#child 2 reminds how false the sweet attitude can be

[bolontiku]

Work things *siiiiiigh*

Long work shenanigans under cut

Gavin (work child #1) arrives, 5 minutes later... "Hey baker! Tell me if I am wrong, but I would rather suck man dick -"

Me "you are super pretty and I'm fairly certain you could make a lot of money sucking dick... be it man or otherwise."

"BAKeeeEEerrRrr!!"

"Right... right, just saying but go on..."

He sighs, "so... man dick or hairy pussy?"

Me blinking at him, "I'm old school, not like you youngins, I am from the old world where we wooed our women by singing soulful songs whilst splashing in the rain, hairy pussy is for no fool and I would still eat it."

He considers me a second "dick or... gross pussy?"

"Hobo gross? Yeah no, definitely dick, but grow up and learn that hairy pussy is still good you won't be pretty for the rest of your life" (tbh he's really pretty and likely to only grow prettier unless somebody throws acid or something insane like that)

Sebastian (work child #2) chatting with another coworker "yeah so we-"

Aggie, "Wait, this the same girl?"

Sebastian "naah, I broke up with the other one last month, this is the new gf, yeah, no BRO imma dawg!"

Me sighing heavily as I scrub my focaccia rings, she laughs "baker do you hear this?!

I shake my head as he visibly panics, "my work children out here being such HOES! My poor Victorian heart cannot take it, I feel faint, fetch me my fainting seat! I am disappointed and distraught!"

"Wait... Baker! I- we... were were only dating! It wasn't a real relationship- AND I broke up with her, like really! I didnt ghost her or anything! I did it to her face!"

Aggie laughing as he hurries over to me by the sink. I contain my chuckle, "so, you were a man about it?"

"Yes! TOTALLY! Like you said, I didn't just disappear! I promise!"

Me smil8ng "that's what DATING is, a time period to figure out whether you like the person to the point that you decide that you want to commit, and that's when it turns into a relationship. But that includes the commitment thing- which is gross, be a hoe."

He laughs.

Back to Gavin, he comes up as I'm speaking to a manager, "Baker, how do you tell your gf her mom is like... super hot?"

Me- 😮 manager 🤣🤣🤣

"Well the thing is- we did our workout and she tells me that her mom made us food and I like food-"

Me nodding "understandable"

"Then I walk into her home and her mom is cooking at the stove in like this nightgow thing! And my floor hit the fucking ground cause she is so hot! Like... RIDICULOUSLY HOT, not that my gf ISNT pretty, but her mom is so-"

Manager "waaaaiiiiiit! How old is her mom?!"

Gavin "not sure but she falls in my age range, which is like, 20yo to-" eyeballs the manager "...50...ish"

She laughs and I fistpump the air "I STILL FALL IN YOUR AGE RANGE IN MOT TOO OLD!!!" manager laughs as he smiles at me and nods "but your still too young for me and I'm so old my bones creak, but your valid for wanting the older chick bud, older women pull shit out of the hat that you never knew could be done and they just smirk at you after it's all done"

He nods enthusiastically, "spitting straight facts and I am legal now, 18 is legal"

Manager laughing"oh my gawd! You two are too much!"

Me dying as he stares at me and shoves him over "your legal enough to get in trouble for crimes and arson! Not old enough to drink asshat!" He cackles

Both boys "baker you're so cool"

Me 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ I'm too old for this shit. They gonna kill me hahaha

#chaos journal #tiku at work #my work boys #child 1 #child 2 #child reminds me of my godson in his little cocky attitude #child 2 reminds how false the sweet attitude can be #a bakers life for me

[ehlnofay]

tagged by @wispstalk to list five songs that remind me of my characters. this is a query that is perfect for me and also cruel and spiteful, because I have so many songs for all of my characters, complete with detailed analysis of which elements of their story the song is about and a video that plays in my head while I listen. the process of narrowing it down to five is the most harrowing thing I’ve experienced in all my life. and in the end the selection was not perfect. (there are other songs and bands I would have liked to include. alas.) in any case:

1. Metaphor by The Crane Wives

if arabella had a theme song, this would be it. the whole air of it is so perfect for her, the relationship it describes to language and communicating with people in general... it’s so. ugh. she DOES cut her teeth on secondhand sentiments. all these words ARE sweet and meaningless. you CAN’T trust a single thing she says!!

2. Second Child, Restless Child by The Oh Hellos

I love the oh hellos but it is not common for their music to make me think of my fictional medias; I am not sure why. this song however is the exception because it makes me think SO fully and completely of efri. so very and utterly. like she is restless and in my head her nickname is a nordic word alluding to being a younger child. it’s right there in the title before you even get to the lyrics about running far from all you’ve ever known. besides the song is the same age as her, which is neat, and also every time I listen to it I can see her dancing in my head. (she’s not a very good dancer, but she is enthusiastic!)

3: Dlora Yelps by Don’t

the music that reminds me of caelestis is unusually varied, which is very fun and also made picking one of zir songs very difficult. I chose this one because it was a musical niche that I didn’t have elsewhere on the list. this one to me is about caelestis and nerevar and the interplay between them; the dynamic between a guy and his maybe-partially-probably reincarnation is bound to be a weird one, metaphysically and emotionally, so that’s very interesting to me, and how ELSE am I supposed to interpret “I’m born once more / watered by the dewy dawns / and ankle deep in coupled thought”?

4: Secret Worlds by The Amazing Devil

there’s a number of TAD songs that make me think of pax, but this one has got to be the strongest. (martin’s there too, in the conversation of this song, and in the mind video. as a treat.) it so powerfully makes me think of them and their attitude to their role, and eventually the gorgeous way it all crashed and burned, that I incorporated it into an artwork I did some time ago (and have loose plans on doing it again.)

5: Ask Me Anything by S.J. Tucker

this isn’t technically my character... but, yes, it is. this song reminds me of my reimagining of sheogorath and how it relates to people to such a ludicrous extent that it in some small part inspired my short story Comfort. (the idea for that story lurked in my head for months, with several false starts playing around with different angles, before one day I was walking home listening to that song and it captured the sense of sheogorath’s attitude to its most favouritest random people so well that I started drafting stuff as soon as I got to my laptop. I get a lot of my story ideas listening to songs that make me think of them. it’s a delight.)

