#He's the biggest red flag I've ever met

[donkeys-waffles]

I just love the versatility of AFO fans, like on one side you'll have this incredibly Indepth analysis of his childhood trauma and on the other side you have the horniness people you've ever encountered. And it's amazing.

[clairedaring]

more my stand-in thoughts and other ramblings about joe/zhou xiang best boi

!!!!!!!!!!! POSSIBLE NOVEL SPOILERS WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!

as my stand-in begins to air, even though we're only two episodes in, the series itself has already established very clearly and explicitly that ming is a HUGE RED FLAG and he's not... the nicest guy.

and as we are told by the narration of joe, this time he had with ming was not a dream as he had though but rather a nightmare and that it was ming who led joe to his death (literal translation of his last line in ep 1, iqiyi engsub you lack accuracy i hate you).

and while i am just one among the joe's protection squad, i feel like i don't share this overwhelming opinion i've been seeing of people thinking joe 2.0 should pull a 180 change or to be as bad as ming or to become some kind of monster and take his revenge on everyone who's ever hurt him as if this is some makjang kdrama.

i once wrote a bit about my thoughts on why joe/zhou xiang is such a compelling protagonist and what separates him from other 188 novels' main characters. but since that piece was written before my stand-in had aired and i think the characterization of joe has been slightly changed in comparison to the novel, so i want to take this chance to elaborate a bit more on my point in that post as well as update it to fit with the series version of zhou xiang.

so, like i've mentioned,one of the traits i love most about joe/zx is this inherent kind-hearted nature of his and i think the series has not only just done well in this aspect, but also greatly amped up this quality in the series portrayal of zhou xiang.

you can seeeeee it through joe's acts of services for this STRANGER he had just met. be it offering ming a ride to the BTS station or cooking for ming even though they didn't fuck.

however, i do agree with my friend @dragonsandphoenix's observation that with the series, since they're trying to speed through joe 1.0 and ming's relationship, the series has joe falling much quicker (literally him using the L word on ep 2 pls joe) than zhou xiang did, considering it took mingjoe only 2 ep before they started their period of domestic life and yanzhou 17 chapters to do the same thing.

i feel like this specific adaptation change in regards to characterization can cause audience to be even more protective of joe than novel readers already were of zhou xiang. one of my biggest fears for this adaptation (i say one of bc novel readers would already know my biggest fear of one specific scene) has always been the doormat allegations against joe. but like i've also said before, it's that specific trait that 'joe has the ability to fight back but he simply won't because he refuses to hurt others and his soft heart has him in pain whenever he sees others hurt' about him that i hold so dear. even in the series, we know joe has the physical capability of taking sol down... and the man did give sol a deck to his neck making him passed out.

... but it's also the same joe who would take care of sol after accidentally decking him.

did anyone watch ep 2 started counting how many times JOE apologizes in this episode... literally in the car scene, he said sorry to ming TWICE because he was scared he had hurt ming's feelings for his assumptions (right ones at that). or when the hot water dripped from the lid of the pot, joe immediately said sorry and checked to see if ming was hurt.

whether it is in the novel or the series, joe/zhou xiang is just really the type to sacrifice himself for the sake of others, he's never been able to put himself first and puts others' feelings above his (⁠っ⁠˘̩⁠╭⁠╮⁠˘̩⁠)⁠っ

which is why i was pleasantly surprised reading professional body double. because one would generally assume that after all the miseries thrown his way, he would become a bitter person, full of grudge and resentment against people who had hurt him, but he doesn't. that just isn't who joe is.

while joe's bad experience in his 1.0 life does change how he navigates his social life and the relations he has around him, it doesn't change the inherent kind hearted nature nor the optimistic outlook on life he once had. i love that for joe in his 2.0 life because his first and foremost goal was to restart a life happily and we gradually got this journey of self-respect and joe 2.0 finally being able to put himself first and fight for the things/people he love.

while there are obviously bad consequences to the "antagonists", i like that it has never been the direct result of joe 2.0 actions but it's more karmic. although i'm very open and would glad to see the antagonists getting even worse consequences than what happened in the novel (which i think was pretty mild) i think i'd rather be interested to see more of series!joe being happy and successful (big emphasis on successful because if i don't see joe with his 20+ blockbusters he deserve i'm suing for emotional damage)

in regards to the wife chasing arc in the second half of the series, i think this part will be rather controversial since there are diverse opinions on how audience want the wife chasing arc to be executed, or from joe 2.0's perspective: his responses/actions to being chased by ming again. and trust me, i do want to see ming grovelling in pain and suffer just as much as the next joe's protector. but at the same time for me it'd just be... ooc of joe to intentionally and/or maliciously inflict pain on ming. granted i do have some qualms as to ming's chasing method that i hope the series will adjust, i do think that zhou xiang's approach to being chased by yan ming xiu was rather sufficient without the need to give zhou xiang a 180 personality change, so i really hope that doesn't change.

all in all, while it's probably quite early to tell how the second half will progress and whether it does/doesn't diverge from his journey in the second half, i just think it was very in character for zhou xiang to make the decisions he does in the novel in his second life (except for one noble idiocy move that lasted like a day) and hopefully joe 2.0 also does in my stand-in for his new life. *sighs* joe is just truly best boi... i love him... look at he... that's my baby angel （づ￣3￣）づ╭❤️～

[satancopilotsmytardis]

bdsm classification au? kind of like a/b/o dynamics but instead of being born as one of those dynamics, everyone is born as a type of dom, sub, or neutral/switch that is revealed when they are old enough?

so like some people are born as caretakers, littles, owners, pets, or other d/s dynamics (and then ofc there are some people who are a switch)

sub dabi joining up with the league to fight for sub rights alongside their cannon ideals type beat :p

So there are some immediate problems I'm seeing with this AU as set up in this ask. First of which is: I don't do traditional ABO because I think the fantasy sexism that is applied to Omegas is very unpleasant and I avoid it in my writing at all costs. Applying that sexism to a BSDM AU is extremely concerning as one of the biggest red flags in BDSM is if a Dom thinks they're better than a Sub outside of negotiated play. On that principle alone, this AU will be an extreme departure from this ask.

Additionally, I don't think having switches in this world is a good idea. If we're going to set this to a similar framework as the Omegaverse, then it would make more sense for the 'Beta' stand-in to be people who are vanilla/don't have a dom/sub designation. By doing this we can better parallel the fact that Betas do not offer the benefits of an Alpha to an Omega, or the benefits of an Omega to an Alpha, making the need to have them categorized separately more engaging.

And finally, while breaking down these categories further into play styles is interesting, it also removes the variety that many participants engage in while playing. I've met very, very few people who want to only engage in one flavor of BDSM, and I think that ignores the fun of playing in this space!

That all being said I have an AU with what I find to be a workable concept loosely based on this ask:

Dabi is a sub, Shigaraki is a dom of course. Compress, Magne, and Toga (though her designation is somewhat up in the air due to her age, she has all the markers of being a young dom) are doms, Twice and Spinner have no designations. Given this setup, Dabi is kind of spoiled for choice with easy access to doms who can keep him stable by ensuring that he doesn't go too long without being dominated, either sexually or not. It's pretty common to find him, after a long day of work where he is in a leadership position, kneeling at Magne, Compress, or Shig's feet, or doing domestic servitude tasks to keep his mind and mood stable. He's not sleeping with any of them and told them he never would, he's not interested in becoming a collared sub (not after he saw what that did to his mother who wasn't even capable of fighting back against her dom)

Things are going pretty well on that front until Shigaraki starts to notice that Dabi's on a verge of a drop after Kamino. With everything that's happened, he needs stability and security more than he thinks he does and he's not giving himself time to find it. So Shig tells him they're going on a mission, and actually brings him to a place he found that is frequented by subs and doms looking to sate their needs as anonymously as possible. Dabi does find someone who can give him what he needs to fight his drop, and goes back to find Shigaraki, only to actually find him in the middle of a session himself where he's doming a sub in a way that makes Dabi feel like he needs it again even though he just had it.

After that, he is a little more chatty with Shig, and he asks if he's ever collared a sub before and finds out that Shigaraki was told he never should since that would give someone else power over him as well-- because collaring is supposed a mutual symbol of a dynamic and a partnership, not a way to force a sub's submission-- which is news to Dabi. Things continue to move forward and they end up with the PLF.

About halfway through his treatments, Dabi asks Shig if he's found another place like the club they'd been going to to sate their instincts, knowing that the others have just been making their way through the grunts. Shig says he hasn't but he can find somewhere safe for Dabi as he won't have a designation anymore once he goes into the tank. Dabi is horrified by this and asks why Shig would give that up when he loves being a dom, and Shig tells him that this is the path he's been told he has to take to gain more power and that, at least if he does this, he will never be vulnerable and losing his mind because he can't get to a sub if he needs them.

Dabi is pretty upset about all of this and is finally forced to come to terms with the fact that he really, really wants Duster to dom him completely, that he's been fighting it for no good reason when Shigaraki has proved a hundred times over that he won't treat him like Enji did Rei. He begs to be allowed to submit to him and they end up scening . It's perfect. Shigaraki stops his treatments, and a few months later, when the League is next on the battlefield, Dabi is seen wearing a gorgeous permanent collar.

[onlyonetifosi]

Congrats little sis

It was a beautiful day in Baku, Azerbaijan, and the excitement in the air was palpable. The Formula 2 race was about to start, and I was getting ready to compete for my team, Prema. As I sat in my car, my mind was racing with thoughts of the race ahead. I was nervous, but also excited to show what I could do on the track.

Suddenly, I heard a knock on my door. I turned to see my older brother, Pierre Gasly, standing there with a huge smile on his face. He had flown all the way from France just to see me race, and I couldn't have been happier to see him.

