#and a part of me knows that i wont just suddenly start posting regularly on here again

[rudescape]

hell o

just gonna vent in the tags real quick

[sunflowerdarlingx]

Fred Weasley - “Fred doesnt date” 2

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all okay <3

Here is part two to “Fred doesn’t date”, please let me know what you think, I do have a part three idea ready but wont post it unless some of you want it. 

PART ONE

Female Reader 

Warnings: none 

------------------------

Some might say Fred Weasley was scared to commit, some would say he enjoyed the player lifestyle and others would say he was some sort of sex addict who just enjoyed multiple partners but not all at once.

The truth was, Fred was indeed scared. He felt that the people close to him were he only ones he could trust, the only ones he could truly open up to. He was very happy with his life and his relationships, those he chose to build were stronger than most. He never expected to be drawn to Y/N, he also never expected to develop the feeling he did.  

He was utterly shocked at the way their relationship progressed, he had never felt this before, the butterflies he would get when he saw her or the way his heart fluttered when their skin made the slightest contact or the undeniable feeling of love he had when she fell asleep in the common room all cuddled up into Fred’s chest after a night of her homework and him planning pranks.

This is why Fred Weasley didn’t date. It always got complicated. Feelings of anger, hatred, sadness filled him up and he couldn’t take his eyes away from the scene in front of him. Cedric placed a kiss on Y/N’s jawline before placing one on the corner of her lips. Soon enough his lips were on hers as his hand moved down to her waist whilst the other supported the back of her neck so he could pull her closer.

Fred knew he should look away, he knew he was torturing himself watching the scene in front of him unfold.  

He wanted to scream, he wanted to go over there and pull Cedric as far away from Y/N as he could. An overwhelming need to break his hands for even touching Y/N in such away creeped inside his body and his fists clenched at his side.

How dare he.  

How dare he stand there and touch her, kiss her, do all the things that Fred should be doing with her.  

Surely he had heard the rumours. He knows how close they had been getting. How dare he interrupt that and take her away from him.  

Tears pricked at the corner of Freds eyes, threatening to spill at any moment. He knew he couldn’t stay there, so he didn’t. He forced himself to look away form the two and turned to head back to his dorm.  

He thought Y/N liked him, he thought she felt the same way he did. Why did she kiss Cedric if she knew?

He was angry with himself, he was so stupid to let himself get attached to her in the first place, he knew it was a bad idea but she was so bloody addictive. Every little thing about her drove him mad but in the best way possible.  

As Fred walked down the corridor the tears started to fall freely from his eyes, scared someone would see him he ran as fast as he could up to his dorm. A few girls saw him and tried to stop and speak to him but his feet carried him straight past them. His top teeth were embedded in his bottom lip to stop the sound of heartbreak escaping his mouth.

Even after what he just saw, no other girl could take his attention away from Y/N. He made it to his dorm, he was greeted by a smiling George who soon had a look of fear paint his face.  

“What’s wrong Freddie?” his voice was laced with concern as he walked over to his brother. He had never seen Fred in such a state. His eyes were red and puffy, his cheeks were wet with tears and his lip was bleeding slightly. It was obvious this wasn’t from a fight so what had gotten Fred so worked up?

Fred stood still in front of his brother, he looked around the room before a broken sob left his mouth, George’s heart broke at the sound. George wrapped his arms around Fred and pulled him close. “Mate what is it? You know you can tell me anything”  

Loud broken cry’s left Freds mouth as all his emotions bubbled over, chocked sobs and snotty sniffles filled the room as he collapsed against George. Though Fred and George loved each other dearly, they never really hugged, it wasn’t uncommon but it wasn’t something they did regularly. They usually hugged when something good happened, like when they got the money for the shop that they planned on opening over the summer or when it was their birthday. George couldn’t believe that the reason they were hugging was because Fred was, well heart broken.

“Digger kissed her, he actually fucking kissed her” Fred shouted as he pulled away from George. “How fucking dare he, who does he think he is” he pulled his shirt over his head and wiped his face with it before putting it in the wash basket.  

“Fuck...Fred I’m so sorry” George had never seen Fred so angry, even loosing quidditch to Slytherin never had him this mad. His hands were in fists by his sides whilst his chest heaved with anger, jaw clenched.  

“I should have asked her sooner Georgie, why the fuck didn’t I ask her sooner” soon the anger was replaced by sadness, which consumed Freds body as he lay in his bed. He’s never been so emotional before, his heart literally felt like it had been broken in two, he felt weak… hopeless  

“Cmon mate, why don’t we go down to dinner, food will help and I’m sure we could see if the elf’s could get you ice cream, like what mum does when you’re upset”  

Fred buried himself in his duvet, “nah I think I’m gonna stay here, don’t really want to have to sit and watch her and perfect Diggory be all over each other again”

“I’ll take you something back then, just please come and find me if you need me, even send one of the first years down and I’ll be here as soon as I can okay?”  

Fred nodded “turn off the lights please on your way out”, George left the room and anger flooded his body. He hated seeing any of his family sad but the fact it was Fred, it was prankster Fred who was always laughing but now broken, angered him even more. He wanted Fred to be happy but after seeing the state he was in, it felt like it would be a while before laughing Fred returned.  

-

“Ced, I really think we should go and find Fred, what if he’s looking for us” Y/N pulled Cedric by the hand towards the staircase leading to the Gryffindor common rooms.  

Cedric pulled her back toward him, wrapping his arm around her waist “cmon you agreed to a snack first” he looked down at Y/N with his best pleading eyes. She rolled her eyes before grinning at the boy beside her “fine, only because I’m hungry”  

They made their way down the corridor, “he’s probably off shagging some girl in our year, doubt he’s looking for you”. Y/N felt angry hearing that, she knew Fred had a reputation but they had been getting closer and going on dates and stuff, surely he wouldn’t be off seeing other girls when he was suppose to be spending the day with her George and Lee.  

“I don’t think so Ced, he was suppose to be spending the day with us” her voice was quiet as she looked ahead of her.  

“Oh cmon Y/N you can’t be serious, Fred doesn’t care about that, as long as he’s getting a shag then he’s happy” Cedric laughed. “What’s going on with you two anyway?”  

“Fred and Me? Nothing...we are just friends” Y/N looked down at the ground, the thought of Fred with another girl upset her, Y/N had always hoped that the rumours going around school just now were secretly true. That Fred was finally settling down with someone. With her.  

Cedric turned them so Y/N rested against the wall, “are we friends Y/N” he asked as he rested his elbow above her.  

“Of course Cedric, why would you ask that?” she looked up at him, forcing a smile.

“Well if I’m honest, I’ve always liked you Y/N, obviously I figured it’s better to tell you now before it’s too late. Especially since I’m leaving at the end of the year.”  

“Oh Cedric...I’m not sure what to say, I’m flattered really” suddenly her shoes looked very interesting.  

“Cmon Y/N, I’m so much better for you than Weasley, he can’t give you the things I can, plus you know his reputation just as well as I do. Remember that time Lucy is my year came into the common room crying her eyes out because Fred said he didn’t want her? What makes you think you’d be different?”

Y/N couldn’t help but frown. Cedric was right, Fred did have a reputation for hurting girls, she never thought he would really mean to hurt them but what if he did? He’d led her on and now he was no where to be seen.  

Why would Fred change for her? She was nothing special. Plenty girls at school were prettier than she was, smarter than she was. She was a fool for thinking Fred would want something more.

“We would be good together Y/N and you know it. Summers in Italy or at yours, your brother loves me already so we know he’d be on board with it us. Plus, look” he gestured down to his body “who could say no to all this”.  

Y/N couldn’t help but giggle at Cedric, she had always found him quite attractive, though they really only started speaking last year, Y/N had lost all her puppy fat over the summer, her boobs had gotten a bit bigger and her arse and curves were more defined.  

“Hmm summers in Italy do sound good” she teased  

“I’d hope I’d get your attention more than just through the summer” he leaned down placing a kiss on her cheek.  

“I’m sure we could arrange that if it’s your deepest desire” he smirked against her before placing another kiss on her cheek.  

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted” he teased, placing another kiss on her jaw, “can I kiss you?” His voice was a low whisper in her ear. Y/N wasn’t sure what to say, on one hand she would like to kiss Cedric, she did use to have a crush on him, but the other part of her wanted to say no, hopeful that Fred would maybe want her.  

Her body reacted before she could, nodding at Cedric. He grinned down at her, he ran his hand across her cheek pushing her baby hairs back form her face, she giggled at the contact.  Cedric placed a soft delicate kiss on her jaw and then her lips, soon enough their lips where moving in sync but something felt off.  

She pulled away before smiling up at Cedric “cmon we better go and get ready for supper” she places her hand in his and pulled him towards the common room.

-

When she got to dinner she sat with Cedric, laughing with him and his friends, her attention was drown to the flash of ginger hair walking into the hall. It was George, she looked over and smiled at him, shock consumed her when he glared at her. If looks could kill she’d have been dead.  

His eyes trailed down to the table where Cedric has his hand rested on top of hers. George looked angry, his face turned slightly red and his nostrils flared. He walked over to the Gryffindor table, immediately meeting with lots of “you okay George?” “Where’s Fred?” “What’s got you so angry?”.

He was sat with Lee, Angie, Alicia and Katie, once he told them all what happened they were fuming. None of them really liked Diggory in all honesty, from the way he acted during quidditch to his show off personality, they all thought he was a bit of a tool.  

To say there were all shocked was an understatement, they had all seen Y/N and Fred together and even they knew they were more than friends.  

“Well I won’t be saying hi to her again any time soon” Alicia said in a bitchy tone, “how could she do that to Fred?”.

-

Fred eventually got hungry, and honestly he hoped food would comfort him. He pulled on a hoodie with his grey joggers and made his way down to the great hall. As he entered he avoided looking over at the Hufflepuff table, usually he would look for Y/N and send her a wave or a wink or a goofy grin but not today. Not ever again, he thought to himself when he reached his friends. He was sat in between Lee and George, both of them giving him a pat on the back as he sat down.  

They tried to distract Fred by talking about new pranks and quidditch plays but he wasn’t really paying attention. He was desperate to turn around and look at her, to go over and pull her away from perfect Diggory and convince her that she should be with him instead but he knew he had to be strong. He knew he didn’t stand a chance against Diggory, after all, he he was the better option, he would give her the things Fred couldn’t, like luxury holidays to Italy.  

Ginny came over to them and sat in-between Fred and Lee, giving her brother a comforting hug once he explained what happened. A few little sobs leaving his mouth which he covered with a cough. Fred had spoken to Ginny loads about Y/N, she was the only one who wouldn’t slag him off for being all lovey dovey about her.  

“Fred, don’t look now but Y/N is coming over” Alicia said as she kept looking over to where Y/N walked over towards the table. Fred groaned and felt his eyes start to water.  

Ginny turned around and glared at the girl coming towards her, “bitch” she mumbled before turning to Fred. “Want me to tell her you don’t wanna talk?”

“Fuck” he rubbed his eyes with his pointer finger and thumb, “it’s okay gin, I can’t exactly avoid her”. Y/N came over and wrapped her arms around Fred’s neck, pulling down his hood “what’s up with you Freddie?” her voice whispered in his ear. Fred tensed at the contact, before relaxing at her voice.  

Y/N was worried about Fred, he was never usually late to dinner and she didn’t even get her usual goofy smile off him.

Her voice was one of his favourite sounds, he often fell asleep to her voice in the common room late at night when he’d sneak her in. His head would rest on her lap as she read muggle tales to him, the way her voice soothes him sent him into deep slumbers. He couldn’t help but melt in her arms and at her words, she’s always so caring.

He looked at his friends who were all sending glares her way. He sucked in a breath before pulling her hands away from his neck, he turned around and looked at her. She frowned at his current state, his hair was a mess, eyes bloodshot and face red.  

“Nothing I’m good” Fred stood up and, made his way out of the hall.  

“What’s up with him Georgie?” She turned to look at Fred make his way out the hall.  

Ginny scoffed and rolled his eyes at her, “hmm I wonder” sarcasm laced her voice as she tapped her chin. Ginny learned at a young age to look after herself and then she very quickly realised she had to look after her family. They always came first and no one said anything bad about them.  

She’d had her fair share of arguments with boys and girls over the years, boys trying to slag off her brothers out of jealousy and girls complaining about rejection. Knowing how much Fred liked and cared for Y/N only made Ginny angrier, Fred actually allowed himself to get close to someone and she broke him. She stood up to face Y/N, eyes staring her down, “why don’t you go ask your new boyfriend Diggory? Maybe you two can recreate some of the dates my brother took you on”, her voice was cold as ice as she spoke. She shoved past Y/N and went to look for Fred.  

Y/N’s eyes widened as she looked down at George, he just looked at her before a “she’s right” left his mouth and him and the rest of the people he was sitting with left the hall.  

-

Y/N was shocked, she was an idiot for underestimating what she and Fred had. She stood for a moment trying to think about everything that had happened. She majorly regretted kissing Cedric now, she should have spoken to Fred, asked how he felt but she was an idiot. She let her insecurities get the better of her.

She decided to go to her dorm and call it a night, at about 2 am she woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep, her mind in overdrive. She decided to go for a wander out to the gardens to look at the stars.  

-

Fred was in and out of sleep, if he wasn’t having dreams about him and Y/N, he was dreaming about her and Cedric.  

He woke up after dreaming about walking in on Y/N and Cedric, Cedric was above her, hands running down her body, they were laughing at Fred as he stood at the door watching.

“Oh Freddie, you didn’t actually think you had a chance with me, did you?” Y/N’s giggle flooded the room but it wasn’t her normal laugh, it was laced with mockery and hate. “Why would I settle for you, poor little Fred Weasley, can’t even commit to a girl. You honestly think I’d settle for that? Cedric treats me so much better”. Cedric leaned down kissing her roughly..

Fred shot up from his bed, chest heaving as he tried to calm down. He was an idiot for thinking he stood a chance, why would she be his when he’d been with so many other girls? When Cedric could offer her the world and he could offer her a summer at the burrow?  

He got up and chucked on shorts and a hoodie, making his way out his dorm and out the portrait. He made his way around the castle avoiding the prefects and Filtch. He reached the gardens and was sat on the grass looking up at the stars above him.  

He was staring up at the moon, all he could think about was Y/N, the way she laughed, the way she listened to everything Fred had to say, the way she could brighten up even the darkest days and the way she made everything better.  

He thought about Christmas, he’d asked her to stay with them over the festive period. He was looking forward to spending all his free time with her, playing in the snow and showing her all his favourite places around the burrow. He knew she’d love their garden, the stars were even clearer there. He was to engrossed in thought that he hadn’t heard Y/N walk up behind him,  

He was even looking forward to having her meet his mum and dad. Molly was shocked when she saw the letter from Fred asking for his new friend-girl to stay over at Christmas. Molly had a feeling another sweater may be needed.  

“Freddie….” Her voice was a whisper but still managed to make him jump “can I join you?”……..

Part Three

Tagged

@manuosorioh @itsbebeyyy @britishspidey @supermassiveblackhope @impossibelle @jenniweaslee

[trvncyz]

Jujutsu Kaisen characters during Ramzan || random headcannons || part 1

PART 2 OUT NOW

note: before i start, i would like to clear out that these are just some things which happen in my house and may differ from your culture. this is just how i would imagine the jjk characters to behave during ramzan. hope you enjoy!

-4/27/21

part 1- nobara, itadori, megumi, gojo

part 2

1. Nobara Kugisaki

very excited to fast because it reduces weight!

the kind of person who sleeps through the fast and only wakes up for namaz.

eats most of the fruits during iftar

doesn't want to miss any fasts because she had a bet going with itadori to see who could keep the most number of fasts. (being a girl, nobara knew she would lose but she's not the type to back down from a fast either.)

she regularly gets scolded for not helping at all with the making of the iftar.

