#when I realised that Sally’s mother didn’t care that she was abused. did you have to make it public is all. now the neighbours are talking.

[laniidae-passerine]

obsessed with the idea of What Will People Think that permeates actions in Barry. even though it’s a terrible idea, Barry goes on fun runs to support the family of the guy he murdered and posts evidence of it online because he wants to be seen as a good guy. Sally’s mother being more concerned about what the women from her church might say about Joplin than about the real abuse her daughter endured, because they don’t care about that. Cousineau making an awkward public apology to Annie and then later trying to capitalise on Barry’s arrest so he can be a big hero. The big song and dance Cristobal and Hank have to do to hide their relationship and trick people into thinking they’re enemies. Fuches constantly bragging about being The Raven because he wants to be the coolest guy in the prison yard. What people think doesn’t matter. What people think means everything.

[liveshaunted-moved]

headcanon dump; sally jackson

sally loves her children so fucking much

most of sally’s books get published in the font Dyslexie and in fact, she uses this font when she writes on her computer, therefore making it easier for percy or annabeth or any demigod easy to read when she get’s them to preview it

sad thought of the day…. sally and percy only being able to give affection when gabe wasn’t around because he hated it, so that meant when she would drop him off to school ( bc she sent him to boarding schools to protect him from gabe you will have to pry that headcanon from my cold dead hands ), and pick him up. or at her work if she could.

and then, them still not being able to adjust to it after gabe is gone and when paul does come along, they do kind of ‘hide’ it until they realise that paul isn’t gabe. because yes they know he isn’t but there are still micro things that they do have to re/unlearn

sally is proud supporter of percy & who ever makes him happy

sally and percy are so much a like. most of his traits, he shares with her, not poseidon, for sally was the one who raised him. his stubbornness and loyalty? from her. his need to protect those he cares about, even if it means he gets hurt? that’s so from sally.

because percy is so much more then posideon’s son, he is also sally’s son.

his love of blue food is from SALLY not POSEIDON, sally loved blue and it happens to be percy’s favourite colour too. blue is a sally&percy thing

sally had a miscarriage, and she is one of the very few where it was welcomed. not because she didn’t want another child, she had always imagined herself with more then one child, but the idea of having another child under gabe’s care frightened her and she couldn’t afford / get access to an abortion. this had happened while percy was in school ( a boarding one ) so he doesn’t know about it

it should be known that sally never sought for percy’s approval of paul, she already knew off the bat that paul was a good person. there was no reason for doubt for her, unlike with gabe when there was a little bit of doubt even before she saw gabe’s true colours. the only reason percy didn’t know right away was because she was still figuring it out, she hasn’t dated since she married gabe, it’s a hard thing to navigate.

sally will never have any ill feelings towards poseidon. she took everything in stride, so he wasn’t going to raise percy with her, she didn’t care because she would do her best to give her son the best that she can with what she had.

she never accepted any of poseidon’s offers, because she learnt that you have to earn things. and she was just a ‘summer’ fling for poseidon, that hadn’t earned a place in his home under the sea. and she wouldn’t have felt right accepting it knowing that poseidon had a wife.

she just needed to know if paul and percy would get along, and it was just a matter of when she was ready to let percy know.

when hades had captured her, she was right before her death. she was meant to die, but asked thanatos to bring the mother of percy back to him, alive. it was going to be a way to get his helmet back, as that was also stolen, and believed to have been stolen along side the master bolt. sally was kidnapped for leverage for the son of poseidon.

sally was alive, and for the most part was in mobile, but she of everything going around her. she heard the whispers of hades, of the ghost and how he was accusing her son of such a crime. of how hades has a plan, that if what he thinks is going to happen, that he’d get ahead of it.

her time in the underworld was at least a month, and for a mortal being in the underworld and not being dead can be harmful and it was to sally’s mental health. but, for years, she’s always put on a brave face for her son. and honestly, this why she flinched when gabe raised a hand towards her. usually she could hide her fear of her husband from her son, but the mental toll of having been in the underworld and being made inmobile did a lot.

when she was mobile, it was when hades favoured someone else that wasn’t working for him to talk too. sally would take this time to tell him that he is mistaken. her son would never, ever do such a thing.

sally would often, after finding gabe’s true nature, take percy to her work whenever she could. this is why she sent him to boarding schools too, so he has limited exposure to gabe and his nasty ways

ever since she got her scar on her hip, she when she swims where a fullbody swimsuit & a pair of shorts because she didn’t want to let percy know how badly gabe has hurt her. this scar had happened when percy was seven and in a boarding school, and it healed just before he came home in time for their usual trip.

sally is everyone’s mother? you want a mother figure, sally offers herself up. she’ll bake you cookies and muffins and homemade meals. give you a blanket to keep you warm.

sally also totally asks, and pays for, rachel to do artwork for her books.

sally supports all her children. all demigods are now her children, i will says this until i die

this is just in, your friendly reminder that, sally jackson is in fact, by definition a murder who is getting away with that fact. she placed medusa’s head in front of gabe. she was feed up with his abuse, and feared that he would go back on his promise and actually hit percy because of everything that’s happened. she feared for her son’s safety more then ever.

sally totally uses dyslexic friendly font on her computer, and for her writing. she also, once she gets published, fights for her books to only be printed in dyslexic friendly fonts.

sally has always been able to see through the mist. very clearly. at school. was once even mistaken to be a demigod, only for the satyr to realise that sally was in fact mortal. this has also lead to a very young sally to be labelled as someone with a very creative imagination.

and that label, got her interested in reading and writing, and her want to be a writer.

