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ziipzeepzop-eez · 5 months

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OKAY SO-

I had an idea for a silly goofy au where Damian, Jon, and reader are like the scooby gang and go around solving mysteries.

Reader is like a magic user, and they're job is to keep the evil entities away from everyday people, (Like Supernatural! But kid friendly🩷)

Damian has been stalking them as Robin and that's how the supersons get involved in the mystery gang.

It's just wholesome crime solving amongst the baby heros, and they have fun adventures (that sometimes end in sleepovers).

It think it would be funny too if paranormal assistance was needed and Dickie walks in on the three of them performing a seance in the theater room-

"What the hell is happening right now?"

"Magic."

"..."

"Why."

"Because, Richard. It is important for our investigation."

"Okay." *Turns to leave*

"No, no, no. You have to stay until I close the ritual so the spirit doesn't attatch to you. :D"

"WHAT-"

But he can't complain, because at least little wing is making friends...?

Bonus if Bruce has no idea where Damian is going almost every night. Like he just dissapears for a few hours then just returns wuth Jon and no explaination.

Clark and Lois know obvi because Jon is just so excited to tell his parents all about the latest mystery.

I know this isn't alot but I have more but I think imma go take another nap rq-

Imma sleepy-

NORMIEEEEEE AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Nono because--

I'm-

How'd you know that my absolute weakness is the Supersons with a same age reader completing the baby hero trinity??

I'M NOT JOKING IT'S SERIOUSLY ONE OF MY FORGOTTEN SOFT SPOTS FOR THESE GOOBERS!!!! I remember a long time ago when I read this headcanon post about the Supersons with a reader who was the child of Wonder Woman and they were basically the Big Three next gen!! 🥹🥹 I have no clue where it's at now :sobs: BUT IT WAS REALLY GOOD AND FUELED MY LOVE FOR DC CIRCA 2015-2017!!!!

Now. As for YOU, my dear boba bubble.........

*deeeep breath in-*

FRICK YEEEEAAAAAAHHHH

THEM!!! THE KIDS EVER!!!!!!!! BEING A LIL SCOOBY DOO GANG!!!

I ain't gonna tell no tall man's tale, as SOON as I got this gist for this - the Scooby Doo theme song was playing in my head and now I can't stop imagining it with them getting into funny dramatic thematic situations:

It's just-

🎶 WHAT'S NEW SCOOBY DOO? COMIN' AFTER YOU ✨🏃🏽‍♀️💨 WE'RE GONNA SOLVEEE THAT MYSTERY!!🎶 and it's all a rush of cutscenes of the Big Little Three getting into all kinds of fun supernatural filled shenanigans — crazy and wild and sometimes very scary, but they've all got each other's backs.

Point being: yes yes, 100% yes.

Magic user?!??!!?!?!!! THAT MEANS.... MAGIQUE~~~ (◠‿・)—☆

let's say bro (you) can fly - maybe not as often nor as naturally as Jonny boy, but hell you can levitate for more than a few minutes at a time, it's something!

you both take turns carrying Damian - the only non-flyer of the group lmaoooo

you're all the "middle man" between you all at one point or another. sometimes dami leads with his head and instincts; you and jon reel him in. sometimes jon leads with his heart and just finally fudging snaps because even the sweethearts go apeshit sometimes - you and dami do damage control and console the poor boy in the emotional aftermath. sometimes, you either lose yourself to the supernatural aspect of it all: it's either a overflowing, overwhelming rush of magic that zaps you dry and you're withered to a delicate, fragile thing in your own destructive aftermath or you go full on Avatar (tla) State and become something just shy of not human and need to be tethered back to the ground by your boys.

whatever the case may be, you all work around and through it all. you adapt to each other's needs. you're all there for each other, no matter what.

The bit with Dick and the seance. In the Manor, no less. I applaud you - it's too canon not to be.

You, hands glowing and a little too cheerful - like this is normal (it is. to you, at least) but still wary: "WAIT DON'T LEAVE YOU'RE NOW A LIABILITY TO THE DEMONS!!"

Dick:

Yoooooo, imagine pulling up to the function while Dami's at school LMFAOOOOOOO

HE'S IN A LAB OR ART CLASS JUST VIBING AND HAPPENS TO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW TO SEE YOU: LEVITATING AND WAVING FRANTICALLY TO HIM AND JON RIGHT BESIDE YOU, LOOKING EXTREMELY SHEEPISH AND WAVES INNOCENTLY:

Damian: Oh, Grandfather's head on a stick.

Classmate: Woah! What happened? *sees Damian looking right past them to the window, also looking like he's about to have an aneurysm*

Classmate: Bro, what-? *goes to turn*

Damian: *grabs them by the shoulders and turns them around* AH YA- YOU- YOUUuuuknow, what? It's nothing at all. Nothing of the sort. It was . . . a bird. Yes. A bird. It flew away. But I must leave now.

Classmate: *stunned* I-uh- okay-?

Damian: *gathering his things while retaining intense eye contact* Yes.

Classmate: ......... Bro you good? Seriously-

Damian, interrupts: It would seem I have a . . . Previous engagement. I'll tend to the bird on my way.

Classmate: Oh-

Damian, already out the door because you just deactivated your levitation spell and just, went right parallel downwards without a word and Jon panicked and flew down after you to try and catch you and the both of y'all disappear from his view and most likely ate absolute shit in the school's compost bin outside the window: Your understanding is appreciated.

Classmate: .......................

Classmate: It's first period??

LMFAOOOOO AND AS FOR CLASSMATE, bro's weirded out but probably unaffected nonetheless because Dami has a rep for being a little weird and disappearing out of the blue from time to time but is a relatively pleasant classmate nonetheless!

✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩

Damian, Jon, and you being the next Big Little Three.......

But there's magic and ghosts involved!!! 👻✨

Idea: maybe you end up being Zatanna's apprentice/family member and inherited your magic through that! Orrrrr, you're just a freelance magic user, a bit of a vagabond of sorts, a total enigma and have it under your belt, no mentor, just doin' your own thing. (Miles Morales ref. 🙌)

Either way, you're a well-meaning kid with a good heart and have an absolute time hassling all these spirits like cattle back to the netherworld that nobody else can see.

Kinda like Danny Phantom!! (I loveeee dc x dp) or somethin' to that effect haha.

