#which is a nice sentiment and would normally be applied well unless you are these two specifically.

[firstroseofspring]

thinking pondering to me john torres is like. what if u met a woman. with confidence and dignity and a strong moral backbone. you meet and she makes a distinct impression with her honesty and her frankness and she seems like she's always sure of what she wants and what she needs and she's so different from anyone else you know and thats exciting and she's exciting and she likes you specifically you. and you don't think much of you but it feels good to be liked by someone like that. you love her of course. you marry her. of course!

[squeeneyart]

Breathe in the Salt - Chapter 3

AO3

Martin tells the researchers about his experience with the lighthouse.

Sound travels far.

Martin managed to convince the others that perhaps waiting until the rain let up a bit would be best before taking them to the other side of town. They might want to take notes, he had suggested, and maybe it would be better to wait until the end of their work day, since they would have to head to the local inn, anyway?

They conceded, though Sasha seemed antsy after her apparent discovery. Martin couldn’t deny that the questions she had had about the windows bothered him in the same way, but talking about it with no expertise seemed like it would invite something unpleasant. Instead, he led the way back down. Tim kept to the side from the beginning this time, firmly holding the handrail, and when the vertigo hit, he asked the group to stop for a moment before continuing down to the ground floor. At the back of the group, Jon was a different sort of quiet from before. Was he more irritated than before, Martin wondered, or was he taking this as seriously as Sasha? Maybe both. The guy seemed like he could hold a lot of irritation in him. Okay, that was mean, Martin thought. It wasn’t as if there wasn’t at least one thing to be rightfully irritated by.

When they reached the bottom, Martin shook off the thought and went back to his desk in the corner to gather his things. He would be ready the moment it was time to leave. The rain was still pounding against the outer walls of the lighthouse, so he was, for the moment, stuck. Once he finished packing up, he headed toward the kitchen to wait the rest of the day out.

Before he could make it there, Sasha said, “Martin, can you bring your chair over here? We have some more questions for you.” Martin shut his eyes tight, opened them, and turned right back around, plastering a sheepish smile to his face.

“Oh, sure. Don’t think I have much else to say, though?”

“That���s fine,” Tim said, taking his own seat. “At this point we’re just killing time.” Sasha shushed him halfheartedly and motioned at the small open space between Tim and Jon. Catching Martin’s concerned look, Jon rolled his eyes and scooted his chair over to make room, causing the knot in Martin’s stomach to tighten. Martin carried his chair over and willed himself to be just a bit smaller to no avail.

“So, Martin, how long have you lived in the area?” Sasha asked, settling her notebook in front of her, tapping the open page with her pen.

“Gosh, since I was born? Never really been anywhere else unless you count the town over, and only a few times,” he replied, picking at the sleeve of his shirt, holding himself back from looking at any of them. All those years all spent in this dreary town, they must’ve been thinking, what a bunch of nothing. He wouldn’t disagree.

“Okay, great,” Sasha said. “How long have you worked in this building? And how did you come to work for Mr. Lukas?”

“Just a few months now. I had been working some smaller jobs when an opening came up here and Peter picked me. He’s supplied the town with a lot of work the last few years since the fishing’s been not so great. Don’t tell anyone I said that, though!” He added the last bit quickly and then coughed. “People get defensive about it? Like-”

Jon interjected, “Yes, I’m sure there are many opinions on the subject of the local economy, but these details are unnecessary.” Martin flinched.

“Right, sorry. Um, yeah, I applied for the job and I guess it was a good fit. Kept me on this long, right?”

“Right,” Sasha said, her mouth twitching a bit as she gave Jon a look. Martin felt very much like there was a silent conversation happening that he was not privy to. “All right, next. Martin, if we could get an official statement regarding the… strange attributes of the lighthouse, that would be very helpful. Just something quick so we can get an outside description.”

“Yeah, yeah, I can do that.” Martin adjusted himself in his chair as Jon dug out an old tape recorder. “Wow, that’s-”

“Very old, yes, we know,” Jon said, his tired voice echoing a sentiment they must’ve received a thousand times. “Speak into this part here. Statement of Martin Blackwood, regarding the old lighthouse where he works. Statement taken by Jonathan Sims, further questions by Sasha James. Statement begins.”

“R-Right okay, well. The first time I noticed it, I was still quite young, maybe nine or ten? Somewhere around there. Anyway, I had walked up to grab something for- yeah, it was when I started grabbing groceries for my mum. I had walked up the hill and made it to the top, at which point I see, as usual, the big old lighthouse on the other side of town. A really easy landmark for me to follow. I walked down the street as usual, but this time around, I watched the lighthouse as I went. And just like I told you before, as I walked, it began to get bigger somehow. Not like a normal amount, but as if the thing was growing with my steps, and before I could even make it to the shop, I suddenly got hit with this dizziness, and next thing I know, I’m on the ground, being roused by the local florist.”

“And this had never happened before?”

Martin shook his head. “No, not that I remember.”

“And it’s happened ever since?”

“Yeah, though after a while I learned to just… stop looking? I knew it would make me sick, so why look?”

“And the weather discrepancy at the top of the building, was this something you’d ever noticed?”

“No, not really. I was always busy with work and for the most part the view tended to be pretty much the same. Staring out to sea loses its charm pretty quick, especially since by the time I get up there, the dizziness would set in hard.” Martin looked at Tim who nodded sympathetically. “But it’s weird, yeah, once you pointed it out.”

“Okay, great. One more thing: Are there any other strange occurrences, related or not to this building, that you know of in this town?” Sasha stared at him hard. The hairs on the back of his neck begin to prickle at the intensity.

“Not personally, no,” he said easily. “Lots of the older folks around town could probably be helpful, though, with stories they like to tell. There are some I could point you towards if you’d like.”

“That would be great, yeah.” Sasha looked at her notebook, tapped the pen twice on the page, and then closed it. “That’s all the questions I have. Jon, Tim?” Tim shrugged and Jon shook his head. “Okay then. Statement ends.” Sasha nodded at Jon who clicked off the recorder and left it on the table. “Now we wait for either the weather or the day to end, I suppose.” Martin nodded and stood up, finally able to escape to the kitchen.

He had barely managed to get the kettle back on the stove before he heard what seemed to be Sasha’s attempt at a whisper in a place that wouldn’t allow for it.

“Are you really going to pout about an accident this whole week? It’s not like we’ll have to work with him that long.” Martin, who had been about to tell the others about how easily sound traveled, froze.

“We’ve been here less than a day and he’s made it very clear that he’ll be of little help to us,” Jon whispered back, though not as quiet as Sasha was trying to be. “I’ll go along with him leading us to nothing to get it out of the way, but I think it’ll be best if we leave him out of the work otherwise.”

“Elias clearly wants us to check out this place or else he wouldn’t have wanted us working here. Sure, the guy seems pretty simple, but that’s no reason to be rude. Besides, he’s worked here for months. There may be other things he’s forgotten.”

“Yes, ‘forgotten’. He seems to do that a lot, like when I asked him to print something off earlier and he just ‘forgot’. It’s not my fault he’s either forgetful or just plain lazy. I don’t believe for a minute he managed to finish all of his work so early. He might even be making up this extra thing to seem important. We’ve seen the type before.”