#thank youu for tagging me #it was fun to answer and I was practically WAITING for an excuse to ramble about htis stuff #I could have gone into a line-by-line breakdown of how and why these songs relate to these characters so be grateful I only went this far!!! #still might do that sometime tbh #I remain devastated that I couldn't list every single song ever to make me think of any of them #now no-one knows the lyricless banger that makes me think of caelestis in the clockwork city #or the one that is about arabella in one very specific point in her narrative #or the one that is about how sheogorath's besties regard it as opposed to how it regards them #or ANY songs for torr or the dragonborn! pain and misery and tormernt for ever and ever and ever #maybe I'll make playlists for them sometime... although I only ever see people making those on spotify #and I refuse to use that site out of spite #I've gone this long without it. no way am I caving now #anyway

[cherryplasmids]

☆ the lives you’ve left behind ☆

pairing: donny donowitz x reader

fandom: inglourious basterds—post-movie sequence

anon request: hi girl! i love your writing and i was wondering if you still write for donny donowitz? if you do i was wondering if you could do an angsty one? that's all i ask, you could take that and run with it however :)

notes: the reader has a kid  — aldo is referred to the reader’s child as ‘uncle’ but that doesn’t mean they are actually related. also, aldo is married to a girl name jenny

— the child is a boy named Alex for filler purposes

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"That's your daddy," You whisper, pulling the tiny bundle of joy closer to your chest. 

The infant, swaddled in a pale yellow blanket decorated with small brown bears, yawns but does not take notice of your words. Instead, Alex twists, stretches his arms out and settles back onto your chest. Without a care in the world, he just relaxes in the warmth that you've given him. An inkling of envy flashes through you—you would do anything to be that carefree again. But the war ruined everything, including your unbridled youthful attitude. 

"Handsome, isn't he?" You question as if the little one will respond. You'd be more scared than anything if he does. You wave the 4x6 photo forward to entice your baby to look. "The most handsome man I've ever seen. Everyone thinks so too, even your uncle Aldo but he won't admit to that.

"But don't worry, baby. You'll be just as handsome and charming as your old man was." 

As if he understands, the boy babbles happily, spit freely spilling over his lips and onto his cheeks. Grabbing a Kleenex from the bedside table, you wipe his face. It doesn't deter him. He continues to express his enjoyment through spit bubbles and random giggling. Your heart swells at the sight—his happiness contagious enough to erase your woes for the night. 

When the sun rises, you'll tell Aldo all about the affection your newborn has been showing. He'll run down the street to coddle his nephew. 

You don't continue until your baby boy calms down enough to the point where spit no longer seeps out of his mouth. By then, sleepiness is taking hold of him. He gives out a deep yawn. One of his tiny hands grips your right thumb while the other curls into a fist and rubs his eyes. A smile quirks at your lips. You take that as a sign to turn in. 

“I’ll tell you about your daddy’s love for baseball tomorrow okay? I’ll even show you his prized baseball cards. but you can’t tell him or he’ll have my head.”

He’s knocked out by the time you lay him down. You pray he’ll sleep through the night, allowing you to earn to some much-needed shut-eye he’s deprived you of for months. After tucking him in, you tuck the photo of Donny under his pillow. You press a gentle kiss on his forehead, whisper a few sweet words to him, and then glide out of the room, leaving the door ajar in case he wails for your attention. You make do with this system until Jenny, Aldo's wife, takes you shopping for a baby monitor. She knows a lot more about baby care than you do.

Sleepiness is taking you hostage too with a yawn escaping your lips every 1-2 minutes but you had housework to complete before the morning arrives. Mostly just clearing out boxes of gifts the Donowitz family had sent from Boston. Some of them were open, others weren’t. Gifts like a microwave or other kitchenware were left in their respective box. You’ll deal with those on a later date. 

There’s one box, though, that remains sealed. You inspect the plain cardboard container and see a word written across one side in neat cursive. But it isn’t the penmanship that has you gasping and dropping the box in shock.

No, it’s the word 'Donny' labeled across the surface that does.

It takes a moment or two for you to shake off the shock and another to get down to the ground. Sitting cross-legged, you stare at the box as if something will pop out and yell “surprise”—a harmful prank that will send you wailing for something you no longer had.

The knife seamlessly glides across the tape and you wonder when you reached for a knife in the first place. Your body is moving on its own accord without a thought concerning your mental wellbeing. While your heart thuds painfully against your ribcage, your hands steadily tear open the cardboard overlaps. 

Taking a deep breath, you open the flaps and find a single sheet of paper covering the rest of the objects. It reads “for my darling daughter, with much love.” It’s signed “Mama Donowitz”.

Underneath the letter reveals a boatload of miscellaneous items from Donny's youth that he's shown to you with pride. His prized Lefty Grove signed baseball, favorite Wrigley's chewing gum, and his worn and torn favorite baseball glove stood out the most. Little things like that made you grin to the point where your cheeks reached your eyes. Anecdotes of Donny's childhood run through your mind—his voice echoing pure excitement. You take your time admiring each item, trying to permanently engrave them into your memory just like you had with his stories. 

Then you find Donny's baby socks, embroidered with his name in red string.  All resolve you bottled up for months disappeared instantly. You completely crumble.

You press the little socks to your chest as tears freely stream down your face and onto your neck, coating the bare skin with liquid. A wail bubbles up within you, crawling up your throat at a steady pace. But when you open your mouth to scream, nothing comes out. It dies in your throat. The only effort you can commit to is to rock back in forth, allowing sobs to shake your body. If someone saw you, they might have thought you were convulsing. They might have even called the ambulance. 

The sobs don’t stop until hours later. By the time your heart calms down from its burning thrum, exhaustion envelops you. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

           Aldo kicks some dirt on the side of the road while lighting up a Chesterfield. It doesn't take long for him to reach your house since it's down the road. He checks his wristwatch before knocking on the front door. He has about 45 minutes to meet Jenny at the factory. He'll spend 15 minutes here for coffee before leaving. You always made better coffee than his wife. 

After some knocking and no response, Aldo takes it upon himself to check through the windows. Most of them are covered by curtains but the window facing the breakfast table isn't. He peers through, searching for you and his nephew wrapped in your arms. 

Instead, he finds you on the floor with no baby in sight. 

Aldo runs to the back door and searches for the hidden key. Besides the backdoor, he digs under the false rock where he remembered he put. It’s gone. The Chesterfield falls into the hole. He crushes it out and fixes the dirt on top. As an act of impulse, he stands up, goes to the backdoor, and punches out the small window panels on the door. The glass breaks easily and shards pierce his hand just as smoothly. Just glancing at it, he can tell his flesh is free from any lingering shards. A clean slice on his wrist bleeds moderately. 

He reaches on the opposite side of the door and tugs at the locks. Not a second later, the door slams open, and you shoot up in an upright position. 

Immediately, a fury of questions spews out of Aldo's lips, blending together and becoming unintelligible to your groggy brain. 

