant Arti’s curiosity would lead them to the newly created furnace that the cube just popped into reality. Without a second thought the enby placed a hand in the furnace for a second, felt the metal, felt the extreme heat, then retracted their hand with a slight hiss of pain. “Well I guess I know it can mimic temperature now! Hm…”

   Stepping away from the furnace, a thought began to cross Arti's mind. They looked back at the booklet with the feeling of curiosity rolling around in their brain. 

   “What else can this thing do…?” they asked themselves as they tabbed through a few more pages. It wasn't until close to the end of the booklet that they found what looked to be a page on projection editing.

   ‘While the lite version of your Hyperreality Manifold is limited to only one projection type, your projection can still be edited in various ways. These include changing the time, the season and the weather, and the color of your surroundings.’

   “Okay, that just sounds boring- oh, but what's this…”

   ‘Despite your Manifold being a trial version, we are generous enough to have included one premium feature for you to test out: the Self Manipulator. This is a highly experimental feature that allows you to alter your own physical form to fit the projection you have been provided with. Please note that this should be temporary and usually should not have any carry over to when the projection is dispelled. However due to its highly experimental nature there may still be bugs and glitches that may occur during usage. Please use with caution.’

   “Right, right,” a sly smile formed on Arti's face. What kind of caution would be needed with weird virtual projections? It'd probably be like they were wearing some weird suit or something more than anything else. Still sounds intriguing either way.

   ‘To activate the Self Manipulator, you must take hold of the Hyperreality Manifold and use a single finger to make a circular motion in the blank side. This will then display a face of the character your Manifold has been preloaded with. Then you must do one more finger press to begin the projection on yourself.’

   With that information in mind, Arti walked over towards the floating cube in the middle of the room. They placed the instruction booklet on the table among the multiple other papers littered atop it, then took hold of the cube. “Let's see what you've got…”

   They placed a finger on the blank side, then did a circular motion, and instantly the cube registered it. What was promptly displayed on the cube was the outline of a man’s face. The man had spiky hair and an equally as spiky beard, thick eyebrows, and a rather uninterested-looking expression. This was also accompanied by the cube robotically stating, “Preload selected: Hephaestus.”

   “Hephaestus, huh?” Arti remarked. “Hadn't thought of this place as a domain for a Greek god but whatever, he looks hot.”

   With that said they did the final step of long-pressing the image with a finger. The cube seemed to respond by glowing a brighter orangish-yellow before saying, “Preload accepted. Physical alterations will begin shortly. Please note this is a highly experimental feature and may result in-”

   Arti rolled their eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. Skip the legal stuff or something!”

   “Physical alterations beginning. Please stand by…”

   A low heat then began to arise in Arti’s body, beginning at their core before slowly spreading further out of their body with each beat of their heart. But as the heat warmed up more and more it started to cause a secondary sensation to well up within them. One that felt like a low pressurizing feeling that entered into their practically burning chest.

   “Is it supposed to- ough-” Arti leaned forward a little as they clenched a fist over their chest. “Is it supposed to feel like that??”

   Beads of sweat started to form in their forehead as their blood continuously boiled. Their breathing steadily became a bit more labored as their chest continued to burn and a pressure continuously pushed itself onto their upper torso. They weren't sure what exactly was happening but it felt like a lot for a virtual reality to make their body experience.

   Arti was unaware of the truth behind these sensations though. That truth being their physicality seeming to alter. The heat and pressure was working in conjunction to forge new additions to the enby’s body, the first of which having obviously been in their chest.

   Typically their chest was undefined since Arti was never one to work out and put effort into building muscles. However it seemed as if with each breath they took their chest steadily expanded. Its size was just slowly increasing, previously unimpressive muscle swelling up larger with each ragged inhale. It didn't take very long for a pair of pectorals to properly formulate from the nothing of their upper torso, and each pec would only grow out larger and larger. Firm, meaty chest muscles just get pushed out even more every few seconds. Their roundness would soon even etch itself into the fabric of their undershirt, pushing open their open jacket to reveal the massive shelf that the enby had developed beneath the deep indigo of the shirt itself. Their new cleavage has indented into the shirt as well, further accentuating the pure size their chest had obtained.