Martin didn’t make a sound, electing to pick his nails and keep his eyes on the stove. He knew he had missed something, hadn’t he? Of course it was something Jon had asked for.

“It’s not like he’s our office assistant,” Tim said pointedly. “He seems nice enough. Not his fault we came in here and took the place over.”

“Either way,” Sasha said, “just cool it a bit? He helps us out when he can, we collect some information, and then we’ll be done. We might even get the go-ahead to leave by next Friday if we work at it, and after that you can get back to whatever it is you’re so anxious to get back to. But honestly, I’m going to enjoy doing field research without Elias breathing down my neck.” There was a grumble.

“Fine. But this still feels like a waste of time. All of it.” Footsteps echoed and Jon appeared in the kitchen, making a beeline for his jacket without making eye contact. Martin acted as if he were considering the different tea options and didn’t let up the charade until he heard the front entrance open and shut. He breathed out and then jumped as the kettle brought his full attention back to itself.

He could try harder, really. It’s the least he could do.

-

Martin knew the nerves were plain on his face as he reached the end of the road. Tim whistled.

“So, that climb doesn’t do anything to you?” Tim asked, hands in his pockets, staring down the steep path leading home.

“Never. Just makes the mornings a little harder than they need to be,” Martin said in a tone he hoped was lighter than he felt. Sasha and Jon had their gazes set on the lighthouse.

“Okay, I’ve got the camera running,” Sasha said, holding up an old camcorder. They really didn’t have the latest tech, wherever it was they worked. Not that Martin judged too harshly. He wondered if the recording would feel like a home movie when they finished. “Let’s see for ourselves, shall we?” She said, and began to walk with Jon and Tim close behind and Martin waiting at the start.

“I definitely don’t feel anything,” Jon said, his tone curt and arms crossed. Martin’s stomach churned as he waited for the three to turn and look at him in disappointment. He had wasted their time, of course, with his own stupid-

“Oh,” Tim said, beginning to wobble. “Oh that’s fucking weird.” Sasha and Jon looked at him in confusion and annoyance respectively. Tim stopped, walked himself back a few steps, and then walked forward again, doing his best to consistently look at the lighthouse. “You weren’t lying, Martin, that thing is growing.” Jon snorted disparagingly.

“Tim, please don’t make jokes-”

“I’m not! It’s the same as before, on the stairs! My head feels like it’s, I dunno-”

“Full of fog?” Martin said weakly, still standing back where the others had left him. Tim turned to nod at him in encouragement, and Martin continued, turning his eyes up to the lighthouse briefly before flitting them between the ground and Tim for support. “You stare up at it, but your head can’t make sense of what’s going on, and then you can’t focus at all, and it’s like your stomach is dropping out of you. At least, if you do it for too long.” Sasha and Jon looked at the two of them, and Sasha stopped recording to look back at the video.

“Oh, shit,” she whispered, pressing a few buttons before handing it to Jon.

“You’re kidding,” Jon said quietly. All Martin could tell from a distance was that, when Jon pressed play and turned the volume up, the only thing coming from the camcorder was a horrible static.

[deceitful-darlings]

General Yandere headcanons with Seth?? I love your OC!!

Sorry for my lack of activity, things have been chaotic for obvious reasons, and I might also have the virus of the year, which is grand! And thank you so much, I was really embarrassed to share them so I’m so happy that posting about them isn’t annoying you guys!

Seth is a very calm and suave person, unlike in his youth. He’s learnt to be easy to approach and talk with because of his job, it makes getting information extremely easy for him. He has a coldness to him though, it may not be openly obvious but those observant enough will be able to tell that even if he’s smiling he’s got a distance to him.

He’s also a very confident person, he seems completely unshakable when you talk to him, and to be honest he is. He’s aware of his power and strength, and he’s able to navigate nearly any social situation so it’s in his favour.

Whoever he picked would have to be liked by Cayden, it’s non-negotiable. His son is his world, and he’s only willing to bring someone into that world if Cayden likes them too. He would be willing to give them time, and the likelihood of Cayden disliking someone is slim, once they’ve been accepted by his son, his s/o joins the list of the few things he will not let go.

Your landlord will quickly terminate your contract, barely even mumbling an explanation before handing you an eviction notice. Of course there’s no need to worry, Seth will take you in.

He doesn’t feel the need to completely restrict you, mainly because you should already know there’s no-one that’ll go against him, no-one that can help you.

He’ll never physically harm you, unless he’s driven to breaking point, he doesn’t want Cayden growing up thinking that kind of thing is ok, but he won’t extent that sentiment to anyone or anything close to you. If you don’t play nice, if you try to tell anyone, your old world will collapse, your family and friends will disappear and be driven to ruin, your employer will go bankrupt. The threats in themselves are normally enough to keep you in line, because he’s not joking.

You’re given a keycard to the house, one with restricted access mind you. While he isn’t restrictive on your movements, if you want to leave the mansion grounds you need to ask him first. He’ll often say yes, but his need to control won’t let you just walk out without a word.

Punishments are often very light, mainly to do with making you stay in one place, maybe by a window for a prolonged period of time, or being given chores around the house that he normally has a cleaner take care of because you don’t like them, with Cayden given instructions not to help you or give you company.

Now, if you do anything to hurt or insult Cayden, that’s a different story. He will absolutely not abide you upsetting Cayden. This is the only time you would ever experience his true anger, you would be locked away in isolation for weeks, chained in an underground storage room turned makeshift dungeon. It’s cold and dreary, you don’t even see him or Cayden, you’ll be given food through a small slot at the bottom of the door every few days, but you aren’t coming out until you’re ‘truly apologetic’ and ‘want to make up for hurting Cayden’.

There’s nothing material that you could ask for that Seth wouldn’t provide for you. He has no problem spending ridiculous amount of money on you, and soon you won’t have a choice. You’ll be out of a job, not by him paying or anything. If you have a job except one where you help look after men or women he doesn’t have an issue with it, but once you lose it he doesn’t want you getting another, and it doesn’t matter how much you beg, how much you try applying, you just won’t get another one.

“A job? You already have one of those, being Cayden’s parent. Let me worry about the money, you needn’t raise a finger in that department, just look after our son, and be there for me when I get home. That’s all.”

With how well Reyes’ does as a company, don’t be surprised is Seth spends more time at home than ever, he does as many negiotions as he can over the phone, and any galas he has to go to, well you and Cayden come along or he doesn’t.

He always upgrades to the newest security systems that are reliable, pays for copicuous amounts of bodyguards for the two of you, he installs trackers and microphones in various bits of clothing and jewellery, he has CCTV companies in his pocket...the only reason he’s so nonchalant about your movements is because he knows there’s no way for you to get away or vanish...and you probably know that too.