the wedding was small, nothing too big. just those close to her and paul.

this was her wedding dress, it just showed up the day of the wedding - she knows it was a gift from posideon

she totally invited annabeth, tyson & thalia

this just in, sally wore blue laced wedding dress. it had blue accents in it

sally, sung often to percy when he was a baby, and when he had nightmares.

sally would have never allowed gabe to stay as long as he did if he laid a hand on percy. herself, that was a different story. that was a set rule between the two, that gabe keep his hands off of percy, and sally would stay with him.

gabe was drunk, and sally can be very petty at times. this was how the whole blue thing came about. gabe was drunk and having a fight, while sally was making a cake, with blue food colouring because percy was coming home soon from his first time at school. and somehow they were on the topic of food not being able to be blue. so, it was from then on, sally decided she will go out of her way to make sure that she will get any food blue, and when it comes to cakes and the like of homemade things, blue food dye was right at the ready. and she loved it so much. because it became an inside thing with her son.

sally and poseidon lasted longer then just the summer., bu a few months after that and that is when percy was conceived. and poisdeon had to go because sally was in more danger now that they were going to have a child. sally understood, and let him go. holding no bitterness towards the sea god. she has made it this far in life without the help of others, she can do it again, even with a child.

she absolutely HATES the idea of someone not feeling safe, or having a place to call home. maybe it came from her having a child that could be in danger, or that is just the way she is. but, after gabe was gone, she would always be willing to lend a hand out to those in need ( mainly demigods ). most of the time just for a place to sleep and crash, and a place to feel SAFE and know that they can trust her.

despite her parents dying in a plane crash, sally never truly actually feared flying. she only ever ‘feared’ it when she had percy, for zeus might want to strike her son out of the sky and THAT is what scares her the most.

SALLY WOULD DIE FOR HER CHILDREN BEFORE SHE WILLINGLY PUTS THEM IN HARMS WAY. she knows the demigod life comes with a harsh reality which is part of why she didn’t want percy to go, why she held it off for so long having known about it since percy was like 3 years old.

sally sent percy away to boarding schools, to protect him. to get him as far away from gabe as possible. it was a way she could protect him, sending him away defeated the purpose of her marrying gabe - but, she hoped and prayed that the times that percy was home, that gabe’s sent lingered on her son for just long enough to keep him safe

gabe, for the first few months of his relationship with sally was nice, to her. her tried to woo her, despite him not smelling well. that was always with him, he never knew how to shower properly and sally counted that as a plus, because it would mask her son’s scent as a demigod. they got married quickly, and that seemed to be when gabe’s behaviour would change. she would refuse things, refuses to do things in the bedroom and he would get mad at her. he started to show his true colours as a awful human being, that is wasn’t just a bad smelling person, but the smell matched the personality. gabe was a verbal & emotional abuser.

she never divorced him. because he masked percy’s scent and because he was NEVER physically abusive towards PERCY, her on the other hand. that is a different story. gabe has hit her a few times and she did her best to hide it away from percy.

she stayed with gabe purely & solely to protect percy, because in her eyes, percy’s health & safety comes way before her own.

sally will fight for her son, she HAS fought for her son. there is nothing in the world that will ever stop sally from doing her best to protect percy, even if it means putting herself in danger. her son, always came before her. his needs came before her own. if they could only afford so much food, it would go to percy before it would go to her

honestly, the moment percy had called her, sally nearly collapsed from pure relief. her son was alive, THAT was the main thing, her son being alive. she knows his life can be dangerous, she knows it may not be long, but that doesn’t take away the fear and make it any less painful knowing that his life is in the hands of the fates.

[camillemontespan]

oblivion [raleigh carrera] [part three: comfort]

Part Two if you want to catch up

Warnings: Mention of drug abuse

***************************************************************************

Raleigh and Marina took a private plane to Michigan. Marina slept the whole way, curled up under a soft blanket, her hands clenching the material. Even as she slept, she wasn't at peace.

Raleigh had called his mom before they boarded the plane to let her know they were crashing. Although he was very close with his mother, he hadn't actually seen her since last Christmas due to work commitments, girls, alcohol and rehab stints.

He was worried about what she would say about this new development in her son's rollarcoaster of a life.

In a bid to distract himself, Raleigh flicked through a magazine, only to throw it on the floor when he saw a full page spread of images of Marina lying in a stretcher and her and Raleigh leaving the hospital.

He shouldn't have even been shocked. Of course the media were all over this. This is what they did. They chewed up innocent girls like Marina Cortez and spat them back out.

His mother would have definitely seen these articles. She was an avid People magazine reader and framed many of Raleigh's old interviews when he had just started out. She even had one of his magazine covers framed in the guest bathroom, which Raleigh couldn't decide was flattering or just plain weird.

He closed his eyes. A nap would be a good distraction.

***********************************************************************************

A private car collected Raleigh and Marina from the runway so they could make a quick escape.

They arrived at Raleigh's mom's house. It was made of white timber with picket fences and a yellow front door. The front garden was filled with rose bushes and the trees that lined the road were turning red. Autumn was finally here. Raleigh's favourite season.

As he expected, his mom had decorated the front porch with halloween decorations. They loved Halloween in the Carrera household. Pumpkins sat at the entrance wearing goofy grins and the windows were sprayed with fake cobwebs from a can.

Marina smiled for the first time when she saw the pumpkins.

The door opened and Raleigh's mother stood at the threshold. He noted that she had a look of concern on her face which was quickly replaced by a wide smile. She was going to act normal. She was going to act like she didn't know who Marina Cortez was and she was going to act like this was just her son bringing home a girlfriend for the first time.

