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destiniesfic · 3 years

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i hate everybody (but maybe i don’t) 1/3

This is my @jurdannet & @jurdannetrevels Secret Snusband gift for @sevenfreckles-for-sevenloves! You tapped into a story I’d been wanting to write for ages, so you get three parts and three POVs (Vivi, Cardan, and Jude). Happy Holidays, I hope you like it. ♥ Thanks to @xdarkofthemoon for betaing!

This fic is rated E. Content warnings this chapter for excessive alcohol consumption, references to alcoholism, and (prescribed) antidepressant use.

Read on AO3 or read below:

Bars in Barcelona are not especially different from bars in the US. It’s a discovery Vivi has made over the course of her study abroad tenure: everything is different on the outside, but on the inside, not so much. She does like the outsides, though. She likes the tidy streets, the way the buildings don’t rise to blot out the sun as they have a habit of doing in American downtowns. She likes the cozy sameness of the facades, broken by the whimsical surprise of the odd Gaudí contribution. Like a lot of the European cities she’s visited there seems to be some unifying design principle, some common understanding. At home it’s anyone’s guess what the next office building or apartment complex might look like, a mishmash of styles as the cities clamor to reinvent themselves, modernist or postmodernist or deconstructionist or whatever.

Heather could name them all, if Heather were here.

But Heather isn’t here. Tonight, Vivi is out on the town with her two younger half-sisters, Jude and Taryn. Her twin baby sisters, although they hate it when she calls them that. The twins’ spring breaks overlapped by happy accident, so their adoptive dad, Vivi’s biological father, had sent them off on an all-expenses-paid Barcelona trip for a mini family reunion.

Taryn had been thrilled to go out. “I’m so excited that we can drink here,” she’d exclaimed, as she touched up her makeup in the AirBnB’s living room mirror. It’s a two-bed, two-bath apartment with an updated kitchen and certainly beats the dorms. Vivi was forced to give a silent, resentful thanks, Dad, but not out loud.

“You drink at home,” Jude reminded her from the bathroom, where she was trying to wrangle her hair into some style Taryn had sent her from Pinterest. “We have fake IDs.”

“It’s not the same,” Taryn had huffed, applying another coat of mascara. Vivi got that. It had not been the same when they came to Europe before, either, because they had been with Madoc, Oriana, and little Oak. Somehow parents at the table makes the glass of wine with dinner much less daring.

Jude had eventually settled on a high ponytail, and off they went.

Now they’re out at a bar not far from the AirBnB, with each of the twins perched on stools and Vivi leaning against the bar between them. Maybe it’s because she hasn’t seen them for so long except over FaceTime, but Vivi is shocked to notice that her little sisters aren’t kids anymore. They haven’t been little for a while, not since they overtook Vivi in height when they were twelve, but it’s one thing to not be little and another to be an adult. Taryn, who’s been yearning for adulthood since her tweens, finally looks more at home in the role. And Vivi doesn’t know how Taryn got Jude into that dark purple halter dress, which dips low in the front and lower in the back, but the way she wears that and her lipstick is a stark reminder that Vivi’s sisters are in fact nineteen, and no longer chubby, soft-faced children. It’s weird, and Vivi doesn’t like it.

Vivi gets hit on sometimes—with her undercut and piercings, mostly by “alternative” men and curious women—but the novelty of good-looking twins means Jude and Taryn shouldn’t need to pay for their own drinks. And they wouldn’t, except anytime a guy gets too close to Jude or Taryn, Jude adopts a laser-eyed glare and says, “No,” which is thankfully the same in both languages. Otherwise she might start speaking with fists.

“I don’t know why you won’t let us get free drinks,” Taryn pouts.

“The drinks are on Madoc,” Jude points out, nodding to the credit card Vivi puts back in her pocket. “They’re basically free.”

Taryn mutters, “It’s the principle of the thing.”

“You guys are such sisters,” Vivi says, taking a swig of beer.

“What does that mean?” they demand in unison.

Vivi grins and closes her eyes, shaking her head. For a second she just stands there, between the twins, and lets everything wash over her: the sibling bickering, the pungent smell of beer and whatever syrup is in Jude’s cocktail, and the music. Music is a strange experience in bars here. First there’s a Spanish song Vivi’s never heard, and then there’s Halsey, crooning over a Chainsmokers beat, and then back to Spanish with perennial favorite “Despacito.” It’s total whiplash. Vivi loves it.

It’s only because she’s listening so hard that she hears Taryn give a tiny gasp.

Vivi opens her eyes. Jude has gone very, very still. Her shoulders, which had been hunched up around her ears as she leaned over the bar, roll down her back, and the muscles there tense. Vivi is not sure Jude is remembering to breathe. She and Taryn are both staring at some fixed point across the bar, so Vivi looks too.

“Oh, hell,” she says.

On the other side of the bar—of the small space they are all crammed into—are four familiar figures. Three boys, one girl. Vivi has to blink to place them, because it seems absurd that four kids they went to high school with would show up in Spain while they, the Duarte sisters, are also in Spain, and also because they weren’t in Vivi’s grade. She knows them, though. Everyone knows Cardan Greenbriar and his trio of hot, mean friends, but Vivi knows them particularly well because of how her sisters have tangled with them over the years.

Taryn whispers, “What are they doing here?”

“I can go ask,” Vivi sighs. That group of kids has no quarrel with her. She and Cardan were friendly back in the day, meaning “ten years ago when Vivi would go hang out with Cardan’s older sister.”

“No,” Jude says, voice firm. Without taking her eyes off the interlopers, she picks up her cocktail and downs the rest of it.

Vivi doesn’t know exactly what happened, but Jude shed her fight-or-flight response sometime in high school. Now, she only has a fight response. Maybe Vivi took her flight response, because it was Vivi who was the terror until she turned eighteen, when she got the hell out of dodge. Taryn has always been in the middle, trying to keep the peace.

“We can go somewhere else,” Taryn suggests.

“No,” Jude repeats, setting her glass down on the bar a little too hard. “I’m not going to let those jerks keep me from having a good time.”

“Which I respect, and more power to you, but also, like, there are plenty of bars in Barcelona,” Vivi points out.

Jude glares. “I’m fine.” And then she holds up one finger in the bartender’s direction.

“You know those are really alcoholic, right?” Taryn says. Worry begins to seep into her voice like melting snow through cracks in a sidewalk.

“I know my limits.”

Vivi and Taryn exchange a wary glance. Jude might know her limits, but she has no problem blowing past them. Jude may not think Vivi remembers the tae kwon do tournament she sat through when Jude was eleven and Vivi was thirteen, but oh, Vivi does. Vivi remembers how her sister volunteered to spar until she had tired herself out to the point where she could no longer stand. Vivi also remembers Jude driving to school on a single hour of sleep after staying up to finish an extra credit essay in a class where she already had an A. Jude somehow didn’t crash her car, but she had been unbearable the entire day. Jude is a danger to herself and very occasionally a menace to society.

But Jude is also an adult and it’s not Vivi’s business.

“Suit yourself,” Vivi says, with a shrug. “It’s dear old Dad’s money.”

A few minutes later, Jude is nursing her second cocktail, and Vivi and Taryn are trying to carry on a conversation as though everything is fine. Any normal person would be well loosened up by now, but Jude retains that unnatural stillness like a dog who’s noticed a squirrel on the other side of a yard. Or, more accurately, maybe like a deer who’s spotted a human hunter approaching over the ridge.

Jude is no defenseless herbivore, but Vivi knows half a lifetime of being bullied has made her feel like a target.

“Hey,” Vivi says, jostling Jude with her elbow.

“What?”

“Tell me about your freshman year misadventures. Taryn won’t open up.”

Jude snorts. “What misadventures?”

“You have to have a few,” Vivi says. “I didn’t raise my sisters to be boring.”

“You didn’t raise us at all,” Jude mutters at her cocktail.

Vivi has never seen her sister anywhere near drunk before and is not sure she likes her like this. “What about boys?” she asks, gently elbowing Jude again. Then she raises her eyebrows. “Girls?”

“No. Nobody.” Jude finishes her second drink and, glaring across the bar, apparently makes the decision to switch to shots. “Vivi, is vodka still ‘vodka’ in Spanish?”

“I’m not answering that.” Vivi sighs. “What about you, Taryn? Anybody?”

“Huh? Um, no.” Taryn had been looking at their erstwhile schoolmates too. One of the boys, the redhead, is looking back. Locke. Vivi exhales. Bad news. There’s history there, the kind of history that shouldn’t repeat.

“Reeeeally?” she asks. “Nobody? Not one boy?”

Taryn blinks back to herself. “Vivi, I go to school for fashion design. They’re all gay.”

“Well, that can be fun.” Vivi gestures at herself. God, she wishes her sisters had brought Heather along. The hot lady bartender with the gorgeous tattoo sleeve keeps trying to catch her eye, and Vivi and Heather had established a “what happens in Barcelona stays in Barcelona” policy before she left, but Vivi doesn’t want a hot lady bartender. She wants her girlfriend.

“Yeah, they’re cool.” Taryn glances back across the bar. Now the blue-haired girl—Nicasia, Vivi recalls—is looking back, along with Locke. Not good.

Since Jude is negotiating for a shot of vodka with hot lady bartender in competent enough Spanish, Vivi lowers her voice and asks Taryn, “Are you feeling especially homesick?”

“We’ve kept in touch.” Taryn doesn’t meet her eyes.

Vivi would hold more of a grudge if someone had tried to sleep with her and her sister, but that’s very much not her circus or her monkeys. She asks, “Did you know he’d be here?”

Taryn shakes her head. “He said they were doing a European tour for spring break, but, like, it’s a big continent.”

“Good news,” says Jude, holding up a shot glass. “It’s vodka in both languages. Cheers.”

“You are going to be sick,” Taryn says.

Jude gives her a sarcastic shrug and then downs the shot. She coughs a little, which somewhat ruins the impression she’s trying to make, but swallows it all down.

“Jude,” Vivi says, beginning to worry, “we really can just leave.”

But Jude is looking at her old high school nemeses again. Cardan had been a particular thorn in her side, or he in hers; Vivi never made sense of that conflict, of who had started what. What she does know is that they’ve definitely been spotted now. The blond boy—Vivi doesn’t quite remember his name—seems to make a move to walk over to them, but Cardan reaches out and grabs his arm, shaking his head. Valentine? Valentino? looks sour, but doesn’t approach. Jude stares them both down.

“I have to use the bathroom,” Taryn announces. “El baño.” Taryn had taken French in high school.

“But—” Vivi begins.

Taryn has already vanished into the crowd. Vivi puts her elbows on the bar and cradles her head in her hands. “This is all going great.”

“Not how you pictured our night out on the town?” asks Jude, who has obtained another shot of vodka from God knows where.

“Yeah, not really.”

“Well, I can fix it.” Jude drinks her second shot and does not cough this time. “I’m going to go talk to them.”

Vivi picks up her head. “That’s a terrible idea.”

“So what?”

“Dad’s going to hold me responsible if anything happens to you.”

Jude fixes a level stare on her. “Dad never holds you responsible for anything,” she says. She slips a little when she gets up off her stool. Vivi wonders if she’s really thinking about fighting someone in those heels.

“You’re mean drunk,” Vivi tells her, trying to grab her arm. “Don’t go.”

“I’m mean sober, but nobody notices,” says Jude, which doesn’t make any sense. She shakes Vivi off. “Besides, I have a few things I want to say.”

And for the second time that night, Vivi watches as one of her sisters pushes her way into the crowd of people, unsure if she should follow or not. Maybe it’ll be good for Jude, in the end, to get some of this out of her system.

The guys across the room are watching Jude approach. Cardan especially. The blond guy is sneering, but Cardan watches Jude with the same strange stillness with which she’d watched him. Like he’s holding his breath until she gets there. Unlike Jude, he doesn’t seem that drunk at all, which Vivi notices because, well, it’s a rare day that Cardan Greenbriar isn’t drunk.

But he is too busy watching her and not his blond friend, who decides that he’s going to intercept Jude before she can even reach Cardan. He pushes over to her first and bars her way, and although Vivi is too far away to hear what’s said between them, she notices the squaring of Jude’s shoulders and the widening of the blond guy’s sneer. Because she is watching closely, she sees that Valerian is the one who shoves Jude first.

Valerian. That’s his name.

It clicks right before Jude punches him in the face.

The bar erupts. Cardan springs to his feet and tries to pull his friend away from Jude. A couple of nearby patrons try to save Jude from herself—Vivi could have told them it was a fool’s errand—by holding her back, not knowing Jude has sharp elbows. Valerian struggles hard and manages to break away from Cardan, only to find himself being grabbed by more pairs of hands. There is shouting in Spanish. Even the hot lady bartender is drawn away, trying to signal her coworkers.

The most Vivi-like thing to do would be to leave Jude to it and keep her nose clean. But Vivi remembers asking Madoc on the day of that fateful tae kwon do tournament, while they revived Jude with sips of Gatorade, why Madoc hadn’t stopped Jude when it became clear she was flagging. “Your sister needs to learn for herself when to stop fighting,” he’d said. “If I make those calls for her, she never will.”

Vivi has a lot of qualms with Madoc’s parenting style, and Taryn is nowhere to be found.

“Oh, hell,” Vivi says again, and she dives into the knot of drunk brawlers to pull her sister from the fray.

---

“I can’t believe you got us kicked out,” Vivi says.

Jude, drunk, hapless Jude, is sitting on the curb with her head between her knees, presumably trying not to barf. There’s still enough anger left in her to flip Vivi off.

“Unbelievable.” Vivi folds her arms and looks left, then right. It seems like a good quarter of the bar spilled out onto the sidewalk with them, a crowd of people chattering about what just happened. Forget kicked out, Jude’s lucky she wasn’t arrested. “Do you see Taryn anywhere?”

