#so i think it was planned to show you how yucky everyone else's blood is

[chocoenvy]

shatters your door im taking vampire reader n running w it. lil bastard vampire reader/darling/tsaritsa 📣

bc what's better then one toxic yandere partner??? TWO.

you go from a menace that does as they pleases, terrifying local villages and making a name for yourself, to a glorified pet of all things.

the tsaritsa and darling just picking you up while in the middle of no where like your a stray 😭

you try to cause problems and get them to think your too much work but they just think your escape attempts are cute. the other acolytes do not.

you are constantly causing problems for them n bullying them but they can't do anything bc your favored by Darling.

also reader constantly trying to bite darling + the tsaritsa when their being affectionate but they just think your play biting bc its like being stabbed by a wet noodle. keep doing it long enough and they'll start biting back though. gonna walk out looking like you just got mauled

also darling only letting you feed from them or the tsaritsa. they say it's bc you deserve only the best of the best, but your 99% sure it's because their blood, and the tsaritsa's to a lesser extent, makes you drowsy and docile. it's addicting too.

you managed to run away a total of once, and the moment you tried to drink any blood other then theirs, it made you sick.

so now you just angrily seethe in darlings palace while they coo about how cute it is when you pout. everything you do is cute to them. biting?? just play bites. your fangs aren't even strong enough to break their skin, and theirs are so much bigger then yours. they just find it adorable. most of all they find your blood drunken state directly after feeding adorable too. they get to pamper you and be as affectionate as they please without you biting and twisting about. if you drink darlings blood, doubly so, as you seek out affection. nuzzling into their palms and being so sweet for them..

Uh Oh this got out of hand n i wrote too much already so im cutting this short 🤸‍♂️ - eros

"cutting this short"- YOU HAVE MORE? EROS GET BACK HERE-

i've read this at least five times already and im frothing at the mouth yandere tsaritsa and darling x reader is the best ship ever bc i said so AND THROWING VAMPIRE READER INTO THE MIX TOO?? IT'S LITERALLY PERFECT

this is rotting my brain so badly i can't even put into words omfg i love this im keeping this in a locket so i can stare at it all the time and people will be like "oh is taht a picture of someone important?" "No its vampire reader x yandere tsaritsa x yandere darling- why are you looking at me like that?"

#choco.asks #*~frequent customer #i really wish i had more to add but my brain is actually rotting this is <333 #sorry i just love darling and the tsaritsa and both of them with vampire reader #im going insane :) #picking you up like you're a stray #they're such fucking menaces i love them #darling saw you and was like 'that thing is causing problems for the people of snezhnaya but they're kinda cute' #and they just fucking pick you up and you try biting at them and kicking and screaming but they just fucking laugh at your struggles #i feel tsaritsa would take some time to warm up to you and would come damn close to just knocking you out #but she grows to love you and adore messing with you #also shut up i adore the thought of the tsaritsa or darling biting at their wrist or smth so you can suck from it #bc your teeth can't break their skin #so you literally rely on them to keep you alive #because im convinced that your escape attempt was planned #and as you said darling and tsaritsa get jealous at the thought of someone else's blood on you #so i think it was planned to show you how yucky everyone else's blood is #you should just stay with them :) let them provide you with all the blood you need #and and when they start biting back i just- #tsaritsa is gentler me thinks she just nips back at you playfully (and also she'd kill you if she actually bit you) #while darling gives you NO WARNINGS you bite at them and they're biting you with the same ferocity you bit them #AND YOU SOUND LIKE A KICKED PUPPY WHEN THEY BITE YOU CAUSE GODDAMN THAT SHIT HURT #they're laughing with your blood running down their face but you're over there pouting in tears with your blood smeared everywhere #OKAY I'LL SHUT UP BYE

[silenceofthecookies]

Hey cookie, Congrats on 200 followers dear! This events sounds so cool 🤩 I love surprises so if I'm in for a spot, may I suggest tea prompt Forest Fruits + Sabo from One Piece? Have fun writing for your event love 🥰

Hi Ellie, thank you, I’m glad you like it! ❤ I got a sudden wave of inspiration for this one and I slipped a bit, so it’s a bit longer than planned. This one is set in a modern AU! Enjoy reading, the prompt you picked is marked in bold! 

You and Sabo had been dating for quite a while now. The two of you were in the same class on the final period of Friday. The one moment where nobody was paying attention to what was going on anymore. You had been staring at Sabo a lot during these classes, and you caught him staring at you more than once as well. Despite having rarely talked, the attraction was undeniable. Sabo had been the first to confess and you had confessed in return.

The early stages of dating were awkward. You were both still getting used to each other, getting to know each other, and on top of that, finding out what was appropriate. When you date a friend, you already know their boundaries, things they are ok with and things they are not. Things like subjects, physical touch, public spaces, secrecy,… Figuring this out as you went didn’t go without a few stumbles, but miraculously the two of you made it.

Finally, the two of you were out of the woods. You knew most about each other by now, you knew and respected each other’s boundaries, and together the two of you had fallen into a comfortable routine of dating, that being dinner together every Friday, whether it was at a restaurant or a fast-food joint or eating at your place, and spending some time together during the week, often on breaks between classes. Sometimes Sabo would come over to your place and you’d study together in silence.

That was the thing though: it was always at your house. You lived alone and didn’t have to inform anyone when having him over. Sabo, however, lived with his two brothers, his father and his grandfather. He had told you about them a lot, and the thought of meeting them both excited and scared you. They sounded like a very loving family, but in their own, special, maybe slightly violent way. He had told you about how his grandfather still often hit him over the head when he did something stupid, or how he and his brothers would sometimes get into fights because all of them were so stubborn. You knew from the look in his eyes that he loved them dearly, but the thought worried you a bit.

Today though, you’d have to face them. Of course Sabo’s family knew he was seeing someone, why else would he be gone every Friday night? He tried to keep you away from his family for as long as possible. Meeting your boyfriends family was a big deal, and he didn’t want to make you do that before you were comfortable. His grandfather, however, had decided that they had waited long enough, and that if they didn’t come over soon, and he’d go pick them up himself on Friday after school. Knowing the things his grandfather was capable of, Sabo suggested to have dinner at his place on Friday, with his family. You had agreed, but still were nervous.

You had gone over your appearance three times, practiced saying ‘good evening, sir. Nice to meet you, my name is Y/N’ and had done some breathing exercises. During all classes from that day, you were way too distracted to focus on what the teacher was saying. Sabo noticed your nerves during the final class, the one you had together, and tried to reassure you. The teacher didn’t like him being so focused on you instead of on his class though, and he got a small piece of chalk thrown at him, which he just managed to avoid getting hit by.

After the class had finally ended, Sabo and you walked back to his house together. You were holding hands as you walked, but you felt how sweaty your palms were and wiped them on your clothes several times. Sabo chuckled at your actions, but in reality, you weren’t the only one with sweaty palms. He knew how his family could get, and he really didn’t want you to get caught up in an argument or fight. He really hoped they would behave.

The walk to his home ended all too soon, and it didn’t take long for you to come face to face with his family. His grandfather looked like he could snap someones neck with his pinky finger, his father looked very scary because of the tattoo on his face, and his bothers were oddly cute, just like him, but both of them also looked very strong.

“Ace! I told you to put on a shirt! We have a visitor!” “So what? They can watch, I don’t mind.” Garp hit Ace overhead. “We don’t want to make them uncomfortable! Shirt! Now!”

Ace sighed and went upstairs to get a shirt. Sabo was already burning up at this point. Of course Ace was still walking around shirtless, the idiot. Luffy laughed at what just happened, walked up to you and held out his hand for you to shake.

“Hi! I’m Luffy! Sabo has told me a lot about you. He told me you were very pretty and nice and well, you ARE pretty! I can’t say if you’re nice or not yet though, I’ll let you know after dinner!”

This made both Garp and Dragon laugh loudy, while Sabo turned even redder than before and began to whisper shout at Luffy that he shouldn’t have said that, after which Luffy simply turned to you with a big grin and told you to ‘forget about what he just said’. You too were laughing loudly at this point. Ace came back downstairs, now fully clothed, saw Sabo’s face and started laughing too.

“Sabo, you look like a tomato!” Ace yelled, followed by laughter. “Shut up Ace!” Sabo yelled back. “I don’t like tomato’s! Change it to an apple!” Luffy yelled. “You don’t have to eat it Luffy, it’s just a manner of speech!” Ace yelled. “But tomato’s are yucky!” Luffy answered. “Apples aren’t always red!” Ace yelled back. “Oh, you’re right.” Luffy said, instantly calming down. “Enough! Boys, dinnertable!” Garp bellowed above the noise.

The 3 boys instantly quiet down and ran towards the dinner table, quickly sitting down on their usual seats. You were still staring at all of them, still processing what just happened.

“I’m sorry about that. Please, do sit down with us.” Dragon said, as he gestured to a seat at the table. You nodded, and sat down on the chair he pointed at, which happened to be the one next to Sabo, and across from Garp.

Dinner started out awkward. The food was good, no problems there, but it felt like you were being interrogated. What did you study? Did you have siblings? How long had you known Sabo? The list went on and on. Sabo told them few times to quit it, but they brushed it off, telling him that they wanted to know who he was dating.

Once dessert came on the table though, all questions had been asked, and now the table was filled with cheerful chatter. You had gladly joined them in their chatter, finding their company rather amusing. Sabo was watching you with a smile, relieved that now their questioning was over, you were actually laughing and relaxing a little.

“Hey, Y/N! Do you want to see pictures of Sabo when he was a kid?” Garp suddenly asked. “Don’t do that, gramps! She’ll see how ugly he used to be.” Ace teased with a grin. “Gramps no!” Sabo exclaimed, but Garp had already stood up from his chair and had grabbed a book from a nearby shelf.

Sabo was about to stop Garp, but Ace stepped in and grabbed him from behind so he couldn’t move. Garp opened the book in front of you with a big grin, and started showing you pictures. Sabo stopped resisting with a sigh, admitting defeat. Ace grinned and ruffled his hair, while Luffy excitedly sat down next to you to look at the pictures too. Dragon was watching it all happen with a grin.

“Hey look! Sabo! This is that time at the circus!” Luffy yelled, pointing at a picture. “You mean the time when we spilled that slushie on himself? That’s a good story, maybe we should tell Y/N” Ace grinned. “No!” Sabo yelled. “Yes we should!” Luffy yelled and he turned to you. “You see, we went to a circus, and we all got these slushies. Sabo got a red one, Ace and I got a blue one. Sabo was breaking some ice in his slushie but he was too rough and he poked a hole in the bottom of the cup! So all the slushie fell on his shirt! It was a white shirt, so it stained a lot. He started crying hysterically! But it was just at a moment that the whole circus was quiet, so they shone the spotlight on us to see if there was a problem. When they saw the red stain, they thought it was blood or something and everyone freaked out. It was so funny!”

Sabo looked away, face burning and red. When he did though, he noticed the clock. It was already much later than expected.

“Y/N, it’s getting late. I’ll walk you home.”

After wiping your tears from laughing away, you nodded and thanked everyone for the meal and the nice evening. Dragon told you to come back anytime, and Garp told you you could call him gramps too if you liked. It was a bit weird, but it was a sign that they accepted you. Ace nodded at you when he told you goodbye, and Luffy gave you a big hug, telling you to come over again soon, and that Sabo was right, you were a nice person. Sabo quickly pulled you out of the house and started walking you home.

“That was embarrassing” Sabo said. “You think so? I thought it was cute.” “Yes, that’s the problem, Y/N” Sabo groaned.

You laughed and took his hand, lacing your fingers with his. The rest of the walk home was filled with a comfortable silence, until you reached your house.

“There we go, I hope you at least had some fun?” Sabo asked. “I had a lot of fun. We should do that again sometime, your family is great.” “We’ll… see about that.” Sabo said hesitantly, not wanting his family to embarrass him even more in front of you. You laughed and turned to him, stepping a bit closer.

“Goodnight?” you said with a smile. Sabo smiled as well and closed the distance between your lips, meeting yours in a sweet kiss. “Goodnight” he said as his lips parted from yours.

You stepped back and walked towards your door, unlocking it and waving one last time at Sabo before closing it. You were really hoping you could go back there sometime soon.

