Tai-vas

Do not use the website called Sci-Hub!

It lets people access scientific articles for free. This is dangerous. It helps the free flow of knowledge and reduces the competitive edge of all the people who worked really hard to have been born into a wealth.

Like, it’s literally a website where you can type in the DOI of an article and read it, without ever having to pay the publisher who exploited the author.

Like if you want to read basically any physics, math, or CS paper, arXiv.org will have you covered, because everyone uploads their papers there before submitting to a journal (and generally updates it after peer review). I know all of my papers are on there. This is such common practice that journals have it baked into their licensing agreements that authors retain the right to upload their work to these places.

At the start of my employment, my boss showed me videos of people stealing, and we both had a chuckle about it. How silly they were! There was a camera overhead, and it’s not to watch the shoppers. See, we can’t actually stop shoplifters. They get away with it maybe nine out of ten times. But we, who are watched and tallied and witnessed? We are always caught.

At first it was hard to hold one hundred dollars bills. An amount I had never seen before. An amount that didn’t exist in my household. It’s normal now. Here is something that is not for me.

“What the hell, I’ll take another,” says the man, pondering our 200 dollar watches. What the hell. Total comes to 580 and not even a flinch in his face. I have been working for 11 hours today and made only 110 dollars. It will go to my rent. Today I work for free, it feels. When I get my check, I will have 35 dollars left for food and saving.

The six hundreds he hands me go into the cash register. For a moment, I imagine having money. Then I put it away, counting out his change.

I know for a fact we sell our products for double what they are worth. That I could be making commission. That they could hand me those 580 dollars and change my life and not even mark the difference in their checkbooks. He’s not the only sale they make today, but I am the reason they made it. He’s not the only one spending 600 dollars, but if I hadn’t spent two hours with him telling me about his life, he wouldn’t have spent any. I go home. I don’t own a watch.

I have watched and rewatched a video on how to make salmon four ways. My shopping list is always the same. Pasta. Rice. Tuna. If I can afford butter it was a good week. I dream of the world I will never walk in, where I can throw the best fish fillet in the cart with a shrug. I hold hundreds in my hand and look up at the camera. I put them under the cash drawer.

I go to work. I scrap together my savings. I eat my bowl of rice slowly. My manager takes a paid week off from work just for his birthday. He owns a yacht. 

i was part of their college program. i moved to the state for it. they legally owned the building i was living in and still charged me rent. i ostensibly was being charged to work for them. it was a 2 bedroom apartment and they placed 6 adult women in it in forced triples.

as many as one in ten disney employees have experienced homelessness while working for the company. despite huge efforts to unionize, strike, or otherwise demand fair treatment; disney has refused to increase employee quality of life.

disney admits publicly that a good portion of their success is because the employees (“cast members”) are dedicated, passionate, and selfless. this is never reflected in pay. even “face” characters (ie those that are princesses etc) make barely above a minimum wage.

at the time that i worked there, i made $8.50 an hour. at one point i was asked to create a human shield around a bag because a bomb dog had alerted to it. for eight fucking dollars an hour.

i now work a very cushy office job. i have bought the salmon and cooked it all four ways.

i go to the store. i am nice to the person behind the counter. she looks up at the camera while she counts out my change. there is nothing fundamentally different about her and i.

That is absolutely adorable and Raiden deserves to be swarmed by a whole pack that was practically born to love and work with him. And Max’s pups all having the worst case of hero worship bc omg that’s mom’s human!!! Look it’s really him!

That being said, would Raiden try to give the pups dad the shovel talk? Like this tiny grey haired kid with the teeth of a wolf somehow successfully staring down this powerful summon as he describes in depth how he would find a way to turn the summon into a cat/squirrel if he hurt Max.

And Max being absolutely ecstatic in the background because it’s been sooo long since her human threatened someone for her (my friend knows someone who worked in the K-9 unit and when this guy tried to kick his dog, he said he would castrate him if he did it again. He did not do it again).

Raiden talking to the pups dad:

The pups dad:

Max living her best life:

Okay, this is way too cute. The pups have grown up on mum's stories of her human and they are so excited to finally meet him! And, honestly, I see Raiden just starting to calm down when he discovers Max has babies and just loses it all over again. His best girl is a mum! She's had puppies!

Cue one completely overwhelmed tough guy.

(Sorry these are sketchier than I'd like but I don't have time to clean them up.)

As for Max's mate, I kinda think it would be the other way around. I can't see Raiden being anything but vibrating in delight to meet even more of Max's family. He'd absolutely defend Max to the death but all dogs are good dogs in his eyes and cannot possibly fathom Max's mate being anything other than the goodest boy to his goodest girl.

But the mate? Yeah, maybe he doesn't care much for humans. I imagine the summons realm has its own issues and humans don't feature that often? Like this massive, powerful wolf dog looks down at Raiden and just has zero interest in this puny human other than wondering what the hell it's doing in his den. Is about to snarl and chase him out but immediate backpedals hard because Max is giving him the most vicious death glare from behind Raiden.

Mate must love Raiden as much as Max does and treat him like family or else mate is in the doghouse.