“What do you think?”

Vivi pinches the bridge of her nose. Taryn will be fine. She has the AirBnB address and a phone she can use on WiFi. Besides, as far as Vivi knows, she ran off with Locke. Vivi hasn’t seen the two of them come out of the bar yet, and she would not be surprised. She knows a bad decision when she sees one.

“You keep sitting down,” Vivi tells Jude. “I’m going to figure out a ride home.”

“Your face should keep sitting down,” Jude mumbles spitefully.

“Hey, guys? Vivi?”

Vivi cringes as soon as she hears the voice, because she knows the voice, and because in this situation the owner of that voice will only make things worse. Vivi doesn’t have any personal grudge against Cardan Greenbriar—they’ve even sometimes been friends—except for how her sister feels about him. Taryn’s always said he was kind of a dick, but Taryn doesn’t hate him like Jude does. Nobody hates anybody the way Jude hates Cardan. Vivi wonders if Jude has something to prove.

Sure enough, Jude’s head swivels at the sound of his voice like the kid’s head turning around in The Exorcist. “You,” she snarls, and then stumbles to her feet.

“Jude,” Vivi says, trying to catch her sister’s dress to pull her back, but Jude is already out of reach. With another sigh, Vivi stands too.

“What are you doing here?” Jude demands of Cardan, openly hostile. It would be funny, because Jude is a full head shorter than him, if Jude was anybody else’s sister. “We were all having a great time until you showed up.”

“It’s anybody’s city,” Cardan says, but he doesn’t seem to be mocking her. He holds up his hands to show her they are empty.

“Go the fuck home!” Jude yells, and shoves him, sending him back a couple of steps.

Vivi shouts, “Woah!”

“It’s okay,” Cardan tells Vivi over Jude’s head. “She’s not hurting me. Let her get it out.”

With a little cry, Jude pushes him again, and this time he only stumbles back a half-step, but he keeps his hands up and his stance somewhat grounded. The next time Jude shoves him he doesn’t budge at all, and Jude lets out a grunt of frustration, fisting her hands in his jacket.

And then she bursts into tears.

“Oh,” says Vivi, but Cardan doesn’t seem that surprised. She wonders if he’s used to people behaving badly while drunk or just being drunk himself.

“You’re so a-awful,” Jude says between sobs. “Everything’s awful all the time.”

“I know, Jude,” Cardan replies. He gently pries the jacket out of her fists so he can remove it and drape it over her bare shoulders. Jude grabs onto his shirt instead.

“Why do you hate me so much?” she asks, with a small hiccup.

“I don’t,” Cardan replies. His hand rubs circles between his shoulder blades. “But I hope you’re too drunk to remember that.” He looks up at Vivi, and Vivi feels a brief flash of embarrassment, like she’s intruded on something intimate, before she remembers that they’re in public and, also, she has no shame. “Were you going to get a taxi? I can keep an eye on her while you do. I don’t think she should walk back.”

“Oh.” Vivi blinks. “Yeah. I’ve got it. Where’s your ‘friend?’”

“Sent him packing. He’s back at the hotel, or he should be.”

“Well… good.”

But Cardan isn’t listening. He’s already looking down at Jude again.

It turns out Vivi has, carelessly, let her phone die. She isn’t anal about things like that. Taryn’s the one who keeps a charger in her purse at all times, but Taryn has vanished, and Jude’s phone only works on WiFi outside of the States.

So they hail one of Barcelona's bumblebee-like taxis the old-fashioned way, and Vivi is the one who climbs into the passenger’s seat and tells the driver where to go in Spanish that’s fluent, if definitely not Spain-Spanish. It is deeply ironic that Vivi, the only sister without a drop of Duarte blood in her veins, is the one who speaks Spanish the best. But Jude and Taryn were only seven when their parents died. Vivi had been nine. Two years makes a big difference with these things, especially because memories are shaping and re-shaping themselves in the minds of children that young. As far as the twins’ brains are concerned, they only had their parents for a short time.

Vivi remembers more. She remembers sitting on the counter in the old kitchen, legs swinging, as her dad cooked on Fridays—the special day, the end of the week day—and pointing at things in the kitchen so Justin could tell her their names in Spanish and she could echo them back. Cebolla, onion. Queso, cheese, of course. Cuchara, spoon. The words had a favor of their own, different from the English words she learned in kindergarten. She remembers the smell of toasting coriander seeds, the bright songs her dad would hum, the vibrant melodies bursting from the CD player Vivi leaned her elbow on. When she got far enough along in school, she threw herself into Spanish, hoping the words would pave a road that would lead her back to the man who shaped her.

Sometimes Jude gets in a sulk about their awful twist of fate, or Taryn gets weepy, and Vivi just wants to yell Justin Duarte was my dad, too! She feels like her throat is raw from screaming it her entire adolescence. It was easier in the end to just move away for college.

She ended up in Spain because Madoc and Oriana weren’t keen on her going to Mexico. Oh, sure, they’d been before on vacation no problemo, but as soon as Vivi wanted to go alone it was game over. No matter how much Vivi told them it was very racist of them and a total double standard. Apparently Oriana didn’t want her getting kidnapped. Vivi, who has in fact seen the movie Taken, knows she can get kidnapped in Europe just as easily, thanks very much. That had not been a persuasive argument with Madoc.

So here she is, in Barcelona, where familiar words can have entirely different flavors, and that’s even before getting to Catalan, which she can now speak a little but not well. Most of the time, she’ll be honest, she does love it here. At this moment she’s not feeling charitable toward anything.

Cardan helps load Jude into the backseat of the taxi. The driver, looking in the rearview mirror, asks, “¿Su novio?”

“¿Qué?” Vivi asks reflexively. She cranes her head around to see Cardan sliding in next to Jude, his arm around her shoulder. She switches to English. “What the hell, dude?”

“She won’t let go,” Cardan says simply. It’s true; Jude is clinging to him like a very weepy barnacle, her shoulders still shaking.

“Alright, well.” Vivi turns back around. It’s good to have the extra pair of hands. She wishes again that Heather was here. “You’re the official Jude wrangler now.”

“Copy that. I just—” He sighs, and in the rearview, Vivi sees him rub his face with his free hand. “It’s my fault.”

“Sure is.” The taxi begins to pull away from the curb, and Vivi checks her anger. She amends, “Actually, no, it’s not your fault that my sister’s a lightweight and an angry drunk. But from what I hear, the years of prior psychological damage are totally your fault. So, credit where credit is due.”

Cardan nods. Jude sniffles forlornly. Vivi is intrigued by how gentle he’s being with her, how tolerant. His shirt looks like a regular cotton tee, but knowing him it probably costs about the same as a single night in their very nice AirBnB. He doesn’t seem to mind that Jude’s getting snot and tears all over it.

“Hate you,” Jude mutters, pressing her face into his shoulder. “Hate this.”

“I know.” He pushes a lock of hair that’s escaped from her ponytail. “What are you on?”

“Huh?” There’s a pause. Vivi is watching the road now, but she can imagine Jude’s confused blinking. “I don’t… drugs.”

“Meds.”

“Oh, um, fuck.” Another pause. “Zoloft. I switched this year.”

“You’re not supposed to drink on that stuff,” Cardan says, but it almost sounds like he’s teasing. “It messes you up. I thought you were supposed to be the smart one.”

Jude sniffs. “It’s not like I’m operating heavy machinery,” she says, slurring slightly.

Cardan chuckles. “I did the Zoloft thing, too. I’m not on it anymore, though.”

“‘Cause you couldn’t drink?”

“Like anything would stop me.” He pauses, and Vivi looks into the rearview mirror to find him biting his lower lip in an exaggerated way, so drunk Jude is sure to get the joke. “No, there were... personal reasons.”

Jude is utterly nonplussed. “What?”

“Ah, you know…” He leans over and whispers something to her. Her eyes widen, and then she lets out a small, nervous chuckle. “Oh.”

“Yeah, I was like ‘If I can’t have sex, won’t that just make me more depressed?’”

To Vivi’s great surprise, Jude giggles. A totally surreal sound. She hasn’t giggled like that in years, if ever.

“There we go,” says Cardan, weirdly indulgent. “No more crying. Or, well—oh, okay,” he adds, as Jude turns her head and begins quietly sobbing into the sleeve of his shirt. “I guess some more crying.”

“You seem very sober,” Vivi remarks.

“Yeah, I’m trying it on. Just club soda for me tonight.” He leans over to rest his head on top of Jude’s. “It, cómo se dice, sucks.”

“Like your accent.”

“So I’ve heard.”

Vivi is beginning to get vaguely suspicious. She says, “But you are handling this well. Just used to dealing with a lot of drunks?”

“Huh? Oh.” Cardan’s dark eyes flick up to meet Vivi’s in the mirror. “This isn’t the first time. Jude got wasted at prom, after the stuff with Locke and Taryn came to light. Completely trashed.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“You were finishing up sophomore year, right? In like, Massachusetts? And it’s not like she would have told you. If she’s lucky, she doesn’t remember it. I loaded her into the Uber that took her home.”

Vivi’s stomach twists, but she channels the newfound sister guilt into suspicion and narrows her eyes. “Decent of you.”

“Yeah, I was trying that out, too. Got puked on for the trouble.” Cardan leans his head back against the headrest now. Jude’s sobs have quieted down. “But I still remember the Four Phases of Drunk Jude Duarte.”

“I’m glad somebody does,” Vivi admits. “What are they?”

“Angry, weepy, horny, sick.”

She snorts. “Basically Snow White’s shittiest dwarves.”

“Basically,” Cardan agrees. “But you’re not in danger of her getting sick yet, because we haven’t hit—ah. Um. Well.” He clears his throat. “Never mind.”

Vivi looks up into the mirror again to see Cardan plucking Jude’s hand off of him and returning it to her. “Did we just hit horny?”

“We just hit horny,” he says, his voice strained. Jude has her face buried in his neck again, but this time for entirely different reasons. The hand he had returned to Jude is already sliding back down his shirt. “Okay, hands above the waist. No, above—”

“Oh my God.” Vivi covers her mouth to stifle her laughter.

“Great. Very helpful, Vivienne,” Cardan says, grabbing Jude’s wrist and holding it still. It speaks to their relationship as nearly family friends that he can use her full name without invoking her wrath. “Your sister is outright molesting me and you can’t even tell her to knock it off?”

He doesn’t sound totally panicked, though. “I think you might want my sister to molest you,” Vivi guesses, turning around in her seat to look at him. Somehow, Jude has managed to thoroughly drape herself across him, but Cardan is showing admirable and frankly uncharacteristic self-restraint by keeping her from doing anything that can’t be undone. “Just a little.”

“When she’s sober. Jude, don’t bite my ear. Jude—”

Vivi snickers. The rest of the short ride passes like that, with Cardan deflecting Jude’s advances and Vivi deflecting the taxi driver’s questions about what exactly is happening back there and whether Jude is going to be sick all over his floor mats. They are lucky enough to not hit “sick” until Jude is out of the car and walking up the five stairs to the door of the apartment building. With Cardan’s warning in mind, Vivi is able to jump back in time.

Cardan, who is nearer to Jude, is not so lucky. She leans against the railing and doubles over it, but his shoes and the bottoms of his jeans are still caught in the splash zone. “Okay, great,” he says, gathering her back up. He does not sound entirely tolerant now, but he also doesn’t sound as angry as Vivi might expect. “That’s over. Feel any better?”

“No,” Jude mutters.

“You might in the morning.” He moves them both so Vivi can pass and open the door. “Man, is this really only the second time this has ever happened to you? I have to say, I’m jealous. Not of you in this moment, of course. Just in general.”

“We can’t all be charming teenage alcoholics,” Vivi says, propping the door open so Cardan can help her through.

“You hear that, Jude?” Cardan asks. “Your sister thinks I’m charming.”

“Uh-huh,” says Jude.

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Vivi warns. “She’s almost out. Let’s get her upstairs.”

Jude doesn’t make it into the bedroom she and Taryn are sharing. They put her to bed on the couch, on her side, with Cardan’s jacket draped over her. There’s no laundry machine in the AirBnB, but Vivi finds some detergent in the cabinet and they fill the bathroom sink with lukewarm water so Cardan can wash his jeans. Vivi is not sure the right time for the conversation she should have is now, when Cardan is standing in his boxer briefs and Jude is passed out in the next room, but on the bright side, there probably isn’t a worse time.

“You know, I didn’t think we had this level of friendship,” Cardan remarks, dunking his jeans in the sudsy water. “Dealing with your sister must really be a bonding experience. You always liked Rhyia best.”

“Well, Rhyia’s cool.” Vivi folds her arms and leans in the doorway. She kicked off her boots when they got in the door, so Cardan now looks even taller, although certainly not very intimidating in his underwear. “Calvin Klein. Nice. You always struck me as more of a boxers guy, I have to say.”

“Sometimes. These jeans are pretty tight, though.” He looks over at her. “Do you need something?”

She shakes her head. “Oh, nothing. I just can’t believe you’re trying to fuck my sister.”

“I’m not trying to fuck your sister,” Cardan says, massaging his jeans in the sink in such a way that Vivi is forced to wonder whether he’s ever done his own laundry. “She’s wasted. And she hates me.”

Vivi frowns deeply.

Cardan asks, “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Vivienne Leigh—”

“Don’t you pull out my full name for this. You’re playing some game here and I will figure out what it—oh.”

“What now?”

Vivi squints at him. “Are you in love with my sister?”

Cardan lets out an exhausted sigh. “Taryn isn’t really my type.”

They both know they aren’t talking about Taryn. “What the fuck. How long?”

“Like a year. Or maybe my whole life. I’m not sure.”

“Does she know?”