'Ahh hijo!' she cried, throwing her arms out so she could pull him into a bear hug. 'I've missed you!'

'Hey mom,' Raleigh whispered, inhaling her familiar smell. He pulled back gently. 'This is Marina.'

His mom looked at Marina and held out her hands. 'Aren't you just gorgeous?' she asked, giving Marina a warm smile. 'Absolute beauty. Come in, have some tea. Do you like mint tea? I'm obsessed right now!'

Yup, she was acting normal, her typical caring self. Raleigh was grateful.

**********************************************************************************

Marina felt a strange mix of bewilderment and contentment as soon as she stepped into the house. Bewildered because Raleigh's mother was already treating her like part of the family and content because this house was the cosiest house she had ever been inside.

A log fireplace was lit in the living room and pink and purple throws were draped around the back of two blue velvet sofas. Books covered every surface and there was a Halloween film playing on the TV. Family photos were displayed everywhere.

'Thank you for having me, Mrs Carrera,' Marina said quietly. 'Really kind.'

His mom looked at her seriously. 'First of all, call me Jennifer. Second, I'm not a Mrs, Raleigh's loser father made sure of that and third, make yourself at home! Seriously, honey.'

Marina accepted a steaming mug of mint tea and watched Raleigh as he gratefully hugged his mother. When he sat down, Jennifer wound a lock of his wavy hair around her finger, a maternal gesture.

Raleigh eyed Marina warily, watching her every move. He looked like a lion ready to pounce if she so much as breathed wrong.

She had forgotten this side of him. This protective and loyal side. When she had bad press at the beginning of her career, Raleigh made sure he was there to take the edge of. He would make sure he got worse press than she did, sort of like he wanted to balance out the universe for her.

When she finished her tea, she stood up slowly. 'Is it OK if I take a shower?' she asked. 'I still smell like a hospital..'

Jennifer nodded. 'Of course! I can always run you a bath, I've got cute bath bombs -'

'Mom!' Raleigh groaned. Marina smiled weakly and Jennifer turned red when she realised her error. She had forgotten about Marina's incident in her bath tub.

'I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..' Jennifer whispered.

'It's honestly okay,' Marina said. 'No worries.'

Jennifer went sheepishly into the laundry room and brought out a towel, passing it to Marina.

Raleigh and his mother watched as Marina left the room.

'Jesus, ma..' Raleigh groaned. 'Way to make it awkward.'

'I'm sorry!' she hissed. 'It was like word vomit!'

They were silent for a moment until she broke it. 'How bad has she gotten, Raleigh?'

Raleigh bit his lip. 'Bad. You watch the news and read those trashy magazines, you should know.'

Jennifer wrinkled her nose. 'Actually, I make a point not to read any of the shit about you or your girlfriends. Only the good stuff.'

Raleigh chuckled despite himself. His mom was fiercely loyal. 'You're so biased.'

Jennifer placed a kiss on his head. 'You're my son.' 

        *************************************************************************

The evening, while Raleigh’s mom cooked dinner, Raleigh and Marina sat on the sofa watching a film. She looked fresher after her shower, if Raleigh ignored the hollowness of her eyes and pale skin. She was wearing check pyjama bottoms with a slouchy red sweater, choosing comfort. 

They sat a couple of inches apart, as if they were afraid to touch. Maybe they were; it had been months since they had last seen each other. Their relationship had never gotten closure, so everything felt uncertain now that they were alone. 

‘Your mom’s really nice,’ Marina suddenly said. ‘She’s really young though, I thought she would be older.’

Raleigh smiled. ‘She had me when she was sixteen.’ 

Marina’s eyes widened but she didn’t comment. Raleigh continued. ‘It’s always just been us. My dad left her before I was born so I never knew him.’

‘I’m sorry, Raleigh,’ Marina murmured. Her eyes caught his. ‘Do you know anything about him?’

Raleigh let out a dry laugh. ‘Just that I inherited his rebelliousness. Everything else I have is my mom, thank God.’ 

Marina smiled and brought the blanket up around her neck, snuggling in. ‘She raised you right.’

Raleigh blushed, looking away. He cleared his throat. ‘Enjoying the film?’

Marina looked back at the TV. ‘Sure. It’s not a Halloween film though.’

‘What the hell?’ Raleigh cried, whipping round to face her. ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas is definitely a Halloween film!’

Marina rolled her eyes. ‘You’re wrong. It’s a Christmas film.’

‘Eight year old Raleigh would disagree,’ Raleigh said, pretending to be offended. ‘He would fight you and win.’ 

Marina giggled and focused on the film again. Raleigh cleared his throat. ‘Uh.. do you want to talk about what happened with you?’ he asked. ‘In the bath-’

‘No,’ she interrupted, her voice sharp. ‘No, Raleigh.’

‘But-’

‘I just want to watch films with you and forget about what happened, okay?’ she said, her breath becoming hitched. ‘I just want to forget.’ 

Raleigh caught her hand and squeezed gently, his eyes fixed on hers. ‘Okay,’ he whispered. ‘I get it.’ 

Marina blinked back tears and looked back at the TV screen. Raleigh cursed himself for his idiocy. They watched the film in silence until Raleigh spoke, needing to break the tension. 

‘Did you know I used to have a huge crush on Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas?’

Marina’s body began to shake and Raleigh looked at her in alarm, before realising she was laughing. 

*******************************************************************************************

2am. Raleigh was woken up by the sound of his bedroom door creaking open and soft footsteps on the hardwood floor. Blinking, he saw movement in the shadows. 