   Their muscles hadn't been the only thing being changed however. One major change seemed to enter into their skin, the tone of it darkening at a rather rapid pace. Pale ivory shifted to a raw umber, and that change in tone continuously spread across the rest of the skin on their chest. All while this occurred there had also been a second major shift being introduced alongside it. Arti had usually been a pretty scarred individual, but as their transformation grew in prominence it seemed as if their scars were being altered in some way. This was most prominent is the massive scar that stretched over their upper torso, where the size of it seemed to shrink and reshape. This alteration seemed to be centered at the exact middle of their chest as the longest points of the scar retreated into that area. In the end the scar would just become a still rather sizable one that was etched into the middle of their chest and over the inner sections of their pectorals.

   Arti had been subjected to the feeling of their skin brushing up against their now much more ill-fitting shirt. A feeling that had been increased as they felt their abdominal region churn and their shoulders ache. “I-it’s working! I think-” they said, although a mild hesitation was present in their voice. They weren't going to deny this felt extremely weird, especially since it was changing them at such a fundamental level. But also they couldn't deny that this had all felt rather… nice.

   The lower end of their torso hadn't been left out as while Arti was in the middle of their internal musing, their abdomen entered a process of bulking itself up as well. Intense heat mixed with a burgeoning feeling of strength just churned around in their gut. This was followed by their abdomen bubbling as hardened muscles started to properly formulate. Abs then routinely jutted out at a somewhat rapid pace, a firm six-pack properly forming out of their previously flat stomach area. It was also at this point that Arti’s form seemed to widen almost, their width ever so slowly increasing to accommodate their much thicker muscles. 

   That increase in wideness mainly came due to an alteration in the enby’s very bone structure. While much of their structure had remained similar during the course of their bodily expansion, there was one major portion of the skeletal region of their torso that had a more severe change. As the changes moved away from the front half of their body and onto the back, there had been a menagerie of shifts that came to it. Trapezius muscles bulging in size, the sides of their body burning a bit as their oblique muscles improved. The changes in their skin tone continued to wash across their form as multiple scars formed behind them. But soon enough everything started to centalize towards one major segment of their back: the spine.

   A slightly pained (and seemingly deeper) moan escaped Arti’s throat as something surged into the discs of their spinal column. “The hell…”

   There was a strange occurrence that happened within the bone structure. While it seemed to elongate in size, practically adding inches to Arti’s height, there had been a more alarming addition to that change. That being, Arti could no longer stand up straight. A prominent curvature was etched into the top end of their spinal column, an extremely noticeable hunch being added to them as a result. 

   “Ch-changing a lot about…” Arti started to idly comment before halting their statement. “My… voice…”

   Already their voice had begun a process of deepening. Although while it still had a specific tone that it could still be recognized as Arti to some capacity, there was still a steady amount of lowness entering it that wasn't there prior. Although they didn't have too much time to focus on any of that as they heard the sound of ripping come from… a lot of places, really, but mainly around their arms.

   While all the previous portions of the transformation were occuring, there had been a concurrent series of changes entering their arms. It had initially started at their shoulders as the changes in muscles and melanin had entered that area first. Size increased rapidly as a rigid roundness formed in them thanks to the rapid formulation of their deltoids. All while their enlargement caused the overall boradness of the enby to increase a bit more. Then there had been the manifestation of a few relatively large scars over the top portion of both shoulders.