“I really hope not.” Cardan grimaces at his reflection in the mirror, and then looks past himself to see where Jude sleeps on the couch. “She’d never let me live it down.”

“Okay, well…” Vivi pauses. This is more older sibling responsibility than she signed up for. “What are your… intentions?”

“I don’t have any.” Vivi purses her lips, and he adds, “I really don’t. I wasn’t expecting to see her tonight. I kind of thought I’d never see her again after we graduated.” He pauses and looks down at the sink. “I think, someday, I’d like to be a person she likes. That she’s capable of liking.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Huh.” He has it really, really bad. Vivi can’t imagine what Jude said or did to make him feel that way about her. Maybe it was her total lack of regard for him? “Is this why you bullied her for years?”

“I hope not!” Cardan exclaims, in a way that suggests this thought has occurred to him before, and moreover, that it actually bothers him. “I don’t know! I don’t want to be that fucking cliché, Vivi.”

“We’re all cliché in our own special ways,” Vivi says, glancing back at Jude. A vague plot is beginning to take shape in her brain. Jude is the plotter, Taryn the planner—there is a difference—and Vivi the pantser, normally. But there is something here that she thinks she can exploit. “Seeing as you have no pants, you should probably stay over. I don’t think any of our clothes will fit you.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. You can have one of the twin beds.” After a beat, she adds, “I’m not telling you which one is Jude’s.”

“Darn,” Cardan deadpans. “Now I don’t know which one to jerk off in.”

Vivi pulls a face. “That’s the idea.” And then, because Cardan is hopeless, she reaches forward and yanks the plug from the drain. “Rinse off your jeans in clean water. Otherwise they’ll dry all stiff and soapy.”

“Thank you for the advice, oh wise one.”

She rolls her eyes and leaves him to it. After checking on Jude, whose coloring and breathing are both normal, she heads back to her room and looks at her phone. Nothing from Taryn, even though it’s later than Vivi thought, but Vivi isn’t worried. Taryn’s kind of like a cat in that, somehow, she always manages to land on her feet. Vivi fires off a quick text to her, then stares at the glowing screen, thinking about the way Cardan had rested his head on top of Jude’s in the back of the taxi.

She texts Heather: sisters are a lot of work

And:

i wish you were here

It’s much earlier in New England. When the three dots pop up to indicate that Heather is typing a reply, Vivi smiles.

#jurdan #judecardan #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #jurdannet #jurdan fanfic #the folk of the air #the wicked king #the queen of nothing #the cruel prince #mine: fic #fic: i hate everybody

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versatilewindow · 4 years

Text

A Night in ‘Las Vegas’ (its actually Daphne’s mansion)

Find it on Ao3!

Summary:Party at Daphne's, Velma experiences requited gay panic. Written for @scrubyjay<3

A/N: if u asked me a week ago what id be writing, scooby doo lesbian fanfic definitely wouldn't have been anywhere near my mind. im kinda surprised i even had this much to say about them.

In the past few years, the Mystery Gang had made a habit of meeting up before a new semester of college started to relax and hang out before their studies took over their lives. Daphne was hosting at her childhood home (as she called it, though most would consider the estate a real true mansion) as usual, (Her parents were off on their yearly honeymoon or what Daphne would call their regularly scheduled time for absolute debauchery among other acts that are certainly in a legal grey area.) and she had full reign of the staff and tonight's event. This semester’s theme was “A Night in Las Vegas”, meaning the gang would be dressed in their best cocktail outfits, and that there were actual slot machines and gambling tables, complete with dealers using rigged card decks to make sure no one would threaten the casino’s nightly earnings, not that they were actually gambling it’s all for realism.

This was the week before most the gang’s final semester, most as in Shaggy decided that he’d rather learn some cooking skills on the job rather than some pompous 75 year old teacher at the nearest cooking school, not realizing he would instead have to deal with an egotistical 40 year old going through what was surely the world’s worst case of mid-life crisis. The rest of the gang was spread around the country, Fred was at the local state college on a football scholarship, studying business and was the VP of the school’s biggest fraternity. Daphne was studying investigative journalism at Colombia, if asked she went to school in New York, and she was in fact related to the Blakes financially backing the new Blake scholarship for students studying journalism. Velma was at Stanford double majoring in Criminal Psychology and Forensic Science, and was set to continue her studies in a Phd program at Harvard.

Out of all the gang, Velma was the most excited for the night, she rarely got to see the others because of the physical distance between them. She walked up the marble steps outside the front doors of the Blake estate, duffel bag in tow, (they always ended up absolutely sloshed at the end of these dinners, opting to stay in one of the many guest rooms with plush king sized beds rather than waiting for a taxi) and pressed the buzzer which linked to a pager on the butler’s uniform. It was only a few moments before Jenkins opened the heavy oak doors.

“Ah, Miss Dinkley, glad to see you’ve made it here safely, would you like someone to take your bag to your room?”

“No, thank you Jenkins, Daphne wanted to get ready together and I have some things I’ll need in the bag. Is she in her room?”

“Yes, allow me to escort you there.” With that Jenkins turned into the Foyer, walking under the first of many grand chandeliers, and up the grand blush pink marble stairs towards Daphne’s suite. Before she knew it they were in front of the door to the bedroom.

Jenkins knocked on the pale door, “Miss Blake, Miss Dinkley has arrived.”

“Oh Yes! Send her in please! The door’s unlocked!” A light rustling was heard behind the door as Jenkins opened the door for Velma, revealing Daphne moving towards her vanity in a silk lavender robe that ended mid thigh. “Velma! I’m so happy you could come early!” The taller woman changed her course towards the shorter one, who seemed almost frozen in the doorway. “Come on in! Thank you Jenkins, let me know when the boys have arrived.” Jenkins responded with a light bow before swiftly turning away, no doubt to continue the prep for tonight's event.

Velma walked in the room, closing the door behind her, and setting her bag down on the loveseat in front of the room’s TV. “I’m glad I could make it too, I wasn’t sure if I would’ve been able to trade shifts with someone at the bookstore, but Sarah S., remember her from high school? She was trying to avoid a family event that was going on earlier today, her aunts are always setting her up on dates and she didn’t want to deal with that again. So it all worked out!”

Daphne smiled at Velma, “Oh Sarah’s wonderful, I almost forgot she worked at the bookstore too during the breaks. There’s a robe for you in the bathroom to change into before we do our manicures.” Velma turned into the attached bathroom, quickly changing into the orange silk robe she usually used while at Daphne’s, the light geometric patterns reminding her of all the sleepovers the two shared in high school. Stepping out of the bathroom, Velma saw that Daphne had already set up the station to paint their nails. “So what’s tonight’s color scheme for you? I’m going with glittery hot pink.” Daphne had started with the base coat already.

“I brought an orange leather skirt, and I was thinking of a black top, but the options I brought don’t really fit with the cocktail dress code for tonight.” Velma sat down across from her friend in a dark luxurious chair, fiddling with the collection of polishes in front of her.

Daphne grabbed a mid-tone orange from the selection, “Don’t worry about your top, you know I have a lot to choose from.” The smile on her face was audible, and she continued, “If it’s the leather skirt I’m thinking of, it would pair great with this sheer, flowy turtleneck I have.” Daphne’s delicate hands grabbed Velma’s, and with skillful light touches started applying the polish. The two took turns with the materials, falling into a comfortable silence finishing the task quickly.

“It’s make-up and hair next, right? I have some things in my bag.” Deeming her nails dry enough, Velma stood and made her way over to the aforementioned bag, pulling out a travel toiletries bag that had her small selection of make-up. It’s not that she was against make-up in any way, it was really more for special events than the day to day, also her college-student budget meant some luxuries were limited, and make-up was on that list. Adjusting her glasses, Velma turned to where Daphne was standing next to the vanity chair, she had a slight pout on her face, the one she used to get what she wanted from anyone.

“Can I please do your make-up? You know I love to do it and you love the outcome every time.” The pout stayed on her face.

“I suppose I could let you do my makeup Daph, seeing as you’re asking so kindly.” Daphne let out a light giggle at the fake sass in Velma's statement. (They both knew that Velma would never say no to Daphne, with or without the pout, not that Velma would ever admit it.) Velma sat down, leaning against the back of the chair, removing her glasses and setting them down on the vanity to allow Daphne full vision of her canvas.

Feathery touches moved across Velma’s face, applying the primer on to soft moisturized skin. “Are you wearing contacts tonight?”

“I brought them, but I’m not sure I’ll remember to take them off before sleeping tonight.”

Daphne continued with the base make-up. “Don’t wear them, you look cute with your glasses.”

A light blush covered the tips of Velma’s cheeks and nose, it certainly wasn’t her first time hearing that phrase, but something about hearing it from Daph’s rosy lips made it different.

Working swiftly, Daphne made her way to the eyes, she grabbed Velma’s eyeliner, leaning in close to work on the wing. The controlled, concentrated breaths tickled the lightly covered freckles on Velma’s face, the flush from before continuing on strong through the powder pink blush Daphne already placed on the high point’s of her cheek bones. Daphne leaned away from her to examine the work done, hands lingering behind on Velma’s face, a satisfied smile appearing when she decided the two sides were even. “We’ll do lips after we change, you good on your own for hair?” Velma nodded while putting her frames back on to inspect the work Daphne had done on her face. It was simple, what she liked best, but it was better than anything Velma could do on her own. Daphne had perfected her technique in blending and choosing colors, if she didn’t know the other for years, Velma would’ve expected Daphne to enroll in a fashion and design school.

The two made quick work of the rest of their prep work, gossiping about the town’s latest scandals. (The Adam’s were being investigated for tax fraud, and the Miller’s were going through a particularly nasty divorce.) Velma straightened out her hair, smoothing it from the usual halo of frizz, stealing glances at Daphne while she did her own make-up and hair. Their gazes met each other once, staring deep into the other’s dark eyes for a beat before looking away as though nothing happened.

The evening drew to a close, night just beginning to settle in, the others would be here soon. Their attention was now drawn to the expansive walk-in closet in the room. Daphne pulled out the sheer turtleneck mentioned before for Velma, it had shiny glittery threads spread throughout, perfect for tonight’s event, and a hot pink sequined mini dress. They both changed in front of each other, as they had many times before, but something in the air was different, there was an unspoken tension between the two of them growing from the lingering touches and frequent glances from earlier. Velma looked up from her skirt’s zipper to see Daphne’s bare back in front of her, dress unzipped. She said a light ‘I got it’ before pulling the hidden zipper up the pale back, the dress tightly hugging the curve of the toned body before her.

The tension dissipated as they walked over to the rack of shoes covering a wall of the closet, Daphne thinking out loud, wondering if she should go with boots or a strappy pump. She grabbed a chunky platform heel for Velma, one she often borrowed, before deciding on black suede thigh high boots. Daphne’s pink phone pinged, a text from the boys, they were five minutes away. As she pulled the boots over her long legs, Daphne saw Velma staring at her thighs, pinked nose, where skin met suede, and blushed herself, not mentioning that she’d caught the other.

Shrugging this off, Daphne stood and walked out of the closet, to the door of her room, waiting for Velma. As the shorter walked to the doorway, fingertips touched the small of her back guiding her through. The two walked to the main room on the ground floor where it had been transformed to feel like a real casino, the lights were dimmed, 5 slot machines took up a wall, a dealer’s table next to the grand fireplace, tall, small tables with tea lights and stools took up the center floor, and two servants stood at the edge, one with a tray of hors d'oeuvres and the other a tray of champagne. Meeting the ladies at the bottom were their friends, and Jenkin’s informing them that dinner would be served within the hour. The boys cleaned up well, Shaggy’s usual mop of hair gelled back, with burgundy suspenders against a white button up holding up light green slacks. Fred opted for a more classic black and white suit, with a sapphire blue tie to add his own flair. Even Scooby looked prepped for a red carpet, his nails cut, a light almond scent from soap rather than his usual distinct dog smell.

The forty or so minutes before dinner was served went smoothly, Shaggy, Scooby, and Daphne spent their time catching up at the slot machine; Fred and Velma playing black jack while laughing about funny stories from the past semester. The waiters did their jobs, handing out each person’s favorite snack before the meal, or snacks in Shaggy and Scoob’s case, leaving no glass unfilled, although they insisted they all have at least a glass of plain water for every couple of refills.

Once it was time for the meal, the servants put their trays down to push the tables together, so the group could enjoy the dishes together. Daphne pulled her stool next to Velma’s brushing her hand against the smooth skin of the other’s thigh, and noticed how the seated girl’s relaxed, slightly tipsy posture tensed at the quick touch. The dinner continued with similar interactions, a tap of one’s foot against the other, a brush of knees under the table, dabbing away sauce at the edge of the other’s lips. If the boys had noticed these seemingly innocent interactions, they either didn’t care about the clear subtext, or were too drunk to even notice the tension growing with each lingering touch.

After they had finished eating, the ladies continued with their behavior at the table even though the others moved to the dealer’s table for poker. With a well placed hand on the other girl’s thigh, Velma took things a step further and gave a light squeeze, causing Daphne to get out her stool, pulling the other by the wrist to the nearest bathroom, offhandedly mentioning their destination to the hired boy bringing out chicken nuggets for Shaggy.