Marina let herself into his bed and snuggled under the duvet. ‘Raleigh, I can’t sleep.’

Raleigh turned on his bedside light and looked down at Marina, who was pale and shaking. Her forehead was beaded with sweat.

Dread filled his heart but he knew that this had been coming. Withdrawal. 

‘I’ll get you water and a face cloth,’ he whispered. ‘You’re alright, Marina.’ 

He raced into the bathroom and found a face cloth. He filled a glass with water and brought the items back to her, placing the cloth on her forehead to mop up the sweat. Her hand shook as she lifted the glass to her lips; Raleigh steadied it with his own. 

They stayed like this for a while before Marina turned over and lay on her side, trying to keep calm. 

‘Can you spoon me?’ she asked, her voice tiny. 

Raleigh obliged and pulled her gently into him, spooning her. His fingers twirled her hair around his finger. ‘Distract me,’ she whispered. ‘Please.’ 

Raleigh thought to himself and before he could think about how stupid an idea this was, he began to sing softly. 

It was their song, their duet. Love Who I’ll Be. They played it together acoustically just before Marina’s album went platinum and the public had adored it. But the song had united Raleigh and Marina. 

‘Lost in the darkness

You showed me the light

I was feeling heartsick

Til you made it right’

Raleigh sang, his voice crooning in her ear. He made sure to sing softly and gently, like a lullaby. 

Baby no one's perfect

But I know what I'm worth

I finally found someone who understands

He sang to her over and over, determined to keep her calm. 

No more doubt, no more pain

No more feeling like I am to blame

My days will be brighter and I will fly higher

I'm gonna love who I'll be

He stopped when he heard her snoring softly.  All he wanted was for her to feel peace. His eyes felt heavy and her body was warm against his. Soon, Raleigh was asleep too, his body curled against her back, his hands placed tightly over her fists, keeping her together.

[liveshaunteda]

percy gave sally the head, he did not tell her what to do with the head, he left it with her to do as she wished. sally, and sally alone killed gabe. 

if they were to be charged sally would be charged for the murder and if anything, percy might not be charged, or if at all it’d be accessory to murder as he only gave her the weapon before going back to camp for the rest of the summer.

i’m sorry if i’m repeating myself as i feel like i’ve said this before but, it’s important to me. that people remember percy actually hand no hand other then giving sally the head when it comes to gabe. because that is one of the smaller lessons percy learns in the first book.

percy learns that, specifically sally, his mother could handle herself and that things will always work out ( the lightning bolt, sally being returned upon hades getting his helmet back ). and that, it is canon that percy didn’t know that gabe physically hurt sally until they’re back and gabe raises his voice and sally visibly flinched. that was when he decided what he knew to do with the head. he gave it to his mother because it was then that he realises that sally has been hiding the physical side of the abuse from him that she goes through, that she has been surviving this when she sends him off to boarding schools and probably realises that she sends him to boarding schools for that reason, so he would be exposed less to the abuse.

percy learns that his mother can take care of herself, and that he just has to let her do it without her help. ‘And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end ‘ that line was referring to sally, percy couldn’t save her in the long run, but she saved herself ( with gabe ) & was let go by hades upon him getting what was stolen from him, therefore his reasoning for having sally was now void so he returned her which was his condition. give me my helmet and you get your mother back.

[erosjeon]

Hiraeth 1

Hiraeth: (n) homesickness for a home you can’t return to, or that never was.

Jimin is a vampire who would stop at nothing to save his dying mother. What lengths would he go to if the only cure to her disease was destroying you? 

Series warning: angst, emotional abuse, physical abuse, witchcraft, vampires, werewolves, fluff and eventual smut. 

Prologue | Part 2

Wordcount: 1.4k

You looked at him astonished- kill you? to be honest that idea didn’t sound too bad  now that you think about it and so you didn’t bother to respond.

“You’re not gonna beg for your life? usually they be-” 

“Just do whatever you want” you cut off gaining a scoff from the taller man 

“You’re really asking for it now” he said as he dragged you across the pavement into the narrow alley, you had a small ball of fright building up inside your dreadfulness of what had happened earlier in the night. But you didn’t deserve to live you thought, you had nothing left. Sally was dead and so should you.

“Why did you do it?” he asked followed by silence, you didn’t own your killer a reply. You wish he would just do whatever he wanted to do quickly. 

“Not much of a talker” he clicked his tongue, “Was it for money? actually no scratch that you don’t look like you’re in need of money” 

A few seconds pass

He laughed 

“Was it for revenge? you idiots always do stupid things like that all the time”

He stopped for a brief second and turned to look at you “Did you even kill someone at all?” he asked with a low voice. 

“Think whatever you want” you replied coldly looking everywhere else except his face. 

“Gladly, It makes it easier” he said before shoving you into what sounded like a garage door, placing both of his strong arms closely to either side of your face “You see, your life doesn’t mean anything to me i could suck every ounce of blood in your system but-”

He was interrupted by a sound of a strong bang, making you instinctively duck low. The man in front of you showed zero emotion, perhaps just a little bit of annoyance as he looked down with your eyes following through to see a large stain of blood now forming in his shirt and you had realised he had been shot. 

“Ar-re you okay?” you asked as a whisper as you took a step closer to search for the wound with eyes wider than you thought was possible - you had witnessed enough deaths for today and you weren’t going to let there be another one. 

“Don’t touch me and stay the fuck back” he spat turning around to face the person behind the gun. You were confused on how the man showed zero sign of pain, he looked as good as he did when the second you laid eyes on him.