   A few more scars then etched across the upper half of Arti's arms. This had been in conjunction with even more growths in muscle mass as strength and warmth constantly cycled around each limb. Biceps bulged out alongside the thickening of their triceps, and the growth in size was already becoming enough to rub up into both their undershirt and jacket. The ridges of their massive musculature just etching into the fabric more and more. It wouldn't take long until it forced their sleeves to reach a limit in the attempt to stretch over their arms.

   This would be further proven as the circumference of their elbows widened before the muscle enhancements jumped to the forearms. Extensors burned with an almost instantaneous workout as muscle mass continuously swelled up within them. The ends of their sleeves rode up their arms more and more as the bones in their arms seemed to lengthen. Meanwhile as the diameter of their arms practically doubled it caused their watch to just snap off their arm. All the while even more scars manifested across their arms, including a really large one on their right arm.

   Things didn't take long to move beyond their wrist and onto their hands. The size of both hands practically doubled as a chunky meatiness entered them, increasing their thickness to a point that it was consistent with their muscular form. This was quite tangible when it came with their fingers and all of them swelled into sausages while lengthening for consistency and blunting a bit at the end. A slight itch entered their palms as they hardened with callouses, accompanied by scarring on both the front and back of their hands. This had also come with the completion of the darkening of their skin, at least on a majority of the upper half of their body.

   Of course, with all of this muscle mass constantly vying for attention on Arti’s clothing it meant that the limits of the fabric would easily be reached. Their jacket suffered multiple tears thanks to their broader back and thicker arms. Their undershirt experienced a must worst fate however as rips continuously etched across the front, back, and sleeves thanks to how much raw muscle it had been containing this entire time. And while it wasn't completely torn apart, it very much was ripped to tatters. This was what Arti’s focus had been drawn to, while also meant they had been given a relatively easy view of their much brawnier form.

   A shocked expression formed on Arti’s face at the sight. “My skin- my scars?! I-I thought it was just going to be th-the muscles!”

   After saying that, Arti cleared their throat. Their voice had still been shifting more and more, deepness continued to form into it to a point that what sounded like Arti and what sounded like their new form was getting blurred. “Uurgh, this is… a-a lot…”

   It was definitely a bit overwhelming. Arti had expected some weird suiting experience but the fact that this VR technology seemed to have the capability to make them physically feel and witness the changes was… Arti didn't know how to describe it. Impressive? Mildly terrifying? And truthfully it made their head hurt a little.

   However their internal concerns were interrupted by the Manifold speaking suddenly. “It is advised that you stabilize yourself.”

   “Uhhh, wha…?” Arti raised a brow. Looking to their right they still had the railing of that massive engine, so they decided to reach out a hand and clasp onto it. “J-jeez, my hand is big- WOAH-”

   The lower half of their legs went numb in that instant.

   The transformation never halts, and all while they were thinking it just continuously progressed down to their lower body. Their belt had strained against their hips as their waist rapidly gained a wideness appropriate for their new form. Meanwhile their pants began their process of becoming rapidly undersized. This was mainly in due part because of the muscles in their thighs expanding. Quadriceps and hamstrings bulged and widened while the amount of scars that surrounded them multiplied quite a bit. It was enough to yet again cause their newly defined legs to push up against their legwear by quite a bit.

   The numbness didn't start until the changes had reached the halfway point of their legs, around the level of where their knees were. This feeling was then followed by the feeling of something cold within the entire crus of their legs. “W-why is…?”

   The answer to their half-inquiry was an easy one. Beneath the knee, instead of the pigmentation of their skin shifting, the very structure of it had changed instead. Flesh hardened, cells reformed at the atomic level, and a cold metallic sheen encapsulated the entirety of their lower legs. It didn't stop at the skin either as the internal workings of their legs were mechanized as well. All the while their diameters were becoming larger, and the length of them increased to give Arti a bit more height. This was followed by the frontal portions of their pants bursting open as the front half of their metallic legs gained armor-like plating to them, most noticeably a knee-guard that went over their still organic knee. 

