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flightless-rising · 3 years

Text

Made a new Flight Rising iceberg and also wrote an explanation.. man, this took way longer than it should have.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy :D

Iceberg explanation

( If there are any mistakes please let me know and I’ll edit this asap. Also, English isn't my first language so please forgive me for any grammatical errors)

EDIT 28/06: Added some new info! Thanks to everyone who tagged and responded with new stuff to add, I really appreciate it!

The Sky

Naomi

Back in the day, whenever you bought or sold something on the auction house a message would show up in your inbox confirming the transaction. These messages were sent by one of the dragon couriers: Pearl, Spitfire or Edgar.

On January 2016, a strange glitch occurred that replaced the images and names of couriers with the ones of a female fae named “Naomi”.

It goes deeper than that, though: if you looked up her name in the user search menu, a clan would pop up with over 15 million dragons.

It was quickly discovered that all exalted dragons had somehow become part of her clan. Naomi herself apparently didn’t exist, and clicking on her page redirected to an error page. This was later fixed and the original Naomi page can be now visited.

What exactly caused this glitch is still a mystery and today Naomi is still a well-known piece of Flight Rising history.

Missing Tidelord

In the official lore, the deity of the water flight disappeared in early 2018, as described in the short story “Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow”.

In the follow up story (Mixed Elements) posted in April of the next year it is confirmed that the Tidelord is still missing, but alive. This coincides with the fact that the Tidelord account hasn’t made any forum posts aside from festival announcements.

Emperors

Emperors are a type of unobtainable dragon that are formed when several Imperial corpses are left in close proximity to each other, which then fuse forming a multi-headed chimera.

Emperors are described in the lore as having an animal-like behavior and destroying everything in sight. They are extremely difficult to kill, which is the reason why in-universe Imperials have such strange burial rites.

An emperor named Luminax is first described in the Raising a Family short story, and their sprite can be seen walking around on the world map.

The Surface

Old color wheel

Originally, there were only 67 available colors for dragons. On June 8th 2016, 110 more colors were added, meaning that currently there are a total of 177 colors available.

When making a custom progenitor dragon, it is only possible to choose among the 67 original colors because it would be otherwise unfair for those who made their account before the new colors were added.

Imperial breed scrolls

Imperial breed change scrolls are one of, if not the most, rare type of item on the site. They were given only to those who pledged 30 dollars or more on the original Flight Rising kickstarter.

At the time, this was the only way of obtaining an Imperial dragon, which meant that the breed as a whole was pretty valuable. Now that Imperials are abundant this is no longer the case, but First generation Imperials are still extremely sought and probably the most expensive type of dragon on the site.

There were also other items that were only given to Kickstarted backers, namely Skycats, Bonefiend, Golden Idol and Cogfrog familiars, and those are also pretty much impossible to obtain.

Baldwin breed change

When Baldwin was introduced in 2015 he was originally a Pearlcatcher. On September 14th of 2016 however his site art started to gradually change, until his transformation was completed five days later.

In-universe, Baldwin started to change after a lightning strike hit his cauldron during an experiment, which made him slowly mutate into the breed we now know as Bogsneaks.

Trans Fiona

When Fiona was added as a trading post dragon people speculated that she was trans, because the female pose for Skydancers only displays two antennae, while the male one has four.

Since Fiona has four antennae in her site art, many wondered whether it was an oversight or actually intended. Aequorin later confirmed in a forum thread that Fiona is indeed trans.

Boolean

Speaking of rare items, the Boolean familiar was only given to a handful of Flight rising beta testers and as such is extremely rare and valuable.

Plaguebringer coli team

On the Plaguebringer’s page she is listed as being part of a coliseum team.

As of now we have no clue as to why this is, and even more strangely she is the only deity that does this.

Boston & Hope

This story is a bit complicated. I’ve scoured the forums in search of info but it seems like there are still some pieces missing. I’ll try my best to explain anyway.

So, for a long while the Lightweaver was the only deity that had other dragons aside from herself in her lair: these dragons were a Spiral named Boston and a Tundra named Hope. Strangely, they were both Earth dragons and apparently have been there since the beginning (?). When asked why (this happened back when deities would interact on the forums) the Lightweaver responded that they were having a dinner party together.

In August 2014 during a pretty heated dominance battle between Shadow and Light Boston and Hope disappeared from the Lightweaver’s lair.

The Shadowbinder now had them, and both their elements were alsochanged to Shadow. The two deities acknowledged this and changed their broadcast messages accordingly.

If I had to guess this was some kind of inside joke that the admins had, although some people got angry that the Shadowbinder now had both Hope and Boston. Some time later(?) Boston was returned to the Lightweaver and for some reason his element was changed to wind.

I don’t have any more info on the matter but if some of you do I would appreciate it if you tell me.

Shallow Waters

Eyepocalypse

On June 8th 2018 eye type variants were introduced. This update was pretty controversial for a bunch of reasons, and the topic is still discussed today. The majority of people(?) seemed to be upset by the fact the “best” eye types (primarily goat, primal and multi-gaze) could only be displayed on dragons that were born with them, and the fact that every dragon born prior to the update couldn’t have these eye types at all displeased a lot of users.

Another problem was the fact that most of the non-special eye types (i.e the only ones that could be applied to already existing dragons using a vial of Scattersight) were not clearly visible on the grand majority of adult dragons.

A smaller(?) complaint was that two of the primal eye types, Shadow and Plague, were seen as kind of disturbing by some people.

Three years later staff attempted to fix this issue by adding Eye type vials for every available eye type. This resulted in a market crash for special eye typed dragons, as now these eye types could be applied to any dragon. The value of Scattersights also tanked, and the people bought them and hadn’t used them yet lost money as now they were infinitely less useful.

EDIT 28/06: Goat isn’t actually obtainable via breeding, faceted is. Bad mistake on my part.

Also, Scattersights were given away freely by Galore on Flight Rising’s fifth anniversary in 2018 and could not be bought afterwards. I admit that I thought people could be able to buy Scattersights due to how upset people were that the value went down, but whatever.

Courier Breed

The courier dragons (Edgar, Spitfire, and Pearl) are part of an exclusive dragon breed that is currently unobtainable. Even though their eye color still reflects the flight they were born in, in-universe they are considered to be “neutral” and they are granted free access to all domains. This raises the question as to which deity created them, as every other dragon breed (Bogsneaks being the only exception) has been created by one of The Eleven.

Multiaccounting

According to the site’s terms of service, no one is allowed to have more than one account. This is pretty standard for pet sites, as having multiple accounts grants unfair advantages and can mess up the site economy. This doesn’t completely stop people for having more than one account, and the practice as a whole is called “Multiaccounting” or “having multis”.

Some people only do this to have multiple clans or reboot their account without deleting their old one. They mostly do no harm but it is reasonable that the site wouldn’t allow this because of how easy it is exploit.

The real harm of multis comes from a practice called “funneling” which is when someone creates multiple accounts only for the purpose of giving items to their main account. This practice violates the game’s rules and can result in a ban. Funneling is not limited to multiaccounting though, and having an account only to feed another is against the site’s rules whether or not the account in question belongs to another person or not.

Some people fear of being banned for multiaccounting even if they haven’t done so, especially if they share a computer with other people.

Purble

“he purble” is probably among the most famous Flight Rising memes.

In 2016(?) a rant was submitted to the original Dramarising blog by a very angry user that wanted to buy an XXX Purple Ridgeback back when triples were pretty expensive, but got beat by someone else.

I’m not going to copy paste it here because in my opinion it’s one of the funniest Flight Rising related posts ever and I don’t want to spoil the experience of reading it for the first time. You can find it pretty easily by searching it up.

Tert Picking

This is something that refaced recently, even though I’ve seen people talking about this for a while. Some people vividly remember being able to pick their custom progenitor’s tertiary color, even though the developers have made it clear that such thing would be impossible. This is without a doubt just one of those weird situations where a lot of people somehow remember the same thing wrong.

Still, it’s fascinating just how many people claim to remember doing picking their tert.

Swiftwings

Swiftwings were a dragon breed that was scrapped in development. The design was rejected because it didn’t fit the 2 arms 2 legs 2 wings format that every dragon design had to follow before the introduction of ancient breeds.

The reason for this rule is that otherwise it would mess up apparel placement. Although the concept was scrapped, echoes of the design were scattered throughout the site: for example, the empty dragon slots that were present prior to 2019 had the silhouette of a Swiftwings dragon. They are also mentioned in the April Fool’s update of 2018.

“Real” Lore dragons

Most people don’t know that some of the dragons featured on the lore stories are actually real, and you can visit their pages. This is the case for Tetra, Cracklinne, Velya, Liefa, Garote and Mirth, which are currently chilling in Aequorin’s lair.

All of the other dragons in the developers’ lairs are not canon and are used to test bugs and features on the site.

The Middle ground

True deity names

When the site first started the deities used to have actual names instead of titles. Some of these names were based off of the site founders’s usernames on other sites.

The names are the following:

Amogayvhi - Gladekeeper Xhaztol - Arcanist Rhenik - Tidelord Akiri - Flamecaller Thrage - Stormcatcher Undel - Shadowbinder Jhortanas - Plaguebringer Ghurab - Windsinger Artaios - Earthshaker Rhiow – Lightweaver

As you can tell, Xhaztol, Akiri, Thrage and Undel are the usernames of some of the admins of the site, and the flight they are a part of corresponds with the previous name of their deity.

No leg coatls

On January 16, 2015 an iconic thread was posted in the flight rising discussion forum, which displayed a photoshopped image of a coatl with its legs removed. Quickly the thread devolved into a general photoshop thread were people took official site art of dragons and modified it.

The thread was eventually locked due to spam and quote pyramids, but spiritual successors of the original “phoatlshop” thread still exist today.

Dress slot unlocking

A thing that a surprising amount of people don’t know is the fact that when buy an additional apparel slot, the slot opens for every dragon in your lair and not just the one you bought it on.

This is something I also discovered very recently and it’s kind of funny that so many people that have been on the site for very long don’t know this.

Clanbound scatterscrolls

I think the wiki explains it best, so I’ll just copy paste this here:

“Tri-Color Scatterscrolls suffered from an issue where they would only scatter a random range from colors 1-47 (white through sunshine) rather than 1-67 (white through rose). They have been fixed and are now functioning correctly with a random range within the 67 color set. The affected timeframe was from August 15th, 2013 until September 22nd, 2013. The admins allowed users who were unsatisfied with their bugged Tri-Color Scatterscrolls to receive the same amount of them back in the form of Clanbound Scatterscrolls to try scattering their own dragons again with the full color range.”

Beta Mirrors

Ever wondered why they’re called Mirrors?

According to Undel, the main artist of Flight Rising, mirrors originally were supposed to have every part of their body “mirrored”, meaning they had two sets of eyes, two pairs of wings, two tails, and so on.

This design ended up being too cluttered and looked weird shrunken down. The name was kept the same, even though the only mirrored part of the design are the eyes.

Dragons are evil

If you read the “Beastclans on the rise” lore bit, the dragons come across as… very evil, stealing territory from the beastclans when they have been living on Sornieth way longer than the dragons have and killing them for loot.

Furthermore, in the Bounty of the Elements lore bit the Beastclan rebellion guided by Talona is seen by the dragons as unreasonable and wrong even when in canon Beastclans are framed as the innocent party.

The Depths

Scroll of Divorce

In the alpha stage dragons were supposed to be monogamous and could only breed with the dragon they were “paired” with. To break their bond you had to use an item called “Scroll of Divorce” which even featured broken marriage rings in the art.

If I had to guess, this item and the concept as a whole were scrapped because the idea of dragons having “weddings” and needing to divorce before breeding with another dragon felt kind of weird, especially in a game targeted towards teens.

First Festival

The first Holiday festival in Flight rising history was the 2013 Brightshine Jubilee. The items that were available for this festival only are incredibly rare, particularily the Light Sprite which is one of the most valuable items on the site. Apart from that and the fact that the skincent contest only had 6 winners, not much is notable about it.

Offsite drama

Flight Rising has had its fair share of drama both on and off site, but due to the fact that it’s against the site’s rule to discuss user drama on the forums most of the notable drama happened off site (mainly tumblr).

Egg rot

Egg rot was a very early mechanic that was pretty quickly removed from the site. If you forgot to incubate your eggs, they would “rot” and no longer hatch.

It’s the reason why in the nesting grounds the text reads “Eggs healthy” and also the reason why on the stats section of the Account settings it says “Eggs discarded”. The mechanic was removed because it heavily punished casual players and the frequent downtimes of the site meant that even if someone logged in every day they could still have their eggs die.

Also, the images of egg rot look extremely cursed.

Pablo

From what I could gather, Pablo is a dragon which became somewhat popular after user “Desmondtiny” wrote a very long and detailed backstory of them being the Arcanist’s lost boyfriend.

I’m pretty sure it gues deeper than that but I couldn’t find any further information. As usual, if you know something more let me know.

Latest News

On November 12, 2014, a glitch(?) occurred that let anyone post in the Announcements thread. Anything that was posted went directly to the front page, which resulted in quite a bit of chaos.

This was fixed only half an hour later, but the screenshots people have from that time are extremely funny.

Lameforger

On the 2014 Flameforger’s festival announcement Undel accidentally misspelled “Flameforger” as “Lameforger”, which prompted the official account of the Flamecaller to respond aggressively. Lameforger is still jokingly used by users, even after the typo was fixed.

Festival of one (1)

On the first day of the 2014 Greenskeeper Gathering a glitch occurred which switched the site banner for the Starfall celebration banner instead of the Greenskeeper one.

It didn’t end there, in the coliseum Magical shards dropped instead of Bladed Flatleaves, even though skin chests dropped as normal(?).

The weirdest thing about it all was Joxar’s Space inventory, which didn’t display any items at all and had glitched dialogue.

The event was nicknamed by the fanbase “Festival of 1” and even the deity’s official accounts acknowledged the incident.

Vape Juice

As far as I know the original forum thread as been lost, but the vape juice fiasco will always remain cemented in Flight Rising History.

A company called Vape Daugz was making vape juice with Flight Rising dragons plastered on their packaging, completely violating the site’s policy.