Wouldn't it be even funnier if reader has like, no known records? At all? They just showed up one day and came to clean out the supernatural aspects of the city ('ole goth here's messed up enough without all the vengeful ghosts in it! just doin' a little favor, no? *blows a kiss*') and gets roped into the adventure- and friendship/found family circle- of a lifetime.

Stakeouts that turn into sleepovers at the Manor. Very rarely down at the farm in Metropolis, but sometimes!! Big open cornfields, it's a hotpot for Prime Supernatural Activity. You make insufferable jokes (even tho they're like, true) and Damian scolds you for scaring Jon. Tt.

But you save his favorite cow Betsy from getting attacked by some random ghost demon and Jon nearly crushes your ribs in a hug.

As for Damiiiii, bro- I came up w/ something--

You pop up at some Wayne gala inexplicably at first.

Damian spots you for the first time (y'know, before y'all all become friends hueheuhueuhue *chokes, coughs*), completely out in the open, and spews his drink.

He'd immediately stomp over to you, aghast, because what in all the names of the Lazarus Pit are you doing here?! He'd been stalking you for weeks from afar! He was a master of stealth!! How did you even manage--

I- what? No, he does not like your outfit! It's rather spiffy, you say? HE DOESN'T CARE! THAT'S THE LAST THING HE'S THINKING ABOUT RIGHT NOW?? How did you even GET IN??

He's steaming and flustered while also trying to not make a scene because the place is crawling with socialites and high society aristocrats whereas you're cool, calm, charming, blending in too well as you down your own drink. [It's icy apple juice.] and just, bamboozles him further.

'Excellent year,' you suddenly say rather seriously, peering down into your glass of icy apple juice with an impressed expression, effectively cutting off Damian, who was in the middle of a hushed, barely watered down tirade.

Y'all stare at each other for all of two nanoseconds and the events happen as follows:

you turn a bottle of iced apple cider to Damian (where did you even manage to nab one?), pointedly at the label to further explain your comment,

he slaps it out of your hand in a rush of overwhelming emotion and thereby catches the attention of everyone within y'all's general vicinity,

BOOM - you're both circled out and being stared down from all sides.

Damian wants to crawl in a hole and die, maybe.

You raise your hand and twiddle your fingers in a sweet wave and- you- that's when he sees it-

Sparkles. Real, genuine, sparkles. Come right out from your fingertips.

Damian is at a loss while you suddenly garner an audience!! An applauding audience!!! What the hell is going on-?

You disappear in a puff of smoke! Oh my!!

And in a grandiose puff of sparkles and thematic smoke (it's like regular smoke but cooler), you reappear with a flourish on the stage on the other side of the room! Thereby catching everyone's attention.

"Good eveninggggg, my fellow Gothamites! Wowza, I see some sexy faces here tonight! *twirls magician's hat and releases an entire army of butterflies* Enchanted to see you all! I'm (Name) and I'm your prime rib for the night! (cue pulling a whole ass pig, cute and with a bowtie, out from the inside of your coat) Or so to speak!"

Gasps and claps arise from the audience!

Damian is terse, a little terrified, and a little impressed. And he watches the entire time as you pull off a literal magic show! An interactive one, too!

Afterwards, you stand in front of an enchanted crowd and bow with a proper flourish; when you peek out over the rim of your hat, you make direct eye contact with Damian, a mischievous smile playing at your lips.

A proper introduction for you, your Highness? - echoes in his mind. Magic.

That's when he knows. He knows, he's in for a wild ride.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I'VE STARTED AND NOW I CANT GET ENOUGHHHHHH OMGGGGGGGG

(Also! Dick would totally be gushing over y'all all the time. His baby wing made friends! And such Good Ones too!! Awwwww! <33)

(And Damian just snaps at him to be quiet, orrrr frowns from where he's trapped in between you and Jon in a group hug. He secretly, not-so-secretly loves it.)

#"૮₍ •⤙•˶|✉️ beep! inbox! ˎˊ˗#my normie nomzie ࣪🪻 ִֶָ☾.#zeepie beep : fandom! ⭒๋࣭ ⭑🖋˚𔓘｡#ping pong with the shawties ᝰ.ᐟ #i'm a sucker for the big little three #little big three??#the next gen trinity bro they're all so wholesome and fun #childhood whimsy and REAL whimsy because reader can do magic!!! =D #your idea is so boss level dude i can't begin to fathom #YET ANOTHER AU FOR THE BOOKS!!!!!!#what should we call this one?#the magic league?#scooby gang 2.0?#the skittles squad? (LMAFAFAOOOOO)#the superkids??#the big little league but make it ✧･ﾟ:* yk?#THE TRIFLING TRINITY cuz even tho y'all stand on bidness y'all be giving everyone gray hairs sometimes ☠✋#it can be smthn super silly and lighthearted or something edgy and cool #either way it retains to be y'all's thing *well* into adulthood bc y'all still kick it together and /that's/ what makes it meaningful #gimme more #this why i'm obsessed w you lowkey (/plat + /hj)#i was wholly inspired by fizzarolli's for that lil magic show bit can you tell?? lolllll #btw i had What's New Scooby Doo by Simple Plan on LOOP while writing this out #absolute BANGER #zeepie beep and her music rolodex 📇🎤🎼🎹🎶#highly recommend #but anyways back to subject #FRICK YEAH SUPERKIDS MYSTERY INC WOOOOOOOOOO

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wolfstargazer · 5 months

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Storytime - wolfstar awakening

Just to give some idea to the new gen of fans what the intensity of the wolfstar awakening circa-2000, with nothing but the PoA book, was like....

It's the autumn of 2000. I'm reaching the end of reading PoA for the first time. I'm on the bus into town in order to meet my very first BF for one of our very first dates. I'm going to be early - I always am - but I figure it will be fine. Maybe I can finish my book before he arrives?

The bus arrives at my stop. I've just started Chapter 17. I sit down at the bus stop. Just this chapter, I think. I've probably got time for that...

"....Professor Lupin came hurtling into the room..."

*Gasp*

"...Then Lupin spoke, in an odd voice, that shook with some suppressed emotion..."

*Hmmmm*

....Very slowly, his sunken gaze never leaving Lupin's face, Black nodded...

*Wut*

"...Lupin was lowering his wand. Next moment, he had walked to Black's side, pulled him to his feet....and embraced Black like a brother."

*Shit*

Buses come and go, people get on and off. I don't have a cell phone to let my BF where I am. I don't even know how long I've been sitting here. My BF leaves where we were supposed to meet. We don't go out again after this. I stay and finish the book.