   “P… prosthetics…?” Arti questioned. Indeed, the lower half of their legs seemed to have become some kind of robotic prosthetic. That didn't even seem to be the end of it as once the metal reached their ankle region it seemed to shrink a bit into a thick metallic pillar that was connected to the rest of the prosthetic. This also allowed some wires to expose themselves as they slithered down to the connect to the last region of their lower body: their feet.

   Art’s feet underwent a similar transformation to that of their leg’s crus, that being the envelopment by the constant formation of metal. Although as each foot grew in size the internals seemed to hollow out a fair bit, only having minimal internal systems that connected to their legs. Various regions became a layer of playing such as their feet’s instep and bridge. Meanwhile their toes, while thickening, gained a segmented appearance to them with the areas of segmenting glowing a faint orange. Of course with their feet growing in size and becoming a clunky bit of metal it meant the Arti’s footwear stood no chance against the transforming appendages. Thus their toes burst from the toecap of their shoes before being followed by the sides ripping apart to reveal even more of their metallic feet.

   “Oookay,” Arti started, breaths slowing to a more stable pace of breathing. They could feel whatever remains of their shirt’s neck just splitting apart as their neck thickened into a hefty and scarred trunk. This coupled with the rapid changes in their vocal cords left their voice completely unrecognizable of what it once was. It had become deep, masculine, and had a certain tone of bluntness mixed with a vibe that had a strange lack of confidence in itself. 

   “I-I guess all that leaves is my head?” Arti said with a weak grin. They felt a bit tired at this point, and oddly confused. The weird confusions and worries about this body had mostly faded into more concerning thoughts about themselves. They had a moment where they felt perfectly fine with it but now that was being subsided with a strange amount of self-consciousness that they don't think they've experienced before. Was it the prosthetics, or the scars, or that spontaneously granted hunch in their back? “Uurgh, why am I… th-thinking these thoughts…” they placed a massive hand on the side of their head. “Mind f-feeling… muddy…”

   They blinked a few times as their typically blue irises started to glow a reddish-orange. This was coupled by an odd heat entering the right side of their face, the metal of their Neurolink starting to glow as if it were in a furnace of some kind. “A-ahh…”

   The raw umber tone cascaded upwards from their neck and began overlaying their face. A couple clicks and cracks escaped from their skull as it began to restructure itself, becoming larger in size while reshaping into a more rectangular shape. This was accentuated by their jawline broadening and chiseling into a more square-like formation. Fuzz then began to poke out of their face, starting at the base of their chin and above their upper lip before quickly spreading across their entire jawline. As it grew the fuzz that was on their jaw thickened, a spiky-style of facial hair being born from that thickening. Pointed clumps of beard hair just poking out in various directions based on the placement on their face. Although it did result in a rather thick and fluffy beard that adorned their shifting face.

   Of course as their beard formed there had been other features of their face that shifted as well. Their nose became a bit more angular as the dorsum of it broadened and became rectangular. Their eyebrows thickened into large bushes as the hairs on them became a deep black and the furthest ends of them became a bit pointed. Then came the various scars that formed across their face. One over their left brow, one that slashed into a small bit of the left side of their beard, and a few scars that ran across the left side of their head and neck.

   The most major of changes came with their hair however. A deep red had overtaken the typically indigo coloration as the follicles had quickly undergone the process of shortening themselves. Long flowing locks of hair retracting into their scalp, meanwhile at the sides of their head the fluff would practically shave itself down to a buzz. The top of their head was different however as once it reached a sufficient length it began to heavily restyle itself. Fluffy hairs mixing together into more rigid clumps that had a certain look of messy spikiness to them that granted their hair an almost flame-like appearance. Such a change ran from the apex of their head down to the back, the new style only being describable as a messy, fiery fauxhawk.