"Hey, sis," he said, ruffling my hair. "Ready to show everyone what you're made of?"

I grinned back at him. "You bet!"

Pierre and I had always been close, despite the eight-year age gap between us. He had been my biggest supporter since I started karting at the age of five, and had helped me get to where I was today - a driver for the Red Bull Academy. I've always had a fascination for racing. I grew up watching him compete and win, and I knew from a young age that I wanted to follow in his footsteps. So, as soon as I was old enough, I began training to become a racing driver.

As the race began, I felt my heart pounding in my chest. The adrenaline rush was unlike anything I had ever experienced before, and I was determined to do my best.

As the lights went out, I hit the throttle and felt the surge of power as I hurtled down the straight, the wind whipping through my helmet. The track in Baku was a challenging one, with sharp corners and narrow straights, but I felt confident in my abilities. I had trained hard for this moment, and I was determined to make the most of it.

The first few laps were intense, with several drivers jostling for position. But I managed to stay focused and keep my eye on the prize. Soon, I found myself in the lead, with no one else in sight.

As the laps ticked by, I battled fiercely with the other drivers, jostling for position and trying to outmaneuver them at every turn. But I knew that my true competition was myself, and I had to stay focused and keep my head in the game if I wanted to succeed.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I crossed the finish line in first place, the checkered flag waving in the breeze.

As I crossed the finish line, I felt a surge of pride and excitement wash over me. I had done it - I had won my first Formula 2 race! And to top it all off, my big brother was there to see it all.

As I stepped out of my car, I was met with congratulations from my fellow drivers, including Arthur, who had finished in second place. We hugged each other tightly, both of us grinning from ear to ear.

I run trough parc fermé to Pierre who started congratulate me, and we shared a tight embrace. "I'm so proud of you, sis," he said, his eyes shining with emotion. "You were amazing out there, I'm so proud, you drove like a true champion out there."

I grinned up at him. "Thanks, Pierre. You're the best big brother anyone could ask for."

We celebrated together for a while, but soon it was time for me to head back to the pit lane and debrief with my team. Unfortunately, our parents couldn't make it to Azerbaijan to see me race, but I knew they were watching from home in Ruan, glued to the TV screen. But knowing that Pierre was there to support me made all the difference.

As I made my way to the winner's podium, I caught sight of Charles Leclerc, who was also there to support his brother Arthur, who had come in second place. I had become close friends with Arthur over the years, we had grown up together, since Pierre and Charles had been karting rivals in their younger days, and we had become close friends as well so I was thrilled to see that he had done so well.

After the race, Pierre, the Leclerc brothers, and I decided to celebrate our victories together, and I had a great time sharing stories and laughing together. We went out for a nice dinner, enjoying each other's company and swapping stories about our experiences on the track. I felt incredibly lucky to be surrounded by such talented and supportive individuals.

Later that night, we decided to FaceTime our parents to share the good news. Although they couldn't be there in person, they were overjoyed to see us all together and hear about our successes. They congratulated us on our victories and praised us for our hard work and dedication. They were so proud of us all, and promised to celebrate with us when we returned.

As we hung up the call, I turned to Pierre and the Leclerc brothers and said, "This is just the beginning, guys. We're going to go far in this sport, together." And with that, we raised our glasses and toasted to a bright future, filled with even more victories and moments of triumph.

[thisismeracing]

I'm sending this in bc I have been gathering random thoughts but don't worry about answering right the way!

okay first

-mick is kind of a golden retriever but in my opinion he is more of a blue eyed labrador

maybe bc he's a little shy and g retrievers are all out a have a very energetic vibe even when with strangers they're over energetic, but I feel like mick is more of a shy person who might be social but doesn't initiate any interaction + mick with short hair looks exactly like a labrador don't lie to yourself guys

-mick invites estie everywhere bc he's a very intuitive person (not that you need it to see it) but he feels like estie is always kinda left out even when he is invited to things - he is a empath and you can't change mind

-I know how bad it is to "diagnose" people out of nowhere BUT as a neurodivergent my self I feel such a neurodivergent vibe from him?!? am I the only one?

-out of all the drivers he's the one who seems to try to get out of his bubble the most (if we count Seb and Lewis out) he engages and tries to learn + support a lot of things that are socially important, out of the younger drivers he is the one who shows most interested in it too. I worry so much that once Lewis retires (still crying about Seb), we will basically have no drivers who strives for diversity and equality as strongly as they do

-I will say that i'm a gemini and the person I had the best romantic relationship was a Aries, Idk why people hate them?? They are literally one of the best zodiac signs, there is nothing about them I don't like, I don't know what that says about me

now I will also admit that the worst romantic relationship I've had was with a Cancer, he was the most emotionally manipulative person I ever met, please avoid them at all costs romantically (just a warning- I mean a tip)

btw love you lots and love how you answer everything that is sent in

- 🎀 anon

-oMG I- I CAN TOTALLY SEE IT AND I HAVE TO AGREE!! HAHAHAH I can't unsee it! Now, every time I pass a lab I'm gonna think about Mick lol

-I had the same feeling tbh. I think he is the kind of person who likes to make everyone feel loved and welcomed, so sometimes even without noticing he gravitates towards the less famous in the crowd. 🥹

-I think this may be like on the estie bestie point: he just radiates such good energy that we can't help but identify with him, maybe that leads us to "getting X vibe" like you just did 💗 (I'm not elaborating much on this point bc I feel like this is a very personal and delicate subject so yup).

-I've been refraining to think about Lewis' retirement because I have the same feeling you do. It's not that the others don't care (some really don't tbh), but there's a difference in how he acts and how some of the grid acts. Lewis tends to use his voice more, just like Seb did/still do, and this is what we need: people who understand that their biggest power is their voice, not only their money when the conversation is creating diverse and prejudice-free spaces.

-I honestly don't understand much about astrology, though I do believe in it. But if Mick has any red flags related to his star sign you can bet I'm acting colorblind about it 😘👍🏾 I've never really stopped to notice how people talk about Aries, I'm making a point out of it now. Maybe Gemini people like to do exactly what others told them not to hahaha thank you for the tip!! I'm gonna keep an eye open for them!! 👀✍️🏾

aweeee, love you too, honey!! thanks for the ask, I'm patiently waiting for the next round *mwah* 💖💖💖

[outofcontextbokumono]

After reading your posts involving Allen it made me curious about what you think about Skye because regarding hm bachelor's he's always been one that people either really hate or love

honestly i never played ds (as much as i really want to, but i should probably finish ttott/si/gab before i start another game 😭) so i don't exactly have any strong opinions on skye one way or the other....but i can say he doesn't give off the same vibe allen does at ALL. in fact based on the events i've seen i think he's fucking hysterical. he really radiates the energy of your average "mysterious suave bad boy womanizer" from literally any other early 2000s media and then 20 years later you look back at that hunk of a man you fell for at 13 and realize he is the biggest fucking LOSER to ever exist. i absolutely love that for him.

gonna be real for a sec, but i promise i'll get back to skye lol- i honestly totally understand why some people like allen, and i hold nothing against them as long as they aren't actively trying to defend that aspect of his character (and yes, i have actually seen someone do that before...huge red flag yall). i see where they're coming from, too, i think allen's line about your cow dying was hilarious and i think i would've LOVED him as a character if they just... didn't make him a raging misogynist AHHSDHHFHASHD

allen has some funny ass dialogue on a surface level and the bewilderment you get from finding out about it is definitely hysterical. but the fact that its a real thing that real people do unironically just,,, isn't something i can look past LMAO. to me it's like.... rewatching icarly in the modern day. its funny and the shock factor is entertaining but you have to take a break from watching eventually bc otherwise after a while it just Hurts.

skye on the other hand....absolutely nothing he does is threatening at all. he just seems like hes trying too fucking hard. nothing he does is something any real person would do if they had at least 3 functioning braincells.

and the fucking.... "chick beam"........the way he can supposedly make women stop in their tracks for a good 30 seconds by yelling it out like it's an anime special attack.....the way it's literally NEVER explained or elaborated on at all....that is comedy gold. that's classic harvest moon to me.

unlike allen skye doesn't make me feel like he'd call me a homophobic slur. do you think the chick beam determines off of one's sex assigned at birth or just what skye assumes (or knows) someone's gender to be? i feel like if skye met a trans woman he'd be like "oh, you ARE a lady, then? well in that case, i suppose today is my lucky day😊" and then he'd fire his chick beam at you and steal your wallet and run away

[sunlightandsuffering]

Omg😂

Imagine a girls night with Sasha, Annie, Ymir and Historia and they're all eager to see the boy Mikasa is head over heels for. They expect him to be exceptionally distinguished and refined, because Mikasa is always blabbering about him and she never gives any guy the time of day! They're all incredibly disappointed when an excited and rosy cheeked Mikasa pulls out her phone and shows them the douchiest tinder profile you could ever see! Sure he's really hot and sexy, but really?

Their little meeting just turns into a group intervention, with a stuttering and blushing Mikasa trying to defend the "love of her life" while her friends are all scrunching their noses and sipping on white wine as they try to knock some sense into their naive friend

OMG this ask is from forever ago, but I've been wanting to explore this concept again for a while now lol!! Basically, I think we were talking about mildly douchey Eren who intellectual pretty girl Mikasa falls for and all her friends are just like BESTIE NO RED FLAGS!!! But Mikasa is already simping and it turns out Eren isn't that bad lol!!