#sabo x reader #sabo imagine #one piece x reader #one piece imagine #opfics #sabo #one piece #cookie writes #scenario #200 followers event #requested #elliemehl #scheduled post

[colour-outside-the-liness]

I'm good thanks for asking! Did slip and fall in the middle of the street and scraped my knee this week but I'm fine, nothing serious! Like I said the stars are out for blood and they literally got it! Haha the same thing happened to two people I know, same day and another one got an eye injury so, that's why I asked. Just making sure everyone's got all their bits still mostly intact haha.

Alright Colour, we need to have a little chat about this ouija board situation haha (which I absolutely enjoyed thank you for sharing!). First of all, I'm really sorry about your dad, losing someone like this is never easy. Second of all, I'm assuming you didn't say goodbye properly (correct me if I'm wrong) bc whoever came through on your session never left (not saying it was your dad bc other entities can show up and not say anything). I don't think you have a malevolent spirit or "demon" in your house from what you've said (which is good!).

Having said that, I do have some tips for you if you feel like they're helpful at all. So, you should probably give them a glass of water and set a space in the house for them (like an "altar"), change the water every week. Don't recommend putting it in your bedrooms or bathroom. Just a dedicated space for them, and this is not worshipping or anything like that. It's just that you have to live with this spirit anyway for the time being, and it wouldn't hurt to make a little peace offering to let them know it's fine yall live together. Also set some boundaries, be firm but gentle yeah? You're a teacher, you know how to do that well. Just tell them don't be a dick in the nicest way possible (you can say it out loud and you can speak on the behalf of your best friend too). No lighting candles tho, unless you want to attract more spirits into your house (I'm guessing you don't).

Something else that could be helpful is just going in every room and introducing yourself and roommate and stating your intentions to them (like: hey, I'm Colour [better give a nickname] I live here with my bestie and I don't want to get rid of you if you have good intentions and don't want to harm us). Finally, If you're able to you should get some rosemary smudge (not white sage! Very important!) which is a light cleanser and will get rid of the stuff that wants to harm yall but will leave the good house spirits alone (you should also tell them this is what you're trying to do). To perform the cleansing you just have to light up your rosemary bundle and go through the entire house visualising in your head that the bad yucky energy is going away with the smoke (concentration is key but doesn't have to be perfect).

Next place you move into, do the same thing. This way they feel appreciated and not ignored, clearly they've been trying to get yalls attention and to understand what the hell these people doing in their house haha. I'm pleasently surprised you're the person who goes looking for the ghost instead of running out the house lol but I'm afraid you'd be the first one who gets possessed in a horror film. 😂

Yeah she was my baby, we had a really special bond. Trust me I chose the nicest story possible, most of my supernatural experiences have been quite scary and traumatic actually. I've had to deal with this type of shit my entire life, made me question my sanity way too often tbh. But learned to deal with it and getting into witchcraft has helped me a lot, don't feel so oblivious anymore.

Awwh that's really sweet of you to say! Thank you so much, I'm taking all the love and good vibes I can get atm, really do appreciate it! You're very affable C, we're are lucky to have someone like you who listens to us! 💜💛✨ We can do this Australian anon! ✊

Hey, have some faith in your team yeah haha! They could win if yall cheer hard enough haha, manifest that shit! 😂 and I don't have any specific plans for the weekend, I'm feeling very antisocial and irritable atm 🙄 don't think I'll be very good company to anyone in such state which is annoying. But it will pass. You have a good one tho and take care! 👋✨

The stars definitely do want blood and they have sure been getting it!! I'm glad you're injury wasn't anything serious and that everyone still has all their body parts... the stars might have wanted blood but at least they didn't take a lot of it!! Thank you and it's fine really... he died a long time ago now... it was 11 years ago this month that he died... and I think we said goodbye properly I mean we followed the rules and instructions to the letter so maybe this spirit is just a little shit and wanted to hang around? Like we followed the rules so closely... if they did stick around... cool I guess at lease no one has been hurt, right? I mean. I'm already firm but nice with them... if they start doing shit and me and my roommate don't like it I always ask them to stop and they listen... so like... they're not a bad spirit just mischievous I guess haha... and shit... I light candles all the time... like all the time... I have one lit right now... 🤦‍♀️ Right I will take on board all of these tips and see what happens!! I am 100% the person that goes out looking for stuff in dangerous situations. I have a major fight instinct and like no flight instinct... when I was a shift manager at Burger King many years ago I used to always work the night shifts and if anyone ever heard anything outside I was the first person to grab something at hand and go out looking for the source of the noise... I would 100% either be the first to die in a horror film or be the final girl there is no in-between for me I am very aware of this haha 😂 I'm sorry you've had so many traumatic experiences in your life and that a lot of it made you question your sanity so much!! I'm really glad you learned to deal with it though and that witchcraft helped!! Awwh thank you for saying that about me!! Honestly I feel so lucky to have you guys as my followers and readers you're all just the best!! I'm so happy so many of you feel like you can talk to me about stuff!! I manifested as best I could and the best we could do was have a tie game... 1-1 and we only scored our goal in like the dying minutes of the game but at least we didn't lose!! I hope you feel less irritable soon and that things look up for you!! But I am sure that you're great company no matter what!! Hoping it all passes soon for you and that you take care!! ☺️💜

[archived-mononokeland]

ask : Hi! I just read the Levi Hanahaki story and I loved it, but the ending made me sad. Would you maybe be interested in writing a part 2 where he or another brother visits to see why she didn’t go back to the exchange program, and he finds her coughing up flowers? Thank you!

sorry for taking so long, here it is! the good ending to patch up after the last one. i didn’t write it until what i wanted to be the end, but you know the feeling when you’ve written until 2000+ words and you still don’t know what you’re doing and you want it to end? yeah. please enjoy, though!

warning: blood, hanahaki

“ i’m here. “

“You’ve been here a while now, Leviathan.”

The words of Diavolo hooked the demon back to reality. Emitting a small, slightly uncomfortable hum, he looked away, “Sorry, you probably don’t want a yucky otaku like me around. . .”

The Demon King laughs, booming the otherwise empty room. “Nonsense, I quite enjoy your company. I’m very invested in the human culture you’ve became a fan of.”

Levi’s mouth opened to a retort, only to freeze and opt to grumble to the side instead. Silence pass, as every now and then Levi checks his D.D.D. and his foot taps in rhythmic beats onto the floor.

Slowly, a small groan sounded from him, “Ugh, seriously, how long is the human gonna take?”

He turned his head to Diavolo, who seems slightly more serious than usual. The latter held back a sigh, “Perhaps you should go back to the House of Lamentation. Your brothers’ve already left, so you should too. I’ll tell Lucifer of any news regarding them.”

Despite worded like a suggestion, Leviathan knew it was more or less an order. With a soft puff of air, the demon pocketed his D.D.D. “. . .Alright, I will. Uhm—thanks, I guess.”

The easygoing smile morphed its way to Diavolo’s face once again, “It’s not a problem. Goodnight, Leviathan.”

“G’night. . .”

The steps of the demon brother soon faded outside the room, until it wasn’t heard. The smile on Diavolo’s face fell in an instant. With a sigh and ever so slightly narrowed eyes, he took out his own D.D.D.

Diavolo: Barbatos.

Barbatos: Yes, my lord?

Diavolo: Trace back the invite letter sent to the human.

Barbatos: Of course.

And with that, he shut back his device and pocketed it. Unreadable eyes looked out the balcony of the student council room. Devildom—the land he’d supposedly rule—spread with flickering lights, all swishing underneath Diavolo.

It’s a sight you’d wish to see, really.

[ ❀ ]

It’s been two days since Leviathan waited until the hour of midnight for you. On the downside, you still haven’t showed up. On the bright side, a council meeting was called, and there’s a little ray of hope that the topic was you.

But—

“They have decided not to join this year’s exchange program.”

The council room, the one that all the demons’ve familiarized themselves for quite some time, suddenly seemed quite cold. As if a heavy blanket fell upon them at once. For a few moments, none spoke.

“. . .Huh. . ? Why?” Levi was the first one to speak up, brash, but there’s a trace of self-restraint, “Why didn’t they come this year?”

The air hung over once more, before Diavolo hummed lowly, a serious expression on his face, “It was at a short notice, but they informed us that they won’t be joining. Personal problems.”

Perhaps it was covered expertly, but the Demon King himself seemed off-put by his own statement. True—you sent a message through your D.D.D. when he asked of you. Barbatos’ expression is perfectly clear as well, but the tension was present as ever.

“. . .I assume that is all.” Lucifer said, once more breaking the silence. Even if his words sounded unfazed, the noticeable crease on his brows was evident. With a heavy breath, Diavolo nodded, and called the meeting over.

No one said a word walking home.

The tense air followed the brothers, even later until dinner, The suffocating aura was insufferable, and somehow decreased just a bit as Levi lightly slammed on the table with a groan, “I don’t get it, why didn’t they go back?!”

And just with that, he spoke everyone’s thoughts.

Yes, they all knew they had to respect your wishes. And they did try. But, it’d be a lie to say that they aren’t and can’t be selfish at this moment—being demons just adds to the equation a bit. But they were still very close to you, how could they not?

All clanking of utensils on plates stopped. Lucifer opened his mouth to explain, but shut it back up once realized he couldn’t say anything. But, even so. . . “Leviathan. . .” What came out was a sympathetic croak, though he tried to hide it with a cough.

Dinner went by in a fly.

The third brother groaned as he entered his room, immediately making a zip-line to his computer. None of his games had any events, so he had free time to himself, if not grinding or anything like that. Of all the times. . .

He reached for his D.D.D. and opened the chat. His fingers tapped away mindlessly to yours and his—almost by reflex. A part of him scolded himself for expecting maybe, just maybe, a new text from you saying it was a joke and that you’d come tomorrow.

But of course it never came.

Even just looking at your past texts—it stirs something he can’t name inside him. His stomach is now a blackhole, the rhythmic beats of his heart increases, and he felt. . .bittersweet happiness.

His mind racked up a storm filled with emotions—emotions he felt too tired and confused to deal with. It could’ve been minutes, it could’ve been hours, but Levi finally snapped himself out of it, and opened the brothers’ chatroom.

He can’t take it, he can’t take it, he can’t—

Leviathan: I srsly can’t take it anymore..!

Leviathan: istg I need to see the human and ask everything!!

The fingers tapped away on its own, and he knew there’s a chance of consequences with his words. But that didn’t matter; not a lot did at the moment. Soon, dots appeared from his other brothers. . .

Beelzebub: Levi. . .

Lucifer: . . .I understand the turmoil you must be going through right now, but. . .

Lucifer: . . .I don’t think I can permit that.

Satan: You’re too rough.

He watched the texts go by, caring little to none as his own attention drifts away. No doubt Lucifer won’t let me go to the human world, he thought, absentmindedly opening a game on his computer, but maybe. . .I can just. . .

He mulls over the possibility in his mind. Maybe this stunt was a bit too much compared to the others—but he’d be willing to take the punishment. Eyes finally focusing, they turn attention back to the D.D.D., the chat.

Beelzebub: Levi? You there?

Leviathan: . . .

Leviathan: Yeah. I’m fine, sorry, forget all of this.

It’s very selfish and foolish of him—but there’s a reason he’s a demon.

[ ❀ ]

He didn’t miss the occasional glances directed at him next breakfast.

The air was almost as miserable as yesterday. Almost, because the time set apart since the day before made somewhat of a difference. Even so, breakfast didn’t resume with its normal banter; mostly just a sentence exchanged or two.

Despite that, deep inside Leviathan was a secret flame of hope and determination. It’s small—perhaps just a match, but it was enough.

Levi’s mind only came to attention nearing the end of the student council meeting. There wasn’t much to discuss—and he wouldn’t have been there had it not been for his plan—but that was to be expected. It was the beginning of the year, but thankfully, Diavolo’s token the measure to ease in their work due to the recent news.

While the meeting was reaching to its end, Levi still continued to play his games on his D.D.D., as he has for a while now. The words from Diavolo saying the meeting ended, Leviathan feigned a sigh and shut his device off, and set it on the table. Then, pretending to be clueless, leaves the room with everyone else.

He’s not certain if everyone didn’t notice. After all, he isn’t the slickest demon—and with a brother like Satan and Lucifer, he won’t put it past them. Well, if they did, they didn’t say anything.  But now, he’ll play a game of pretend.

He spent a few dozen minutes in the cafeteria. Not to eat, but to just sit down and play his games on another device. It’s a pain to not be having his D.D.D., but the ends justify the means.