#dead gay wizards #wolfstar #mauraders #remus x sirius #marauders era #the marauders #harry potter #prisoner of azkaban #storytime #anecdote #fandom #wolfstar awakening

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hardtruthsfromsoftcats-blog · 7 months

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I remember reading about Sophia soon after "she" was unveiled. It was like watching some sort of surreal vintage soviet sci-fi --- a humanoid head not unfit to live in Disney World's Hall of Presidents looked grafted on to a circa 2000 Honda Asimo, as if it were a high-tech Sid reject from Toy Story. A cool bit of animatronic work, sure, but by no means intelligent. It was relying on some sort of ancient expert systems technology for its dialogue, its control algorithms were as janky as humanoid robots' control algorithms ever were, and I wouldn't trust it to hold a glass of water let alone something important.

And yet the media loved it.

I was annoyed. It was the highest-profile example of news media parroting a press release as if it were true, with almost no due diligence. Oh haha "hot robot tells SXSW she wants to destroy world," great reporting CNBC. "Robot tells UN she can run world better than them." I will go on record and say that the CEO of this company is a grade-A grifter, that for n years he would push this non-functional product as if its a next-gen organism. His activity in creating crappy humanoid robots is not malpractice, but his existence as a human is malpractice.

Putting a chatbot into a crappy robot does not make it any more human, sentient, or interesting to talk about than the crappy robot by itself or the non-sentient chatbot by itself. It's just three pieces of technology stapled together, with no new capabilities. When you convince a country to give a robot citizenship in some desperate play for relevancy on a world stage, you are wasting everyone's time and attention, and pretending to be doing something profoundly philosophical, when in fact, you quite frankly, are not.

More recently I saw a company claim it has a robot CEO. Oh, does it make better decisions now that it's in a robot body?

Any time you see a story like this, please do me a favor and do not click on these links. Do not give them ad revenue. Those reporting on these stories in 2023 do not deserve credit for filling out niches in this techno-toxic ecosystem. Just assume that everything inside is bullshit, and move on.

Ah crap, I should have said that before I put all the links in here.

Incidentally there is a pseudo-weird weird pattern with making all of these human-like robots women. Don't get me wrong, I want women to keep chipping away at that glass ceiling. I just want it to matter when they do.

#hard truth #soft cat #comics #webcomic #ai artwork #cats #ImARealBoy

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tua-masked-author · 2 years

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The Masked Author returns!

[I.D. A GIF in the shape of a domino mask shaped cut out, with moving footage of the Hargreeves siblings inside. By @circumstellars End ID]

Season 3: 3MA!

Full details will be given later, but to help you get your gleeful scheming off to a good start, here the basics:

The event will take place in July - circa 9th-31st but the exact dates to be confirmed closer to the time!

3MA will have an optional season 3 theme. We will do our best to accommodate keeping the build up spoiler free for those avoiding spoilers! [Read the spoiler policy here]

Based on the feedback we received on previous rounds, we have decided to keep the gen requirement for 3MA. Most respondents to our survey found that keeping the event gen allowed them to read and enjoy more fics than if shipping had been included, and a few authors said they enjoyed challenging themselves to write non-ship fics. [If you want to know more about what a genfic is, check out the tvTropes page]

3MA will be keeping the wordcount cap set at 10,000 words maximum that was implemented for shocktober, with the addition of a caveat: only one fic submitted per author may be under 500 words. You can still submit up to two fics, which can be up to 10,000 words each, and you are allowed to update fics during the event providing the 10,000 cap is not exceeded prior to the un-masking. After the authors are revealed, you are free to make your fic as long as you please! However, only one of your two fics may be under 500 words. We have made this change based on feedback from Shocktober due to the difficulty of guessing authors of drabbles, but also that being able to write a drabble was what allowed some authors to participate. We hope this is a good compromise!

We will once again be taking community prompt submissions, and you can submit your prompt [here]. Prompt submissions will close late June/early July, date TBC. You can view prompts that have been submitted [here] (although the list will be updated periodically). You can also view the prompts submitted for Gen June and Shocktober [here] and [here] for even more inspiration.Once again, the prompt list is optional and is intended as inspiration for the authors. You do not have to write a fic based on a prompt if you don’t want to.

Our organising team has shuffled slightly - @flecket and @littlerit are still here as co-ordinators of chaos, but we welcome aboard @non-plutonian-druid!

🎭 We look forward to seeing you all at the next masquerade! 🎭

#Tua Masked Author #3MA #the umbrella academy #umbrella academy #Tua

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alohaemora · 1 year

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Ten Lines Tag Game

Thanks for the tag, @merlins-sequined-hotpants, this was fun ❤️

Rule: Share the first lines of your ten most recent fics and tag ten people. If you've written less than ten fics, don’t be shy — share anyway!

1. Charcoal bloomed across the parchment, lines tracing and overlapping. Dean paused, furrowed his brow, and shifted the angle of his pencil. —Like Pearls (They Shine), a ficlet collection spotlighting characters of color in the Harry Potter series

2. Victoire hummed under her breath, leaning back in her armchair and gently rubbing the small curve of her stomach. —Thirteen Days of Christmas, a collection of holiday-themed Next Gen one-shots

3. Sirius woke to the sound of crying. —Prophecy, a bittersweet BlackEvans friendship fic set during the Potters' last Christmas

4. Sirius paused in the doorway to the drawing room, which—thanks to his and Molly's combined efforts—hardly resembled the gloomy, miserable dump it had been just days earlier. —Reminiscence, a one-shot set during OotP in which Sirius watches Harry fondly and misses his best friends

5. The Firefly Inn was lucky to get five customers on a busy day. —The Firefly Inn, a story about Hogsmeade's least popular pub (or, the story of James Potter's stag night)

6. “It’s two in the bloody morning, Albus. Couldn’t this wait?” —Odds and Ends, a collection of drabbles featuring a wide array of canon characters and eras

7. The air in their house smelled stale and dusty after the many hours they’d spent inhaling the astringent scent of over-cleanliness that permeated St. Mungo’s. —Twenty, the story of James Potter's twentieth birthday

8. Delia Creevey woke up that day with an uneasy feeling in her gut, though she couldn’t put her finger on why. —Petrified, a one-shot set during CoS in which the Creevey family receives some horrifying news

9. The air was ripe with fear and anticipation; Bellatrix inhaled it blissfully, her dark eyes locked on the dim outline of the castle in the distance. —Revenge, an exploration of Bellatrix's determination to prune her family tree

10. Jess had been working at the Holly Bush since the day after she'd dropped out of uni five years ago, which meant she'd been around the block a few times. —Holly Bush, an outsider POV on Remus and Tonks (circa the summer between OotP and HBP)

tagging @incalculablepower, @ashesandhackles, @thecat-isblogging-blog, @constitutionalweasleymonarchy, @indigo-scarf, @kay-elle-cee, @celestemagnoliathewriter, @evesaintyves, @pebblysand, @charmsandtealeaves

#ask alohaemora #tag game

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combatfaerie · 1 year

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Ficlet: My Little Monster

Title: My Little Monster

Word count: 1,178

Rating: T (probably Gen, to be honest, but to be safe...)