Mikasa doesn't expect the reaction of her friends, especially not Sasha who looks like she's going to burst a blood vessel just looking over her phone. "Oh Mika, baby absolutely not," Sasha tells her condescendingly patting her back, "This has trouble written all of over it." Mikasa snatches the phone back from her friend, looking over the shirtless picture of Eren lovingly, "He's nice, I promise." "Umm he's the biggest fuckboy I've ever seen in my life, his bio is '6 ft if that matters' and the second picture of him is in grey sweatpants, I already know everything I need to know about," Sasha makes a noise of disgust, spitting his name, "Eren." Mikasa pouts, she'd thought it was brave of her, going outside of her usual type, the tall intellectual, smart guy, Jean had done a bit of a number on her. So why couldn't she go crazy?

What was wrong with a really hot fuckboy, she had nothing to lose.

Mikasa looks to Annie, and her blonde friend has a rather queasy look on her face, "This is going to be Jean 2.0 but 10x worse Miaksa." "I like him so much though, and he really is hot in person, we met, I think I, I think I might be in love." There is a chorus of groans from her friends as they bemoan her inevitable heartbreak but Mikasa doesn't know what they're talking about, Eren is great.

"I can't believe this is the guy you won't shut up about, I thought he was going to be the shy sensitive type but no you had to pick the biggest douche canoe on tinder." Mikasa gasps in affront, "He's nice, I promise, stop judging him just by his profile." "Fine," Sasha huffs, "But don't complain to me when he breaks your heart." He won't, Mikasa is absolutely sure of it. RIght?

[vicsdeangelis]

if stem anon can rant about her crush i can rant about mine. here goes.

(staying on anon, y'all are gonna have to deal with me sorry)

ok so we met in high school through similar classes/clubs and we didn't really talk that much, i kinda just admired her from afar(too much i think lol, the only reason i even came to terms w/ actually having a crush on her was bc i was way too weirdly obsessed with her for it to be a coincidence lmaoo). i couldn't even tell her though bc unforunately i realized this after she had graduated & moved up the country(also bc i thought she was straight, oh how the turntables). now, i always thought she was cool bc she was super creative and fashionable and wrote her own music but over the past couple of years she has just gotten way cooler and more wild, she dyes her hair crazy colors and wears glittery Euphoria-esque makeup and jaunts off to Europe and works for a club in one of the biggest cities in the country and wears nipple tape like Vic(sidenote: she watched the ESC grand final in 2021 were Må won and didn't fall in love w them?! which i consider a red flag lmaoo), it's actually kinda convenient she's so out of my league though bc there's literally no way i could even date her: 1. she lives across the country, like i said 2. she has a gf 3. we barely know each other & tbh sometimes i don't even know if i actually do like her as much as i say i do or if i've just been holding onto this for so long bc she was my First Irl Sapphic Crush, does that make any sense? idk i think i'm actually just insane lol i need to move on already

but anyway the reason i even thought of her or decided to bring her up is bc i found out she's 1-3 hours from from me rn for the holidays when she's usually like 10 and i'm rly bummed bc i can't even reach out to her :( i wish there was like an alternate universe where we were friends or something but idk, things happen for a reason i guess

also crushed on a boy in high school who i'm just realizing now totally reminds me of Ethan(huge brown eyes, probably Italian, openly queer, androgynous, sweetest person ever) but he also lives across the country, even further than the first girl(different big city). foiled again by geography

damn you geography!!!!

i could tell you to reach out to her anyway, actually become friends, but that would be so hypocritical coming from ME because someone here gave me the same advice when the guy i was crushing on at work quit so really, who am i to give advice uhdsfkjsfhdsk

[myheartismadeofstars]

I posted 22,820 times in 2022

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I tagged 605 of my posts in 2022

#omori - 8 posts

#lmao - 6 posts

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Longest Tag: 139 characters

#(you know sam's girlfriend who called him a creep for working at a motel and fixing her drain and forced him to take a dog he had no abilit

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Headcanons for skills Nie Huaisang has that Da-ge actually approves of:

Math (while he tests very poorly, Huaisang is very good at practical math)

Astronomy (bless Fatal Journey for this)

Rites (Huaisang proves to be pretty good at remembering how ceremonies go, when he doesn’t adamantly refuse to participate, usually due to being too emptional to focus)

Archery (Huaisang is a Great archer! So long as the target isn’t moving... but he probably wouldn’t starve if he needed to hunt for himself)

Butchering (Huaisang butchered his first animal when he was seven, but he witnessed butchering since he was 3. He’s not actually afraid of blood or gore, he’s just very clean)

98 notes - Posted January 30, 2022

#4

I think people are sleeping on the idea of Damian taking Anya's surname when they get married. Damian eventually realizes how bad his family is, and Yor and Loid have always been kind and loving. So he associates Forger with a loving family, plus Anya is so attached to Forger. Also I just like the sound of "Damian Forger"

also something something "new blood old money"

207 notes - Posted July 14, 2022

#3

Okay I am still pretty knew to the hanfu community but I want to know: are Hanfu season specific like kimono are? Like would it look strange to wear hanfu with spring flowers on it in fall? I've looked for information on google but I don't find the right information. Obviously kimono is influenced by Hanfu but that seasonal thing could easily be something Japanese specific.

232 notes - Posted October 16, 2022

#2

Thinking about how Leon and Hop have at least 3 adults living in their house...but LEON (who has to be ~5-8 years older than Hop) raised Hop. Like??? That’s literally the biggest red flag for a neglectful family I’ve ever seen? I wonder if Hop was an accident and Leon was the only one who really was invested in his little brother (also Hop isn’t exactly a name I would normally see for a child...but if a little kid named them?). And Leon would have learned early that mistakes could mean Hop gets sick or hurt. No wonder he became so observant and while he gets lost most of the time...he can find Hop when he’s in danger (Slumbering Weald). This means that he became very guarded so people can’t find his weaknesses, and it did benefit his pokemon training. Then Hop started looking up to him, and he started getting praised for being “Unbeatable” so he parrots it. (Because if Leon was forced to care for Hop, he probably wasn’t getting his own needs met. At the very least not his mental/emotional needs, so he probably relies on praise for his self esteem). I think Leon being defeated by Eternatus was the first time he ever was forced to rely on someone else (and it was Hop!! And Victor/Gloria) and then being dethroned as champion...it made it possible for him to finally find something for himself. He doesn’t have to be the perfect champion. He doesn’t have to raise Hop anymore (but he still adores his little brother). He can LOSE! He can MAKE MISTAKES! And Galar and Hop won’t suffer for it! He doesn’t have to be perfect anymore!

246 notes - Posted March 25, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I think Loid should become a father figure to Damian. Damian sees how good Loid is with Anya and Damian starts wanting his attention too. Like Loid comes to pick up Anya after a test and Damian "casually" points out that he got full marks! And Loid smiles and tells him he's impressed and that his father should be proud. Damian would still be tsundere about it, but he'd look up to Loid. Crush on Anya, looks up to Loid, lots of reason to hang out with them. Loid is thrilled that Damian talks to him all the time. And he really starts to hate Donovan after realizing how unhappy Damian is.

I just think Damian should have a good relationship with his future father-in-law! (especially if Loid picks up on his crush on Anya)

901 notes - Posted July 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[dumbspiderboy]

Haven't been on Tumblr in 3 nearly 4 years but here I am cause I got a long fucking rant I need to let out.

So this motherfucker that I work with, if he wasn't an actual person I enjoyed hanging out with most of the time I would have dropped him so fast cause of all the red flags. Like I honestly should drop him at this point. So I met him cause he started working at the same place I did back in May. Now we got along great, but I started to notice the way he acted might imply that he had a crush on me cause he was heavily asking about me being asexual, which is not something I hide. But he thought being ace was the same as being aro until I finally explained the difference to him which made me think he was gonna ask me out. And I was not fucking wrong. He asked me out, and at the time I was under the impression he was 39, while I'm 22 so I immediately was like nah dude the age gap makes me hella uncomfortable and he understood. He continue to act the same though which was a little eh. I should also preface that the way he asked me out was a bit weird. It was a series of questions the first being if I was dating my roommate at the time, if I was polyamorous, which yikes at the implications, and if I wanted to go out with him. So fast forward maybe like a little less than a month and come to find out he was not 39, but either 28 or 29. He tries asking me out again when he realizes. I cite that I still am not interested for a multitude reasons, the biggest being I don't have those kinds of feelings for him because I also lean heavily on the demiromantic spectrum quite possibly aromantic because in my lifetime I have been in love/had a crush on someone once. It was in high school, it took me nearly 4 years to actually fall in love with them, but I knew I was. And while I identify as pan, I don't find myself attracted to people who identify as male often, mostly I am into women. And I gave him these reasons. Continued to act the same. Now about another almost month later, tries once again to ask me a date, citing "so what if we said screw responsibilities and see where it goes?" Now at this point, I'm more than mildly uncomfortable and I make a point of stating it was never about responsibilities, reciting the reasons I gave before. He is a little woe is me, that he's in love with me and he won't be able to move on easily. So you know I'm trying to be nice and offer some distance which he accepts. We later talk in person about this whole thing and set a few boundaries because we are both feeling weird. Me over him being overly touchy and affectionate, leaning against me when we sit by each other when hanging out, spontaneous hugs (which I hate), and trying to buy me things I don't want and have stated such, he tried to get me a new phone cause mine kind of sucks at times and I very actively was uncomfortable with. All of which I set and he promptly ignores less than a week later. I try to pull back on my behavior cause according to him it was more than friendly and seemingly flirty to him and leading him on, but it's how I act with all my friends, not one ever told me it was like that. Now we are at a point where he gets incredibly jealous over everyone and slightly pissy about it. For example, a coworker, let's call W, has been attempting to get me to go out to a bar with him because I said I've never been to one, all in a friendly way that doesn't make me uncomfortable. My friend, who let's now call E, suddenly gets pissy and sad when I tell him, and goes "well I hope you have fun." I had never stated I was going to go just that W was asking. And at least once a week E gets upset over having feelings for me and depresses himself with me not liking him. He also gets upset when I don't always want to hang out with him, he asks almost every day to hang out. I work 5 days a week 6am-2pm usually. Within those, I had DnD twice a week Monday and Tuesday, and every other week had game night Wednesday (which he is a part of). Now he has mainly closing shifts between Thursday to Sunday. This means he is not available to hang out often when I get out of work. And days off I like to relax but also do chores and things that need to be done.