The company’s site still exists, and browsing through their products I found that the products that previously had Flight Rising dragons on them still exist, but now feature completely different packaging.

I have no idea whether they changed the packaging spontaneously or staff did something about it.

I think there’s a potentially interesting story buried down there, but we’ll likely never the truth behind the Flight Rising vape juice.

The Abyss

Humans

There’s been some speculation over the years as to whether or not humans are canon in the Flight Rising universe. Some people believe that the “Mages” of the second age in the official lore are actually humans, but we can’t be sure because they are depicted with long robes that cover their whole bodies.

The idea of humans existing in canon has spawned a couple of memes, most infamously Thomas.

Plague healers

Again, I think the wiki explains this one better:

“According to Aequorin, Plague healers are an interesting bunch because rather than administer treatments that counter illness, they use a mixture of magic and contagion that stress the affected dragon further, allowing them to reach a stronger, healed, and resistant state faster than other elements. Plague healers will treat physical injuries with sutures, bandages, and braces, but they won't clean the wounds or apply ointments."

Akitla

As described in the original thread, Akitla was a dragon that user “qunii” saw on the front page, but noticed that she wasn’t accompanied by the username of the person owning them.

After clicking on her, an error page loaded. It was discovered that putting her color combination or ID in the search bar would result in an error page. This was later fixed, and both Akitla and her mate were now displayed as being exalted to the Arcanist. T

here are some theories as to what happened to the Akitla’s user, some think that she belonged to a deleted account, others that it was the result of an incomplete account creation.

As with a lot of things on this iceberg, it will likely remain a mystery forever.

Arcane sprite book

“what is the arcane sprite reading??” is probably one of the oldest still active threads on the forums.

On September 25, 2013 user “Kaadashi” started a joke thread were they wondered what exactly is the arcane sprite reading, and playfully suggested that it could be erotic fanfiction. People went crazy of course, and started to wonder what kind of juicy secrets were hidden within the pages of that book.

I don’t want to say too much because I really don’t want to spoil the experience of reading through this very cursed tread.

Sunshine

Sunshine is one of the most… interesting lairs on the site, and certainly one of the most well-known.

They(?) have a lair (almost) completely full of triple basic sunshine dragons, most of which are Tundras. So far they have collected about 320 triple hundred Sunshine dragons, almost all of which are also named “Sunshine”. They’re not all the same, some of them have apparel, some of them are gened and some have unique art and descriptions.

They’re dedicated and I respect that.

EDIT 28/06: Apparently some people seem to think that the sunshine-dedicated lair is based on a meme concerning the announcement of the color wheel expansion, which became so discussed that the itself site broke. The two things are unrelated however, as the Sunshine lair has been around for much longer.

The announcement of the color wheel expansion was cryptic, with only a few post showing off differently colored coatls and then 3 pages of reserved posts, with no explanation whatsoever.

Simple Farmer

Another very famous thread is the “I am but a simple farmer” thread started by user “someKindOfGenius”. It’s not really about anything specific, it’s just a rather silly thread were people photoshop flight rising dragons onto various crops.

Still, this thread is iconic so I had to include it.

Dragon Deaths

Way back in 2014 former flight rising programmer Thrage revealed on a forum thread that way back before the beta, dragons could actually starve to death if left unfed.

Yep.

Obviously they had to remove this mechanic because it would have been extremely harsh to casual players and make people frustrated with the game.

Zalvador

User “manojalpa” became fairly well-known for the extremely dark lore they(?) had written for their Clan, it was so dark in fact that every single one of their dragon’s bios had to moved to their tumblr where they couldn’t be easily seen by the site’s mainly underage usebase.

Their lore centered around their progen dragon, a tundra named Zalvador, which behaved and had the same powers as a flight rising user: buying dragons off of the action house, having “breeding projects”, exalting dragons, etc.

These things seem pretty normal when done by a player, but when taking them as actual real things that happen in universe… yeah, it was way too morbid for the site.

The Pit

Black linen neck wraps

For some weird reason, the apparel piece “Black linen neck wrap” when put on a male pose Coatl wraps around the dragon’s throat instead of it’s neck. It’s kind of subtle and hard to see, but if you compare it with the female pose the difference is clear. This is probably just an art error, although it’s weird that it hasn’t been fixed yet, since linen wraps are a very old piece of apparel.

Another weird thing about linen wraps in general is that the wing wraps just sort of… go through the membrane? This is not possible. These dragons are in pain.

Icewarden ears

Another very remarkably popular thread is the Icewarden ears thread.

In 2014 user “Llanai” simply makes note of the fact that the Icewarden has teeny tiny ears.

As we have come to expect from these threads, it quickly devolved into nonsense.

Forbidden Snapper lore

Snappers used to have a way different lore section that was changed because it deemed too similar to the lore of another petsite.

This is what the original section read:

"Snapper dragons do not sleep, but exist in a constant state of reverie. They receive and catalogue all experiences and stories told within their dreams. This persistent state of awakened dreaming awards them the longest memory of any dragon species. They are living encyclopedias, and any dragon who is seeking difficult-to-obtain information will have the most luck unearthing it from a Snapper clan - provided they have the patience for it. If you want two dozen quick answers, talk to a spiral. If you want a fully developed answer, camp out around a Snapper. These dreamers move at their own pace, which varies from dragon to dragon. For some, the awakened dream can prove to be more interesting than their surroundings. This leads to a focus upon the dream, and the waking world as filtered background noise. Interacting with these sleepwalkers can be a trying and repetitive task. Other Snappers may be fairly lucid, with a focus upon their surroundings and the constant hum of the dream pushed aside."

Bee movie script

I’ve seen this story around the forums a few times but I’ve never been able to learn the details.

From what I’ve heard someone copy pasted the entire bee movie script into their clan bio in a drop down text format, which completely broke the page for anyone who visited it. This was fixed, apparently, although I have no clue as to who this user is.

EDIT 28/06: Zeus

Zeus is an XXX gold g1 permababy imperial that used to belong to user "happywing".

Their account is now locked because Zeus was created with the use of a duplication glitch on an imperial breed change scroll, which is obviously not allowed (although I've heard some people say that the dragon was hacked in altogether). Before the account was locked, people speculated that Zeus was the most valuable dragon on the site, because an XXX g1 imperial is impossibly rare.

Wegg shaming

On July 2017 user “Dreamnorn” made a thread were they(?) claimed to have a dream where everything was the same except people used the term “wegged” when two dragons would lay only one egg in a nest.

Ex. Aw man! I’ve been wegged again! = Aw man! I bred two dragons and they only had one egg!

The dream ended up being prophetic, as the term catched on and people started to use it unironically.

The practice of “Wegg shaming” I think refers to the trend of people posting pictures of the dragons that “wegged” them in order to “shame” them.

Plague nest skull

The site art of the plague nest features an unique dragon skull that doesn’t match with any currently existing dragon breed or creature: It appears to have two sets of eyes, like a mirror, but also long and curled horns.

It’s probably just for decoration and it likely doesn’t have any significance whatsoever, but personally I believe it would be pretty cool if when they eventually release plague ancient it at least somewhat resembled this skull.

EDIT 28/06: On second thought, the skull doesn’t seem to have two pairs of eyes, It just has the generic shape of a carnivore.

Rock bottom

CAPTAINPLANET

…this is CAPTAINPLANET. Somehow, user “Decres”' managed to overlay a Fae skin on top of a Tundra, creating this horrifyingly fascinating abomination.

I have no idea how she did this, and she seems pretty adamant to tell.

EDIT 28/06: People have pointed out that this skin overlay glitch was actually somewhat common (although I still haven't found another dragon like CAPTAINPLANET). What you had to do was breed change a dragon while attaching a skin to them in another tab.

This glitch has been patched and such thing is no longer possible.

Lair 46264

A cursed lair.

Dreams

I’ve seen a lot of people, both on forums and on Tumblr, sharing dreams they had about Flight Rising.

A lot of people dream of just being on the site, while occasionally weird things happen.

I’ve read of people who dreamed the distribution of a new breed, buying an exclusive item, a new Fiona feat or Swipp trade, or just browsing the forums.

The most common type of Flight rising-associated dream I’ve seen however is being caught multiaccounting and having their account banned.

I’m no psychoanalyst, but I think it’s pretty clear that these nightmares stem from the paranoia of being banned from their beloved petsite instead of showing any actual intention of doing the “crime” in question.

Anyways, I think it’s fascinating how so many people dream about this site, and it reminds me of the dreams people claimed to have about Mario 64 where completely new levels were added or a scary monster appeared.

Dragon Slime

Dragon Slime was an infamous thread which was supposed to be start off point for an ARG.

It was deleted because it was considered too “spammy” and also because ARGs are banned from the forums. The thread has been lost, unfortunately.

EDIT 28/06: Thanks to @randompurple-fr for providing screenshots of the dragon slime tutorial! You can find them here

Cucumber

Cucumber is the only dragon ever to have been exalted with a skin, which is something that should not be possible. This raises some questions as to what exactly did the person that exalted them do to achieve this, but we have no way of knowing who Cucumber belonged to.

EDIT 28/06: Actually, we do know who used to Cucumber belonged to! Its owner was Osiem: an official flight rising artist. I couldn’t find the thread where they(?) acknowledged the glitch though, if someone has it please let me know!

#flight rising #fr #flight rising meme #iceberg meme

847 notes · View notes

fromthefilesofredshirtgal · 3 years

Photo

In July of 1966, a Toronto Star photographer by the name of Reg Innell happened to be in Los Angeles on one of his many vacations there. His usual favorite past time while there involved visiting bookstores that dealt in vintage books. However, this time, he received a phone call from his employer asking him to take some photographs on the sets of various television programs whose stars were fellow Canadians. They had plans for a story centered around a little enclave of Canadian actors who lived within several blocks of each other. One of the sets he visited was that of “The Man Trap,” an episode for a new series named Star Trek. And of course, that meant he took photographs of fellow Canadians, William Shatner and James Doohan and several others of the episode as it was being filmed. Three of those are above. *side note: During the time Innell was in L.A. for this working vacation, he stayed with fellow Canadians Jim Beggs and his actress wife Anna Hagen. Star Trek fans may know him better as Hagen Beggs, who played Lt. Hansen in “Court Martial,” “The Menagerie, Part 1,” and “The Menagerie, Part 2.”

Reg Innell was one of the most famous newspaper photographers of his time. He was born in England and after World War II worked as a freelance photographer with a brief stint in the British Army. During the 60s he left England for Canada and continued selling his photographs to whichever paper paid him the most. Eventually, Innell joined the Toronto Star as a photojournalist. Reg Innell’s career with the Star lasted for over thirty years. His usual subjects were kings and queens, world leaders, famous performers and writers and others of international note. Innell’s personal interests turned toward the world of opera and ballet along with classic cinema. A new science fiction television series, even one with Canadian actors in the cast, would not have interested him in the least. Ironically, all the photographs he took were never used by the Star. In fact, none of them saw the light of day until after his death in 2018. They were donated by his life partner, Margaret Serrao to the Toronto Star and were unearthed by an employee looking for material to post on the Star’s social media accounts.

But following are more of the photos he took while on this assignment. At least the ones I found in an article by the Toronto Star and other online sources- I believe there are actually a lot more that still haven’t been published. Many are like the ones above, likely taken during filming at a different angle from what we saw on screen.

Others are like these two, taken behind the scenes. Notice you can plainly see the cameraman and several other production people preparing for the scene where Francine Pyle/Nancy III strolls seductively into Crewman Darnell’s life.

But these next several photos taken by Reg Innell bear a closer look. At first glance, you would think he was taking photographs of the actual filming of Captain Kirk and the landing party’s first encounter with Dr. Crater. But if you watch the episode, you will see something different. The screen shows Kirk’s first encounter with Dr. Crater and Dr. Crater’s examination by McCoy just as the first photo depicts but Crater’s arm is not in a sling.

And of course, one other thing always interests me in photos like these. Check out those overhead lights used for filming. They help delineate where the top of the set walls end and the studio ceiling begins. I’m such a geek. lol

This scene occurs after Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Crewman Green and Crewman Sturgeon teleport down to confront Dr. Crater over the death of Darnell and the whereabouts of Crater’s wife. Notice again, Dr. Crater’s arm is in a sling. But in nearly the same scene of the episode we watched, it was not.

One more thing. Innell took his photo from the opposite side of where the camera was aimed and we see a vial of yellow liquid on the table to the left.

Kirk even picks it up to examine more closely.

Yet, in the actual episode, there’s no sign of the gold liquid on the table. Instead of picking up said vial in this filmed version of the scene, Kirk holds what is in his hands above (possibly a fossil). We actually see that object also on the table in the last two photos. So what is going on? We have at least a partial answer. According to the Okudas’ Star Trek Encyclopedia, Alfred Ryder had suffered a severe injury to his arm just before filming this episode. But professional that he was, he still played his part without a single complaint. So, that explains Innell’s photos showing Ryder’s arm in a sling. But when were these photos taken then? It could not have been during the actual filming because there is no mention anywhere of deleted scenes from this episode. Were they taken during a rehearsal or walk through? Maybe someone reading this knows and can fill us in.

No matter, though. Reg Innell has provided us with a window into the production of “The Man Trap” that hasn’t been seen before. Just think - there are hundreds more photos taken during those days that have yet to be published. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if more from “The Man Trap” came to light?