"Is it morning already? I swear I took a five-minute na—" You see Aldo's bleeding hand and gasp, reaching out to inspect his wound. Your current position on the floor completely escaping you for a moment. Aldo lets you worry for right now. 

You drag him up to the sink and run his hand over the open water. "Will I be alright, doc?" His odd accent leaves a few letters out. It reminds you of someone you try not to think about. "Ain't seen such a wound since the war."

Briefly glancing at him, he throws a wink and you gratefully smile. "You're the bane of my existence." You take his hand out of the water to wrap it in a big Band-Aid. It has crude miniature drawings of Mickey Mouse that make Aldo question them. "Just in case either your kids or mine get hurt, they'll immediately cheer up at seeing Mickey. Band-Aid should really invest in designing their product. Who knows how much money they could make?"

Aldo agrees as you finish. "You'll see another day, lieutenant"

He crookedly grins at you and thanks you for your service. You offer him some coffee which he enthusiastically agrees too. He checks his watch as he sits down at the breakfast table. Jenny will have his head if he's late. But he doesn't worry too much about that. She'll understand once he explains what happened. 

"Mind tellin’ me why I caught a heart attack on this fine Thursday mornin’? Findin’ you sprawled out like freshly ran over roadkill?"

"Disgusting, Aldo." You say while passing him his mug of coffee. You turn around to fix yourself a toasted bagel with cream cheese. "I guess I was so tired last night that I fell asleep sorting out the gifts." You lazily wave your hand at the unsorted boxes on the floor. 

Aldo walks over to the opened box in the middle of the kitchen and grabs the socks you dropped hours ago. He looks them over and notices a letter embroidered on the top. 'D' in red thread. 

"Those are Donny's." You confirm. Aldo meets your glazed gaze. 

Aldo sucks in a quick breath. It finally clicks in his head. Jenny will understand. 

“Darlin—" You look up at him with such a depressed expression that immediately shuts him up. All he does is gather you in his arms and rests his chin on your head.

 He hears you mumble something about how small Donny's feet were before you silently cry into his chest. 

After a few seconds, Aldo's cheeks become wet with his own tears as he mourns over not only his friend but the lives he left behind. 

────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──────

word count: 1,661 published: august 21, 2020  edited: n/a

#donny #donny x reader #Donny Donowitz #sgt donny donowitz #donny donowitz fanfiction #donny donowitz x reader #donny donowitz imagine #inglorious basterds #inglourious basterds x reader #inglourious basterds imagine #inglourious basterds fanfiction #x reader #imagines #eli roth #my writing #fanfiction #anon requests

[circe-poetica]

What is Spiritual Bypassing? (Definition)

To spiritually bypass is to use spirituality to avoid, suppress, or escape from uncomfortable issues in life.

These issues could be the loss of a loved one, a relationship breakup, family problems, childhood abuse, loneliness, low self-esteem, self-sabotaging behaviors, fear, mental or emotional health issues, or any other problems life presents.

To many people, spirituality becomes a sort of crutch used as a way of standing back up again in the face of life’s turmoil – and sometimes this is necessary. We all need support at some time or another in our lives. But the problem comes when spirituality is used as a drug for which we become dependent on in order to bypass the darker elements of our lives.

When spirituality is used as a defense mechanism to ward off the gremlins and demons of our existence, it actually becomes our greatest hindrance, preventing us from developing true courage, authenticity, and wholeness; qualities that refine our souls.

While the use of spirituality can provide us with a solid wall to hide behind, in doing so it traps us in an all-is-happy-and-perfect jail cell of illusions.

10 Types of Spiritual Bypassing

What gives light must endure burning.  – V. Frankl (Man’s Search For Meaning)

The reality is that not everything in life is ‘love and light’ as is the slogan for many spiritual seekers.

Pursuing the light and living enlightened and deeply interconnected existences is also about setting yourself on fire.

It is about creating an inferno of your false beliefs, illusions and separating desires, ideals, and prejudices. It is about surrendering to the destruction of every limiting thing you ever thought and felt about yourself, other people, and the world.

Spirituality is not always pretty. In fact, oftentimes it is the most shattering, tumultuous, and testing experience we can go through in life.

But only once we emerge from the embers of our destruction can we be reborn – like phoenixes – into new lives of clarity and purity.

The truth is that there are many types of spiritual bypassing that we sometimes don’t recognize (or refuse to recognize) in life. I have listed ten of the most common types below:

I)  The Optimistic Bypass

We’ve all come across people in life who love to laugh and smile, yet seem to be forcefully optimistic.  “Focus on the positive!” “See the glass as half full!” “Don’t let a frown get you down!” are some of the catchcries of these people who tend to use optimism as a way of avoiding the more somber and troublesome realities of life. The optimistic bypass is often a side product of anger-phobia, or the inability to deal with negative emotions.

II)  The Aggrandizement Bypass

This is a type of self-delusion that some spiritual seekers use as a way of masking their perceived deficiencies and insecurities. The aggrandizement bypass is adopted by those who seek to feel enlightened, superior or having reached higher planes of existence. It is sometimes used by self-proclaimed masters, leaders, awakened souls, and gurus.

III)  The Victim Bypass

When one becomes a victim of their gifts, or of other people, this takes away the pressure of responsibility for shaping a satisfying life and taking responsibility for one’s happiness – such is the case with the Victim Bypass. This type of spiritual bypass is often used by spiritual seekers who believe they have extrasensory gifts of some kind, but due to their gifts they are unable to feel happy or healthy. Identifying as an Empath is sometimes a good example of this type of bypassing, as it can be interpreted as the fault of other people and their emotions for behaving in self-destructive and volatile ways. Other labels, like being a clairvoyant, indigo child, starseed, gifted healer, and so on, can often fall into the Victim Bypass trap.

IV)  The Psychonaut Bypass

Many spiritual seekers explore the frontiers of the mind, the soul, and reality through the use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, DMT, psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline, and other entheogens that expand the mind and perception of existence. While this is a fascinating way of exploring reality, entheogens, like any other drug, can sometimes be used as a way of escaping reality and avoiding committing to personal development and soulful refinement.

V)  The Horoscope Bypass

When we frequently look outside of ourselves for help and guidance, as is with the case with Horoscopes and Psychics, we are failing to tap into our inner wellsprings of wisdom and strength and are allowing external predictions to control the outcome of our lives. The Horoscope Bypass is derived from fear and mistrust of ourselves, our inability to make decisions, and our inability to deal with anything tough that comes our way.