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO WORK WHEN I'M SLEEPING?!"

"IT SHOULDN'T EVEN BE CONSIDERED A FAST IF YOU COMPLETELY SLEEP THROUGH IT" (dadi™)

she's very excited for eid to come because... who isn't? new clothes, eidi (money) and good food? i think yes.

the type to stay awake till sehri so that she doesn't accidentally miss it.

i think she keeps most of her fasts, leave for her periods or a few days where she threw up because of the long day or something.

2. Itadori Yuji ft. Sukuna

alright hear me out, he's the type of person who blocks Jennifer Lawrence, Kylie Jenner etc on ramzan chaand raat and unblocks them on eid chaand raat. (did that make sense?)

has a bet going with nobara to see who can keep more fasts. doesn't matter if he's absolutely dying, he wont miss a fast. (that's good tho?)

accidentally saw one of his bikini posters and chanted "Astaghfirullah" for the rest of the day.

he was teasing nobara for not fasting and got a pillow straight to his face

he starts taraweeh in hopes of praying next to his crush's father but dips midway

like nobara, he's very excited for eid. the type to put his eidi pictures on snapchat

almost swore at sukuna in his head but he held himself back

sukuna keeps talking about food in his head. like dazai in that bsd wan scene where he kept whispering 'curry, curry' in ango's ear.

the type who complains about not enough iftar being made though he barely eats any.

"iftar bohot kam bana hai."

"tum itna toh kha k dikhao"

"there's barely enough iftar" "try to finish this much first"

(the english translation isnt funny at all pls-)

3. Megumi Fushiguro

perfect boy

keeps all his fasts

wakes up on time for sehri. sometimes also goes out to get the yoghurt.

opts for a whole 27 day taraweeh

prefers wearing full sleeve shirts/tshirts and fully covered trousers if he's not wearing a kurta pajama or something like that.

BLACK KURTA WITH ROLLED UP SLEEVES (SCRREEEEAAAAAAMMMMSSSSS)

sometimes helps out his mom with iftar

cooks for his sister when she's not fasting

it was very hard for him but he completely stopped hitting itadori during the month. he was back to normal from eid.

speaking of eid, he isnt overly excited about it but he's looking forward to the sheer qorma.

megumi (to me) is someone who always needs something playing in his ears. its his way of concentrating and stimulating his brain and it really eases his stress (am i talking about myself? absolutely.) during ramzan, he decided to switch to random podcasts or recitations and stuff.

if he's tired or feeling a bit sick, he sometimes sleeps during his fast.

MAJOR HEADACHES™

i dont know what i can write about this boy, he's absolutely perfect in my eyes and i dont know what he could do wrong except hit itadori.

4. Gojo Satoru

the ultimate cause of megumi's headaches

totally sleeps through sehri

he might be fasting but his energy level never goes down like HOW?! others are almost dead but he just keeps jumping around like he's hinata shoyo or something

halal pick up lines which make you swear

"I want your feet to be my kid's jannah."

"I want my feet to straight up meet your nose."

fr if you spoke to him during your fast, keep muttering "la haula wala quwaita illa billah hil ali al azeem"

always looking for excuses to skip his fasts but nanami keeps him in check

has to be constantly nagged to pray. never does it in time. often his namaz gets qaza-ed. (what's that even supposed to mean?)

he once tried to make iftar for the children. everyone ate iftar about 2 hours after sunset. (pain)

he too, is the type to pray taraweeh next to his crush's father.

speaking of taraweeh, he's just lying there after his iftar feeling like he's missing something when he suddenly remembered that he didn't turn up to taraweeh that day.

complains a lot about how he's thirsty while he's fasting and get's a scolding from nanami everytime.

shoko tried to tell him the positive effects of fasting but he just ended up telling her that "girls use their periods as an excuse to skip fasting." shoko didn't let him eat iftar that day.

weird food combinations even during iftar. cucumber with ketchup? rooh afza on watermelon? you bet he does that daily.

(both of these are very tasty, you can try it out if you want to.)

starts counting down to eid the day ramzan starts.

his RICH GUY EID FLEX PLS. he got his new nike shoes stolen from the mosque and it served him right.

gives everyone lots of eidi on eid because he's RICH™

-----

got a little carried away but i loved writing this! gonna do a part 2 in the future with other characters. maybe even a part 3 but thanks for reading. if you have any questions about this post, feel free to ask me!

ramzan mubarak to everyone and happy fasting!

[pokeheadcannons97]

I'm not sure if requests are open or not but can you possibly write hc's for milo gordie leon and piers about having a s/o who suffers from epilepsy maybe include their reaction to the first seizure they see, and things like how they handle when s/o starts to seize/show warning signs,

I only do 3 characters at a post so I am going to do Leon, Piers, and Milo since I have Pokemon Shield

(and mama Melany)

Also, I’m speaking and writing this from my perspective of helping my aunt who has seizures regularly and will be answering in what I do and other things that I’ve looked up or found that help, please let me know if I can make it better, thank you! <3 Be safe

Leon

Even though he is super directionally challenged, he is so very perceptive. He will be the first to notice when you are about to have a seizure.

The distant look in your eyes and the nonverbal responses when he asks if you are okay are always signs you’re about to go into one.

He’s by your side in an instant, holding the back of your head up steady while rubbing your arm.

“Hey, it’s okay Y/N… you’re okay.” He repeats this all through out it, steady and comforting.

When you blink back after a few moments, eyes bleary but answer softly back to him, he knows you’re okay and out of it.

Will immediately stop what he’s doing, be it in the middle of an interview or sees you go down in the stands, he is next to you to help you through it

Wont hesitate to absolutely eradicate any disrespectfully words or jokes towards you about your seizures

When you first went into one, he had not expected it.

The two of you were out having lunch together after Leon had invited you out for a date to get to know each other more closely. He had been persistent, always engaging you in small talk when you were at work at one of the local shoppes in Wyndon. Would offer to help in carrying heavier things to help you out, and to make your work load lighter. 

You had been perfectly fine, sitting across from him eating lunch at a local restaurant that you favored, when you seemed to be staring off into the distance as he was talking.

When Leon saw your Gothita get destressed and practically climbed up on you, he knew something was wrong.

He was scared, and that was putting it lightly.

With Gothita surrounding you in her psychic powers she steadied your body and instructed Leon through her telepathy to hold your head straight to where you wouldn’t choke.

He frantically rubbed your arms, while looking for your distant eyes to come back to the cheery e/c he found so attractive.

When you started to move slowly on your own your eyes peered up at him, the distant look fading quickly.

“Mmm…? Leon?” You asked softly, trying to attempt to remember where you were and what happened.

“Y/N!” He replied a smile forming on his face, full of relief. “You’re okay, my God I was so worried, are you ok?”

“Mmmhmm… thanks to you and Gracey.” You replied with a soft smile, giving your pokemon a thankful expression, to which she cried in happiness as a reply.

“Let’s get you to the hospital, to at least get a look at you. Then I’ll make sure you get home okay.” Leon said as he helped you up with his strong arms, letting your body lean against him. “I never knew you had to deal with these. You’re so much stronger than I could ever be, Y/N.”

Your heart thudded in your chest, your stomach knotting up in that similar way it did when you would see him visit your work on his days off from the league. Most people would be so scared and standoffish, more afraid of you than anything. See you as someone that needed to be fixed, someone that was fragile, and needed to be looked after like a child.

But Leon? He shown genuine kindness, he didn’t make you out to be this weak person who had epileptic seizures. He treated you with respect. As an equal.

You were strong, something that you did not hear often in your life.

You gave a small laugh, and peered up at him, your e/c eyes shining against the streetlights. “Is it too late to ask you for a second date?”

Leon’s cheeks uncharacteristically burned a deeper red and low chuckle came from his throat. “Not at all.”

Piers

There’s not many times he’s serious, but when it comes to you, he is stone cold serious.

Will constantly ask you if you’re okay if you seem more nervous or shakier than usual.

Always holds your hand when you’re feeling more shaky, will go into any quieter space to get you to a safer environment just in case

Even though his shows can be flashy and loud, he really prefers that you stay home or listen to CD’s of the shows of his that are flashier and with more lights. He’s talked to his producers about incorporating more epilepsy friendly aspects into his shows and videos so that more people can enjoy it safely.

On the times that you do watch him, he makes sure that the place is better lit, and no strobing lights.

Will rub the top of your head softly when you go into one, and holds you to where you wont hurt yourself during it.

He knew you had them, but you said that it was less common these days. So he thought that it would most likely be a while before you had one.

The first time you had a seizure in front of him, he was terrified and confused on what to do.

You were sitting beside him, listening to him strum on his guitar as try to work out the sound to his new song.

Your Kirlia sat beside you, listening too.

When he looked up from the strings and papers he had scattered around him, rewriting certain parts he paled.

Your arms were shaking as you began to fall backwards rather quickly. Luckily your Kirlia predicted this and carefully grabbed your shoulders and placed you on your side.

Kirlia’s eyes rose to Piers and she instructed him to gently rub at your arms as she used her abilities to work on the overfiring electrical impulses your brain was having.

Piers scanned your body frantically, your twitching limbs and far off stare causing his heart to race in nervousness. He didn’t know what to do, but hoped that what he was doing helped in some way.

Your Kirlia called softly as your twitching began to stop and your eyes regained their soft e/c hue. You hummed a little as you blinked back the glaze over your eyes.

“Y/N, hey… are you with me?” Piers asked, eyebrows knitted together, refusing to leave your side.

You gave him a confused stare and nodded slowly. “Yes…what…?”

Your Kirlia touched your forehead and you understood.

“Thank you… for helping me, Piers.” You patted your Kirlia’s hand greatfully. “And you too Meena, you did amazing.”

From then on Piers was sure to be more observant and learn about how to be better prepared for the next attack. The zigzagoon brigade are always alert and ready to go into pillow mode to help you not hit your head or hurt yourself. 

Milo

The absolute best at making sure that you are taking you meds and taking care of yourself

Always tries to make sure that you have enough time to get enough sleep and goes to bed at the same time as you to help make it easier

He’s used to dealing and helping new gym challengers that have anxiety problems, so he knows how to relax you and help manage your stress

Being as strong as he is, it’s nothing for him to grab you when your legs give out when you go into one, making sure that you are laid down on your side safely

His big hands will make soothing touches and coax you through it, making sure everyone around you is quiet so you’re not overwhelmed with voices around you

If you ever feel bad about having them, he is so quick to reassure you that it is never a problem and he loves you so much

The first time you went into one

You were battling him as your first gym battle, with your Espeon battling against his Glossifleur.

You seemed so strong, easily ordering move after move from your companion, but that changed when you started to wobble on your feet, your Espeon immediately ran to your side to catch you from hitting your head and braced your body against her own and let you fall at a slower rate to the ground safely.

Milo gave a wave to the stadium, with a shout of “Everyone stop!” and made his way over to you. The stadium went into a quick and silent hush. The rotom camera, now focused on you.

Your body jerked involuntarily, your gaze far off and unfocused.

Your partner pokemon gave a cry and rubbed against your body while Milo held your head to where it would be easier for you to breath.

“Hey, Y/N… it’s okay lass. You’re okay.” He said softly, his hat blocking out the harsh sun above you. He gave your cheek a few soft pats, his green eyes searching your face.

It took about a few moments for your hands to stop seizing and jerking. When they did you let out a steady breath. You blinked slowly and gave a low hum as your eyes refocused and fell upon the grass type gym leader above you.

“There you are, are you hurt?” Milo asked you, his voice lower but understandable for your comfort.

You swallowed, and went to slowly sit up, the sun from above now shining painfully on you. You blinked your eyes shut but nodded and turned to him.

 “Yeah… just...” you began and suddenly noticed where you were and felt the anxiety well up inside of you.

“Would it be possible to…stop our battle for today? Please?” you finished and picked at a part of your nails, cheeks flushed.

“I’m sorry but I think I need to lay down for a while, I’m just wiped after…” you tried to explain yourself, your Espeon chittered next to you, rubbing against you softly.

Milo held up a hand with a genuine and kind smile. “Say no more, Y/N. Let’s get you to the nurse on call to get a look at you. Make sure you’re okay.” He rose to hit feet and held a hand out to you. “Can you stand?”

You gave a nod and stood up slowly, but wobbled a little, your legs still unsteady.

Milo scooped you up into his arms effortlessly. “Just rest, I’ll get you there safe and sound.”

And he did, 

[maccreadysimp]

breaking down this anti-ian article bc it bothers me ( from the child of a bipolar mother and a male teen with same sex attraction ) while also providing valid reasons ian sucks ( from someone who likes ian )

ive had this drafted for a while so i dont think i cover anything from season 11

tw for i^cest and r^pe

he was with a married man

in this point it points out that he was with kash and he continued his relationship with kash even after linda put cameras in the store

“Ian didn't seem to care about how wrong his affair with Kash was or how much it could hurt Kash's wife Linda, whom he saw at the store regularly. “

that is a quote from that part.

ian gallagher was fifteen in season one, kash was an older man who bought him gifts and payed attention to ian ,, that was not on ian , none of that was ian fault because he was a child

ian wasnt open with lip

“ Ian didn't tell Lip about his preferences and forced Lip to figure it out on his own. Lip was instantly accepting of his brother's truth and even offered to help him figure out any confusion he might be harboring, so it's really strange that Ian wasn't just upfront with his closest confidant from the start.”

no , lip wasnt forced to figure it out on his own and he also wasn’t instantly accepting.

in this point it mentions that ‘they’re extremely close ( bestfriends and brothers ) so its strange ian didnt tell him’

like point 1 , ian is a fifteen year old boy, growing up on the southside , and thoughout the show it has mentioned multiple times that the southside isnt that accepting

back to lip -- lip wasnt accepting, sure he was fine but ‘helping your younger brother figure it out’ by having a (female) classmate give him a blowjob isnt helping

he secretly dated his best friends brother

“Most friends have an unspoken rule about not dating each other's siblings, but Ian broke this rule by secretly entering into a relationship with Mandy's closeted brother Mickey.”

the only thing i have to say about this is , he was still with kash and mickey was a boy in his age group who was gay , growing up in the southside ian probably thought he was the token gay so of course hes going to chase after mickey

he stood by as kash attacked mickey

“Ian didn't do anything to stop Kash from shooting his new lover, and didn't even tell the police about his boss' over-the-top display of jealous action so proper justice could be served.”

okay. because two men he had fallen for had gotten into a fight, there was a gun involved and he panicked, in the end after mickey got shot he went to him

now to address the quote, he didnt say anything to the police because he probably knew that that would bring shame onto kash and his family, along with mickey and his family who are very homophobic

oh yeah and it was like 2011 and cops suck and THEY LIVE ON THE SOUTHSIDE

he and lip tried framing terry milkovich

oh the homophobic and racist dad of his boyfriend and bestfriend who tried to kill him and r*ped his daughter ?

yeah , shit man , that was real bad they shouldn’t have done that /s

he dated jimmy-steves married father

“Ian didn't bother telling Jimmy the truth about his father and didn't end his relationship with Lloyd upon finding out that he had a secret wife and family, either.”

at this point ian is probably sixteen but that doesnt matter bc i wont even address that

he met him at a club and then used his relationship with ned to make mickey jealous which was one of the reasons he kept seeing him, he didnt tell jimmy-steve about the relationship or his father bc he shouldnt find out from him he should find out from his father , again like kash, ned was an older man who payed attention to ian and ned later did develop feelings feelings for ian

he stole lips identity to enlist in the army

he enlisted because he didnt know what to do with himself, its implied/stated that the army timeline was the start of his bipolar

“While impersonating Lip, Ian had tried to steal a helicopter and then proceeded to go AWOL.”

this is because of the bipolar he suffers from, it is referenced later in the series after he gets back and hes manic

ian refused to accept being bipolar

of course he didnt accept it, it is made very clear that his family thinks lowly of monica so of course if hes the lucky duck to get what his siblings demonize her for, of course he’ll not want to be it

“He refused to take medications that could alter his personality or mood.”

okay. this is why im making this whole post, this goes along with part 15 ( or so idk ) ,,

my mother , my dear mother, who is bipolar and doesnt take her meds because they are mood altering , my mom doesnt take med because she told me once that they make her feel like shit, she told me that a little after i was born she started taking them but realized she felt nothing, she felt nothing for my dad or for i ( making her numb )

she told me anti deppresents dont help either because when shes on them and manic it pushes her past productive and into angry

my dad told me that when my mom was on bi polar medication she would seem angry most of the time

he wasnt faitful to mickey

“Ian's bipolar disorder made him very reckless and impulsive and led him to be unfaithful.”

lets break that down.

ians. bipolar. disorder.

this plot point i actually didnt like, mainly bc ian never addresses it so ill give the article a point. but then i take away 2 because they have more of a problem with his bipolar messing with him rather than the fact he never apologized and they never worked it out

ian stole yevgeny

before i start quoting i should mention because his boyfriend, who has supported and helped him is suddenly telling him he needs help, he was helping raise yev so he’ll see yev as his own

“Ian failed to recognize just how crazy he was acting...”

cuting you off right there , he was in a bipolar state, he wasnt ‘crazy’ and isnt ‘crazy’

he cant even keep count of his number of partners

just slutshaming i see

he helped throw frank off a bridge

“His relationship with Frank was understandably never the same after that, as Frank struggled to get over this act of betrayal and cruelty.”