*note from Redshirtgal: Most of the photos and much of the information at the beginning is a recap of an article published by the Toronto Star. However, I did do my own research on his biography and the observations on the photos are my own. Here is the original article - check out the video from the young lady who discovered the photographs. https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2019/01/11/the-man-trap-was-the-first-star-trek-episode-to-air-but-the-star-was-there-first.html

#Star Trek TOS #newspaper photographer #Reg Innell #The Man Trap #behind the scenes

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wickedpact · 3 years

Note

so netflix just announced the schedule for that fan event on saturdays and now its official: there wont be a tog panel. charlize will make an appearance though, alongside other 5 actress in a panel about action movies. there's a moderator so its most likely gonna be a general discussion about the genre with an emphasis on female protagonists - she's certainly going to talk about andy and nile's characters as well as her experience as a producer - and maybe there will be a comment or two about the sequel, but i feel like nothing too specific or revealing and more like a brief statement. i hope i'm wrong tho! i mean they did kinda hint that there would be new content at the panel? (or maybe it was never gonna to happen and we're just clowns being baited yet again).

anyway, i keep wondering if its a case of netflix not giving a shit about promoting the movie, or if it there's another perfectly reasonable explanation for it and i'm being super extra about it.

because really, netflix has a lot of fucking money and they dont usually spare it on their marketing campaigns. and still we get nothing. not before the film came out (if i didnt have access to the gays from tumblr/twitter i would have never even discover the film - it had me at the joenicky gifs, obvs - and still, i had to introduce it to so many people from inside the community who had never heard of it.) and not even after people started engaging with it, basically begging for some crumbles. not a single photo or video of cast together, not any deletes scenes; we're all starving here!!! in fact, netflix just released the raw footage of an audition/chemestry test featuring the actresses from fear street vs the actual scenes from the film - including some dialogue that was cut from it which reveal some background info about the characters - so clearly they understand the appeal. SO WHY CANT WE HAVE THAT

[nonetheless i'm a fool who still hopes that someday we're gonna get more content of them together (i want behind the scenes footage! i wanna know more about their experiences training and shooting the film! i wanna hear funny stories from the set! i wanna see them teasing each other in several languages! also would sell a lung to watch luca and marwan taking part in back to back chef!). ]

anyhow, i honestly find that even when we take into account the global pandemic and its effects, the publicity was kinda wack; we can basically count on one hand how many interviews were made while they were promoting the film.

and i truly dont get it!!!!!!! im not even speaking as fan here. the old guard has the potential to be a hit among several demographics; now that disney took away what used to be netflix's flagship content the competition has never been more fierce in the superhero/ish genre!!! and its not like we're talking about some low-budget film cmon its a significal production with both experienced and emerging actors. its chiwetel ejofior ITS CHARLIZE FUCKING THERON. anyway my point is that in a time when movie theathers were closed and streaming reached its peak tog could - SHOULD - have been much more popular.

SO LIKE. WHY?????? does it have anything to do with skydance and copyrights? re: interviews, can it be that the cast just didnt sign up for this (is that even a thing? i dont know anything about the film industry, clearly)? unlikely for a movie that big i would guess but who knows??? i mean contrary to some hollywood folks most of the cast is extremely private and discrete people (GOOD FOR THEM) so perhaps they have some reservations about it? or we're really just the poor bastards that end up being obssessed with a media no one gives a fuck about it and thats it? WHYYY

p.s.: sorry for the word vomit! this was not supposed to be an essay i just had to get this off my chest and you're the most welcoming blog around these woods. thank you for the tea (or is it coffee? heh) and the biscuits and for always indulging our passionate rants. HAVE A NICE DAY I LOVE YOU

re: TUDUM, geeked week mentioned there will be a little interview thing for greg & leandro so i have a feeling if anything of tog importance will be discussed itll happen then

but yeah i get what youre saying; sometimes i wonder if the reason that theres like no bts content is bc it just.. .doesnt exist? just people didnt film things like chemistry readings or the like while creating tog and thats why theres been basically no crumbs? (but then again, it was gina who took it upon herself to post the hair & makeup test footage AND theres at least one deleted scene that we know of thats never been posted so maybe not)

and yeah it does seem so bizarre since tog got such a big response from audiences (it was one of netflix's most watched original movies!) and critics did actually like it, unlike some of netflix's most watched originals. PLUS it has that ✨ Franchise Potential ✨that everyone has been searching for as of late and it also gives netflix their sought after Woke Points. idk it just seems like they should be leaning into tog as hard as they can but it feels like theyve been largely ignoring it. i mean i get the holdups in regard to finding a new director but other than that the response from netflix has been so underwhelming

#anonymous #np btw i love The Anon Rants™#and youre Right anyways so

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honeymoonjin · 4 years

Text

Please note, these works are mine. I won’t accept any translations (sorry, foreign language army) or cross-posting on accounts that aren’t mine. If you see a work of mine on Wattpad, it is not me. Please let me know so I can get it taken down. If you see a work of mine on AO3 under any account that isn’t honeymoonjin, it is not me and please let me know. The banners are not made by me, they are made by the incredibly talented @jamaisjoons. Please do not read works marked with the crown ♔ for smut if you are a minor. These are intended for audiences 18 or above.

These fics are the b-side, my older works which I’m not as happy with as my newer stuff. I don’t want to delete them since some may still enjoy them, but I wanna start fresh with works I’m personally proud of on my main masterlist from now on, so these are the ones that didn’t make the cut.

♔ smut || ➴ angst || ✭ crack || ☯ fluff

〚 darlin’ 〛✭

❝ you’re an actress that needs to learn to ride a horse for your next role. jin’s the cowboy tasked with teaching you. ❞

〚 pine 〛☯

❝ you’ve been hiding your crush on your best friend jin for far too long now, but it turns out he feels the same. ❞

〚 transition 〛✭

❝ seokjin’s job as a grim reaper is to guide souls after they die, but you’re not interested in moving on just yet. ❞

〚 pasta la vista 〛✭

❝ in which you, a food critic, wonders how kim seokjin manages to stay in business, considering how terrible his food seems to be. alternatively, kim seokjin does not know how to flirt. ❞

〚 come dine with me 〛♔

❝ yoonji eating you out in the kitchen that is literally it. ❞

〚 daegu hold ‘em 〛☯

❝ yoongi loves spoiling his girl. you love having a sugar daddy. that’s called synergy. ❞

〚 baby fever 〛♔

❝ doctor min yoongi is your fertility specialist, but during the artificial insemination procedure he has some…unorthodox methods. ❞

〚 mi casa 〛☯

❝ when yoongi brings you home to spend the holiday season with his family, he finally realizes he’s in love with you. ❞

〚 curious ft kth 〛♔

❝ taehyung is unsure of his sexuality, and you and your boyfriend yoongi are only too happy to let him experiment with you. ❞

〚 땡 / ddaeng 〛✭

❝ when blackmailed by a sasaeng, you and yoongi decide to instead release a diss-track featuring audio from an illegally obtained video of the two of you having sex. ❞

〚 unravel 〛➴ ∙ ☯

❝ you just want yoongi to see himself the way you see him. ❞

〚 heavy 〛♔

❝ mafia leader hoseok is having problems with loyalty in his ranks. luckily, you’ll always be there for him to relieve a little stress when he needs it. ❞

〚 close enough 〛➴

❝ hoseok thinks you’re getting a little too close to the other members, and he’s sick of it. part two now available here! ❞

〚 us 〛☯

❝ amongst the publicity of being an idol, hoseok wants his proposal to be a private affair. ❞

〚 unwind 〛♔

❝ your boyfriend is about to give an important speech at the United Nations but isn’t handling pre-speech nerves too well. luckily, you know some ways to help him relax. ❞

〚 keyed up ft kth〛♔

❝ when your mutual roommate namjoon gets a little too strung out, you and taehyung offer to help relieve some tension. ❞

〚 hey mama 〛☯

❝ one-shot for mother’s day. you spend an evening in with namjoon and your two boys. ❞

〚 going up? 〛✭ ∙ ☯

❝ you didn’t expect to be trapped in a faulty elevator with the president of south korea, but it’s still preferable to having to take the stairs. ❞

〚 sick day 〛♔

❝ namjoon gets a week off work, but you don’t, and he’s starting to get a little frustrated. ❞

〚 tumble dry 〛♔

❝ when jimin overhears you confessing to jungkook that you want to ride his thighs, jimin allows you…on one condition. ❞

〚 radio silence 〛♔

❝ jimin wants to indulge in his exhibitionism kink on the grandest scale: while at the grammys. ❞

〚 appa 〛☯

❝ jimin comes home from tour to visit his newborn son for the first time. ❞

〚 breaking point 〛➴

❝ you don’t think you can continue being in a relationship with jimin anymore. ❞

〚 arrivals 〛➴

❝ things go wrong at the airport when jimin’s wife and daughter accompany bts on a flight. ❞

〚 keyed up ft knj〛♔

❝ when your mutual roommate namjoon gets a little too strung out, you and taehyung offer to help relieve some tension. ❞

〚 roomie 〛✭

❝ falling in love with your cell mate isn’t generally advisable. ❞

〚 confessions of love are best done sober 〛➴ ∙ ☯

❝ kim taehyung used to be your best friend in primary school, but he’s changed into a completely different person. while you drink yourself into oblivion at a party, he has something to tell you. ❞

〚 itty-bitty 〛☯

❝ after finally moving in with your just-married husband, you have some more exciting news to tell him. ❞

〚 curious ft myg 〛♔

❝ taehyung is unsure of his sexuality, and you and your boyfriend yoongi are only too happy to let him experiment with you. ❞

〚 green room 〛♔

❝ jungkook isn’t happy with how you acted while he was on stage. ❞

〚 high-rise 〛☯

❝ getting locked out on a rooftop when you’re meant to be going on stage in five minutes is less than ideal, but luckily Jungkook has his girlfriend to keep him company. ❞

〚 shark week 〛✭ ∙ ☯

❝ when you get your period while at a restaurant with your boyfriend and the rest of bts, you just want to grin and bear it, but jungkook seems determined to show off to his hyungs how supportive he is. ❞

〚 the name game 〛✭ ∙ ☯

❝ jungkook likes to think he’s a genius at coming up with baby names. you, his heavily pregnant girlfriend, would have to disagree. ❞

〚 roll credits 〛☯

❝ after a string of misfortunes and troubles, you find yourself crying your eyes out in a movie theater. luckily, the cute usher wants to make sure you didn’t miss the film. ❞

〚 the daily grind 〛☯

❝ jeon jungkook has a crush on the girl that comes to the coffee shop he works at, but she’s too invested in her studying to even give him a second glance. ❞

〚 makin’ monet 〛✭

❝ jungkook’s attention is caught by his roommate taehyung’s odd collection of fake paintings, and he’s determined to find the painter. part two available here. ❞

〚 love yourself: the collab 〛✐ ∙ ♔ ∙ ➴ ∙ ☯

❝ twenty-six authors, twenty-six songs. a collab me and @/jeonau created to celebrate the one year anniversary of lya. each song (plus four bonus tracks) has its own fic. ❞

⇥ masterlist here

⇥ pairings: several, at least one of every member x reader

〚 roll deep 〛✐ ∙ ♔

❝ six one-shots, pornstar au. ❞

⇥ masterlist here

⇥ pairings: one of each member x reader, yoonji x reader

〚 wouldst thou like to live deliciously? 〛✐ ∙ ♔ ∙ ➴

❝ jimin is sick of being a virgin, and the pressure of the first time with a girl, so he decides to summon a sex demon to get it over with. ❞

⇥ masterlist here

⇥ pairings: jimin x reader, namjoon x reader, yoongi x reader

〚 cum!bts 〛♔ ∙ ✭

❝ in the newest run! episode, the members compete to see which of them can make you orgasm the fastest. ❞

⇥ masterlist here

⇥ pairings: one of each member x reader

〚 sovereign 〛✐ ∙ ♔ ∙ ➴

❝ when you hear that your recently deceased grandmother left you her property in her will, at first you think that a dinky old cottage in the middle of nowhere isn’t going to mean much for you. but after spending a night there, you discover something far more valuable than the house itself: a hidden door that leads to another time, the same place but over 200 years in the past. in the late 18th century, there is a king who will die before his 21st birthday unless you can save him. will you help him, even if it means leaving your own life behind? ❞

⇥ masterlist here

⇥ pairings: jimin x reader, jungkook x reader

〚 lost in translation 〛✐ ∙ ➴ ∙ ☯

❝ you decide to uproot your life completely and move to korea to help teach english at a primary school. ❞

⇥ season one masterlist here

⇥ pairings: none so far

〚 seven 〛➴ ∙ ☯

❝ life with seven boyfriends isn’t always a walk in the park, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. ❞

⇥ part one || part two || part three

⇥ pairings: ot7 x reader

〚 dul, set 〛☯

❝ work can be tough. at least you have two boyfriends to come home to. ❞

⇥ part one || part two

⇥ pairings: hoseok x reader x yoongi

〚 spotlights 〛✭ ∙ ☯

❝ a fully interactive (~50 parts, 21 different endings) bts fic. you’ve been seated next to bts at a televised award show. will you end the night with a boyfriend or with a disaster? each member has 1 positive ending and 2 negative ones. ❞

⇥ entry post here

⇥ pairings: one of each member x reader

〚 enjoy your stay 〛 ♔ ∙ ➴

❝ working the graveyard shift at a hotel isn’t the most exciting job in the world, but your coworkers are certainly happy to have you here. ❞

⇥ masterlist here

⇥ pairings: jin x reader, jungkook x reader

〚 런닝맨 방탄 - running man bangtan 〛 ♔

❝ you and the other seven members of the popular variety show running man celebrate your 100th episode by completing various missions. ❞

⇥ part one || part two || part three

⇥ pairings: taehyung x reader, hoseok x reader x yoongi

#bts masterlist #bts fanfic #jin x reader #yoongi x reader #hoseok x reader #namjoon x reader #jimin x reader #taehyung x reader #jungkook x reader #bts x reader #bts one shot #bts fluff #bts angst #bts smut

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dyalinohera · 3 years

Text

An Open letter to Quippy.

Through the various relationships in my life, I have learned a lot about trauma through learning everything I could about various mental issues because the after-effects of my own personal trauma were preventing me from living life normally. I was lucky enough to have family members, be blood or found (or a little of both), who have always tried to help me and love me very much.

Recently in my life, I lost a good friend to a misunderstanding during a PTSD episode and their partner took that opportunity to swoop in, gaslight myself and another good friend of mine. Before this moment, I only knew a few things about this partner. ONE. My friend.... Let's call them Q.... was not having sex with this person but they were in a romantic relationship. TWO. They sometimes had fights and Q admitted so to me. Three. About a week or so prior their partner admitted that they were being abusive towards Q in various ways. No details.

After having been subjected to a gaslighting attempt, my other friend P actually crying, and then Q threatening to kill themselves... Well. I blocked them both and ran for the hills. I did have a private private server with Q and I could have reached out to them at a later date, but I could smell the badnews rolling off of F (the partner).