VI)  The Saint Bypass

As children, we were conditioned to believe that a “spiritual person” is always kind, compassionate, and saintly. In adulthood, we continue to repeat this story to ourselves, and sadly, it can cause us tremendous suffering. The Saint Bypass is a reflection of extreme “black or white” thinking, promoting the underlying belief that spiritual people can’t have dark sides because that would make them “unspiritual.” This type of bypass is essentially avoidance of one’s Shadow Self (dark side) by overcompensating with the guise of a sweet, heavenly, exterior. Self-sacrifice is a major symptom of this type of bypassing.

VII)  The Spirit Guide Bypass

In some spiritual traditions, it is a God who protects, in others an angel, an animal or an ascended being. No matter who the Spirit Guide is, the belief that they are there to “protect” us is pleasing to the mind but ultimately constricting to the soul. When we place our faith in another being’s power to ward off danger and keep us safe, we are committing a classic spiritual bypass: avoiding responsibility for ourselves and our lives and sidestepping the tough development of courage and resilience. We are not children, but when we think of ourselves as being so we mold our lives in such a way that we fail to develop strength of spiritual character. Spirit guides serve to teach us rather than to babysit us.

VIII)  The Prayer Bypass

Similar to the Spirit Guide Bypass, the Prayer Bypass circumvents personal responsibility by putting faith in a higher being to solve all of our problems and issues. While praying can be a healthy practice, it can easily become limiting and misguided.

IX)  The Guru Bypass

Often it is beneficial to follow a guru, shaman or spiritual teacher to learn and grow. However, becoming too attached to them can rapidly turn into another form of spiritual bypassing. The temptation to begin worshiping (knowingly or unknowingly) these teachers means that we eventually forget the purpose of listening to them: to integrate the essence of their teachings. By treating the words of a guru or master as the irrefutable truth and failing to think for ourselves, we are starved of true spiritual growth and transformation on our spiritual journeys.

X)  The Finger-Pointing Bypass

On our spiritual quests, we begin to see through the lies, delusions, and crazy behaviors committed by our fellow human beings and this can make us angry, downhearted, and frustrated. However, when we get caught up in “everything that is wrong” with the outside world and other people, dedicating our lives to the self-righteous quest of finger-pointing, this can be another form of spiritual bypassing. Finger-pointing instills us with a false sense of righteousness, taking away our responsibility of looking inside and working on ourselves. At its roots, the Finger-Pointing bypass is sourced from fear and avoidance and is a powerful form of procrastination.

Certainly, there are many other forms of spiritual bypassing, but here I present the most common ones that are easily observable in everyday life.

How to Stop Spiritual Bypassing

Without deep and honest self-acceptance, the spiritual life rests on a dangerous psychological foundation and is nothing more than escape into a world of illusion. Humble self-knowledge is the most basic condition for any true spirituality. – John Monbourquette

The spiritual bypass is slippery, conniving, and is often disguised in robes of light. It can take a lot of ruthless self-honesty to see through the lies we’ve been conditioned to believe or have told ourselves.

With that being said, here are some methods you might like to use:

1. Cultivate an open-minded attitude

Before uncovering any forms of spiritual bypassing that have wheedled their way into your life, you need to be open. You need to be willing to be wrong, misguided, or totally off the mark. Without that willingness, you’re fooling yourself. There’s no point in even trying to call yourself out because you’re shooting yourself in the feet before you even begin.

So cultivate an open-minded and willing attitude. Remind yourself that it’s okay to be imperfect (we all are!). Most spiritual seekers – in fact, I’d dare say ALL seekers – go wrong at some point. And that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Embrace your flawed humanity and take a step toward greater expansion.

2. Examine the light and dark side of what you do

There is a light and dark side to everything. Even if you struggle to find what’s wrong with the spiritual activities or commitments you’re dedicated to right now, create hypothetical scenarios. For example, if you follow a spiritual teacher that you love and adore, create a hypothetical scenario where that teacher betrays your trust or does something against your ethics. What then?

Ask questions such as, “What could go wrong here?” “What aren’t I seeing?” “What’s the other side of this?” “In the past, how has this hurt someone?” “What warnings do people give about this activity?” “Is this hurting me in some way?” “Is this harming others in some way?” “How is this making me weak or dependant?” “Is there an opportunity for me to be taken advantage of here?”

Listening to your doubt is intelligent. Blind faith creates sheep, not a self-sovereign wolf. Dare to look at both sides of life. Honor the yin and yang of existence. Embrace the energy of both Shiva (the destroyer) and Shakti (the creator).

3. Dare to face your cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance (CD) is a state of being where a person’s beliefs and behaviors do not align. CD also happens to people who hold two contradictory beliefs. The result is a sense of underlying uneasiness, anxiety, guilt, and like “something is not quite right.”

Those who carry a lot of cognitive dissonance tend to “explain away,” their behavior (or that of others) and live in denial. Facing the truth is too painful, so reality is avoided, and a false reality is created instead.

CD often happens to members of cults, but can also occur in the general spiritual community. For example, a person might experience CD when they follow the principle of compassionate non-harming but hit their children every time they get angry.

Other examples of CD include following a narcissistic spiritual teacher who says one thing and does the other, claiming to be a healer with special abilities but on some level knowing that it’s a pretense (and placebo), following a non-dual philosophy but being dogmatic about it, and so on.

Facing CD involves doing some shadow work and examining places and behaviors in your life that don’t add up. This is not about shaming yourself or being “more perfect,” but being honest and clearing away any self-delusion.

4. Ask others for their honest opinions

If you have any close friends or family members (who you have a healthy, respectful relationship with), talk to them about this topic. Ask them if they have noticed any spiritual bypassing tendencies within you. Brace yourself (and your ego) by taking a slow, soft, deep breath for their response. If at any point you feel overwhelmed with an emotion like anger or defensiveness, thank them and tell them that you need a minute or two to process what they’ve told you.

Feedback from other people (who genuinely care about our wellbeing) is invaluable. But make sure it’s from people you trust. Don’t go asking someone you have a complicated connection with to divulge your spiritual bypassing tendencies. Likely, they will use it as an opportunity to hurt you in a backhanded way. If you don’t have anyone you trust, you could try a spiritual counselor who is familiar with spiritual bypassing or even an online group of kindred spirits whom you trust.

5. Face and feel your pain

Why does spiritual bypassing occur? The answer is that it helps us to avoid facing painful emotions such as grief, shame, rage, hatred, and terror. Everyone wants to enjoy a sparkly spiritual high (that is ultimately short-lived) but no one wants to do the hard work of facing inner pain (that leads to longlasting joy, fulfillment, and peace).