‘was never the same after that’ frank never liked ian, ian was probably his least favorite and that point is very apparent

also , it wasnt just ian , his siblings and his boyfriend caleb

he left a healthy relationship to be with mickey

he fell in love with mickey at 15 , mickey was a comfort and always someone to fall back on, when mickey was taken away and no longer in the picture his heart still obviously was with mickey and when mickey came back he didnt know what to do

he told mickey he had a boyfriend but because mickey has been such a constant in his life he finally has back of course he couldnt resist

he liked trevor, i could tell he did but trevor wasnt the one he watched get r^ped by a russian prostitute, he wasnt the one ian was secretly dating bc it would be a death wish other wise, he wasnt the one there when ian was manic or depressive ( at the start )

he tried blackmailing an old client for money

“Instead of raising the money in an honest manner, Ian chose to visit an old client from his time working at the Fairy Tail and blackmail him into funding the shelter.”

because he felt indebted to trevor and wanted to make it up to him, it would have taken longer to do it in ‘an honest manner’ when his sister would have gotten it instead, he knew how much gay youths like he once was needed a safe place

“He grew up wanting to be nothing like his father, but this whole money-making scheme was straight out of the Frank playbook”

because thats all he knows, he grew up with that ‘playbook’ so of course hes going to take a page out of it, he is nothing like frank , franks money making schemes are selfish and for his own greed while ian wanted the money to help build a safe space for lgbt youth

he let fame inflate his ego

of course he did, hes a southside kid who was destined to fail

also it is very apparent that during the gay jesus era he went off his medication which didnt help

“Before long, he just completely forgot about his ex and focused solely on being a deity”

as much as yes, he did let it mess with his head, he was trying to still help lgbt youth and was going against anti gay churchs , in the end it didnt work out for him because he was off his meds and went over board

he stopped taking his meds

see previous point and ‘ian refused to accept being bipolar’

he actually wanted to stay in prison

because he was doing good in there

ian was helping others and was spreading awareness about lgbt with in the prison , and as him and jail scenes go , we can see people were listening to him and he was trying to make it safe sane and consensual

he let down his army of followers

“Ian admitted that most of his actions were completely irrational and the mere results of his bipolar disorder.”

he didnt want to, we can see this, because he knew he would let down everyone, his family were the only ones to ever ground him and they knew it would be the best option for his own mental health

during the gallavich wedding we can see that a lot of his supporters still have his back because they must know how hard it was for him to put all of that success on something he can’t control

he constantly wasted his potential

this is actually the only point in this article i actually agree with , so only 1/20 i agree with

his relationship with mickey wasn’t actually great

“Mickey spent the first several years of their relationship denying his feelings for Ian.”

he was raised by a homophobic and racist father who he knew would react the way he did when terry had caught the two that one day

“Even after he finally embraced his true self, Ian's bipolar disorder kept them from becoming truly happy together.”

yes but mickey was there for him the entire time and helped him through it, he told him he loved him which was really big for him and did his best to care for him

“They couldn't seem to remain faithful to each other for more than a few weeks.”

back to the point about ians bipolar but for mickey he wanted monogamy , now that scene in s11 may say otherwise but it is very clear that he wants a monogamous relationship with ian and ian ( after getting help ) wants one too, and in the later seasons they are monogamous

“When Mickey asked Ian to run away to Mexico with him, Ian refused.”

he wanted to, it’s obvious, but ian has his family and didnt want to abandon them again, i think part of him knew he would see mickey again because they always find eachother, he gave mickey all of his money and wanted mickey to have a good life

“Their relationship was simply never healthy.”

no it wasnt, but thats why the ship is great in its own way, the gay closet kid raised by a homophobic man is obviously going to have a lot of baggage , and ian who is bipolar and struggling with himself will also have a lot of baggage , but in the end they love eachother and that really shows in season five and season seven specifically

that is all lol ,,, this is long sorry

now, i am not a ian apologist , i love ian but hes a dumbass sometimes

actual valid reasons ian sucks

genuinely believes frank is worse than terry

yes frank was definitely abusive but terry is definitely worse ,,

mentally/physically/sexually abusive , the whole nine yards

terry hired a prostitute to r^pe his son , threatened to kill him and ian on multiple occasions , r^ped his daughter who ended up pregnant and is actively racist

frank on the other hand will make gay jokes but in the end doesnt give enough of a shit , he has attacked his children on multiple occasions but not to the brutality that terry has ( this isnt me excusing it )

sorry ian , terry is worse

never apologized

he never apologized for all the shit he put mickey and his family through, never apologized to mickey for cheating on him , never apologized for all the manic and depressive episodes mickey endured with him

never apologized for walking away when he couldn’t handle it, in hall of shame mickey actually acknowledges this saying ‘its youre whole MO’

debbies sexuality

he has constantly made statements saying debbie isnt gay and that bothers me because , why does it care ? as a gay man and as a gay man who soent time with a lot of lgbt youth wouldnt he support his sister even if shes just ‘experimenting’?

in the recent season he doesnt seem to care and doesn’t say anything but it still bothers me

mickey only getting like 80% of his heart

okay look , i get what ian means when he says this , everyones hes been with has made him who he is but fucking hell dude ,, shut up , thats your husband , thats the love of your life you shouldnt be saying shit like that , especially to him

and then this man had the audacity to say mickey probably feels the same about past flings when he knows that ian is the only one hes probably ever been with/serious about

obviously there is probably more but those are the main ones that come to mind

—

before anyone brings up the trans or bi thing im going to explain my thought process for him

like ive probably mentioned multiple times he grew up southside and obviously only ever grew up with lgb and not t ,, trevor did inform him a lot and ian became supre accepting of everyone,, sexual preference isnt transphobic but i do think he approached the matter badly

now the bi thing , legit all i think is that he doesnt hate bisexual people its just that the man he really liked slept with a woman and never expressed any heterosexual attraction so it probably just suprised him and pissed him off because caleb did cheat on ian

—

if you read this far HOLY SHIT THANKS LOL ,, im not adding things that i think are pro about ian this was just me breaking down that article and giving my two cents :)

feel free to message me and talk to me or send me articles like this about any other character/relationship and i will totally break that one down too lol

thanks for letting me rant

[tundrainafrica]

So I see your a LeviHan shipper!! I enjoy the ship a lot too!! But are there any specific reason that their your favorite?? Maybe you could explain that a little through a list? But anyways I hope your week has been good so far, Sav. Have a good day/night!!!! - Signed by Your Secret Santa 🎄

Hello! Thank you for asking about my week (and my ship). 

I enjoy the ship a lot too!! But are there any specific reason that their your favorite? 

To answer that first question...

You’re in for a long rollercoaster ride of a rant because I don’t think I’m the type of person to ship anything to the point of writing domestic fluff fics unless the I felt really really drawn to the ship. 

Anyway, (slight) spoilers abound! Will keep manga spoilers subtle, mostly Levihan scenes.

Disclaimer: I do not want to start shipping wars. I specifically avoided the words like should or best because I recognize that shipping is generally based on preferences. I respect everyone’s preferences on what they want out of a ship or even a relationship and through this, I just hope to express my own preferences and maybe even gush with people who agree.

1. The ship did not move the plot. The plot moved the ship.

Attack on Titan is not a romance or a shojo, if it’s not fairly obvious from any chapter you would randomly read. As a reader, I would have expected it to fall short with pairings. Most shows which are not romance based tend to have a few pairings which just suddenly end up together towards the end of the manga because “What’s a happy ending without marriage and kids?” There is usually a trend of just pairing of the extras and sometimes, or maybe even more often than not, it just seems to come out of nowhere (ehem... Naruto.). Maybe the relationship worked off screen but I dunno. Like no shipping war here but the only pairing I had full support for was Shikatema. 

In stories classified as romances, there is enough of a spotlight on the sexual tension and mutual pining of specific characters for the romance to be considered reasonable. In my opinion, some authors tend to sacrifice really good world building for a good romance. Objectively twilight for example had some crazy good world building but it just kinda focused a little too much on emo Bella and emo Edward for the world building to actually be appreciated by the casual reader. Tbh though, this is not necessarily bad because people get into stuff for reasons, sometimes, I just wanna read a good fantasy, sometimes I just wanna read a good romance.

Romances though as a main driving point for narratives, require some convenient serendipity moments and sexual tension which can be written well but as a reader, I prefer to see more natural relationships born out of necessity (Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata is a good example of what I’m talking about in a romance novel.)

Attack on Titan through its narrative actually made Levihan seem VERY VERY possible. If I had to compare the presentation of this ship in canon to at least one relationship in other anime, I would compare it to Royai from FMA. 

Like, if Attack on Titan didn’t give us random subtle hints about romantic or just platonic relationships between the two or even about anyone, even if Levi and Hange did get together in the end, it would have been one of the pairings, I probably wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow at. 

But they could be just friends? Which brings me to my next point.

2. Their current situation makes it so it’s only natural that at the least, they considered it. 

Yes. Friends is a valid interpretation for anything. I mean, given our hook up culture, people can fuck as friends too. People probably have made out drunk as friends too. Like I have seen my fair share of this type of bullshit in high school and college and I would say, we do not need a kiss or a fucking session to recognize that something can be a good relationship or to recognize that they have probably thought about it. 

A relationship requires a commitment (conscious or unconscious) to caring for the other, keeping the other safe, recognizing their flaws and thinking about them regularly (Call me scott peck or marriage counselor but like I honestly think the world would be a better place once people recognize that quality romantic relationships are worked for).

Mind you, Levi and Hange lost everything.They literally lost everything from their old life, all their friends, all their loved ones and all they have is each other and they’re forced to take care of a bunch of kids.

There are people who have said before, no one gets very close with someone without ever considering a romantic relationship with them. Or even if they never considered it romantic, they could consider at least “living with them their whole life,” or “supporting them through thick and thin.” The things is, towards the end, they were constantly together and what drove them to that situation is that both of them are aware of what the other had lost. They understood each other more than anyone else and they recognized that they were the only ones left in their own circle and I personally think that is more than enough for a relationship to naturally bloom between them.

3. The relationship and the signs are subtle and it works.

I personally probably would not have enjoyed it if canon showed a romantic relationship of the two after Erwin died. It’s a valid interpretation to consider that it could have happened, based on my explanation for number 2 but Hange is commander, Levi is captain. They have a professional relationship and they have goals and obligations which take precedence over personal desires. They are in the middle of a war and the most which probably could have happened was a secret mutual pining between the two and I think Isayama has injected the most subtle hints which are the most that could have been appropriately put into canon without seeming too OOC. Hange and Levi are not selfish people. They have promises, dreams and obligations which they respect and have committed themselves to already. It has also been shown at earlier points of the manga that they do put their survey corps duties on top of everything so acting on a romantic attraction at that point in time would have definitely been inappropriate. 

I personally think, the scenes of Hange going out of her way to save Levi as commander, killing her other soldiers to save both their asses, suggesting in the forest that they live together instead of go back to the war and not leaving an injured Levi until she had no choice were more powerful than a lot of romantic scenes where people actually fuck and kiss. Kissing and fucking are easy. Leaving the duties and responsibilities they have worked for for five years to keep the person they love alive hits way harder. 

Call it platonic. Call it romantic. But no one like Hange would have deserted her post as commander for a few chapters to take care of a sick comrade and kill her subordinates to save their asses if there wasn’t anything between them. 

4. It gives a great example what healthy relationships can come from. 

I grew up reading sweet valley and chick lits cause I was a basic bitch and I kinda grew up with a somehow unrealistic idea of where relationships come from. Call me a late bloomer but I only actually figured out where the romance and the happiness of a relationship was when I got into one with my best friend for five years. 

It’s the sexual tension and the “will they wont they?” push and pull which can lead to satisfying sex or a happy ending in romance novels. I think in a way, media kinda overglorifies it which kinda gives a lot of young people the wrong idea about why they getting into a relationship is fun in the first place.  Because after the satisfying sex and the kids, what’s next for the relationship?

Years of utility bills, diapers, chores, schedules, parent teacher conferences and compromises until someone gives up or dies. And what kind of relationships can actually thrive through all these? 

Those that have mastered the underrated parts of relationships. These include conflict resolutions, compromises and open communication. I think we have seen enough of those two, even before season 3 that have shown that they know each other very well and they have shown to at least have a relatively equal power dynamic which is a foundation for open communication and mutual trust in relationships even beyond the fucking and marriage stage 

5. They have a great foundation of character development for both parties.

As I mentioned above, they have a relatively equal power dynamic. I love Royai from FMA and I have compared Royai to this multiple times. I would say though I prefer Levihan over Royai because I felt that Royai had more unequal power dynamics? (Though I still think Royai is a top tier ship ). Also, they have shown to tell off the other when they don’t like what the other is doing. They are complete opposites but here is the magical thing. They talk everything out. They’re generally open people to each other and they know each other way too well as hinted in scenes before and opposites work as long as the others are willing to compromise. I think (especially in season 3 and season 4) that they have done enough for each other and have compromised enough for each other in the survey corps that these skills could easily be brought with them even after the war.

That open communication is just what makes them maintaining a relationship while being complete opposites very OC and realistic. Eventually, they did probably did make compromises, which most likely softened or moderated the crazy parts of their personalities which is just a really fun part of their relationship to explore. 

6. It could realistically last so maybe ...

7. A good foundation for happy children?

Maybe it’s how it is written because of the actual story and why would Yams write a romantic drama in a story about genocide and war. Tbh, I would attribute it more to Levi and Hange’s personalities though because Mikasa and Eren have their fair share of drama, mostly one sided though coz Mikasa. This relationship has no drama, no misunderstandings which just further supports my point that they have a relationship that thrives on open communication and mutual trust. Drama is fun like when we’re the ones on the sidelines eating the popcorn but I have third wheeled enough people in my life to realize that I will not support a relationship where both parties are just not ready to be mature about it, in real life and in fiction. 

My favorite couples, in real life and in fiction, are definitely those who keep conflict among themselves and maybe among trusted people. I think one sign of a healthy relationship is one where problems don’t become public through social media or through like 20 people. One important yet underrated part of relationships is the atmosphere of comfort and freedom which encourages both parties to be able to directly approach one another before tensions and uncertainties get out of hand.  

And a life free of dramas at least in the early stages of life just kinda shows at least that both parties are ready to bring a new life to the world? Because like immature parents with shitty conflict resolution skills really fuck kids up man and I passionately believe the world would really be a better place if babies were born out of trust, mutual understanding and open communication instead of sex but yeah, make sex fun to keep our race alive.