About a month or so after this event I received a message from Q (on Christmas day like a wonderful puzzle to work over) and I discovered something horrible. Abuse victims will mirror the abuser's maladaptive control techniques and further become entrenched in the Abuser's guiles.

Below is that message. I have removed any names pertaining to those whom I have dubbed 'P', 'Q', and 'F' from this message. Any text prefaced with ( and ends in ) are my own comments on what did and did not happen while pointing out each tactic used to try to scare, confuse, and manipulate me in some way.

I am not a healthcare professional of any kind. I can’t diagnose disorders. I simply have learned how to identify abusive tactics from the counseling I have received for PTSD.

And finally, before we break down this wonderful message, I would like to dedicate this to those who are being gaslighted right now and I pray this essay finds you somehow.

Making It Clear That If Any Distress Comes To Any Other Parties Because Of This Message Then It Will Be Because You Dragged Them Into This. You Will Shoulder That Blame, Not Us. Remember How You Thought We Should Have More Control Over When And Where We Have A Crisis? Practice What You Tried To Preach With Your Reactions To This Message.

(This right here is an excellent show of blame-shifting, gaslighting, and emotional manipulation to throw their victim off and start questioning themselves.)

To:[Redacted] [Also referred to as "recipient" or simply "you"— as the term will only be used to refer to the recipient for the purposes of this message. Only exception to this being quotes taken directly from the recipient's own messages.] From: [Redacted] [also referred to as "system" or "us/we" for the purposes of this message]

(This Legal jargon is used to make the sender feel more secure and righteous in their anger, which is very much from being scared, pulling power away from the intended recipient.)

This Notice Was Written After The Messages You Decided To Delete Before We Saw Them, Which Leaves Us Only To Assume That They Were Harassing In Nature. That Is Why This Message Is Being Sent. We Wish To State Our Intent In No Uncertain Terms In Order To Avoid Any Possible Misunderstandings. You Will Receive No Further Communication From The System Unless It Is In Order To Inform You Of Actions Being Taken Against You.

Due to the fact that you were intent on:

Blaming the system for being in crisis

Expecting a person/system who had been sent into crisis by an attack to be the one to carry full responsibility even when unaware of key information and still being actively attacked.

(I never did any of these things. What I did was say that a public chat server in discord with people who are emotionally sensitives, me included, was not the correct action and upon them threatening to take their own life, I was sent into a state of fear and reacted with aggression. Was this a smart thing for me to do? I have no idea but it was what I did.)

Refusing to re-read the very exchange you were attacking the system over in order to see that the system had not been given the information you were insistent they had been given and were attacking them over.

“I am not text shuffling for exact proof. They made it clear that it was affecting them negatively.” "The moment they spoke up about internalizing the guilt is the moment it should of stopped." “[Redacted] said. That they felt it was their fault.” "They said they felt it was their fault."

(I had two chats going on with the poor P who was watching this System go into a severe PTSD episode and lash out at everything around them. I got confused in my panic HOWEVER I was correct in saying that this system was not right in going into that chat and doing that, not because it hurt someone else, though it is apart of it, but because it is a dangerous state to be in. Please note that the text Q is quoting is from my chat with F. Q is F’s mouthpiece now.)

Refusing to acknowledge that you were wrong even after discovering that the information you were attacking the system for ignoring was actually sent to your private messages, not the chat where the system could see said information.

“Okay. They didn’t say what I thought they did. That was in my DMs." "But. I am not gonna talk more of this.”

(Again. This is an attempt to gaslight and invalidate my views and what I did.)

Being a hypocrite by expecting the system to flawlessly read someone while in a blended and unstable state while you, yourself, still drunk dialed the system twice on 08/02/2020 after you had been explicitly told not to do so on 07/24/2020 due to the fact that being drunk dialed causes the system distress.

(I got drunk and sad. I am prone to doing this when upset and I am working on it. HOWEVER. I didn’t say anything on these calls. I only said hi and looked tired. After that, the system did not talk to me for quite some time afterward, but I gave them space and I never made this mistake again. People. If someone keeps bringing this sort of thing up when you have been trying, get away from them. This is a clear sign of abusive tactics. I’ll also go even further in saying that I didn’t even imply that is what SHOULD have happened. I said that was not right. I even told F that Q needed to go to a professional, they are at serious risk and needed help. All I got was excuses. In situations where someone is going through suicidal episodes you have to do everything in your power to get immediate help.)

Ignoring the fact that both times the system was asked if they were okay they told you they weren't yet you still attacked them under false pretenses.

(I was confused and scared at the time due to ya know, someone I care for greatly threatening to kill themselves. SO. Idk)

Acting like you have any idea just how far the system has come from the state they started in a decade and a half ago. You have neither room nor right to even dream of attempting to invalidate anyone's progress. Much less that of those who have survived what you never could have.

(I never did any such thing. I tried to empathize and place myself in their shoes to better understand their struggle because I know what it means to be different with different needs and so forth. I am a compassionate person.)

Attempting to validate your stance after your argument fell apart by claiming you were thinking of leaving anyway. People do not get excited about an increase in activity from those they wish to distance from.

(There were various languages that the system was using that were bothering me but I didn’t say anything because I really cared for them. There was also was a revelation that their romantic partner was abusive and it was brought forth in the public chat. Please keep in mind I was mainly talking to their partner in the end and I decided that for my safety to leave and block both Q and F)

Doing all of this after misleading the system into believing that you were understanding of how difficult it could be for someone to live in a head with people who actively want to kill the body they're in.

(I am still understanding of it. My issue was and will always be the fact that there was a refusal to look at the problem, what they had done, step back, and get help. Because the only thing that was made clear by this message even being sent to me is that I made the right choice to block both Q and F.)

Proving that you need to stay the hell away from abuse survivors because abuse survivors have been blamed for the side effects of survival enough by people like you.

(I never ever blamed abuse survivors for their problems. The system’s abuse is valid, HOWEVER, these past abuses and the unique cognitive issues that come from that trauma does not exempt you from accountability from your actions in or out of high-stress phases. It is up to the individual to find and attempt to get better and stronger from these issues and find solutions that are unique to their situation.)

Any future attempt from the recipient to contact or otherwise interfere with [redacted] or any of said system's alters will be viewed as a hostile act w/ intent to cause further distress and/or harm. Any such attempts will also be viewed as harassment and shall be dealt with via whatever practical — and, when applicable, legal — means deemed necessary. Drunken episodes are not exempt from this and will also be treated as harassing contact. (<Oh my god they really are trying to hammer home I am some form of ‘evil’ just because I was sad and got on camera for a couple of seconds.)

Just remember, we apologized to the one we inadvertently caused distress to. You were far too weak to be able to do so. We even left you unblocked following the incident to give you a chance but all you did was send us messages you obviously thought better of before they got to our machine. Thank you for confirming that we really will be better without you in our lives because we don't need people who can't face their own shortcomings involved with our system. If you cause any member of this system further distress — in any form — then we swear to you that we will use whatever tools we must to contend with you.

(Again, more blame-shifting, bringing up that they apologized without addressing the times I have apologized for the various stupid things I did while dealing with amygdala hijacks and so forth. I’ve been in intense therapy for PTSD and underwent EMDR which entails going over trauma memories in hopes to desensitize the brain so that the fight and flight response isn’t triggered so often. AKA. I have literally gone over very traumatic events, in detail, while doing this therapy. I am an abuse survivor, but Q is very clearly still the victim of current abuse.)

We only hope someone returns the favor to you when your depression is at its very worst.

The account this notice has been sent from will not be signed into again after sending this message on 12/25/2020. Any responses to this notice will go unrecognized.

(And the final last message shows how angry they are at me for leaving a group chat and blocking them. This is from a fear response. A lot of people think that Amygdala is responsible for aggression responses. However, it deals with fear. Aggression and anger is a response to fear. Thus, those who tend to use these abusive tactics are fundamentally scared of not being in control of you. PTSD episodes are called Amygdala Hijack and I am willing to bet Q sent this to me during one.)

Now. For the messages that I had deleted.

It is hard for me to process my emotions. I tend to get bogged in how to say things in my head but when I try to speak or write it all comes out wrong. The original messages were wordy and confusing and… not very good. So here and now, on this space that you the reader walk on, I would like to formally give those messages to Q in simple and clear terms.

Quippy,

I love you.

And I miss you.

Please don’t die.

#tw: gaslighting #tw: DID #TW: PTSD #gaslighting #DID #PTSD #abusive techniques #Abuse victims #abuse Survivors #Please keep in mind that this is meant only as a tool #to identify gaslighting

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incarnateirony · 5 years

Text

Democratic Debates, Day 1

So a few ground rules:

If you’re going to reply, be an adult about it, and don’t try to read everything in bad faith default lens. Ask questions of anyone who engages rather than accusing. And not in that presumptuous white guy bad faith questioning that isn’t a question tone.

If replying, put your comments with a lead in no longer than two (reasonable) sentences behind a cut. Because

some of us are fandom blogs first or whatever interests and our followers aren’t deeply invested

I just don’t want goddamn pillars of text on my reblog wall if I respond to discussions.

Literally if you’re a republican out to just be a shitlord and start whining or complaining or insulting or “no u”ing, see rule 4

I will not reblog or reply to any commentary that doesn’t fit these very basic guidelines, because internet trolling etc is not worth the future of our country. And that’s very much at stake now.

If you don’t want to see this, blacklist #politics and/or #democratic debates. Now, my takeaways on this, some surprising.

So, I’ll start with some disclaimers: I’m pretty much “vote for my dog over Trump” party line right now but we need to figure out a mix of “our best chance of winning” along of “award for the least tool” with hopefully a side of “I really like them and their policies”

Honestly, I entered this without being fond of Warren. She had some... establishment backing and other things that were just rubbing me wrong. I actually went in to day one looking to hear about Tulsi since I heard great buzz about her but honestly had only pulled up a few pages that sounded great on paper, but wanted to see her in action. Everyone else was littered policy ideas disembodied and, as a very visual person, I need to be able to connect to how they handle their podium beyond writing nice policy platitudes or listening to the toss back and forth online with everybody screaming at everybody else.

I’m also going to get something out of the way, and BEFORE you flame me on my marks on the image, read why I selected one that... I generally wouldn’t. First, this was my original graphic I released.

Okay so sore thumb here: De Blasio. The reason for the circling being simple: if you took every semi-valid idea of every other white guy’s platform on this lineup, gave it a little bit of meat, and showed ACTUAL LIVING PROOF OF HAVING ENACTED IT ALL IN HIS TENURE AND MAKING THE IDEAS WORK, you get De Blasio. A lot of the ideas of the other nominees is basically *hand raise* “I did that.” So like. That’s that.

Anyone with no mark whatsoever is kinda like “you’re there and not trump so good for you” but there’s some updates further down this conversation on one of those.

The internet keeps acting like Klobuchar did well and I really don’t get why. It kinda feels like our token non-canuck trying to appeal to them-there northern hunter-type and cheese folks to reach out as a middle ground without actually committing to much and honestly, she’s just not going to last.

Booker caught my eye even if I was kind of head tilting because that is quite literally the whitest black man I have ever fucking seen, but he made a point about intersectionality, marginalized groups, and held his ground. He was all but unknown to me but I at least looked at him now. On the other hand, a lot of it felt like borderline pandering. I don’t know. I’ll keep an eye on him, but he actually stood out a bit at least. Not hard with the mayo jars up there but whatever.

It’s not a rare take online that Castro took the internet by storm. I love him. Everyone loves him. I do have some concerns long-term though; it’s less having actual problems with his ideas and more knowing that ... our country is too fucked for him right now. He’s advocating some pretty heavily open borders and while in principle I enjoyed watching him stomp on Beto about that, I honestly feel like if we put him against Trump, we’d lose.

There’s people in the red party that ARE tired of Trump, that ARE experiencing a crisis about the inhumane shit going on at the border, that WOULD be willing to crossvote to make it end -- but we can’t forget that a lot of them initially voted for Trump BECAUSE of a deep seeded Xenophobia, and the level of aggression -- again, the kind of aggression I personally agree with -- Castro had may end up being very dangerous long term in getting that vote. Pretty much everyone up there agrees we need very comprehensive immigration reform and immediate action about the travesty, but I feel like unless Castro smooths his roll a bit we’re in for a long term faceplant that gives us another four years of Trumpian hell by people pulling back into their xenophobic mindset and -- if not voting for Trump -- abstaining from voting for him, which I think several other candidates have in their court.

Castro made a bit of a gaffe about switching trans genders but the fact that he tried, I guess. And considered trans in the discussion of choice and birth control etc. It could have very easily just been a stupid fumble. He’s still trying to take it into account. I can forgive that, in the scale of it, even if it has a bit of performer aspect.

Also I’m left to wonder where Castro was when they needed help running in Texas to begin with. I also just don’t see the passion in his eyes of several candidates, it’s strangely calculating on most topics. I like his platform, in theory, but I’m very cautious.

Jay Insley is just weird even if everyone likes him.

Dulaney is a meme and I don’t know why he’s even here.

Tim Ryan accidentally wandered in on his way to the Republican debates as best I can gather.

Tulsi was the one that I was watching. All in all, I was underwhelmed. And then... it got worse.

The better part of her time was spent repeating her time in the military. And while it was great watching her school Tim Ryan, that’s not exactly hard to do. The fact that she lit his ass on fire when he just about self combusted in front of the party without her help -- I mean, it was the highlight of her showcasing aside from the snazzy Rogue hair.

Somehow, for as woke as tumblr is, and the progressives that had me looking her way, I hadn’t heard of her anti-LGBT past which she’s mostly couched her opinions on and held as recently as 2014 or THE FACT THAT I HAVE FOUND OUT THAT SHE WAS VETTED BY THE FUCKING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO BE ON THEIR CABINET, I’M FUCKING HORRIFIED.

BUT THEN THERE WAS THIS LITTLE GEM THAT I FOUND BEFORE ACTUALLY DISCOVERING THE PREVIOUS PARAGRAPH.

What the FUCK? What are you, seven? That’s literal pre-emptive “my sister stole my phone lol sorry” level tweets. YOU’RE A FUCKING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE TALKING ABOUT IMPORTANT NATIONAL MATTERS LOCK YOUR GODDAMN PHONE.