Facing and feeling your pain is not simple. You will most likely require the help of a spiritual counselor or therapist – and ideally, they will be trauma-informed, as repressed pain stems from unresolved trauma.

This is not a fun prospect for most people, hence why they avoid this work and keep using spiritual bandaids. But the fact still remains: the pain needs to be dealt with sooner or later.

Shadow Work Journal: Go on a journey through the deepest and darkest corners of your psyche. Embrace your inner demons, uncover your hidden gifts, and reach the next level of your spiritual growth. This is deep and powerful work!

Practices that can help you face and feel your pain might include breathwork, bodywork (like yoga), meditation, mindfulness, journaling, art therapy, expressive dancing, catharsis, inner child work, and the list goes on.

***

To conclude, I’ll leave you with this beautiful spiritual bypassing quote by psychologist and author Elaine N. Aron:

Real redemption or enlightenment, as much as it can be achieved in this world, comes through hard work that does not skirt tough personal issues.

It can be a deeply unsettling, even terrifying experience to tear down the veneer of illusion from our lives and stare into the face of truth.

But the spiritual path is a process of destruction and purification. It requires you to set afire all hidden illusions and falsities so that life becomes clearer, deeper, expansive, liberating, and joyful.

https://lonerwolf.com/what-is-spiritual-bypassing

#lonerwolf #spiritual bypassing

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 15X18

I liked this episode better than the last one, but DeLuca and Owen still drove me nuts! I liked that this episode was more fast paced. The patients’ storylines were good and I really liked the side plots. The main plot though really sucked. One thing I didn't like about this week's episode is that it treated Meredith as a secondary character in her own story. She had few scenes and only propped other characters up. It happened in the previous episode as well. I don't understand this because we've only seen this technique used previously in standalone episodes, where it makes sense, but not in regular ones where it doesn't. It's not Karev or DeLuca's Anatomy. It's Grey’s Anatomy. The second half of Season 15 has gone off the rails!

Maggie introduces funky mood rooms as an alternative/complimentary approach to tradition medicine. It produces hilarious results. We learn DeLuca’s Dad has gone back to Italy. Him and Meredith appear to have temporarily broken up again. Ugh. We go through this EVERY episode! Can they just stay broken up?!?! There’s some Owen and Teddy and Tom awkwardness surrounding a birthing class. LOL! Gosh Tom makes Teddy so happy! I hope they make him a regular cast member next year! They can cut Owen or DeLuca or one of the interns. Just saying. And as soon as everyone leaves Teddy starts feeling intense pain! Oh no! She calls her baby Soldier! She gives it orders like a loving drill sergeant! I love it!

Meanwhile Alex can’t get a hold of Jo! He comes to talk to Meredith and it turns out Jo went to find her birth mother. Meredith is still knee deep in her research. Alex asks how DeLuca is. She changes the subject as usual. Very telling. Apparently DeLuca’s being weird (when is he not?) and he’s on Alex’s service today. Alex calls him The Italian! Haha! I love Alex! He’s so calling BS on this relationship while being supportive. That’s true friendship! Meredith says she’s giving DeLuca space because of the fallout from his Dad’s nonsense. Alex accuses her of hiding out with the plants.

Maggie and Amelia talk in the blue room. Amelia reveals she had some insanely good sex at the conference! And then Link walks in! And he accidentally reveals they slept together! Oh and it looks after the fire the hospital added a new sealable hallway to the helipad! It’s about time! Alex throws DeLuca a bone and gives him a chance to be the hero. DeLuca is ungrateful and a jerk. I hate this guy. They treat an 11 year old patient named Nora who is a math genius! She stumps Qadri and it’s hilarious! Her Mom is great too! Alex steps aside and let’s DeLuca get the hug from her Mom and the glory because he really is a good guy. Which makes how horribly DeLuca acts later so much worse. He’s so ungrateful!

There’s another Teddy and Parker scene. I like their dynamic. Tom and Owen are both at the birthing class. Owen gets Teddy’s page and doesn’t tell Tom. What an asshole! Teddy’s not in labour. Thank goodness! She has cervical insufficiency. Owen comes to see her. Meanwhile Amelia and Link have an awkward sexy talk about not telling people about their tryst. Amelia is hilarious! They agree to stay away from each other. That will last 10 minutes. Link is very sexy! He’s really growing on me. I wish Meredith could find someone just as good. Amelia and Link end up working on a mother who rolled her snowmobile. It’s a very difficult case.

Jackson, Helm, and Richard wind up working on the woman’s adult child who is gender queer non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. Richard finds using the pronouns difficult. I really like how this storyline was done. It felt very authentic and nuanced. Some good television here. Meanwhile Parker is quizzing Nora and Qadri. They find out Nora’s insulin level has shot up but they can’t figure it why. They have to postpone the surgery. Alex apologizes to DeLuca because the surgery’s been postponed. DeLuca says he should be sorry for Nora. He then throws a temper tantrum and asks if Meredith put Alex up to this. Jo used to do this all the time and it’s one of the reasons I came to dislike her character. It’s not a flattering look on anybody. DeLuca’s an idiot. He needs to grow up.

All he does is piss Alex off. Also DeLuca is lying. He hasn’t moved on and it shows up later. He should’ve taken a few days off work and seen a therapist. For a doctor he really can’t take care of himself. Meanwhile Amelia and Link find out their patient could end up a paraplegic and decide to work together. Qadri grabs Schmitt for back up! Numbers! Haha! Schmitt’s hilarious! Qadri, Schmitt, Bailey, and Maggie form a mathematical dream team and slo mo walk it to Nora’s room! Now back to Teddy. I love her line, “Insufficient is something I’ve never been called in my entire life!” I love her! Owen starts talking to Teddy’s stomach in a high pitched voice. It’s obnoxious. Teddy tells him to stop thank god! He starts talking instead in an animatronic sergeant voice. It’s hilarious and the only good thing he’s done all day.

Back at Nora’s room everyone’s being quizzed and she’s kicking their buts! Her mom thinks they’re being nice! She doesn’t know the half of it! Qadri accidentally finds a juice box Nora secretly drank. She’s sabotaging her surgery. Amelia and Link go see their patient. There’s a very emotional well-acted scene where they tell her she might be paralyzed from the neck down. Cut to the plant room. Alex tells Meredith that DeLuca’s being a jerk. She says it’s none of her business and that he has to work it out all by himself.

She talks about him like the child he is. Why is she dating him? DeLuca is then a jerk to Meredith. Again, why is she dating someone with the emotional capacity of a 2 year old? The team finds out that Nora sabotaged the surgery because she doesn’t want to go back to school because she has no friends and is being bullied. Been there. She likes being at the hospital because she has friends here. Nora refuses the surgery again and says it’s her body and her choice.