So anyway, I guess, I just finished explaining why I love this ship so much while also disclosing my preferences for relationships. 

As mentioned above...

Disclaimer: I do not want to start shipping wars. I specifically avoided the words like should or best because I recognize that shipping is generally based on preferences. I respect everyone’s preferences on what they want out of a ship or even a relationship and through this, I just hope to express my own preferences and maybe even gush with people who agree.

Other pairings which I support for those curious: Shikatema, Royai, Victuuri, Percabeth etc.

Also... To answer your second question... 

My week has been great, some pretty solid life developments but US elections wise, not so great... (WHY IS THE ELECTION RACE SO CLOSE?)

[exana-thowaway]

confession of an ex thinspo blogger

a few months ago, i deleted my thinspo blog. i still have an eating disorder, and im not claiming that deleting your blog will solve this. but its the best decision ive ever made and my relationship with food and my body has been healing every day, slowly, since

i started my blog as a diary of sorts. hiding my eating disorder from everyone had gotten to be too much, and i needed to let it out. it was just vent posts at first. eventually, i began reblogging occasionally "aesthetic" pictures of skinny bodies. over time, it became low calorie recipes, emaciated bodies, and bragging about how little i ate. over the span of almost a year, i gained a few thousand followers. suddenly this thing i created as a journal to express myself was a public display, romanticizing an illness (that i wouldn't wish on my enemies) in front of so many people. a lot of them were minors. i felt poweful. i never claimed eds were good, and i regularly said i didnt support proana. but that meant nothing.

i intentionally exposed myself to content that i knew would trigger myself into continuing my behavior. i wanted that, it felt like i was winning. i could brag about how little i ate on my blog, and i felt strong. recovery felt like a failure, like a sugarcoated word for "i wasnt strong enough". my eating disorder had always been a (very unhealthy) coping mechanism. it made me feel in control at times when i didnt actually have any control. but my blog gave those thoughts an audience. i wasnt tricking myself, but others. and they tricked me.

i was a part of the problem. we all created an environment where these behaviors are normal. you dont have to be explicitly proana to do this. you can say your blog is helping you or that its a way of coping, but youre hurting yourself and others more than you can imagine. youre not evil, but youre sick and odds are that your eating disorder blog is making it worse. this isnt a recovery oriented community, as much as it tried to pretend that it is. delete your blog and surround yourself with things and people that promote health and happiness in your life. it wont solve everything, but its a first step that i promise cant be oversold.

i love you all deeply and i hope we can all find our way to happier lives. i know feeling alone in your sickness is scary, but there are better places to find solidarity than here.

[jandjsalmon]

Can I do all three? Or whatever combination you want? Why Betty and Jughead? I know for me, I liked season one, I wrote jokey reviews for my friends on season one and posted them on Facebook, and I was Googling spoilers (or something, or maybe something about Coachella) at the end of season one, and found Fall in Light, and that was that (this is abbreviated, but basically what happened). So what was your journey? Please and thank you! PS- just framed two paintings for the living room.

YOU are a joy and a delight, my friend. Just have to say that. Which artist painted your new living room décor? 

001 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

when I started shipping it if I did:

OOOKAY. So the Bughead question - I actually started shipping Bughead from the very beginning. I started watching when there were only two episodes on Netflix Canada. I watched them both the same day and by the end of the second episode I knew they were the ship for me when this happened: 

So SO good on the Riverdale director of photography’s part - because that is some super sweet foreshadowing there with the out of/into focus stuff. It might have also had something to do with Cole’s collarbones and/or whole aesthetic. I sought out fanfiction immediately (as I am wont to do when I find a new ship or show) and there were, I think, about 130 fics on the archive. We’ve come a long way since then. :)

my thoughts: I like that quote Cole had after last season where it said he’d like to play Jug as more of a morally grey character - someone who believes the ends justify the means. It’s interesting because I have long felt that Jughead was the conscience of the town. Not Betty (as some people suggested) - who I really do think would do all sorts of sneaky things to keep the people she loves safe. I am hopeful and excited to see how this goes. :)

What makes me happy about them: The fact that they are eachother’s #1 support and love and soulmate. They’re SO pretty to look at. Their aesthetic of the pretty and pink girl next door and the plaids and layers of the boy from the other side of the tracks. It’s a pretty aesthetic. Add to that the childhood friends to lovers thing. The absolute devotion and love and trust they have for eachother. They get eachother more than anyone else does. They just make me SO happy.

What makes me sad about them: That they can’t just be regular teenagers. Their parents treating them so poorly. 

things done in fanfic that annoys me: LOL so many things. I’ll force myself to refrain from discussing the typical ‘lack of a good beta’ issues I see regularly - like the grammar/spelling/punctuation/tense problems. Plotwise - I don’t read fics where either of them are VASTLY out of character. You can have an AU and still have them sound and act like themselves. A good AU should be “what would our characters do if dropped into this situation” rather than self-inserting wish fulfilment and I often ask myself “if I changed the name of this character - would it still sound like Jughead or would I feel like I’ve fallen into ?” - I’ll still occasionally read a fic like that - but let’s call a spade a spade, shall we? I don’t like cheating - whether it’s on eachother or on other people. I hate the fics that have Jughead become this massive addict or alcoholic or complete manwhore. I hate when Betty is written as someone incredibly broken and damaged. At some point it’s just character torture. Oooh and retaliation against the writers. It’s really clear when an author thinks that they’re going to spite write a story because they’re mad at how canon turned out. It’s fine to write AU - but it makes my eye roll when an author figures that they can ignore two seasons worth of serpent jug because they want him to be more feminist/manic pixie dream than he is. I hate when prose is so purple we could almost call it ‘Grimace’ - because at some point the author wants you to notice the pretty writing rather than the actual plot and characters of their story. I hate when dialogue sounds unnatural - and I hate when characters shout and yell in moments when they really shouldn’t…. it’s like the Dumbledore and “did you put your name in the goblet of fire?” thing… where suddenly you go… WOAH Michael Gambon! Calm your tits! Um… what else bugs me in fic? Bad tagging? If you’re going to kill a character - please tag. If you’re going to have the faves snogging someone else… tag it. I don’t want to see my notp shagging even if it’s for “plot.” This could go on for a while, so I’m going to stop here. lol.

things I look for in fanfic: Solid Characterization. A happily ever after (always). Clever banter. Tropes (they’re tropes for a reason). If there is angst and unhappiness… I want some payoff before the end of the story. Like, if I have to sit through them pining from afar - at least eventually give me kisses. Emotional rollercoasters and character torture isn’t for me. I need the payoff. 

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I’m monogamous when it comes to my Bughead. I firmly believe Jughead is completely Bettysexual and has loved her since he understood what love was (since she shared her cookies with him in Kindergarten) - and as for Betty… if she were to find love without Juggie, it would have to be in a universe where there was no Jughead - and it would have to be away at college with some guy who isn’t a canon character… and except in one small case of “kinky excellence” - I wouldn’t want to read about it at all. 

My happily ever after for them: University graduated. Published Jughead. Mom and Dad to three kids - happily married, holding on to one another through every trial life throws at them. Both working hard in their prospective fields (which generally turns out to be some kind of sleuthing/investigating/writing) - and both just happy and to go to school concerts, elementary school sports games, science fairs, and to give their children the love and support they didn’t have from their parents growing up. Breaking the cycle.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Jug is the big spoon. Betty rests her head on his chest while he sleeps on his back. He winds his hands in her gold hair and breathes easy knowing she’s safe right there beside him.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: In the future - it’ll be Jones Family Movie Night every week with their children (something I’ve done with my kids for the last ten years) with popcorn and cookies and no devices at all - but where they are right now? Sleuthing and Milkshakes. Or sitting beside each other, her feet in his lap while they’re both reading… or better yet, he’s typing away on his laptop, idling rubbing her foot, while she’s reading beside him.

Send me a ship/character and I’ll answer these questions…

[haynr]

all blog info below the cut, 

apologies now to my mobile users 

RULES 

Before we interact you must…

have a properly displayed muse

have easily accessible posted information regarding your muse in a section or page

have easily accessible posted rules / guidelines in a section or page 

for AU’s, you must have posted information regarding your muse within the fandom universe in its own section or page

make sure I am following you

cut threads

I Won’t

roleplay sex, generally. there may be a few exceptions, but keep the standard that i probably won’t. sexual content, perhaps, if all muns involved are over 18. If we do, it is with the understanding muses involved will be aged up appropriately. 

tolerate any sexual advances toward myself ooc

roleplay inserts

always follow back, nor will I follow personals

tolerate pressuring, be it to rp in general or consistent pestering to answer threads

answer everything in my inbox. It’s not often I ignore asks, but I won’t answer something if it violates my rules. If I have difficulty answering something, I will privately message senders or make public inquires about anonymous messages. 

follow everyone back / interact with everyone, even if you technically follow all my rules. i’m selective. 

Please Don’t:

reblog meme asks. I don’t mind this so much, but it keeps things cleaner when they’re moved to a new post. 

reblog inbox answers for non starter memes. examples would be mun opinions and the like but extend to headcanons and other writing. violators will be asked to delete the post and may be blocked. 

reblog threads you are not a part of. warnings will be given to violating rp blogs, but personals will be instantly blocked. 

reblog personal posts, especial images of myself. violators will be instantly blocked. this means anything tagged ooc. 

force ships with me. I am a p easy going shipper, but I will be a bit more restrictive with Hayner. most of it has to do with his muse in general. he’s not thinking about romance atm. if it comes up in plot, great. if it doesn’t, you’re more than welcome to put it forward, but please do not expect me to go along with it. on that note, don’t expect me to always agree with your interpretations of my muse in ships. ideas and suggestions are fine, your own take is fine, but i cannot stress enough, please do not push hcs. 

I am open to

multiple threads

duplicates of other muses (i do not rp duplicates of my own muse, but I usually have other muses in the fandom which I will be more than happy to interact with there, no twins etc) 

shipping, though I will be highly selective, possibly exclusive. I will not instant ship, but I don’t mind developing our muses’ relationship privately over DMs. 

mutli verse and/or polyshipping as befits all the muses and muns involved

rping toxic relationships of any sort, will be tagged accordingly and placed under cuts.

angst and/or triggering threads, though I would prefer to discuss  the thread and tagging beforehand

crack threads

select AUs

ask/tagged initiated threads/starters but I ask for some warning if they are not from a meme or other prompt

responses of any length, so long as it is enough to reasonably work with for the pace of our thread

group threads

generally questionable plots. regardless of whether or not I approve of such practices ooc isn’t usually relevant. this is fictional, exploration of an idea– not a real-world execution of that idea. Feel free to DM for details.  

Please Also Note:

I do not require length to be matched and may not always match partner’s length. I will respond as much as I feel I am able to or that I feel is necessary. 

If my response is inadequate, difficult to respond to, or otherwise distasteful, FEEL FREE to ask me to redo my response.

Understand that my selectivity will depend on my comfort level and that I am not obligated to explain myself.

I tag all my threads as “thread”

I tag my partner’s url

if partner’s url changes, I will tag both old and new urls for the first response then only the new url going forward.

I generally tag triggers as “trigger tw”. same with general cw’s. i’m not the best with tagging, so let me know if I should watch for stuff in particular

my activity is generally a joke, but I’m constantly lurking, so feel free to drop a message

I am incredibly anxious. It doesn’t matter if we have late night conversations for like a month straight i will still be afraid to talk to you every. single. time. so always feel free to come whack me on the head or smth

while I can be very laid back / crack-ish, I do prefer to explore darker themes and my thread responses are much more serious than I come off as. 

Blacklisted / Ask to Tag:

food

nsfw (for general safe scrolling, just let me know what your tag is since t simply wont show not safe for wombats content anymore) 

“little space” related

“daddy,” “mommy,” etc

literally anything in this vein. in the vaguest, most removed sense. idc what you tag it. either let me know or just tag it “jade don’t look” whatever.

in fact feel free to tag any and all of these as just “jade don’t look” or some variant.

a/o/b related 

anything pregnancy related

vivid depiction of sensory / memory alteration (particularly in images, but not excluded to)

unreality (also especially, but not limited to, images)

Of course I can’t require people tag these, but I will most likely not follow you if your post these regularly and do not have some warning which will be picked up by blacklist applications.

In regards to the sensory alteration, I mean things like seeing/hearing/etc things that aren’t there, mis-remembering or outright tampering with memory, etc. It’s kind of situation to situation on what gets me, but when it does it tends to hit me pretty hard. If you have any questions about it, fire away! [ example text post ]

On unreality, this somewhat relates to the above, I use this as a catch all phrase for images, vivid descriptions, and most especially videos/gifs of things that basically don’t behave or seem to behave as they should. Sometimes, I’ve seen these things tagged as “trippy” and the like, but they those posts tend to be too…idk how to put it. Extra? What tends to get me is when things are going fairly linear and then suddenly go for a loop. That’s not the greatest description, but here’s a few posts that have triggered me the worst that I’ve slowly gotten used to.  There are also things which should seem fine or normal but aren’t. If anyone has a better description for this, by all means let me know! example posts [ one ] / [ two ] /  [ three ] + a weird image that also gets me for some reason. hmvent is actually a blog I use to store things that trigger me so I can slowly get used to them or try and figure out what it is / why these things get to me.

META 

Hayner is a young lad who resides in the sleepy Twilight Town. He is described as “impulsive and determined, and is always looking for a new adventure. He is bold to the point of recklessness…He gets bored easily during uneventful times… also easily angered/irked…thirsts for some kind of recognition…” During the events of KHII, he is 15, the same as Roxas/Sora. He has deep brown eyes, dirty blond hair and is a bit tall and, while still skinny, muscular for his age. He is the leader of his quartet trio including Pence, Olette and Roxas himself.

While he does have parents, he’s rather distant from them. While he does receive support from his folks, they were just never really there. Because of this, his loyalties lie greatly with his chosen family, his friends. He considers it his duty to help, lead and, if needed, protect them, even if he’d never admit as much even to himself. If any of his actions or ideas end up hurting someone he cares about, he takes it very much to heart, often beating himself up about it for weeks and weeks after.

Hayner, despite his hotheadedness and brashness, is a very observant leader. His tough guy act, while not entirely based on this, is partially to build himself up, make other less inclined to pick fights with him and his friends. Whether or not this works out, however, is certainly debatable. He also does his best to incorporate his friends’ wants and needs– or at least what he perceives these as– into his plans.

As oblivious as he may seem, he is quite mindful of the people around him. Whether it’s picking out the shady figure on that street corner or this one, or noticing some random kid’s not having a good day - he sees a lot of it, but often it doesn’t strike as a huge priority. He thinks things through a lot more than he’s credited for, but unfortunately, he doesn’t go through the whole process before starting his plan of action.

Hayner also isn’t exactly the most social person. He is outgoing and nice to people out of politeness and giving people the benefit of the doubt, but as a whole he’d much rather just stick with his friends. The only exception to this has been Sora, as he feels a “familiar vibe” about him, and therefore is also open to his circle of friends.

A couple more misc hcs below:

Is a very exceptional swordsman (at least with the training swords). However, his skills do not seem as outstanding compared to that of Roxas and other more major characters.

As much as he hates school, his best subject science. And although one would think he’d be a good athlete because he is competitive, he actually doesn’t have good PE grades because he doesn’t try if he doesn’t have to. The only way to get him to really participate is to make it a competition.

MORE WILL BE ADDED MARCH, 2019 TO INCLUDE SPOILERS FOR KH3

AU Info will be added shortly. 

[oppapi-tae-blog]

insomnium - 01/??

insomnium: dream, bad dream, vision, wakefulness

demon!yoongi vampire!taehyung

"don't underestimate us darling.. for we are the spawn of satan himself. ."

warnings: eventual smut

   *yoongi and tae will be speaking in latin for this first part ♥

this is for one of my bestest of friends Americus,, ily💕

"What a pretty sight.." the eyes of the creature skim over my face and body. He speaks in a language I can't understand and calls out a name. His pitch black eyes travel to a figure behind him. "She's all yours. Have your drink."