Because THAT’S just what we need, we’ll go from Trump impulse-tweeting to like “LOL fuck korea - lmao sorry my sister texted that”????

Neverminding how STATISTICALLY INCORRECT that is. Depending on exactly HOW you count time Warren got 2nd or 3rd most time -- yes, more than Tulsi. She did not have the most. She did not have “more than all the other candidates combined.” And Tulsi did not have the least time, but center-ground on time. She wasted a bunch of it endlessly reciting her time in the military, scoring an okay shot on Ryan, and... well, vagueblogging about her opinion on LGBT to the vein of “something something equality my bad I was raised conservative” great. Great selling point. Great couching there. Five years ago you were fighting against me having rights and now you’re basically against government deciding what people can’t do but what the fuck is your opinion on me as a human being?

Doubling back from that problem though, that’s when I dug in her LGBT history and ended up tripping over the Trump stuff. AND THIS IS THE CANDIDATE I WENT IN TO HEAR FROM TONIGHT LIKE “YES PLZ LET ME HEAR MORE” because people I knew LIKED her, but then I find out she’s a Trump frand that has Trump-like hyperbolic meltdowns on twitter? NO I DO NOT WANT FEMALE TRUMP WITH ROGUE HAIR THANKS BUT NO THANKS.

Back to Warren, who I started with a MEH on, she came out WICKEDLY strong out of the gate. Her second half was weaker, she kinda has next to no active plan beyond talking/passing around more research on gun reform, but everything else, yes. Do I think she has the potential weight to pull it off, yes. And most of all, watching as she gets mad, upset, or emotional, do I believe she believes everything she said tonight, yes. Look, I know there’s STUFF about her claiming she had Native American heritage or whatever but I’m honestly so far past giving a fuck about the obscure shit like that if they have decent policies because our country is so FUCKED right now that I DONT CARE. She held her ground.

So in the end my spread ends up looking more like

of day 1 contenders, Warren still maintains her strong chance. Castro kind of sprouted up out of the earth and I really goddamn like him, but I do hold caution for my reasons above, because again, our country is THAT FUCKED.

Booker really turned some heads and I liked him Booker... Booker’s very concerned about a lot of marginalized intersectional issues and it took him from “who the fuck is that” onto my radar which is a leap, but he didn’t drill in as hard as Castro did to my mind and I feel like he’s just... I dunno, I could be wrong but I feel like he’s gonna fade. Beto, IDK, still exists, isn’t an embarrassment and doesn’t just morph in with the other white guys up there. He’s not Trump. So I won’t delete him, but let’s say he barely, and I mean BARELY hedged into my consideration in this image, I almost just cropped it over to Warren.

De Blasio is just sort of “status quo, but actually enacts it” but I wouldn’t weep to see him vanish, either. In the end out of this debate though, I see like

Everyone else go home.

ON THE OTHER HAND, MOST CANDIDATES I’M ACTIVELY INTERESTED IN ARE ON THE FLOOR TOMORROW, WHICH BY THE LINEUP IS SLATED TO BE A BLOODBATH.

I’m really, REALLY hoping everybody has the common sense to make such an ass of Biden he’s knocked out early. Like that’s part of why I’m so goddamn interested in day 2. If we end up with Trump vs Biden we might as well all just put on our goddamn clown suits but he has the fiscal backing to push through even if he shouldn’t unless he’s utterly DECIMATED early on.

I don’t like Kamala Harris’ prison industrial complex CRAP but I’d be HAPPY to watch her drag Biden around like a wet rag. Sanders is a given point of interest. Buttigieg is another one to watch. Yang... isn’t... gonna last. But is just sort of a ... fun thing to watch I guess in this mix up. Someone else may surprise me, I don’t know.

#politics #democratic debates

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cindylouwho-2 · 4 years

Text

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, early February 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles I came across since the late January report, although some may be older than that. Report is a bit short because I was sick this last week; don’t worry, I used hand sanitizer before typing this up, so you are all safe 🤒

I am currently looking into setting up a new ecommerce business forum where we can discuss this sort of news, as well as any day-to-day issues we face. I need some good suggestions for a cheap or free forum space that has some editing tools, is fairly intuitive for inexperienced members, and is accessible. If you have any suggestions, please reply to this post, email me on my website, or send me a tweet. (I will put out a survey once we narrow this down to some good candidates, but if you have any other comments on what you want from such a forum, please include those too!)

As always, if you see any stories I might be interested in, please let me know!

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

Searchmetrics says Etsy did quite well [podcast & text] in the Google January Core Update, while both Amazon and Walmart lost a little bit. “Who won January? I’m going to say Etsy. Etsy has really done a tremendous job [with Google visibility] over the last two years. Sure, they’ve been on the winning side of the algorithm update, but consistently, being in that a position, from my experience, isn’t by chance.” Here’s more analysis listing the US winners and losers, including by subject category (sadly, not shopping sites). Marie Haynes says that the update likely targeted sites that aren’t properly disclosing affiliate links, as well as some pet health sites.

Since a quarter of Americans have a disability, your website, your products & your marketing should be more accessible. Lots of good ideas in here!

ETSY NEWS

TOU alert: Etsy has banned the sale of spent bullet casings (often used as craft supplies). It’s not clear why. There is a thread from a seller whose listings were pulled here.

The 2020 wedding trends blog post is one of those pieces that is useful to sellers & buyers alike, and is also good for Etsy because it attracts outside articles and links. Some trend & keyword info of interest: ”there has been a 171% increase in searches on Etsy for bridesman items and a 72% increase in searches for best woman items”... “searches for ‘70s invitations increase 18% and searches for disco ball items increase 18%” ...”24% increase in searches for bridal jackets and a 4% increase in searches for women’s pantsuits” …”searches for reused, recycled, or reclaimed wedding items increasing 7%” in the last six months (compared to the same time the previous year).

Etsy released its annual diversity & inclusion report on January 29, getting some media coverage along the way, for example here, here and here.

Reverb hired David Mandelbrot as their new CEO; he most recently ran Indiegogo. (Etsy bought Reverb last year.)

The 4th quarter 2019 results will be out Feb. 26. I am currently planning on doing my usual summary thread in the forum.

Decent overview of product photography for beginners, with some pointers on what Etsy wants you to do with photos. For example, “The recommended size for listing images is 2000px for the shortest side of the image, and a resolution of 72PPI.”

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

So you know what Etsy tags are, but you get confused when people talk about tags for search engines? Read this beginners guide to SEO meta tags. (not needed for Etsy shops, but it is terminology used by some website builder sites, as well as coders of course.)

Data provider Jumpshot will be closing due to the controversies over the revelation that their parent company Avast (the anti-virus software) provided user activity to Jumpshot while perhaps not always fully disclosing this to the users. This will affect some SEO tools that relied on these click stats to generate estimates for traffic & search term use, Hitwise & Moz among them. “In all likelihood, Avast took the action to protect its core business, as multiple articles, including from Consumer Reports, called out the company for its data collection practices, while some called for the uninstallation of the Avast software. This is probably as much PR damage control as it is driven by any principled position.”

Forbes appears to have been hit by some Google search issue, but it happened later than the Core Update, so no one is sure what is going on.They were previously penalized for selling links, but that was years ago.

John Mueller listed all of the big Google search news from January in this almost 9 minute video. Click to see the detailed info under the video, because they helpfully summarized the important topics by timestamp, and linked to text resources as well. (Some of it is technical/coding relating; you have been warned!)

There may be another big Google ranking update happening right now (Feb. 9), as tracked by Search Engine Roundtable. Check that site over the next few days for any updates.

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

The time you send your marketing emails matters, although it’s going to vary more than this article lets on. Keep track of your own stats.

Debunking some myths about Instagram, including the importance of your follower count. “...your follower count isn’t the most important metric on Instagram. Your engagement rate is. Your engagement rate (which is found by calculating the number of engagements you receive divided by EITHER the number of people who saw it OR your total followers, depending on who you ask) is crucial.”

If you use the app Social Captain for Instagram, be aware that your Instagram password was publicly available in the source code.

Facebook’s algorithm has a lot of different factors controlling who sees your posts, including actually having conversations with others, and including “quality, original videos.”

Facebook’s revenue was up 25% in the 4th quarter of 2019, to $21.1 billion, but they expect the privacy controversies to cut into growth this year.

Pinterest is testing an augmented reality tool called “Try On” that allows users to see what they will look like with specific lipstick colours.

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Google Shopping Ads will soon be shown in Gmail accounts, YouTube and the Discover feed, starting March 4th. Note that “Retailers have been steadily shifty more of their search budgets from text to Shopping ads.”

A comparison of Google Ads vs. Facebook Ads, with plenty of tips. According to them, if you are seriously considering one, you should probably do both. “When we talk about Facebook, we’re also talking about Instagram, What’sApp, and Facebook Messenger. Google also includes YouTube, the second-most trafficked site in the world (behind Google itself).”

Google’s revenue was up 17% in the 4th quarter in 2019, almost all of it from advertising. YouTube makes more on ads than Amazon does.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

eBay released its 4th quarter results for 2019 on January 28, with revenue down 2% and gross merchandise value down 5%. Amazon’s sales were up 21% for the 4th quarter.

BigCommerce now allows customers to check out in over 100 currencies, integrated with several different payment processors.

Wondering what a good conversion rate would be for different ecommerce pages? Here’s a brief overview of the known stats, with some tips on improving.. (Note that any action can be counted as a conversion, including signing up for an email list, so this isn’t just about purchases.)

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Are you marketing to Generation Z, or think you should be? Here are 52 facts (with the citations); some highlights: Gen Z has more members than millennials do, and “As of 2020, Gen Z makes up more than 40% of U.S. consumers.” and finally “When shopping online or in stores, 65% of Gen Z prefers to see as few items as possible out of stock” (that last one explains a feedback I received, I think LOL Kind of hard on Etsy when you might have a listing with multiple choices & you only have the one left.)

A study of Cyber Week email open & click rates shows that it might be better not to mention the holidays or discounts.

This article warns consumers of the tricks ecommerce sites use to nudge people to buy more, including some clear examples of deception. “A study by Princeton University and the University of Chicago singled out online clothing seller Fashion Nova, which tells customers that items in their cart “are in high demand.” The problem? The message appears for any item that’s added to the cart. Fashion Nova’s cart also tells shoppers that their items are being “reserved” for 10 minutes. But nothing happens to the items after the 10 minutes are up.”

MISCELLANEOUS

YouTube wants Clearview AI’s face recognition program to stop scraping its videos for content, and to delete anything it has already collected. (Twitter did the same last month.)

#CindyLouWho2NewsUpdates #SEO #search engine optimization #search engine marketing #EtsyNews #etsy #Social media #contentmarketing #content marketing #Ecommerce #smallbiz #SEOTips #customer service #ppc advertising #Onlinemarketing #ecommercetips #emailmarketing #socialmedianews

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elizabethemerald · 5 years

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How about something with Toby and Jim?

You said Toby and Jim and my mind went to a scene I’ve wanted to write for the longest time. Toby asking Jim out After the Eternal Night. This is part of my Poly Trollhunters series that I’m calling Hammer, Sword and Staff. This one also got a llttle long.

Also for some reason it keeps deleting my read more. Sorry everyone!

Jim sniffed while he stalked his way around the barn. The Eclipse Blade felt heavy in his hand as he sniffed again. For some reason his senses were even stronger than a normal troll's. He had keener hearing and a sharper sense of smell.

Dawn was slowly approaching as he continued inspecting the perimeter. This was so far his least favorite place Trollmarket had stopped for shelter. The barn stank of humans, though it smelled like they hadn't been here in months. The last thing they needed was a human discovering an entire village of trolls without another scrap of shade around for miles.

As Jim passed the open barn door he could see Claire, Blinky and Nomura working to cover the gaping hole in the roof. He desperately wanted to jump in and help them. He loved working with Claire, and would never turn away from helping Blinky. Even Ms. Nomura was always interesting to talk to, but he was the Trollhunter. He had other duties.

Jim finished his patrol close to the barn and began making a wider circle. He kept sniffing at the ground and the air, his ears twitching this way and that, showing his annoyance.

Trollmarket is moving so slowly. They've already been on the road for two weeks and they weren't even out of California yet. Only being able to travel at night at the start of summer stalled their progress.

Making matters even worse Merlin had disappeared a few days ago. Just up and vanished during the day. Even his disappearance didn't stop him from haranguing Jim. Merlin appeared in what Claire called an astral form to hurry them on everytime they stopped. If he had been here he could easily use his magic to finish covering the hole so the trolls would be safe from the sun's touch.

Jim's ear flicked as he heard Claire swear inside. Nomura had already been swearing for the past couple of minutes, getting increasingly creative with her swears as the large cloth they were trying to tie over the hole continued to defy them. He glanced at the silo that sat near the barn. The top had just been illuminated. They had maybe five minutes to get everyone inside and under cover before day break.

He hurried his patrol into a jog, bounding around the area to check for any traps or other problems. As he ran he waved to the last few trolls still not inside the barn, hurrying them inside. Right before the light of day touched him Jim dashed inside.

As the last trolls got settled inside the cloth slipped out of Nomura’s grasp and was about to fall to the ground. Claire swore explosively, Jim was certain he heard swears in at least three languages. Then she grabbed a handful of wooden staves, her eyes glowing purple, she threw them at the canvas. Each stave imbedded itself into the wooden beams of the roof, pinning the cloth over the hole. She flinched a little as one of the staves blasted clean through the wood and rocketed skyward.

“Well done Lady Claire.” Blinky said, clapping his hands together.

“You couldn’t have done that from the beginning?” Nomura said

“No I could not have done that from the beginning! I barely know what I can and can’t do with my magic. And the one person who could teach me disappeared for four days!” Claire snapped in return. Jim stepped up smartly to them.

“I swept the perimeter. No threats detected, and every troll accounted for.” Jim reported to Blinky. The four armed troll smiled at Jim.

“Thank goodness for that. With the cover in place we will be able to rest for the remainder of the day without too much worry.” Blinky replied, clapping Claire and Nomura on their shoulders.

“Well done with that you three.”

“Come on Jim.” Claire said, she was covered in sweat from trying to get the cover in place.

“I mean it. Well done.”