“Oops, sorry wasn’t aiming right” a man with jet black hair said making the blonde scoff again and looking to his right and brushing his hair back with his hand in the process, only to look at the man in front of him again. Even you, who was behind him unable to see his face, recognised this to be a bad sign for whatever is going to happen. 

“Jin” he said “You never aimed right once in your life, you’re too busy looking where I shoot”

“I’m not here to have a conversation with you Jimin, I’m here for the girl”

“Too bad, I got to her first so you can back the fuck off” the man in front of you named Jimin replied

“Does it look like I care? Hand her over I have a business to get back to”

“You’re always doing his dirty work, grow balls for once” 

“Funny, validation would be the last thing I want to hear from a Mommy’s boy…”

Silence

“Don’t you dare mention my mother on your dirty tongue” 

“Oh sorry, I keep forgetting that its suuuuuuuch a sensitive topic for you” the man sarcastically said  “How is she Jimin-ah? Is your mommy doing okay?” and that’s all it took for the blonde shorter man to charge forward.

Jin wasn’t surprised at the sudden attack by Jimin, he expected it to say the least. Jimin’s weakness was his mother, she took care of him when his father walked out of their lives, she had loved him and made sure he had everything he wanted, but she got sick and now currently dying. Jin knew the only way to get you away from Jimin’s defence by triggering that topic, and Jimin took the bait. What Jin didn’t expect was Jimin’s strength to punch through his chest and pull back with his heart in hand. Ripping it out to kill him instantly.

You were positive what you witnessed today was a huge hallucination, your mental state was definitely not real. How could somebody have enough to rip someone’s heart out let alone his speed and red eyes. 

Your thoughts were interrupted as you felt hands wrap around your neck and something cold make contact with your temple. 

“If you want her to live…” a man with silver coloured hair threatened the survivor “You should walk off Jimin” 

“Taehyung” the blonde greeted “I don’t have anything against you so just leave her be”

“Sorry no can do” Taehyung shrugged

“I found her first” Jimin said angrily

“Doesn’t mean anything, it only matters who has her now” he said sternly.

“What do you want?” Jimin asked hoping this would’t lead to another violence, he hated killing people - let alone his own kind.

“Your word” the man next to you replied

“Word?” Jimin questioned “Word for what?” 

“Your word that you’ll save me some of her blood when your done with her” he smirked 

“I don’t give a single fuck what happens or who happens to her after it’s done, you have my word” Jimin said after laughed hysterically “Is that all you want?”

“I wish I could just taste her blood now, it smells so good” Taehyung said as dropped the cold metal and moved his head to the crane of your neck, his hot breath now pricking at your skin. My blood? you thought.

“You’re not saying much? Aren’t you scared? Scared of what we are? What we can do” Taehyung asked you with eyes narrowed, as if he was analysing every bit of you. 

“Don’t bother” Jimin brushed it off “She’s not much of a speaker” he said as he took steps closer to you. 

“You have my word so, I’ll let you know when you can have her” he said as he wrapped his hand around your wrist once again to drag you over the pavement.

When he released you, you found yourself in front of a large house which was covered with a series of rectangles made of steel and glass. It appeared unapologetically modern.The front door was metallic with a long rectangular glass making up half of it and opened with both a key pad and biometric scanner. When Jimin opened the door, you were greeted with a minimalistic design. The walls were fashionable shades of white covered with family photographs and the floor polished concrete.

“Don’t make yourself cozy, your here for a day or two just when I know what do just yet” He said

You didn’t know how to reply, what you thought were dead your emotions started to bubble up at memory of what occurred earlier. You tried to avoid eye contact and look anywhere else but at him. 

“You need to clean up” he said blankly “I have an empty room, you can stay there for now” 

You followed him as he walked upstairs, leading to what you will be staying in until you know what is going on. To you it seemed better than going to your own home, you didn’t want to be there as selfish as that might sound. 

“Don’t you dare wander around, you’re not welcome here” he said in a low voice “It’s just for a few days, I’ll make sure your fed for you to actually be alive until then” You chose not to reply to that, what possibly could you say anyway.

“Don’t try running away either, that wont work” he warned before walking out the door and locking it in process. 

Looking down at your hands with now tearful eyes, you took off all your clothing to go for a bath to remove all the blood and dirt that covered you. Entering the warm inviting water, you had let loose of your tears and all the emotions you bottled away for your sanity that you thought didn’t even exist anymore. 

[jeremystrele]

Times Like These… With Writer Clementine Ford

Times Like These… With Writer Clementine Ford

Times Like These

by Sally Tabart

Photo – Sarah Collins of Work + Co. for  The Design Files.

Photo – Sarah Collins of Work + Co. for  The Design Files.

Photo – Sarah Collins of Work + Co. for  The Design Files.

The first thing writer and activist Clementine Ford and I spoke about on the phone during our interview was a mutual admission that, in a way, we would miss being in this period of isolation. Of course, this feeling comes from a place of immense privilege. For Clem, a massive part of this is the quality time she’s been able to spend with her son – ‘his language skills have really exploded and we can have actual conversations with each other’ she tells me.

I must admit that one of the main things I have been grateful for in this pandemic is that I don’t have a child, but Clem has been relishing the opportunity to be more present with her kid, and develop new routines based around quality time together. This is helped by the fact that she co-parents with her son’s father, and spends ‘an essential’ three days a week by herself. But it’s also a conscious change she’s made to release herself from the high expectations of work-related productivity she had pre-isolation. It’s helped her step back and look at her life more objectively, and take stock of the things that really feel good – whether that’s taking her time to cook a fancy meal for one, learning lip sync dances on Tik Tok, or going for a long walk around the neighbourhood with a friend.