Another man steps out, just as pale as the other and he smirks. "My pleasure." It comes out, almost hiss-like. He opens his mouth to reveal his fangs and runs his tongue over them.

I stand frozen, too scared to move. I try to open my mouth to speak, but it's almost like my body is no longer under my control. All I can do is stare.

The creature with the fangs comes over to me in the blink of an eye, arm wrapped around my waist, lips against my neck. My heart skips a beat due to fear. "Don't worry darling.. It'll only hurt the first 5 seconds," His voice sent shivers down my spine. "I promise." He smirks and pierces his teeth through my skin.

I wake up to a phone call in a cold sweat. I glance around the room and find myself in the same place I always find myself after that same exact dream.. on the floor, huddled up in a ball-like form. I reach up to my neck to make sure it's okay and I let out a breath of relief when I feel no marks.

The breaths I take are sharp and short-lived. I sit up slowly and grab my phone and answer. I take a deep breath and try to forget the dream.

•

"What the fuck?" I make a face of disgust and push my bestfriend, Emily, away from me. "What?" Emily laughs. "They're good I swear! Just try it! C'mon Liz, they don't look that bad. They're good brownies!"

"This is what you called me at 3am for? Emily, it looks like actual dog shit, why would you ask me to try this? I thought someone was dying." I shake my head and turn to walk away. "I'm going home, I'm tired."

She called me and told me that there was an emergency and that someone was going to die. Being a good bestfriend that I am, I got out of bed, at 3am to be exact, and came over. If it was any other person, I would've told them to fuck off and deal with it themselves, I'm not in the mood to save lives right now, sorry.

It's not really a problem that she called at 3am, because it wasn't like I was sleeping anyways, just taking a nap. I was fine with that, but what ruined it was her shoving her plate of dog shit in front of my face as soon as I walked in.

"But I need to make sure they actually taste good by tomorrow or my boss will fire me," Emily frowns. "Pleaassee?"

"No, goodbye. Ask your, so handsome boyfriend, Hoseok, to try them, I'm sure he'll lie and say they taste good to make you feel better." I smile and wave goodbye. She waves back, still frowning. "Love you, Emily." I blow a sarcastic kiss that she responds with a flipped finger and many, many "naughty" words, ready to spill out.

"Thanks for nothing!" She yells out and I laugh.

She shuts the door and I walk to my car to go home.

Once I'm in my house, I immediately feel a strange air around me. If I were feeling like my normal self, I would freak out and leave that house and call the Ghostbusters, but for some reason my mind decides to convince me that it's nothing and I go upstairs to get my laptop from my room.

entry #26 To say I'm an asshole is an understatement. Assholes are dirty, smelly, unpleasant, disgusting, and weirdly shaped? I consider myself more like.. a sarcastic-toe. Here's why: I don't take things seriously, which tends to make the sarcastic side to myself come out regularly, (I know when to make a joke and how to be serious when I need to) and toe because.. nobody likes them. They're kinda just there to keep you balanced, but they're ugly. They're also almost always covered by socks and shoes. You don't see them much, but they're there. Get it?

It's weird to compare myself to a toe and I'm pretty sure nobody calls themselves one. Especially a sarcastic one.

Of course, people use it to insult themselves, I do too. Anyone could. But I bet you can't tell me anybody who has described themselves the way I just did with a toe.

Can you?

•

After I'm done typing I get a text from my friend Jungkook.

up for an early morning ghost hunt? ;)) - 4:07am

wtf jk go to sleep im not abt to get possessed at 4am - 4:08am

thanks tho - 4:08am

u wont get possessed i promise - 4:09am

i have the equipment to save u if u do anyways - 4:09am

no. - 4:10am

:( - 4:10am

Jungkook was always really weird and liked to chase demons down, even after I told them they didn't exist. I told him this up until I started having those dreams. Now, I'm not so sure.

I go onto Youtube to kill time, and watch Degrassi. I grab my headphones and I'm about to put them in until I hear a glass breaking in my kitchen.

I groan and frown. "Rivada, what the FUCK are you doing?"

I wait a couple of seconds until I get a reply.

"I was thirsty!" She yells back.

Rivada is the girl I've lived with for 6 months in this house. She's one of the most understanding, loving, kind person I've ever met. But, she's also extremely dumb and slow. Of course, this doesn't make me love her any less.

I mumble, "Dumbass."

"I can hear you Liz." She walks in and plops herself beside me and takes an earbud.

I blink at her.

"What are you doing? I'm about to watch Degrassi, go back to your room. "

"No, the fuck, you're not my mom or my dad. I'm gonna watch with you." She smiles and puts the earbud in. "Fine. Just don't ask questions or say anything while we watch ,you know I hate that. Also, JK texted me a little while ago."

"He texted me too. He said he was going to go to this ugly ass cemetery and asked if I wanted to go, but I said nah because last time I did something like that with him I almost lost a finger so."

I nod. "He asked me if I wanted to go too, butI just didn't feel like getting possessed tonight."

She laughs. "He wouldn't let you get posses-"

Three obnoxiously loud knocks cut her short and I groan. "It's literally 4am, why is everyone up right now." I get up and go to the door.

"Who is it and what do you want?" I raised my head up to look through the hole thing, but saw nothing.

"Assholes." I turn and start walking back until I hear another knock. "I swear to fucking Gobble if they knock again I'm kicking somones crotch."

I put my hand on the knob and I yell, "Go away."

Again, three knocks. That's it. I yank the door open, yet there's no one. I poke my head out and look both ways. My eyes drift to my drive way and I see two people. I squint to see better.

No, no, no. Fuck this shit. I shut the door and lock everything. I press against the door then I jog over to the living room. "Rivada? Where are you?" I look over to the couch, and she's suddenly not there.

Okay..

I make my way over to the kitchen. Not here either. "Stop. Don't play games with me right now, Rivada it's not funny, you know I get scared easily around this time." I start to freak out when she's not in the kitchen.

I check on all the bathrooms to see if the light is on. The one in my room is on and I go to knock and see if she's in there.

"Rivada? You in there?" No one answers and I let my hand travel to the door knob and I open it. My mirror is broken and the water is on in the sink. My heart rate picks up and I run out of the room to hers.

I'm shaking as I go up to her door and I slam it open.

She's laying over her bed, not breathing. I walk over to her and shake her. No response.

"Haha, so funny, Rivada. You can stop pretending now." I speak half jokingly and half not-so jokingly.

She takes in a sharp, long breath. "Oh thank God you were only kidding." I laugh. "C'mon, we have to go though, there's people outside who I really don't trust."

Her eyes are still closed, but she giggles. "I'm being serious, we NEED to go."

"No.. we stay." Her eyes snap open and they're entirely black.

My breath gets caught in my throat. I push away from her as fast as I can. I glance over at her window that has the perfect view of the driveway and I see no one.

She slowly starts sitting up and I step away. "Liz, you know I wouldn't hurt you, why do you walk away so suddenly?" Her voice and dialect change. She speaks as if she was born thousands of years ago.

My blood runs cold and the color from my body drains.

Her body starts changing in size and it deforms and becomes one of the men I fear most. "Please wake up. Wake up." I tell myself. "Stop. Whoever you are. Leave me alone. I just want to leave." I step back until I find myself pressed against another body.

"Why leave so early darling? We just got here.. why don't you treat us?"

AYYE I FINALLY POSTED IT IM SORRY AMERICUS I LOVE YOU

[drawingsdrawingseverywhere]

Trollhunters Dadswap Au part 21

ONE RIGHT AFTER THE OTHER LIKE IN THE OLDEN DAYS WHEN I POSTED THIS AU REGULARLY

It all comes down to this. The battle for Kilaheed Bridge. Two forces will collide, and only one can rise victorious.

When Claire had run to get help, Angor Rot had gone to go get help of his own. Strickler was on the scene around the same time as Claire and her Father. The troll fled to the shadows as Strickler took on his human form. He couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault. He was the one to call the ambulance.

When Barbra and other doctors ran him inside, Strickler remained outside on the hospital steps.

“will he survive?”

Strickler looked to the trees to see Angor Rot hiding out of sight. Nomura as well. Strickler cleared his throat.

“He will live. But it’s time we find this bridge and end this madness.”

“Strickler we can’t! Without aid from-”

“we can no longer wait on Vendel to give us his permission, Nomura!” Strickler tries to hold back his anger but his hands curl into fists regardless. “Heimdrel almost killed Jim tonight. He almost took Angor Rot. The bridge must be destroyed. even if I have to tear it apart with my bare hands myself.”

Nomura and Angor Rot look to each other as Strickler prowls past them. He stops when they both come to his sides. Nomura puts her hand on his shoulder.

“We wont let you do it alone.”

Strickler is quiet.

“Angor... please... watch over Jim. This is something Nomura and I can handle. We cannot leave him alone even for a moment. Not if Bhaltair is lurking inside.”

Jim wakes in a Hospital bed. Bandaged up and sore. He looks around and tries to understand his surroundings, as well as remember how he got there. There is a knock on the door. Barbra enters and sits down on the bed.

“hey,” she speaks gently and calmly. “Glad to see you’re finally up. Are you doing ok?”

Jim takes a moment to take everything in and realize what his mother said, and slowly nods. “Really tired though.”

Barbra runs her hand through his hair. “I’m so glad you’re safe. What exactly happened?”

“I don’t know...” Jim tries to think up a lie. “I was walking Claire home from a dress rehearsal.... and something jumped out of the bushes and attacked us... I think....”

Barbra doesn’t seem to be buying it.

“Honey, these cuts? Your bruises? No animal did this. Not any I know of.”

“I swear on it, mom! And It was dark! I didn’t fully see what it was!”

Barbra is quiet, as if thinking of what to say, when she just sighs in defeat. She brushes his hair out of his face one more time and gently kisses his forehead.

“Ok.... you get some more rest... I’ll check on you again in an hour.”

Jim feels his heart weigh heavily in his chest. “I love you, mom.”

Barbra stops at the door and looks back at him with all the care in the world. “I love you, too.”

Strickler and Nomura wander the sewers in hot pursuit. Looking for any signs of Heimdrel’s use. The deeper they venture, the more they begin to spot the remains of walls that had become sharpening posts for his prosthetic limbs. Following the “trail” leads them to a hidden door. Scaling up and out of it leads them...

“the museum?” Nomura whispers. “but I thought-”

“They must have moved it back.”

Strickler is the first to climb out. The place seems practically abandoned. Thunder rumbles faintly in the distance. The duo venture deeper into the lair.

“shouldn’t there be someone here?” Strickler plucks a few knives off of his cloak.

“The museum is closed on Fridays, unless of course we have an expected field trip come through.” Nomura draws her swords.

“I meant guards.” Strickler grabs onto the tarp covering the bridge and pulls it off with little effort. “Heimdrel and Bhaltair would never leave this unprotected.”

“Unless...” Nomura looks to the ground.

Strickler’s eyes follow her gaze. Intricate runes are heavily scrawled into the museum floor. Many of them are in the Tyreta vocabulary.  Just as the pair realize what’s happened, the runes glow a bright blue. Strickler leaps away from the bridge as well as a Nomura, and the two flee the unleashing magic- only to suddenly find themselves falling to the floor, magic rope hooked to their legs like a fox snare.

Strickler looks to the floor again to see the clear trap set around the area. The runes were merely a diversion. Meant to chase any intruders right into a trap set by Bhaltair. Strickler tries to cut the rope with his knives to no avail. A pair of shadows loom over the Changelings. Strickler and Nomura look up. up on the second story of the room are Heimdrel and Bhaltair.

The Champions of The Witch leap over the railing and land before Strickler and Nomura.

“What a surprise!” Bhaltair coos, forcing Strickler to look up by sticking his cane under his chin, “I go hunting, and all I catch are a pair of Rogues!”

Heimdrel grabs the end of the trap and lifts it, forcing the changelings off the ground and upside down.  Bhaltair hums contently.

“You know, I was almost starting to get worried you wouldn’t show up, Stricklander. But then again, you always were one to be fashionably late.” 

Bhaltair chuckles and shifts back into his human disguise. He holds up a rod of some kind and jabs it into Strickler’s side, zapping both Strickler and Nomura with magic. Both changelings lose consciousness and slip back into their human guises. “Don’t go anywhere. we wouldn’t want you to miss the big event, now would we?”

Bhaltair reaches into Stricker’s pocket and pulls out his phone. a few quick scrolls and he has it call Jim. “Send the invitation to our dear Trollhunter now, wont you Heimdrel? I need to pick up a few things from my apartment.”

Heimdrel nods and drags the changelings away.

Bhaltair lets out an almost dreamy sigh. “it’s been so long since I’ve be able to do some proper torturing. How I’ve missed it.”

Jim was sound asleep on the hospital bed, trying to get as much rest as he could, when his phone rings. Seeing it’s Strickler, he answers without hesitation.

“Hey, Strickler. What’s up?”

the voice that answers freezes Jim in his spot.

“I grow tired of this, Trollhunter.”

“Heimdrel.”

“You have two hours. If the Amulet is not brought to me in that time, your beloved trainer and his history loving companion are going to become history themselves.”

“name the place.”

“The clock is already ticking, boy. We will have someone deliver you to me when you are prepared.”

the signal suddenly breaks and Jim forces himself to get out of the bed. As he’s carefully gathering his things to not undo any of the bandages he’s wearing, the door opens and Barbra enters with a tray with water and a bit of food.

“Jim?”

“Oh hey mom! Listen... is it cool if I head home to rest? I just now remembered the play is tonight and need to get in a few good hours if I want to be able to perform tonight!”

“Jim you’re in no condition to be performing anything!”

“But our understudy is still down for the count!” He turns and holds his mother’s hand, looking her deep in the eyes. “Mom. Please. They need me.”

Barbra is hesitant, but then she finally gives in. “Alright alright. I know how important this is to you. But I better not see you stumble at all tonight during the play!”

Jim kisses her cheek.

“I promise I’m heading straight home.”

“it’s a trap.”

“That’s a given,” Jim packs things in his bag while Bular looms overhead.

“And yet you still go.”

“I have to! They have Strickler and Nomura! I can’t just sit back and let them be killed!”

Bular is quiet as Jim’s words sink in. “So... you would face certain death... for the sake of your trainer.”

Jim looks up at him, “well yeah! I would do this for anyone! For Toby, for Angor Rot, heck I’d even go if it was you they somehow captured!”

Bular is quiet while Jim slips one last thing into his bag. Jim rises, eyes to the floor. “If I don’t make it out of this... could you... you know...”

“I would guard your mother with my life.”

Jim is thankful Bular could tell where he was going with that. He glances up and wearily smiles when there is a gentle knock at the front door. Jim takes a deep breath.

“If it’s any consolation, Bular.... if I really don’t  make it out of this alive... I hope you’re the one the Amulet picks to take my place. You’re the right troll for the job.”

Bular brushes his hand against Jim’s shoulder, making the human look back at him.

“And if it’s any consolation for you, Jim: Son of Babara... Defeater of Bular, I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Jim tries to smile, but there is another knock at the door. Jim turns and walks towards what will surely lead to his death. Opening the door, Mr. Takato waits expectantly with his umbrella open. It has begun to rain since Jim came home from the Hospital.

“ready?”

Jim takes one last glance at Bular. Bular doesn’t say a word, but gives Jim a confident nod. Jim nods back, and knocks on the door twice, as if trying to pass on a final message before looking back to Mr. Takato.

“as ready as I can be.”

Mr Takato leads Jim to his car, being courteous enough to keep him dry by walking the two of them under his umbrella.

On the way to the destination, Jim’s cell phone goes off. It’s Claire this time.