“Well since Little Gynt approves then I guess we did a good job after all.” Nomura sneered. Then she walked away to be by herself.

Jim decided against pushing his luck by following her. Claire walked slowly over to where she had dumped her pack when she had hurried to help Blinky. She unpacked slowly, her exhaustion weighing on her.

Jim was about to help her get settled when his phone went off. He moved quickly away from the other trolls. The last thing he wanted was for any of them to get angry at him for disturbing their rest. He pulled his phone from the back of his armor. As close as he could tell the phone was stored in the armor somewhere. Toby was calling! Jim carefully hit the answer button on the now too small phone.

“Heya Tobes!” Jim said excitedly.

“H-hey Jimbo. Uh... how is the trek going?” Toby said. Jim didn’t need his trollish hearing to pick up how nervous Toby was. Now that he thought about it, it was the crack of dawn. During summer vacation. Toby was never awake at this hour.

“The trek is fine.” Jim said shortly. “Is everything ok Toby?”

There was a long pause on the other end. Jim almost started worrying that the call had dropped. Finally Toby spoke again.

“We’re pretty good friends right Jim?” Toby said. His voice was so quiet over the phone.

“Toby we are the best of friends. You mean more to me than anything in the world. What is this about?”

“So I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, really I’ve been thinking ever since you went into the Darklands. And I talked to Darci and she says she's ok with it as long as Claire is. And I really regret not bringing this up before you left for New Jersey. Now even if you say yes we won’t be able to actually do anything. I guess I could always call and talk to you but we couldn’t go on any real dates.”

Jim had been listening to his friend’s rambling as closely as he could. The last sentence brought everything into sharp focus.

“Wait wait Toby. Are you asking me out? Are you saying you want to date me?” Jim asked. He could barely keep the excitement out of his voice. Toby was his best friend in the whole world. Had been his best and closest friend since they were children. Jim hadn’t told anyone before, but Toby was his first kiss. A kiss that helped sustain him during the long weeks in the Darklands. Sure dating Toby would mean a potentially awkward conversation with Claire, but Jim was pretty sure she would understand.

“Uh, I… uh.” Toby hesitated. Then the line went dead. Jim shook his head, classic Tobes, he got nervous and hung up. Jim immediately called his friend back. Toby didn’t answer. Jim rolled his eyes. And dialed again. This time the call was canceled from Toby’s side.

Jim wanted to pull his horns out in his frustration. If Toby had his way they won’t talk again for a week and he will pretend the conversation never happened. Jim called again. Toby hung up on him again. He wanted to scream his frustration.

Jim shoved his phone in his mouth and bit down hard. He had chewed the phone and swallowed before he had a chance to think about what he was doing. He could only look at his empty hands in horror. He hadn’t felt this bad for eating something he shouldn’t have since his mom found him eating the blender. He groaned softly and grabbed his horns. After a few moments of sitting there stewing in his annoyance he stood up.

He quietly made his way through the snoozing trolls till he came to where Claire had fallen asleep in her armor. After the all night march, followed by wrestling the covering, and the powerful magic she used, no wonder she was so quickly asleep. Jim hated the thought of waking her. But this wasn’t a conversation that could wait.

Jim softly shook her awake. She looked up confused and disoriented, but relaxed when she saw her boyfriend’s smiling face.

“I’m sorry to wake you. Toby just called me. I don’t think this is a conversation that can't wait till nightfall.”

Claire looked carefully at his face for a few a short moment, before nodding and getting up. Jim helped her out of her armor so she could actually sit comfortably then together they walked to the door of the barn. There was no where inside they could have a private conversation, and Jim didn’t quite want this to be a topic of gossip for all the trolls. Claire grabbed one of the emergency umbrellas and together they ventured out into the sun. They sat together in the shade of silo.

“What’s up Jim?” Claire didn’t sound worried, only curious. Jim knew he rarely woke her up except for emergencies, but he hoped his tone and casual movements made it clear that everyone at home was still safe.

"Toby just called. He wanted to ask me out. Like on a date." Jim tried to keep his voice calm. He didn't want to do the same thing Toby did and get nervous and back out.

"Toby is aware you are already spoken for, and so is he?" Claire asked. She had her legs curled up to her chest as she sat on the ground. She looked so tired and had her head resting on her knees.

"Uh, yes. He mentioned, kind of in passing that Darci was ok with the idea as long as you were." Jim suddenly felt way more nervous. He loved Claire and didn't want to ruin things with her, but he knew without a second thought that he also loved Toby.

"This isn't because I'm not enough for you is it?" Claire asked. She seemed to shrink before Jim's eyes. She was so small, so vulnerable, so scared of losing him. He carefully wrapped her in a hug.

"This has nothing to do with that. I love you. I will always love you. And I also love Toby. I've loved him for years, now that I think about it. It was thinking of you two that kept me going in the Darklands. You and Toby."

Jim held her close for several minutes, while she kept her face hidden. He was half afraid she had fallen asleep while he was talking. Finally she took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter. She unfolded her legs and stretched them out.

"So what did Toby say next?"

"Well he said he regretted not bringing this up before we left. I asked him if he was asking me out. Then he hung up." Claire snorted at that. "I called him back a few times but he didn't answer. And then I uh…" Jim looked away embarrassed. "I ate my phone."

"Jim!" Claire smacked his arm lightly. "How are we going to get you a new phone while we are on the road? And you have no idea what the battery acid could do to your stomach!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Jim said, holding up his hands to ward off further smacks, though they didn't hurt at all with his stone skin. "I just...reacted on instinct. Then I woke you up and we had this conversation."

"Ok." Claire said. Jim looked at her in confusion, was she agreeing? "I'm going to have to call Darci and confirm that she's ok with this, you understand?"

Jim nodded and Claire kept speaking. "If we open our relationship are you going to let me date other people too?" Jim nodded again. "Are you going to get all territorial if I date another girl?" He shook his head. "What about if I date a boy? Even that dude from the Battle of the Bands?"

Jim hesitated. He distinctly remembered the way he acted around the band guy. What was his name? Anyways he could currently feel a twist in his gut at the thought of her with him. Claire sighed.

"We can work on that. If you want us to open our relationship I want it to be on even terms. And I don't want you getting aggressive any time a boy comes up and talks to me."

Jim nodded, his eyes down and his ears laid back. Suddenly he perked up. "Wait does that mean you are willing to try?"

"Yes it does. But if you want me to accept that you have enough love for me and Toby you need to accept that I have enough love for you and...Toby, or Darci, or Mary or anyone else I want to date. Though as of right now that's the limit of who I'm interested in."

Jim smiled as Claire pulled out her own phone. "You and Toby too, huh?"

She smiled, a slight blush on her cheeks. Rather than answer she dialed her friend.

"Do you mind if I listen in too?" Jim asked as the phone rang. Claire nodded and switched the call to speaker phone.

"Hello Claire-bear!" Darci's voice sang as she answered.

"Hey, Darci! I-" before Claire could say another word, Toby's voice came through the phone. He was talking so fast and so loud that Jim had to put his hand over the phone to keep him from waking the trolls.

They couldn't tell exactly what he was saying considering Toby didn't seem to pause for even a breath, but as close as they could tell Toby apologized up and down for "ruining things" and was terrified that Jim had been hurt or had disappeared. When Jim was on the edge of shouting over Toby, even knowing it would wake all the trolls they heard the sound of someone wrestling the phone away from him.

Darci's voice came back this time slightly echoey. "Claire? You're on speaker phone."

"So are you Darci. Jim and I are here."

"Oh thank god!" Toby sounded like he wanted to ramp up into another apologetic ramble but his was voice was suddenly muffled. Jim assumed Darci had covered his mouth.

"Let them speak or you'll never get your answer." Darci said to her boyfriend. "Go ahead Claire."

"Before I say anything else I want to make sure. Darci did you know Toby was wanting to open up your relationship?"

"Yes I knew. We've been talking about it for the past week. So if you two need more time you can call us again later."

"Jim and I will have our conversation about boundaries and expectations later, our decision is already made." Claire paused and looked at Jim. He smiled at her and she smiled right back. He could see her nervousness disappear. "We've decided to open our relationship too."

"I'm so glad to hear you say that!" Jim thought he could hear a strange tone in Darci's voice, but it was a little lost in Toby cheering in the background. Jim glanced at Claire to see if she had noticed the gone. She was blushing scarlet, her face red all the way up to the roots of her hair. Jim smiled, so that's what that tone meant.

"I was wondering," Toby began. "Now, that's decided, if Jim and I could have some time for a call just the two of us?"

Jim blushed almost as hard as Claire had. Darci and Claire laughed.

"Darci, I'll call you sometime this week! Let's let the boys have their call!" Claire laughed and kissed Jim on his cheek. Then she whispered to him. "I'm going back to bed. Don't wake me again today unless it's an emergency. We can talk more tonight."

Jim barely heard Darci say her own farewells. He felt like his long ears were burning. Claire got up stretching and walked back to the barn.

"And don't eat my phone!" She called back softly over her shoulder.

Jim could hear Toby walking up his stairs and getting comfortable on his bed. So Jim also stretched out getting more comfortable in the shade of the silo. He wouldn't be able to talk long but be could still talk.

"That conversation went better than I expected." Toby said. Jim couldn't help but snort and laugh.

"Toby you rambled for minutes, then hung up without actually asking me out. I ate my phone. Then when my girlfriend calls yours you take the phone and go right back to rambling! And you still haven't actually asked me out!"

Toby gave a nervous laugh. "Well Jim Lake Jr. Would you like to go out with me?"

"Tobias Domzalski, I would love to!" They both fell to laughing.

When Toby could catch his breath again he asked, "Wait, did you say you ate your phone?"

They continued talking, long into the morning. Catching up on everything that had happened, and getting their feelings that had been hidden for far too long out into the open.

#jim lake jr #claire nunez #toby domzalski #Trollhunters #after the eternal night #Hammer sword and staff #long post #shit sorry #For some reason it won't let me add a read more

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cal--cunta · 5 years

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I’ll probably delete this app soon !! Goodbye tumblr !!

How you’ve served me in my early 20s

I was deleting pictures on my Instagram and found these two from when I was 24. That was probably the LOWEST point in my life, right before several rehab stints. I’d stopped eating and carried around 40s of vodka in my purse. Yes I know I’ve always had “issues” with drinking and over drinking but at 24 I was a full blown alcoholic my health started deteriorating and I was told I needed to detox.

Lookig at those first two pictures — makes my heart so sad. For so many damn years I spent miserable with myself. I was my worst enemy and I chose stay stuck and Feed into my bad horrible life threatening coping mechanisms.

Those pictures I see emptiness. I was empty I was a shell. I was a nobody and I was ok with dying any day. I didn’t experience joy. I was buzzed 24/7 or horribly hungover

I spent 3 years after rehab on/off sober. Contemplating if I was an “alcoholic”. When I started to get my life together I thought why can’t I drink ! I definitely won’t abuse it anymore. I only abused it because I was SO depressed. Like my eating disorder behaviour.

I finally “got sober” April 29 2018. For me that means no alcoholic no drugs. I’ve stopped wondering if I can entertain it for a bit. Because I probably CAN handle myself IN THE BEGINNING. And I know what I get myself into and it doesn’t stay casual for me. For me being in recovery means I NEED to be free of mind or mood alternating substances. I need to be in the moment and live. After years of wishing I could drink “normally” while I was sober (and then relapsed), I’m finally in a place where I don’t wonder what if!!! I don’t miss it or feel left out. I have no issues with people around me drinking. I’ve conquered so many personal fears. It’s almost unbelievable to myself

I don’t attend AA. I never vibed with it and that’s okay. What I attribute so much of my sobriety to is me discovering spinning. I found a workout I loved. And it taught me so much about my body, pushing your boundaries, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, conquering fears, being consistent !! Being accountable! I’ve workout out every day for months now and my favourite part of my day is my 6am spin class before work. It’s a total lifestyle change that’s given me so much confidence and helped me overcome so many prior body and eating disorder behaviours. Everything in balance and moderation ! I eat a lot more. I don’t count calories. I eat what I want. I make good meals. I cook !!!

So I’m almost 29 and I feel like I’m getting a second chance at life. I went for an audition at my spin studio the other day for a spin isntudtor. I didn’t make it to the third round of auditions and that’s ok. There was a 10 year time period when I thought the only way I could get out my comfort Zone and push myself was if I was loaded.

I feel and look better than I ever have. And I’m just so fucking grateful for where I am, what I’ve been through, my past, my present, and optimistic that I have a future.

🖤🖤🖤🖤

#personal #recovery #sober #sobriety #working out

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foxydivaxx · 5 years

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Bad Blood Chapter 1

Originally, this was meant to be connected to Young Justice: Demigods Arising but I have decided to tweak it a bit and make it the true Demigods Arising story of sorts. This is connected to the Osiris fic and whilst it is kinda Cassie-centric, it also focuses on other characters too.

"Any news about Cassie?"

"Nah. No one has found her yet."

Tim sighs. It has been a month since Cassie disappeared after her humiliating defeat to Vanessa for the Wonder Girl title. Part of her regrets that decision to have said duel take place. She made that decision not considering what Cassie was going through then. The poor girl lost her then boyfriend Conner Kent and later got dumped by him. Sure, Conner returned but their relationship soon turned toxic to the point where the two engaged in a physical altercation in the School Hall that caused Cassie to get suspended for two weeks. As a result of this, Diana decided to punish her not taking into consideration Cassie’s physical and mental exhaustion at that point. According to Tatiana, Cassie overtrained herself and that led to Cassie’s humiliating defeat.

And now it is too late, Cassie has gone and would never return and if she ever returns, the girl would have joined the Dark Side which should not surprise anyone given her heritage and the negative influence of people like Ares. As if that wasn't bad enough, Cassie's younger twin sister Tatiana also followed suit.

Adding more to the Cassie mystery is that she immediately deleted all her social media accounts on the same day as her defeat. That alone alarmed everyone as it is a well-known fact that Cassie loved taking selfies and playing around on social media and often talks to fans on there. But now that her presence is no longer felt, many began to panic, feeling that the poor girl might have committed suicide. This naturally led to the #JusticeForCassie campaign and #WonderWomanCancelled movement.

Please let Cassie not be dead.