So we’re coming up to two months in isolation now – how have you been feeling throughout this time?

It’s been a really interesting experience, and I would preface this by saying that I have the privilege of being able to still work and still earn an income, so the experience of isolation for me has been different and less stressful probably than it is for a lot of other people. I also don’t live with a partner – it’s just me and my son – so I don’t have any of those domestic stresses.

I have been thinking a lot about the women in isolation who have been experiencing domestic abuse in this country, so I’m coming at you now from a place of enormous privilege, but generally speaking it’s been a very interesting ride.

In what ways has it been interesting for you?

When we began, when we didn’t know how long it was going to go for and no one really knew it was happening, it felt like the stress levels were a lot more elevated for everybody. I wasn’t sure whether or not society was going to collapse and we were going to descend into total anarchy! So that was quite scary because it’s not just me I have to worry about obviously, I’ve got a small child to look after.

Those first couple of weeks when we were all getting used to it was enormously stressful because I didn’t know how to work in isolation with a toddler. I work from home anyway, but normally he’s in childcare. Balancing that and figuring out what our new normal was had quite a lot of tension around it. But I feel like we adjusted pretty quickly, and developed a routine, doing certain things through the day like going for walks or getting on the bike and riding around the neighbourhood to spot all the bears that people put in their windows.

And how has that evolved?

I kind of let go of a lot of the tension and stress that I felt to keep working and performing at the same level that I was before. In many ways I’ve actually been a lot more productive, which is a weird word to use in this time, but I’ve been more productive and more creative. I’ve really liked my work becoming more creative in nature, and consequently more fun.

One of the things that really stood out to me is that before isolation I’d been feeling that life was moving so quickly, and particularly my son’s life was moving very quickly. I was committed to this idea that I was so busy all the time. I wanted to spend more time with him but I had so much work to do – always so much work to do!

I had been feeling a sort of pre-emptive anxiety realising that all of these years when he’s so cute and discovering so many things, that I would wake up one day and go, ‘Oh I missed out on that time’, because I was so busy working and he was in childcare every day.

Isolation brought an end to that obviously, and even though it was a tense transition at first, I started to feel like I was being given this beautiful opportunity in my life to be able to form really amazing long-lasting memories.

It did kind of feel like we didn’t have control over our lives and times before, like we were all on a ginormous hamster wheel.

And if you get off the hamster wheel, it’s so hard to get back on because it’s moving all the time!

What changes have you made that you want to hold onto after this time eases back into a more ‘normal’ normal?

The most obvious one is really being conscious about making time with my son. To just put the phone down, put the laptop down, put the work down and just be present with him. Even in isolation it’s still a really tricky thing for me to do. But just letting myself just enjoy the moment as it happens and realising that the world isn’t going anywhere.

I’ve also been doing these cooking stories on Instagram most nights and using the opportunity to have feminist chats with people who are watching them. And I really enjoy that. Part of what I enjoy about it is the process of cooking, which I’ve always loved, but I guess just making sure that I take time out of my day to recognise that as a process, to de-stress at the end of the day and perform a task like cooking a meal for myself. And just because I’m the only person eating it doesn’t mean I can’t put care and time and effort into it!

I’ve been watching a lot less TV which I’ve really enjoyed. And I guess it really is just about the slow down – not feeling like I need to be doing something all the time or be somewhere, and not worrying that not going to things will let people down.

I assume you’re doing a bit of a co-parenting thing – how has that been going?

My son’s Dad and I do 50/50. He’s a really wonderful dad and he has him for 3 days a week and sometimes for an extra night to sleepover. It’s very routine and we share that care well. It’s good, I get the best of both worlds. I get to spend time with my kid and I also get an essential three days a week to myself.

I think a lot of women are really scared of saying that they need or want that because they feel like other people will judge them, as if somehow if you appreciate time away from being a mother that it means that you don’t really appreciate it, or that you’re being cruel to your children in some way. And I think we all need to get better at saying, ‘I’m a better mother when I have some time to myself.’

It seems like you’re having a lot of fun on your social media too with things like make up tutorials and the cooking videos!

I do worry sometimes that people are going to think that posting makeup videos is really frivolous, but I like watching those kinds of videos! If people don’t like it they don’t have to watch.

I guess one of the benefits of doing that kind of thing is that I don’t have to be serious. I don’t have to be angry. I can just enjoy myself and people get to see a different side of me which is softer and a bit more fun, a bit more free. I really like doing those lip-sync videos on TikTok, and I guess in the light-heartedness as well… I actually think I’m really funny! I don’t know if people have seen that side of me before, so I’m enjoying stuff like that. Just as a consumer I’ve really enjoyed watching women on Tik Tok, women are SO funny.

What are you feeling hopeful about?

I feel very encouraged about how Australia has responded to the virus. I feel hopeful about the fact that if we continue in this fashion, a lot of people are not going to die. And I guess in a way – and maybe this is a bit Pollyanna of me – it restores my faith in community. Our communities can let us down so often, and it’s not like this has made us into a perfect group of people, but the general community-wide response in the area that I live in at least seems to indicate that people have gone, ‘This is really serious and we’re going to take it really seriously’. So that makes me feel hopeful about humanity.

I feel hopeful about how the way that we live might change, we might slow down a little bit, we might be more considerate of people’s personal space, and I think that this is a global historical moment that no one’es going to forget about. So being able to reconsider what our global community looks like is really important. How do we need to change our existence? Do we need to fly so much? Probably not. And I’m saying that as someone who flies a lot for work, but maybe we should stop making ourselves the exceptions. Maybe we shouldn’t be able to fly to Bali for $150!