[hellmry]

What do you think of this whole "ppl shipping SessRin are basically supporting paedophilia” on tumblr? I've seen lots of japapense fans on twitter and they're all basically happy for the huge possibility of having Rin as Sesshomaru's wife and the mother of Towa and Setsuna, and then I go to tumblr and see all these SessRin bashing, saying that their bond should have kept platonic, the "real" sesshomaru will not behave romantically with Rin, etc. Idk what to think? :/ What are your thoughts?

oh goody, this is going to be a long one.

it’s so ridiculous 🙄 I’ve seen this “paedophilia” argument so many times and it’s triggering how they misuse this term so much. Especially as a law student (pet peeve: people misusing technical terms and making very serious (false) accusations).

Paedophilia tends to be the umbrella term for everything with a big age gap or when one party of the couple knew the other party as a child, which shows how uneducated they are with their try hard activism. Paedophilia is a psychiatric disorder, when an adult is primary or exclusively sexually attracted to prepubescent children.

No one in their right mind ships Sesshomaru with Rin while she was still a kid, I’ve yet to see someone who actively ships them in a romantic setting with her still being a kid. All the shippers I’ve come across and fanworks made, are her being a young adult or adult.

The other term they’re throwing around is “grooming”, while thinking it means he groomed her into his wife, which is also false and a misuse of the term. Grooming happens, when an adult is befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child in order to lower the child’s inhibitions with the object of sexual abuse. Sessh didn’t approach her with any sexual intentions in mind, he tolerated her following him out of pity, which turned into being her protector after a while. As I see it, Jaken was more of a father figure for her than Sessh was. He ignored her most of the times, just watching over her and made sure she was safe (i mean, like a dog...a guard dog). And he certainly didn’t “groom” her into being his wife, that dude did not show any signs of romantic interest while she was a child. Heck, he was pretty stoic most of the times.

The fact, that people who saw Sessh as a father figure for Rin exist, is actually our strongest argument against their paedophilia accusation. They wouldn’t have been able to perceive their relationship as such in the first place, if there were ANY romantic advances or signs while she was a child. Wanna see and read about a real pedophile story/relationship? Go read Lolita by Vladimir Nobakov, it’s disturbing.

Another form of grooming happens, when someone is manipulated until they’re isolated, dependent and more vulnerable to exploitation (can also happen with adults). Though it was only a filler episode, in episode 162 (Forever with Lord Sesshomaru), Sessh even gave her the free choice to either stay with humans or follow him (with his trademark line “do as you please”). In the Manga she was staying with Kaede in the end. And she was friends with Kohaku. She mostly fended for herself (with Jaken), foraging for food in the wild or secretly on farms. Rin was certainly not isolated or dependent. I’m not even digging into the exploitation point, because there is nothing to say.

I admit, they way SessRin developed is not completely unproblematic and the biggest factor is, that he met her while she was still a child. I can agree with that, but most SessRin shippers do not ship them because he knew her as a child, but because she was the first one who he cared for. If you break it down, it’s pretty much the cold-emotionless-bad boy-falls-for-a-girl-after-being-shown-kindness-for-the-first-time trope. SessRin shippers would’ve also shipped them if Rin was the same age as Kagome the first time they’ve met. Rin being a child when they met is not the base of this ship, it’s their relationship and how she broke through Sessh’s walls and that she was the first (human) being he ever cared for. She was also the reason Sessh slowly began to accept Tenseiga as his sword.

People who are saying Sessh went out of character and should’ve stayed on platonic terms with Rin, clearly have no idea about storytelling and character development. Sessh is a dog demon. Inuyasha is a dog demon. Inu no Taisho was a dog demon. Rin is a human, Kikyo was a human, Kagome is a human, Izayoi was a human. Basically, dogs love humans and create very strong bonds with them. Even staying loyal when their owner mistreats or abuses them. The whole series builds up on this dog-human dynamic. Basically every romantic interest involving a dog demon ended up being a dog-human pair. What’s not clicking?

I also find it quite funny, how some of those people can also ship Kagome and Inuyasha while preaching their (false) paedophilia speech in the same sentence. Kagome was 15 when she met 200 year old Inuyasha. 15. That’s a teenager. I’m 26 and when I see 15 year olds, they look like toddlers to me. I don’t see anyone advocating for Kagome’s minor rights. The whole world flipped when Drake was dating a 18 year old but the fandom is still pretty silent about the fact, that Kagome was also 18 when she was married to 203 y/o Inuyasha in the epilogue. InuKag and SessKag shippers don’t get the same criticism as SessRin shippers, even though Kagome is also still a minor and that’s where you see the hypocrisy.

They can ship her because her design looks older and it’s easier to forget that she’s 15/18. Usagi from Sailor Moon was 14 when she met and began a romantic relationship with Mamoru, who was 17. Even though both are considered minors, 14 is a lot different than 17 but nobody bat an eye for that either. Probably it’s because Usagi doesn’t look like a 14 year old. Kagome doesn’t look like a 15 year old. But Rin looks her age, she looks like an 8 year old when they first met, evoking a different perception in people of being a minor, the age gap and her vulnerability. That’s the only reason I can think of, why people are fine with InuKag, SessKag, KogaKag and whatever, even though it’s essentially almost the same setting as with SessRin. Rin is a minor, Kagome is a minor, they both are protected by their stronger and much older demon travel partners. And its hypocritical to try and argue a difference because grooming and abuse of an 8 year old is such as horrific as of an 15 year old. If one of them is a victim, then both are.

I’m not trying to shit on InuKag or other Kagome ships btw., I love Kagome and InuKag, I’m just trying to show the hypocrisy in their fake activism, because it’s not based on facts and information but rather on subjective feelings and perception. It’s fine and legitimate to not like SessRin because of said reasons, but it is wrong to judge others for shipping it and accuse them of supporting paedophilia. People who are triggered by SessRin, should stay away from it but leave those alone, who enjoy it.

Oh and before someone runs their mouth at me and use personal history as an argument, I’ve been a victim of paedophilia and grooming myself. I was touched and molested by my private tutor for years between 5th and 7th grade. But I’ve overcome my trauma, educated myself and I’m able to tell fiction from reality. Nobody watches Inuyasha for relationship and dating advice. Misusing terms is actually harming the ones involved and projecting one own’s traumas and struggles onto others, by shaming them for shipping something is not helping anyone and doesn’t make a difference at all.

Lastly, no SessRin shipper is condoning real life child/adult relationships. We are able to ship them because fictional stories are less dimensional than real life situations are. Fictional relationships have less nuances, cherry picked dynamics and moments that make us perceive them in a specific way. It is man made. What seems romantic in a fictional story (even between two adults) may be littered with red flags or less exciting and boring in a real life setting. People consume fiction mainly for entertainment, not for real life and dating advice.

Remember, this is just a fictional story, just chill the f out.

[l0std1adem]

one of my friends on this website is dating a NEET she met on the internet and she's so crazy about him but he's the biggest shadiest loser i've ever seen in my life. when i wasn't doing good in life i dated online a few times and every time either i was hiding something or they were hiding something. internet dating is being "in love" with the idea of a person, the way they present them for your hour long video call once a week, but not an actual real complex person.

Your friend’s situation sounds a lot like the situation I was recently in. Sometimes when you’re starved for attention, any positive attention at all becomes addictive, especially if you feel unloved in your real life. You miss all of the obvious red flags that because you like it.

Please tell your friend that the guy is not good for her. She might hate you a little at first but it’ll push her to recognize that something is wrong and when she breaks up with him she’ll thank you for it.

But yea. People on the internet aren’t real and imo friendship is as far as a relationship on the internet should go. Success stories are outliers.

[onthevirgeofdestruction]

So I've been reading your fics for a while and it recently occurred to me, how would the painful death crew handle the events of break? Would it pan out the same way or do you think it would go down slightly different?

How would the PD Crew handle Break? As in one of them is Break!Virgil or as in being around when shit goes down? 

I’ve got Ram (PD!Remus but make it a fictive) here with me so... 

Ram: 1,Dante is a chill bro, and I stan them. We have the same music tastes and Dante is kind of amazing, anyway. I would die for polterdante/j 2, I would have ab-fucking-ducted Break!Virgil and/or PD!Virgil from that situation if I was around it if I didn’t fucking snap and try to kill Zillah for doing it. Like how does anyone not have the biggest fucking mental breakdown of their lives when they find that shit out? Rem says ‘same’. 

The thing about Vesper(PD!Virgil) is that if he was in Dante’s(Break!Virgil) situation, he might also put up with it until he found a safe way out. I mean I’ve met Zillah and the dude is kind of sneaky. He’s really nice with the kids and acts really normal other than murdering Dante on main on a fucking regular basis, giving me weird second-hand trauma? Dae says he regrets not going more into how Zillah acts in public vs. private? “At the beginning of the story they were at point of their relationship Zillah was isolating Virgil, so there wasn’t much opportunity to do so, but it would have enhanced the dismal atmosphere and shown more ways abusers isolate their victims.” 