Pairing: Liv/Rhea (circa late May/early June 2022)

Prompt: "Two people reach for the last [can] of the same drink in a gas station fridge."

(With thanks to @sarahcakes613 for helping me figure out the read-more function!)

"Noooo! It's mine!"

Rhea's heavy rings made an ominous click against the energy drink can as she curled her fingers around it, turning so she blocked Liv. "Oops. Too late." She held the can up and grinned. "Besides, this one is orange. Shouldn't you be looking for one that changes your tongue some weird colour, like blue?"

Liv whirled on AJ Styles, who had been in Exasperated Uncle mode ever since they left the arena. "You know she's just taking it because she knows I want it!"

Pushing hair out of his face, AJ shrugged and headed for the coffee bar. "It's a free country, Liv. If she wants to drink the same flavour of toxic sludge...." He looked past her through the glass doors. "There's lots of other flavours. Just get a different one."

"But the orange is my favourite." Liv wasn't quite whining yet, but she was seriously considering it. The crowd at the house show had been flat and now they had a long drive ahead, and all she wanted was her favourite orange drink—the same one Rhea was tossing idly from hand to hand as she chatted with Damian Priest while he poured his slush.

"So either ask her for it or get the clerk to check if there's more in the back." AJ glanced back towards the counter, where the cashier was busy chatting with a friend. "You'd probably have better luck asking Rhea, from the looks of it."

Rhea must have heard her name, because she hurried over to the counter and paid for all her snacks, including Liv's coveted energy drink. "Mine now," Rhea declared, waggling her fingers in that infuriating little wave she did to dismiss people. Then the corner of her mouth twitched. "But I suppose I could share...."

AJ nudged Liv towards Rhea. "There you go! Problem solved!"

"But I'm riding with you!" Liv protested. Now that she was an honorary member of the Bullet Club, she was trying to learn as much from AJ and Finn as she could, and the long drives with them were invaluable. Finn wasn't with them that night because of a family matter, but AJ was still a fun road partner, if a bit curmudgeonly at times. "And all my bags are in your car."

AJ pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Priest, please. Help me out here. Would you trade spots with Liv so she's not complaining about her drink for the next two hours?"

Damian glanced over at Rhea and grinned. "I don't know. Rip, you think you can put up with her for two hours?"

Rhea gave a small shrug. "I'll manage. Not like I haven't done it before. If there's another gas station on the way, I can always stop there and we can switch back."

"Excellent. It's settled then." AJ grabbed his coffee cup, wincing a bit at the heat, and plucked a few random snacks from the front display before setting everything on the counter. He hated stopping when they were on the road, but so far no one had recognized them. "Priest, put your stuff down. My treat."

Damian raised his eyebrows and gave Rhea a fist bump. "Score." After setting his slush down, he grabbed a few extra items. "Gimme the keys and I'll go get our bags switched over. I know we could leave it until we get to the hotel, but just in case something happens and we get separated, there's no way I'm fitting into any of Liv's clothes."

"That's too bad," Rhea teased. "You look good in mesh."

Rolling his eyes, AJ shoved the keys at Damian. "Sure, sure. Let's just hurry it up, okay? I want to talk to my kids before they go to bed, and it looks like there's a storm rolling in, so we need to get on the road again."

"I'll go help," Rhea offered, swinging her bag back and forth. "Don't forget your candy, Liv."

Liv glared at Rhea's back before grabbing a few bags of Skittles. "I'm surprised she left any of these," she muttered as AJ paid for his haul.

"It's only a drink, Liv. She's just trying to get under your skin." Then AJ paused, stepping out of the way to give her room to set her candy down. "Are you going to be okay riding with her? I'm sure there's another gas station on the way—"

"Heading west?" the clerk asked. It was the first time she had deigned to speak to any of them. "Next station is over an hour away."

Sighing, Liv ran back to the refrigerators and grabbed another energy drink for good measure. "I'll be fine, AJ. Go ahead. I'll be right out." By the time she had paid and left the store, the others had already finished swapping her and Damian's bags, and Damian was comically adjusting AJ's passenger seat to accommodate his much longer legs. "Thank you, Damian."

The tall man gave her a hint of a smile. "It's all good. Won't hurt me to sit under the learning tree of the old man for a couple hours."

"Old man?" AJ set his coffee cup in the holder and set the bag of snacks on the passenger seat. "I'm only five years older than you, Priest!"

"You're from a whole different decade, man. Another generation." Damian grinned at the girls as he opened the passenger door. "Drive safe, ladies. Call if you need us."

"Old man!" AJ was still muttering as he got in the driver's seat and started the engine.

Rhea lounged in the driver's seat for a moment, waving at AJ as he pulled out of the gas station parking lot. Then she handed the energy drink over to Liv. "You're welcome," she grinned. "I had to stash the others behind the milk jugs so AJ wouldn't see them."

Liv quickly opened it and took a gulp before setting it in the cup holder. "You know, we could just tell people we're together. It's not like they'd care."

"I know. But I like messing with them. Besides, you know what Vince is like with kayfabe." When she was sure AJ and Damian were far enough down the road, she leaned across the console and kissed Liv, grimacing a bit as she pulled back. "At least it tastes better than the blue."

Liv giggled as she nestled back in her seat. "Does that mean I don't have to share?"

"Not that. Maybe the Skittles, though." Rhea glanced over at Liv's bag as they pulled out of the gas station. Damian knew about them and could keep AJ distracted to a certain degree, but if they fell too far behind, she knew AJ would call to check in. "What flavour did you get?"

"Your favourite, of course." Liv ripped open a bag and poured some out into her palm, holding it out for Rhea.