I quite like how resourceful people have become. I know it’s a real cliche to learn how to bake sourdough, but I love that people are learning how to make bread!

One thing I’ve really enjoyed doing is taking socially distanced walks with a couple of friends. Last Saturday night I went for a walk around the neighbourhood with my friend Alice and it was really cold so we put our coats on and poured a bottle of wine into a couple of glasses and just walked around the neighbourhood talking for an hour and a half sipping our wine. I like that stuff. We were reflecting last Saturday that when our kids are old enough and asking, ‘What did you do during the pandemic?’ we’ll be like, ‘We made our own fun!’

It’s reassuring to think that when our creature comforts are taken away from us – and obviously we still have a lot of comfort in this country – that we will actually adapt really quickly. It feels like the mood of the country seven weeks ago which was panic, fearful and stressed, has shifted into an easier, lighter feeling of ‘What will be, will be’.

Keep up with Clem on Instagram for her nightly cooking videos + feminist conversations, and listen to her weekly podcast Big Sister Hotline!

[thelight-blog]

E-Tech

Blog 1

Good Day! I am harold Ira R. Cabasal. Its my first time to create blog, so hope you like it.

Ok, So lets get started. I already introduce my name, So im going to introduce about myself.

I am from Centro Norte, Gattaran, Cagayan and I am a male. I am 19 years old. I am studying in St. Paul University Philippines located at Tuguegarao City I am now a grade 12 student and the strand that I choose is ABM (Accounting and Business Management). My mother's name is Minerva R. Cabasal and she is a councilor in our barangay, and my fathers name is Harry D. Cabasal and he is a retired army and now he build a piggery for business. I have 2 siblings they are both female. The name of my first sister is Ma. Isabel Cabasal Bracamonte and she have now her own family. The name of my second sister is Fatima R. Cabasal She is currently working abroad. Now lets talk about what I like and my Favorites. My favorite food is tortang talong and pancit batil patong, pancit batil patong is famous here in Tuguegarao City wherever you go here in Tuguegarao there is batil patong. My favorite band is Parokya ni Edgar and my favorite song of Parokya ni Edgar is BAGSAKAN. My favorite sport is Basketball, I started playing basketball when I'm in grade 6 and when I was in Junior Highschool I am a varsity in my previous school and now at SPUP I'm not ah varsity anymore. I like watching movies especially hollywood comedy movies and sometimes I'm doing movie marathon when weekends or when there is no classes. I love cooking also because I love food because food is life. We all love foods because we can't live without food, I said to my mother that I want to learn how to cook so that she teaches me to cook and now I am the who cook food in our apartment. I like also sweets like chocolates, cakes, leche flan, and ensaymada this is my favorite sweets because they are delicious. This is my favorites. Now lets talk about what I hate the most, I hate people who act nice to your face and then talk bad about you behind your back and then the next day they will act nice to you then as soon as you leave they will talk about you they are called "PLASTICS". Let's talk about my lovelife, I'm in a relationship and I'm happy with her and she's happy too with me, We are happy together and we love each other. We are now together in 2 years I hope thet we will last forever because forever do exist. Even I'm in relationship I will not going to forget my studies, I will study hard and I will give my best to achieve my goals and I'm going to achieve my dreams for my family and for my love one. My motto in life is "Set your goals high, and don't stop till you get there.

Answers:

1) I see myself 10 years from now is I'm working as a flight attendant in one of the airlines in our country. My learning in SPUP is vital because this is going to be the bridge to achieve my dreams and goals.

2) ABM is my best choice because this strand is related to the course when I take my college.

3) I will take Tourism because my dream is to ba a flight attendant in the future and because I want to travel.

4) I want to learn more the PERIOD OF ICT DEVELOPMENT.

5) WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOD SIR?

Blog 2

What is your favorite TECHNOLOGY?

My favorite technology is LAPTOP. LAPTOP is a computer that is a portable and suitable for use while traveling or this is portable and compact personal computer with the same capabilities as a desktop computer.Laptops computer have L- shape design and the screen can be lowered and closed to allow for easy transportation of the machine. I choose laptop because of its portability you can get your laptop you can take your laptop where ever you go, you can use it where ever you are anytime anywhere. Laptop is easy to carry an easy to use. You can also watch movies in laptops when you watchin movies in laptops it's like you are watching in television. You can also insert compact disk in laptops.  Laptops also have this power adapter that allows them to use power from an outlet and recharges the battery. Laptop computers can be used similarly as desktop style by connecting keyboard and mouse. You can also play games in laptops, you can download games here ni laptop computers. In laptop computers you can surf in the internet and many more.  Laptop computers is useful to us especially to students like me. You can save important files here or you can make power point using laptop.

Blog 3 (Short Term 12)

Short Term 12 tells the story of Grace, a 20 something group-home employee who is all hard shell soft center and the at risk teens in her care. When working with the kids, whose tribulations range from suicidal tendencies to violent behaviour, she advocates the same emotional openness she isn’t able to implement in her own personal life. She works with, among others, her boyfriend Mason and newcomer Nate.