   “Mmff…” they moaned, head continuing to pound with strange thoughts and memories that they hadn't had before. The familiarity of this place was becoming overwhelming, and his negative self-image of himself was growing. Wasn't he a different person a few minutes ago? Why does it feel like he's always been like this?! “I-I’m… A… whuh…”

   He blinked a few times. He's forgetting something crucial. He could've sworn his name was on the tip of his tongue. 

   “Finalizing Hephaestus Protocol…” the cube said from a few feet away.

   “R-right, I'm… Hephaestus…” such an admission felt weird to him. Like he was still forgetting something major. “W-why does that cube look like the ones from my Antibody P-program…?”

   Hephaestus stopped clinging to the engine’s railing, then stepped forward before momentarily losing balancing and stumbling. His brain feels a bit out of sync with his prosthetics for some reason. Like he's not used to them just yet, although his mind is on the cusp of familiarity with them. “Ugh, c-come on!”

   He stabilizes himself and steps forward again, oddly unaware of his ripped up clothing or the fact that it was now in the process of fixing itself. His undershirt seemed to completely slip off his body before dissipating into nothingness. Meanwhile his jacket remained, resizing to fit his bigger form while restitching itself to seal all the holes that his growth had caused. The lower ends of the jacket seemed to merge with his pants somehow, followed by the material of both that and the legwear shifting into a harder and more leathery texture. This had also caused the generally indigo shading of his clothing to shift to a brownish-gray instead. The jacket’s lapel shrunk away as the collar raised and folded into a different type of collar. Meanwhile the jacket’s split formed metallic teeth that trailed down to meet with his pants zipper.

   Changes soon began to ramp up. Sleeves rolled themselves up to his elbows while both pant legs rolled up to his knees, which had revealed the ruddy white interior of his new jumpsuit. Shoulder and breast pockets formed out from the material, and one of the breast pockets came pre-packed with a bunch of pens. Orange highlights also formed on the apex of the jumpsuit, alongside a series of diagonal orange stripes on the left leg that came with the name ‘KAMATA’ printed beneath them. His belt had somehow not been merged into the leather and instead bulked up before a bunch of pouches materialized to hang from it. All of these pouches came pre-packed as well, although this time with a large array of tools. Lastly came his footwear, shoes fixing themselves up before enlarging to fit his new feet. The deep blue tone shifted to brown while the tongue became orange, held down by orange and white shoe strings that crossed each other multiple times. While the bottom of each shoe became a messy white rubber, the cap of both of them ballooned into a hardened steel toe exterior. But perhaps the weirdest of any of these changes would come to the neurolink as the almost superheated orange came to its final culmination: igniting itself into a burst of flames. An eternal flame just casually engulfs the side of Hephaestus' face, and he doesn't even do so much as to react to it. All he feels is the nice warmth of it layer onto his body.

   The heavy steps of Hephaestus’ new footwear echoed through the air of the workspace as the man finally managed to lumber over to the cube. “S-strange, I don't recall ever making a ph-physical version of these…” he remarked as he took hold of the cube. He would analyze it for a few seconds before casually tapping the side with his own face on it. “What are you-”

   “The blank side has been doubled tapped,” the cube interrupted. “Disengaging Manifold.”

   Then in just seconds the entirety of the Kamata Technical University's Workshop seems to dispel like some kind of hologram in front of Hephaestus' eyes. He watches in a mix of vivid curiosity and concern. “W-what the fuck-” was the only thing he stammered out as a reaction. In mere moments the familiarity is lost to him as the workshop his brain has numerous memories of is lost, instead taking on the appearance of some kind of living room.

   “Manifold disengaged,” the cube in his hand said. “Please allow thirty minutes of downtime to recharge systems.”

   “Manifold?” Hephaestus asked, tilting his head in curiosity. “It was able to c-create some kind of virtual simulation of Kamata. Maybe-”

   Something then buzzed in a back pocket of the lower portion of his jumpsuit. Hephaestus lets out a startled yelp before panickedly patting around the location and pulling out some kind of smartphone. Although it looked nothing like the one he usually used. “Wha- who's is- huh??”