[fizzingwizard]

So I played Snowy Escape this week! It’s my cup of tea! I watched LGR’s review (and Plumbella’s too) and yeah, as usual, I agree with both of them. The pack doesn’t give us a lot that’s really new, especially in terms of gameplay, and I really wish there had been even small interactive moments aboard trains and ski lifts. However, I also agree that it’s a really aesthetically beautiful pack. The way tourists who haven’t gone to Japan yet think of Japan might be like Tokyo Shibuya area, or Osaka shopping streets... but uh, Tokyo and Osaka are only two cities in all of Japan, and pretty much the entire rest of the country isn’t like that. The majority of Japan’s tourist attractions are nature- and history-based, after all.

The big question for me was just how touristy “Mt Komorebi” was going to come across. Sims is pretty noticeably America-centric, and Western culture is the norm. They put out Jungle Adventure and it’s like stepping into a 90s action movie. The most progressive thing you can say about the locals in that pack is that, due to being governed by the same rules that apply to all Sims, they don’t come across “different” enough to be straight up othered. The area they live in, of course, is underdeveloped in spite of the “culture” skill, and very much is meant to be an exotic adventure for Indiana Jones.

Komorebi’s not that bad though. I was impressed at first by the amount of detail there seemed to be. I never expected we’d get space heaters and kotatsu and nabe in-game without downloading CC. Taking off your shoes to go inside, using chopsticks, sliding doors (which I’ve wanted more of for SO LONG), are all true to life as well as modern and also just nice to have. There’s some weird bits, like how when sims sit at the kotatsu they don’t sit on their knees, their legs just disappear into the floor... I guess we can assume there’s a hole underneath (which is the case with some kotatsu just not usually the at-home kind). I also would have liked more every day interactions, like doing homework at the kotatsu or watching TV or even taking a nap.

The patterns for yukata/kimono are pretty awful though. The more understated ones I can live with, but anything with a splash of color is a fashion disaster.

The look of the houses in the towns are really nice. The interiors, not so much, but that’s easier to fix than the facade and landscaping for most of us. The non-interactive backgrounds areas really do look like Japan. It’s a pity we can’t explore it at all. (I would have LOVED just one interactive conbini. That’s one Japan staple that it’s simply weird to leave out. They probably figured conbini wouldn’t have anything the vending machines don’t have, but personally I’d rather have conbini than vending machines. Unless they made it rabbit hole, in which case fuck it)

Also liked the snow festival and the lights festival. It’s true there’s not a lot to do at them, other than take pictures, and it was really hard to get good pictures with my sims in them... When I went to snow festivals, you could do things like light candles in little snow cubbies, or have a meal in a kamakura, etc. That would have been nice. Otherwise it’s just look at the pretty sights and make normal snowmen. Same with the lights festival - it’s gorgeous, but... They do have food stalls but the variety is limited. You can get four different kinds of yakisoba and ramen but no okonomiyaki, no ikayaki. There’s no festival games. I’m currently festival-starved due to covid-19 so my hopes were a bit higher. Still... like I said, I enjoyed them. I guess I just like pretty things. And I do spend an inordinate amount of time just taking pictures of my Sims doing things anyway xP

The Youth festival is pretty dull. It seems more like a not!Pokemon festival than anything else. The crepes, however, are great. Also it’s really WEIRD that the koinobori (the carp flags) are out all the time, like a normal decoration, in the city. That’s one culture thing that I think got confused.

So as far as it goes... it’s not as touristy as I expected it to be. I give it props for that. It’s definitely still got a vibe of “non-Japanese foreigner goes for a visit,” as in, I think if a Japanese company made a Sims game with Japanese players in mind, they’d have done a ton things differently. But we got a more robust cultural depiction than we ever have before, so, nice.

The winter sports are fun! I weirdly didn’t get bored even though like LGR says, it is just watching the Sims do the same thing over and over again without any player interaction. That does suck but is also par for the course with Sims 4. Since I play multiple Sims at a time, it’s easy for me to stick one on the bunny slope and just let them ski until they level up while I do something else with another Sim :P (Sims is more fun when you cheat!)

The onsen is a let down. It’s nice, sure. It’s just a spa though. And it’s WEIRD that you can have sex in the onsen while other people are in it, even children, and they are not freaked out, but you can’t skinny dip in front of children. All they get is an uncomfortable moodlet afterwards because now the onsen water is dirty x’D I wonder if that’s an oversight that will get tweaked in the future...

However, onsen is very pretty too. I would have liked a smaller building and better landscaping with two or three hot springs to pick from. Also, there are gendered entrance curtains, but they don’t actually divide Sims by gender and all lead to the same place... I guess it’s good to have for pictures at least. If you want to put in the ladies room and mens room doors you could easily make his and hers as well as a mixed hot spring baths. I think this is one we just have to let the Sim builder greats take on.

So HIKING is awesome! I loved it! It’s relaxing for me. Some might find it dull, but it’s really just so pretty, and for me brings back a lot of memories. Hiking in Japan is pretty much like that (although a lot more mountainous of course). It’s somewhat dependent on your graphics settings - mine aren’t that high so like the bamboo forest vanishes as I cam through it.. can’t get that sense of really being inside it. Also when I came across the cemetery I had my spellcaster try to Necrocall the one grave that has interactions, but it didn’t work, even though the option came up. ?? I was expecting some sort of cool ghost. Oh well.

I’m interested in climbing. I don’t have Fitness Stuff so I never did it before. It’s way more boring than leveling the winter sports though. But I think the mountain climb will be worth it.

There are little kodama and sprites you can come across and interact vaguely with. I’ll accept that as a Ghibli nod. It’s more cute than cultural but it’s also a bit of fun surprise, though I haven’t noticed any real effect beyond a moodlet. (Was told one gave me a present but I couldn’t find it in my inventory so I think it was just the moodlet.)

Also the bugs!! That’s very Japan! And you can buy insect repellent hahaha that’s a level of realism I didn’t ask for but will take

I’ll talk about lifestyles and sentiments too. I don’t need them personally. The sentiments are kind of nice to see, but they’re predictable. You get the same ones if you do certain things. They give you a moodlet when the Sim shows up, which I guess I do like, but... tbh it’s damn inconvenient sometimes. For ex, I played by Tsubasa family to explore Mt Komorebi, and I noticed many conversations were inexplicably becoming “awkward.” The reason was - even though no one was saying or doing anything flirty - Kurogane and Fai were getting in the mood by just looking at each other thanks to sentiments, and Sakura and Syaoran were like -___-; I mean, it’s hilarious, but also annoying!

Lifestyles... eh. So far all my Sims just get the same ones. They all seem to get Adrenaline Seeker just for playing winter sports. Also I find the pop-ups warning me when a Sim’s going to lose their lifestyle annoying, and if a Sim gets a lifestyle I don’t want for them, it’s annoying to watch their mood change for dumb reasons like “didn’t spend enough time outdoors today.” It’s the same concept as traits. It’s kind of nice that you can change them around by doing different things, and since we’re limited to three traits I won’t say no to more (for example, instead of giving a Sim the “Loves the Outdoors” trait, you can try to get the Outdoorsy lifestyle and use the trait slot for something that influences their personality more). But all in all I find my Sims still just act the same as usual and the gameplay is all in pop-ups, so it’s just not exciting for me.