Then, he slid it back to his pocket and made his way back to the student council room, and hoped that Lucifer wasn’t unexpectedly still there (he was on cooking duty, if Levi recalled correctly). Fortunately, when he opened the door, he wasn’t, and only Diavolo stood there, sorting some papers.

“’M sorry,” even if he did plan all this out, his pretend-apology didn’t go farther than a mumble, “Left my D.D.D. here. . .”

Diavolo merely laughed and waved a dismissive hand at him, “It’s quite fine. Go ahead.”

With slow, antsy steps, he made his way to his chair with the device in front of it. Even though he had time, he’s still mulling over what he could possibly word it to Diavolo as. Maybe this was a bad idea—

“You want to go to the human world, don’t you.”

The question brought heaps of confusion and bafflement to Leviathan. Yes, he was standing there for maybe long enough, but Diavolo just guessed it? He pocketed his D.D.D. with a gulp, “Uhm. . .”

Words escape him, currently, but Diavolo soon cut off whatever he wanted to say in his head by turning around and meeting his gaze. His face is unreadable, both showing good nor bad reactions, and his usual friendly smile long gone.

“And I assume this was without Lucifer’s permission?”

“. . .Yes.”

The silence seems to stretch at cruelty’s will, twisting and churning at his guts. Diavolo’s eyes remained a mystery, until a laugh erupted from him. But not in an actual, comedic sense; more of languid than anything.

“You’re determined, aren’t you?”

“O-Of course. . .”

And the silence continues. Leviathan’s darting eyes to the other demon told him that he was studying him, observing him. As if there was a reaction, an attidude, action to indicate to him. . .something. Something he doesn’t know. And suddenly, the eyes felt heavy upon him.

“. . .How curious. Very well,” Diavolo broke the ringing quiet with a low mumble, barely audible, along with the tapping of his nails on the table, “I’ll allow you.”

“. . .Huh?”

“I’ll allow you to go to the human world.”

The words—so did everything else—seemed like buzzing for a moment, before it all cleared.Emotions rushed through the floodgates; relief, confusion, shock, all the likes. “But—wh-why would. . .”

He decided not to push his luck by asking.

Diavolo remained unwavered and certain, a smile now pulling his lips by anything than genuine emotions it feels. “Don’t tell Lucifer. I’ll open the portal soon, Levi.”

Reality was fuzzy and unbelievable. But even so, Levi tried to hold his ground and remain still as the demon king set up the transport to the human world above. He’s going to see you! Anxiety and relief peacefully clashed in himself on which he feels more, but—he did his best to ignore it.

Once the portal was up, all it took was a flicker, and he’s gone.

[ ❀ ]

Oh how you loathed it.

Spitting and choking metal-flavored flowers weren’t your ideal schedulings—and you’d really prefer if it wasn’t. They make for pretty decorations if one were to put it in a pot, if the person was able to ignore the origins and how it was, more or less, what they’d call memento mori.

You hope they’ll live after you die; despite how much you despise the fluttering petals.

A bitter reminder, really, that you litter your house with vases filled with them. Your estate smelled a mix of several scents, and also painted with their colors. Maybe this was your last highlight of life in the current time.

But all that beauty didn’t make up for you, curling up in the middle of the hallway, using your clutches to the wall as your only support. Blood didn’t even wash up from your previous shirts—you’d guessed.

And one by one, the floral beauty fell.

The world, your house, blurred. Your hearing’s long gone, replaced by constant, grating ringing. It didn’t matter anymore, not when they were blotches of colors and screeches, fading in and out from darkness. Maybe, if you just—

“——!”

Your body trembled, the bones in your body feeling brittle enough to crumble. Who’s that. . .? A savior? Maybe an angel, seeing your soul off? The next-door neighbor who heard something?

Your mind scrambled to scream, beg, for any kind of help to pull you out of the ripping gash in your throat. Whether it came out as you wanted, or just a gravel of a groan came out, you never knew.

You never knew, for the world darkened.

[ ❀ ]

Beeping.

Incessant rhythmic beeps were muffled out, but faintly audible. Labored breaths filled the room, as a hand held yours. Warm. It felt warm, and nice, and safe, despite you walking your way slowly to death’s door.

The human body was weak, and Leviathan cursed at it for being so. Even if he did know any healing magic, he’d been too paranoid to tinker with the workings of your health. And so, the two of you were sent to a hospital.

It’s been about almost a day. He hopes anyone back in Devildom didn’t search for him—for the reveal of his whereabouts would cause trouble. And with the state of his mental mind. . .he felt he’d go insane.

But slowly, your eyes broke open a crack.

A low croaky groan was what drew the demon’s attention, clutching tighter at your hand as his head darted to look over you. He called your name desperately, weakly, hoping it to be a mantra that ensured you were alive.

“—! Are you okay. .?!”

Another groan resurfaced, and finally, you’re back to the land of the living. But to your side, you found, Leviathan.

You shove the flowers down for a moment.

“L-Lev. . .?”

Your voice felt fresh and unused. But for now, you vaguely squeezed your hand in his. You’re fine, you’re okay, you’re here; that’s what he needed to know. The fact if you actually were or not came second.

“Where. . .are we. . .?”

Your vision blurred in and out of being visible for you to actually discern anything. But for now, you could see mostly white.

“We’re in a human hospital.”

Hospital. Passing out. . .Right.

“And why. . .are you h-here?”

You couldn’t see it—he hoped you didn’t, at that—but Levi’s expression wavered, as his body became more awkward and stern. He tossed his glances to the side, “I. . .I c-came to see you, o-of course. I can’t just let you curl up and. . .die, for all I know.”

You pursed your lips.

“. . .Did the doctors diagnose me with anything?” Fear washed over you as your voice drops to a whisper; a shaky, wavering, quiet whisper.

If he found out. . .that he was a part of the cause. . . what would. . .?

Levi took a deep breath and his eyes shifted to the side. Then to you. “Yeah.” He replied, “. . .It was hard to find out cause there weren’t many cases, but. . . Hanahaki, r-right?”

. . .Oh.

“Did they,” you gulped the lump in your throat, “Did they tell you what that means. .?”

“. . .Yes.” The black hole in your stomach dug deeper and deeper in— “Why didn’t you tell me? A-Am I. . .unreliable to you. . .?”

His voice was only a whisper, but it echoed through your heart until it broke. “N-No, of course you’re reliable. . .! I just. . .” Your eyes shifted away to your hands, which clutched at the sheets of your bed, “. . .I didn’t want to worry you.”

“You were dying, for goodness sake! Worrying me shouldn’t—sh-shouldn’t. . .” his voice died like a flame, as his pitiful eyes spoke to you instead. “. . .Who’s the person?”

“Huh?”

“Who’s the person you. . . had f-feelings for?”

You took a sharp, silent breath. He didn’t know; and you weren’t sure if he should know. But. . .being here, with Leviathan in front of you made you feel vulnerable so any lie you told would just feel useless. But—he’d think it was his fault. His fault for not returning your feelings. Technically speaking, it was, but it’s not like he could help it—force love would hurt you more than anything.

“. . .” You spent your time, fading out of reality to weigh your options in silence. Levi kept silent as well, patient in hearing your answer. “. . .Y-You. . .”

You almost wished he didn’t hear that right after it came out your mouth—maybe your voice was soft enough so he didn’t hear it. But the quiet gasp heard, the way his eyes widened in utter bafflement, the way his face paled a thousand shades, it all betrayed your wish.

“I. . .I—“

“It’s not your fault. . .!” You said before the thoughts in him spiral down. Your hand flew from the bed sheets to his hand, squeezing it tightly despite how much your heart churned at the action, “It’s. . .It can never be your fault. I couldn’t. . .just wish for you to fall for me like that. And I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. . .”

And once again, silence ruled the room.

You couldn’t bare to look into his eyes—not after the hurt overflowing them. A part of you silently wished that he didn’t come into your house at that moment—and just let you decay like the flowers you racked up. But then again, it’s selfish, for you to deny him seeing you again. It’s selfish, for you to give the cold treatment you had, only for him to find out you were dead.

You wondered who’d hurt more.

“. . .” You finally looked up at Leviathan’s eyes, barely visible from his hair as his head was angled down. Silent, deep in thought. You were about to shift your gaze back, until— “. . .Actually, I. . .have a confession m-myself. . .”

A respond never came, you just looked longingly for his continuation.

“I d-don’t know what love feels like; I’m not Asmo. All I’ve seen are, u-uhm, romance and harem animes. But. . .” He took a deep breath, “Ever since you left, I feel. . .overwhelmingly sad. A-And it’s not a friend thing—I don’t think, but—when I look back at everything, it. . .it makes me happy beyond belief. I want to be there with you, b-by your side, a-and. . .a-and. . .”

“I think. . .I love you.”

The moment those words got out his tongue, a deep, bellowing gasp of air ripped itself from your lungs—as if you’ve been underwater and finally got a breath of air. Your chest, your heart, your throat—the weigh on them ever since the flowers sprouted all lifted and wilted, one by one by one—until it was all gone.

“—?!”

Your name said on Levi’s tongue was foreign to you—for a second. Until with one last gasp of air, your breathing normalized and slowed. With glossy vision, you looked over at the panicked demon beside you, shooting a gentle, calming smile, “I. . .I’m fine, Lev.”

“Are you. . .?! You could be—“

“Lev.” Your soft calling of his name stopped him. “I think. . .I’m cured.”

#tw blood #hanahaki #obey me leviathan #obey me #shall we date #obey me levi #obey me scenarios #angst

[mikaverleth]

✨FIGHT ME FRIDAY✨

1. Did Harkat make the situation better or worse when interfering with Darren’s blooded boars trial? + Do you think Darren would’ve survived if not for Harkat?

In the long run, yeah. Because Darren absolutely wouldn’t have made it outta there. He just woulda died. And then everyone else woulda died bc Darren wouldn’t have been alive to save their asses.

2. Who do you think is the most intelligent and least intelligent character in the series?

Okay, I know everyone’s going to roll their eyes and be like “there she goes again” but I legitimately believe Mika and Kurda tie for the title of smartest character. At the very least, smartest vampires. I’ll die on this hill. Steve is also smart as fuck and there’s tough competition there, but I’m going to stick with the vampires for this one.

Kurda is self-explanatory honestly. Look at the effort and planning it took for him to come THAT close to pulling off his master plan in book 6! Look at how his brain works compared to his peers! Enough said.

In Mika’s case, the original saga alone doesn’t provide enough depth of character to make my case; it sort of paints him and Arrow both as dumb brutes. But the Saga of Larten Crepsley has considerably more evidence. From the beginning we see him as almost an inversion of Larten’s character. All throughout SLC Larten is consistently impulsive, hotheaded, basically a loose cannon. Whereas Mika is logical, calculated, and thinks before acting. That aspect heavily differentiates him not only from Larten, but from Arrow and Vancha as well. There are many different ways a person can be intelligent, but IMO Mika was doing the “brains over brawn” thing before Kurda was even relevant. Mika just happens to be blessed with both ✨💅🏻👑. I won’t turn this into another episode of The Mika Show, but you catch my drift.

3. Name your favioure vampire, vampaneze, human and cirque person

Mika. Gannen. Alice. Uhhhh... *reads smudged writing on hand* Mr. Tall?

4. Thoughts on Tanish Eul?

YUCKY BOY -252726/10

5. How do you think Larten’s realationship with Darren would’ve changed if he and Arra had gotten back together?

I want to think they became a happy family but I’m sure it would have changed very little in actuality. Arra and Larten were always so stiff and formal with each other, at least as far as we saw in the SLC. I don’t think they would’ve moved into the suburbs and let Darren call them Mom and Dad but it’s fun to imagine.

6. Which characters backstory would you like to learn more about?

Aside from my very obvious faves I think a look into Vancha and Gannen’s backstory would be extremely interesting. Also, a PRE-prequel! Like from Paris and Seba’s glory days. That would be amazing.

7. If you were a Vampire prince, what new rule would you introduce?

Y’all can flit to the mountain if you want. Also, there shouldn’t HAVE to be at least one Prince in the Hall of Princes 24/7. If they’re the only ones who can open it, I’m pretty sure they don’t have to worry about leaving for a bit every now and then. Imagine being the only one in the mountain and you’re literally confined to this ONE ROOM until one of your coworkers gets back. Come on now. Also, Starbucks kiosk in the mountain.