Also I like to think that Max's true size is like, Boss-summons size. She's massive normally but sized herself down to get the good belly rubs from her best boy Raiden.

(Or maybe she is the OG Dog Boss? Maybe she retires the position to be Raiden's personal summons.

And maybe when the Inuzuka back in the early days first wanted their partners to stay with them, they had to appeal to the Dog Boss to help the dogs stay in the human realm and because Max remembers her Best Boy so fondly, she allowed it and that's how the Inuzuka got their dog partners.

So when Raiden returns to the village with Max, all the Inuzuka dogs promptly lose their shit.

And now I have established a new personal headcanon :D thank you!)

I can picture the moment where Raiden summons his pack for the first time, heart breaking a little because it feels a bit too much like replacing a friend from another life, and Kakashi off to the side increasingly nervous because Raiden looks bothered in way he rarely does.

But before the smoke could clear, one of the largest dogs in the group leaps at Raiden and knocks him to the floor. Kakashi would probably panic thinking the dog is attacking Raiden/ violently rejecting him as a summoner and guilting hard because he’s the one that let his cub sign the contract. But before he could do anything, Max just starts giving Raiden the biggest most slobbery kisses ever. And I firmly believe Raiden would flip his shit if this Max could talk. He’d be so happy.

Max:

Raiden:

Kakahi:

Holy shit, a gorgeous scene and then the gifs! Perfection!

@hobgoblinlife ILY <3

And to follow on from that thought...

Poor Raiden would already be ugly crying but then if Max could talk? Next level weeping. A cracked fire hydrant of joy.

Meanwhile Kakashi continues to stand off to the side, utterly confused while Raiden is just losing it, with the rest of Raiden's newly summoned pack (I imagine them as Max's full grown puppies - maybe time works different in the Summons realm and she's actually centuries old and super powerful). The other dogs try to reassure Kakashi but only manage to confuse him more.

*The first one = I don't like this ship, but this is a beautiful art

The second one = I don't ship this, but this is a beautiful art

A social media post by Gary K. Wolf reading "I've had to unfriend a few fans lately, all for the same reason. They made ridiculing, unkind, and in some cases outright cruel comments about pictures I posted of young women cosplaying Jessica.

More than a person, Jessica is a state of mind. To play Jessica, you need self-confidence, a sense of humor, and a Jessican “attitude". There is no such thing as a Jessica cosplayer being too short, too flat chested, too heavy, too thin, too unattractive, too black, too Asian, or even too male!! All Jessica, any Jessica, every Jessica is good Jessica.

I'm not giving any warnings or second chances. A single disparaging Comment on a Jessica cosplayer, and I'm throwing you out of the rainbow colored Toontown Tent.

The first is the sternocleidomastoid muscle, or the SCM muscle.

This big red section is responsible for pain around the eye, cheekbone, and jaw, as well as some temple pain. Literally all you have to do is angle your head down a little, angle it away from the side that hurts, and then you can gently pinch and rub that muscle. I find it best to start at the bottom and travel upwards. The relief is so immediate! You can increase pressure as you feel comfortable doing so.

Here is a short and easy video showing this in action

The second is a fast and easy stretch that soothes your vagus nerve, which is the nerve responsible for calming you down. The vagus nerve, for those unfamiliar, is stimulated by deep breathing such as yawning, sighing, singing, or taking a deep breath to calm your anger in a tense situation.

You can stretch this out by sitting up as straight as possible (this does not have to be perfect to work) and interlacing your fingers. Put your hands on the back of your head with your thumbs going down the sides of your neck and, while keeping your face forward, look all the way to one side with just your eyes. Hold that until you feel the urge to breathe deeply or yawn, or until you can tell there’s a change. Then do the same thing on the other side. When you put your arms down, you should clearly be able to turn your head farther in both directions. If the first session doesn’t get rid of your migraine, rest and repeat as many times as necessary. I even get a little fancy with it and roll my eyes up and down along the outer edge sometimes to stretch as much as I can.

If you need a visual here’s a good video on it. I know some of the language they use seems questionable but this is real and simple science and should not be discarded because it’s been adopted by the trendy wellness crowd!

I seriously cannot believe I didn’t hear a word of this from any doctor in my life. Additionally, if you get frequent recurring migraines, you may want to see a dietician. Migraines can be caused by foods containing histamines, lectin, etc. and can also be caused by high blood pressure in specific situations such as exercise, stress, and even sex.

division

square roots

dividing percentages

IT EVEN FOILS

AHAHAHAHAHA-

oh my god

or plot graphs

even 3D graphs!!!

1. The FBI's Famous Cases & Criminals archive (fbi.gov/history/famous-cases) has detailed breakdowns of real fraud cases, Ponzi schemes, and confidence operations. The language they use is clinical and precise, which is perfect for getting the procedural details right.

2. The FTC Consumer Sentinel Network publishes annual reports on the most common fraud tactics in the US. Great for understanding how modern scams actually work and what makes people fall for them.

3. The Smithsonian's American Art Museum has a free digital collection of forgery case studies. If your character forges documents or art, this is gold.