Also had a glitch where Sakura would take off her shoes to go inside but when she went out, she put on a pair of snowboots that I never even equipped her with, and she wore them with every outfit. Editing in CAS didn’t help. A reboot did though.

So pretty much, I definitely think they could have done more with this pack, BUT that’s been the case with literally every pack since the base game. There are no expectations for me anymore, that’s why I really just genuinely like this one. I’m happy they picked North Japan rather than Tokyo or Osaka, I think we got a lot more detail because of that.

[thedevianthunterrk800]

Restrictions Apply (Captain Allen x Reader)

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR FAVORITE GRUMPY SWAT KING! 

Even when you’re pissed you’re so beautiful <3

Summary: You try to win over a certain SWAT captain on his birthday. Key word: try.

Tags: @stalericecake (CELEBRATION HELL YEAH) @connorshero @shorthawkes @heartsarecompatible @precursor-ao3

“I don’t care.”

His voice is dismissive and firm, and you’re a little peeved that he doesn’t even bother to look in your general direction but regardless, you press on.

“David,” you insist, just as stubborn but less composed. Eyebrows furrowed in obvious annoyance at your pestering, he finally lifts his head so you can clearly see the scowl on his face.

“There’s nothing to celebrate,” he states dryly and once again you have to remind yourself that you sort of love this asshole and no, you are not letting up.

“It’s your birthday.”

“And?”

“For fuck’s sake. Why can’t you let me do something nice for you for once?”

His lips twitch upwards as though he’s trying to stop himself from smiling. Sighing, he slumps forward, resting his elbows on the desk and rubbing a hand over his eyes. “I appreciate the sentiment, but if you want to do something nice for me, then maybe head back to your station and actually do some work, hmm?”

You only have so much patience.

With an irritated huff, you spin on your heel and march out of his office. If he wants to be a dick then fine. He can celebrate his birthday on his own.

It’s not like you care.

::

That’s a lie.

You care too much is the problem.

Captain Allen may be an asshole, sure, but with the job he has, he can’t afford to not be an asshole. A meek SWAT captain won’t really amount to much, and Allen is anything but meek.

Part of you wonders if you’re being too pushy, the last thing you want if you’re trying to woo the abrasive man. But if you back off, then he’ll once again spend his birthday alone like he has the past few years.

From what you understand, Allen has adopted a nihilistic mindset when it comes to birthdays; according to him, there’s no point celebrating them when he can very well die the next day, especially in his line of work. The thought of losing him causes you to shudder and leaves you twice as determined to finally make your move.

You don’t think you can go the rest of your life wondering what might have been, after all.

With that in mind, you square your shoulders and begin planning. There’s only half an hour left until you can go home, and you’ve pretty much finished all the work you need to for the day. You’ve already gathered the necessary information from some of the other SWAT operatives—Allen has a fondness for double chocolate cake, for one—and you’re certain that this birthday will be one to remember despite Allen’s insistence that it doesn’t matter.

He matters and you promise yourself to make that clear to him tomorrow.

::

Captain Allen is a practical man who only keeps the very essentials. Whereas most people’s offices are filled with small knick-knacks, Allen’s is almost completely devoid of any personal touch.

This makes figuring out what present to get him damn near impossible. What can you possibly gift a man who doesn’t already own everything that he needs?

Though you have no idea what to get him, you consider yourself pretty good friends with Allen. You’re on first-name basis with the man, which says an awful lot considering how professional he normally is. The two of you have also had some… interesting interactions every now and then at functions, but you blame that on the booze. Sober Allen has never approached you flirtingly, at any rate.

You’re really going out on a limb here. You can’t tell for certain if Allen is even interested in you in that way, but like you rationalized earlier, it’ll hurt more to leave these things unsaid.

If Allen rejects you, then that’s that. You’ll be embarrassed for a few days and the two of you will likely stop speaking to each other as often, but otherwise you’re not losing too much. Besides, you’re both perfectly grown adults; it’ll only be awkward if you make it so.

Alright, enough of that. You still don’t know what present to get him.

What do men like him even want?

Clothes? A fancy new pen? Expensive whiskey?

You have no fucking idea.

Vaguely, a tiny voice in your head suggests, you.

Maybe wear a lil’ somethin’-somethin’ underneath your uniform and surprise him in his office…?

Scoffing at that particular image, you mentally kick yourself.

Not only is that too fucking forward, he’s probably going to report you for misconduct the second you start stripping. No way in hell are you doing that.

Unless he’s into it, of course, but that’s not something you can tell since you don’t even know what he wants.

If you text him to ask, he’ll probably just tell you to fuck off and worry about yourself. You can’t be discreet either because there’s no way to subtly ask him about his interests the day before his damn birthday.

In all honesty, you blame yourself for not figuring out when his birthday is sooner.

Although, would knowing a few days beforehand truly help in this case?

Probably not.

::

The next morning, you arrive early to drop off some personalized birthday donuts that you called in the previous evening to have made. Since his office is locked, you leave the pink box in front of the door before heading back to Homicide. You don’t write a note mainly because you don’t want him coming after you quite yet, but a part of you fully expects him to figure it out anyway.

Donuts. Check.

You’ll pick up his birthday cake during your lunch break. You’ve already talked to the guys upstairs about singing to Allen, something they’re more than willing to do despite that risk of casualties involved.

As for his present…

Yes, alright, maybe a printed out gift voucher for one date with you may be a little cheesy. Most people usually give gift cards, and then there’s you, essentially offering Allen a coupon that he can only redeem from your sorry ass.

It’s just slightly embarrassing.

If anything, you should be relieved; it makes asking him out much easier because he can simply rip the voucher into pieces if he really hates the idea that much.

Will that be extremely humiliating?

Yeah, no shit.

But will it save you from having to actually hear him reject you?

Also yes.

In the midst of your daydreaming, you don’t notice the man of the hour approaching you until he kicks the bottom of your chair to get your attention. Eyes wide, you swivel in your seat and find him eyeing you suspiciously, a half-eaten donut in his hand.

“Was this you?” he asks impassively, and you hate how deadpan he sounds because it makes it all the more difficult to gauge his reaction. Feigning ignorance, you tilt your head slightly and blink at him.

“Was what me?”

“Don’t play stupid.”

“Captain, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” You smile innocently at him but he doesn’t it buy it one bit.

He shakes his head. “Of course you don’t.”

“Did you like them though?”

“Sure. So did everyone else.”

You grin and hold out your palm expectantly. “Well, aren’t you going to share?”

Allen smirks at you this time and you subconsciously swallow at the sight. He could very well be the death of you, if you let him. “All out, I’m afraid. But I’m sure you have a few more surprises left for me, eh?”

With that, he winks—yes, fucking winks—at you before sauntering away, leaving you flushed and more breathless than you care to admit.

::

Truthfully, this probably would have gone a whole lot smoother if you simply handed him the cake and left.

Instead, you insisted that everybody in the SWAT department sing to him, and through the loud cacophony of “Happy Birthday”, you wince at the death-glare he throws your way.

He refuses to blow out the candles, leaving you to do it before the wax can melt onto the icing. To your chagrin, he orders you to put the cake in the break room and scowls when you ask if he wants a piece.