Traffic was light, so Rhea dipped her head quickly and ate up the candies, letting her tongue linger across Liv's palm. "A close second."

#wrestleprompts #liv/rhea #liv/rhea fic #combatfaerie fic

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mayzie-grobe · 8 months

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because horse ranch just came out (circa a month ago 💀), i wanted to try doing a little "spin-off" gen before starting immediately in on generation 4 im not sure if im going to be posting gen4 alongside this, but i know that the first half will be mostly story posts, so this lets me keep some gameplay to offset it lol.

gen 3 start | >beginning< | next

#gen 3 #rossi legacy #legacy spin-off #mariella knight #*maxon knight #*maddox knight #valerie knight #*gelato the horse #*mint the horse #we're playing with alessa's side of the fam #and valerie makes a return !!!!#valerie my beloved

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redshaebaby · 9 months

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WELL GOSH DURNIT WE’RE SHAPIN’ UP.

[Published Journal - Circa 2042]

Things are startin’ to come around out here! It feels good to see some smiles. We’ve recruited a family who were around for Old Domir. They were scientists. They’ve helped jumpstart the industry around here and get the Thermodynamic Submarinals started up. Old Domirian tech will help us get started up, just gotta make sure we do it right or it all could go kaput!

Them T-Subs’ll help us get out on the water and not freeze up or run into any more ice. On top of that, now we got lakes and rivers runnin’ and the SubFilters can get to work gettin’ us some clean h2o! Exciting.

That’s it for right now. More later.

- Dal

[Published Journal - Circa 2043]

T-Subs done blew up.

Sounds worse than it is, we can fix it fine, but the cold set us back a bit after they went. Bad batch of rubber washers were corroded by the fuel. Oh well, now we know.

Base Maliat went down for a few days and some of the folks had to take a caravan to Calium. They made it there okay, thank the winds.

On to the good news! After the T-Subs were restored, we got out on the water and established some routes to the other coastlines. We prepared some more T-Subs to deploy to keep the water on the coasts from freezing over, so we have those on reserve.

And the big one: Solar Power BABY. Solar Powered T-Subs mean no more fuel to refine, meaning no more tapping into the mountains. More people above ground means a happier people! We don’t have the medical team to care for those who inhaled the fumes, so we’re a better nation for that bit of progress. It’ll change a lot.

That also means that Thermodynamic Heaters can be placed on land now, all powered by the sun. We got farms with fake sun being powered by T-Gens (what the teams have been calling land-bound Thermodynamic Generators) which are being powered by the REAL sun.

Boy howdy we’re damn near modern. Stay tuned, buddy stay tuned! Till next time.

- Dal

[Published Journal - Circa 2052]

Okay, so how was the King’s Company this last year? Well, they finished the opening of 2 new Engineering Academies on the coast, Mallard North and Mallard South. The University at Calium saw more attendance than it ever has, and the top engineers are making breakthroughs after the Domirian Architects have helped restore old tech.

So.. good on that front. Safe to say that Maya won’t have nothin’ to worry about when Elisia graduates.

The walls are still under construction and the King’s own have finished carving a series of underground bunkers and tunnels for the cold snaps.

Speaking of cold snaps, it’s been 3 years since a cold snap brought a farm down. They’ve stayed up and strong and sometimes we can even turn the T-Gens off and open the roof! The cold has been breakin’ here and there.

Things are looking good now. I wish he was here to see it. But he’s not and I am.. So I’ll see it for him. I wish I could thank him or something.

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genuineformality · 1 year

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Thank you so much for the tag, @whynotcherries!

top 3 ships: Ever? Right now? Kaz and Inej, Bucky and Natasha, Viktor and Jayce (with the caveat that I’m less into their relationship as I am into the exploration of their divorce and aftermath)

first ever ship: uhhh… I think technically it was Mary Ann and Logan from the Babysitters Club circa 1990. I didn’t know why people had boyfriends, but I really liked what they had going on, which in retrospect was really just enjoying the idea that boys and girls could be friends (I was about 8). The first ship I went looking for on the internet was Kitty Pryde and Pete Wisdom circa 1997ish? I had just read through a bunch of Excalibur and was looking for other nerds who thought their deal was worth talking about.

last song: uncertain, but I have a sinking feeling is was Florence and the machine. I’ve been listening to a lot of Florence lately.

currently reading: Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities by Emily Tamkin. It’s an interesting look at how the term “bad jew” has been applied both by and at American Jews, pejoratively and self-deprecatingly, through the relationship the author has to her own Jewishness. I have a complex relationship with Judaism and I’m really enjoying hearing other American Jewish perspectives through this lens.

last movie: I think it was Muppet Christmas Carol, which is, as we know, the best Christmas Carol.

currently consuming: a can of fizzy water and a conspicuously decadent black Manhattan

currently watching: DS9 rewatch with a partner who has never seen it, but with whom I shared Next Gen in 2020. I’m lightly curating our episodes to spare him the worst of the 90s cringe moments, but he’s a wonderful audience with whom to share beloved properties. Nothing is too campy and he appreciates the 90s-need with wide eyed enthusiasm.

currently craving: the challah that just came out of the oven. It’s a gorgeous loaf that is waiting for Shabbat candles before I can break into it.

Tagging @marycontraire, @whatanybodygets, @totchipanda, @pyrrhlc, @saritasoyyo, and anyone else who is so inclined

#tag games #about the author

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owls-den · 2 years

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My obsession with Trip really goes way back huh

Welcome to: Owl exposes their art evolution through their many itterations of Trip from Pokémon Best Wishes!

It all started circa 2011. Unfortunately, only one drawing featuring Trip survived the intense purge of any art from this dark period of my life. All I can tell you is that I also drew in 2011 a full on comic about him and you'll have to believe me on that one.

My very first digital art, in 2013, was also representing Trip with a random OC of mine (I think her name was Evangeline or something to that effect). I actually posted it years ago on a Pokémon Forum. Yeah, didn't get a whole lot of love. It is to note that this one is the SECOND drawing I made digitally of Trip. The first one is most likely still sieging in my father's old laptop. Fun fact, this was drawn on Paint.NET using a mousepad. I also found in a sketchbook another one I drew during this time period, this time with some other characters. It's kinda wild how my artstyle was fluctuating at the time.