Anyway, Ves in particular would have run off, eventually. He’s not great at finding red flags but he believes takes his friend’s word for it and would be more likely to listen to Logan when he notices things weren’t right. He’d run off without asking for help and just meet up his friends later like “my name’s jared i’m 19 and i’m now fucking homeless”. Rem would have thrown a bitch fit and started a fight. He would have gotten out of it bruised but got out nonetheless. He only tolerates that shit from his dad because minors don’t have many rights (Also just Rem’s ex-dad’s job). I think I’d be the most at-risk in that situation because stress obviously fucks up my mental state and I won’t make great judgment calls. Dante only hallucinates in the sensory dep thing. I, on the other hand, hallucinate all the fucking time and trust me that it’s really easy to let the delusions suck you up if you don’t have someone who can ground you. The delusions might of left me stuck in that situation for life. Oof. Vesper could have gotten me out, though, but I’m not allowed to go into why. Damien would have called the police on Zillah or fucking leave before he got in too deep. He’s just smart and capable like that. Dorjan (Break!Janus) was only in it for a few months before he fucked right out of that abusive relationship. I don’t think Damien would let a single thing pass, he’s got a serious amount of self-respect. Also, D’s parents are very nice. Part of Dante’s shit is his upbringing with his parents giving them a bad impression of how people should treat each other. And that’s not spoilers, it touches on it in the video call chapter.

My brother is a fucking flake but it is 5 in the morning so maybe he gets a free pass for not answering on his half of the cast. Something-something crying, I guess. Roan(Ro) might also be kind of at-risk since he really needs people to like him on a kind of dangerous level sometimes. I think Kal(Pat) and Liam(Logan) wouldn’t tolerate being in that situation as long as Dante did. Kal’s parents are actually decent and he knows red flags, and Liam is basically always looking for red flags. Paranoid little dude sometimes. They’re pretty ride-or-die for each other so they’d probably fight to get each other free, too. 

I agree with Break!Logan in that the only proper response to that situation is to get a spiked baseball bat and go ham. Though the security system on that house is extra and the narrative game for break kind of goes through why most of those options are a bad fucking plan. Poor Dante’s got it bad, even now. 

If we were backing up Dante we’d be rolling up with fucking swords and sweet, sweet dragon magic to take Zillah’s ass down. And Maybe also take Dante down to check them into residential. Imagine that conversation, though, right? “Hey dude we’re from another universe and this guy’s been abused and tortured for two years, please assist” and then we just fuck off back to our own dimension. Wild. Dae says he refuses to write crossovers, so my answers are technically “noncanon”, but I have a pretty good fucking idea, okay? Okay. He’s letting me answer because I’m answering “as an alter”, blah blah blah. IDK like I know Ruy and Ras aren’t old enough to read Break but I’d be interested in an adult Dreaming!Roman in that situation? I mean he’s tolerated some shit but those little fucks are creative and will likely do something completely over the top to get roman out because you know Ras would be like “are you serious with me get the hell out of there”. Maybe they’d somehow get the fucking plea vampires up in there??? You know Tempest and D aren’t letting Zillah get out of that alive. 

I’ve read Break and like what the fuck Dae but honestly we been knew that he’s a sick son of a bitch so that’s not news. Rebuild is wild as shit, too, have fun with that, guys. Daeram says it’s “difficult to edit because of the nuance of Dante’s situation”, but there’s a lot of chapters already.

Anyway, rephrase the question if I didn’t answer it right and maybe I can try again. Or whoever, I’m just the PD fuck that fronts the most lately because I’m supporting my bro Steve’s gay shenanigans.

Vesper wants everyone to know he will ascend to a new dimension when the Among Us update comes out and wants to play it with everyone ever. Also if anyone is willing to play the Arsonist mod with us until then, we’d love that. Hit us up on the server.

Ayri again and oh rain two ADHDers confronted and ascended to a place where time doesn’t matter but now the sun is going to fucking rise. I put in the fictive’s sources because Ram always calls them by their new names and pronouns. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh just adding that yes Daeram doesn’t believe in doing crossovers for our AU’s but the fictives interact from time to time and they certainly don’t mind answering questions about that stuff. Dae’ll stop them if spoilers. Fictives don’t front super often but like most of my asks sit in the box for months anyway because tumblr keeps not alerting me they exist. I’ll get to the other asks I found tomorrow if I remember. I think Ram kind of went overboard but he stands by what he said so whatever have fun with it? 

[nire-the-mithridatist]

babe ya gurl wants a reverse manmaid plz. brienne the manmaid and jaime the man.

The lore here isn't like the other fic because I want a different feel? I mean I never claim to be good at lore so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

•••

Jaime notices the woman the first day she shows up in town. Lannisport may have grown and changed, but a newcomer is a newcomer, and no matter the colouring or accent they stick out like a sore thumb. This one has the bearings of a tourist, at a glance. Not the insistent energy of someone who's staying, or the purposeful stride of someone who's here for business. No, the woman—all six feet and some inches of her, wrapped in a loose sundress and a light cardigan—can almost pass as an aimless tourist, but something about her is not quite typical tourist.

Nothing about her is typical, he finds out later, but the first day he merely glances at her figure, sitting under a parasol, sipping water, and then his work takes him elsewhere.

•••

The second day, Jaime comes to meet local businesses and talk about the town's annual summer festival. His brother is there, mostly as the main financier. He wears a strand of pearls, multicoloured and uneven, in place of a chain for his pocket watch. When Jaime mentions it, Tyrion's mouth split into a grin.

"This?" he asks, playing with the pearls. "Why, the biggest woman I've ever laid eyes on sold me this and a host of other treasures, yesterday."

"What other treasure?" Tyrion runs the town's pawn shop, and the work has clearly fed into his fanciful nature. One can only be so clinical around old valuables that carry ghosts with them.

"A handful of Dornish doubloons, some other jewelries, a sapphire that's the size of my fist... I could go on, really."

Jaime rolls his eyes. "Next you'll tell me she's a mermaid," he says, flippantly, though his mind goes to the woman under the parasol.

"I'm only partly exaggerating. She brought two doubloons, no more, these pearls, and nothing else. I emptied my cash register and told her I'd get back to her once I find a buyer for the doubloons. She doesn't seem to care. The way she's dressed, I think she's just happy I don't kick her out."

All these should be red flags, but Tyrion talks about it as if it's just another day at work. Jaime finds it ridiculous. "How was she dressed?" he asks anyway.

"In a nightdress from the 1800s, tattered and stiff with salt. I gave her something to change into. I don't buy a lot of clothes, but these are silk and designer, though not nearly as expensive as a doubloon."

"A sundress and a cardigan?" Jaime asks again, because he has to know.

Tyrion leans back and stops playing with the strand of pearls. "You've met her," he says.

"I've seen her. Obviously not a local."

Shaking his head, Tyrion gathers his things. "Careful, Jaime. I'm not saying she's a siren, but if she is, she will drown you."

•••

The third day, Jaime is walking back from work—after a fashion. Technically, the route from City Hall to home doesn't pass the shoreline, but he likes watching the sun set with sand between his toes. Most afternoons, he has his shoes hanging from his hand as he walks the line where the sand starts to get damp.

There's some sloppily folded clothes on the beach, a pair of sandals next to it. He runs into such things, but this time he's away from the crowded tourist area, and also, the clothes?

A cardigan and a sundress, light silk and designer.

A splash that's not quite the waves turns his head, and there he sees it: the same woman, naked this time, freckled all over with hair that can almost be rockweed, and a sliver of vivid pink that reminds Jaime of his old betta fish.

The woman sees him and ducks, submerging her entire body, head included.

Jaime waits.

She peeks out, frowning at him. She's too far away for him to see the colour of her eyes, but he can see her skin turning red.

"Hello," he shouts.

She ducks again and doesn't reappear. Jaime waits for a few moments, then decides to leave lest she needs her clothes and he's keeping her away from them.

•••

Days pass and Jaime thinks he sees the siren out of the corner of his eye, but she always disappears before he can turn his head and look properly.

•••

She comes to him, eventually.

She wears a loose dress shirt and tight pants that make her look like a dashing hero out of a bodice-ripper. The clothes are new. Expensive. Tyrion must have found a buyer for those doubloons.

"Good afternoon," Jaime says, ever the dutiful clerk, though inward he sighs the way he does when he finally can smell the sea after a day of being stuck at work. "How can I help you?"

"Your brother told me to find you. He said you can help me get something more permanent than a hotel."

"You're staying."

"I am." She lifts her gaze, and at last he sees her eyes. They are quite a sight. She could tell him that the entire Narrow Sea is bottled in them, and he would thank her for trusting him with that secret.

"Not going back into the sea?"

She turns as pink as her now-nonexistent tail, but she holds his stare. "There's nothing left for me there."

Jaime looks around. The other counters are busy with their own business, and the ceiling fan makes a sound loud enough to distract anyone trying to listen, but he lowers his voice anyway. "If I do this for you, I would be breaking more than a few laws, and I need to know I'm not doing it for a stranger."

"I can pay you," she says.

"I don't need your money," Jaime says. "I need the truth."

She opens her mouth, hesitates, looks around. "Not here."

"Your name, then, to start with."

"Brienne. I come from Tarth."

"Brienne of Tarth." The name settles in him just right. He smiles. "My name's Jaime. I look forward to hearing your story."

[jadekitty777]

I debated so hard on what words to pick for my request but! I think I've finally settled on "Trust" and "Dance"! Tbh I know you only sent me one word, though, so if you would rather just pick one or the other and go with that, that's totally fine! Whatever tickles your fancy, honestly. I'll be happy to read any Taiqrow you write askldfm

Me: Drabble? That’s like five thousand words, right?

I’m pretty sure getting me to write something concisely is moreimpossible than finding Atlantis. But I’m so super pleased with how this oneturned out. Also, I re-wrote the summary no less than six times.

Title: Won’t Say, Don’t Say (I’m Falling in Love)

Summary: A bitter loner and a hopeless romantic walk into a bar onenight… and you all know how this joke ends, don’t you? [Modern AU]

Rating: T

Pairings: Taiqrow and Raven/Summer

AO3 Link: Right Here!