In the bathroom, Velma locked the door behind them as the taller girl pulled her onto the granite countertop in a rushed passionate kiss. Contrary to popular belief, Velma was no stranger to Saturday night party bathroom hook-ups, but she was in her childhood best friend’s home having a bathroom hook-up, with her childhood best friend no less. The flutter in her stomach that was growing during dinner, turned into heat and a blazing fire at her core as Daphne’s supple pink lips trailed down the side of the other neck, lightly biting where the top of the turtleneck ended. A quick hand undid the button at the top of the sheer shirt, allowing Daphne more places to nip and kiss. Velma’s hands pulled the other closer as a soft moan left her lips, making Daphne continue the attack at her neck with more vigor. With a light squeeze on her butt, the orange haired girl looked up from the other’s neck with half lidded eyes before asking, “do you,” a kiss on the cheek, “want to take this” a kiss on the other, “to my room?” a kiss on the nose, “I have some things there that could make this even better” a kiss on the lips. At this, Velma hopped off the counter, straightening out her disheveled clothes as best she could before unlocking the door and rushing towards the stairs, Daphne close behind with a large grin on her face. The only thing that pulled them away from their mission of making it to the room was a quick stop telling the boys they were turning in for the night.

The next morning, Daphne figured it was a good thing her parents insisted the boy’s sleep on the other side of the house.

Bonus: after the ladies mentioned they were off to bed

Shaggy turned to Fred, he was drunk, but sober enough to notice the smeared lipstick on Daphne, or the trail of lip marks down Velma’s neck. "You're gonna have to pay up man, did you see them?"

Fred slumped down onto the table and mumbled, "Why couldn't they stick it out a few more months till after graduation, I'll have your money on Monday."

A/N: uhhhh, velma got RAILED, lets leave that as the description for the smut. I would also like to get dommed by Daphne Blake. Lmk if u liked it!

#Scooby doo #velma x daphne #Velma Dinkley #Daphne Blake #wlw #implied smut #idk whats more wild me writing this or posting it at all

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inspired-by-the-music · 4 years

Note

Missing the shinee universe guys. What kind of place do you think each couple would move into first? Who would wait until they were married or engaged first? Who would live in a condo, apartment, fixer upper home? -SLA

Ahhh, shinee universe! I had every intention of revisiting the shinee universe before I dedicated my whole life to the ever-expanding For You universe, so thank you for this question! feel free to send more!

Once Aimee and I sat down to talk about this, we pumped out our answers pretty quickly. A big chunk of the delay in answering was due to the fact that I re-read the shinee universe to get the answers canonically correct, so you should probably prepare for a novel, SLA! As always, pls feel free to tell me what you think! -Ash

It’s so weird to write these answers out of order, but I decided that it would be best to do this in the order in which the members get married!

Minho

It’s already established that Minho is total husband material, so it’s probably not shocking that he’s the first in this bunch to get married

Minho and his significant other don’t move in together until wedding plans are underway

They move into a house that isn’t technically in the city, but everything is still accessible on the frequent occasion that Minho wants to take his lady out on a date

Minho encourages his fiancee to make all of the fun decisions about decorations for the wedding and for the house while he deals with what he considers “boring adult stuff”

Although he tries his best not to show it, Minho gets so stressed from all the planning that he decides within himself that he’s NEVER moving again

So he picks a house that has every feature anyone could ever need. He even thinks ahead to make room for any future children.

All in all, Minho wants to settle into comfortable domestic happiness with the person he loves. Obviously, he’ll still be fun and competitive and exciting, but he doesn’t try to prove that by moving into a new, bigger, fancier house every other year or by making constant home improvements

Plus, he’s a little too busy helping Jinki to start his own projects

Jonghyun

Canonically, Jonghyun and his girlfriend live together in an apartment before they’re married

Although he is the second to get married, he wasn’t in any particular rush to propose until a few years into the relationship when his gf marries off the main characters in her newest best-selling novel

She had never written about a wedding before! Knowing that writing is where she explores her dreams, Jonghyun immediately goes into town to buy a ring after finishing the book.

(He left in such a hurry, in fact, that he left the book on the park bench. His heart dropped until he found it still sitting where he left it, guarded by a kind old lady who was feeding the birds)

He’s a pretty creative guy himself, so he doesn’t exactly copy the proposal from the novel or from any movies or dramas.

Very little changes in their daily lives after marriage since they were practically living as a married couple soon after their first hello.

The wedding rings aren’t the first matching rings Jonghyun and his girl wear to express their love, but there is something special about them that even Jonghyun can’t express in any song-- something that his wife can’t describe in any book

Onew

Jinki is shook because his girlfriend brings up marriage first

His response id delayed not because he’s afraid of commitment but because, “Wow, I didn’t think I’d ever get this far in dating!”

Then, he laughs as he reminds her about their catastrophic iconic first date, and she laughs too, and somehow it’s decided that this is an adequate proposal.

Jinki still buys her an engagement ring because “She deserves it!” It’s probably blue and beautiful.

On one of his days off, Jinki gets lost in one of those home renovation marathons on tv, and decides, “I can do that!”

He realizes very quickly that he cannot do that, but he’s already bought a new house that’s in desperate need of renovations so he can’t turn back

Minho and Taemin are the only people who respond to his SOS texts. Place your bets on who steps up to build that house from the ground up!

Onew and Taemin aren’t entirely useless. Onew helps with some heavy lifting, and Taemin. . . well, he makes good playlists, and his awestruck stares fuel Minho’s superhuman strength

Onew has a distorted sense of his contribution to the construction of his house. He brags to everyone, “I built my home with my own to hands!”

And he also constantly tackles home improvement goals that would never be accomplished without Minho’s help.

Taemin

While Taemin is one of those “live in the moment” people, he’s also one who believes in destiny. It was never a matter of if he would get married to his girlfriend; it was a matter of when.

Never truly afraid or embarrassed, Taemin told her outright very early in their relationship, “I’ll marry you one day-- when we’re al grown up!” He meant it, and she knew it. Neither of them is rushing to grow up, though.

In the meantime, they enjoy each other’s company. They don’t technically live together, but she stays at Taemin’s apartment most of the time because his balcony provides the best sight of the moon and stars she has ever seen

Their favorite pastime is pestering his group members.

Because Minho is her brother, he is the first target. Uninvited, they invaded his kitchen one morning, knowing well that neither of them knew how to cook to save their lives. Minho would have scolded them then and there when he barrelled down the stairs in his pajamas, expecting to find a burglar, had his wife not smiled so fondly at their effort to play house

Next came Jonghyun, but he wasn’t a satisfying target for any pranky because he always welcomes Taemin and his girlfriend with open arms. He even invites them to spend the night on the pull out sofa in the living room. His hospitality sends them onto the next victim.

If anything, though, they are Jinki’s victim. When he isn’t insisting on giving them a tour of the house he built with his own two hands-- the house Taemin watched Minho build-- or forcing them to watch home renovation marathons, Jinki asks them with a broad smile, “So, when are you two gonna get married and make me a grandpa?”

Key is the only satisfying target. Taemin and his girl were able to spend an entire weekend in Key’s attic undetected!

“What’s making that noise up there?” Key’s girlfriend asked on the literal day that she moved in.

Key joked, “It’s the demon!”

Determined to prove Key wrong (or right by terrorizing everyone), Taemin stomped on the floor and screamed, “I’m not a demon!”

Suffice it to say that Taemin is lucky to see his wedding day after the beating scolding he received from Key

Key

Key doesn’t really plan to get married. He’s not opposed or anything, but he would only do it after a series of serious conversations with his significant other

He’s not one to judge, but he feels like most people rush in their relationships, and he’s not really about that life. Lowkey thinks Jonghyun is a maniac for moving in with his gf just a month into dating but anyway

His house isn’t a mansion or anything, but it’s obviously too big for just one or two people. He likes to live lavishly. His bathroom is practically a personal spa.

The first time she visits, his girlfriend thinks he’s kinda weird for living in such a big place without a roommate, but she hides that behind compliments about the interior design or something.

Key is the least likely to fantasize about living with his significant other. Like, no offense, but his house is his sanctuary. He likes having his own space. Also, he’s kinda particular about his living habits(and he doesn’t really want to share any of his closet space).

Key only invites his girlfriend to live with him after they’ve been together long enough for him to decide that they can live together in harmony

This is somewhat unrelated, but I imagine that Key hired a housekeeper for a while, but he’s that kind of person who always went through the rooms to reorganize/clean things to his own (admittedly high) standard. So one day he wakes up like “What am I paying this person for?”

Key likes to complain and get under his gf’s skin, so she’s probably not counting the days until she gets to move in either tbh

They definitely 100% bicker the most out of all the couples, but that’s just how they communicate. They make up for their many petty arguments through the week with frequent ‘self-care’ nights wherein they watch dramas while wearing mud masks and sipping wine.

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comicteaparty · 5 years

Text

April 11th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on April 11th, 2019, from 5PM - 7PM PDT. The chat focused on Kitty Kitty Bang Bang by Moe.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Kitty Kitty Bang Bang by Moe~! (https://tapas.io/series/kkbbcomic)

Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

Superjustinbros

Hello!

RebelVampire

hey super~!

Superjustinbros

Coming in and I'd like to give a big shoutout to that header image on the comic's Tapas(edited)

I dunno, I thought it looked badass

RebelVampire

it is a nice header image. although what sells it for me is the logo design. its a really nice logo.

for favorite scene, hmm. ya know, i cant not pick it. the convention scene. that scene legit almost made me cry at how touching it is both with its message about how anyone can cosplay whatever they want regardless of how they look. not to mention the themes of reaching out to others. all wrapped in a nice package of no dialogue so that its the emotions at the center forefront.

Superjustinbros

Yeah.

Also this guy's hair.

RebelVampire

i like his hair and his smile combination. like both scream cocky little shit design wise and i love it cause he kind of is a cocky little shit. XD

Superjustinbros

Oh yes XD

Cocky little shits are my favorite

RebelVampire

another scene i want to show some appreciation too is the scene where we first meet kit's mom. like, i knew it was coming from the chapter title. but i enjoyed the twist it was her step-mom and theres a deeper issue going on. it turned what was easy to guess to something surprising again just by how the story plays out the reveal

Superjustinbros

https://tapas.io/episode/1370747 This is a pretty good page.

Hm, Doug McClure sounds a awful lot like this chap. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUg6e072vgA

RebelVampire

anything in particular you like about it super?

Superjustinbros

The last two panels.

And the followup

https://tapas.io/episode/1371714

dat backside

RebelVampire

i really love the back shot composition. like what a great way to show overwhelming odds

mathtans

Evening. Made it as far as the start of the Bully arc, so late 2018.

Superjustinbros

Yeah. Also ello

I love also how Doug's got like, a million pouches on his belt

I dunno it's a detial I like

mathtans

Yeah, the convention stuff was good. Some of those real-life scenarios that made you want to shake people are good when done right.

Superjustinbros

Yes

mathtans

I'm not sure if I have a big favourite moment, but I have some little ones. Like when that "pinball wizard" thing played as Kit was taking on that nozzle in the gaming store, and it turned out it was the coworker.

The guy at the school in the knight suit, who had the fascination with corndogs. Weird background detail, added some humour to an otherwise tense scene.

RebelVampire

i love the corndog knight

i want a spin-off comic of just them

cause i want to know about them

why are they a knight

why corndogs

so many questions

mathtans

Heh. Made me think of that other bounty hunter, pointy-ears, who also couldn't speak.

Also, did not expect the female reveal there.

And I liked how the scientist flipped out over his research having the higher bounty than himself. Like, that trumped everything else he was in the process of dealing with and he went on a rampage. Amusing.

RebelVampire

yeah the scientists in general was fairly hilarious in everything he tried to prioritize. although i enjoyed that at the end of the mission the crystal wound of broken anyway. cause i felt it was fitting given everything it had been through

mathtans

I thought it was really clever how the rock was used to blind the scientist. Kitty is this weird mix of hyper competent (like when she used the snack habits of that one guy to track him down) and absent-minded (like when she then didn't make a grab for the compound).

I'm not saying that's unrealistic or anything, I can totally see it.

Very "living in the moment" with a dash of forward thinking.

RebelVampire

nah i agree shes a really interesting character. like at first i wasnt sure id like her but some of her plans have been pretty spot. and to be fair a lot of the absent-minded ness you could write off as it her being a kid. so of course shes expected to be a kid and not always think through with her actions.

a more comedic moment i liked was at the end of Mor where Kit and Mary both have to stand there awkwardly making their false apologies to the whole school. this page especially cracks me up just cause of the sheer height diff between the two. i think that makes it extra hilarious https://tapas.io/episode/1215017

mathtans

It's true. And I'm still wrapping my head around the kid thing.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 2. One of the comic’s focuses and highlights are the action sequences found within. Of the characters Kit has pursued so far in her bounties, which has been your favorite? Why is that? Likewise, which bounty did you think had the best fight choreography? What do you specifically think makes the choreography the best one? Do you think we’ll see any of the criminal characters again? If so, what could that mean for Kit? Considering many of the villains parody stereotypes and similar things, what other sorts of characters do you think or hope we might see? Lastly, do you believe Kit will encounter more of her professional rivals? If so, what do you think will happen?

its okay i had my struggles wrapping my head around but the convention scene really cemented it for me for some reason. but that might just be personal association of conventions being largely for the youth.

mathtans

Incidentally, I wondered initially about the use of "der"... and then when Kitty used the term "Hoser" I thought she was Canadian. That proved incorrect, what with the Norwegian thing.

Ahh... yeah, I went to a certain convention for 20 years straight soooo...

Like, I want to ship, but it feels wrong. Normally if they're young I just think of it as cute, or picture them as older, and neither of those things kinda work here.

I wonder how big Kitty's gonna get when she's 20.

RebelVampire

i didnt start going to conventions till i was an adult but at the same time my experiences is that theyre largely dominated by the youth. not to say there arent older adults there. but the youth are the ones always around drawing attention to themselves being loud. but i digress, just wanted to give context for why it worked for me

mathtans

That's fair.

RebelVampire

tbh i just assumed she was full grown. cause i was actually only an inch or two shorter than my full height at 13 cause i sprouted up early

mathtans

As to the question of the moment, I admit I'm not huge on seeing action and choreography, tending to be bigger on characters anyway. Which is probably why that scientist one sticks out so much, since we got his whole backstory and everything.