8. Any Darren/Evra shippers?

I’m mostly indifferent, but I lean away from it. As far as Darren goes, I’d ship him with Steve way before Evra.

9. Do you prefer the SLC or DSS?

SLC hands down. I’m here for the vampire clan lore, and SLC delivered that nicely + the backstory on all my favourites.

10. In an AU in which everyone survived and there was no war, what do you think Darren would be like as a grown vampire prince?

I think he would’ve been a wonderful Prince if he had a chance to grow up. He was very open-minded and fair. He had all of Kurda’s good qualities (without being as radical) and many of Larten‘s positive traits as well. He was impulsive but I think he would’ve grown out of that. He would’ve introduced new ideas to help the clan adapt to the changing times, and he seemed to just get along really well with everyone.

#cdf #darren shan #cirque du freak #mika ver leth #Mika meta

[chiiquititamoved]

ep 1 of bbc dracula - observations

beginning looks very creepy. am i down? not sure. 

there’s a cool nun! i’m getting some very good badass vibes 

wHEw, okay, i was expecting some queerbait-y type stuff from this show but literally before even the intro, this (AMAZING) nun just goes “mr harker. have you had sexual intercourse with dracula?” 

just. right out of the gate

we’ve established that this nun doesn’t have any faith in god

okay now we’re getting into the castle stuff. (this is right after the intro) 

aw mina (from her letter) seems like a sweetheart so far 

this is very beauty and the beast so far. like when belle’s dad goes into the castle and there’s no one there 

oooh we just met dracula. he’s very wrinkly and old 

“they [people of transylvania] are without... flavour.” “perhaps you mean character?” “ahahahaa.”

i feel like i should clarify that harker is staying in a convent, being cared for by nuns while he’s sick. he’s telling his story to badass nun and this other nun and the viewer is seeing what happened through cuts or whatever 

okay you know just some book stuff is happening - dracula’s being a weirdo, johnny harker notices some odd goings on, etc.

so, this has always struck me - in the book as well - why is dracula always climbing up walls like a fucking lizard? why? first of all, he can turn in to a bat, so if he needs to get OVER the wall then he can fucking FLY. if he doesn’t need to get over the wall then wtf is he doing? harker is going to see or hear him - i mean, god knows he’s acted weirdly/suspiciously enough for harker to be scared/nervous around him - like??? dracula really is an idiot psychopath bisexual  

harker’s having an *ehem* mildly i n n a p r o p r i a t e dream. he and mina are having sex but then mina turns into wrinkly old dracula. yucky yuck. 

now harker sees ‘help us’ written on his window

it’s in english! very convenient for mr harker - so our wonderful nun points out: “you are an englishman: a combination of presumptions beyond compare.” (no hate to englishmen)

harker starts to explore the castle. uh oh. 

he gets lost + dracula finds him

our man dracula is wining and dining johnny!

Dracula looks younger now. :| this is suspicious

dracula is EVEN YOUNGER! glow up!!!!

harker is starting notice there’s NO STAFF IN THE CASTLE... and his health is deteriorating 

wow johnny is actually being very brave!! i must say i am proud

johnny is finding a bunch of old pictures in a wooden bin somewhere in the castle. are these dracula’s previous victims?? WHO KNOWS

FUCK there’s a fucking dead lady in the wooden bin. yuckkk i do not approve 

she just chased him down this tunnel, and now dracula’s there and harker passes out

badass nun (agatha) is telling us about the UNDEAD. explains a lot

drac says he found johnny asleep on the floor in the basement, all the while looking SUSPICIOUSLY young. 

HEY drac is calling him johnny! that’s my thing >:(

now johnny doesn’t recognize mina’s picture! what’s going on?

he’s making johnny write three letters to mina: one saying he’s almost leaving the castle, one saying he’s leaving the next day, and one saying he’s left safely, etc. 

john’s hallucinating that a baby’s crying in the distance. OR IS HE?

harker is willing to sacrifice himself for a baby he doesn’t even know exists. i’m actually proud of how brave he is :’(

AGATHA!! i love her

so harker is starting to plot an escape - he looks for a map to the castle. he knows that drac said that it doesn’t exist but his reasoning is that the architect was an artist and would have wanted his art preserved. he finds the map in a painting of the architect’s dead wife (because she’s the sunlight of his life and he built this place to escape the actual sunlight when she died?? i think?? Sorry that was confusing)

so, the architect made hidden passages through the maze of the castle 

harker finds a passage! yay

okay the passage led to a room, and in the room there’s a lady in a wooden box thing eating rats. she comes out of the box, she’s a vampire, and johnny’s talking to her. she left the message on the window earlier? maybe? this is unclear. 

she bites john

harker askes nun agatha why she’s got no “faith” and she says “I have looked for god everywhere in this world and never found him.” “Then why are you here?” “Well, like many women of my age, I am trapped in a loveless marriage, maintaining appearances for the sake of a roof over my head.” GOD I LOVE THIS WOMAN

eww there’s a deadish baby in the box thing

drac kills the lady in the castle

harker: “you’re a monster!” drac: “and you’re a lawyer. nobody’s perfect.”

okay drac and harker have a suspenseful chat, bla bla bla. drac is trying to REPRODUCE? 

If this turns into some fucking mpreg fanfiction bullshit i’m suing 

drac goes outside onto a balcony thing in the castle w/ johnny and they lay down (drac in the shade and harker in the sun) and drac asks johnny to describe the sun to him?? cool i guess??

drac, about the sun: “But that’ll burn me to dust.” my man john harker: “Good.” “fair enough.” 

i LOVE how johnny is literally on death’s door, and still manages to snark at the man who put him there

okay so john’s still outside w/ drac, it’s established that he’s either going to die (fully) or be stuck in the castle for the rest of his “life”. harker is shaking, bla bla, and he goes “drac! spare me!” and drac’s like “how, dude?” and then we cut to agatha and harker in the convent and it turns out that harker just wrote pages of shit like “dracula is my master!” “dracula will be obeyed!” “dracula is god!” when he got to the convent and it’s like... whew

turns out he thought he was writing an account of his stay at the castle but he really just wrote like 100 pages of that 

oooookay - now, johnny’s begging drac to let him go and drac’s like “how?” and john says he won’t tell anyone about drac’s plans to move to england and kill everybody so drac’s like “sure,” and harker’s like “wait really,” and drac’s like “oooh i’m going to destroy everyone you love bla bla bla but if you swear you won’t try to stop me i’ll let you go.” UM. 

but now harker gives this impressive last hurrah thing where he kinda like... climbs up dracula’s body? like drac pulls him? and he goes “i swear that if you let me out here alive... I’LL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO STOP YOU!” psych 

and then drac kills him and he falls down 

“SO HOW IS HE ALIVE?”, you ask

“HE’S A VAMPIRE,” i say

oh no! he’s not! my lovely agatha reveals that he’s “undead, but not a vampire,”

aggie: “it’s not something that one anticipates asking: but, what happened after you were murdered?”

okay so now johnny becomes undead and he still has a spirit! johnathan harker has a will, etc and he tries to jump off of the balcony thing. drac’s like hey you should stay w/ me! ur kinda like me u kno and john’s like NOPE

then the sun hits drac’s face and johnny falls from the balcony

now aggie reveals that a river, which john fell into, bore him out to sea and a fisherman found him caught in his net. he was brought to the convent/agatha 

agatha: “i am known to have some expertise in the realm of witchcraft and the occult.” johnny: “You’re a nun.” ag: “We can discuss my imperfectly suppressed fascination with everything dark and evil another time.”

oh!!!!!! so - the sun reflected the cross that harker was wearing onto drac!!!! and that’s why drac fell/was hurt whatever 

so basically like minor vampires and shit don’t fear the cross??? but big guy (drac) does?

agatha’s like “i looked everywhere and finally i found god!!!! yay” and she’s happy 

OH FUCK!!! THE SECOND NUN IN THE ROOM IS MINA!!!

basically aggie found out who he was, traced him back to london, and found mina (she mentions a detective acquaintance - sherlock crossover, anyone?) 

mina: “we are to be married, so who you are will always be my decision.”

they have a really touching “i still love u!!” type scene and then a bunch of fucking bats fly in

turns out drac’s at the convent now

mina got bitten (on her face) by a bat and she’s kinda bloody and harker’s like woooh take this stake so you can stab me if i try to drink that

god agatha has SO MANY good lines!!!

now dracula has turned into a wolf and he’s outside the gates of the convent 

mina hugs johnathan and he licks her blood :(

now he backs her into a corner and tries to drink her blood, but then he stops and tries TO IMPALE HIMSELF ON THE WOODEN STAKE

the wolf has this really gross transformation scene and he turns into dracula as a human

OOKAY so a bunch of nuns come to the gates (i should clarify that that’s where dracula is) and they pull out wooden stakes and agatha’s like drac you’re going down. 

agatha opens the gates of the convent!!! and tells dracula he’s not invited in and he can’t come in

agatha to drac: “I expect a beast to follow rules, I don’t expect it to understand them.”

agatha cuts her hand open and like taunts him w/ the blood 

SHE’S AGATHA VAN HELSING OH MY GOD

THEY REALLY TURNED VAN HELSING INTO A WOMAN!!!!!

drac: “who are you?” agatha: “your every nightmare at once. an educated woman in a crucifix.” !!!!!!!!

OH FUCK!!!! johnathan really is dead!!!!! :((( i thought he wouldn’t be but nvm i guess

mina and aggie have a talk and mina says she’ll never love anybody else :’(

oh shit!!! i was right he isn’t dead! drac does that weird lizard wall climbing thing again and goes into his window and tells johnny that “suicide doesn’t work.” great. 

dracula’s like hey bud i can kill you properly! since it needs another person! all you’ve gotta do is invite me in! :))))))

we cut to the mother superior and she’s giving a nice little lecture about god 

and then dracula comes in and cuts her head off

the nuns are obviously terrified BUT they’ve got their crosses and they push him away, whatever, but then drac calls a bunch of wolves 

“I’m undead, I’m not unreasonable.”

the nuns get attacked by the wolves EXCEPT for agatha and mina, who went to agatha’s workshop to escape

harker comes down to the workshop! (which they surrounded by sacramental bread or something) and they’re arguing over whether they should let him in and mina’s like i’m gonna do it! and she almost does but she sees that harker’s eyes aren’t blue anymore, so she’s like hey what’s up with that and then harker starts PEELING HIS FACE OFF and it’s dracula

THE END OF EPISODE ONE 

phewwwwwww. So this is almost 2000 words? And very incoherent. If you’ve had the courage to read this far, thank you. 

IN CONCLUSION: will i keep watching this show? yes. i’m very squeamish so i’ll probably skip some of the gory stuff later on but other than that i will definitely continue.

did i like this show? YES. i honestly started it with very low expectations but so far it’s really good. to be fair, though, i found that in the book the beginning was the best part and i didn’t love it after, so i guess we’ll see. 

did i like it better than the book? so far, yeah. The book was full of bullshit like “ooh you have a man’s brain and a woman’s heart,” to mina, which :/. (obviously it’s not like i could have expected much better from a male victorian author but still.) i love how they made van helsing a woman! I know agatha is going to be wonderful.

#dracula #bbc #bbc dracula #this is so long #i'm sorry #agatha van helsing #mina murray #johnathan harker #mine

[settingorange]

Bulletproof Heart

Thought I’d try my hand at SP7 GTA stuff lmao, sorry if it’s bad and you hate it!

Word count: 3,393

Pairings: Parker/Andrew/Jeremy, trace amount of Steven/Parker

Warnings: Violence, minor character death, implied major character death

At first Parker didn’t notice anything was wrong. It wasn’t unlike Steven do go days, or even weeks without calling him. He wasn’t a necessity on most crew activities. And after little slip up on their last mission a month without contact was nothing. A bullet gone off at the wrong time, landing Cib a trip to the hospital and suddenly they don’t need him around anymore. It was as if Steven forgot all the times Parker executed things flawlessly, no questions asked.

He didn’t need them anyway. Jeremy and Andrew knew what he was capable of, and they appreciated him for it. He spent every day with his boys. Wrecking shop, creating chaos for the fun of it. Parker couldn’t help the rush he got seeing the fear in some lowly gang members eyes as he threatened him, Jeremy and Andrew standing guard behind him. They always laughed about it afterwards. And every Friday, without fail, was movie night. Be it Schindler’s List or any number of Disney films they owned on DVD, the trio would curl up on the couch at precisely 8 pm with a big bowl of popcorn.