Things at the home start to intensify when talented but troubled Marcus. Grace, Mason, and Nate try to reach Marcus, a young black man who rarely talks, nervous about his upcoming 18th birthday, upon which he will asked to leave the facility and go into the world on his own. Marcus  is preparing to leave after his near 18th birthday and new arrival 16–year-old Jayden is reluctantly becoming part of the community. All this happens at a time when Grace, faced with an unwanted pregnancy, she is forced to confront and share her inner demons with bighearted colleague,she tries to deal with her straining relationship with Mason, the pending parole of her father from prison, and the treatment of Jayden, whom Grace believes should not be allowed to be around her father, and boyfriend Mason  who wants nothing more than to be supportive of the girlfriend he so clearly adores. When Jayden reveal in Grace about her abusive father she is slowly able to work through her own troubled past and start a new life with Mason. When Mason and Grace see their baby in the ultra sound their very happy especially Grace who cried because she is very happy.

Guide Questions:

1. What life lesson can be learn from the movie?

- The life lesson can be learn from the movie is help other people who strugeled about their life and help whatever you can do.

2. What part of the story told by the movie was the most powerful? why?

- The most powerful is when Mason said to Grace that "Everything good in my life is because of you" because this is the sweetest word in the movie.

3. Who was your favorite character in the movie?

- Mason because he always thinks positive and he is a supportive boyfriend for Grace.

4. Did anything that happened in the movie remind you of something that has occurred in your own life or that you have seen occur to others?

- So far nothing like that happened in my life.

5. If you had a chance to ask a character in this movie a question what would it be?

- I want to ask Grace that why did she become a supervisor at a group home for at-risk teens? 

Blog 4 (Whiplash)

Andrew Neiman is an ambitious young jazz drummer. A  a nineteen years old teenager and first-year jazz student at the Shaffer Conservatory in New York said to be the best in the US. He has been playing drums since he was a small kid and he adores the technique of buddy rich. At Shaffer, being the best means being accepted to study under Terence Fletcher and being asked to play in his studio band, which represents the school at jazz competitions.  Andrew is surprised that Fletcher asks him to join the band, although in the alternate drummer position which he is more than happy to do initially. at the Studio Band, Andrew is playing drums as core drummer. Suddenly, Fletcher breaks inside and Andrew becomes horrified of him. Fletcher conducts every saxophonist and bassist one by one and finally the drums. After that, Fletcher tells Andrew to come and he is told to come at his room tomorrow at 6 in the morning. Andrew quickly learns that Fletcher operates on fear and intimidation. His professor makes him realise that "No two words in english language are harmful than 'Good Job'". Andrew works hard to be the best. He has to figure out his life priorities and what he is willing to sacrifice to be the best. Andrew's passion to achieve perfection quickly spirals into obsession, as his ruthless teacher continues to push him to the brink of both his ability-and his sanity. The other question becomes how much emotional abuse he will endure by Fletcher to reach that greatness, which he may believe he can only achieve with the avenues opened up by Fletcher.

Guide Questions:

1. What life lesson can be learn from the movie?

- Believe in yourself and dream high and work hard to get that dream. You gotta have strong willingness and determination you gotta give everything.

2. What part of the story told by the movie was the most powerful? why?

- When Mr. Fletcher ask him to join the band, because this is the key to Andrew's success and to get his dreams.

3. Who was your favorite character in the movie?

- My favorite character in the movie is Andrew Neiman because he is ambitious and he have a strong determination.

4. Did anything that happened in the movie remind you of something that has occurred in your own life or that you have seen occur to others?

- So far, I didn't experience it or see it occurs to others.

5. If you had a chance to ask a character in this movie a question what would it be?

- If I had a chanceto ask a character in this movie a question, I want to ask Terence Fletcher Why he all Andrew 3 hours early on the first day of rehearsal in the band?

Blog 5 ( The Art Of Getting By)

The art of getting by is a 2011 American romantic comedy-drama. George, a lonely teen and a loner who loves to draw and also he loves to skip class. One day in school he meet a girl named Sally, he see Sally smoking in the rooftop of he school. When a teacher appears George get the cigarette and takes the fall for Sally and that day they become friends.  On career day, George meets a young artist, Dustin, and finds him inspiring. He brings Sally with him to visit Dustin at his studio in Brooklyn and it becomes apparent that Dustin finds Sally attractive.  Sally invites George in a new years eve party and at the party Sally dances with her ex boyfriend. While George is drinking liquor and gets drunk. He goes outside and throws up and he sleeps in the path way. Sally finds her and she put George in her place and she put George in the bed. Sally and George are very close and George gets more involed in school. On Valentines day George and Sally go out for dinner. Sally starts asking question to Goerge and she ask George if  he will have sex with her and George feel nervous and he can't answer and Sally claims that she was joking. George sent to the principals office because he stops doing his homework and the principal gave two choices to George the choies is, he can be expelled, or he can make up all of the homework he has missed all year. At school he decides to make up with his assignments and collect them. His art teacher tells him he wants only one project, but that it must be honest and real. George works on his assignments and takes his final exams. George do all his assignments and project. The principal tells George that he passed and he will graduate. George's art teacher applauds him on his project. George is in the art classroom looking at his art project. It is a portrait of Sally. Sally walks in and joins him looking at the painting.

Guide Questions:

1. What life lesson can be learn from the movie?

-It's not too late if you make a mistake just make your way to making it right like George in the movie. He made many mistakes in school but he give his best to make the mistake correct.

2. What part of the story told by the movie was the most powerful? why?

-When the principal called the name of George in the list of graduates

3. Who was your favorite character in the movie?

-My favorite character is George because he is good in art and he is a hardworker and he have a strong determination.

4. Did anything that happened in the movie remind you of something that has occurred in your own life or that you have seen occur to others?

-sometimes I do not do my homework and projects, I will just do it when the deadline is about to come

5. If you had a chance to ask a character in this movie a question what would it be?

-I want to ask George why is he always alone in school?