I am gonna be in for such a shock when my little one grows up, aren't I.

That short gangster guy who stole the boat might return. It was implied.

RebelVampire

and i legit cant imagine kit taller cause she literally towers over everyone. although is she still shorter than her dad? cause if she is, shell probably be his height.

mathtans

I think she is. I'm equally bad at noticing that sort of thing.

RebelVampire

id have to look again just cause it wasnt something i was looking for and her dad was only in so many scenes XD

im torn on my answer to this question of the moment. i think i agree i like the scientist the best cause he got a lot of backstory. not to mention when kit was doing their dialogue for them from the roof i was like "nah shes gotta be exaggerating" then we meet the scientist and nope, he really is just that arrogant and she was spot on. so overally he was definitely the most entertaining

but for fight choreography, im picking the first bounty with the spin off kool aid man. i really enjoyed the use of the environment and just the sheer level of destruction that was visited upon that grocery store

mathtans

She knows her business. I wonder how long she's been at it.

Oh yeah, almost forgot about that one. I liked when Kitty roped the random customer.

RebelVampire

i liked when after the fight ended, the old lady asked if the employee who was buried under rubble basically could get her a new box

MoeAlmighty

And that was most difficult one to come up with

mathtans

The one with the orcs going after cows was also good, not for the fight (which I think was offscreen) but world building. Until then it was sort of, like, what's reality here anyway.

Oh, hello creator.

MoeAlmighty

Hello there all ^^\

mathtans

Rebel: That was a good scene for setting the tone.

Superjustinbros

Hello Moe!

MoeAlmighty

Thank you. It's always a challenge to come up with a beginning for a series.

Superjustinbros

Thanks for this cool comic of yours.

MoeAlmighty

Howdey

Thanks

Superjustinbros

No probs

And yeah all this talk about conventions is reminding me of all the ones I've been going to lately. Comic focused ones and hugely commercial conventions are easily the most populated-by-youth ones.

mathtans

"Annie" con was a clever name.

MoeAlmighty

It was a little play on words. I always like to make those little puns when I can(edited)

RebelVampire

i did enjoy the orcs with the cows. probably just cause of the extreme accent going on in that dialogue. but i also just love this concept that someone would think clearly humans are only good cause they drink milk. like someone really watched those got milk commercials too much.

mathtans

I very much approve of puns. Also Senshi Kitty.

The head orc was milking his time in the spotlight.

Superjustinbros

Puns are always good

RebelVampire

i do agree with you math that i got the impression well see the gangster who got away from the scientist again at some point. what it means for kit? i could see her being extra determined to catch him since he got away last time. but then maybe thats when well see buff elf chick again who is out for revenge.

MoeAlmighty

Defintely. Orcs have always been my favorite fantasy race to play around with

mathtans

biab

RebelVampire

i do appreciate orcs getting some love in a way cause in my experience theyre really underutilized in a lot of fantasy settings. can find elves everywhere, but nobody wants the orcs.

MoeAlmighty

Well nothing is off the table.^^

Orcs have always been treated as the bad guy or the henchman merely due to their monsterous appearence.

RebelVampire

speaking of not elves, i really like that this guy turned out to be the real villain from bully bully https://tapas.io/episode/1348464. partly cause it was a good twist that it was a bully victim becoming the bully. since that is very true to life. but also, selfishly, i noticed this character immediately in the background one time and i was like "ah man what an interesting looking side chara too bad well never learn about him" and then we learned about him.

QUESTION 3. Even in Kit’s dynamic world, she still has some unique mysteries surrounding her. Why do you think Kit is the only female in her family to receive Freyja’s blessing/curse, especially after it’s been so long it’s almost a myth? What do you think the story is behind Kit’s rage modes that seem to take over when she gets mad? What do you think happened to Kit’s mother, and why is Kit so sensitive about the subject of her mother in general? Additionally, why did Mary calling her mother a whore set her off in particular? Lastly, how do you think Kit got involved with being a Bounty Killer? Why do you think her family lets her pursue the career given how dangerous it all is?

MoeAlmighty

Oh yeah the Goblin. I thought it was a perfect opprotunity to not just introduce the Goblins , but I was also playing around with laying out clues in plain site for the reader to notice.

Superjustinbros

That's smart thinking/writing

MoeAlmighty

There are plans for future stories that are straight up mysteries Kit will have to sovle.

RebelVampire

that sounds exciting and like a good challenge for her character too.

in regards to the current question, i want to dissect the fact that kit's specific phrasing about her mother was that mary hadnt even cared who her mother was as a person. and to a degree, i kind of feel like it was projecting that set her off. that kit herself didnt know a whole lot about her mother. so it might not be so much that her mom was called a whore that did it, but that someone would make a bold claim about her mother when kit herself didnt even know her that well and has since lost the chance to get ot know her. but thats just me theorizing.

mathtans

Back, little one's asleep in the crib again. For now.

MoeAlmighty

Mm hm, It would show that Bounty Killers in the world aren't used for just nabbing a bad guy with a hefty sum on their head. Sometimes folks need someone to investigate with the police's involvement and not ask any questions

mathtans

Was Kitty maybe given up for adoption? (Is that what makes her worthy of the cat ears?)

The police were handy against the scientist too, for a little while.

Superjustinbros

That's a good way of expanding upon bounty hunters.

RebelVampire

i dont think given up for adoption fits cause mor said shes the step mom which implies kit's father is her biological dad. that and there is one pic where the dad is with the mom

mathtans

Oh, right. We did see her biological mom in that holiday special though, didn't we? And Kitty must remember enough to have taken up violin playing (on the roof). So... yeah I dunno.

RebelVampire

thats interesting to know that the bounties arent just for nabbing bad guys. although makes me wonder what kit is going to do when shes told to do something shady and just not ask questions

mathtans

Or was that not the biological mom, was that a younger Dar?

I can't see Kit not asking questions.

RebelVampire

that was her step-mom. her bio mom we only see briefly in a pic

https://tapas.io/episode/1279607

mathtans

I wasn't sure if it was her dad remembering another time in that scene though. Like, the previous stuff was a memory.

(I also don't get enough sleep these days.)

RebelVampire

i could see how youd get that interpretation but pretty sure it was the step-mom and the bio mom was just in the picture

MoeAlmighty

There are a lot of things I don't want to say because of spoilers and I'll be answering those kind of questions down the road. But to answer the question pretaining to Mary, they do indeed have some History as hinted.

mathtans

Mary is actually the younger cousin of the short boat-stealing gangster.

It's why her dad went into law.

MoeAlmighty

heh. that is a pretty interesting theory.

mathtans

(I need to have at least one insane theory and one ship per comic chat. I think it's in my contract.)

RebelVampire

puns are also in your contract math. although you already fulfilled that one.

mary's dad kind of spooks me. like hes a really domineering presence and idk if i want to believe hes good or bad.

MoeAlmighty

Truth is, when I created Mary, she was developed as just the rich girl who presented herself as Ms. Perfect while also having the spoiled brat persona as well

Superjustinbros

lol

mathtans

Oh right. Well, those come naturally. I wonder if her dad is part orc.

Superjustinbros

That's one of many ways to describe that

MoeAlmighty

Best way to describe him is that he's a Lawyer... a very wealthy lawyer.

Oh no, he's part Dutch lol

mathtans

Incidentally, I kind of like that Kit's got both cat ears and human ears, it tends to be how I draw my characters too (even if mine are just headbands). But it does make me wonder how the curse might have rewired her brain to deal with the extra input.

Oooh, a flying dutch man.

RebelVampire

all the dads just drink lots of milk

Superjustinbros

What about Doug.

RebelVampire

to be fair if kit's cat ears are more sensitive than her human ones the extra input probably doesnt matter cause one would hear it better than the other anyway. at worst i imagine things just sound even louder XD

mathtans

It's that special beer.

Maybe it's partly why Kat's so on edge at times.

Superjustinbros

mm, beer

Wait, what kind of beer we talkin

MoeAlmighty

It's kind of a mix bag with it comes to her ears. Internally they do connect to her regular ears and she can hear through them, but only if she concentrates. Mostly they just act like a short range radar or a sixth sense. Something like spidey's spider sense.

Ah yes, I've notice some folks like our esteem adventurer. Others not so much

RebelVampire

QUESTION 4. Besides the action, there is still a lot of slice-of-life material to be had in the comic as well. Do you think Kit will eventually tell Bia about her career? How do you think Bia will react to finding out about it? What challenges do you foresee awaiting Bia and Kit as their relationship continues to develop and secrets reveal themselves? Further, how do you see Kit balancing her school life in general with her job? Will she manage to maintain her grades and everything, or will things prove tougher than she expects? In terms of Kit’s regular life, what things are you hoping to see be explored in how she lives her day-to-day life? Lastly, are there any themes (like bullying) that caught your eye from the slice-of-life segments? What about them did you enjoy?

mathtans

It's cool that youv'e thought about that.

Honestly, the bounty-hunters clashing, while not necessarily slice-of-life, felt realistic and added depth to the idea of the job. Also revealed how their methods are non-lethal. And was the first ship I considered.

MoeAlmighty

Ah yes, I had a lot of folks doing a double take when I revealed her age.

RebelVampire

unrelated to the current question, i really hope we get to see more bounty killers in the story just cause they cant all work out as well as buff elf chick. also id really like to get a feel for the age range cause its concerning the gov was like "nah a 13 year old bounty killer? thats fine"

mathtans

That's a good point. Did she register under an assumed name?

Superjustinbros

Seconding Rebel.

MoeAlmighty

Well due to Kit's size, she may or may not of lied about her age when she took the job

mathtans

Also, I feel like the construction job field gets a lot of work in this universe. We only see Kitty's exploits but there have to be other incidents in the world as well.

Actually, magicians too must be a thing. And mimes.

Did not expect the mimes.

MoeAlmighty

Their are plans to explore other parts of world. One in particular is the Bounty Pick Up units sent to pick up the bounties and make out the reports.

Yes, beware the mimes ^^

I will be exploring a lot more of the Magis and how the magic works as well.

mathtans

Silent but deadly.

MoeAlmighty

very

mathtans

That short magic comic did a good job, I thought.

And I liked the money van guy critiquing the pun.

MoeAlmighty

Hm Hm, well not everything can be a homerun for our little cat girl

RebelVampire

yeah i really liked the short magic comic. cause it was funny and really did some good world-building

i also loved the cowboy bank robber

just cause he was a cowboy

and that was ridiculous

mathtans

Oh yeah, forgot about him.

I wonder how Kitty practices her quick draws.

Where do they lock these guys up, anyway? Regular jails seem like they wouldn't be sufficient.

MoeAlmighty

Yes, you don't see that many cowboys these days. But it was a perfect nod for one of the inspirations of the comic

Superjustinbros

Cowboys are fun.

MoeAlmighty

Um, they go to regular prison and go through the same process as the law provides^^

Superjustinbros

Always love one with an appealing design when one shows up.

MoeAlmighty

Very much so

RebelVampire

what sort of lawyer is mary's dad?

mathtans

How do you lock up an orc so that he doesn't just bend the bars?

MoeAlmighty

He's a defense lawyer

mathtans

He lawyers der fence.

RebelVampire

ah so i can say maybe mary's dad defends all these criminals kit tries to send to jail.

MoeAlmighty

Booooo

It's a possibility and her dad is very much against the Bounty Killer and the Bounty Board in general

Superjustinbros

ooh, is that so(edited)

mathtans

Circling back to Bia, it'd be amusing if someone in her family was also a bounty hunter. Kitty admits it and she's like, "oh, okay, I can see how you'd be good at that too".

RebelVampire

just to talk a bit about the current question, i do feel its inevitable kit has to tell bia about her job. cause i mean...kit isnt the most undestructive. just takes one time of showing up burnt to a crisp to school to give it away. but i think bia is gonna take it better than kit thinks shell take it. cause tbf, if i was bia i would not be surprised.

tbf i kind of agree with mary's dad. they might be catching criminals, but holy shit that property damage

mathtans

I feel like Bia might find out not through Kit though. Like maybe even via Kit's brother. Which could strain the relationship.(edited)

RebelVampire

especially the property damage caused by the scientist

cause even if they have the money to fix it, it still takes time

mathtans

Or magic.

MoeAlmighty

Bia finding out Kit is a Bounty Killer is inevitable, and it might happen happen sooner than you think

RebelVampire

it could strain their relationship too. though for some reason i feel for bia itd be more about the age thing than the danger thing if that makes sense. cause the career suits kit. just maybe not when kit is still 13, in school, and all that

mathtans

'Cept her dad is okay with it.

I feel like I'd totally be that dad by the way. Who makes concessions. Then ends up in trouble with mom too.

MoeAlmighty

It is going to a very unique exploring the relationship Kit and Bia have. In many ways, Bia will act more like the straight man of the relationship

Well Edward looks at it more like she's hunting game. expect the part of gutting it and cleaning it for food^^

RebelVampire

i just want to say i really love kit's dad and i hope we get to see him more. he seems just so utterly likeable. like a gentle giant

mathtans

Just want to give a shout-out to the school nun badass. Possibly like the opposite to dad.

MoeAlmighty

He is indeed^^

Superjustinbros

Since the CTP is wrapping up in a bit, I'd like to wish @MoeAlmighty the best of luck with Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, it's got a great artstyle, story, and some good humor.

mathtans

Oh right, pretty good stuff done with only black and white too.

MoeAlmighty

Yes, Beatrice is indeed a beast^^

Thank you so much^^

Superjustinbros

You're welcome! ^^

RebelVampire

yeah i loved the nun. especially her epic entrance and this page https://tapas.io/episode/1188530

like everything about that page is perfect

"Keeper of the Lunch Period"

MoeAlmighty

God help the guilty

mathtans

Indeed.