Alex and DeLuca talk with her mom outside. She’s upset that she didn’t know that she hated school and that she wasn’t friends with Lauren anymore. Alex gives her some sage advice. DeLuca rolls his eyes at her scared mom like an asshole. Then tells her she’s supposed to make her get the surgery today. That’s illegal. Unduly influencing a patient or their family is illegal. For good reason! To protect both sides from abuse. In real life DeLuca would be written up, possibly fired, and could lose his medical licence. This whole scene makes no sense.

Alex tells him to back off. He doesn’t. DeLuca says most kids hate school and get bullied at some point. Her mom counters and asks if she’s supposed to hold her down. DeLuca says yes impatiently. Alex corrects him and says no. All of DeLuca’s actions are immoral and illegal here. He is telling a scared mom to participate in the physical assault of her child who is a minor! This is so messed up! DeLuca’s a monster! He’s taking his own problems out on a mom and her scared kid! In real life he would be fired and possibly charged and sued and rightly so!

I hate him so much! Alex says it’s his patient and to back off. DeLuca then says he just wants her to not die. The mom angrily reminds him she’s not dying. Great now he’s delusional and an asshole and a monster. He tells that she’s in pain as if her mom doesn’t know that. He says she should make her get the help she needs. Which is illegal! It’s also clearly about his messed-up dad and not about Nora at all. He is beyond awful! Alex keeps a cool head and tells him he’s dismissed. He tells him to walk away or he’s fired. He should just fire him Vik Roy style. He’s a monster.

Qadri tells Alex that Nora’s glucose panel came back and it looks good. They can do the surgery if they can convince her. They find DeLuca talking to Nora after Alex specially removed him from the case. In real life that would be cause for dismissal or suspension. Alex tells Qadri he tried to help DeLuca out and now he has to fire him. I wish he would. He deserves it. When they arrive, he’s telling a story from his own childhood. He convinces her to get the surgery. It’s all very sweet but that doesn’t change the fact that he tried to convince her mom to participate in her own child’s assault.

Amelia and Link bond during surgery. Meanwhile Alex, Qadri, and Schmitt operate on Nora. We learn Qadri grew up in Utah. They all share stories of being bullied in school. Schmitt and Qadri are hilarious! Then DeLuca storms in. Alex reminds him that he’s not on this case. He tells him he’s the reason she consented to this surgery. Alex loudly reminds him that he talked to her and did that after he told him to stay away from her and that he meant what he said. He kicks him out of the OR as he should! Amelia and Link do great work, but their patient loses the signal in her limbs and she becomes paralyzed.

Back to Owen and Teddy. Owen is still talking to her stomach. Baby talk is actually bad for babies and children so I’m not sure why they’re pushing it. Teddy talks to her stomach and then freaks out that she’s a bad mom already. Owen comes and lies down next to her. One of the few nice things he’s done for her and his future child since she told him she was pregnant. God he’s such a jerk! Jackson, Helm, and Richard are in the OR. Richard is still struggling with the pronouns and tells a story about a mechanic that called him Ricky.

He fired him because he’s not a Ricky. Helm days that’s a false equivalent. Richard says he’s trying to understand and that he’s been called a lot worse than Ricky as a black surgeon at a time when there were very few. He says the world moves fast and he’s trying to keep up and adjust and their attitudes are not helping the process. He’s right. Jackson shares a story about a girlfriend he dumped because she called him Jacky. They share a laugh.

Back to Teddy and Owen. Owen says some nice things to Teddy and her stomach. And then Tom walks in. Tom calls the baby to be peanut! Awww! He calls Owen out for not updating him. Teddy says she didn’t want to worry anymore people then she needed to. Tom says he’s glad to be here. Then steps outside to talk to Owen. He asks Owen if Teddy had actually been in labour if he would have told him. Then Tom spills ALL the tea!!!!! He tells Owen he knows he doesn’t like him and he doesn’t care but if Owen plans to make a play for Teddy and show up with a ring and take advantage of the pain and vulnerability of a woman he’s hurt over and over again and abandoned he should rethink that. Yes Tom Yes!!!! You tell him! You go! Finally someone says it!!!!

He tells him further that and won’t lie down or walk away and that he’ll fight for her! Yes Tom!!! And that it will bring on a lot of drama and pain for the woman he claims he just wants to be happy. Spill that tea Tom!!! Owen says Tom doesn’t know anything about his history with Teddy. Tom corrects him and says that his history is that he chose Amelia more than once. Go Tom Go! Owen seems like he’s realizing this for the first time. What a tool. Tom says his history is that he loves Teddy!  Awwwww! And only her! And that she deserves to be with someone for whom she is the first and only choice! Yes! Finally! Go Tom Go! Amelia and Link have to tell Jackson’s non-binary patient Toby that their mom has been paralyzed from the neck down. It’s very emotional. Jackson can relate and gives some sage advice Webber style. Alex keeps calling Jo and not getting an answer.

DeLuca walks up to him and is a total asshole. He’s says he’s not just some intern he can kick around. Alex didn’t kick him around. He did his job as Chief / Attending Paediatric Surgeon. In real life DeLuca would be fired for this. This is insubordination. You do NOT talk to your boss that way! He tells Alex what he did was unprofessional. To his boss. The Chief of Surgery. WTF? DeLuca has the maturity and intelligence of an acorn. Again, he would be fired for this in real life. The only reason he’s not is because he’s dating Meredith on the show. Which makes this whole storyline and his behaviour even dumber. Ugh. I hate him. Alex calls him on his BS and says what he did was unprofessional. That the way he helped out Nora should’ve been the first thing he did. And he’s right. But that he’s too pissed at the world about his dad and that while he sympathizes DeLuca let it mess with his job and Nora’s amazing mom.

And it’s messing with his relationship. Alex is right. Also DeLuca should know that since he upset Meredith earlier. Seriously how stupid is he? DeLuca acts like Alex doesn’t know what he’s taking about despite the fact that he’s got over a decade of experience and is Meredith’s best friend. Seriously DeLuca is the worst! DeLuca asks what his horrible behaviour to everyone today has to do with ruining his relationship with Meredith. Gee DeLuca I don’t know. Maybe everything? Alex tells him not to let that happen and that when people reach out a hand you don’t bite it. Wise words. That he did it for years and that if you do it eventually people stop reaching out.