   Turning on the phone the man was greeted with a single text message displaying on the screen.

   MikeS💛

   Leaving work soon! Looking forward to seeing that cube thing you said you got :3

   Hephaestus' eyes narrowed as he looked at the screen. “Mike…?” He then turned his head towards the Manifold. “Cube thing. Hm…”

   Gears began to turn in his mind. He'd probably be able to reverse engineer this Manifold in order to properly learn how it functioned. Perhaps he could even manipulate it to such a manner he could make it do what he wanted. What exactly the limitations of that are, he wasn't quite sure yet, but that's why he's going to look into the make of it in the first place! And as for that Mike guy, well… he isn't opposed to having one or two live test subjects for this.

   A slight smile formed on Hephaestus’ face at the thought of that. This was accompanied by a single stray thought: he's going to have to find a way to bring Talos here with this thing.

[usacounselingcredit]

United States Mailbox | Post Office | Virtual Mail Delivery: Po Box 68532 Kowloon East Post Office - Fill Online, Printable, Fillable, Blank | pdfFiller

United States Mailbox | Post Office | Virtual Mail Delivery

Po Box 68532 Kowloon East Post Office - Fill Online, Printable, Fillable, Blank | pdfFiller

by United States Virtual Mailbox Digital Mail, Diego Canton on Saturday 22 October 2022 04:31 AM UTC-05 | Tags: #unitedstatesmailboxpostofficevirtualmaildelivery united-states-mailbox-post-office-virtual-mail-delivery

Financial Profile Form Please complete this form and mail to Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong Limited at PO Box 68383 Kowloon East Post Office or ... Mobile AL Hempstead NY Michigan Ohio Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana October 22, 2022 at 12:51AM

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Hammond Louisiana Ukiah California Dike Iowa Maryville Missouri Secretary Maryland Winchester Illinois Kinsey Alabama Edmundson Missouri Stevens Village Alaska Haymarket Virginia Newington Virginia Edwards Missouri https://unitedstatesvirtualmail.blogspot.com/2022/10/united-states-mailbox-post-office_839.html October 22, 2022 at 05:59AM Gruver Texas Glens Fork Kentucky Fork South Carolina Astoria Oregon Lac La Belle Wisconsin Pomfret Center Connecticut Nason Illinois Roan Mountain Tennessee https://coloradovirtualmail.blogspot.com/2022/10/united-states-mailbox-post-office_78.html October 22, 2022 at 07:41AM from https://youtu.be/GuUaaPaTlyY October 22, 2022 at 08:47AM

[loveli-liya]

Y'ALL, LOOK WHAT CAME IN A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO!!! :3

It might not look like much, but...

☆(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ* MAGICAL TRANSFORMATION!

As you can see, the box is actually a collector's box with 4 CDs + a bonus case with a few alternative covers!! ((o(*>ω<*)o)) The included CDs are the Persona 3 Original Soundtrack, the Persona 3 FES Original Soundtrack, Burn My Dread -Reincarnation Persona 3- and the Persona 4 Original Soundtrack! This collector's box was limited to Amazon and Sony Music Shop in Japan, so it's a rare item! Ever since discovering it, I had been stalking it on Surugaya and lost a previous chance... When I got that e-mail a month ago, I started tapping at the speed of light to make sure I would get it this time (and I did uwu)! This is the Amazon version of the box; the Sony Music Shop version is a black box with white letters. I would have been okay with either one, but this was the one I preferred!! ＼(^o^)／

The other two CDs, which I bought separately, are Persona 3 Original Desktop Accessory (an enhanced CD that, in addition to two music tracks, has wallpapers, a screensaver, and a few voice clips for most of the characters in the game and was given out as a pre-order bonus for Persona 3 in Japan) and the Persona 3 Portable Original Soundtrack! I've already messed around with Persona 3 Original Desktop Accessory, and let me tell you, it is a PAIN IN THE ASS on Windows 10! (•ˋ _ ˊ•) I guess I should have expected as much from a 2006 CD meant to run on the Japanese version of Windows XP, but all I could get copied was the two tracks and most, not all of the voice clips. The wallpapers just straight up refused to copy. I went as far as to download a Windows XP virtual machine... only for the CD to not even be recognized by the VM??? So, I— gracefully— give the fuck up.