Probably a bumper sticker on her car.

MoeAlmighty

I'm sure everyone here remembers that one teacher that kept everyone in check at lunch period

best bumper sticker ever

mathtans

Kitty has some nice exclamations too.

Superjustinbros

lol

Anyways, cya till next time, and thanks for dropping by @MoeAlmighty

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Moe, as well, for making Kitty Kitty Bang Bang. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Moe’s efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: https://tapas.io/series/kkbbcomic

Moe’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MoeAlmighty

Moe’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/theMoeAlmighty

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #kitty kitty bang bang #moe

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ravings-running-rampant-blog · 6 years

Text

Wtf m8....

So one thing i know i could talk for days about is people. I watch more then i ever chose to interact. I dont know if it was fear of not fitting in or knowing i dont fit in and hoping desperately to be able to relate anyways. Recently ive felt a strong desire to write something that will outlast and outlive my life on this planet. Ive been trying to figure out what would still be usefull in terms of knowledge i can pass on and ive only come to one conclusion, my experience. After im no longer a part of this physical world i can still share my mind with many others. Ive gone through some rough shit to get to where i am today and id like to preface this by saying im still a work in progress and hope it stays that way.... Throughout the entirety of my life one thing has remained true, i wake up and i try each day to be better then i was the previous day. No matter how big or small, i wasnt satisfied till i thought i was doing something to better myself. Hindsight 20/20 i can honestly say that even though the path was treacherous i wouldnt have done things differently, i like where my head is and i like whats ahead of me. That doesnt mean it didnt start out rocky. Before the age of 5 id known the loss of a father figure and id lost close relatives as well. Id seen my mom deal with life-changing events, i got to watch how she coped with it all and i got to understand growing up in the 90s without a positive male rolemodel. I had a abusive childhood, no real dad so i kept trying to find something i could learn from and someone to look up to. Everywhere i looked i saw deadbeat dads... my own father i cant even be sure is my father cuz he was on too many drugs to impregnate my mom, she was sleeping with a sperm donor at the time. Honestly the man i call dad is who i believe to be my dad....weve got too many things in common. Ive got too damn many of his bad habits i need to break and its wierd but ya know when you wear a hat on your head long enough it smells like you? My hat and my dads hats smell the same, he smells like me. He wasnt much of a dad to begin with but he was definitely my dad... he drank excessively, smoked way too much weed, did one too many lines of blow and smoked cigarettes like a chimney. He used to recycle his own shells, for target practice, so he had a smell of gun cleaner and lubricants attached to him no matter where ya found him but if he wasnt workin then youd find him at the billiards hall playin pool or back home sleepin. He owned an old airstream trailer that he had renovated and added onto, he had two lots to begin with, one was an enclosed workshop mainly for his carpentry and the other was the trailer and addons. I remember when i was still very young and we would take trips in the old chevy from Vancouver to squamish and back. I remember how i would curl up between my mom and dad and sleep the whole trip, i remember when that changed and my father became the one who looked at me as a waste of his time too.... It was progressive, it wasnt like anything happened quickly, but it was noticeable. One week hed be excited and mostly sober, hed have something for us to do and then one week id be forgotten...id have to get to the house on my own because he forgot where he was picking me up. The less i saw of him the easier it became. I could forget i even had a dad, i would forget too.... by the time i was two years old my mom had nearly gotten herself and me on our feet without dad. Got a place for the two of us and liked her job, blah blah blah. I was an independent individual even at that age. Ask my mom and she will tell you stories of my intelligence even at a young age. She will tell you how i knew 100 words at the age of 1, how i used to recite everything i heard as i fell asleep, How when she opened the fridge id start listing everything i could see and knew the name of. I dont believe it....it could be possible but likely? I leave my momma to her stories, all mommas got em. After we moved into our new second floor appt things calmed a little, until the car accident, it changed everything for everyone. My mom was in the back passenger side i was up front and my grandma was driving, it was supposed to be bday dinner for me to clelebrate with my family.. i was supposed to be turning 4 that year. We collided head on with an oncoming vehicle, they drove on the wrong side of the highway so there was no avoiding it. After the initial impact we were battered on all the remaining sides by 4 other vehicles and found out that we couldnt move. The firefighters had to use the jaws of life to peel the roof off just to get everyone out safely. My mom suffered 12 fractures on her left side which was damn near crushed and my grandma died in a coma six months after the accident. I remember my moms tears, i remember grammas passing was right after my mom came to see her in the icu. My mom had 6 months of PT and when she could move again she went to see her mom and tell her its ok and that she was safe. I was mute for 6 months while i stayed with my dad, said nothing. I still feel for that little kid, if i could remind him life isnt always comfortable i would. While my mother was staying at the hospital i was stuck at my dads and i hated it. I hated feeling like it was my fault, i hated how he didnt know how to talk to me or even check on me at all. I did more for him then he really did for me, i fed myself and cleaned up after myself. I wanted him to be my dad, i wanted to be taught how to be a better man. I didnt wanna have to run to my mom to get all those questions answered...moms and dads do shit differently, different timing and scheduling. A moms idea of whats best for a boy to learn while becoming a man is different then what dad thinks and i was lacking alot of the male side of things. When i needed a role model it was already too late, i needed alot of guiding. I needed someone who would have been able to call me on my shit and make it difficult for me to get away with whatever i wanted. By the time i was old enough to understand that sometimes we grow up too fast most of what still made me innocent was no longer important to me. I had just uprooted my life to move half way across a country to live with a family i barely know and to start over in a place we would be able to get the help my mom really wanted. I felt out of place and i truly havent felt belonging since we landed on july 16th 2001... turns out even tho they call themselves family they are just related acquaintances.... we were closer before moving and when we actually needed help from them well it was always conditional and instead of handling it like family everyone dealt with it like their opinion matters most. We dont talk anymore, i havent heard from them in at least ten years. Its always just been me and my mom on our own and instead of turning that into what it could have been we caught ourselves up in what the 'Right' thing to do or the best thing to was and we were wingin it. Its hard always knowing what the best or smartest choices are but its not hard to figure out which choices will benefit you short-term/long-term. In all honesty we came at a time when things were changing worldwide, we saw the worst things bringing out the best and worst of everyone. I remember walking into my private school on 9/11 and being utterly confused at the importance of those buildings and why this was even on tv let alone holding up everyone from daily curriculum. I remember the way everyone kinda huddled together, as if the proximity to more people would make em stronger. Like if we shared in this moment we could instantly bind our fears and strengthen our resolve, together. It actually worked for a little while too but the thing about fear is that its always there somewhere, lurking. We became bound as one nation, bound by an act committed against not who we are but also what we stand for. Bound by such as weve never seen, my heart goes out to all affected and those still suffering, god bless you. 9/11 was trying to undo everything this country stands for and everything that makes america great, 9/11 was fed to the dissolutioned masses as a way to unite the people under a single banner. We needed a cause and used it to fuel a fire that spread fast and far. We were in need of a leader whos decisions were for the betterment of our country, we got a daddys boy playing whitehouse instead. I dont have many nice things to say about the way this country was and is run nor do i have anything bad to say about it either but one things for damn sure.... i think everything is coming to a head.....an ugly ass greygreen mess of a whitehead ready to pop and spew its poison deeper into the world as we know it. I think things have been leading towards an upheaval of some sort, a revolt of some kind, for at least ten years now.... we live in a pocket of reality where its easier to buy and own a gun then it is to keep food in your family's bellies. We live in a country whos figurehead is a man made famous by broadcast television and whos admittedly a womanizer and racist..... immigrants are what made this country and now these people we made it so easy to accommodate for have run out of their own usefulness. I cant possibly be the only person whos eyes are open enough to see the truth, im not the only one who is experiencing things like this am i? Now i understand that because im not born here you may think my opinion means less and i understand that if i have a problem i can just go back to canada but what if i dont want to? What if im so far from what i know that everything has started to look to me like this shit is just the new normal? Anyone else seeing the problem there???? I guess our idea of what is and isnt normal is so skewed now everything just seems....caddywompus... its gotta be easier to ignore what they feed you when it looks like something your used to eating.... Every day is designed to break down our barriers and make us search outside ourselves, we are simultaneously pushed into finding someone to use and sacrificing them for our own personal benefit.... we meet new people each day and somehow we understand that these people are supposed to mean nothing, they are replaceable...somewhere along the line the message got skewed tho cuz not a single person alive right now is replaceable and everybody has meaning to someone. This country will chew ya up and spit you right on out if ya aint watchin.... at the worst of times life keeps growing like a tumor and at the best of times its flooding the halls with the scent of fresh cut flowers. Am i the only one who can see just how convoluted the future is going to be? Almost like the farther along we go in this pregnancy, the more likely the kids gunna pop out with a vestigial tail or some shit. This is america, im learning you either embrace the change or get thrown out with the rest of the trash. Till next time. =)

#wtf #america #truth

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newagesispage · 6 years

Text

JUNE 2018

PAGE RIB

***** Childish Gambino has the song of the summer with the brilliant ‘This is America��. I am so reminded of Jean Luc Goddard and also the Talking Heads when I watch the video and yet it is so on point today. . Donald Glover is the star of the year with the fab season of Atlanta. The coat of many colors with the FUBU shirt episode was a beautiful reminder of thy child, thy self. The turn as host and musical guest on SNL was a triumph, best show of the season. His role in Ron Howard’s movie, Solo will only make him burn brighter!!

***** Arrested Development came back for season 5. We have wonderful things in there from seasons past to make us smile and new catchphrases to carry on in the future. This is just the first half of the season and the binge went by fast. We will have to be content with great new Arrested memories like APB (ah, poor Buster), hour mouth, peanut pockets, trophy cobbler, break up cactus, will he won’t he and Strum! I laugh just thinking about them. I was particularly fond of the Howard family get together, Rance Howard was a national treasure. I was thrilled to see Kyle Mooney in the mix.

***** Days alert: I saw it coming.. Mexico?? Of course, Teresa had to be back.. Hooray!! ..It is time for Sonny’s new lover to go…. It is also time for John and Paul to get Shane and go get Chloe.. well, they did not get Shane but they got her. That was fast!!… Is Abby pregnant by Stefan??**We’ll miss ya Joseph Campanella.

***** Goodbye to The Americans!! Oh how I will miss ya.

***** Benedict Cumberbatch and Jennifer Jason Leigh have given us Patrick Melrose.

***** Well, Roseanne tweeted her racist rhetoric and got her show booted off ABC. If it can bring down Roseanne, we still may see it take down the President. It will cost the network plenty ( like 60 mil not counting the rerun revenue). Reruns were yanked by CMT, Paramount and TV Land. She was also dropped by her talent agency ICM partners. She blamed Ambien but the company issued a statement explaining that racism is not a side effect of Ambien. I feel bad for the rest of the cast and crew but bye bye Roseanne!

***** I am hearing good things about Robin, the Robin Williams doc from Dave Itzkoff.

***** Ric Ocasek has separated from Paulina Porizkova.

***** What is this NFL no kneeling bullshit? I get that it is a business and we all have to adhere to our employer’s rules but it is very sad. How is that silent peaceful protest hurting anyone? Who needs football anyway? C’mon, America, no more football!! Some believe free speech is only for them.

***** The latest accused of sexual misconduct: Morgan Freeman** Weinstein has been indicted!!!!!

***** New money got its chance to buy a piece of old money at the Rockefeller auction at Christie’s. The private collection broke records with a take of $832 million which will go to charity.

***** TV cancelled shows all over the place. The list includes Designated Survivor, Kevin Can Wait, Scorpion, 9JKL, Alex Inc., Deception, Taken, Rise, Great News, Me Myself and I, Quantico, The Mayor and The Exorcist. Last Man Standing will move to Fox, Project Runway will move to Bravo and Brooklyn 99 will move to NBC. There should be more of this moving.. C’mon somebody take Last man on Earth and Me , Myself and I. LA to Vegas is on the bubble, please keep that one going.

***** The podcast Cocaine and Rhinestones with Tyler Mahan Coe sounds interesting.

***** Sears has not made a profit since 2010. They are closing hundreds more stores this year.

***** Who do you think you are? Is back with Molly Shannon, Jean Smart, Jon Cryer, Hillary Duff, Megan Mullally and Laverne Cox.

***** Can’t wait to see the new doc The gospel according to Andre’ about Andre’ Leon Talley.

***** Black Rhinos have returned to Chad. Fifty years ago poaching had wiped them out.

***** Lung cancer is a trend with more women than men being diagnosed. It has become more common than breast or ovarian cancer.

***** The interior department wants to end the ban on hunting black bears, wolves and coyotes and their young.

***** Before the 2016 election the FBI had a codename for their Russian interference investigation: Crossfire Hurricane. The Stones have a little touch on everything.

***** Oliver North is the new face of the NRA.

***** Word is that over a 30 year period, there have been 27 complaints against Charlie Rose.. Ugh!** The Kennedy Center Honors has rescinded the Honors award and the Mark Twain prize from Bill Cosby.

***** Iowa has made the strictest abortion laws. They want no abortions once the heartbeat can be detected. The American civil liberties union and Planned Parenthood have filed complaints.

***** Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The press was telling us that 2 people fell in love and we all showed up. This actually did seem to bring people together. Harry and Meghan are 17th cousins.

***** Great to see Joel Mchale back to his green screen zaniness. It seems like old times on Netflix and with a little help from Jim Rash and Alison Brie.

***** There seems to have been some shading from the government on the actual death toll in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria has an official tally of 64 dead but estimates are saying that it could be 70 times higher. Most deaths happened after the actual threat and could have been prevented. How many people have to suffer or die before we get these clowns out of office?