Which is why at 8:45 on this particular Friday Parker sat, leaning forward, hands on his chin, leg bouncing. No call, no note, nothing. He hadn’t seen either of them for a few days but he was sure they’d make it here. If it were Steve or Cib or even Autumn he wouldn’t worry so much, but Jeremy and Andrew would never forget about movie night. He glanced at his phone for the hundredth time that half hour. Nothing.

“Fuck it,” he whispered, dialling Steven’s number.

“Hello?”

“Steven hey, it’s Parker, I was just calling to see-”

“You’ve reached Steven Suptic, leave a message and stop calling here.”

A dial tone beeped and parker hung up. Typical Steven. He  decided to try Autumn. She certainly wouldn’t ignore him. He pushed call and almost immediately the phone went to voicemail. That’s odd. Autumn always answered his calls first ring. And she always had her phone on her. He called everyone in Steven’s crew but nobody answered. Everyone went straight to voicemail.

Parker waited around a bit more. Maybe he was seeing a disaster where there wasn’t one. Steven could be having everyone freeze him out. Jeremy and Andrew could be taking longer than expected on a clean up mission. But another hour slowly ticked by and he was met with radio silence. Foot bouncing he called his last resort.

Several rings later a man with a gruff voice answered, “Hello?”

“Geoff? Geoff Ramsey?” Parker gulped. He’d never actually spoken with the guy, and he sounded scarier than he looked. Which was saying something.

“Who’s asking?”

“M-my names Parker, I’m with Suptic’s crew and I uh-”

“Suptic?” Geoff’s voice softened. “One of those pine boys?”

“Yes. Well, sometimes. Sort of, mostly. I uh, well I-”

“You’re in some serious trouble kid, you know that?”

“I was afraid of that,” Parker sighed. It was going to be a long night.

Geoff wouldn’t explain over the phone. Wouldn’t say much besides, “You’re in trouble.” He insisted on meeting Parker in person to tell him what he knew about his missing friends. Parker had done his share of intimidation routines, and he could be off putting at least, most of the time. But this was the Geoff Ramsey and he didn’t have his boys to back him up. Things could go horribly wrong. If the Fakes had an issue with him, his odds of survival weren’t great. He shook off his  fears and donned his best suit and Jeremy’s sunglasses. Fake it till you make it, Parker. He slipped a handgun into the small of his back. Knives in sleeves. A vial of poison in the heel of his shoe. Jeremy always said to never go in unarmed, even friends can be persuaded to turn for the right price. Parker had no reason to particularly distrust the fakes but no reason to trust them either. A message dinged on his laptop. He assumed it was from Geoff, giving him directions. His eyes widened as he read an email from a familiar address. It was going to be one hell of a night.

He pulled up to the nondescript gray building, having turned his headlights off halfway down the street on the way here as instructed. Waiting for him outside the front of the building was the one who he supposed they called the Golden Boy. Parker thought he looked like a real asshole, wearing those golden shades at night. Upon realizing he too was wearing sunglasses he sighed and got out of the car.

“Parker?” The Brit asked, his voice somehow suggestive, although all he said was a name.

“Who else?” Parker shrugged and put on a fake smile. “I take it you’re not Geoff.”

“‘Course not love, can’t have the boss waiting out here on the street like a pleb. Let’s get you inside shall we?” charming words rolled off of Gavin’s tongue. Parker could see how this man could easily undo the will of many a weaker man or woman.

“I’d like nothing more than to be inside,” Parker winked.

“You know I could have Geoff postpone this meeting, you and I could go off and have a little fun of our own. You’re attractive enough, I s’pose,” the words fell lightly on Parkers ears.

“Are you sure our pal Rimmy up there won’t mind?” Parker said with a smirk.

“W-what? Whaddya mean you bell end? How do you know bout-” Parker held a knife to the thin mans throat.

“Cut the shit England. You’re gonna unlock the door and take me to Geoff and if you call for Michael at any point I won’t hesitate to end your life right there,” Parker growled. He had already taken out their sniper. What kind of idiots had their sniper clad in purple and orange. It didn’t matter he needed the information Geoff had. And he knew the fakes wouldn’t just give it up.

“Alright!” Gavin squawked. He fumbled the keys and they fell onto the ground. He gasped as Parker dug the knife into his arm and tossed him aside.

“On second thought, I’ll just let myself in. Get out of here if you know what’s best for you,” Parker calmly unlocked the door and strode in. His heart was pounding. The clock was ticking. His crew had been missing for too long. They don’t always live this long. Luckily the thin hallway didn’t leave a lot of options for Geoff’s location. He entered the first door on his left and found a large man with tattoos. Geoff.

“Hey, uh Geoff,” Parker said, hoping the man would turn to him. He did not.

“Parker.” Geoff said curtly. He sounded different than he had on the phone.

“You said you had intel on my crew and I’m really worried about them, Steven hasn’t answered my messages-”

“Steven hasn’t answered my messages,” Geoff mocked. Parker froze as he heard his own voice coming from in front of Geoff. “Steven, hey, it’s Parker, I was just calling to see-” Parker had hoped the email he received before leaving was a fluke. He hadn’t wanted this to happen this way.

“Where are they?” Parker demanded. His peripheral vision picked up a figure and he whipped around pulling the gun from his back and firing. A circle of blood formed on the curly haired man’s stomach as he fell to the ground.

“Son of a bitch! Geoff what the hell is going on?” ‘Mogar’ yelled. He didn’t look great.. Parker pointed the gun at Ramsey.

“Where are my fucking friends?” he barked.Geoff tossed Steven’s phone aside, screen shattering completely. “Tell me you bastard or I’ll kill everyone in this place, try me.”

“I know what you’re capable of,” Geoff chuckled. “That’s why you’re here. I know Suptic doesn’t appreciate what he’s got with you, and I thought I might offer you a position here in exchange for something I know you’d like back.”

“Just show me that they’re okay. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“I’m gonna need you to leave the gun with Michael here. You can understand why I wouldn’t want to bring it with us.” Parker mumbled a weak agreement and dropped the gun, kicking it in the opposite direction of the wounded man. “Fair play. Follow me.”

Geoff lead him to the end of the hallway to a simple metal door. It wasn’t even locked. Geoff pushed it open and sitting on the floor were Cib, James, Autumn and Steven. Parker smelled a trap.

“Where’s the rest of them?” he asked.

“Isn’t the four good enough? Awful greedy don’t you think? After all, there’s only one of you and more of us than you’d care to know about.”

“I won’t ask again,” Parker’s voice was cold, but his eyes were fiery daring Geoff to keep testing him.

“Greed is a sin my dear boy,” the Vagabond said, appearing from the shadows, donning his iconic mask. “A deadly one at that.” Parker kept a straight face.

Steven looked at him incredulously, and truly noticed him for the first time. The way the suit fit him just right. The way the sweat beaded down his face, pooling at his lips that Steve was just noticing looked awful soft. Yuckie. He didn’t know what Parker was trying to pull. He may have been secretly cute in a bumbling hero way or something this whole time but it wasn’t like he had the talent to get them out of here. Not Parker.

“What’s your plan Coppins, really?” the masked man asked. “I’m curious.”

“I suppose I thought I’d just do this,” Parker snapped his fingers and the lights went out. When they quickly flickered back on Parker was wiping blood from his second knife. The vagabond coughed and blood bubbled from his throat. “A man’s gotta have some tricks up his sleeve.” Geoff had bolted as soon as the lights went out, either to escape or call for reinforcements, it didn’t matter to Parker. He sliced the ropes binding Autumn first, removed the tape from her mouth. She simply thanked him and smiled. Cib and James came next, neither were particularly thankful, griping about how he didn’t notice they were missing for almost a month and what kind of friend even does that let alone one in this business.

Last came Steven. Eyes wide. As soon as Parker undid his restraints Steve pulled him into a gentle embrace. “You really did it,” his boss whispered in his ear. “I had no idea you were capable of anything like this.”

“Oh. Well, yeah. I’m pretty good at this, actually,” Parker responded, awkwardly shifting out of the hug.

“We should celebrate. I have this expensive wine back at my apartment-”

“Shouldn’t we search the building first to see if anyone else is being held here? I mean, Jeremy and Andrew are still missing. We can’t just leave without them,” Parker interrupted.

Cib, who had plucked his vape from his pocket, shrugged and said, “ You win some you lose some dude.” He proceeded to blow smoke into Parker’s face. Parker grit his teeth and stared at Steven, unmoving.

“Well yeah we should look for them. James, go on,” he gestured at the corner of the room from whence the Vagabond had come. James sighed and went to inspect the area. Parker followed closely behind him. There was a hatch in the floor and like the door to the room they were in, it was unlocked. Jame shined a light down as Parker lifted the hatch open. Two pairs of eyes stared up at them. Unfortunately they weren’t the eyes he’d been hoping to see.

Parker nearly slammed the hatch shut in frustration. He begrudgingly held his hand out to help the two men out of the hole. James Allen McCune and Devin couldn’t help not being Jeremy and Andrew. It just pissed him off that they weren’t here. That there was no way the email he’d received was a lie.

“Parker…” Steven rested a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find them. But we all need some rest. Come on back with me tonight. I know you don’t want to be alone in that apartment anyway.” He was right.

“Okay, sure,” Parker nodded. It was unavoidable now. “Let’s go I guess.”

The car ride was uncomfortable to say the least. Being kidnapped by another crew meant the only person with a car was Parker. He dropped off Cib and James first, giving them each a curt nod goodbye. James thanked him but it seemed hollow. Cib was still upset with him which was, in Parker’s opinion, bullshit. JAM wanted dropped off at a bar and who was Parker to stop him. After pulling away from the seediest bar in Los Santos he drove Devin to his house in the suburbs. He waved goodbye and it was finally just Parker and Steven alone, street lights illuminating their faces as they drove in relative silence.

“Parker, I’m sorry I doubted you,” Steven broke the silence. “You were incredible today. The thing with the lights? I mean, you might’ve killed The Vagabond. I’m just so blown away by it all.”

“It was nothing.” It was nice to hear compliments for a change. It was always ‘Why do we even invite you on these missions?’ and ‘Do you even do anything here?’

“I wish there was some way I could repay you. This is a genuine debt. You know how much I hate being indebted to people,” Steven continued.

“All I want is a glass of wine and a place to stay,” Parker said as he pulled into the apartment complex.

“That can be arranged,” Steven said with a laugh.

One awkward elevator ride later Parker was sitting in the penthouse apartment, on a pristine white couch, holding a glass of fancy wine. Steven was sitting uncomfortably close to him, still babbling about how grateful he was. Parker began to tune him out, thinking about that email and what it had said, the post script in particular.

“You know what I mean? Parker?” Steven interrupted his thoughts.

“Uh yeah. I hear you,” Parker laughed nervously. Steve’s hand was on his thigh. When did that get there? He took his first large swig of wine and as he put down the glass he felt Steven press closer. Their lips met and Parker allowed it to happen, returning the kiss. He’d seen this coming since he saw the look in Steven’s eyes in the warehouse. They pulled away and Parker rubbed his mouth on his sleeve.

“Not bad,” Steven said with a smirk.

“Mm.” Parker responded, looking down at his hands.

“No I- I mean it,” Steven said. He winced and coughed. He tried to begin again but Parker interrupted him.

“Look I. I know what you’ve done, Suptic. Just tell me where they are,” Parker said evenly.

“Parker, I-”

“You don’t have much time left Steve. I poisoned my cup. Passed it onto you. Without a cure you’ll be dead in half an hour. Not bad, huh?”

“Immune to poison now are we?” Steven shook his head. “You’re full of surprises. Your boys are alive, but for how much longer I don’t know.”

“Where are they?” Parker grabbed the other man’s throat. “Fucking tell me!”

Steven coughed pried Parker’s hand off his neck. “Parker, please, just give me a cure for the poison and we can talk about this like adults.

“I think you lost the right to a conversation when you fucking kidnapped my friends, hired some assholes to pretend to be the Fake AH Crew and pretended to be a victim yourself. Is that all you’re good for? Playing the goddamn victim?”

“I never wanted to hurt you,” Steven said. He immediately felt Parker’s closed fist make impact with his nose.