Meanwhile Maggie is checking Meredith’s stats & they’re off because she’s pissed at DeLuca. She gets a text from him asking her to come over. Maggie misinterprets and thinks it’s a sexy thing. Owen looks through an exam room window to see Teddy with Tom and Carina laughing and looking happy. He decides to walk away. FINALLY!!! Amelia is in the blue room feeling sad over what happened to her and Link’s patient. Link comes to see her. You all know where this is going! He takes her hands in his. She locks the door. They kiss and you all know what happens next. Also side note: They are going to have to bleach that floor because that’s blue ultraviolet light!

Meredith comes to see DeLuca at his house. She tells him she doesn’t do sitting at work wondering if her boyfriend is avoiding her or being weird. She’s past that point in her life. A few things here. She’s now calling him her boyfriend. Gross. She previously avoided the term and said he wasn’t. Also, her being past this point in her life is why shouldn’t be dating him! She’s at a different life stage and DeLuca is still very immature. She needs to break up with him and find someone more her speed. She’s not interested in it and has no time for it. DeLuca says he knows which makes him even more of a douchebag.

DeLuca says he needed a minute to be hurt. Which is fine but he should have take time off work instead of attempting to assault a child, screw up Alex’s day, and upset Meredith. I hate this guy. He has no redeeming qualities at this point! He says he’s had his minute and now he needs her. He makes everything about him. Never about her. Meredith has had enough of that in her life to last a lifetime! Thank u next! Meredith says maybe she needs a minute now. Yes! Take that minute! And keep on going! But she doesn’t. She laughs instead and they kiss. Ugh. DeLuca made her dinner. She is wooed by his cooking and his ability to speak Italian. Yawn.

Also, I get that Alex is worried about Jo, but he really needs to tell Meredith that DeLuca attempted to assault a child. She’s a single Mom with three small children under the age of 10. DeLuca is a danger to children! Also, as far as we know they haven’t even had sex yet so why is she doing this? This is not a long-term relationship. Why is she bothering with this? She doesn’t even know if he’s good in bed or not. This plot line makes no sense. Every episode since DeLuca took an interest in her is the same. DeLuca does something immature or stupid and upsets her or someone else. They break up. They get back together. At some point they kiss. Nothing ever goes anywhere. There’s no development good or bad. DeLuca keeps getting worse as a character. I don’t understand what kind of reaction they are trying to elicit from fans. This makes no sense at all. Alex arrives home. Jo’s luggage is there. She’s asleep in bed. He kisses her on the forehead and tells her he missed her. Jo opens her eyes. She looks upset. ‏ Now onto next week’s promo! It’s a flashback apparently as we see Jo go find her birth mother. It does not go well. The woman at the door says she can’t be here. They go to a diner. She asks who her father is. Whatever she says upsets Jo to the point that she’s breaks down crying. It does not go well. The promo ends with a warning that ‘Due to sensitive subject matter viewer discretion is advised.’ Which makes me nervous. Grey’s has covered a lot of sensitive subjects and I’ve never seen a content warning before. Someone on Twitter posted that they used one for the Season Six Finale which was the shooting episode. I’m easily triggered by things that come with heavy warnings so there might be parts of next week’s episode that I don’t watch.

That’s all folks! Until next time.

Au revoir!

#grey's anatomy #Meredith Grey #andrew deluca #15X18 #season 15 #add it up #review #thoughts #gender queer #nonbinary #pronoun use #alex karev #dahlia qadri #levi schmitt #taryn helm #richard webber #jackson avery #teddy altman #owen hunt #tom koracick #amelia shepherd #atticus lincoln

[sinner-min-bun]

Awake

Part: 2 /?

Pairing: Yoongi X Y/N

____________________________

__Y/N POV___________________________________________

I walked down to the kitchen, mom and dad were patiently waiting for me, talking about my father's company. Although I didn't get to hear much.

I took the seat distant from the two of them.

Awkward silence filled the room. Guess I must have appeared at the wrong time. So asked the first thing that came to mind.

Dad, how is Yoongi adjusting to his new position?

Father was quick to answer.

"He's got a natural talent, bringing in more companies, hence more money." Gloating as a parent would about his child.

I knew he would do great. He's a hard worker and never gives up. Arrogant but for all the right reasons.

Perfect in every way, from his milky white skin, gummy smile, veiny hands and sweg can't forget about that.

Everyone expecting great things from my future husband, my father being the first. Not only because he is getting married to  his little princess but, he would have to face the consequences if anything went wrong.

"I picked a good one Y/N, dad knows best"

I laughed and smiled. Deep inside reminding me of how trapped I was months ago, not being able to date or go out with my friends.

Yes I know I can't complain since I pretty much got everything at the snap of a finger but that didn't fill the empty void I felt inside.

I was missing out on the outside world, by being denied access to it.

Around that time my father and mother were already planning an arranged marriage.

Thank heavens he picked yoongi. To my surprise we instantly hit it off. Soon started dating and we got to know each more and more each day. Talking mostly about secrets, darkest fears, likes, dislikes, food, and so on.

Spending many hours on the phone during the night. Something we both got use to and that's how it stayed. One morning call and one good night call. He was sweet to the touch.

But he doesn't have as much time as he use to, since the day I convinced my father he would be a huge asset to the company.

Yoongi ended up getting hired, and now is moving up that corporate ladder.

He became the CFO ( Chief Financial Officer ). In my father's company.

Yoongi is working extra hard not to disappoint my father nor give any false numbers.

I can perfectly understand, since the last CFO was never seen or heard of after one bad deal he'd made. Bringing the company's finances down for months.

Although I don't know what happened to the man. I can tell he's probably no longer walking among the living. I thought as I grabbed a spoon full of cinnamon oatmeal from my small bowl.

I was caught in my own thoughts, not realizing my mother started chatting away about my dress.

A yes I want to try it one last time to make sure I didn't gain a single pound.

"Oh sweety you'll look beautiful either way" my father cupping my cheeks in between his two hands. Kissed my nose before leaving.

"I'll make sure Namjoon takes good care of you two while I'm gone"

And with that he left us like always.

His business trips had become  a regular thing. Enough to change my mother's attitude. Unsettled to begin with but with time just treating it like any other day of him going to work. Nothing more.

A simple phrase she would repeat to me.

"He's doing this because he has to, not because he wants to" losing its meaning every single time, little by little .

Are you trying to convince yourself is that it. Thinking it but never to escape my mouth. It would be selfish of me to do so.

*Sigh*

How much longer do we have to wait ?  

Is he near?

Can we just go ?

Why does he always tag along ?

Don't you think father is being over protective?

It's not like someone's going to kill us. Right?

Shooting an ocean of questions to my mom. None of which were answered, but it was worth a try.