***** Scary clown is in the habit of pardoning whoever he pleases. Why the hell would anybdy want to pardon Rod Blagojevich?

***** The 71st Cannes film fest has honored Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters.

***** The Boys in the Band has been restaged starring Tuc Watkins, Zachary Quinto and Jim Parsons.

***** It seems the Black Cube operatives who worked for Weinstein have been trying to get dirt on former Obama administration officials and their spouses. Guess who set that in motion?

***** Cigna and Blue Cross Blue Shield say that policies advocated by the Trump administration and the repeal of Obama care would raise their rates up to 64%.

***** The Met gala had some fab fashion with a theme of Heavenly bodies/Catholic imagination. The best dressed according to me were Lily Collins, Zoe Kravitz, Frances McDormand, Mindy Kaling, Rosie Huntington Whitely, Arianna Grande, Amal Clooney, Gigi Hadid, Rita Ora, Donatella, JLo, Tiffany Haddish, Scarlett Johansen, Janelle Monae, Blake Lively, Gabrielle Union, Liu Wen, Sienna Miller, Emilia Clark, Miley Cyrus, Virgil Abloh, Emily Ratajkowski, Stephen Colbert, Cynthia Erivo, Mary J. Blige, Trevor Noah, Michelle Williams, Lena Waithe, Alek Wek and Jasmine snders. The worst dressed to me were Katy Perry, Kris Jenner, Anne Hathaway, Selena Gomez, Claire Danes, Sarah Paulson, Ariana Rockefellar, Greta Gerwig, Tracee Ellis Ross and Helen Lasichanh. 2Chainz proposed again to Nakesha Ward at the ball.

***** The new slogan from our first lady: Be Best

***** Are Emma Stone and Justin Theroux a thing?

***** Trump has withdrawn from the Iran deal.

***** Buddy Guy has a new cd with help from Jeff Beck, James Bay and Mick and Keith. Buddy id also a guest on Letterman’s My next guest needs no introduction.

***** There are 11 investigations into Scott Pruitt.

***** The ins and outs at the White House: Ty Cobb is out and Emmet Flood is in.

***** The Tony nominations are out with Mean Girls, Sponge Bob square pants, Angels in America, The Band’s visit, Carousel, My Fair Lady and Harry Potter and the cursed child leading the pack.

***** John McCain has a memoir and will retire soon. He and his family are also riding out the heartless comments that came from the White House who seem pleased that he may die sooner rather than later.

***** It’s stripe season. I have never seen people wear so many stripes.

***** R.I.P. Allan D. Smith, Anne V. Coates, Scott Hutchison, Big T, Kristin Harmon Nelson, Peter Mayer, Margot Kidder, Clint Walker, Patricia Morison, Philip Roth, Tom Wolfe, John Bain, Joseph Campanella and Paul Bloch.

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alexdmorgan30 · 6 years

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3 Signs that Your Recovery is Sliding Towards a Relapse

I want to talk about a few common warning signs of relapse today.

The first sign that I see popping up frequently, especially for people who are early in recovery, is the idea that they are compromising when it comes to treatment or recovery activities.

This is a huge warning sign and a massive red flag that their recovery is in trouble.

If a person says “Oh, I don’t really have time for an AA meeting today,” what they are really saying is that they are no longer prioritizing AA meetings in their life. I don’t care how busy you think you may be, any human being can go sit in an AA meeting for an hour if they choose to make that a priority.

This principle also holds true for treatment and rehab. Anyone who is saying something like “Oh I don’t want or need to go to treatment right now because of (insert excuse here)” is basically in denial and is only furthering their addiction rather than seeking recovery.

Anyone who is in treatment and decides to leave early is jeopardizing their recovery in a major way. No person who ever left treatment early has ever reported back a month later and said “that was a really good decision, I sure am glad that I left treatment early, that was smart of me.” No, every time that someone opts out of treatment or leaves it early they end up regretting the decision. It is always a short term gain in pleasure for a long term penalty of pain and suffering, and when that check comes due for the suffering, anyone can see that they made a poor decision by opting out of treatment.

It can be difficult to transition to “real life” after focusing heavily on recovery without also giving up the things that keep you grounded in recovery. So the challenge to people is that they somehow need to keep their recovery first and foremost while also figuring out how to live a real life again after treatment. They recommend that you go to 90 AA meetings in the first 90 days, for example. What do you do after completing those 90 meetings? Do you just stop going entirely and hope that you are permanently fixed? Of course not. There has to be a balance and a reasonable transition from the intense focus on rehab and treatment as you ease back into your “real life.” But if you are minimizing treatment or recovery too much then the quality of your sobriety may suffer, and if it leads you to relapse then all of your progress can be lost completely.

Now the next warning sign that I want to talk about is what is often referred to as being “restless, irritable, and discontent.” Once an addict or alcoholic becomes restless and irritable in this way, it is difficult for them to pull themselves out of without resorting to their drug of choice.

The problem is that their drug of choice is a perfect short term solution. Working through drama and chaos in their life is hard work, it is uncomfortable, and it is almost always a struggle. However, that is the struggle that needs to happen if they are going to overcome their discontent.

Once you get frustrated and upset during your recovery, you have a choice. You always have this same choice. You can self medicate and throw everything away on a relapse, or you can work through the frustration and find new solutions and learn how to overcome your specific challenges.

Recovery is all about new solutions. Our old solution was to self medicate, and that stopped working for us. Therefore our recovery is all about new solution, and in order to use those new solutions we have to learn about them, we have to test them out and apply them in our lives, and in order to do those things we need to become beginners again. We need to be vulnerable. We need to be humble.

You cannot succeed in recovery if you want to be arrogant or cocky or feel like you have all the answers. Somehow you have to humble yourself enough to be able to learn the lessons of sobriety.

You know you are sliding into trouble when you are “at odds with everything and everyone around you.” Everything is an argument. Everything feels like a tiny battle. Every interaction feels stressed.

There are ways of dealing with this kind of situation, but you have to be willing to try some new ideas. For example, one of the suggestions that I took in early recovery was to start exercising every day. What I found eventually is that being in good shape and going through with an intense workout was a great way to sort of “reset my day.” If I was upset or irritable or frustrated with anything or anyone, one way to overcome those negative feelings was to go do an intense workout. The physical effect of an intense workout also had an emotional impact on me, in that it seemed to reset me back to a more level emotional state. I found this to be very helpful when I was going through some events in my recovery that were emotionally stressful.

One final warning sign that I want to mention is when a person’s attitude shifts from being grateful to that of being selfish.

If you are consumed with resentments or self pity, or if you feel entitled all the time or like the world owes you something and you are not getting it, then you could be setting yourself up for relapse.

It can be difficult to “reset yourself” if you are stuck in this kind of selfishness. One way to do so is to engage in some 12 step work in which you work with other people in recovery. For example, you might sponsor newcomers at AA meetings, or perhaps you can do service work in which you take an AA meeting into a juvenile home and try to steer kids in the right direction. Reaching out and trying to help people this way is actually one of the most effective ways to overcome selfishness in addiction recovery. It is also a good way to get a healthy boost in gratitude, because when you work with newcomers in recovery you see the disease up close again, and then you are reminded of your own misery of the past and what you do not want to return to.

For me, it was about establishing routines and daily habits that allowed me to overcome this restlessness and irritability. So I exercised, I chaired a meeting each week, I wrote in a journal, and developed other habits as well that kept me in a more positive mindset. We all go through a funk at times, so you have to build systems and habits that are designed to pull you out of that funk so that it doesn’t lead to relapse.

The post 3 Signs that Your Recovery is Sliding Towards a Relapse appeared first on Spiritual River Addiction Help.

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emlydunstan · 6 years

Text

3 Signs that Your Recovery is Sliding Towards a Relapse

I want to talk about a few common warning signs of relapse today.

The first sign that I see popping up frequently, especially for people who are early in recovery, is the idea that they are compromising when it comes to treatment or recovery activities.

This is a huge warning sign and a massive red flag that their recovery is in trouble.

You cannot succeed in recovery if you want to be arrogant or cocky or feel like you have all the answers. Somehow you have to humble yourself enough to be able to learn the lessons of sobriety.

One final warning sign that I want to mention is when a person’s attitude shifts from being grateful to that of being selfish.

The post 3 Signs that Your Recovery is Sliding Towards a Relapse appeared first on Spiritual River Addiction Help.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8241841 http://www.spiritualriver.com/holistic/3-signs-recovery-sliding-towards-relapse/

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bobbiejwray · 6 years

Text

3 Signs that Your Recovery is Sliding Towards a Relapse

I want to talk about a few common warning signs of relapse today.

The first sign that I see popping up frequently, especially for people who are early in recovery, is the idea that they are compromising when it comes to treatment or recovery activities.

This is a huge warning sign and a massive red flag that their recovery is in trouble.

You cannot succeed in recovery if you want to be arrogant or cocky or feel like you have all the answers. Somehow you have to humble yourself enough to be able to learn the lessons of sobriety.

One final warning sign that I want to mention is when a person’s attitude shifts from being grateful to that of being selfish.

The post 3 Signs that Your Recovery is Sliding Towards a Relapse appeared first on Spiritual River Addiction Help.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8241842 http://ift.tt/2C6AgdK

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roberrtnelson · 6 years

Text

3 Signs that Your Recovery is Sliding Towards a Relapse

I want to talk about a few common warning signs of relapse today.

The first sign that I see popping up frequently, especially for people who are early in recovery, is the idea that they are compromising when it comes to treatment or recovery activities.

This is a huge warning sign and a massive red flag that their recovery is in trouble.

You cannot succeed in recovery if you want to be arrogant or cocky or feel like you have all the answers. Somehow you have to humble yourself enough to be able to learn the lessons of sobriety.

One final warning sign that I want to mention is when a person’s attitude shifts from being grateful to that of being selfish.

The post 3 Signs that Your Recovery is Sliding Towards a Relapse appeared first on Spiritual River Addiction Help.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8241843 http://ift.tt/2C6AgdK

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jaylazoey · 6 years

Text

3 Signs that Your Recovery is Sliding Towards a Relapse

I want to talk about a few common warning signs of relapse today.

The first sign that I see popping up frequently, especially for people who are early in recovery, is the idea that they are compromising when it comes to treatment or recovery activities.

This is a huge warning sign and a massive red flag that their recovery is in trouble.

You cannot succeed in recovery if you want to be arrogant or cocky or feel like you have all the answers. Somehow you have to humble yourself enough to be able to learn the lessons of sobriety.

One final warning sign that I want to mention is when a person’s attitude shifts from being grateful to that of being selfish.

The post 3 Signs that Your Recovery is Sliding Towards a Relapse appeared first on Spiritual River Addiction Help.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8241844 http://www.spiritualriver.com/holistic/3-signs-recovery-sliding-towards-relapse/

0 notes

violetsgallant · 6 years

Text

3 Signs that Your Recovery is Sliding Towards a Relapse

I want to talk about a few common warning signs of relapse today.

The first sign that I see popping up frequently, especially for people who are early in recovery, is the idea that they are compromising when it comes to treatment or recovery activities.

This is a huge warning sign and a massive red flag that their recovery is in trouble.

You cannot succeed in recovery if you want to be arrogant or cocky or feel like you have all the answers. Somehow you have to humble yourself enough to be able to learn the lessons of sobriety.

One final warning sign that I want to mention is when a person’s attitude shifts from being grateful to that of being selfish.

The post 3 Signs that Your Recovery is Sliding Towards a Relapse appeared first on Spiritual River Addiction Help.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8241844 http://ift.tt/2C6AgdK

0 notes

littledonkeyburrito · 6 years

Text

A slang term or just a regular word that means butt

1. Did the last type of shoes you wore have laces? Yeah 2. How much money did you spend yesterday? 6.27 euros. I went to the cinemas and also bought a 17c bottle of water. Because apparently the only snack I need at the cinemas in spain is a bottle of water. 3. Are you CPR certified? In australia, yes. 4. What genre is your favorite movie? Comedy, but it has to be the right type of comedy. 5. Are you messaging anybody right now? Yeah, 2 people

6. Do you like the picture on your license/I.D. card? I have surprisingly good ID photos, so yeah. 7. What’s your favorite thing to snack on while watching a movie? I don’t think I have a favourite but I do prefer to eat something that takes a long time to eat so that my hands are busy and I don’t pick pimples or whatever 8. When was the last time somebody hit on you? When I was in central america. Guys were so much more keen on me there than I’m used to. 9. Was the last person you met a male or female? Uhhhh I do not recall 10. Which one of your friends do you feel most comfortable around? Maggie 11. Do you own a map of the world? Only on my phone 12. What brand is your underwear? Probably Kmart homebrand

13. Is the light on in the room you’re in? Yep 14. Who did you last spoon with? Panama Guy.

No wait, that’s a lie. I spooned with Madrid guy a couple of days after I got home and he stayed with me for the weekend. 15. Are you currently watching TV? I don’t even own a tv. 16. Have you ever had surgery or stitches? Neither 17. Do you own any clothing that has animal print? Not unless plain black counts as animal print

18. Does your family eat dinner together? Considering that my parents split up when I was 6 and also I live on a different continent to them, no. 19. Where do you work? I currently do not. 20. Are you in high school? Fuck to the No. 21. Do you have a TV in your room? I don’t have a tv in my apartment. 22. Are any of your electronics charging right now? My laptop is on charge but is on full battery.

23. What was the last video game you played? Pokemon X in spanish.

24. What did you last put on a piece of toast? My toaster doesn’t work properly but the last thing I put on a piece of bread was nutella last night

25. What did you put in your last smoothie? I have literally never made a smoothie for myself. Only ones my parents made for me growing up

26. What stores would you say you buy from the most? Mercadona - my grocery store

27. What’re some TV shows that you would like to get into? There are so many things on my netflix list

28. Is there a movie you’d like to see? The new kingsman

29. What’s the most recent email in your inbox? Something from my bank

30. What’s the last thing you Googled? "culo” because I was trying to find out if it’s a slang term or just a regular word that means butt.