~

The bumping sounds of bass spilled out the door of the danceclub as it was opened and then closed with the admittance of another patron,moving the rest of those waiting in line another blissful inch. Tai steppedforward, grateful they were almost to the front. He rocked on his heels toalleviate some of the ache in his knees, looking down when he felt Summer latchonto his arm. She had probably spent an hour in front of the mirror, each bitof her make-up so immaculately placed, with glitter accents around her eyesthat would sparkle under the colored lights once they hit the floor. She wasdefinitely dressed to impress tonight.

“Ooh, I can’t wait for you to meet them!”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was probably thefifth time he’s heard that since he’d agreed to join her.  “Don’t get tooexcited Sums. I came along to have fun, not find a date.”

“Yeah, you say that, buuuut-” She trailed off, letting therest of the sentence hang.

“Hey, I’ve been getting better!” He argued, tucking his facein his collar.

“To get better, you need to actually date someoneTai. Not avoid dating entirely. That’s called ‘ignoring the problem.’.”

“I’m not ignoring it. I’m just… taking a break!”

“Uh-huh. Sure.”

Tai sighed. He knew there really wasn’t any use in arguing.He was pretty sure there was some unwritten universal law that if you knew aperson for more than fifteen years, it was impossible to lie to them. Or maybehe just couldn’t lie to the one girl that he introduced himself to by placing acrown of dandelions on her head while declaring her as his ‘forever flowerprincess’. She responded to such an honest declaration of love in the way anyeight-year-old should: By calling him a stupid dum-dum and throwing sand in hisface.

They’d been best friends ever since.

Of course, having such an honorary place in his life alsomeant that she got to watch from a front row seat whenever he got his heartbroken. Almost like a true movie-goer, the first few times she saw the storyplay out, her heart-strings tugged at his every struggle and pain. By the tenth time,she was yelling at the screen for him to stop making the same stupid decisionsbefore the first scene was even over. Eventually, those criticisms and hisaching chest got through to him, and he decided to just stop performingaltogether.

He had a suspicion that because the screen had stayed blackfor more than a year now, his biggest fan had grown bored with the lack ofentertainment. Why else would she try to turn herself into a director?

“I’m just saying, if you meet someone you like, you shouldgive it a chance.” She jabbed her elbow into his side. “I know you miss beingsomeone’s prince.”

He nudged her back, but her smile was too infectious not tocatch. “Oh, shut up.”

“You know you love me.” She said. A buzzing drew herattention and she pulled out her phone from her handbag. Tai’s assumptions thatit was her girlfriend was proven right when Summer announced, “Raven saidthey’re at the corner of the bar when we get inside.”

Just in time too, because they were next in line. Afterbeing carded and screened, they were allowed inside. It was like walking fromnight into day, the air turning from brisk and breezy to heavy and hot withinseconds of entering the club, the ground under his feet seeming to shake withevery beat of the rhythm blasting from the speakers. Tai had to blink awayspots as he adjusted to the flashing lights.

Summer stood on her tiptoes, scoping out the room. “Oh, Isee them!” She tugged him along as she weaved around the crowd and straighttowards a pair sitting at the quieter end of the bar. His eyes were drawn tothe female of the two, impressed by the wild, black hair cascading down herback. “Rae!”

And it was she who turned to that call, giving him his firstgood look at the mysterious girlfriend he’d been hearing about for weeks. Shewas as stunning as Summer had gushed over, her facial features a perfectcontrast of sharp in the nose and chin, yet delicate in the pale moonlit whiteof her skin and eyes red like gemstones. He may have even thought herdangerous, if not for the way her lips eased into a welcoming smile.

Summer unlatched herself from him, skirting the last fewfeet forward and right into her arms. And then she leaned up and – okay yeah,he didn’t need to watch his admittedly gorgeous friend kissing an equallygorgeous woman. It probably wasn’t good for his health.

Taiyang avoided it by focusing on the second half of the pair,whom was now leaning back against the counter. As he met dusky red eyes, heswore he heard his mind screech to a halt.

For if there was ever a person that perfectly defined bothstrikingly handsome and breathtakingly beautiful, that was Qrow Branwen. It washard to pinpoint exactly what made him so, other than to say all of him. From slicked back, coal-darkhair to the hint of stubble that accented an angled jawline or the too-tightdress shirt with the top two buttons undone, revealing just enough to tease, tothe long legs that couldn’t teasetheir flexibility, every bit of him seemed to just be another something to appreciate.He was like a puzzle; the pieces alone didn’t seem like much, but when puttogether the correct way it became a work of art.

Qrow shot him an easygoing smile, tilting his half-fullglass as a greeting wave. “Hey, you must be Tai.”

Dear gods, and a voice that sounded like it was constantlywrecked by sex. That was just notfair.

He swallowed hard against his suddenly dry throat. “Yeah.And you’re Qrow. Hey.” He tacked on lamely. What a night to lose his charisma.

Thankfully, he wasn’t left to flounder long as Raven spokeup, “And I’m Raven. Charmed, really.” Her arms made a loose circle aroundSummer’s waist, tugging her close. “So, now that we’re all acquainted: Drinksor dance floor?”

Knowing there was no way in hell he was getting on the floorwithout being at least semi-drunk, Tai quickly offered, “I vote drinks” just asSummer said, “I want to dance!”

Qrow gestured to his own glass as a sign of his own opinion.

Raven shrugged, slipping off her bar stool. “Guess we’resplitting up then.” She pulled off the leather jacket, tossing it over herbrother’s head. “Be a good coat rack and hold that for me.”

He yanked it off, saying irritably, “Three songs and thenwe’re switching.”

“We’ll see.”

As they bickered, Summer turned to him, the glitter aroundher face only accenting her puppy-dog gaze as she held her girly handbag towardshim. “Please?”

Tai rolled his eyes, hooking his fingers around the strap.“Go have fun.”

“You’re the best!” She beamed, before following after Raven,walking so close they practically melded at the hip.

In the wake of their departure, the appointed coat racktipped his head towards the now empty bar stool, in which the appointed pursehook gratefully took.

Qrow swung himself around, flagging down the bartender as heasked him, “So, what’s your taste?”

It took Tai a moment to realize he meant for alcohol. “Oh,uh, Four Roses, if they have it.”

A whistle. “A bourbon man, huh? Didn’t take ya for thetype.”

“Didn’t used to be. I tried it on a dare. Just ended upliking it.”

“Wonder who that was.” The way he said that implied Qrowknew exactly who had been the instigator. He lent towards him. “Hey, can I dareyou to try another?”

Tai met his gaze, not sure what to make of the almostmischievous grin gracing those pretty features. “Uh, like?”

“What’ll ya have boys?”

Qrow winked at him, before turning to the bartender. “I’lltake another double of scotch, on the rocks. My friend here’ll have some OldCrow, nice and neat.”

Tai could immediately catch the bourbon’s scent the momentit was placed in front of him. It smelled almost sweet, more like a fancymartini, than the bitter, burning whiskey he was imagining. Entirely aware ofthe eyes watching his every movement, he lifted his glass and took the first,brave sip.

And, it was…

Huh.

He lowered the glass, mildly confused. Why did it taste likelightly buttered toast?

Beside him, Qrow had dissolved into laughter, restrained butlively. “It’s weird, right?”

“Not really what I was expecting.” He took another sip,adjusting to the flavor. He’d had better, but for a bottom shelf drink, it wasn’tbad. It had that tame, moderate sort of kick he’d grown to enjoy. “It’s fineenough to drink.”

That mischievous smile was back. “Oh good. Because you’ll bedrinking a lot of crow tonight.”

Tai choked on air. “E-Excuseme?!”

Qrow pounded at the counter, howling with laughter. “Youshould see your face! Man, that was one of my best lines!”

He sighed, setting his glass down with a decisive thud. Evenat only twenty-five, he was too old for this game. “Alright, are you flirtingwith me or messing with me?”

He held his forefinger and thumb a millimeter apart, “Lil’bit of both,” before reaching out for his drink.

Tai watched him drown it, asking, “Why?”

A second thud as another glass hit the counter, ice cubescackling together. “Did you know every time I walked into the room, you justconveniently became the hot topic of conversation?” Qrow finally looked to him,raising an eyebrow. “Summer’s not exactly subtle.”

“Oh Gods.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, wishing theground would just open up underneath him and portal him straight to Hell. “I’msorry. She means well. She’s just got it in her head that I’m lonely.”

“Bet it came with a bunch of ‘You’re not getting anyyounger’ and ‘Love is worth the risk’ speeches, right?”

He groaned. “Yep. Guess the pain’s mutual, huh?”

“Eh.” He shrugged. “Honestly, it was more a change of pace.No one has ever felt they needed to play Cupid for me. I mean, of course not.When you look this good, the romance comes to you.” He gestured grandly tohimself, and had Tai not been practically drooling at his feet not ten minutesago, he might have called him out on his ego. Qrow spared him another wink. “Tobe frank, you don’t look like you need it either.”

Oh. Tai felt hisface flame up, rubbing the back of his neck. “Thanks.”

His smile went from coy to relaxed. “To also be frank, I’mnot looking for a commitment and from your response, I don’t think you reallyare either. I am however hoping to have a good time tonightand if I can do that with a sexy guy, all the more reason. So, what say we getdrunk off our asses, make fools of ourselves on the dance floor and call it anight?”

It was amazing just how much that simple suggestion easedthe tension out of him. He grinned back at him. “I say let’s do it.”

“Alright, then. Cheers!”

The clink of their glasses sealed the promise, and as Taichugged his drink, he figured the night might just be looking up after all.