“Fuck you,” Parker turned away from him. “One last chance, Steve. Please, tell me where they are.”

Steven was finding it difficult to breathe evenly. Blood dripped down his face and he took the time to carefully wipe it off. He simply said, “Cib.” Parker pushed passed him, wasting no time getting to the door. He tossed the vial of poison to Steven who just barely managed to catch it.

“Find your own damn cure,” he said, putting up both middle fingers as he walked down the hall. His walk turned into a sprint. It was a risky move, endangering Steven’s life but not killing. He could have Cib on the phone faster than parker could possibly drive to James and Cib’s place. But despite how upset he was with Steven he couldn’t find it within himself to pull the trigger and actually kill him. Not bothering to take the elevator he made his way quickly down flights and flights of stairs.

He slammed his car door shut, fumbling with the keys, desperately trying to start the car. This was a race he couldn’t afford to lose. Once he got the car started and peeled out of the drive he reflected on the email once more.

Coppins,

It has come to my attention that you are in trouble. Your enemies are not who you think. Suptic can’t be trusted. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be of more help. We will not be meeting in person, I hope you understand. Do not try to contact me.

-G. Ramsey

P.S. If something you care about is at stake, Tread Lightly.

With the heads up Parker had known that there would be some amateur crew there playing dress up. He would never have killed the real Vagabond. Not that he couldn’t have. He had hoped that Geoff was pulling some kind of trick on him. A double fake out. But upon seeing the man in the warehouse he knew. The man in the warehouse had entirely different tattoos than the real deal. It was like the Sugar Pine Crew wasn’t even trying to fool him. Now, as he sped through the empty streets of Los Santos, the last two words echoed in his mind.

Tread Lightly. Tread Lightly. Tread Lightly.

As he bust through the door to James and Cib’s place, blood pounding in his ears, Tread Lightly.

Pulling a gun on a surprised looking James. Finger aching over the trigger. Tread Lightly. Tread Lightly.

“Parker! Glad you could join us. Why don’t you put that thing away and come with me?” Cib suggested. “I’m sure the boys will be happy to see you.”

Parker nodded, lowering his weapon. Cib didn’t appear to be armed, and neither did James. Cib brought him to the kitchen first.

“Can I offer you a drink? I don’t have any of that fancy one percenter wine but I’m sure I could find something.” Cib read the impatience on Parker’s face. “Maybe another time then.”

James unlocked a wooden door revealing a pretty spacious room. It was lacking in decor, however sitting in the middle of the room was a wooden table. Sitting at the table was a very battered looking Andrew and Jeremy. A sob caught in Parker’s throat.

“Hey Parker,” Jeremy said, face stoic as ever. Andrew looked hopeful.

“Hey guys,” Parker sniffed.

“Enough dude! I’m fine with a little happy reunion but there’s a problem. I’m afraid I can’t let all of you go. Doesn’t send a good message if this was all for nothing,” Cib shrugged. “It’s up to you.” He placed a gun on the table.

“Shoot me.” Parker said immediately.

“What, Parker no,” Andrew shook his head. “That’s crazy, you’re my best friend we could never-”

“I’m the one who pissed Cib off in the first place. That’s what this is about isn’t it?” Parker directed his question at Cib. He caught him mid-vape.

“It’s a safe bet” he coughed.

“If Andrew won’t do it, Jeremy, then. Please, I. I can’t lose either of you,” Parker pleaded. The past few days had made that evident.

“Parker…” Jeremy just sighed. He pushed the gun Cib had given them aside. Cib raised his eyebrows as if he was about to speak, but Parker got the words out first.

“Fine,” he lifted his own gun to his head. “I love you.” And, looking at Jeremy and Andrew, he genuinely smiled for the first time in awhile.

#sp7 #sugar pine 7 #sugar pine crew #gta au #my writing #shelby speaks #i know its confusing and everything is too rushed please just kill me

[momkiddies-blog]

Latest Post On https://momandkids.fun/2019/03/11/five-things-to-remember-when-your-kid-behaves-badly/

Five Things To Remember When Your Kid Behaves Badly

You’re waiting in line to check out with your one item. It’s a quick errand that you decided to squeeze in right before lunch. The mom in front of you has her toddler with her and she’s mid-tantrum and purposely knocking items off of the register display onto the floor. The toddler is inconsolable and irrational. The mom is frazzled. She can’t find the receipt for her return in her giant mom bag. Her daughter doesn’t care. The mom stops rummaging in her purse for the receipt and tries to distract her with something shiny. No luck. The toddler begins screaming…pushing up against her moms’ legs and generally making everyone uncomfortable. You watch the whole situation unfold from two feet away. You can SEE how the mom is doing the best that she can. You can SEE that the toddler is acting out and treating her mom, the one safe person in the building, with contempt and disrespect. You can SEE that she’s probably hungry or tired. She’s only three and it’s easy to remember that her brain hasn’t made all of those super important connections in her frontal lobe to cause her to realize that her behavior isn’t socially appropriate. From where you’re standing, the whole situation, while unfortunate, makes a lot of sense.

Now insert yourself as the mom with the screaming toddler. All of those things that you could SEE as the bystander are fuzzy and unclear. Your heart rate jumps up 20 beats per minute and you suddenly feel like the entire world is waiting on you to be able to continue to spin. You suddenly feel ashamed and embarrassed…as if it’s all your fault. From where you’re standing now, the whole situation makes no sense at all.

Mamas, we’ve all been there. Yes?

I spent the first few years of my motherhood a frazzled mess anytime my children misbehaved. I’d feel all the yucky feelings…annoyance, shame and guilt, frustration and anger, and embarrassment. “Why can’t they just behave?!” I’d desperately wonder. I even retreated a bit into isolation, closing myself off from a seemingly judgmental and unforgiving outside world because that felt easier than risking these painful interactions.

My friends, I was so wrong.

Unlike any generation before, we have no shortage of knowledge, research and opinions available to us when it comes to raising our children. Opinions on sleep training. Opinions on pacifiers. Opinions on disciplinary methods. Opinions on screen time. Opinions on opinions.

All kinds of opinions from the outside world coming in and telling us that we need to do this job perfectly.

So in parenting, when something goes wrong, we jump to the research. We consult the all-knowing internet. We read books to try to figure out just where we got it wrong and how to fix it immediately. Maybe you’ve stumbled here because you’re stressed about your child’s bad behavior and are unsure about how to handle it.

I sought out all the opinions on fixing the behavior of my children. But there were a few things that NOBODY was saying about dealing with bad behavior. I’m here to say FIVE of them.

Bad behavior is NORMAL. It’s inevitable that every single child will have moments of rebellion and disobedience during the first 18 years of their lives…oh and beyond. Normalcy does NOT equal acceptability, but it’s important to remember that our kids will naturally act out. Every kid is different, so some will be super creative and do it in ways that will shock and surprise us. What we shouldn’t be surprised by is the fact that they’re rebelling in some way, shape or form.

Bad behavior is a result of something DEEPER. You mama, are the one person with the most insight into the mind and heart of your child. You know how they tick. You know if they’re hungry or tired. You know that your daughter is less emotionally developed or that your son has a speech delay that could be causing frustration. You know if they slept poorly last night (because you probably did too). You know about that friendship at school that’s been strained for the past month. You have more information than anyone to help them work it out.

I found that I was always taking it personal when my kids acted up. Don’t take it personal! It’s not about you 99% of the time. You’re just the easy target because you’re their mom. You’re their safe place. The one who will love them no matter what.

Bad behavior does not always equal bad parenting. Remember before you had kids and anytime you saw a badly behaved child, you assumed it was the result of poor parenting? Surely I wasn’t the only naive one who made those incorrect judgments. We could parent perfectly and our children might still grow up and choose a path of foolishness. Just find an empty-nester or two and you can confirm. This job we’re doing makes no guarantees. So just because your child is losing his mind in the checkout line doesn’t always mean that you’re to blame.

We are their COACHES. Our kids need to be taught EVERYTHING. From how to brush their teeth to how to fold and put away their clothes, how to drive a car and how to fill out a college application. So far, I’ve found kids to be mostly incapable of figuring things out on their own without at least some instruction or pointing in the right direction. They also seem to need the EXACT SAME STATEMENTS repeated ad nauseum at times. We cannot expect them to know all the things. We are their coaches. Their role models. Their cheerleaders. It is our responsibility to teach them, not to sit back and assume they’ll figure it out themselves. If we don’t, someone else will and it may not be someone that you’d choose.

My very favorite phrase to use with my kids when they misstep is “Try Again”. It’s simple and direct and it gives them another chance to figure it out themselves. It shows them that I believe in them. It shows them that I’m on their team, hoping for them to make the right choice. It shows them grace without tolerance of misbehavior. You may not continue this behavior…try again.

Whining… “Try again”

Throwing toys… “Try again”

Hitting a sibling… “Try again”

Losing temper… “Try again”

Running away in a parking lot… “Try again”

And then, of course, there are times that they don’t want to try again…

EMOTIONLESS Consequences. Consequences should be matter-of-fact, planned out and calmly executed. 1+1=2…always. It’s not an emotional thing. “You did this…so here’s the consequence. Done.” Take the emotion out.

We should always believe the best about our children while also having the foresight to expect them to misstep. Expect obedience but also plan ahead for those times of disobedience so that you’re not caught off-guard. Plan your consequences ahead of time for disobedience and ALWAYS follow through. Foresight keeps your emotions at bay.

So what now?

So maybe none of this is new information for you. But it’s certainly a lot easier on paper then it is to execute in real life, yes? I’m a big fan of repeating truth over and over though. It helps it to stick and influence our thinking…and it proves my point about needing to hear things more than once before they sink in, even as adults. As I remind myself of these five things more and more, I find that I can parent more objectively and effectively in the tough moments. The moments that threaten my blood pressure to rise and my feelings to bruise.

So mama, when your sweet child who you love more than the air in your own lungs is acting out in the most ridiculously inappropriate ways that you could never have dreamed up yourself…lean in.

Lean in and let her know that you’re not going anywhere.

Remember that she is not the sum of her behavior. Remember that something else is going on underneath the surface. Remember that you are not to blame. Remember your role as her coach, her cheerleader and her safe place.  

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About lesliekvas

Hi friends! I’m Leslie Kvasnicka (ka-vas-ni-cka). I’m a born and raised Texas girl about to celebrate 10 years of marriage to my love Justin. After a two year adventure together in New York, we settled in Austin seven years ago in 2012. In my former life, I worked as a pediatric nurse, and I’m now spending my days as a Stay-at-home-mom to our three crazy kids…two brave and fun-loving boys, Logan (7) and Colt (2) with a feisty sister, Reese (4) in the middle. My list of favorites is a mile long, including cooking new recipes, group fitness classes, vacations with friends, creative projects, creamy coffee, the enneagram, patios covered in twinkle lights and texting in gifs. Hilarious memes are my love language. My true passions that make my heart beat fast are my faith in Jesus and the authentic relationships that speak life into our lives. I manage a blog that is all about empowering and celebrating the beauty of motherhood and building up the family unit. . Follow along with my lovely little squares on instagram @kvas.chaos and on our blog www.kvaschaos.com

#Child Development

[lil-coffee-kitty]

Can you Forgive Me, Friend?

A songshot of remorse and forgiveness between the Demon Brothers and my OC, Rowan.

Rowan hadn’t come out of her room in six days, and today marks a full week. The shock of being killed because of what she was, who she was, all by the one demon brother whom she thought just wanted to talk things out with Lucifer, isn’t an easy thing to get over. Every day she heard one of the brothers- maybe two of them, knock on her door in varying degrees of force and worry, begging her (or ordering before being pulled away) to come out and just talk to them.

Giver her a fucking break. Rowan had died, and sure she came back thanks to her ancestor, but because of said ancestor- who, by the way, is the brother’s dead sister- she came back without any lasting effects... except, yanno, being DEAD doesn’t fade from memory that easily.

Rowan sighed and curled up in the darkest, warmest corner in her room, the Little D's she'd managed to win over from each of the brothers gathering around and churring sadly as their mistress plugged her earbuds in to listen to music.

Belphegor sighed as he rolled over in his bed- after the radio silence from his brothers, even Beel, he had begun to think on what he had done. He had continued to lure Rowan up to the attic, be it in dream or physically, but as her visits became more voluntary, Belphie had begun to, dare he say it, enjoy the human's company. He had been trapped up there without anyone save for Lucifer knowing, and even though his initial plan was to kill Rowan and escape the attic, even towards the event leading up to his claws ripping into her chest he had… hesitated.