I won't be sharing these CDs because, except for Persona 3 Original Desktop Accessory, they are by no means hard to get (or just download elsewhere xD). If you don't want to deal with importing, they're on Amazon, CDJapan, eBay, the English Suruga-ya website, and Goods Republic, among others. If you're familiar with importing, these CDs pop up on any Japanese website you can get CDs from. They're not doujin, and DEFINITELY not in any danger of being lost.

THAT SAID, I'M SO HAPPYYYYY!!! ^^ Gonna go rip the tracks from the rest of the CDs now!

[kp777]

By Brett Wilkins

Common Dreams

July 26, 2024

One group said it has registered over 100,000 new voters since U.S. President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race.

The group behind a popular get-out-the-vote technology platform said Friday that it's registered more than 100,000 new U.S. voters since President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race, a surge that came amid mounting Republican efforts to make it harder to register and vote.

Vote.org said that 84% of voters registered in the new wave are under age 35. Nearly 1 in 5 new registrees is 18 years old. Andrea Hailey, the group's CEO, said that "since 2020, we have led the largest voter registration drive in U.S. history," with more than 7.8 million people registered.

After dropping out, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to face former Republican President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) in the November election. The new presumptive Democratic candidate has already earned endorsements from many Democrats in Congress and groups advocating on issues including climate, labor, and reproductive rights.

Vote.org's success comes as Republicans at the federal level are proposing and passing legislation creating obstacles to the ballot box.

Earlier this month, U.S. House Republicans passed Rep. Chip Roy's (R-Texas) Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of American citizenship to vote in federal elections. Republicans claim the bill is meant to fix the virtually nonexistent "problem" of noncitizen voter fraud.

However, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) slammed the bill as a "xenophobic attack" meant to silence "Black voices, brown voices, LBGTQIA+ voices, [and] young voices."

Lee said the SAVE Act underscores the need to pass her recently introduced Right to Vote Act, "which would establish the first-ever affirmative federal voting rights guarantee, ensuring every citizen may exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot."

Earlier this year, U.S. Senate Democrats also reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, legislation its sponsors say will "update and restore critical safeguards of the original Voting Rights Act."

Meanwhile, Republican-controlled state legislatures and red-state governors are enacting laws imposing tough restrictions on voter registration, with violations punishable by stiff fines that critics say are meant to dissuade people from registration drives and similar efforts.

Again under the guise of preventing fraud, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last year signed legislation limiting voter registration drives, with fines of up to $250,000 for violators.

"These draconian laws and rules are like taking a sledgehammer to hit a flea," Cecile Scoon, an attorney and president of the Florida chapter of the League of Women Voters, toldThe New York Times in an article published Friday.

Three years after Kansas passed a law making "false representation" of an election official a crime, campaigners say it's become extremely difficult to sign up new voters.

"In 2020, even with the pandemic, we had registered nearly 10,000 Kansans to vote. Now, we haven't been able to register anyone," Davis Hammet, president of the youth voter mobilization group Loud Light, told the Times.

In Louisiana, Republican state lawmakers quietly passed legislation making it easier for election officials to toss out absentee ballots with missing details, limiting how people can mail in other voters' ballots, and restricting the ability to assist people with disabilities with their ballots.

"What we've found is that these measures have a disproportionate impact on voters with disabilities, both Black and white," NAACP Legal Defense Fund senior policy counsel Jared Evans toldNola.com earlier this week.