~

It was probably their fourth round on the dance floor and itwas practically sweltering. He could feel sweat clinging to him, head spinningwith a wonderful dizziness. Qrow was a better sight; his hair had fallen into amess at some point, bangs plastered attractively along his forehead, and he’dundone a few more buttons of his shirt, revealing a bit more of those nicelydefined pecs. Watching him move to the beat, Tai couldn’t figure out if thefloor was so hot because of how many people were around him, or if it wassimply because Qrow was on it.

Wait, that was a good one!

He caught his fingers into his dance partner’s belt loops,yanking him in close. He had to lean into his ear, just so he could hear him. “Hey,got something to tell ya!”  

“Yeah?” Qrow slurred back, slinging his arms up around hisneck. The sudden closeness had broken their rhythm, just leaving them to swaytogether.

Tai searched his brain, trying to remember. What was itexactly? Oh, Right!  “You’re pretty.” Henestled himself into his shoulder, hiding his goofy grin against the other’sneck. Fingers ran through his hair, petting him in soothing motions that made hiseyes flutter shut.

So nice.

Qrow was nice.

He liked him.

He wanted to dance with him forever.

“Hey. Listen.” Qrow’s lips touched against his ear, creatinghappy tingles that rushed down his spine. “This song’s for us.”

Tai did his best to focus as commanded, a few of the lyrics driftingaround them becoming startlingly clear.

“What are the chancesthat we’d end up dancing?

Like two in a million,like once in a life.”

The music lifted away, the words becoming inaudible. He liftedhis head, trying to follow their retreat, but his head was heavier then heremembered, and he had to rest it again – this time with his forehead layingagainst Qrow’s own. The magic of them staring into one another’s eyes broughtthe song back.

“Is it love? Is itfate?

Where it leads, whocan say?

Maybe you and I weremeant to be.”

Qrow laced his fingers around the back of Tai’s neck,tilting just enough that their lips brushed together. A second later, he triedagain, kissing him with more earnest.

Whoa, too fast! Toofast! His brain jittered in alarm.

The sweep of a tongue along his lips halted the warningsaltogether.

…Ah, screw it.

Tai tangled his own hands into Qrow’s hair, opening hismouth to him. Their tongues took the place of their feet, dancing together tothe music of their souls. Every breath between them harmonized, every nerve ontheir bodies sang, every beat of their hearts rose up, up, up to the crescendowithout ever needing to fall.

He really wanted to dance with him forever.

It wasn’t meant to be. Qrow broke back first with a gasp,stumbling into him despite the fact they were not moving. “Got to sit. You’regiving me a fever.”

“’Kay.” Tai obliged, tugging him along by his waist as theybumbled about the crowd. It could have been seconds or minutes before they sawthe line of the bar again.

His partner continued to cling to him, head lolling againsthis arm. “Like you. You’re built like a tree.”

The words tumbled out without thought, “Perfect for you toperch on.”

Qrow laughed loudly. He reached out to pat his shoulder,missed, and hit his collarbone instead. “Sunshine, you are so getting mynumber.”

Number of what? Taipondered as the night faded to a blur.

He woke up at home, headache pounding behind his eyes andmuscles aching from the night.

On his phone was a single text from an unknown sender, apossibility in the words:

Call me soon, Sunshine.

~

As Qrow added creamer to the two cups of coffee, the soundof songbirds made him look back towards the kitchen table. His phone had lit upwith a new notification, but that wasn’t his ringtone. He glanced at theobvious culprit. “Did you really?” He asked.

“Whatever do you mean, dear brother?” Raven said, lookingjust a little too smug not to be guilty.

He shook his head, trying to hide his own amusement. Hedidn’t understand how she kept figuring out his password. At least it was tamerthen the death metal she had chosen last time. He stored the creamer back intothe fridge, and as he set her cup down in front of her, said, “You know, if youever decide to use your powers for evil, you’ll be a force to be reckonedwith.”

“I’m shocked and appalled that you don’t already consider meas such.”

“Pff, whatever.” He plopped down beside her, taking a drinkof his own coffee as he reached for his phone, absently wondering if it wouldbe a joke or just a peppy hello today. Qrow didn’t usually like the clingyones, but somehow, it was hard to be annoyed with Tai about it. It was likegetting mad at a puppy.

So used to their routine that had built over the past twomonths, he was caught off guard by his disappointment when he realized it wasKimi instead.

Hey babe ;) Lookingfor a good time tonight?

He hesitated.

For a moment.

And then typed back a reply. Your place or mine?

He dropped the device back to the table, trying to drown theunexpected twisting in his stomach with half a mugful of coffee. Nothing couldsoothe the burn of Raven’s eyes on him though. “What?” He asked tersely.

“Oh, nothing.” She replied, taking a sip from her ownflower-patterned cup. He thought that would be it. “Summer told me somethinginteresting about your new boytoy.”

He really should have known better by now not to hope forthings. “Yeah? What about him?”

“He’s apparently a hopeless romantic.” She gestured betweenthem, the sudden singing birds from his phone accentuating the motion as shemimed a rainbow. “Disney-Level hopeless.”

“So? Tai knows I’m not in it for the long game.”

“Does he now?” Before he could react, Raven’s hand struckout like a viper, snatching up his phone. “Then I guess you won’t mind if I tellhim you’ll be busy hooking-up with someone else tonight.”

“What-” Qrow lurched after it, trying to wrestle it from hergrasp, spewing obscenities all the while, “Fucking – god damn – Raven cut itthe hell out!”

He got a grip on her arm, but as he made a grab for hisphone, she caught his wrist, twisting it back. As he ceded in pain, Raven spokesharply over his whimpers, “If you’re this scared about it, then why do it atall?”

He spit back in her face, “Don’t act like some fucking saintRae. You used to be worse than me.” Another hiss escaped between his teeth whenher nails dug into his skin, but it would take more than that for him to backdown. “I’m not dumb. You don’t care about me. You’re only acting like thisbecause you know if I break his heart, it could mess things up with you andSummer.”

“Well.” Her grip finally relented. “You’re half-right atleast.”

He took the opportunity to yank his phone from her. Wantingnothing more than to get as far away from her as possible, he wrenched himselffrom his seat, intent on sealing himself away in his room for a few hours.

He didn’t even get to the living room before there was ascrap of another chair being shoved back. “Qrow?” She called after him. Thetemptation to ignore her was strong, and he would have, had she not added, “Youwere half-wrong too. I do care about you.”

Qrow stopped, frowning down at the water stains that warpedthe wood floor of their cheap apartment, before finally looking back at her. Itwas odd, seeing Raven look so kind, so soft. When had she changed so much? Ormaybe he was the one who hadn’t changed enough.

“I get it you know.” She stepped towards him. “What ourparents did, it hurt me too.”

He crossed his arms, avoiding her gaze. “At least you didn’tget thrown out twice.”

Raven would sometimes still joke about how, with the waythey grew up, they could have been the poster children for television’s nextbig family drama series. Their parents argued about everything, sometimes gettingso heated they’d scream at the top of their lungs. Once, cops even showed up attheir house, having been called out by a concerned neighbor. He remembered thatnight with more clarity then he liked. What had spurred that argument had beenone about Raven.

It hadn’t been anything major – she had bit another kid atschool and got sent to the principal, who then informed their parents of theincident. Pretty typical stuff, and other than some detention, she wasn’treally in trouble. But at eight, he couldn’t understand that. He thought thepolice were there to take his sister away. They had both been so terrifiedabout losing the one person that made their home bearable, they had jumped outthe window and climbed up the oak tree in the backyard. The deputy only foundthem because they thought cawing like the birds they were named after wouldthrow him off from their hiding spot.

That night was only a precursor to what would come when, atten, their parents finally divorced and split them as if they were just anotherasset, a bunch of knickknacks to be bargained for. Not their own children. Children who begged and cried tobe allowed to stay together. Children who knew being separated would hurt in away they couldn’t bear.

They might as well never have said a word for all thenothing it changed.

Four years they spent apart, until their father decided hewas done with that title and signed away his custody rights, kicking his ownson to the curb like unwanted trash. It should have been a relief, walking backthrough the front door of his childhood home. But it was already too late. Thedamage was done. To him and Raven, they had been taught the meaning of love wasa nightmare and they wanted no part in it.

For Qrow, that meant he spent his time throwing himself intomeaningless flings and short-term relationships that eventually dead-ended.When things started to get too serious, he bolted or self-sabotaged his wayout. Because if his parents had only ever taught him how to fail, how could heever do any better?

The brush of Raven’s hand on his arm brushed away thememories. He fully turned to face her, seeing his reflection in her, but it wascracking in spots. No longer a perfect mirror. No longer the same.

“Look, I’m glad that this commitment thing is working outfor you. Proud of you, even, that you’re getting past it.” Qrow sighed. “But Ican’t. I told myself I was never going to let anyone make me feel rejected likethat again. So, I won’t.”

She shook her head. “You’re hiding behind excuses, Qrow, andyou know it.”

Chirping made them both looked down. A new message hadpopped up above Kimi’s invitation.

G’morning babe! Do you have the night off? Maybe we couldcatch a movie?

Qrow could almost laugh at how simple it would be. How hecould just lie and jump into bed with someone else. To start calling off plans,avoid messages and calls, until Tai got tired of it and walked away from arelationship that would never go anywhere. How easy it was to break someoneelse’s heart and never risk his own.

As if she could see the dilemma running through his head,Raven reached out, blocking out the screen with her hand. “Listen, I’m notgoing to stand here and tell you that if you give it a chance, it’ll all justwork out in the end. When things fall apart, it hurts. But I will tell you for all the bad that could happen, thegood that does is what makes it worth it.” She looked away, lips quirking up ina gentle smile. “You haven’t let yourself fall in love, so you don’t know, butwhen it’s real, you’ll want to fight for it with everything you have.”

Wait. She couldn’t actually mean-?