Even if he felt doubt, seeing the fear that turned warm dark chocolate eyes to sludgy mud, he followed through with his deed and ripped Rowan's heart out- literally- with his own hands.

Thinking back on a song Rowan had showed him when she was warming up to him, giving him trust he realized now he didn't deserve, as his chest tightened painfully, he realized with a resigned sigh that, for the first time since falling, he couldn’t sleep. Pulling out his DDD, he put his headphones over his ears and rolled over in the sheets, pressing play, unknowing that six others in the house had the idea to listen to the same song as well.

 (IF YOU GUYS WANNA, START MUSIC HERE)

Lucifer's wings flicked as the guitar came in on the song, he listened to on his DDD, narrowing his eyes as he absently mouthed the words of Thell, remembering himself attempting to apologize to the human who had tried to do her part, to reconcile two estranged brothers despite it being none of her business. Instead, every time he sounded unsympathetic to her plight.

I~ I've been keeping secrets from you dear, There's things in me I'm scared that you might fear… The crack goes in the ground…

Closing his eyes, Lucifer could feel the emotions at the forefront of his being. The ache of wronging someone he especially treasures and considers his family as much as the others was strong, and a sudden zig-zag like a fissure or crack in the earth split through the plateau of his emotions. He never wanted Rowan to see that side of him, but his pride just wouldn't have her undermining his authority, and put her in her place.

 In her room, Rowan mouthed the words to Smith's line, remembering when Lucifer wouldn’t stop prying into her trust issues not knowing he was trying to help her and instead figuring he was looking for weaknesses.

And you, you've been coming closer to the edge, Wondering what goes on in my head? And so I shut you out~!

Mammon couldn't care enough to count his money right now. He had failed to protect his Human, the first one he was actually happy to have been forced to watch. He saw her like a little sister, and it wasn't because he had found out that Rowan was descended from Lilith. Rowan was the scapegoat in the Human World in her workplace and her home, much like him in some ways.  Everyone expected her to be the bigger person, but she cried, raged, yelled, creamed and laughed like everyone else… Mammon didn't want what Rowan and he had to end…

And I guess that we don't mean to be falling apart But you will always have a special place in my heart I never wanted this to end, can you forgive me friend?

Rowan stood and began to dance, spinning around as she sang to the shared lyrics. Just down the hall, Leviathan was listening to the sing, his tail flicking as he gazed forlornly at the anime he wanted his best friend to watch with him… if he weren't such a yucky otaku and a weak shut-in, maybe he could have helped Rwan when she needed it the most… if he wasn't so mean to her in the beginning either, maybe she could have relied on her more, before it came to her hiding from them all…

'Cause I fell in the hole, in the hole, in the hole! My heart was turning cold, turning cold, turning cold, I never wanted this to end, can you forgive me friend?

Rowan glanced at the gaming controller on the ground sting by a bag of unopened chips that Beel had picked out for her before everything went to the Human Realm in a handbasket… well, even her rightly-felt anger couldn't be directed fully at the Otaku and the houses sweetest sinnamon roll. Rowan reached out to pick up the chips, remembering nightly game and chow sessions with Levi and Beel. Tears filled her eyes, tears of fear and frustration as she realized that things might never go back to how they were before.

And I, I promised you that we would never change… That you and me would always stay the same, How I let you down…

Beel sat in the living room, a full platter in his lap- it hadn't been touched since he had prepared the foods. His work-out earbuds were in, unknowingly playing the song that his other housemates were playing as well. He felt hungry, but couldn't bring himself to eat anything on the plate. Then he realized he didn't want to eat it unless Rowan was there beside him. He felt almost disgusted with himself; when Rowan was being attacked, he didn't move to help her at all. He had been torn between Rowan and his twin, and the fact that he couldn't choose brought flashes of the War every night since the human had barricaded herself in her room.

And I guess that we don't mean to be falling apart, But you will always have a special place in my heart… I never wanted this to end, can you forgive me friend?!

Asmo stared at his vanity dully before letting his head fall into his arms. Just like in the War, he had been useless. His family was falling apart once more, and this time things may never be the same again. Looking in the reflection, he caught a flash of his clothes splattered in blood, Rowan's body at his feet, and he borderline screamed, flinging a fist out and shattering the mirror to dispel the illusion.

'Cause I fell in the hole, in the hole, in the hole My heart was turning cold, turning cold, turning cold I never wanted this to end, can you forgive me friend? (Hey)

In his library, Satan was cradling a cat that Rowan had snuck into the house for him, a beautiful golden Egyptian Mau with emerald green eyes. Was one of the reasons Rowan didn’t call for even him because he got enraged when she had initially refused to form a pact with him? Was that why she was avoiding not just everyone, but him?

Belphegor stared up at the ceiling, speckled with glow in the dark stars and clouds from the Human Realm that displayed the constellations he always loved to watch. His palm came up and gripped his jacket harshly, twisting the cloth in his grip as his heart squeezed painfully at his past act(s). Maybe it wasn't the humans with ugly hearts, but Belphegor…

So can, can you forgive me friend? Can you forgive me friend for breaking us apart? 'Cause in the end, I didn't want this to end… Can you forgive me friend? Forgive my ugly heart!

Rowan sat against the door in a flashback as each of the brothers showed up on the other side one by one, their apologies becoming more and more desperate as time went on to where they were now. Even Belphegor became sincere and had even cried on his knees on the other side of oak.

And I guess that we don't mean to be falling apart But you will always have a special place in my heart I never wanted this to end, can you forgive me friend?

One by one, the girl opened the door to Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, and eventually even Belphegor and Lucifer watching tears fall from the first six as they told her they never meant to cause this between them- or in Belphegor's case he realized that he was so wrong, something Rowan could see he was sincere form with the almost racoon-like visage he sported, and however she  she wished, they would try to make this right.

'Cause I fell in the hole, in the hole, in the hole My heart was turning cold, turning cold, turning cold I never wanted this to end…

 As the brothers apologized, rowan could see that they were painfully sincere. It wasn't the sincerity of someone who was half-assing the apology, like I'm sorry you feel that way or I'm sorry I got caught. They never wanted this friendship/relationship between them all to go down in flames like it had.

Can you forgive me, friend?

Their apology asked…

Rowan's frown had lessened at each of them, even Belphegor and Lucifer, and she gave a painfully sad nod.

"Yes…" was her reply.

#obey me brothers #i forgive you #Forgive Me Friend #Songshot~! #Mammon #Leviathan #Satan #Asmodeus #Beelzebub #Belphagor #Lucifer #My OC Rowan

[anneedmonsonus]

What I’d Buy on Facebook Marketplace Today (If I Wasn’t Broke)

I was a teenager the first time someone told me I had an addictive personality. “Oh!” I said brightly, flattered. “Meaning people find me addictive?” I was picturing myself as this alluring, magnetic creature. “NO,” they shot back rudely. “It just means that you get addicted to things very fast.”

It wasn’t the last time anyone said that to me, and I have to admit, they have all been correct. When I start getting addicted to ANYTHING, I feel this pentup, excited, nervous energy coursing through my blood, like there is a happy little person is in my brain hopping up and down on the spot shouting more more more “MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE OF THIS”. It’s at the back of my mind always. (So many examples. The Sims. Chalk paint. Jamaica Blue walnut brownies. Marie Kondo. The other night, when Mr Nerd taught me how to play Blackjack, then dragged me away from the table once my eyes got the crazy gleam. Forbrydelsen. Work. Pinterest. Manhattan Nest. Words with Friends. Coffee. SNES Battle. etc).

One of my latest addictions is Facebook Marketplace. (“MORE MORE MORE,” shrieks my inner crazy). It’s like Gumtree but better, to be honest. Firstly, a lot of things in the homewares realm tend to be priced cheaper than they would on Gumtree, with some people just offloading stuff for very little or even free. Also, with the ability to check out a seller’s public profile, I like to think you have a lesser chance of going out to a stranger’s house and them being an axe-wielding maniac (I hope).

Similar to image-sharing platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, Marketplace is predominantly image-focused, making it more visually pleasing and fun to browse. This is a feature that I also think makes it pretty effective if you want to make a sale. One of my friends was telling me how she listed three items on Gumtree for a week with no bites; on Facebook Marketplace they were gone within the day, one within 20 minutes.

While I think the userface could be improved in some ways, on the whole Facebook Marketplace is great – particularly if you’re decorating a house. There are so many furniture and homewares bargains to be had. Sure, some of it has that scary “did someone die in this armchair” vibe, but it’s all about envisioning (and maybe re-upholstering).

There’s a LOT of cool secondhand furniture, art and homewares – and a lot of bargains. Especially at the moment, with a whole lot of people going KonMari-mad after binge-watching Marie Kondo’s Netflix show Tidying Up during the New Year break. (You might have seen my Instagram, I definitely went a little Konmari nutty). Something might not spark joy for you; but it sure as hell can spark joy for someone else browsing Facebook Marketplace.

HOWEVER. We now have a six-month-old in our midst and I’m only working part-time (essentially in naps and at night, ugh. Which as you can imagine isn’t the most conducive set-up).

Ok, so I’m not exactly broke (that was me getting your attention with my click-baity title, and you’re here so clearly I succeeded) however, we are pretty much a one-income family at the moment and are trying to be more careful with our spending, so we’re on a bit of a budget. Also, to be honest, I have everything I want, really. Our not-huge house is full; I wouldn’t mind swapping Mr Nerd’s bedside table for one with more storage, but at present, furniture-wise there’s really nothing I neeeeed.

That doesn’t mean, however, that it isn’t fun to just look! Sometimes even when I’m just on Facebook, things on Marketplace pop up on my feed and I can’t resist an idle browse; the same way I scroll realestate.com without the aim of buying a weatherboard cottage in the Blue Mountains.

One of my friends who shares my fondness for online bargain hunting is Nelly Reffet, an interior designer at Twinkle and Whistle. Nelly’s signature style of interiors caught my eye long ago when I first saw them online – what I liked about them is that she relishes the challenge of finding vintage and secondhand things and making them work, in both her own home and her clients.

And man, Nelly is the Facebook Marketplace QUEEN. She regularly texts me things like, “Look at this *insert any covetable MCM design* chair/table I got from Facebook Marketplace.” I gape in awe. “FOR FREE,” she continues. “Master,” I moan.

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She also puts my bargain hunting to shame. When I text her things I like, she’s usually like, “It’s pretty! But too expensive.” She is the Facebook Marketplace equivalent of that friend everyone has where you them what they thought of that guy you liked and she’d be like, “Yeaaaah…… you can do better.” Brutal.

So when I thought of writing a fun story on things I’d buy on Facebook Marketplace if I wasn’t on a budget and had a few big houses to decorate, naturally asking Nelly to join in was the second thing that came to mind. She was keen. “What I like is that we can show people that we can get super cool-looking interiors without breaking the bank, without resorting to Kmart or big stores, and we recycle things too, so it’s much better for the environment,” she said to me. “Plus, people are Marie Kondo-ing their lives, and Facebook market is becoming the source of all good things that spark joy!”

So here’s our pick of what’s out on the Perth Facebook Marketplace at the moment – what we’d nab, and also, Nelly’s awesome guides on how she’d style some pieces and in what kind of setting to get a great look for less. “Certain items are more than we would personally pay – but they are beautiful and were available at the time of putting this together,” says Nelly. “But I always think when it comes to buying secondhand online, the best deals are usually made by being patient. I set myself a price I don’t want to go over, and I wait… the concept of Slow Decorating is key to cheap deals!”

So here are our picks! Look, Nelly doesn’t agree with all of mine, but hey, one person’s trash is another’s treasure, right? Enjoy.

(Also, if you’re looking for an interior designer to help you pull your own curated, individual look together, I recommend Nelly regularly. You can contact her via twinkleandwhistle.com or check out her Insta @nelly_reffet).

VINTAGE WARDROBE

The item that sparked this post. I so badly wanted this linen cupboard. And it’s $20. Do I have any room for it, anywhere? No. Do I need it? No. Do I love it? Yes. It’s such a pretty shape and colour. I could see it in a children’s room.