"It's clear that their goal is to make it harder to vote, harder for specific communities to vote especially," Evans added. "What they don't realize is that these laws hurt white voters, too."

In Nebraska, Republican Secretary of State Bob Evnen last week ordered county election offices to stop registering voters with past felony convictions who have not received official pardons. The move came after the state's unicameral Legislature passed a bill granting voting eligibility to felons immediately after they have completed their sentences instead of waiting two years.

"We refuse to accept thousands of Nebraskans having their voting rights stripped away," ACLU of Nebraska legal and policy fellow Jane Seu said in a statement. "We are confident in the constitutionality of these laws, and we are exploring every option to ensure that Nebraskans who have done their time can vote."

[punkasshunter]

After much, much, much experimentation and back-and-forth, here it finally is! This is the Left 4 Dead-themed Ao3 site skin I've been working on for the past couple months! So far as I can tell, no one has posted anything like this, which obviously I had to change.

This is my first time making an Ao3 skin, so there will likely be areas that I've missed that will turn up broken or clumsy, and if so I will keep a running "change log". With that in mind, I'd strongly request feedback so that I can make these fixes and update the CSS with them!

This is to be followed in the near (likely within a few days) future by a similar work skin, allowing for a similar look within just a posted work, and giving the ability to use subtitle-colored character text like the tags in this!

This is not a lightweight skin; it themes virtually every area of Ao3 in some way. With that in mind, here are some major features!

"Saferoom graffiti"-style comments and inbox mail and health bar UIs for comment and inbox icons

A fun new site header! Just wait and see.

Campaign poster-style blurbs for works!

Campaign menu selection border title blocks and image borders.

Canon character tags in the color of their ingame subtitles, for both the survivors and special infected!

Detailed instructions are in the Ao3 work linked in this post, but I'll include them here as well under the cut.

Instructions to create and use the skin

This is important! If you will be using this skin for mobile at all, you must go through the steps to add the mobile parent skin, or else a lot will be broken and borderline unusable on small screens. If you will be using for desktop solely you can feel free to use only the main skin.

Creating the parent skin:

The first thing that needs to be done is to create a site skin with the mobile fix CSS. Go to your dashboard, and select the button on your side menu that says "Skins". From there, you will want to click "Create Skin". For skin type, select "site skin". Title the skin something recognizable, such as "L4D site skin mobile fixes". Then copy all of the code found here into the body. On "Advanced Options" hit "Show". The only setting here you need to worry about is Media, where you will check the box for "only screen and (max-width: 42em)". It should look like this.

Hit "Submit" and step 1 should be done!

The main skin:

Step two is to create the main portion of the skin and add the mobile fixes as the parent skin! Return to "Skins" on your dashboard, and create a second site skin. Title this something recognizable as well, such as "L4D site skin". Once again, you'll be selecting "Site skin" in the dropdown. Copy all of the code found here into the body. If you won't be on mobile at all, hit submit now and the skin will be good to go. Otherwise, show "Advanced Options" again. This time, the category you want is "Parent Skins". In the selection box, begin to type and then select whatever you titled your mobile fix skin, and then press "Add Parent". This should look something like this.

Hit submit again, and the skin creation is done!

The theme fonts:

Note that this skin was designed to use two text fonts from the Left 4 Dead games, Future Rot and Stubble Bold, to look exactly as intended, and one more open text font, Moinho, for the headings of the graffiti-styled comments and inbox. Those can be found in this folder, but are optional, and the skin will function fine without them. To use them, simply download, and then once they are downloaded, click on them and press “Install” in the window that appears with the example text.

Using the skin:

You're almost done! The last step is simply to go to the "Skins" tab of your dashboard again, where you should see the blurbs for your mobile fix skin and the main skin. Click "Use" on the main skin, and that will select the skin to use!

Here are, without spoiling a couple of the fun easter eggs, some preview images of the skin on desktop!

...And on mobile!