All in all, you can safely say that there’s no way he’ll do anything with the voucher other than set it on fire.

Humiliated, you abandon the cake in the break room as instructed and practically sprint back to your department, taking Allen’s present with you.

You hide in the bathroom for a few minutes to compose yourself before somberly returning to your desk. You’re still shaking from the whole thing, your heartbeat pounding in your ears. It’s a miracle you haven’t run into anybody; otherwise, they’ll probably have you sent home for looking like such a mess.

That December 2nd, you find yourself staring miserably at the red envelope on your desk, containing both a birthday card for the SWAT captain and that stupid voucher you were foolish enough to think he may want.

Groaning, you bury your face in your arms. Embarrassing doesn’t even do it justice at this point. Mortifying is close, but still doesn’t quite capture how much you fucking hate yourself right now.

You’re suddenly very aware of someone hovering over you and you lift your head just in time to see a hand grab the accursed card.

Startled, you let out a distressed, “Hey! That’s mine—” before realizing that Allen is standing right behind you once again.

He opens the envelope with ease, pulling out the card and paying no mind to the horror in your eyes as you watch him. “Actually, it’s mine.”

“You won’t even want what’s in there.”

Desperately, you try to yank the card from his grip but he’s quick and sidesteps you easily. He begins to walk away, probably to read the card in peace and away from your grabby hands, and you have no choice but to watch helplessly as he suddenly halts. You can see him remove the voucher from the card and turn it sideways to read the print, and hot-faced, you immediately drop back to your seat and face your desk.

You don’t think you can bear to see him laughing at your expense, no matter how prepared for rejection you insist you are.

It feels like minutes, though it’s only seconds, before he finally returns to you.

Pained, you rub your forehead, refusing to look at him. “Just leave it here and I’ll throw it away.”

He snorts. “Why, did it expire already?”

You don’t even know what to say at this point. There’s only so many blows your self-esteem can take. At your silence, Allen waves the voucher in front of your face.

“I want to cash this in today.”

If you hadn’t heard the words yourself, you probably would have assumed you were merely hallucinating from all the blood currently rushing to your face. Instead, you slowly turn to look at the man smirking down at you, your mind reeling.

“What?”

“After work.”

“Are… are you serious?”

For a split second, you see a flicker of worry flash in his eyes before he regains his composure and shrugs. “If you are.”

You gawk at him, mouth opening and closing like an alarmed fish. When Allen raises an eyebrow at you in question, you snap back to your senses and nod your head furiously.

“R-Right. Okay. I’ll, uh, see you after work?”

He smiles then, a genuine, pleased smile that you’ve never seen grace his face before. You fall harder, which you didn’t even think was humanly possible. “Sounds good.”

With a final grin, Captain Allen starts to walk off. However, he’s barely taken three steps when he feels a tug on his arm. Confused, he turns around, and you take this opportunity to press a kiss on his cheek.

“Happy birthday, Dave,” you whisper in his ear. You pull away and almost laugh at the shocked expression on his bright-red face as he stares at you with something that one day, you’ll recognize as love.

[athalwen]

Wit/Hoid in the Oathbringer Epilogue

We got a lot of information about Hoid from this book. Maybe not a ton of backstory stuff, but his vibes completely changed, and I’m TOTALLY on board with this. I was fascinated by, interested in, and curious about Hoid before this book (because who isn’t?) but after reading Oathbringer, I feel like we’re able to understand him a little bit better on an emotional level--because we actually see emotions from him, because he has real, meaningful, human interactions. There’s actually quite a lot of this in “Aim for the Sun,” which I’ll ramble about at any time... probably later...

Anyway, the lovely co-host and I spent some time going through the epilogue and assembling some things that we learn about Hoid and quite a few things that we can infer about Hoid, but it’s Hoid, so there’s never any way to tell for sure... 

Oathbringer spoilers below the cut. 

--“Not a mask he put on. Real sorrow. Real pain.” 

Hoid does care. He’s not a cold, unfeeling immortal, and we got to see some of this earlier with Shallan. That’s probably got to be hard, too, because if you know you’re going to outlive pretty much everyone and everything, caring about people is going to cause a lot of pain. Hoid has seen worlds burn, and he’ll probably see it again. (Source)

--Hoid’s inability to cause physical harm also extends to himself, which is why he has to have the Thaylen man punch him in the face. (Source)

--He can’t control his healing the way someone like Wayne would be able to. “He had a few days, with his healing repressed, until the tooth grew back.” 

This makes it seem like, unless he purposefully represses some magic, he can’t control whether he heals or not. It’s gonna happen. Probably not terribly significant, but interesting. 

--He does care about being well-received. This is getting into speculative territory, but he says he’s reluctant to leave the city because he’s had a better audience here than with the lighteyes. Brandon has said that Hoid’s able to control how much or how little he cares about what people think of him (source) but I wouldn’t be surprised if, after being hated and ridiculed for so long, it felt nice to be around people who actually appreciated him. 

--Rayse would destroy the city without hesitation if it meant he might be able to end Hoid. This statement by itself is terrifying, but it doesn’t tell us much. Is Rayse afraid of Hoid? Afraid of what he might be able to do? Does he just hate him enough to want him gone that badly? Either way, they used to be friends... what happened there? I need answers...

--“The right concoction had made him lose his hair in patches.” 

It’s been a bit since I’ve read Elantris, so forgive me if I’m wrong, but isn’t there a potion thing in that book that does exactly this same thing? Either way, it doesn’t feel very Rosharan to me. We haven’t seen anything from Stormlight that hints at concoction type stuff. 

--Hoid has made rag dolls before. Kind of random, but the ease with which he wraps the cord around the rags betrays some kind of past experience. I don’t care how clever you are, you don’t do this quickly and efficiently without having done it before, even if you’re able to examine a finished product before you begin. Which he doesn’t.

--‘One more. One more, then I go.’ 

Okay, I love this line. It’s what he thinks when he leaves his conversation with Kheni to go find the little girl. To me, this sounds like Hoid has to force himself away. Like he has to force himself to stop helping people. It’s the kind of thing I think when I’m watching Netflix instead of doing homework, because I know that homework must be done, but I don’t want to leave Netflix. So Hoid doesn’t want to stop helping these people, even though he knows he has a bigger mission in the city. Hoid knows these people, he knows their names and their situations, so it sounds an awful lot like he’s been doing this for a bit. I absolutely adore this. We haven’t really seen this from Hoid before. (I have a theory about this, but it’s pure speculation and emotional analysis, so I’ll refrain from clogging this post). 

--You can tell a lot about a character from their narrative voice. What’s important to them, what stands out, how they view the world. That being said, this epilogue is written from Hoid’s perspective, and the line “he felt life from one” is such a throwaway comment that I nearly missed it the first time I read the paragraph. It’s in the middle of a paragraph, and isn’t even the focus of the sentence. Being able to sense life is such a normal thing for Hoid that it doesn’t even stand out in his narrative. 