4. Court Listener (courtlistener.com) is a free legal database where you can read actual court transcripts from fraud trials. Want to know how a real con artist talks under oath? This is where you find out.

5. The Internet Archive's collection of old newspaper crime sections. Search for "confidence man" or "swindle" in papers from the 1920s through 1960s and you'll find incredible real stories that would feel too dramatic for fiction.

Bonus: The Psychology of Fraud section on the Association for Psychological Science website has accessible articles about why people trust, how deception works cognitively, and what makes someone a convincing liar. Essential reading if you want your con artist characters to feel psychologically real.

Very much did in the sense that I literally do not know where my job is at the moment. But, for the time being I haven't been let go because nobody else including the store owner knows where it is either.

So, I don't wanna risk doxxing myself by posting pictures but goddamn am I tempted because this is not a believable event. This is a cartoon problem. For looneytoons.

But yeah, so, I work(ed?) at a kiosk selling boba tea, right? Freestanding kiosk in the mall with full water and electrical hookups and multiple fridges and sinks and a mini kitchen and the works. Fully functional tea shop. Very important to note that it was there last night, The work chat was discussing another issue last night at closing time. I'll get back to this.

It's been showing signs of being on the way out with how business is being handled lately and I've been considering other options, which is probably why I'm not as torn up about this as I should be, but maybe it just hasn't set in yet, but that's not the point. The point is there's been a lot of shit breaking and not being replaced and nobody mentioning anything about it until I walk into work in the morning and have to figure out why shit like the fucking cash register isn't there today. So I'm kinda used to having to ask questions about big things that nobody bothered to update me on. I was out for two weeks recovering from a surgery, so I came to work this morning assuming there'd be some kind of bullshit, yeah?

So, the question I had to ask the chat this morning was:

Not a text I ever thought I'd have to send in sincerity, but there it is. Because what I found instead was a fenced off patch of discolored tiles and a few holes in the floor where my entire place of employment used to be.

And the answer? Nobody knows! It was there last night when the mall closed, and every single trace of the structure and all its contents including drink making supplies and our safe and cashbox was gone when it opened again. And when I say nobody knows, I mean everyone from last night's closers to the actual (former?) owner of the store jad no fucking clue about this until getting that text from me this morning. For once I am actually the first to know. 🎉.

So. I guess I didn't so much lose my job as had it stolen. Not by AI, but good old fashioned hands-on human beings picking it up and carrying it away somehow. All mall security would tell me was that they were instructed not to tell me anything and have us contact our management. Who also don't know anything. And later on I came across some construction workers around the gravesite of the kiosk discussing filling in the holes, asked them about it, and was told that they "weren't at liberty to say".

So, not only is my job gone in the most literal physical sense of the word, but it was taken in some kind of super secret kiosk extraction in the dead of night without any warning or witnesses and nobody is allowed to speak of it. The store owner said she was gonna figure it out 10 hours ago and still no word back.

My mother in law thinks the FBI took it.

Not any of the other stores around the state. Just the one little kiosk.

Why? Because she loves a conspiracy and is just a little bit extra.

Also because she was around for the massive crackdown on Yakuza-owned businesses in Waikiki (in her homestate) that did actually involve the FBI seizing stores (no confirmation of making kiosks cleanly disappear in the middle of the night though).

Still no word from my job on what's actually going on, but the most likely theory so far is that maybe the kiosk was on lease and got repossessed? The mystery continues

According to the owner, based on what she's been able to find out, the kiosk was not removed legally and they're starting a potentially long process of legal action. I hope she gets to sue the shit out of whoever did it but for now at least I know for sure I'm unemployed.

Really hoping for more details in terms of who/why/how, so I'll keep updating if I learn anything.

For now the summary is: An unnamed entity that is most likely mall management (on account of mall security cooperating with them) stole an entire kiosk and all the contents including money and machinery with barely a trace in the middle of the night grinch-style, with zero warning or explanation, and ensured the silence of both security and the construction crew, in an action that was definitely preplanned and illegal, and as far as I know nobody knows its whereabouts.

Enjoy the unintentionally funniest text I've ever sent in my life

Aaand a close-up:

HEY HI HELLO THIS ONE'S MY FAVORITE

I JUST

KATIE TRIED TO SEND US COOKIES OUTTA THE GOODNESS OF HER HEART AND JUST

“OHHHH THESE COOKIES WERE SUPPOSED TO GO TO NEW JERSEY, PHIL? I THOUGHT YOU SAID

THE COOKIES ARE FINALLY ON THEIR WAY TO NEW JERSEY

GO COOKIES GO

@phantomrose96 @cupcakecreeper​ @homebeccer GET READY

@phantomrose96 @homebeccer @cupcakecreeper

holy fuCK HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS

THE THRILLING CONCLUSION

also as a bonus visual here’s a rough approximation of these cookies’ journey

AND 

IT’S

IT’S

IT’S NOT AN OPTION IT’S NOT AN OPTION I CAN’T I-

No one said “hey let’s stop missending things to Nepal” they just said “let’s make a stamp for this” and called it a day.