Meanwhile in her room, Barbara was going through some files that she managed to dig up about HIVE case. So far she had managed to find some leads. Heck she can even say that she is far more competent and smarter than the entire Team as they are all a bunch of little kids. What was Batman thinking of putting little kids on a superhero team? Ok they are young kids, but they still could qualify for a wannabe superhero team since they all wear stupid outlandish costumes and use silly codenames, themselves and the so-called adults that call themselves Justice League. Seriously, what the fuck is that fucked up shit? Worst of the bunch as far as she is concerned is none other than Wonder Woman's little sidekick Cassie Sandsmark better known as Wonder Girl.

That girl is such a tragic trainwreck and a bitch. What did Tim and Conner ever see in her? What really pisses her off about the brat is that the girl reminds her of the stupid alien that Dick dated years ago. What was her name again? Oh yes Starfire. More like Hofire. Both of them are disgustingly beautiful. Starfire is a bit better because at least she can kick some ass. Cassie is completely useless that one forgets that she is supposed to be a fucking demigoddess yet someone like Damian can whoop her ass. She should even be able to go toe to toe with Supergirl and give her a nasty beatdown but nope, she gets her ass handed to her. Plus she dared to steal her Dickie from her.

Where did Diana find this child again? Oh yes, Diana did not find her instead the child fucking inserted herself into the Wonder Woman narrative just like Damian forced his way into the Robin title and never once earned nor deserved a single shit till recently. When will those brats learn? No wonder some people wished for Vanessa to take over as Wonder Girl. Ironically said girl is now Wonder Girl now how hilarious.

And alas, poor Cassie has disappeared and is nowhere to be seen. Well GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE! Barbara cackles evilly as she still plays around on her system.

Meanwhile at Gateway city, Tatiana was in her room with tears in her eyes whilst Donna comforts her. Cassie disappeared immediately after that defeat. One could understand why because that sort of defeat is very humiliating especially when the very girl that caused most of the unneeded drama in your life is responsible for it.

Making matters worse is the fact that many thought that Cassie was an irresponsible person and therefore unworthy to be Wonder Girl. This has been an ongoing debate for the past couple years. Sure Cassie has a temper but she can actually control said temper for the most part. The only reason that said rage has become more pronounced is as a result of Ares’ evil manipulation of his sister; something Diana and Zeus himself warned Cassie about.

Cassie naturally took the bait since she had lost her powers during that time, not like anyone could blame her. Still the fact that many people bashed her for this, Diana included was horrible. Now after years of hypocrisy on the side of the heroes, no one should be surprised if Cassie suddenly and openly denounces them and exposes all their secrets or even goes all Superboy Prime on them or worse commit suicide.

Donna sighed. Sure Cassie has some shortcomings but Diana herself is a hypocrite, in fact everyone has been hypocritical when it comes to Cassie. A lot of the criticism being leveled upon the girl might as well be applied to other heroes as well like Conner or Tim for instance.

Ironically said hypocrisy has been thrown at Amon aka Osiris several times which is why said boy has distanced himself from the superhero community recently. Black Adam openly lambasted the League and everyone else for that and rightfully so.

I hope you find happiness and peace Cassie.

Just then Donna’s phone rings. She checks the phone and discovers that it is Kori calling her. She then answers the call. “Hi Kori.”

“Donna....you have to come down here quick!!”

A couple miles in New York, Cassie is standing on top of a rooftop, preparing to throw herself down and commit suicide. Now one would find it laughable since she is meant to be a demigoddess, until they realize one disturbing detailing: Cassie lost her powers yet again during the duel and has remained powerless ever since.

The rest of the Team bursts through the door. “CASSIE DON’T!!” Conner shouts. Cassie turns around with tears in her eyes. The others begin to feel guilty for making her feel that way.

“There is nothing left for me here. You have all made it clear that I do not belong here. So why waste my time when I can just elsewhere and find peace. Heck even Hell is more peaceful than here. I cannot stay with the gods because of they are going through their own drama and are killing each other anyway.”

She takes a couple steps back. “Cassie I understand why you are mad at us and you have every right to hate us. But I want you to know that there are people that still love you regardless.” Kori says in the most gentle way possible.

It was at that moment that Cassie literally explodes. “LIES!! PURE UTTER LIES!! IF YOU ALL REALLY CARED, YOU WOULD HAVE ALLOWED ME TO PROPERLY EXPLAINED MYSELF!! YOU WOULD NOT HAVE ENCOURAGED TIM OR ANYONE TO BE ABUSIVE TO ME!!! YOU WOULD HAVE STOPPED BABS WHEN YOU SPREAD HER FILTHY GOSSIP ABOUT ME AND ALL OF YOU JOINED IN TO SLUTSHAME ME FOR YOUR PLEASURE!! YOU ARE AS BAD AS THE MEDIA!! PURE UTTER HYPOCRITES WHO ONLY CARE ABOUT HOOTING THEIR HORNS!! NOW I CAN SEE WHY PEOPLE LIKE JASON TURNED THEIR BACKS ON HUMANITY AND CHOSE TO DO HARDCORE JUSTICE!! YOU MOTHERFUCKERS ARE NOT SO DIFFERENT FROM THE VERY FOOLS WE HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FROM YEARS!!”

Everyone keeps quiet. Cassie clearly had been waiting for this moment and she has now gotten an audience. “Oh and speaking of failures, how many times have we been supposedly, not I used supposedly in quotation marks here because that shows how stupid you all are, were ahead of the bad guys only for them to outsmart us and somehow win?”

Dick and Kaldur exchange looks. “You know, had it not been for my father, I would have rotted in jail. Oh and special shoutout to the Black Adam family, the only family that ever truly cared about me. Plus of course Donna and Tatiana. The rest of you can go fuck yourselves and leave me be!!” She turns her back to them and ignores them as she walks over to the edge.

“Cassie wait...”

She stops and turns around as Vanessa walks in. “Cassie, listen I know you are mad. If you want to lash out. Take it out on me.” she says calmly, hands raised. Before anyone could say anything, Cassie stomps towards her so-called rival and aims a punch at Vanessa who does nothing to stop her.

Fortunately for her, Cassie stops mid-punch and drops to her knees and begins to break down in tears. Vanessa bends down and hugs her predecessor. “Listen Cass. No matter what anyone else says, you will always be Wonder Girl. In fact you are way better than I am. I do not like the great divide that Diana has created. There are other ways this could have been done.” she says. Cassie simply sobs, feeling very bad for lashing out.

“I...I’m so sorry...”

Vanessa smiles softly. “You do not have to apologise. We are both victims in this. Besides, I told Diana that I quit.” Cassie stares at her in disbelief. ”You did not have to.”

“Yet I did.”

Cassie shakes her head. “No. You remain Wonder Girl.” Cassie then smiles. “Besides, you earned it anyways.” Vanessa giggles and hugs her back. Everyone heaves a sigh of relief.

Osiris who had just arrived makes a slow descent next to them. “Cass, I understand you hate everyone and whatnot but if you throw yourself down there, chances are you might end up worse than Todd the moment they choose to bring you back from the dead. Or if you choose down a dark path now, you might end up the way Adam did years ago.”

The girl simply nods. “ I might as well go clear my mind of things for a while.”

He comes closer to her. “You know, you could have simply asked and I would gladly take you home with me so that you can get some breathing space since quite frankly, you need some of that.’ She rolls her eyes. “Fine. Let’s go.’ She wraps her arms around his neck with him wrapping his arms aorund her securely and together they fly away.

“Wait....that was it?“ says Garfield, earning a smack across the head from Raven. “Oww!!” he grumbles. Tim meanwhile stares up at the sky with jealousy in his eyes which is funny considering his relationship with Stephanie.

So she has choosen him hm? This whole shit was a setup to make that announcement.

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assistedsuicideargumentessay209 · 4 years

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Best Professional Resume Writers If they didn’t have families they'd push this even farther. Many mentioned having no e-mail or phone of their workspace. One purposefully used a “shitty old laptop computer” to avoid temptations like solitaire. The Writers Grotto is an affordable co-working area and inventive group in downtown San Francisco. We’ve been around for 25 years, and our more than a hundred members embody writers of all stripes. We are always looking for critical storytellers to hitch us within the work. The author waits until the stars align and the mind’s neurons fire in excellent synchrony. That isn’t going to occur daily, so writing turns into an exercise that solely happens typically, after which sometimes, after which not often, and then perhaps by no means. All these efforts helped him to build up clout within the industry. Moreover, Nicoletti reached out to writers inside their frequent spaces, like on social media, which helped him to higher communicate along with his viewers. As long as you have not written that article, that speech, that novel, it could still be good. Before you're taking to the keys, you are Proust and Oscar Wilde and George Orwell all rolled up into one delicious bundle. The Grotto fosters a literary culture that's generous in spirit and deeply inclusive, elevating writers of all backgrounds. Today’s top writers, too, know the agony of a clean screen, however like Twain and others, they’ve developed methods to maintain the phrases coming. Here are some of their best tips on getting over being stuck. If you’ve ever banged face-first into a severe bout of writer’s block, you’re not alone! Every writer from Aristotle to Shakespeare to Mark Twain has encountered the fear of the blank page from time to time. A few – like Twain – have offered some recommendation. Gay Talese rigged his house workplace so it could only be entered through a separate outdoors door. It ought to be noted, nonetheless, that the journal writers amongst our sample admitted to with the ability to write in almost any environment — a trait realized from crashing deadlines on the street. 1- If you sit down at your specified time and are drawing a clean, get a brand new document/piece of paper and freewrite. Write ANYTHING, even should you simply write “I do not know what to say” time and again. Eventually something will click on and you'll start to provide you with ideas which might be extra useful. You can all the time delete/throw out what you wrote later however you need to begin somewhere. Once on their own, it’s best for them to create accountability with different writers, arbitrary deadlines to maintain each other on task. Find ways to decrease the bar and simply mess with writing, instead of thinking of yourself as a author. Well, I stopped writing literary novels after my third novel was printed. I had a particular type of writer’s block, and the next literary novel, The Seventh Book of Wonders, took 18 years to put in writing. But I stored writing other forms of novels, across audiences and genres. Jon Krakauer additionally mentioned that his dream was to write down within the morning in an isolated cabin, after which spend the afternoon’s climbing. Nicoletti speaks to the benefit of understanding new concepts in a specific area before you enterprise out and try to find success. In his early days, he diligently worked to begin new blogs, circulating his best ideas and making an attempt out new interpretations of on-line coursework. (International Association of Professional Writers & Editors) over the previous couple of years and it’s a case where everything simply seems slightly too good to be true. While they have a very impressive and legit sounding name, I’ve discovered quite a few complaints about their scammy techniques. I too was shocked by how a lot consistency there is between totally different writers and their habits. I have came upon that when writing on some event it becomes compulsive to have to put in writing all that fills your mind on the time. It may take several hours to do this, towards the recommended 2,three hours. So set your time appropriately with adequate tolerance; there isn't a figuring out when you'll be on this frame of mind whereas writing. I am questioning particularly in regards to the scheduling aspects. A earlier boss advised me that a writer should anticipate to supply not more than 500 words of GOOD textual content per day — even though a author would possibly commit much more words to a page in a day. That helps a person estimate how a lot time is required to complete an task or story.

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steveramsdale · 4 years

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Money Saving Expert Blog 10.8

And so, the never-ending cycle begins again.

There was a binary choice for the title this week and I’ve gone with Money Saving Expert. But you’d seen that. You’ll see the other option soon.

On Saturday I went to Olay Bazaar first time for ageeees. I wanted a different walk. I also wanted to get a матрёшка for Freddie. That’s a Russian doll, in case you’re wondering. He likes the one we have at our house so I thought he might like his own. I also, on the way back, bought my first арбуз. That’s a water melon, in case you’re wondering. You know I love to have one in the fridge to chip away at once it gets properly hot here. I have no pool to cool off in.

Now to my title-inspiring double whammy. I used up my Le Bazar points and my Korzinka loyalty points in one weekend. Really. Le Bazar is the grocery delivery service we used a bit last year and I used a couple of times at the start of our lockdown. If they don’t have things you have ordered, the money gets credited on to your account for next time. I noticed that I had 60,000 so I decided I’d do a small order and use it. It worked. It is now clear. I also went to my nearest Korzinka, on the way back from an early walk to my favourite coffee shop. I didn’t buy much and offered my loyalty card to pay for my goods. Each time you shop, you get a percentage added to the card. This can be used as cash another time. I cleared that card as well, with a small amount to add to it to meet the balance. If only Martin Lewis could see me now.

I had to ‘sign in’ at ecopark - second time he didn’t want to know.

I went for a long walk on Sunday. It was unplanned. I ended up at the other supermarket but the park was closed so I had to walk back the long way. None of that was planned.

I saw several more kittens. They are everywhere.

Now we come to the second potential title.

The ‘funny things kids say’ this week features Freddie. My little Freddie. Due to the wonders of video calling I am not totally missing out on his development as a speaker. They (Keir, Emily and Fred) went and met Mairi in our garden this week and Mairi says his speech has come on a long way and he has lots to say.

One day, we were having a video call. Keir and Fred were sitting on Keir’s bed and Fred was near the edge. Keir put his arm around Fred’s midriff to make sure he didn’t fall but Freddie didn’t want to be restrained. So, the sentence that could have been the title was uttered. It was beautiful. I can’t decide wether to put it here or wait until the end of the anecdote. Wait, I think.

You could just ‘hear’ the micro-pause as he worked out how to finish the sentence he started. He was reviewing previous sentences - don’t hold my leg, don’t hold my hand, don’t hold my ear - they would all work, he knew there was a way to make it work. But he could not work it out. It was such a tiny, tiny pause. But I heard it. There was a word missing here, a word he could not locate or did not know. What was Daddy holding? What did he say, quite indignantly?

Don’t hold my me. Don’t hold my...me. The pause was not that long. It was lovely.