I then came back to drawing mostly traditionally. I got a bunch of blank sketchpads in 2014 at an art store and instantly got to work and drew the entire cast of Best Wishes for some odd reason. I also found another one. While it's undated, I'm assuming it's from the same timeperiod because of the artstyle. Gosh I liked drawing twink bodies for men huh? That... contrasts a lot with the amount of JoJo looking characters I like to draw these days.

I found some odd sketches from 2015 here and there. It's mostly a try at a realistic portrait and a sketch I made with ink. I remember being very proud of those two when I first made them. I have no clue who this other character with him is meant to be though. Maybe it's still Evangeline or something. Really goes to show how much I changed my view on dynamics and such I suppose. I called it "Rolling Trainer" cause I am a genius who got way into Vocaloid in middleschool.

Next is 2016. It was lodged in a very short sketchbook I used during an internship. I LOVED oniisuu's art style and tried to do chibis like them a LOT. Also I left in the text so that we can all appreciate the cringe :DD As you can see, I sort of thought my obsession for Trip was just hate for some reason since I really didn't like Best Wishes? Like don't get me wrong, there are a LOT of things wrong with Best Wishes but with age I realized that the reason I was so angry at how it was handled was because I loved the characters and thought they deserved better treatment. So it's kind of funny to look back and see how I just genuinely thought I hated this random minor character when I'd draw him pretty much all the time.

After that, I think I took a pretty big break or just lost most of my art of him because the next I found was in 2019. It has a very self aware note next to one of the drawings and the next one has an ink illustration. We can really see how my proportions improved over the years and how my style became more defined, going more towards "semi-realistic". I personally like the shortcut on the arm. I don't think I used a reference so that makes it pretty nice honestly. Also, as you can see, that's when I started drawing Trip with his hair going a bit up for his fringe. I have NO clue why I've been doing this since recently even though it's NOT in his design but it's there.

I found another art made, I think, in 2020 this time. I had been drawing pokémon falling down for a fabric pattern and just drew every pokémon I liked from each generation, a pretty nifty thing I might show in its entirety as it spans over 10 pages or so, and I drew some trainer characters for each gen. And of course, y'all know who I drew for gen 5. I love how my note next to him is just so tired with living. I also redrew the above illustration with watercolors. Doesn't look great but eh.

I also did a redraw of one of my earlier digital art (2013) this time kinda showcasing what I like to do in term of dynamics these days. So huh prepare thyselves for 17 year olds Trip and Eva.

Buff women. Anyways, I got some small digital sketches for 2021, nothing special I never completed them. I might finish the one on the right because I genuinely like the dynamism behind it, how flowy it is, the perspective and also one of my old hc that his hoody has no sleeves.

And finally, the moment we've all waited for, 2022. I am currently 21 and this monster still has not left my head. He's here to stay so I might as well embrace it and return to my good old brain rot. It kinda all came back when I just doodled him on the back of a receipt as stupid as it is, and really, that's a good summary of the kinda place I usually draw Trip on. He always comes back, unannounced, into my life and I draw him randomly onto any surface available.

I hope you found this dive into my art journey motivational or just funny or something. One thing is sure: I'm not stopping drawing Trip. He's been living rent free in my brain for 11 years, at this point, he's staying, it's too expensive to try to evict him, I tried. So huh, if ya want more Trip content I guess follow my blog??? I'm currently making a sprite replacer for BW to turn the MC into Trip and maybe might do a sprite replacer for BW2 as well (though that'd mean redrawing all the costumes at Pokéwood... UUGHHGHGHGHHSDGHDFJSDGfyzeggf) and I also like to shitpost about him and write stupid fanfics about him sometimes so don't hesitate. I'll see you all later, take care of yourselves!!

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mitsubishifever · 1 year

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Why Buy A Mitsubishi ASX Now Before It's Too Late

Mitsubishi Motors will unveil an all-new ASX sometime in the near future, but it will be nothing like the current Mitsubishi ASX for sale that has become one of the biggest success motoring stories over the past decade.

This is already casting some doubt as to whether the newcomer can replicate its predecessor’s sales performance, and even over the viability of importing it given the extent of change the model is undergoing.

As reported in late January during the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s announcement stating its intention to introduce 35 new electric vehicles to market by 2023, the long-awaited replacement for the 12-year-old small SUV will be derived from one of “Renault’s bestsellers”.

All bets point to that being the Renault Captur II that landed a few years ago, but the implications of this raise far more questions – and eyebrows – than answers for consumers.

As with the closely-related but British-built Nissan Juke II that launched in 2020 as well as the recently released Renault Arkana from South Korea, this means that the 2023 ASX is set to switch to the CMF-B (for Common Module Family – B-segment vehicles) modular platform by the French manufacturer rather than Mitsubishi.

This changes everything, beginning with packaging. Will it be big enough?

The current ASX is based on the GS platform that first saw the light of day in 2005, underpinning scores of C- and D-segment models from various manufacturers, with the most pertinently for Australians being Mitsubishi’s now-defunct Lancer small car, two generations of the Outlander mid-sized SUV (until the latest model arrived in late 2021) and today’s Eclipse Cross.

So what, you say? Well, the MY22 ASX’s length/ width/ height/ wheelbase measurements are 4365/ 1810/ 1640/ 2670mm, while the latest Captur II’s equivalents come in at 4227/ 1797/ 1567/ 2639mm. Or, in other words, the future ASX could be substantially smaller in every dimension and thus will shrink a segment size down, from the C SUV to the B SUV class.

The consequence of this is that, while we can’t say for sure as yet, the next-gen version may end up being significantly less spacious inside. Think going from a Mazda CX-30 to a CX-3… or Holden VF Commodore to ZB Commodore. This would have major ramifications for people seeking a family-friendly SUV. The fact that Australians buy the ASX because it offers one of the bigger interiors for the money cannot be underestimated. This has been a key unique selling proposition against key opponents for years, and one that the next ASX is on track to lose.

Then there’s the question of pricing and exchange rate issues. Will it still represent compelling value for money?

The ASX will most likely have to be imported from Europe (probably Spain, since the Captur II is sourced from Renault’s Valladolid facility) rather than from Japan like today’s version, so it’s best to forget about the rock-bottom pricing that has been the lynchpin of the existing ASX’s success in recent years.

Why is the Mitsubishi currently so comparatively inexpensive? Considering it was globally unveiled in Japan as the third-generation RVR in December 2009, the current ASX has had years to amortise its initial investment, making it now very cheap to produce and market.