31. What was the last thing you watched on Netflix or Hulu? The Good Place.

32. Do you follow any celebrities on Twitter? I don’t use twitter but I follow several on instagram

33. What was the last flavor of pudding or yogurt you ate? Kiwifruit yoghurt.

34. What color are your shirt and pants? Shirt is demin blue, pants are black

35. What color were the last pair of shoes you wore? Grey and black striped

36. Anything exciting coming up? Literally nothing 37. What numbers does your password on here have? How about no

38. This time tomorrow, what will you be doing? Watching netflix probs

39. Would you rather get money or gift cards for your birthday? Money 40. Have you ever texted a landline phone by accident? Yes I used to accidentally text my dad’s homeline all the time and wonder why he hadn’t responded 41. Have you ever spoken to a detective before? No. 42. What color is your garage? I do not have a garage. My building does not have a garage. 43. Have you ever played laser tag? Yeah 44. Do you pick out your outfits for the next day the night before or the AM? Depends on what I’m dressing for. If it’s a job interview or something then I’ll sort it out the night before. 45. Do you wear earrings? Yep 46. Is your wifi protected? Yes because this is not 2007 47. What did you have for lunch today? Noodles 48. Does your phone have a cover on it? Nope, I live dangerously. 49. What colour was your swim suit this year? I have a black bikini top, and floral boardshorts 50. How many bedrooms does your house have? 1, kind of 51. Do you have any pictures of you and your friends in your bedroom? No

52. Did you and your family go on many road trips when you were younger? To fraser Island with my dad a few times a year

53. Do you own any Funko Pop! figurines? I used to but I gave them to my mum when I left aus

54. How many cats and dogs have you had as pets in your lifetime? I had 2 dogs growing up . They were sisters and they were border collie x golden retreiver. In the past 6 years a few flatmates have had dogs or cats but they weren’t mine so I don’t think they really count.

55. Can your mom and/or dad play any instruments, or how about anyone else in your family? My dad makes musical instruments but cannot play any. Mum played piano as a kid but didn’t continue with it and probably could not play anything now.

56. What’s your favorite color and what items do you own in that color? My favourite colour is purple and I own a button up in purple and also most of my undies are purple for some reason. 57. What brand or designer is your purse and/or wallet? Fossil 58. Can you crack crab legs without a tool? Maybe with my teeth? I’ve never tried 59. How many light sources are in the room you’re in? 4 light bulbs plus the light on the stove overhead, the oven , the microwave, and the flashlight on my phone.

Before (first line) and After (second line), 2 years ago; Today

60. How old is the last person you kissed? 22 35

61. What is the last movie you watched? Who the fuck can remember what movie I watched 2 years ago Thor Ragnarok

62. Are you happy? Sure Sure

63. What’s one thing that you really want to do? Move to Spain Spend several months travelling from Mexico to southern Argentina

64. Is your cell phone right by you? Yeah it would have been because I needed to respond quickly to anything from work. Yes, habit from my old job.

65. What are you wearing on your feet? How fucking good do you think my memory from 2 years ago is??? Orange, black and white socks

66. Did you ever waste too much time during the day? My job was pretty much all about wasting away the 12 hours of my shifts because there was almost never anything to do. I currently have no job so I apply for a few each day and then fuck around online for the rest of the day

67. Do you like cuddling? With people I’m romantically/sexually involved with With people I’m romantically/sexually involved with

68. Do you sleep with one leg out from under the covers? Depends on the weather Usually, yes

69. Where’d you get the shirt your wearing now? I don’t know what I was wearing 2 years ago It was Big W or Kmart or Target or something

70. Did you get at least eight hours of sleep last night? Depends on work, I don’t remember Yes.

71. When is your next long road trip? I don’t think I had anything planned but about 8 months later, Maggie and I road tripped around Tasmania. I have no road trips planned.

72. Ever kissed someone who’s the first name starts with an “A” or “C”? Yes and yes. Still yes and yes. A couple of new A’s but no new C’s.

Just regular questions again:

73. Do you have a common first name? Sure do

74. Do you like your middle name or your first name more? I’m used to my first name but my middle name is prettier

75. What year would/did you turn 21? 2015

76. Can you see your veins through your skin? Yeah, I’m pretty fucking pasty

77. Would you rather live in an apartment or a duplex? Depends where I’m living and who with. I’ve lived in both.

78. Do you like spicy chips? Yeah

79. Do you wear more pink or yellow? I hate wearing both of those colours but probably pink

80. What’s the last thing you bought besides food/drink? Some household items

81. Who scheduled your last doctor visit? I did

82. What’s the last funny movie you watched? Thor 3 was pretty funny. Taika Waititi did really well.

83. Can you remember your parents’ birthdays? Of course

84. What is the design on your shirt? No design, it’s just blue denim

85. What is the origin of your last name? Blacksmiths

86. What piercing do you like most on the opposite sex? Ears I guess, but I don’t really care

87. What country do you live in? Spain

88. Did/do you ride the bus to and from school? I did from grade 9 onwards.

89. What band would you stand in line for 24 hours to see? Literally none of them.

90. If you were in a band, which role would you be? Drummer. I’d love to get back into playing drums.

91. Would you ever consider prostitution as an occupation? For the money maybe, but I think I’d be pretty bad at it because I think people are awful so I’d be terrible at the conversation part of it. I have a friend that’s a high end gay escort and he lives such a luxurious life but I really just don’t think I’d be able to do it.

92. If you could relive one year of your life, which would it be? This year. It’s been fun as fuck.

93. What makes your heart beat faster? Attractive boys getting close to me

94. Are you a one night stand or serious relationship type person? I’m more of a casual fling type person. Relationships are not really my style and one night stands kinda just seem like a waste of a dude that I’m clearly attracted to.

95. What is the one thing that you need to do to die happy? I keep reminding my parents that if I die on holiday, I’ve died happy. It did not seem to comfort them when they were convinced I was going to get kidnapped in Colombia.

96. What’s the riskiest thing you’ve ever done? Probably unprotected sex

97. What’s your standard excuse for not doing something? Don’t want to /can’t.

98. What is one moment you wish you could have taken a picture of? That amazingly colourful bruise I got on my shin/ankle when I was 14

99. What place holds the most memories for you? Probably Fraser Island for my childhood.

100. Who was your first date? My first actual date was only about a year ago with that ripped guy that I dated.

101. What’s the best trip you’ve ever been on? I’ve been on some seriously awesome trips but the absolute best has to have been my most recent trip in central/south america.

102. What languages do you speak? English & español

103. How many ex’s do you have? Really depends on definition. Anywhere between 2 and 6

104. Do you swear? How much? More than I should because I worked with bogans for 3 years

105. Have you ever had food poisoning? Once and it was fucking awful, but actually not that bad as far as food poisoning goes.

106. Do you like snakes? Snakes are super rad

107. Do you gossip? I used to at work because there were just so many morons in that company

108. Do you like to party? I sure fuckin do

#Other potential titles:#I’m pretty fucking pasty #he lives such a luxurious life but I really just don’t think I’d be able to do it #It did not seem to comfort them when they were convinced I was going to get kidnapped #Snakes are super rad

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webdatabase-blog1 · 7 years

Text

How To Build and Maximize the Power of Your Database

If you have read any of my previous articles, you know that I am big advocate of database management. The purpose of this article is to dig deeper into the nuts and bolts of how to build, develop, and maximize your database with the goal of increasing your profits.

Many business people do not even have database, and those that do many times do not consider it anything more than an electronic rolodex designed to keep track of phone numbers and email addresses. I can tell you from personal experience that database, if properly cultivated, can be so much more, and can in fact be one of the keys to increasing your business.

We will explore the following five key elements of building successful database in this article:

1. If I don\'t already have database, how do I get started?

2. What characteristics should I look for in database program?

3. What information should I put into my database?

4. What tasks should my database accomplish?

5. Database maintenance and daily use.

If I don\'t already have database, how do I get started?

If you don\'t already have database, the key is to get started as soon as possible and get in the habit of using your database every time you come into contact with prospect, business partner, or customer.

Do not get analysis paralysis and over-analyze the situation. It is important to understand that habits take time to develop, and using your database will not be easy at first. Especially in the first month, you will spend lot of time getting your database up and running. There will be lot of data entry involved to get your current contacts into your database.

The first step is to gather all of your paper records so that you can enter them into your database. Customer mailing lists, rolodexes, business cards, old files, anything you have that has contact info for people you have come into contact with. You should include past customers, prospects, business contacts, and anyone else you know.

The other thing to consider is what database system to use. It is difficult to começo with one database and then switch to another couple months later, so do your homework and decide which one will best fit your needs. There are many industry-specific database programs, especially in fields such as real estate, and there are also adicione good general-purpose programs such as ACT! and Outlook. My program of choice is ACT!, and although it is not without it faults, it accomplishes 99% of what I am looking for in database program.

What characteristics should I look for in database?

Your database program, disponível basic level, should keep track of phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, and other contact info. It should also be customizable so that you can add fields to keep track of specific data that is important to you or your line of work. For instance, I am in the mortgage industry, so one of the features I like about ACT! is that I have been able to add couple hundred specific fields to my database such as information about the loan that my clients have, their financeiro information, and other mortgage-related data.

I have also programmed in fields that help me with prospects such as time frame for buying, most important hot points, best time to call, referral source, referral date, and other relevant data for acompanhamento.

There should also be place where you can take notes under each contact. I use the notes/history tab in ACT! to record key elements of each conversation I have with prospect, client, or business partner and try to take my notes immediately after the phone call. If I get an email from contact, I simply copy and paste the entire email into the notes/history tab. You will find that if you take good notes disponível your conversations, it will be easier to build rapport because you can refer back to key points and details about your prospect that will impress upon them that you were paying attention and that they are important to you. human can remember everything about everybody and every conversation, so take notes!

Another key feature that any database will have is the ability to schedule reminders. After each phone call I have with person, I schedule the next appointment or phone call so that I don\'t have to remember to do it. Related to this is the ability to schedule an activity series. ACT! for example has feature where I can program in series of activities at the click of button that may be common to multiple contacts. The privado series is already pre- set in the system.

Mail merge capability is yet another key feature that you should look for in your database program. If you are not familiar with mail merge, you should take the time to learn what it is and how it works. Mail merge will allow you to send out group of emails to multiple people, but customize each email for each contact you send it to, using information from their contact record. For example, you can send out 100 emails, and each one will be customized to say \"Dear \"First Name.\" This is powerful feature that if used can help build your business with minimal effort disponível your part. Mail merge can also be used to generate customized paper letters.

The final feature that must be part of your database program is the ability to do complex lookups. What I mean by this is that you must have the capability, for example, to look up all contacts in your database who bought something between July and December of 2005, or you may want to look up all of your clients with last names from -M. Basic database programs will only allow you to look up contacts conectado one level. Better database programs, such as ACT! will allow you to look up conectado multiple levels. For example, good database program will let you look up all of you clients in California, and then further narrow it down within that group to Clients with last names from -M. Not so good database programs will only allow you to look up clients in California, but then you couldn\'t go another level down and narrow the search. You will find that you want this feature as you get deeper into databasing.

What information should I put into my database?

At the very least, your database program should serve as an electronic rolodex. But, with only this minimal information, that\'s all it will be to you. Again, it is important to make sure you are getting program that is customizable so that you can add the fields you want. In addition to phone number, addresses, and names, here is brief list of desaparece of the items that I have included in my database:

Referral source, referral date, página da Internet address, best time to contact, preferred form of contact, hot points for sales, ID number, status, time frame, birth date, number of children, hobbies, surveys, and industry specific information that pertains to your business.

You should also have notes section in which to record notes conectado conversations with your contacts. It is also very useful if your database program keeps history of emails, phone calls, and appointments that are recorded automatically when you \"clear\" your reminders.

What tasks should my database accomplish?

Your database should allow you to verificação with your prospects, clients, and business partners, in an efficient, methodical way that doesn\'t take lot of your time. In my opinion, this is the single most important thing that your database can do for you to help you grow your business.

The key is to develop systems that help you stay in front of every person that goes into your database, literally forever. For example, I have categorized my contacts into six general categories for seguimento: prospects, clients, \"in process\", \"delayed leads\", Realtors, and Business contacts. I have developed specific and automatic verificação systems for each category. These systems incorporate different types of contact: email, snail mail, and phone. Once contact is put into pessoal category, they are plugged into the acompanhamento campaign for that category forever.

With follow-up system like this in place, it is not coincidence that when it comes time to buy, your prospects will think of you. When it comes time to refer, your business partners will refer to you. And when they do, it is important to get into the habit of opening up your database from the first second of the first phone call with each prospect or new contact. Take good notes, ask good questions, and record it all in your database. The more you know about the people you come into contact with, the easier it will be to sell more.

Database maintenance and daily use

The final key to developing an effective database is to make sure you have maintenance system in place. You must first of all purge your database acessível an ongoing basis of contacts with bad phone numbers, bad emails, etc.

Once you get deep into database management, you will become so reliant disponível your database that it will be the backbone to your business. It is extremely important to back up your database disponível regular basis and to store the backup disponível an external source. I am to the point where if I were to lose my database, my business would be in serious jeopardy. I back up every 3 days, and store the backup acessível an external hard drive as well as disponível my desktop.

Developing an effective database will not be an easy task and at first you may question my assertions in this article. However, with persistent work, over the course of just few months, you will see that an effective database will transform your business and take you to new levels.

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