On Tuesday I drove to school. I think I told you last week that the road-trip is off. We are shipping the van. I am sorting paper work and packing. We were told we could go back into school so I wanted to go and collect all my personal stuff. I could not find my ID badge which had the cupboard key on. Did I mention that? I searched the flat at least three times and decided that I must have left it in the classroom when we all fled, screaming, weeks ago. Anyway, I went early on Tuesday and the badge was indeed there, the key protruding from the lock. It didn’t take long to collect my things and delete any saved passwords from my classroom PC. It could be the last time I go into the building. It might not be as we had an email saying we could go back in - so we were expected to go back in. I have requested that I be allowed to work from home. As horrible as it is being here alone all of the time, I think it is a risk I can’t take. There is nothing I can do in my classroom that I can’t do at home. I am fairly sure the students won’t be back in now.

As I left, I remembered when we drove away with Ben for the last time, two years ago. I remember that I thought I would be heart-broken if that were me. It was the same when Mairi left. I thought the same. This year, being here alone, and the way things have worked out, I will be happy to board a flight whenever that is. I think I will be sad later.

On Thursday (I think), a woman knocked at the door. She was begging. The main door downstairs is often left open, so I suppose she seized her chance. Of course I gave here some money. Later that day, I was taking my rubbish down to the bins. I may have mentioned before that there are people who sort through the rubbish collecting anything of value, especially plastic bottles. You see people on bikes carrying huge bags filled with plastic bottles. A couple were walking up the street with their collection from ‘my’ bin. They asked for the rubbish I was carrying and took it all. They also asked if I could spare some money. I could.

Later, I saw another student. This was a girl I taught in Y4 who is now in Y7. At first I thought it was her, then I thought it was a much older girl who looked like her, then I realised it was her. We had a little chat.

On morning, I took my empty cereal bowl back to the kitchen after eating. Later I discovered that I had Put this empty bowl in the fridge.

I started looking at jobs for next year. I even applied for two. If you are in the Chesterfield area and know of a suitable, part-time, job for a person with my unique skill set, please let me know.

On Thursday, Mairi came to my lesson. I know. We were finishing the book Holes, which she loves, so she came a read it with us and we discussed it and what the children might expect in Y7. It was fun.

I also met more colleagues accidentally on the street. I was out for an evening stroll and met Miss Viktoriya. She was waiting for Moss Marina so I waited with her. We had a chat. We had a quick video call with Mairi.

On Friday morning there were three (or four) police cars across the road, possibly investigating an incident at the new building. I say (or four) because there were three parked in a row. Then the front one was driven away. A little later, there were three again but it could have been the original front one back again but now at the back.

I talked in Russian on the phone to three different people I don’t know. Two are from a Russian/English language exchange group on Facebook. The third is a person dealing with my van shipment. She is based in Romania and we have been exchanging emails but she wanted to talk about some details. She is an good English speaker but also speaks Russian, as do many Romanians. It was good.

And that was/is my week. I hope you liked it as much as I did.

Which title would you have gone for? ‘Money saving expert’ or ‘Don’t hold my me’?

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mysticcamiluss · 6 years

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Another Ending - Chapter II

Summary: Madison grieves as if she was sure someone she loved just died, but still holds some hope in her chest. She's determined to continue.

~ ~ ~

MADISON

Christmas eve… Beginning of the last week of the year… These are days to celebrate and be happy around your family and friends… but It’s been almost seven months since we last heard of Isa.

Three days after we last communicated with her, both Isaiah and me began to get worried. We attempted to call her several times but her phone number, according to the telephone operator, doesn’t even exist and I’m completely sure she'd have informed us if she was about to change her number. We also tried sending her emails but apparently the email address that she used to use doesn’t exist neither. Her Twitter and Facebook accounts has been deleted as well.

We reported the case to the Police after a week but they informed us that her NID corresponds to a man that died twelve years ago (creepy, isn’t it?). They took us as crazy people and sent us back home with a warning of not bothering them with false reports.

My brother is devastated, he won’t even talk to me or eat anything, at least not while I’m present. I miss her too but him being her twin brother… I wonder how someone would feel after losing their other half. His always puffy red eyes make me want to cry as well, but I need to stay strong for him, that’s the less thing I can do.

There’s no way we are imagining the existence of Isabella. She IS real and it’s clear that there’s something fishy going on so right now so I’m finally convinced that travelling to the Capital in order to search clues around her sudden disappearance from the world is what I must do.

Maybe someone kidnapped her? Maybe she’s not even… No. That’s not an option, MC, focus. Unless I find her corpse, that will never be an option. If we were dealing with the first case scenario, what kind of kidnapper would erase even her birth certificate from the government information system? A Hacker? Why would a hacker be after my little sister? Millions of questions like these crossed my mind for months now, but nothing makes sense. Isa wa- Isa is one of the most trustworthy and kind persons I’ve ever known. She’s naive and would help anyone she considers in need, that’s why I had always told her to be more suspicious around others because, otherwise, she’d get hurt and... now that I think about it, my warnings meant shit: something bad did happen now and I don’t have a clue on how to proceed forward.

Why would some illegal association or a hacker or whatever be related to her?

I’ve been in need to get my thoughts straight. I need to take a break. I’ve been stressing out for so long, nearly able to sleep and, if I keep going like this, I won’t live enough to discover the truth (I feel like I’m already losing hair, to be honest).

I believe that shutting up my computer and going to take a coffee will be for the best and that’s what I’m going to do.

. . .

Before exiting the apartment where we both, Isaiah and me, live I took a shower where I let myself relax for a bit, letting the hot water plant soft kisses on my skin while the steam made its job in opening my pores. After that, I put on some clothes and dried my hair. I waved my brother as before going, but he didn’t even look at me.

Me being so lost in my own thoughts, again, I didn’t realise I already reached the coffee store I was looking for so I enter.

“Madi! How you’re doing?” My best friend, Michael, greets me. He has been working in this café, which belongs to his mother, for almost five years and it’s always comforting hearing his voice. “How’s your research, MC? Any news around princess ?” Since we’re childhood friends, he knows my sister as well as I know her; I bet he remembers when we played together as kids: in Halloween, the twins would be the serial candy collectors from the whole neighborhood, always wearing matching costumes that melted everyone's hearts, and we were the mafia that ended up eating everything and end getting sick the following morning because of all the candy we’d get.

He has been by my side in my darkest days and helped me out whenever I needed anything: a hug, a shoulder to cry, a house where to stay and his family even lended me money when our uncle kicked my siblings and me out a couple of years ago.

I hadn’t noticed till now that tears are wetting my face and that Michael was looking me as if he was asking me if it was ok to embrace me… These are the tears I’ve been repressing, that I can’t show anyone else other than him since I can’t even try hiding my emotions around Michael, he knows me better than myself and I’m genuinely glad he does, I’m so lucky to have someone like him...

“MC?”

“Don’t worry, Michael, I’m fine. And no, I still have no clues around Isa but I’m thinking of going to the Capital soon, maybe if I check her department…”

“Then I’ll go with ya, girl.” He’s smiling now but I can notice that his really worried. He doesn’t want me to go alone to a place where someone disappeared, maybe he’s wondering if I’d have the same fate.

“I don’t know Michael… You see, It’s my si-”

“I know, but you’ll need help. ‘Two Players Mode’ is always better than ‘Single Player Mode’, we can search for clues together!” He interrupted me and finished his point and, even he’s right, I need to convince him that I can do it alone. As for the way he expressed He’s an informatics student as well, so silly jokes concerning games are natural when talking to him.

“I can take care of myself but thanks for your concern, buddy.” I fake a smile and he rolls his eyes. I can tell he’s not please with my resolution.

“Then hot chocolate or cappuccino?” As I said, he knows me well.

“cappuccino, with extra chocolate.”

“White chocolate or black chocolate?” I bet he know what I’ll answer… “Black chocolate it is.” Bingo!

“Hey… What time is it? I didn’t even bring my phone.” I notice it’s starting to get dark outside, and I don’t want to return late.

“Almost 8 p.m., we’re closing in a hour but you can stay as long as you want, honey. You can even spend the night here, you know? Tomorrow being Christmas day and that shit.” I roll my eyes. Can someone like me actually celebrate Christmas?

“I’m not in mood, Mich, but thanks for the offer anyways.” He hands me my cappuccino and I slowly drink it, enjoying the sweet flavor the chocolate adds to it. I see him flashing a little smile from the corner of my eye, probably glad I seemed to relax a bit.

I sweared, back then, that there was no way we could spend a worse Christmas.

This year I’ve proved myself wrong.

Atleast back then we could held each other.

#mysticmessenger #saeran choi #mysme saeran #mm saeran #saeran x reader #OC #saeyoung choi #mm saeyoung #saeyoung x mc

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newstfionline · 6 years

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Trump’s Tweets Manage a Rare Feat: Uniting Britain, in Outrage

By Stephen Castle, NY Times, Nov. 30, 2017

LONDON--One member of Parliament called him a “fascist.” Another described him as “stupid.” A third wondered aloud whether President Trump was “racist, incompetent or unthinking--or all three.”

The stream of criticism that began after Mr. Trump shared anti-Muslim videos from a far-right British group on Wednesday morning turned into a gusher on Thursday, after he rebuked Prime Minister Theresa May in a nighttime tweet, telling her: “Don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom.”

Mr. Trump’s one-two punch managed to generate rare unanimity in a Britain that is deeply divided over the contentious process of leaving the European Union.

For one day at least, political rivals redirected the ire they normally aim at one another to focus on Mr. Trump.

Criticism came from ideological opposites like Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London and a Muslim with whom Mr. Trump has repeatedly feuded on Twitter, and Nigel Farage, the euroskeptic provocateur who traveled across the Atlantic to campaign for Mr. Trump last year. (“Put your hands up, say ‘I got this wrong,’ and, frankly, try to move on,” Mr. Farage advised Mr. Trump.)

Meeting in Parliament, lawmakers were unanimous in saying Mr. Trump, by giving a platform to the fringe group Britain First, had gone too far.

The chorus began after Stephen Doughty, a Labour lawmaker from Wales and the grandson of an American G.I. who came to Britain in 1944 to fight Germany, used a parliamentary maneuver to call an urgent debate on “Britain First, online hate speech and the sharing of inflammatory content online by the president of the United States, Donald Trump.”

The government minister present, Amber Rudd, the home secretary, made no attempt to defend Mr. Trump, though she observed that sharing intelligence with the Americans “has undoubtedly saved British lives.”

Members of the opposition Labour Party had been among the first to pounce on Mr. Trump’s tweets, but they were joined on Thursday by several members of Mrs. May’s Conservative Party.

One of them, Peter Bone, called on Mrs. May to persuade Mr. Trump to delete his Twitter account. Another, Tim Loughton, urged Twitter to take down Mr. Trump’s account “as it would that of any other citizen of the world who peddled such hate.”

A third Conservative lawmaker, Paul Masterton, lamented, “Just because somebody stops using Twitter, it does not mean that they cease to be a twit.”

Remarkably, a Parliament that in February debated whether to deny Mr. Trump a state visit because, among other reasons, it could embarrass Queen Elizabeth II, found itself taking on that question once again.

For Mrs. May, the episode has been simultaneously an embarrassment, a diplomatic setback and a lesson in just how hard it is to manage her relationship with Mr. Trump, a leader she has tried hard to cultivate.

Britons pride themselves on their “special relationship” with the United States and, this week, basked in the announcement of the engagement of Prince Harry to the American Meghan Markle.

But by the middle of the week Mr. Trump had knocked news of the royal wedding off the front pages, replacing it with a renewed discussion of whether a state visit to Britain should be scrapped.

Mr. Khan--the London mayor who was involved in a separate dispute with Mr. Trump after a terrorist attack in his city--suggested on Twitter that the president should not be invited for any official visit to Britain, let alone one with full pomp and ceremony.

And in the House of Commons, a Labour lawmaker, Paul Flynn, argued that Mr. Trump should be arrested for incitement to racial hatred if he set foot in Britain.

Criticism swelled well beyond Parliament, encompassing figures such as the comedian John Cleese, and Brendan Cox, the husband of the Labour lawmaker, Jo Cox, who was murdered by a right-wing extremist last year.

In Britain, ministers sought to contain the diplomatic impact of the episode, emphasizing the importance of the close security and intelligence relationship between the two countries. Nevertheless, Britain’s ambassador in the United States, Kim Darroch, wrote on Twitter that he had raised concerns with the White House.

The controversy followed Mrs. May to Jordan. On an official visit there, she sought to thread the needle, criticizing Mr. Trump but maintaining that his state visit would go ahead.

“I am very clear that retweeting from Britain First was the wrong thing to do,” she said at a news conference, adding: “The invitation for a state visit has been extended, and has been accepted. We have yet to set a date.”

On Thursday evening, a White House official said that no visit to Britain was “currently on the books,” but added that American officials were working with their British counterparts to arrange one.

That invitation to Mr. Trump was unusual in that it was extended soon after his inauguration. A state visit is an honor normally offered much later in a presidency. More than 1.8 million people signed a petition against a visit, and opponents promised protests if one were to take place.

Even before the latest uproar, there was speculation that the state visit was being pushed into the long grass. Instead, it was said, Mr. Trump was likely to make a brief, less formal visit, perhaps to coincide with the opening of the new United States Embassy building in London. Even this may now be threatened.

For Mrs. May, whose government has suffered two recent cabinet resignations, the dispute is another unexpected headache. She has to manage the anger provoked by Mr. Trump at home, including that expressed by a Muslim member of her own cabinet, Sajid Javid, who tweeted a strong condemnation on Wednesday of Mr. Trump’s decision to share the videos.

Yet with Britain scheduled to quit the European Union in 2019, Mrs. May is hoping to strike an early trade deal with Washington to compensate for a probable reduction in British access to markets in continental Europe.

The position Mrs. May finds herself in with Mr. Trump, while uncomfortable, is not unfamiliar. When Tony Blair was prime minister, he discovered that tying his fortunes too closely to those of a conservative American president could be costly. His relationship with George W. Bush, and his decision to support the invasion of Iraq, effectively wrecked Mr. Blair’s political reputation in Britain.

On many issues, Mrs. May has found Mr. Trump an awkward counterpart, and discovered that her government is much closer to the European Union’s positions than to those of the United States on a range of foreign policy questions, particularly on climate change and relations with Iran.

In contrast, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has managed to keep a distance from the United States on policy issues while also hosting Mr. Trump on a successful visit to Paris.

#Trump #Donald Trump tweets #US foreign policy #Britain

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