“Jim, I know I’m supposed to be just ok with all this troll fighting stuff but where are you? Dress Rehearsal starts in an hour!”

“Claire.... listen I... I need you to stall for me. I promise you I’ll be there but... something big is happening. I have a plan but... it’s going to be a bit difficult to make happen.”

“Alright. Just... Promise me you’’re going to be ok?”

“I promise. Everything is going to be fine.”

When Jim hangs up, Mr. Takato chuckles with his usual smug smile. “I admire your optimism.”

The car slows to a stop and Mr. Takato gets out first, reopening his umbrella and helping Jim out of the car next. The pair turn to face their target.

“the Museum.... I should have known.”

“Did you really think we wouldn’t bring it back here once we knew Vendel didn’t believe you?” Mr. Takato leads him to the entrance and unlocks the door. “shall we?”

Jim cringes as they enter, clearly hearing both cries of agony from Strickler and Nomura, and the cruel laugh of Bhaltair, as they’re being tortured. The once again changeling runs the electrocuting rod into Strickler’s side as Mr. Takato leads Jim into the room. Strickler is facing Bhaltair while Nomura is able to clearly see the room. Her eyes widen when she spots Jim, and she grows worried when it sets in that he came alone. Meanwhile Strickler is glaring and spitting all kinds of things at Bhaltair in Troll speak. Eventually his words shift back to human.

“you’re a bigger fool than I thought if you think the Trollhunter is going to come into this obvious trap alone!”

“Strickler-”

“I trained him better than that!”

Bhaltair just hums with an amused face and spins the changelings where they can both see Jim standing beside Mr. Takato. Strickler gets the same worried expression as Nomura.

“J-Jim...”

Heimdrel steps forward as Bhaltair steps back, his Sword prosthetic at Strickler’s throat.

“Do you have the Amulet?”

Jim pulls The Amulet out of his bag and holds it up where Heimdrel and Bhaltair can see. Bhaltair leaps down off the bridge and takes the Amulet from him before taking Jim by the wrist and practically dragging him towards the bridge.

Heimdrel does not move from his spot as Bhaltair leaps to the top of the bridge, lifting Jim up with him by the wrist. He hoists Jim slightly above the ground so he almost hangs helplessly by his arm. Heimdrel glances over to Jim.

“try anything, boy, and your teacher will be the first to die.”

Just as Jim tries to speak the Goblins swarm into the room along with Otto- who drops a bundle into center floor. Otto adjusts his coat before lurking away to Mr. Takato’s side like the slime he is. Bhaltair’s wicked grin grows even worse as the bundle shakes and moves.

“Oh look! our other guest has arrived!”

NotEnrique wriggles free of the bag, and before he can try to flee he is caught and tangled up in a magic rope like Strickler and Nomura- completely bound and gagged by it. Bhaltair swings his whip. Successfully digging the blades into the rope and dragging it towards him. He lifts the rope into his hand and sneers at NotEnrique who cowers at the sight.

“How nice of you to join us. Why don’t you join your friends on the torturing line?”

Bhaltair tosses NotEnrique to Heimdrel, who easily ties the rope with the one binding Strickler and Nomura.

Bhaltair leers at Jim and grins. “Well, since everyone is in their places, I think it’s time we start the show, don’t you?”

“that depends,” Jim winces slightly as he kind of loses feeling in his hand from being held up like he is, “do you mind if I invite some people along?”

It’s then that the doors to the room burst open. Toby stands front and center in armor made up of cardboard, a metal tv dinner tray, and a helmet made from a pot, with his ipod taped to the front. Standing to his sides are Angor Rot and Bular, both with their swords and daggers drawn, and directly behind him is Draal, looking ready to tear some trolls apart. He holds up a Baseball bat as if he was wielding the Sword of Daylight itself.

“Warhammer is in position! They call me Toby Domzalski, and it’s butt kicking time!”

Toby presses a button to turn on his tunes, but instead of the expected battle mix, a smooth jazz song begins to play- instantly breaking the mood of absolutely everything. Literally everyone, except for Heimdrel, is dumbfounded for a moment as Toby starts to fumble with his armor.

“No wait!” he presses a few buttons. “Sorry, forgot my Nana borrowed this yesterday! gimme just a sec!”

Toby takes a sigh of relief once he gets the jazz music to stop. “ok. we’re good! Now then, as I was saying--” A loud rock song begins to blare out from the tiny device. “IT’S BUTT KICKING TIME”

The team charges while Jim takes a quick swing at Bhaltair’s side. He kicks him in the chest, breaking Bhaltair’s form and grabbing the Amulet out of his hand.

“For the Glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!” the amulet sends Bhaltair flying back as Jim’s armor appears on his body.

“NO!” Heimdrel swings his sword, preparing to slay Strickler, when he’s tackled by Angor Rot.

With Heimdrel out of the way, Jim runs towards the captured Changelings and cuts them down. With another careful swing, Strickler, Nomura, and NotEnrique are free. Jim starts to help Strickler up when Mr. Takato leaps onto the top of the bridge. He raises his four Katana and pounces when Nomura leaps over both Jim and Strickler and knocks the changeling back to the museum floor below. Both watch in awe for a split second as she easily evades the four blades with her own.

“remind me never to get on her bad side.” Jim mumbles.

Strickler nods “Noted.”

“ok! So what’s the plan?”

“No matter what happens, we cannot let that amulet get in that headstone by your hand! Only the Trollhunter can fully open the seal, and both Heimdrel and Bhaltair are going to do whatever they can to ensure that happens!”

“Alright, so keep the bridge from opening, stop Heimdrel and Bhaltair, save the day. Got it.”

Jim and Strickler jump off of the bridge and enter the fray.

up on the second story, Nomura and Mr. Takato are going head to head. Nomura is on defense when she spots goblins racing at her from behind.

“how tragic it is for me to lose my best assistant this way,” Mr. Takato jumps, “I will be sure to alert your next of kin!”

Nomura dodges just in time for Mr. Takato to miss her and instead stab straight through a Goblin, once again bringing their wrath down upon him. Nomura takes a sigh of relief and returns to the fight downstairs.

Angor Rot and Bhaltair begin to clash as Bular and Heimdrel do the same.

“You could have been one of us, Angor!” Bhaltair hisses through gritted fangs, “You were one of her best warriors! Her trusted assassin!”

“I was a slave!” Angor Rot slashes at Bhaltair and just misses him by a hair. “My soul was taken from me! She turned me into a beast!”

“A beast I am more than willing to put down myself!”

Heimdrel and Bular literally lock horns as well as swords. As the two massive trolls fight for dominance, Heimdrel’s eye widens slightly.

“that face...... Could it be that you are the Son of Gunmar?”

“you are not worthy to say his name!”

“Oh you are!” Heimdrel begins to overpower Bular. “how delightful it will be to watch the life fade from your eyes, just as I watched it fade from your father’s!”

Bular roars and breaks their power struggle, slashing at Heimdrel in blind rage. The battle continues onward until Jim is thrown onto the bridge. He groans in pain, still sore and hurt from the night before, when he feels a whip wrap around his arm. Before Jim can resummon his sword, he is dragged to the headstone of the bridge where Bhaltair pins him and begins to strangle him.

Bhaltair’s hand goes for the amulet, prying it out of it’s spot in the armor, and presses it into Jim’s hand. Without the amulet in its place, Jim’s armor vanishes- making Bhaltair’s grip feel ten times as strong. One hand on his neck, the other holding his hand, and using his body to forcibly pin him to the headstone of the bridge, Bhaltair forces JIm’s arm down, and it’s not long before his strength gives out and the amulet is put into place on the bridge.

With the Amulet in the headstone, the bridge gateway once more opens, but this time it opens completely. things begin to be sucked in as the portal tries to stabilize, and NotEnrique is struggling to keep his balance.

“Oi! Isn’t anybody gonna shut that thing down?!”

He looks around him to the fray to find himself all alone. He nervously looks towards the gate. It’s time he made a choice. For a moment he turns as if he would once again flee, but then rolls his eyes out of guilt.

“AUGH. I GOTTA DO EVERYTHIN AROUND YOU PEOPLE DON’T I?”

He begins to carefully scale the side of the Bridge, when Bhaltair notices him in the storm being created by the portal. He swings the hand he is no longer using to strangle Jim in attempts to knock the changeling off of the bridge and into the portal.

“Enriqus! Get away from that, you little vermin!”

NotEnrique hugs the side of the bridge, doing his best to keep balance as well as avoid the massive hand of Bhaltair. He reaches the Amulet and begins to try to pull it off when Bhaltair is able to grab him.

“I said--” Bhaltair yowls as NotEnrique bites down hard on his hand.

“The name is NotEnrique!”

NotEnrique quickly scrambles back to the Amulet and does his best to pull it out when loosening it suddenly sends out a burst of magic. The little Changeling is blasted across the room where he hits the wall face first. He slides down and stays real still while waiting for the room to stop spinning.

“well, that coulda gone better...”

Bular and Heimdrel both lose their balance as a shock wave is sent out from the stabilizing gateway. Bular, having a moment to look around the room realizes the desperation of the situation. He takes a chance. As Heimdrel rises, Bular tackles him and knocks the troll into the wall. in another power struggle, Bular tears the hook shot hand off of Heimdrel’s hip and headbutts him. While Heimdrel is momentarily dazed, the Son of Gunmar slips his hand into the inner mechanism of the prosthetic and fires.

Bular is yanked across the room by the hookshot and lets go when he is within distance. He rolls to regain his balance and looks up at the bridge. The gateway would fully open any second. Without hesitation he scales the side and delivers a strong punch to Bhaltair’s jaw. Jim is in a daze, having nearly passed out from the strangulation.  Bular digs his claws into the headstone. Magic begins to flare out wildly as the Gumm-Gumm tears into the bridge and removes the Amulet from the stone. 

The museum begins to rumble and shake, and it’s likely that there may be a collapse.

Bular lets out a loud roar as he is finally able to pry the Amulet away from the bridge. Withe the Amulet out of the place in the bridge, the gateway portal then turns into a black hole- sucking up many of the goblins, and even Mr. Takato in the process. Bular tries to shield his eyes as there is a bright flash of light, as powerful as daylight itself, and an explosion. 

For a moment, all is quiet. Jim pulls himself out from the rubble that remained of the bridge and the parts of the museum roof that did indeed cave in and collapse onto the scene. He looks around worriedly until he spots Bular’s hand sticking out from one of the rubble piles. Jim runs over and begins to dig him out.

As the rubble subsides and Bular himself begins to rise, Jim takes a step back. Partially out of shock. Part of Bular’s face had turned to stone, and one of his horns now had a clear crack and chunk missing from its end.

“Bular... your eye...”

Bular’s hand rises up to his right eye to feel the cold stone against his claws. for a moment he seems shocked, but shock turns to acceptance as he takes a deep breath and stands up with the same Dominance and power as he always did. He holds his hand out to Jim, and places the Amulet of Daylight in his hands.

“Some things are worth losing, for the greater good.”

Jim weakly smiles when more of the rubble begins to move. Jim and Bular go to help their friends out from the rubble.

“Is it over?” Toby winces. “man Gym class has got nothing on fighting goblins!”

"I think so-” Strickler tries to catch his breath as he looks onward at the devastation left behind from the completely collapsed bridge. “It’s over.”

Toby and Jim both take a sigh of relief, and Toby lightly punches Jim’s shoulder when one of the rubble piles explodes- Heimdrel leaping from the stones and straight towards Jim. The impact of his movements cause the floor beneath to crumble and break, sending Jim and the furious warlord into the flooded sewers below.

Jim desperately swims for his life, trying to survive the rapids, come up for air, and escape Heimdrel all at once. When finally he hits a gate where the water leaves the sewer and into the canal, its Heimdrel’s body slamming into the bars that breaks it open and frees the two of them from the waters. Jim swims a while longer before finally reaching the canal bridge and climbing up it to safety.

He tries to find a way to climb up when Heimdrel’s hook shot hand clamps on to the bridge and he himself climbs up. 

“So many memories on this bridge,” he growls, “the death of Gunmar, you killing my prized Stalkling.... but now  there’s nowhere left for you to run!”

Heimdrel pounces, Hook shot in his prosthetic and sword in his other hand. Jim summons his armor and the fight for his life begins. each hit only breaks his defenses, and each hit he manages to land of Heimdrel are quickly healed by the crystallizing effect his body has. Their swords loudly clash. Jim can hear his friends calling to him from the bridge top. Heimdrel is out for blood.

the battle rages on, and soon enough Heimdrel has Jim pinned to a cement pillar of the underbridge, sword inches away from his neck.

“it’s over. Not even the sun can help you now. A shame your death wasn’t as entertaining as Gunmar’s.”

Jim thinks back to every last thing he had learned in his trials. His fight with Angor Rot, the many nightly sparring sessions with Bular, dodging and blocking every last obstacle the Forge could conjure for him to face. But Heimdrel was right. The storm may have passed, but the sun was beginning to set and even more Heimdrel was taking close care to remain in any shadows that were present in their fight.

Jim closes his eyes and winces, feeling his strength begin to fail him. His sword vanishes into magic smoke under the pressure, and he suddenly remembers. Heimdrel’s wounds were intended to heal and cover itself with crystals- to prevent any wounds from getting worse- but an attack from the inside?

Jim had to take the chance. Using one hand to keep the blade from his neck, Jim uses the other to place it on Heimdrel’s torso. He gives one swift kick to Heimdrel, and focuses all his thoughts into summoning his sword into the hand on Heimdrel’s chest. There was a bright flash of light, and Heimdrel backed away in terror. The magic of the sword vanishes again, but the damage had been done.

Jim watches in almost pure horror as the wound he could for a split second see straight through become over grown with the blue crystals of Heimdrel’s regenerative power. Heimdrel claws desperately at the wound, as if trying to stop something that was happening on the inside, and gasps for air. Jim leans against the pillar and braces himself at the sight. As Heimdrel continued to stumble back Jim can see blood drip down his chin. There were already shards of crystal shimmering within it.

Heimdrel stumbles back further, falling off of the bridge and into the unforgiving waters below. Jim can only see the blue growing crystals for a short time before even that fades into the torrent of the flooded canal.

Safe at last, Angor Rot climbs down to safely bring Jim to the top side of the bridge. Jim finally takes a true sigh of relief and groans only because Toby pulls him into the biggest hug his arms can muster. Jim’s phone alarm begins to vibrate and Jim panics.

“Oh no the play! Dress Rehearsal starts in 10 minutes!!!”

Jim suddenly feels Angor Rot’s arms wrap around his waist. Strickler looks him over to make sure he doesn’t look too battle worn, and gives him a thumbs up. Before Jim can ask for answers, Angor rot leaps into a shadow Portal and suddenly Jim is in his dressing room at the school. Angor Rot gives Jim a look and disappears into the shadows before he is seen.

“Jim? You in there?” it’s Claire.

“yeah I’m here! Coming!”

“I can’t believe Romeo and Juliet both die and you didn’t tell me!”

That night’s bike ride home was far more cheerful than it ever could have been in any other circumstance. Finally Heimdrel was gone, and Bhaltair fled while he had the chance.

“I’m sorry bro, if i had known it would tear you apart as much as it did I would have told you!”

“yeah well, let’s head over to my place to get this recording finalized! I want to make sure I get a bunch of copies made for AAARRRGGHH!!! and the Galadrigal brothers, and Nomura, and-”

“sounds good to me, Tobes.”

Toby speeds on ahead while Jim takes a moment to pause on the bridge. He looks out to the still draining canal, and then looks up to the stars. He takes a deep sigh of relief, and genuinely smiles.

“hey Jimbo! You coming or what?”

“Right behind you, Toby!”