Of course, the next ASX’s relationship with the also-CMF-B-based Renault Arkana could lead to less-expensive South Korean sourcing – courtesy of Renault Samsung Motors, which also supplies us with the established Nissan X-Trail-derived Renault Koleos – to serve non-European markets like Australia and North America (where the ASX is sold as the Outlander Sport). But this is pure speculation, with no confirmation from the Alliance.

However, regardless of where it’s imported from, part of the anticipated extra expense is down to the ASX stepping up in technology and sophistication, adopting more modern safety and updated, advanced petrol powertrains. Mitsubishi isn’t saying, but the Alliance’s circa-84kW/180Nm 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo or 118kW/270Nm 1.3-litre four-pot turbo engine (shared with Mercedes-Benz) are very strong possibilities, along with various electrification options further down the track.

Along with requiring better-quality and higher-octane fuel, these turbo powertrains use efficient, if complicated, dual-clutch transmissions, making them a far cry from simple and proven 110kW/197 2.0-litre and optional 123kW/222Nm 2.4-litre naturally-aspirated units offered today, sending torque to the front wheels via either a five-speed manual or continuously variable transmission (CVT). Besides driving and feeling very differently compared to today’s ASX, rising servicing and upkeep costs may also impact buyers’ wallets.

Ultimately, for all the advancements that come with it, embodying a much-more modern Renault (or Nissan) ultimately undermines the Mitsubishi-ness of the ASX.

Besides connecting with brand pillars like the Lancer, the current model adheres to a decades-long company policy of persisting with reliable, reputable and durable vehicles that proved their mettle over time, even if they ended up being outdated as a consequence. It happened with the Australian-made Sigma and Colt in the 1980s and Lancer and Magna in the 2000s. That’s how cash-strapped organisations survive, garnering legions of loyal Australian consumers along the way.

Maybe the best thing that Mitsubishi South Africa could do is change the name to manage consumer expectations. With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps Holden would have been wiser to do the same when it stuck on the wholly-unsuitable ‘Commodore’ badge on the imported 2018 Opel Insignia that replaced the locally-made icon.

Of course, the next ASX is still at least two years away from any local launch activity that might be being planned, and in that time, maybe Australians might tire of its age-related deficiencies against far-newer alternatives.

Finally, there’s the Eclipse Cross factor.

Mitsubishi may choose to concentrate on this last vestige of pre-Alliance engineering, with sharper pricing and minor updates to help boost this 2017-vintage small SUV crossover’s appeal to South Africans.

And why not? After all, using the same GS platform down to an identical 2670mm wheelbase, the Eclipse Cross was originally created as the ASX’s replacement back in the middle of last decade, before the latter’s unexpected popularity surge worldwide coupled with mounting company financial woes led to the decision to run old and new concurrently.

While managing fewer than half of the 14,764 sales accumulated by the far-older ASX last year, the Eclipse Cross’ 6132 registration tally represents a 36 per cent rise over 2020, aided by that year’s much-needed facelift.

Whatever Mitsubishi decides, and despite falling far behind the best in its segment, the ASX is now regarded as a pioneer, being one of the first small SUVs on the market when it arrived in mid-2010 to be pitched as an alternative to regular small car hatchbacks like the Toyota Corolla. Back then, the larger Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester were classed as ‘compact SUVs’, with only oddball models like the Suzuki SX4 offering something truly urban-sized.

Of course, since then, copycats ranging from the Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-3 to the Hyundai Kona and MG ZS have proliferated, but with regular improvements and updates, the ASX rose from a sales outlier to segment champion heading into the 2020s.

Is there even hope that the Renault Captur-based replacement can achieve the same degree of success?

Originally posted by https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/

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womenfrommars · 2 years

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I would never state this publicly so I wanted to write this on anon. As much as I am leaning towards pro choice, I can't help but have this very small, tiny voice inside of me that is saying, "Maybe this will finally put an end to hookup culture." I don't know if you're on TikTok, but there were slews of videos of young women joking about advising each other to confront their boyfriends in their lives that if they're going to have sex again when and if Roe v Wade overturns, they are going to have to get married. Some of the boyfriends actually agreed to this. Some scheduled a vasectomy appointment. Some left the young women, which might of saved them many years of tears in the end anyway. But most agreed to marriage within this year, which astounds me. These are millenial and gen z men, mind you. And to be honest... I mean, obviously, promiscuity and infidelity will always happen no matter what based on history of human behavior, but if and when America becomes circa 1970s again with regards to contraception and abortion, I can't help but feel just a little relieved that this could save so many future heartbreaks and legal messes involving people who just wanted to be loved but instead gets cheated on, left for another person, so on so forth. I've always been someone who never understood or got into BDSM + kink (tried once and it was slightly traumatic to say the least), polyamory and group sex, hooking up with new strangers nearly every weekend like other people around my age tend to do, or even very small things like forcing myself to feel comfortable over my previous partners still wanting to talk and stay close with their exes or flirty people in general. It was how I got cheated on before.

Not to mention wrt to hook up culture, but thanks to apps and how absolutely unemotional as a society we have become, it's almost a god damn miracle for two people to find each other and stay together for life these days. Why stay if a new partner is just a click away? Why take time to get to know a good person for a relationship when there are dozens of other people who are more casual, more attractive, and easier/faster to get with? I don't know, but if things change, I think it would also force men to find and stick to just one woman because it would become way too risky to just go around sleeping with a lot of women, unless he wants to father dozens of children recklessly. I hope I'm making sense, what I'm trying to say is, with contraception and abortion, women were able to really get ahead in life and be able to quite literally have a seat next to men in all areas in life. Which are good things. But ironically, it also made the concept of love all the more difficult to find, attain, and keep, because as long as the other woman could just take a pill or use condoms, she could get away with breaking all relationships and marriages around her without guilt or leaving proof behind. At least if a pregnancy occurs, the cheating partner would come into light and be rightly shunned by the community.

If you're going to criticize, I get it, and again, this isn't something I would post on my blog when my followers are rad leaning and staunchly pro-abortion. I guess maybe a part of me is selfish and I want to finally have a chance at love without having to worry about bad things happening to me again, especially involving cheating.