The only way I can think of at this moment (please correct me if I’m wrong) to sense life is with Breath. First Heightening grants “Increased life sense,” which is kind of vague, and Fourth Heightening grants “Perfect life sense,” which is less vague, but we still probably don’t understand exactly how it works. So if Hoid is using Breath to feel life, he has... a lot of it. At least the Second Heightening, we think, and maybe more. There might, of course, be other magics that grant some form of life sense. We don’t know everything about Hoid, not by a long shot, and he’s got magics we’re not familiar with. 

Disclaimer: Breath and Awakening are the magic system I’m the least familiar with. I’m not sure if life sense increases gradually as you get more Breath or if it hovers around the same point until you reach the Fourth Heightening. 

--He doesn’t change his voice, vocabulary, or speech patterns to talk to a child. No baby voice from Hoid. I approve of this. 

--Speculation time. Hoid spends so much time in this chapter talking about art, which is kind of his thing, but the fact that he carries this conversation on among multiple people, some of whom are undoubtedly very confused, makes it clear that he’s probably talking to himself more than them. Talking to himself about what, then? Art? Or, perhaps, talking to himself about himself? 

--So, Cob. Kheni’s husband. This is also the name of Wax’s carriage driver in Bands of Mourning, which takes place, timeline-wise, after Stormlight 5. I’m just suspicious of someone who seems to like Hoid and who later holds the same job that Hoid had one book previously. 

--Speaking of Cob, he asks Hoid to stay a little longer, to which Hoid says, “I should think you are the first to ever ask me that, Cob. And in truth, the sentiment frightens me.” 

I think that Hoid is genuinely afraid of emotional attachment and vulnerability. We see a lot of this in his earlier interactions with Shallan, which I won’t get into right now, but some of the things I’m studying have to do with conversational tactics and emotional vulnerability, and I’m very, very interested in how they apply to Hoid. I’ll talk about this for days. 

--So, Hoid knew this Fused lady, Vatwha, and their relationship was presumably a non-hostile one. I just find this interesting. Also, he can hide from people who are trained to look for him, plus Odium. I’m just appreciative. 

--How does Hoid know specifically where the spren is? Odium’s people have been looking for it, but he just knows. We were getting tired at this point and didn’t really speculate on this beyond... “magic”

--The book never SAYS that he bonds the Cryptic, which, coming from Sanderson, means we have to be careful with assumptions. But... all the clues are there. To me, it felt more like a “coming soon...” and less like a “but did he or did he not bond with this spren?” So I’m going to continue forward assuming that he’s got a new friend. (And Hoid needs friends. Please give him friends)

--So, he refers to himself as Wit, not Hoid. I’ve always found this interesting. I DON’T think that he’s got the same things going on as Shallan, but Brandon has said a couple things (here, here) that make me wonder about what’s really going on in Hoid’s head with his different aliases. 

--As a note... I love Hoid’s vocabulary. “What a conundrum” is a wonderful phrase to hear him just casually use. And, earlier in the book, “Don’t be persnickety.” Amazing.

I’ll wrap up there for now. I’ve probably missed a lot. In my defense, it was 3 am. I need sleep, but I’d rather have the cosmere. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, or argue anything I might’ve interpreted oddly, or just talk about stuff... I love this kind of thing. 

[mailorderfictionalcharacter]

a list of semi coherent thoughts I’ve had about mcu wanda maximoff

0.5 this post is open to discourse. if u are unwilling to see viewpoints that are pro wanda or anti wanda this is not the post 4 u.

1. wanda runs off of very powerful emotions and that’s an a + character trait. her rage fueled grief and power is just fascinating to watch.

2. ew whitewashing why do you do this to me mcu. stop. enough.

3. yeah it’s kind of ridiculous to kill the ex-ceo of a weapons company that killed your parents as compared to whoever fired the missiles or whoever ordered said military action but it’s not that ridiculous if you apply the barest modicum of generous interpretation to it.

Tony Stark was emblematic of the very destructive American ideal of we’re great and right and coming with guns. Going off of IM2, even as he was doing great things (”I’ve successfully privatized world peace”) his performance was still very um American (”no one’s man enough to go [against me]”). Like as audience members we get it but I could see how that sort of look-at-me attitude would not ring like redemption to someone in that much emotional pain. Like, you could easily read their actions as being about attacking every American/foreign influence figure head, which is sort of supported by the fact that the twins wanted the avengers down not just Tony Stark.

If the weapons were illegally sold there’s no guarantee the twins knew that Tony wasn’t responsible. It’s possible Tony leaked the truth about Obadiah after the “I Am Iron Man” press conference, but the original plan was a SHIELD coverup.

I’m not inclined to conflate profiting of our wrongs or moral ambiguities on the same moral level as instigating wrongs, but it’s also up in the air whether or not Stark Industries cared about collateral damage in the design of their weapons and that’s something the twins could legitimately blame them for. IM1 canon is a mixed bag - we have intellicrops (concern for philanthropy) but we also have, y’know the Jericho (the weapon that levels mountains)

(read more under the cut)

tl;dr: wanda is a fascinating flawed character who suffers from writing problems but she’s also wearing the name of a jewish/romani woman even though marvel studios is too much of a coward to translate that to film & i’m perpetually bitter and indecisive about everything.

4. the twins had enormous social factors encouraging them to hate the avengers/america. even american media was questioning the avengers; shield had fell; people were putting up anti avengers graffiti

5. considering the twins spent their formative years in a country at war and lost their parents I’m assuming they went through quite a few economic hardships.

6. what sort of access did the twins have to media or education?

7. I’m not inclined to blame the twins for their desire to get revenge but it is worth noting that they seemed to have very little concern for collateral damage even though the only thing we as an audience knows for certain is that the whole reason they’re seeking revenge is because of collateral damage.

8. there’s a gap of 8-12 years between the death of their parents and their attack on the avengers. no matter what mitigating circumstances there were (and I think there were a lot) that’s a premeditated crime

9. there’s a lot of parallels between wanda maximoff and kira nerys except the writers on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actually cared about Kira Nerys.

10. both of Wanda’s major fuck ups (willingly unleashing the Hulk on Johannesburg and failing to protect everyone in Lagos) happened in African countries. I believe in some suspension of belief for superhero movies but I’m not sure it’s entirely appropriate to be like hey! look at Wanda! the whitewashed character who fucks things up in African countries! such girl power! great anti-imperialism message!

(I mean, the same disregard applies to all the avengers though. I’m pretty sure the safest interpretation of Lagos is “the avengers could have done better by not fighting in proximity with a bunch of civilians” which is on Steve. And unless I fever dreamed this Steve tosses his cowl at the feet of anti-avengers graffiti in the beginning of aou and there is nothing appropriate about that).

11. Wanda was introduced in AOU, a movie with sub par dialogue and tbh I have a feeling Whedon et.al never thought through the implications of Johannesburg bc he just wanted a convenient way to introduce a hulkbuster fight.

12. tbh I really want a scarlet witch movie to fix all of this but I also really want a recast and I know I won’t get either (fanon wanda is the best because we can fix all of this with a hammer).

13. CA:CW seemed to draw on a lot of Wanda’s comic history (specifically in the oppression metaphors) but since it followed the clusterfuck that was AOU I can’t exactly give them a standing ovation for that.