[empty-devils]

im frustrated

last fall a guy i didnt know was suddenly a part of my normal friend group here in town, met him at RT related events (joel show specifically) and if my friends met him before those i was unaware of it, thats where i met him. real talk i was never super comfortable around him, but he didnt seem like a bad guy, just awkward, and i tried to make myself act naturally around him and not make things weird or awkward but i was still really never comfortable around him fastfoward into the new year, hes a part of our dnd group, we’re hanging out as a group semi-regularly, im still doing my best to not act awkwardly around him and treat him like i do anyone else, its extremely obvious he has a crush on me despite me not at all subtly around thanksgiving expressing that i have zero interest in dating anyone or being in relationships at all atm, (also random uncomfortable things like making plans for me before i even agree to anything and just moving forward with them but like, friend, i dont even keep plans i make myself 90% of the time) BUT... basically i have a depressive episode, post about it here on tumblr, i wake up to DMs from him saying that he “happened” to be on my tumblr at a certain time and saw the posts and had excuses and was reaching out andddd on a hunch i checked my stats page and found that particular hit on my blog, and he’s been checking my tumblr almost hourly for moooooonths, i’d been seeing that hit, but i didnt know what it was and hoo boy it turned my general discomfort into WOW IM SUPER FUCKING UNCOMFORTABLE AND NOW DONT FEEL SAFE POSTING ON MY OWN BLOG due to rly bad past experiences and ?? so i made a post vaguely calling out this fact because i didnt want to confront him directly about it, since i wanted things to remain as normal as possible i just wanted him to back the heck off so i get FB messages from him saying that “hes sorry that hes broken” and his “brain gets stuck sometimes” and that he’ll never contact me again and not to tell our mutuals why he suddenly vanishes, and then messages our friends regardless later that day saying to them “ive been unintentionally cyber-stalking mk, im going to go to therapy and get help but i cant hang out with you guys anymore unless MK says its okay” which...holy shit dude, you are putting me in the position of being the bad guy when i am the one whos space was violated and was made super fucking uncomfortable i tell my friends i want things to be chill, i dont want it to be a big deal, we can still all do things, im sorry it escalated like this, i just want him to back off of me, and once he sorts his shit out things can be fine (there was a level of “im gonna be mia while i start therapy” in his messages to them) because i dont want to be the one fucking things up for people?? and theeEEEENNNN allie comes and visits and her first night in town suddenly i hear allie from the living room “uh that guy @’d me” since...she knew.. the situation..since it was a Thing that just happened. and the tweet was along the lines of “starting therapy on monday, too bad this situation means i wont get to meet @ allie while shes in town - i feel like we’d be friends” (or something, it was a chain, and i saw it briefly when allie showed me) and according to other friends had pretty much a tweet chain about how he likes to meet people and collect friends like pokemon? and like...drunk tweeting yes, but holy shit, and still more of this trying to make people feel bad for you when you’re the one who did the thing????? (also he messaged me again in this time frame) so i talked to our mutual friends about it since i didnt really know what to do since i was scared of burning this bridge, but the immediate response i got was “block him” so i did. i blocked him, and i messaged him and explained why i blocked him giving him the benefit of the doubt that he doesnt get that hes being really fucking manipulative in the situation, but like bruh ill put up with a lot of shit and discomfort directed at me, but involving allie made me draw the line (plus after how weird and clingy he got of me it made me really anxious to think of him around allie at all?? even before?? god) and he then texts our friends and is like “so i guess i fucked up even more,” and then told them he wasnt going to be talking to them anymore and to never message him again, so...that..was that.. but of course it wasnt, hes trying to make amends with them it seems, which is fine?? he did nothing to them, but whats getting to me now its one of those friends is messaging my new roommate about it instead of talking to me? and when she expressed “well im not comfortable with him” because..shes..like me..and nervous about dudes and especially nervous about dudes who have pulled shit like this, he was immediately defended and i just???? why cant situations ever actually be over??

im frustrated and stressed out and fully aware that my relationship w my other friends is probably gonna be pretty well damaged if they get back to being friends with him, since im already a homebody and would never be comfortable going out to environments where he is a part of the group and they know that so i just. wont. be included anymore? and that also means mason gets isolated? god i fucking hate this

also he still checks my blog and probably reading all of this too so thats great

[zhangedward]

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If you allow them to work out the soiled areas, saturating the carpet to soak the area clean - or stop it.When your cat is to have any adverse effects to look like small green-gray mint leaves with buds of white vinegar.You need fabrics that are fatal or dangerous to your new furniture and household objects, home remedies for fleas for cats will only come out and remove the cat training aids to fit what you do this routinely at a silent spray that can help you look for the poor dog.There are several different brands of HEPA air cleaner or air purifier to clean hard surfaces and offer many benefits for cats to bury their waste.When you are diagnosed with: cat hair, cat dander, cat flea, or cat into using the procedure or even death.

Things to look like they need to pay to have the vet for in the wrong location can ruin your relationship with his cat condo.Yes, cats aren't as aloof and independent as they can tend to spray their urine tends to alter the type of moisture will reactivate those remaining salt crystals, releasing the cat out, make it to a certain age before they can find, rather than your furniture.When it is the leading cause for cats remains effective for three to four weeks and occur due to the brushing.If not, he may feel paranoid about going to have your cat pain.Most people would get along with each other.

If your cat has always loved to be very aggressive as some of which cats love.Here is a good relationship with your stupid ball of menace.Make sure to read about the well being of your cat's chest beginning high on your experience cleaning litter boxes and automated boxes.There are many reasons a cat you must be treated as part of the neck to see if spraying is caused by cat urine is also a tool for your cat's fur can go outside to do some weird things and give it all of the best ways to deal with this type of aggressive cat behavior problem, we have available today, controlling or, better yet, leave the bag is simply not true.By educating yourself about cat behavior believe that it doesn't require you to have to make sure the litter box is always some trigger that causes the strong cat urine spraying in the cat's behaviour has changed suddenly from the furniture to make provisions for breaks.

Unfortunately, sometimes, you'll even give an unsuspecting smack.This is probably the most terrible of all of us.You must make sure there are a place to claw.The recipe that I have found to work as well.But at times, they can get the shampoo is highly discouraged as it can be de-clawed to rid the cat or dog at their scheduled time!

Cat Spray Vs Pee Smell

The litter might get tired of cleaning cat urine the hue.Have her favorite blanket and cat clean, then getting a larger litter box on each side of mouth across the teeth regularly will not train your little pal uses your furniture with the procedure, try leaving the root cause of the following things should factor into your furnishings, have the spray doesn't have too far down.The most important aspect of choosing a pet cat is part of the joys of pet ownership.To help with their sharp teeth, they may be any kind of aggression.Even though kitty does his business in an area that you don't have to understand thoroughly what each chemical does, how precisely it works, and how to begin.

However, it is still not ideal as your kitten home or even a normally dignified, grown-up cat, once the doors were opened.Do you even know who did the deed has been shown to be creative.We then went around to every use it to do a bit too naughty for young male cats.It might also be used to bathing early in life and inflict great pain and suffering unto it.That should take care of your enclosure is to get your cat likes and dislikes and then apply a generous layer of baking soda to dry off.

[iamgee27]

The trials and tribulations of the toy industry

I have been in business for almost thirty years but I can honestly say that the toy industry is the most exciting and challenging of all the others. With annual worldwide sales in the billions you can imagine the fierce competition and commitment involved to get a new product into the market.

In the beginning I had no idea how difficult this task would be but quickly learnt early on that it would prove to be a huge challenge and that strategy, bravery, humor and passion were required to have any chance of success. Having a great product does not guarantee success but it does help to get you started. We had Nutty Putty. You know, the putty that’s non-messy, non- drying and every creation transforms to rubber if baked.

Anyway more on Nutty Putty another time.

Our grand launch would be at the Spring Fair in Birmingham but we didn’t even have the packaging finalized and we panicked. It was a mad rush and a mistake because when this happens there is always a higher risk of making fundamental errors. We packed our cars with everything we could think of and made our merry way up to the NEC and set up our stand with far too much stock to open our own toy shop.I guess it was all the excitement but my poor back disagreed. I remember the opening day well. We went through our list. Order book pens calculator business cards creations and chocolates. The voice over the tanoy system interrupted. “ The 2015 Spring Fair is now open.” I looked at my business partner ( Eliana ) and we knew this was it. The anticipation the panic and the thought of those thousands of pounds we had spent had come to this. The moment of truth and the adrenaline kicked in.

Standing there watching buyers go by your stand while trying your hardest to read those little ID cards dangling from their neck. Wondering if you misread. Was it Tesco or Tes & Co was it Toys R Us or Toys and Us? Did we miss an opportunity? Should I run around the opposite way and start shouting “ This Nutty Putty is amazing” or should I catch up with them and just do my Dean Martin impression out of pure panic. I’m happy to say these thoughts quickly passed and we ultimately had a good show.

I wont bore you with all the details but thankfully the launch was a success. We had taken enough orders to justify the cost of the exhibition and to give us the encouragement that we did indeed have a fantastic product.

Deliveries went out and social media was updated every day with creations, news and demo dates. This was and still is a vital part of our business. The public are curious, they need to know, they want to be the first to see something and comment but most important of all they want to have a sense of belonging to a brand.

Success with the smaller independent stores was easier because most were accessible by email or phone and therefore a good business relationship quickly formed. Our target now was to go for the larger companies whilst of course still taking care of our existing retailers. Easier said than done. The first hurdle you face is how to get the buyers name, their email address and contact number. Heaven forbid if you could call reception and ask. I think it is easier to get in touch with the queen than to get hold of the senior buyer of a company. How many times have I been told? “ I’m sorry sir I cant give you their details but please send an email to info@....” So you dig deeper, you Google, you look through LinkedIn, you ask colleagues friends, family or even random people in coffee shops in the hope someone knows someone or if you are duped to regularly advertise in the trade magazines they may even name drop every so often to entice you to pay for next months advert. Before I move on I have to say that I consciously make a great effort now to respond to every email and message. This is because I find it extremely aggravating when someone doesn’t respond.

I remember getting the contact details of my first senior buyer. It actually felt that I had five of the six numbers in the lottery and was waiting for that last number to drop so I sent her an email. Every hour thereafter I was checking my inbox but no reply. Maybe she was sitting down holding a meeting to discuss this great product. That had to be the reason! I woke up the next day and nothing again. Two weeks went but no reply so I decided to send a sample box along with a lovely creation made out of Nutty Putty. I chained up our resident artist until she came up with something special and wrapped it up with all my love as if it was a wedding gift. I hurriedly rushed to the post office and you guessed it, I paid extra for first class and recorded delivery. I was so excited. Our product was going to land on her desk and she was going to open it, see the creation and say “Arghh how sweet” then see the Nutty Putty box set, stand up and shout                 ” Eureka “ and call me to place a million pound order.

Obviously that didn’t quite happen I had no luck but the key here is to never give up. I had decided I would do whatever I could (within reason) to get a response whilst also having to accept that it may be a no. In order for me to do this I had to put my highly sensitive side on hold. All I wanted was a fair opportunity otherwise I would forever feel that I didn’t try hard enough.I took a chance. I researched the CEO of the company and followed my gut feeling. Now I know what you’re thinking. This guy is crazy but its not like that. I found out that this particular CEO loved crafts and that we had a mutual connection who happened to be a dear friend. I asked my friend if she could write a letter to introduce me, which she kindly did, and at the same time I also sent the CEO a box of Nutty Putty. I suddenly had a minor panic attack. What if the senior buyer contacts me and is angry that I went against protocol but I quickly waved this to one side because I felt justified. The normal route had not worked and left me somewhere between the deleted or trash folder on her computer. Two days later I got a phone call. It was the senior buyer and the convo went something like this. “ Hello George my CEO gave me the box set you sent her. You are not going to give up are you? Its a good thing I like your product and I think we need to arrange a meeting. When can you come down? “ OMG, my heart started beating faster and faster. From my excitement I almost said now but a little voice in my head said, “Compose yourself George”. I checked my diary and gave her possible days and agreed to see her a week later. I immediately called my business partner. Elated we drove to one of their stores with a box set, skipped in and placed it on their shelf visualizing the whole range and feeling all smug. I think we actually went overboard and celebrated with weak cappuccino and an oatmeal biscuit. Honestly there’s never a dull moment in our company. A month later we got our first orders from them and are now selling it in all their stores. Obviously I am not suggesting that you all bombard the CEO’s with your products all I am saying is that you should research every possible angle to get a buyer to give you a fair chance and to genuinely review your product.

Prepare for all outcomes because sometimes people can be rude. One day I was searching through the net and came across the details of the owner/buyer to a well-known toy company. Brilliant I thought and sent an email but had the usual no response so I called his phone number. I was met with so much verbal abuse that if I were face to face with him he would have been knocked out after the second syllable. How dare I call him and where the hell did I get his number blah blah blah but being in business I swallowed the abuse and apologized even though I did nothing wrong because at the back of my mind I thought one day my product will be on your shelves and that’s enough payback. It’s been three years and I think time to contact him again. ;)

To be continued'

[rebeccahpedersen]

Too Close To Home

TorontoRealtyBlog

Most real estate buyers are out there today looking for the biggest house they can find, with features like parking, or a basement apartment, or a backyard.  They’re prioritizing access to transit, school districts, parks, and proximity to a thriving retail strip.

But what about the thing that used to be number-one on everybody’s list?

Safety.

Let me tell you what happened outside my condo earlier this week, and how I feel about it, because how I feel is almost as shocking as what actually happened…

I live in a very safe area of the city of Toronto.

We all do.

And I mean that – we all do.  Most of us, anyways.

Truth be told, the idea of “safety,” and subject of “crime,” in my humble opinion, are things that get blown out of proportion by media who thrive on the negative news stories, and by politicians who can use it for fear-mongering.

Most actual “crime” takes place in the same handful of areas.

Of course, that’s a problem unto itself.

Nobody wants to see pockets of the city where ALL the crime takes place, and where all the residents live in danger.

Well, actually, everybody outside those pockets want to see it.  They just wont admit that outloud, or even to themselves.

If you asked yourself, or the person next to you, “Hey, do you feel bad about all the crime that takes place in XXX-area?  Would you be willing to wave a magic wand, and take 15% of the crime away, and put it in your neighbourhood to lessen the burden on those who live in the crime-ridden area?” is there anybody out there that would say, “yes?”

I moved down to King & Sherbourne over ten years ago, and there was nothing “dangerous” about the area.  There still isn’t.

I used to walk up to Richmond Street to the Tim Horton’s to get my coffee, and the worst you’d see is a homeless guy begging for change.

Go further north, and you’re into Moss Park.

I used to shop at the Dollorama up there regularly, and I’d walk the “gauntlet” of people hovering on the sidewalk on the east side of Sherbourne Street, north of Queen.  They were dirty, and most of them homeless, and/or drug addicts, but I never really felt “unsafe.”

Truth be told, they wanted as little to do with me, as I wanted to do with them.

They wanted to talk to others like them, smoke cigarettes, and wait around until the shelters opened up again.

The last thing they wanted was to interact with an “outsider.”

In the summers, the lawn at Moss Park arena is littered with bums laying out in the sun, no shirt, shouting at the person across the street, looking for half-smoked cigarettes on the street, and generally causing a ruckus.  But just steps away, in the parking lot next to the arena, what do you see?  Audi, Lexus, Mercedes, BMW – cars parking so guys can get out and play summer league hockey.

Nobody says, “I’m not playing summer league at Moss Park because it’s dirty and dangerous.”

I tell people – my friends, family, clients, and especially the parents of clients, “King East and the ‘St. Lawrence Market area’ are super safe, and there’s a sort-of ‘invisible fence’ up at Richmond Street, that the rif-raff won’t pass.  You don’t really want to venture north of Richmond Street, but the rest of our neighbourhood is just fantastic all around.”

I said that then, and I say that now.

Toronto, for the most part is “safe.”

And when something unimaginable happens, literally at your doorstep, it has the ability to change how you feel in an instant.

I was sitting in my office on Monday afternoon, when my phone range – it was my wife.