The realization hit him like a train. When had things gottenthat serious? “You’re… falling in love with Summer, aren’t you?”

That soft look was back. The immovable stone wall he used tosee his sister as was crumbling, the dust of the destruction blowing away inthe happy laugh that escaped her. “I, yeah. I am. I’m not sure where things aregoing to go for us from here, but I am sure I want to see it through with her.And I know how hard it was for me to get this far. Giving her that much ofmyself, it’s scary. I can’t ask you to do the same.” She gave his arm a solidpat. “But if I can’t ask that, then I am going to be selfish and ask you tobreak it off with Tai honestly. For me.”

He shut his eyes, heaving a sigh against the weight that hadsettled on his chest. “Okay.”

“Thank you.”

As she walked back into the kitchen, Qrow called after herthis time, “Hey, Rae?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s really that good?”

She peered at him over her shoulder, a knowing gleam in hereye. “Let me put it this way: Love and Nirvana work the same way. To find it,first you need to take a leap of faith.”

Those words stuck with him, repeating in his mind as he saton his bed, thumb hovering between the two messages.

“A leap, huh?” He whispered to himself.

He swiped across the screen and typed a reply:

Sorry, can’t tonight. Maybe another time?

Now if only he could be brave enough to jump.

~

Qrow walked down the sidewalk, hands stuffed in his pocketsto hide from the evening wind’s late-night chill. As he approached the frontdoor, the streetlamps combating the overhead lights from the building split hisshadow in two, one forever reaching the direction he could have gone as theother stretched before him.

He followed its guide, pulling open the door and walkinginto the warmth of the cinema. Above the noise of popping popcorn and the vibranttunes of arcade games, he heard a faint call of his name.

“Qrow!” Tai waved as he strode towards him, grinningbrightly.

He was smiling before he even realized he was, meeting Taihalfway. “Hey Sunshine.” He said, wrapping him up in an embrace and kissing himchastely. “Got the tickets?”

“Yep. We’ve still got some time to get snacks too.”

Never one to pass up an opportunity to gorge himself onsodium and cholesterol, they got some popcorn and soda before heading in to thetheater. They bantered over where the best place to sit was – all argumentssuspiciously stopping when Qrow mentioned if they sat in the back, they couldjust make-out if the movie ended up being terrible. They got settled in, mostlyignoring the pre-commercials in favor of each other, Tai telling him about theracer he was getting to build at the machine shop while Qrow made him laugh ashe recounted his run-in at the gun range with a rather stiff-lipped upperclassman whose prosthetic arm just fell off while shooting.

“And so, he turns to me, right? And says ‘Little help’? AndI was so taken aback by what had happened, I didn’t know what to do! So, Isaid: ‘Buddy, there are a lot of hands I can give you. That ain’t one of them.’And then I just walked away like a total jackass!”

Tai held his stomach, saying between his hearty guffaws,“Nooo, you didn’t! That’s terrible!”

“I know.” Qrow ran a hand over his face, embarrassmentmaking his cheeks redden. “It was the worst.”

“Nah, what’s the worst is that you missed the opportunity tomake the best joke of all,” He was grinning hard enough to clear a manure field.“‘Well, that’s one way to disarmyourself.’”

“No! That’sawful!” He cried, throwing popcorn in the blond’s face as they dissolved intolaughter. Qrow was still struggling to get ahold of himself when he felt thesolidity of a strong arm coming around his shoulders, Tai dropping anaffectionate kiss against his temple. That arm stayed there long after thelights had dimmed and the real previews got going. He snuggled back into thecomforting hold, trading off mini-reviews with Tai as each trailer ran throughuntil the last one finally came to an end and the room became completely dark.

As the movie logo started to scroll across the screen, Tailent over, murmuring, “Hey. I’m really glad you’re here.”

Qrow froze, warning sirens going off in his head. Get out! Get out now!

The brush of warm fingers along his cheek silenced themcompletely.

His heart took the chance to skip closer to the edge. Stay, stay, stay, it beat.

Qrow caught Tai’s hand with his own, pressing his lips to hisknuckles. He then turned to him, staring into eyes so deep blue he could easilyfall forever in them, and whispered back in earnest, “Glad you’re here too.”

Tai closed the distance between them. As they kissed, Qrowfound he still wasn’t quite ready to leap the rest of the way.

But he was closer then he’d ever been before.

And maybe, whether it be tomorrow or next year, he wouldn’t justleap.

He’d soar.

[tizzybella12]

The Heaviest Heart on KQ 782/311 💓💓

It's 23:00 in Dubai on the 16 April. I've just checked in and my flight boards at 01:20. KQ 311 is a direct flight from Dubai to Nairobi (Kenya). And then I hop over to KQ 782, a Kenyan Airways flight from Nairobi to Cape Town, South Africa. I feel like I've waited my whole life to get on this flight. I just want to leave already. This day has been a TMI day. Too much information..I never thought my last two weeks let alone my last day in Dubai would end this way. But it has and as much as I want to fall apart, i can't. I need to be strong and I have to go home in one piece. I have interviews in two days and a life that must go on. So let me take you back to four months ago.....

There I was at 05:00 at Dubai International Airport. I had just made the biggest mistake of my life, and I didn't even know it.

This has been one of the most challenging four months of my life. Emotionally and Mentally. I'm exhausted. I haven't slept, eaten and lived my life properly in the longest time. When I landed in DXB on the 07th of December I told myself it was too late to turn back now. I had to be strong. I knew something didn't feel right about this job but I went against my gut and I followed through. I knew it would be hard and I would miss home and my friends. I was prepared for that. I was not prepared for what was about to come my way though...nothing could ever prepare me for the lies and unhappiness that followed. Both at work and my personal life.

Firstly if you are moving to a new country for work. Find out exactly what your job entails and exactly what you will be doing. The middle east is very fond of changing or tweeking "job titles". A butler is just a fancy word for buggy driver etc... A guest relations executive is a fancy word for a glorified waitress. That was my first mistake. I didn't bother researching my job. I was so engrossed and excited about moving to a new country that nothing else mattered.

The weeks that followed were torture, I just couldn't find my feet. I didn't understand the work operation. I didn't understand what my role was and I didn't want to in all honesty. I thought time would help. Keep in mind I was doing a job I had zero experience in. Oh yes, this is very common in the UAE. We will hire you regardless of your experience is their go to slogan. By now, two months had gone by and I still wasn't performing. I spoke to my manager about my issues, i wasn't coping and emotionally I was losing it. My mental health was starting to deteriorate rapidly. There was a sense of well "We all go through it". And we can't do anything to help you kind of attitude.

I had to think fast if I wanted to get out of this, so I did. I needed to take drastic measures. One week later I had successfully resigned. I was serving my notice and I would be going home in a few weeks. I did have second thoughts, but I had made a decision and I had to stand by it. ✌ As time went on I felt like a huge weight was taken off my shoulders. I was finally free. I was excited about going home. 😀🙏 I did what I had to do to be happy and I will always put my health first.

And then there was my "barely there" personal life...

This next part, I'm not really sure how to start. I was blindsided this time. I always thought South African guys were assholes, but wow you should travel more. 😂😟 They get more "assholier" north of the continent. I won't go into too much detail here. I guess I'm still trying to process it all. Guys are sneaky bastards (like leaving out the fact they are getting engaged and married soon). They tell you what you want to hear and they know how to manipulate their lies to their own selfish benefit. The bottom line is never take what they are telling you at face value and always look out for the red flags. They're always there we just choose to ignore them. I guess fantasy is better than reality sometimes.

Here's the thing, always use your instincts and your truth as your compass to navigate you through relationships. Whether it's friendships, platonic, romantic, etc. Never discredit your gut.

Below I've included some tips for how to weed out a "two timer much like the one I encountered in Dubai 😡:"

He's always on his phone when you're around:

Here's the truth, he's not texting his bff or his mum ladies. If you're around he shouldn't be texting at all. This is disrespectful and also a sign that he's not really that interested in you. If his phone seems more appealing perhaps he should have stayed home and you should be out with someone else who will respect your time and effort.

  2. He doesn't pay attention when you talk to him:

He never listens to you, or he seems distracted when you have a conversation with him. Or try to. He brushes you off. Or he says things like "you already told me that". Ugggh who wants to be around someone who doesn't pay attention to them. ✌Also it's not easy for someone with a double life to pay attention to so many woman!

3. The wondering eye:

This is an obvious one. Girls if he takes you to a bar and starts telling you he's hooked up with half the bar, run! He's doing it to seem cool but that's not a good reflection of him. And chances are, he has hooked up with all of them!

4. He starts being distant:

When a guy starts being distant he's trying to get rid of you to make room for a new person. It's really that simple..don't make excuses and try to give him the benefit of the doubt. Guys get bored after the chase is over, it's not your fault. He has his own issues.

5. He hides you from his friends and refers to his ex as crazy:

If you have never met his friends, there's a problem. He's hiding you and you deserve to be shown off to the world girl!

If he tells you that his ex is or was crazy there's a problem. Why was she crazy? What made her so crazy?? Guys say this when they have done something wrong in the relationship and aren't ready to take ownership for their fault in it. Watch out for this line.

As woman we tend to be naive, but you pick up on patterns and you need to remember these in every relationship you get into. Don't be hard on yourself, men are great at the game of deception and take great pleasure in making us feel bad about it.

As for me, I'm adjusting to being home for now and spending my time with people who are positive and who contribute good vibes to my life. I've made God and prayer the centre of my life, not just in the tough times but the good to. I'm committed to having a good life moving forward. One with balance. Thank you to everyone who supported me and sent me good wishes when I was going through a tough time abroad. I'm home now and my heart is happy again. ❤🙏

They say.....Time Heals All..but the scars remain to show us how far we have come.