Hook-up culture was only able to exist because of inventions like condoms and the pill. Evolutionary psychologists believe women would rarely ever consent to ''no strings attached'' sex, because they risk pregnancy. That means they risk having to raise a child without any support. Men, on the other hand, would get a good deal out of it, because they would get to reproduce without having to make any sacrifices for it

Hook-up culture mostly began in the 60s due to inventions like the pill. Back then it was called sexual liberation, the ''free love'' movement, or the sexual revolution. Nothing new, nothing changed. But even back then people were a bit more old-fashioned. If a woman got pregnant outside of wedlock, the man might have offered to marry her post-facto so she wouldn't have to raise a child on her own. It sounds a bit similar to the TikToks you are describing

And yes, many men are pro-choice for their own self-interest. Seemingly progressive men claim to support it under the guise of women's rights but then pressure their mistresses into abortion. It happened with Alexander Pechtold who was previously to this incident, regarded as a male feminist ally by many, since he led a progressive-liberal political party here. (His mistress ended up getting the abortion, and then she got pregnant again with twins, but she kept the twins. I believe she regrets the abortion of the first child.)

Conservatives have pointed out this dilemma for ages and they've got a point. Abortion can be and is weaponed against women's liberation, and so far we haven't found proper solutions for this. Conservatives propose marriage and the nuclear family unit as solutions, but feminists tend to oppose these things. Men's rights activists are also fighting against the idea of men paying child support since ''She could have gotten an abortion'' or ''I thought women wanted to be financially independent''.

Abortion also has positive usages. It allows women to leave abusive men easier. Men sometimes ''trap'' women with children which makes it harder for her to leave him. Some poke holes in the condom or remove the condom during sex (called ''stealthing''). A few red states apparantly have laws stating a woman can't divorce her husband if she is currently pregnant...

So like I said, the feminist movement hasn't found proper answers to these issues, and staunch pro-choice feminists like to pretend they don't exist, or they consider some women ''collaterol damage''

I'm sorry you were cheated on anon, but cheating will always be a thing even if we change legislation surrounding abortion

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enkeynetwork · 23 days

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#comeplatinarelifeisstrange #guidaaitrofeidilifeisstrange #lifeisstrange #trofeidilifeisstrange

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dower · 5 months

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The future of UK pensions: Navel Gazing

The general consensus states gov.uk cannot afford to continue the current pensions provision and pay-out methodology in the UK for very much longer. Sticking issues revolve around the famed triple-lock and its long-term affordability combined with longer life expectancy meaning the average period over which the state pension lasts has grown to over 15 years. It is a brave government that tackles either of these issues head-on and neither of the main parties appear to have any appetite for change and the “rioting in the streets” narrative that the MSM push around taking the money from pensioners pockets.

Despite all this, the UK state pension provision is one of the lowest in the OECD and pension poverty is genuinely a thing in the UK. So, we need to help poorer pensioners, overhaul the net cost, and pacify the next generation, who are becoming increasingly marginalised by Boomers and Gen Xers taking too much from the pot.

As a 50+ Gen Xer who has spent years looking and providing for my retirement doesn’t make me an expert it has given me a good overall view of financial planning in retirement and whilst absolutely not an economist, and without doing the maths, there are a number of changes we could consider.

Remove the “extra 20%” tax reclaim on personal pensions for higher rate tax payers. Currently this doubles the tax reclaim for individuals in the circa £100k+ income band. These folks are the most able to afford retirement without relying heavily on the state.

Make the state pension tax-free. Recent fiscal drag on tax allowances is showing signs that poor pensioners may end up paying tax and that feels unfair.

Deduct NI payments from private pensions payments, this plays well as it means the current crop of wealthier pensioners are at least contributing back into the NI pot for future generations.

Close the salary sacrifice loophole, this robs gov.uk of sizeable chunks of NI and tax to allow the workforce to drive an Audi and is counter intuitive. And whilst we’re at it, Close the dividend loophole for company owners, this encourages tax avoidance, specifically NI avoidance and denies gov.uk to the tune of hundreds of millions every year.

Change the current default NEST investment split so it is more representative of longer-term investment. This means shifting retirement planning away from a savings mentality and focussing on compounded investment growth.

Remove or scale back the tax-free allowance from pensions. Currently this is set at the lower of 25% or £270k. This should be taxed, but at a lower rate than the current tax bands. Often, this tax-free payment is spent as dead money by clearing ones mortgage to reduce pensioner’s future living costs. Householders who still have a mortgage at 70 years old need a solution and a state-provided reverse mortgage / equity release with tight controls could help the pensioners whilst giving gov.uk a kickback further down the line in recovering capital from when they die.

Raise the state retirement age to 70, shortening the gov.uk payout period and encouraging fit folks to stay in the workplace for longer, continuing to provide tax and NI revenue later in life.

Increase the early retirement age from 55 to 60 to reduce the risk of pension poverty (and hence pension credits) in late retirement. Adherents to the FIRE methodology have already created a workaround for this, mostly based on using the £20k per annum ISA allowance

Change the ISA framework to remove fiscal drag and move to reward growth-based investment strategies. This allowance should return to be index-linked. This would encourage those that can afford the higher limit to invest for the long-term and at the same time remove CASH from the ISA wrapper entitlement. This would achieve the twin aims of increasing the long-term returns, and reducing the amount of “dipping into the pot” that often occurs.

Index the Savings Bonds limit, the current £50k limit has been in place since 2015 and needs to better reflect it’s place in a long-term investment strategy. NS&I provides gov.uk a guaranteed and cheap way to raise money through borrowing so it make sense for it to increase inline with CPI.

Abolish inheritance tax. It affects less than 5% of the population at death but negatively affects retirement strategies of many more. Inheritances increasingly benefit two generations down the line. With life-expectancy at 83 today, the children of dying parents are often approaching their own retirement and it would help if inheritence could skip a generation to help the next generation down, who will in their thirties.

Stop messing with the Lifetime Allowance. This £1.1m limit is effectivley abolished at the moment so the limit should either permanently removed or properly index-linked. Successive governments have raided this; in 2006 it sat at £1.5m and was eroded heavily so by 2022 it had reduced to £1.1m when it should have grown to encourage financial independance in retirement. The LTA has been one of the over-riding negative drivers in retirement planning for way too long and that needs to stop.

Finally, and probably most controversially, the state pension should be tapered in the same way other benefits such are. Those earning (for example) over £100k per year in retiremnt (today’s money) are proportionally less dependent on the £10k state pension than. The average private pension pot at 65 (£107k) is worth just £5k per year so tapering of the state pension is unlikely to occur until folk’s pension pots approached £2m - these are not the sort of folks who should need to rely on the state to provide for them in their retirement.

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