14. ca:cw did a very bad job following through wanda’s plot threads from aou. tbh I’m not even team we need to stretch Wanda’s redemption arc further but idk, it might be nice if she mentioned her dead brother or tied the Lagos incident/Sokovia accords to, idk, her past living in a war zone.

15. ca:cw could’ve given me wanda wryly commenting on how luxurious the compound was compared to sokovia but instead it gave the should-be-jewish character a cross in her bedroom and fuck that marvel why don’t you just stake me through the heart so I don’t have to deal with your bullshit

16. I wish wanda in the airport scene was more about her desire to do good (go stop the supersoldiers) than the awkward oppression metaphor

17. although push come to shove I would’ve focused on poverty/american foreign intervention over calling the powers she volunteered for the source of her oppression the whole raft scene does demonstrate that people whose powers (or even training) cannot be separated like say Sam and the Falcon or Tony and the suits face a special criminal justice risk.

but this isn’t really relevant to the accords, which are not the SHRA and honestly the same ethical problem of how to incarcerate enhanced people exists whether or not someone is acting as a superhero (is it ethical to put a psychic murderer in solitary confinement if that’s the only way to prevent them from using their powers to escape or assault guards?)

18. according to beta canon/film subtext wanda & pietro did not willingly sign up to work with hydra. Just good to remember.

19. I will forever be attached to the idea of wanda liking Vision’s company because he is both practically invulnerable (not going to get shot 7 times on a floating city) and emotionally dependent on her support (just like Pietro). (this is not implying twincest btw)

20. I think wanda’s house arrest in ca:cw is not completely unreasonable (she’s probably awaiting investigation & is at risk of being hurt/hurting others from mob violence) but definitely steve (and probably natasha & sam) should be under house arrest as well. but they aren’t, and I think it’s fair to say that in universe that’s xenophobia/anti-immigrant sentiment. why be afraid of the american icon when you can be afraid of the poor sokovian woman?

21. antis make way too much of the whole “she’s just a kid line”. like steve was responding to tony calling her, a human being, a weapon of mass destruction. like, he was just trying to humanize her and calling the youngest person in a group a kid even when they’re an adult isn’t that strange.

22. in lagos wanda was trying so damn hard to stop that bomb and yes she didn’t manage it but blaming her instead of steve? uh gross.

23. how much experience does she have? yes tony stark throwing himself into superheroics worked out surprisingly well but superheroes need training

24. I insist marvel release a 22 page dissertation on wanda’s mind powers but also if I don’t like it I’ll call it not canon. (my initial theory was that she produces ptsd symptoms - even if the person normally doesn’t suffer from ptsd - but something in the confidence that she can manipulate tony before entering his mind makes me think she has slight suggestive abilities beyond fear and also thor’s vision arguably followed a different vein)

25. antis like to argue that the maximoffs only turned on ultron because it benefited them but let’s be clear the maximoffs fought ultron because they thought he was wrong and wanted to personally help. they could’ve just tipped off the avengers and left or left ultron to do whatever ultron was going to do and only fought him if he directly came after them okay the twins had options and they chose the most altruistic option.

26. ppl who say wanda isn’t really whitewashed because marvel’s decades of retcons have whitewashed her at past points are pretty much using a two-wrongs argumentative fallacy.

[jemmasmithinterior]

19 Ways to Live the “New Year New You” Trend in 2019

It’s that time again—the early time of year where we make resolutions and trends that will set the stage for the rest of 2019. Naturally, the most popular trends include eating healthier, exercising more and saving money. This has evolved into a “new year, new you” trend (#newyearnewme has over 1,200,000 posts attributed to it on Instagram alone at the time of this article) that everyone hops on every January.

While fads come and go, treating yourself to a better life means you’ll always be in style! We want to help build a better you with some inspiring ways to carry it on past just making a resolution:

#1: Make mini goals you can accomplish every day. 

Forget “get fit” as a goal—that’s not helpful at all! Instead, start off with a goal of doing 5 sit-ups a day, and when you have that down, increase the number and gradually add in other exercises as you’re able to. Being able to complete this every day will make this a habit that you’ll come to love! Apply this to other areas in your life, and you’ll be able to see tremendous progress as the year goes on.

#2: Time your tasks.

How long do things typically take you on a day-to-day basis? Make a list and attribute it to hours (where 2 would be 2 hours, etc.). That way, you can plan your day knowing what to expect, as well as what’s realistic to accomplish in a week.

#3: Try 1 new activity a month.

How do you know you’ll like something unless you try? Go on a site where you can get discounts on things to do, and try something new with a friend! Go rock climbing, or take a nice dinner party excursion on a boat. Not only will this help you find new things to do in your area, but it will get you motivated and out of your comfort zone! That sounds like #newyearnewme to us.

#4: Throw away clothes you haven’t worn.

Take the time to go through your entire wardrobe. Do you really still need that top you bought in 2004 and haven’t worn in 3 years? Probably not. Though some T-shirts or clothing items may have sentimental value, consider turning them into a fun quilt or framing and hanging them on the wall—just get them out of your closet! This will help you make room for fresh, newer pieces as your style develops. This is feasible for all budgets, and really helps with clutter! (We all know Marie Kondo is trending right now, so why not take a few pointers from her new Netflix series?)

#5: Clean out your social media.

Okay, hear us out. We know you have a lot of Facebook friends, but how many do you really talk to on a regular basis? While it’s good to stay in touch, if there are people on your timeline who are giving you majorly negative emotions, consider at least unfollowing them so you’re not constantly exposed to any kind of toxic behavior. For a true #newyearnewme mentality, you need to eliminate roadblocks and things that bring you down. Do this with all your social media, and you’ll find your feed to be a brighter, more exciting experience going into this year.

#6: Learn to say “no.”

Despite how much we love watching superhero movies, we can’t always don the cape ourselves and do it all. Take a step back, and don’t be afraid to say no to plans if you’re not in the right headspace. A self-care day can do wonders to relax the mind and put you at ease. This may be hard at first, but you’ll find it’s going to be so rewarding to only agree to things you actually want to do!

#7: Read 1 book a month.

While this is one of the popular resolutions of “read more,” there’s so much you can gain from setting a realistic reading goal of 1 a month! Pick whatever resonates with you—it could be a mystery thriller, self-help book or even a short story compilation—and take 15-30 minutes a day to tune out the world and your smartphone. If you don’t like visual reading, audiobooks are easily accessible from libraries and even online memberships. Continue to work your mind, and it will reward you in so many ways!

#8: Volunteer and give your time to those who need it.

There’s so much fulfillment to be had helping others—not only is volunteering a humbling experience, but it helps you realize how much of an impact your contributory efforts can truly make. Go to a soup kitchen, local animal shelter or even your neighbor to see how you can make a difference and improve someone’s day.

#9: Run an obstacle course.

You’ll learn a lot about yourself once you have to push past your limits—especially physical. Get a group together and run a Spartan or other obstacle race, since it’ll give you something to look forward to, and a goal to work towards. If the course is 4 miles, then you’ll know to work up to 4 miles of endurance on a treadmill or elliptical. You got this!