**20 minutes earlier **

(Calling Namjoon )

"Get to my house now, my wife and daughter will be waiting for you"

"No problem sir"

"Don't let anything happen to them understood!"

"Yes sir as you wish....by the way is it another one of your little business trips"

*Small chuckles*

"Indeed, now go dont keep them waiting any longer"

(End Call)

I heard a car pull over the driveway. Is that him already, asking my mom already annoyed by the previous questions.

With a smile from ear to ear. "Yes it's him."

"Good morning Madam" he said, grabbing  my mother's right hand to gently place a kiss on it.

Namjoon a gentleman at it's finest, but don't get fooled by that unique smile of his. The mind of a genius although judging by his choice of hair color, it's hard to tell by a simple glance.

It's best to keep a man like him around just in case someone tried...something with my mom and I. Not only do we run the risk of getting kidnapped for money but killed for the simple fact of being related to my father.

" Y/N it's been a  long time, and now you're days away from getting married. Time sure flies by " he said making me feel a bit nauseous.

"Tell me about it. Now let's go we are going to be late" I pulled him, eager to get this thing over and done with.

#bts rapmon #bts rm #bts rm icons #bts rm imagine #bts rm scenario #bts rm aesthetic #bts au fanfic #fanfic #min yoong #yoongi #bts suga #suga #wedding #love #brother

[dotshiiki]

No Price Too High

Here’s my offering for @percyjacksonweek2k17‘s Day 2 prompt: ‘Family/Sally Jackson/Blofis’! 

It kinda precedes yesterday’s ficlet and can probably be combined into one long fic. I wouldn’t have written it as one except it wasn’t co-operating yesterday, and today ... well, let’s just say long flights with overnight transits in airports are brutal but effective for fic-writing! :)

'How was school, honey?'

In response to Sally's question, her son held up the piece of scrap paper he'd been scribbling on assiduously with his crayons. Her heart did a nervous skip when she saw what Percy had drawn—roughly, in the exuberant and none-too-precise scrawl of a five-year-old, but unmistakably a horned beast with claws and what looked like scales (if that was what Percy meant by the repeated curvy lines down its thick tree trunk legs).

'Did you—see that at school?'

Percy nodded happily as he crawled into her lap. She smoothed his hair back from his forehead and planted a kiss there. Percy wriggled in her arms.

'It's a wild thing,' Percy said. 'Miss Popples showed us. But they were stuck in the book so I drew one here so he can get out!' The earnest, proud expression on his tiny face was so cute, Sally couldn't help laughing. She vaguely remembered her own battered copy of Where the Wild Things Are that she'd pored over incessantly as a child.

It was a book. Only a book.

Sally hugged Percy closer to her, relief and amusement bubbling up to dissipate the tight pinch of fear.

'Mommy you're squishing me!' Percy protested and wriggled free.

'Sorry, honey.' She released him. 'What else did you do in school, then?'

'We sang the colour song!'

Sally let Percy's sweet, childish voice wash over her as he repeated the song and proceeded to name all the crayons in the box by colour.

Fifty-one days and counting, she thought. Fifty-one days since the last monster had showed its ugly face around her son.

Fifty-one days since her wedding—a hurried, perfunctory affair at city hall, followed by a celebratory drink after (not that marrying that boorish, uncouth jerk who was now her husband should have been any ground for celebration).

But when she'd picked Percy up from the babysitter's that night, sleeping innocently with, for once, not the slightest sign of the supernatural hanging around, it had reinforced every reason she'd had for marrying Gabe Ugliano.

She'd never have given him the time of day if it hadn't been for Percy. That first time he'd turned up at their door, all false flattery (and even faker flowers), she'd been prepared to slam it shut in his face when she'd heard <i>them.</i> The pair of dog-headed creatures who'd just moved into the apartment down the hall and had been prowling around from day one, inordinately interested in her home.

Sally had grown accustomed to the weird (and sometimes terrifying) things she saw from time to time—people with wings and fangs, trees that turned into dancing girls, humans who were part-animal or something—though she'd learnt early on in life that it was better not to admit you saw stuff others didn't. It was only after she'd met Poseidon that fateful summer at Montauk that it had finally made sense. But the rate at which the mythical monsters appeared had been steadily increasing ever since her baby had been born. The older Percy got, the more of them he seemed to attract, until she'd been monster-spotting on almost a daily basis.

And that was when she was with him. Who knew what would come after him when she was at work? Sally thought her heart might never recover from the shock she'd gotten that time Percy's nursery school teacher had called in hysterics, babbling about her son and two dead snakes at nap-time.

Her dog-headed neighbours had been sniffing around again, the day Gabe showed up to ask for a date, and Sally had heard one of them say, very distinctively, 'I don't get it. I smelt it, and then it was gone!'

Sally had stared from Gabe to the retreating dog-headed pair, a crazy idea forming in her head. And with that, a plan.

Much as she wanted to, she couldn't always be with Percy. And even if she was, how much use was she against the monsters who were out for his blood?

But if there was another way to keep Percy safe, to throw the monsters off his scent (quite literally!), well, then …

And so she'd accepted Gabe's overtures and flirted right back, all with the systematicity of a scientist testing a hypothesis. The more Gabe came around, the fewer her monster-sightings. The dog-headed neighbours moved away after a mere fortnight of her dating Gabe. Her observations of anything odd around Percy coincided with the times he hadn't visited for a while.

The pattern was impossible to ignore.

By the time he finally proposed—a mere two months after they'd met, as though he didn't want to give her enough time to wise up and cut loose—Sally had enough proof.

It had still been a difficult decision. As certain as she was that Gabe repelled the mythological danger to her son, Sally also knew he posed a different potential danger.

But she could protect Percy from Gabe.

She couldn't protect him from the monsters.

That stunt with the snakes had been way too close. And if Gabe and his sickening smell, which now permeated every inch of her apartment, disguised Percy as a regular mortal … well, Sally would put up with it. Along with his leers and volatile temper and misogynistic attitude.

As long as Percy was safe.

And it had worked, hadn't it? Here he was, her beautiful boy, the dearest thing to her in the world, blissfully unaware of Sally's sacrifice (oh Poseidon, keep him from every knowing), chirping out in his sing-song voice, '… and bees are YELLOW, and grass is GREEN, and the—'

'God, he's a right noisy brat, isn't he?'

Sally sighed and reminded herself that no price was too high to pay for Percy's life.

#percyjacksonweek2k17 #percyjacksonweek #pjoweek #sally jackson #percy jackson #gabe ugliano #ficlet #percy jackson fanfic