Now that I have a 10-week old baby, every time my phone rings and it’s my wife, I get anxious.  I assume there’s something wrong.

Does that ever go away?

I picked up the phone, and she calmly said, “Somebody just got shot, dead, right outside our condo.”

And she added, “I want to move.  Now.”

That’s a reasonable request, given the circumstances.

And given the timeframe, ie. it happened literally minutes ago, I think it’s how many people would react.

But as I started my slow, grovelling, submission into our new housing search, my wife interrupted me and said, “I’m just kidding.  But seriously, this is pretty fucked up.”

News started to slowly roll out online, and all the media outlets said, “George & Adelaide.”

My condo, for those of you that don’t know, is at 112 George Street.  It comprises almost the entire city block bordered by George, Adelaide, Jarvis, and Richmond.

So when I heard “George & Adelaide,” I figured it was pretty close to us, but I didn’t get know exactly how close until much later.

A lot of the media outlets were saying “George Brown College,” as in “near” or “close to.”

So I simply assumed that this shooting took place, perhaps, on the south side of Adelaide, just east of George, across from the old Toronto Post House.

But as I would learn later, the media reports were simply saying “George Brown College” to try to give a geographic reference for readers.

My phone started buzzing as friends, colleagues, and even blog readers (crazy how everybody knows where I live, but my life is an open book), started to message me to see if I knew.

One friend even said, “Do you want me to go over to your place and check up on your wife?”

Then minutes later he wrote back, “That sounded really, really weird.  I had good intentions.”

My wife was fine, and soon our building sent out an email saying that the whole block was shut down as police were on site.

Having a father who was a criminal lawyer for 40 years, I know a thing or two about crime.

I knew right away, well, I knew and hoped, that this was a “hit;” that this was a targeted crime, and it left the rest of us out of it.

This wasn’t some mother-of three, or choir-boy, or pleasant senior citizen walking along, minding his or her own business, when suddenly some random, evil-doer decided to end it all for that law-abiding citizen.

Of that, I was certain.  And that’s how I rationalized it, despite how irrational a situation like this truly was.

I went about the rest of my day – I had no choice.

But it wasn’t until I came home around 8:30pm that what had happened, really sunk in.

I drove south on George Street, through Richmond, and past two police cars that were blocking the intersection, but letting residents of Vu and Post House pass through.

I drove under police tape, and past crime scene vehicles, forensic vans, and cop cars.

And that’s when I saw the reality of the situation; I saw an orange tarp.

And under that orange tarp was what used to be a person.

The “evidence markers” were everywhere.  Those little plastic stands with numbers on them that Gil Grissom and the team on C.S.I. place all over the scene – the street was littered with them.

And even though it was dark out, I could see a massive pool of blood on the street.  Two, in fact.

There was a giant overhead light shining down, as thirty police officers combed the grounds, looking for evidence.

Until now, I had no clue how close to home this really was.

This wasn’t “near” Adelaide & George.

This wasn’t even at Adelaide & George, ie. at the corner.

That orange tarp – the one with the body underneath, was literally on the sidewalk adjacent to the driveway of my building.

I’ve walked my dog past there.

I’ve walked my daughter past there.

I’ve sat on that very curb with my golf clubs, waiting for a buddy to pick me up on a nice summer day.

And once I learned that there were twelve gunshots aimed at this person, I realized that the mother-of three, or choir-boy, or pleasant senior citizen could have easily been hit by a bullet as the two perpetrators fired at will.

This was really, really close to home.

I went inside and found my wife feeding our daughter.  “Some day, huh?” I said as I kissed her hello.  “Crazy,” she said.  And that was pretty much the extent of our conversation.

The next day, I had a morning appointment, and decided to head back to the condo to park my car before showing a condo down the street.

As I drove north on George, I could see the orange, sawdust-type material that they poured on the pools of blood the night before to soak it up.  I’m not sure what it’s called, or even what it is – but think about what you pour on a chemical spill, or to cover gasoline at a gas station – there’s something they use for blood, I suppose.

It had snowed a bit that morning, and the orange/sawdust area had some snow on it.

I was waiting to pull into my driveway when I watched as a pedestrian crossed the street, and did that sort of “courtesy hop” that we do to show a car passing by that we’re not slagging – we’re going to give it one hop and skip to show we’re trying to speed up crossing the street.

And that courtesy hop, up onto the curb, was directly over the orange sawdust on the street.

That pedestrian just hopped over the site of a dead person, who had basically bled out on the street less than twenty-four hours earlier, and he had absolutely no idea.

I watched that person continue on.  He put ear-buds in his ears, and took some gloves out of his jacket pocket to put them on.  He fidgeted with his backpack as he continued on through the courtyard, and eventually he went out of frame.

That person had no idea.

In fact, many people that day, walked that same spot, and had no idea.

On Wednesday, I drove by again in the early evening, and the rain had washed away every piece of that orange sawdust, and there were no longer streaks of crimson lining the street.

There was absolutely no trace of what had happened on Monday.  It was merely a news story – one that was fading, and losing interest, with each passing day.

The world simply kept going, as it always does.

Seeing this spot on Wednesday, after seeing it one day previous on Tuesday, simply reaffirmed what I already felt: absolutely nothing.

Nothing.

I felt nothing.

Is that bad?

Is that normal?

Somebody was murdered in my driveway, and two days later, it was simply a footnote in my month?

January, 2017: -went to a wedding -sold a few properties -saw my baby’s first smile -somebody was murdered in my driveway -put snow tires on my car

As I said at the onset, how I felt about this brutal act, to me, is even more shocking than the incident itself.

But perhaps that’s just the world we live in today.

Maybe things like this aren’t shocking anymore.

Maybe because society has become so involved with everybody, everywhere, we can always find something far worse, and thus whatever we are looking at, seems trivial on a relative and comparative basis.

Or maybe because, as we later learned, this was a targeted crime, and the parties involved were gang-members, we’re able to downplay it into almost nothing.

And thus perhaps the knowledge that “lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place” makes us simply overlook this incident entirely.

I started this blog writing about “safety” in Toronto, and in the areas in which we live, so let me finish along those lines.

Despite the fact that somebody was murdered in my driveway four days ago, I don’t feel any differently about the area in which I live.

I feel just as safe, and just as happy.

You might have heard the euphemism, “Something bad has to happen somewhere, at some point, to somebody.”

And as blasé as that might sound, I have to think this perfectly describes how a lot of residents of the area, and those in our building, are looking at this week’s events as we simply “move on”…

The post Too Close To Home appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.

Originated from http://ift.tt/2k33wbK

[rebeccahpedersen]

Too Close To Home

TorontoRealtyBlog

Most real estate buyers are out there today looking for the biggest house they can find, with features like parking, or a basement apartment, or a backyard.  They’re prioritizing access to transit, school districts, parks, and proximity to a thriving retail strip.

But what about the thing that used to be number-one on everybody’s list?

Safety.

Let me tell you what happened outside my condo earlier this week, and how I feel about it, because how I feel is almost as shocking as what actually happened…

I live in a very safe area of the city of Toronto.

We all do.

And I mean that – we all do.  Most of us, anyways.

Truth be told, the idea of “safety,” and subject of “crime,” in my humble opinion, are things that get blown out of proportion by media who thrive on the negative news stories, and by politicians who can use it for fear-mongering.

Most actual “crime” takes place in the same handful of areas.

Of course, that’s a problem unto itself.

Nobody wants to see pockets of the city where ALL the crime takes place, and where all the residents live in danger.

Well, actually, everybody outside those pockets want to see it.  They just wont admit that outloud, or even to themselves.

If you asked yourself, or the person next to you, “Hey, do you feel bad about all the crime that takes place in XXX-area?  Would you be willing to wave a magic wand, and take 15% of the crime away, and put it in your neighbourhood to lessen the burden on those who live in the crime-ridden area?” is there anybody out there that would say, “yes?”

I moved down to King & Sherbourne over ten years ago, and there was nothing “dangerous” about the area.  There still isn’t.

I used to walk up to Richmond Street to the Tim Horton’s to get my coffee, and the worst you’d see is a homeless guy begging for change.

Go further north, and you’re into Moss Park.

I used to shop at the Dollorama up there regularly, and I’d walk the “gauntlet” of people hovering on the sidewalk on the east side of Sherbourne Street, north of Queen.  They were dirty, and most of them homeless, and/or drug addicts, but I never really felt “unsafe.”

Truth be told, they wanted as little to do with me, as I wanted to do with them.

They wanted to talk to others like them, smoke cigarettes, and wait around until the shelters opened up again.

The last thing they wanted was to interact with an “outsider.”

In the summers, the lawn at Moss Park arena is littered with bums laying out in the sun, no shirt, shouting at the person across the street, looking for half-smoked cigarettes on the street, and generally causing a ruckus.  But just steps away, in the parking lot next to the arena, what do you see?  Audi, Lexus, Mercedes, BMW – cars parking so guys can get out and play summer league hockey.

Nobody says, “I’m not playing summer league at Moss Park because it’s dirty and dangerous.”

I tell people – my friends, family, clients, and especially the parents of clients, “King East and the ‘St. Lawrence Market area’ are super safe, and there’s a sort-of ‘invisible fence’ up at Richmond Street, that the rif-raff won’t pass.  You don’t really want to venture north of Richmond Street, but the rest of our neighbourhood is just fantastic all around.”

I said that then, and I say that now.

Toronto, for the most part is “safe.”

And when something unimaginable happens, literally at your doorstep, it has the ability to change how you feel in an instant.

I was sitting in my office on Monday afternoon, when my phone range – it was my wife.

Now that I have a 10-week old baby, every time my phone rings and it’s my wife, I get anxious.  I assume there’s something wrong.

Does that ever go away?

I picked up the phone, and she calmly said, “Somebody just got shot, dead, right outside our condo.”

And she added, “I want to move.  Now.”

That’s a reasonable request, given the circumstances.

And given the timeframe, ie. it happened literally minutes ago, I think it’s how many people would react.

But as I started my slow, grovelling, submission into our new housing search, my wife interrupted me and said, “I’m just kidding.  But seriously, this is pretty fucked up.”

News started to slowly roll out online, and all the media outlets said, “George & Adelaide.”

My condo, for those of you that don’t know, is at 112 George Street.  It comprises almost the entire city block bordered by George, Adelaide, Jarvis, and Richmond.

So when I heard “George & Adelaide,” I figured it was pretty close to us, but I didn’t get know exactly how close until much later.

A lot of the media outlets were saying “George Brown College,” as in “near” or “close to.”

So I simply assumed that this shooting took place, perhaps, on the south side of Adelaide, just east of George, across from the old Toronto Post House.

But as I would learn later, the media reports were simply saying “George Brown College” to try to give a geographic reference for readers.

My phone started buzzing as friends, colleagues, and even blog readers (crazy how everybody knows where I live, but my life is an open book), started to message me to see if I knew.

One friend even said, “Do you want me to go over to your place and check up on your wife?”

Then minutes later he wrote back, “That sounded really, really weird.  I had good intentions.”

My wife was fine, and soon our building sent out an email saying that the whole block was shut down as police were on site.

Having a father who was a criminal lawyer for 40 years, I know a thing or two about crime.

I knew right away, well, I knew and hoped, that this was a “hit;” that this was a targeted crime, and it left the rest of us out of it.

This wasn’t some mother-of three, or choir-boy, or pleasant senior citizen walking along, minding his or her own business, when suddenly some random, evil-doer decided to end it all for that law-abiding citizen.

Of that, I was certain.  And that’s how I rationalized it, despite how irrational a situation like this truly was.

I went about the rest of my day – I had no choice.

But it wasn’t until I came home around 8:30pm that what had happened, really sunk in.

I drove south on George Street, through Richmond, and past two police cars that were blocking the intersection, but letting residents of Vu and Post House pass through.

I drove under police tape, and past crime scene vehicles, forensic vans, and cop cars.

And that’s when I saw the reality of the situation; I saw an orange tarp.

And under that orange tarp was what used to be a person.

The “evidence markers” were everywhere.  Those little plastic stands with numbers on them that Gil Grissom and the team on C.S.I. place all over the scene – the street was littered with them.

And even though it was dark out, I could see a massive pool of blood on the street.  Two, in fact.

There was a giant overhead light shining down, as thirty police officers combed the grounds, looking for evidence.

Until now, I had no clue how close to home this really was.

This wasn’t “near” Adelaide & George.

This wasn’t even at Adelaide & George, ie. at the corner.

That orange tarp – the one with the body underneath, was literally on the sidewalk adjacent to the driveway of my building.

I’ve walked my dog past there.

I’ve walked my daughter past there.

I’ve sat on that very curb with my golf clubs, waiting for a buddy to pick me up on a nice summer day.

And once I learned that there were twelve gunshots aimed at this person, I realized that the mother-of three, or choir-boy, or pleasant senior citizen could have easily been hit by a bullet as the two perpetrators fired at will.

This was really, really close to home.

I went inside and found my wife feeding our daughter.  “Some day, huh?” I said as I kissed her hello.  “Crazy,” she said.  And that was pretty much the extent of our conversation.

The next day, I had a morning appointment, and decided to head back to the condo to park my car before showing a condo down the street.

As I drove north on George, I could see the orange, sawdust-type material that they poured on the pools of blood the night before to soak it up.  I’m not sure what it’s called, or even what it is – but think about what you pour on a chemical spill, or to cover gasoline at a gas station – there’s something they use for blood, I suppose.

It had snowed a bit that morning, and the orange/sawdust area had some snow on it.

I was waiting to pull into my driveway when I watched as a pedestrian crossed the street, and did that sort of “courtesy hop” that we do to show a car passing by that we’re not slagging – we’re going to give it one hop and skip to show we’re trying to speed up crossing the street.

And that courtesy hop, up onto the curb, was directly over the orange sawdust on the street.

That pedestrian just hopped over the site of a dead person, who had basically bled out on the street less than twenty-four hours earlier, and he had absolutely no idea.

I watched that person continue on.  He put ear-buds in his ears, and took some gloves out of his jacket pocket to put them on.  He fidgeted with his backpack as he continued on through the courtyard, and eventually he went out of frame.

That person had no idea.

In fact, many people that day, walked that same spot, and had no idea.

On Wednesday, I drove by again in the early evening, and the rain had washed away every piece of that orange sawdust, and there were no longer streaks of crimson lining the street.

There was absolutely no trace of what had happened on Monday.  It was merely a news story – one that was fading, and losing interest, with each passing day.

The world simply kept going, as it always does.

Seeing this spot on Wednesday, after seeing it one day previous on Tuesday, simply reaffirmed what I already felt: absolutely nothing.

Nothing.

I felt nothing.

Is that bad?

Is that normal?

Somebody was murdered in my driveway, and two days later, it was simply a footnote in my month?

January, 2017: -went to a wedding -sold a few properties -saw my baby’s first smile -somebody was murdered in my driveway -put snow tires on my car

As I said at the onset, how I felt about this brutal act, to me, is even more shocking than the incident itself.

But perhaps that’s just the world we live in today.

Maybe things like this aren’t shocking anymore.

Maybe because society has become so involved with everybody, everywhere, we can always find something far worse, and thus whatever we are looking at, seems trivial on a relative and comparative basis.

Or maybe because, as we later learned, this was a targeted crime, and the parties involved were gang-members, we’re able to downplay it into almost nothing.

And thus perhaps the knowledge that “lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place” makes us simply overlook this incident entirely.

I started this blog writing about “safety” in Toronto, and in the areas in which we live, so let me finish along those lines.

Despite the fact that somebody was murdered in my driveway four days ago, I don’t feel any differently about the area in which I live.

I feel just as safe, and just as happy.

You might have heard the euphemism, “Something bad has to happen somewhere, at some point, to somebody.”

And as blasé as that might sound, I have to think this perfectly describes how a lot of residents of the area, and those in our building, are looking at this week’s events as we simply “move on”…

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