#10: Grow herbs at home.

Sure, we can all buy dried herbs in the store, but why when you can have it fresh in your home? Whether you live in a house or a dark apartment, there are tons of planter options to help you sustain and grow your very own assortment of herbs indoors, complete with LED grow lights and reminders. This can totally be a game changer for your meals!

#11: Drink 8 glasses of water a day.

Let’s be honest—we’re all quick to dismiss self-care—probably more than we’d like to admit. You only have this one body, so take care of it! You can start by drinking more water. The average adult should have about eight 8 ounce glasses a day. Although that sounds like a lot, it’s not! Get a water bottle that has notches timed to your water intake. By 10AM, you can check and strive to regulate your intake. You may use the bathroom more, but it’s for the good of your body!

#12: Knock out one of your bucket list items.

Everyone has a nagging list of things they want to accomplish in this life. Don’t ignore yours for another minute! While it’s always wise to set realistic, measurable goals, pinpoint one you want to nail down this year and commit to doing it. This particular item doesn’t have to be a huge one; it could be something as simple as treating yourself to a massage for the first time! If something isn’t attainable within the year (such as traveling to India, for example), take the whole year to save and plan every detail. Every step toward achieving your dreams counts as a victory!

#13: Put all your important documents into a fireproof container.

We wouldn’t exactly call this a glamorous item on the list, but it is important! How easy is it to lose track of insurance cards, passports, birth certificates and other vital documentation? Too easy. Set your mind at ease by filing everything away into a fireproof container that stays in a safe place. That way, tracking that pesky passport down the night before a flight will be easier than ever.

#14: Simplify packing with easy luggage totes.

“I love packing!” said no one ever. Don’t make packing any harder than it has to be. The right methods (such as rolling clothes vs. folding them) paired with a compact packing system will totes simplify your life immensely every time you have to make a trip. Say sayonara to shoving things in a bag and hoping for the best in 2019.

#15: Glow up (literally) with a consistent daily skincare routine.

When’s the last time you kept up with a skincare routine? If you do, kudos, but if not, definitely start! Keep in mind any allergies you have, or go to a dermatologist before starting any expensive products. Chances are, though, with the right ingredients and steps (it’s always cleanse, tone and moisturize!), your skin will be radiant—even without a selfie ring light.

#16: Don’t put limitations on your happiness.

We all fall into negative patterns of delaying happiness because something is supposedly missing in your life. There’s so much zen in finding happiness in your current moment, because let’s face it: you’ve already come so far from last year! Take pride in that, and don’t reinforce thoughts that threaten self-doubt. As long as you’re trying your best, know that in itself is enough.

#17: Update your resume.

Chances are, with how fast the job market moves, yours most likely needs an update. Even if you’re not job hunting, keeping your job history and portfolio samples up-to-date will save a lot of time when you DO find that dream job unexpectedly (it almost ALWAYS happens out of the blue). Reconnect on LinkedIn, take new headshots if you’ve got a new haircut and add any new accreditations or skills you may have acquired over the year(s).

#18: Learn 1 new skill or hobby.

Although we did mention trying something new, perhaps you’ve got an old skill or hobby that’s a bit rusty around the edges that you’ve left behind due to lack of time. Carve out 30 minutes once or twice a week to revisit these. If you played piano, refresh your knowledge of chords; for coding, take that free course on HTML or SQL. You may even find that you missed doing these things, and that you just lost touch!

#19: Find your inner peace.

Every day, we get caught up with friends, family and even co-workers, but at the end of the day, being happy with yourself should take precedence. Take a stroll by yourself or settle into a relaxing bath—anything that will help you discover doing things by yourself is totally A-Okay! Put the “you” back in “New Year new you.” Whatever that means will have you questioning and re-evaluating things, which is completely normal. Nobody said achieving goals and dreams was easy, after all!

  Did these tips help you? We sure hope so! Tell us what you’ve done so far to make the New Year great. Whether it’s redecorating or finding a new exercise regime, we hope it’s everything you’re looking for and more!

The post 19 Ways to Live the “New Year New You” Trend in 2019 appeared first on XO Ashley.

fromhttps://blog.ashleyfurniture.com/19-ways-to-live-the-new-year-new-you-trend-in-2019/

[charlesjbaugh]

12 Unbelievable Info About Unique Diamond Engagement Rings.

Simple Suggestions To Rememeber With Regards To Jewelry

It doesn’t matter if you are a jewelry buyer or seller. You need to understand the ins and outs of the jewelry market, in addition to how to look after pieces that come to your possession.

In this post become familiar with some handy techniques for getting the most out of the amount of money and effort you put into jewelry.

Arm yourself by using a magnet along with a magnifying glass when shopping for sterling silver jewelry. You may determine if some silver is sterling or otherwise using a magnet. Sterling will never respond to the magnet, but non-precious metals will be attracted. You may identify silver by its markings, as an example “sterling,” “ster,” or “.925.” If you cannot locate a stamp, you might be taking a look at an inexpensive imitation.

Carry out some price comparisons before you agree to buying a sheet of diamond jewelry. Take a good look at all the pieces that you prefer, examining them and comparing them to one another. Beware, there are numerous tricks to enhance the design of a sub-par diamond.

Study current jewelry trends just before shopping for a piece. Getting a good deal on beautiful bauble makes getting it a lot more enjoyable.

Collecting costume jewelry can be a popular pastime, but if you would like participate, be careful of the condition of the jewelry. Unless you keep the piece, it is going to depreciate in value. A product or service in good condition holds its value better in the long term.

In the event you wear the piece for round the clock, then you can be assured that it really has been created correctly and hangs nicely http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWG48RtGxhU Doing this also tells you how well it stands as much as normal daily wear.

Consider unique bits of jewelry for unique individuals. Buying a unique piece that matches their personality demonstrates how thoughtful and inventive you are. This is what you should be expressing to a loved one enough to acquire jewelry for.

Gems are shown chemical treatments during this process of cutting, polishing and setting. When you are thinking about buying, ask what treatment a stone was given. A treatment will make a difference on how to take care of your gemstone. Applying the wrong chemical when cleaning a gemstone can cause the protective treatment to dissolve, and damage the look of the gem.

Look at the outfits you can expect to use it with if you buy some jewelry. You need to actually purchase some jewelry which you will in fact wear. Consider the outfits which you own, and use those that will help you choose your jewelry.

In case you are selling your jewelry online, make sure it is presented attractively. A fantastic photo and description is important because your online customer will be unable to start to see the piece directly. Make certain that the pictures focus specifically around the component of jewelry with a background that enhances its beauty.

Jewelry is very valuable, economically and sentimentally. You can protect your jewelry by understanding how to tend to your jewelry. There’s always more to find out, and so long as you keep discovering in regards to the delight of jewelry, there’ll be more to experience..

The post 12 Unbelievable Info About Unique Diamond Engagement Rings. appeared first on Judith Journal.

from Judith Journal http://www.catholicsandsurvivors.net/12-unbelievable-info-about-unique-diamond-engagement-rings/