MID CENTURY HABITAT DESK

Oh I love this. And what I love about it is that the light rattan sides and back would help disguise any ugly under-desk computer stuff, cords etc, but they don’t weigh the piece down and make it look heavy. If your study/home office is open-plan with the rest of the house, it’s a desk that would add to your home’s style, not detract from it. It’s beautiful and $450 is decent for something like this.

VINTAGE CANE CHAIR

I think this is cute. It’s a nice cane, not a yucky blah orange-y cane. I see it in a bedroom with a little white fluffy throw against crisp white walls, or with a colourful pillow and an oversized plant or a little mother-in-laws tongue. OR I’d have it outside on a (protected) deck with a little side table. I’d also reupholster the pink cushion. Nelly thinks it is too expensive, but she is brutal.

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INTERIORS THEME: BOHO CHIC

“Think plush, weathered sofas you want to collapse in, bold patterns and a few shimmering touches for a casual and fun place to call home,” says Nelly, who loves the vibe travertine tables like these add to a room. “Real marble and travertine will never go totally out of fashion,” she says. “If they do, don’t worry, they will still remain cool!”

GET THE LOOK  Sofa Coffee Table Rug (as an aside, Marketplace can be a great place to find beautiful secondhand rugs) Metal Bowls Hanging decor

Total budget: $1,710

VINTAGE DRINKS TROLLEY

I love a drinks trolley or a butler’s cart and I would have one in every room if I could. This one has a sort of daintiness about it that is quite pretty. I’d restore it or maybe even paint. (Is that bad?)

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RUSSELL WOODARD SPUN FIBREGLASS VINTAGE CHAIRS

At $275, they’re not such a bargain that I’d cry tears of joy, however, it’s worth it. For a) these chairs are stunning and b) They look like they are in great nick, and c) for that price you could buy two new chairs or two awesome vintage pieces that you could sell again down the track without them losing their value. They’d look so good on a patio or veranda against an old rendered wall or in a black/white/themed garden setting.

INTERIORS THEME: AUSTRALIANA

Here’s a nod to a more simple life in our country. “We’re so globally focused these days that we forget the natural beauty Australia has to offer and how inspiring its landscapes and colours are,” says Nelly, who is French-born but now an Australian citizen. The kangaroo chairs are a little kitschy, but cute in their own way. We can picture one of them in a kids room at a cute desk (see the school desk coming up). Inspiration source.

GET THE LOOK Watercolour Wardrobe Chairs Basket

Total budget: $180

FREEDOM ATLAS SOFA

I cannot go past beautiful brown or camel-coloured leather couches. My sister-in-law has this Freedom couch and it is such a nice modern shape and is also long and comfy enough to have been the recipient of many a nap. $1500 is a decent price too.

ANTIQUE 1904 LONDON MARBLE TABLE

This is expensive (for Facebook Marketplace) but it IS a beautiful piece and it looks like it’s in great nick. If you had an old house and a large kitchen it would work in there or even in a large hallway as a very pretty drop zone.

OLD PAINTINGS

My love of an old painting knows no bounds, it appears. My husband would hate them, but these are cute, and c’mon, $5, people. I think I’m drawn to paintings because at one point you can tell that someone put so much time and love into them. I think my fave is the one of the mountains with the haphazard-looking cabin and the unnaturally blue water.

REGENCY STYLE BUFFET SIDEBOARD

From what I can tell in the photos, this looks in good nick, although they say it is veneer. I do love walnut anything though – it’s such a nice versatile timber colour and I love the front detailing on this, and the legs. I’d have it in a dining room or even behind a sofa or against a wall in a really large living room.

VINTAGE FLIP SCHOOL TABLE

A nice easy DIY project (sand the top, sage green or duck egg blue legs?) and in a kids room – if our kids room were larger I would nab this.

INTERIORS THEME: DESIGNER-INSPIRED

Nelly and I share a massive design crush on Arent & Pyke. Seriously, they can do no wrong. Everything they do is individual and eclectic yet cool and pulled-together. They are not afraid of colour, or taking risks that I think a lot of people – even other designers – would be afraid of. “When I first saw their Bronte beach house, I fell massively in love with the living room they had created, and it’s been haunting my visual brain – in the best way possible – ever since,” says Nelly. “So when I stumbled across a FREE armchair on Marketplace the other day that vaguely resembles that grey beauty in their design, my heart raced a little bit. Oh the opportunity! Sure the free armchair will need to be reupholstered (which is lucky for me since my hubby is an upholsterer and is just about to start his business and needs a few pieces to redo to get his portfolio started), and it is not the same as the beautiful designer one from Arent & Pyke. But still, it is testament that we can get a bit of a designer look, on a budget, without resorting to flat pack and Kmart.”

GET THE LOOK Armchair Sideboard Rug Vintage chandelier Artwork

Total budget: $995

BOOK SHELF

Simply put, seller. You call a spade a spade. I like it. And sure, this book shelf is simple and basic, but something about the top is cute, and it’s $10. I’d buy this in a second, give it a bit of paint (I’m thinking spearmint or yellow, something fun) and use it in a kids room or hallway with a cute trailing plant on the top. I used to collect bookcases the way some people collect shoes. When I moved out of homeI realised I had nine bookcases through my parents home. I do give away books regularly, but there’s still some I just can’t part with.

  INTERIORS THEME: TROPICAL COOL

This look is 70s and 80s glam with a hint of Bali about it, and these Casala chairs are the biggest bargain of the lot. Inspiration source.

Casala Chairs Bamboo dining table Beaded Chandelier Vintage bird ceramics Teak bowl Artwork

Total budget: $355

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CARVED SERVING TRAY

This is pretty and would be lovely in a light and white coastal home. I’d lean it against the top of a sideboard or buffet in the dining room with a white sculpture or little framed picture in front and a Boston fern or something next to it.

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MID-CENTURY WALL UNIT

Don’t quote me on this but I’m pretty sure my in-laws have this exact same wall cupboard that was passed down to them. It’s not a classic designer piece but it’s well-made and sturdy. For $75, if I were a first home buyer again and furnishing say a cute mid-century cottage, I’d snap this up for storage and fill the side panels with books.

ART DECO 

“Curves curves curves! And pink, soft velvet. A definitely feminine twist on Art Deco,” says Nelly.

Dresser Stool Armchair Ceiling light Rug Artwork

Total budget: $710

TWO JARRAH AUSTRALIAN MID-CENTURY CHAIRS

Something about these chairs makes me think of two old grandfatherly types, sitting in their chairs and laughing over some inside joke. I think just one would be cool in a living room teamed with a more modern sofa. They have a nice solid shape and you could reupholster the pillows.

WEST ELM CHAIR

Given its $170 it’s probably not hugely off the retail price (I’m not sure, you’d have to check) but this would add a bit of warmth to a bedroom corner or kids room at a desk. Yep I really am a sucker for brown leather anything.

80s FLAVOR

“The 80s were not for the faint-hearted,” says Nelly. “It called for strong patterns, bright, contrasting colours, and a rather playful take on furniture design. You couldn’t quite be neutral or minimalist in the 80s.” But elements of the 80s are coming back, and if you like the look, here are Nelly’s picks.

GET THE LOOK Curved Sofa + Ottoman Round Chair Pottery Decor Cowhide Artwork Artwork 02

Total Budget: $1,069

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IKEA SPINDLE CHAIRS

For four chairs for $20, I’d run there. These are cute; I’d probably spray paint black or mint and have them around a round table or an old farmhouse table.

CUTE RETRO BEDSIDE

This is a little different to the usual and the handle is a nice feature. I’d get it if it weren’t too low for our bed!

Have you ever bought anything awesome on Facebook Marketplace? Maya x

The post What I’d Buy on Facebook Marketplace Today (If I Wasn’t Broke) appeared first on House Nerd.

from Home Improvement https://house-nerd.com/2019/02/02/what-id-buy-on-facebook-marketplace/

[twdeamspace]

Cancer sucks.

5 years ago (March 8) I was driving to work when I received a phone call I had been impatiently waiting for. A phone call from my doctor, confirming my worst fear, that I had cancer. That drive was only 23 miles, but might as well have been 1000. News like that does funny things to people. I think I laughed as much as I cried. I’m sure anyone who passed me on the freeway thought I was losing my mind. I probably was. At 26 years old, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I was healthy. The radiologist had found a tumor a right above my heart at 10cm in size. He made sure I was aware that Hodgkin lymphoma (also called Hodgkin’s lymphoma and previously known as Hodgkin’s disease) is one of the most curable forms of cancer. Having that positive information made this giant pill easier to swallow. I was sick, but I wasn’t going to die. Telling my loved ones was incredibly hard. I’ve always said, it was easier being the sick one. Had it been someone close to me, I don’t think I would have been as strong. Once diagnosed, my team of doctors and nurses didn’t waste any time. First off was a series of tests to determine if the cancer had spread any where else in my body and to make sure I could handle the aggressive treatment. These tests included a Pulminary Function Test, CT scan, PET scan, MUGA and bone marrow sample retrieval (ouch). Once these were completed I was sent to the hospital to get my portacath. This simple surgery is where they insert a device right under the skin, which makes it easy for the chemo to be administered. My cousin Julie, lovingly helped me name that POS Portencia…which sounds like an evil step-sister from some Disney movie. Once the procedure was complete I was sent home. The following week my infusions would begin. The next day (Saturday) I was driving to my hair-dresser friend Tonya’s house. I had always wanted to try a pixie cut. With the high possibility of losing my hair, I thought, why not try it now?! I was almost to her house when I received a call from my surgeon. This is odd, I thought, when I answered the phone. He was calling me on a Saturday, from his cell phone, this isn’t good. He asked what I was doing and if I had eaten anything that morning. From there he proceeded to tell me that on reviewing the radioactive PET scan I had Friday afternoon, he saw some complications relating to the portacath. First of all, the tumor itself was very large and was encroaching on everything in my upper chest, pushing things around and out of position. The vein that the catheter was supposed to feed was being impeded by the tumor so there was no way it was going to work to carry the chemo where it needed to go. Further, the catheter had moved into the space where my right lung is and my right lung was deflating. The doctor said I needed to come in to the hospital right away. Within an hour of arriving at RVMC emergency, later that afternoon they were wheeling me down to the O.R. The doctor showed my Mom the PET scan so she could see what he was talking about. He showed her how they would try to move the catheter into a favorable position so it could serve its purpose, perhaps even trying to come from a different angle through a new incision on the other side of my chest. The surgery would take about an hour. An hour and twenty minutes later, he came out and said that the tumor size and position was just not going to allow for that catheter to work there. They had to remove it and they would plan on installing a picc-line into my upper arm where chemo could be administered. The thing that needed to happen ASAP was for us to start shrinking that tumor, and the quickest way to do that is to get the chemo going. Making matters worse, during the surgery I started bleeding into my chest cavity and once they got that under control they had to install a chest tube through my ribs and out to drain any additional blood and fluid. They kept me sedated during the night so I wouldn’t wake up and start pulling at any tubes. I spent Saturday night in CCU on a ventilator, and needed a couple of units of blood. I spent Sunday and all of the last night in considerable pain from the chest tube. I wasn’t able to sleep, and even morphine every two hours wasn’t enough to help me conquer the pain. Monday morning they removed the tube. Having the tube was bad, but trying to recover from that tube was even worse. I then had an electrocardiogram; and they installed a picc-line into my arm. While placing the picc into my arm, the nurse casually said, “I’m sorry this is happening to you. You know, you may not be able to have children after this.” What?! How could she mention such a serious matter so casually. Was this true?! I was 26, in a serious relationship, on the path to marriage, and may not be able to have kids? Would he want me any longer? Was I defective? All things I was thinking while I quietly sat there, needle in my arm, tears in my eyes. From there I was placed in a “regular” room, and released that next Wednesday. Aside from a few yucky side effects, my chemo was text book. It was double the doses each infusion because my oncologist wanted to be swift in eliminating the tumor. 12 rounds of chemo, and I would be healthy again. My first treatment, my mom sat by my side. My Nana showed up shortly after with a calendar. This calendar had pages and pages of the most beautiful places in the world. Beaches in the Maldives, deserts in the Middle East, and jungles in South America. One of the pages was of Machu Picchu. I turned to that page right away and told my Nana and Mom that this is one place I wanted to visit. My Nana quickly ripped the page right out of the calendar, folded it up neatly, and handed it to me. She told me, when I was completed with treatment, and in remission, I would have to go. I kept that picture with me everywhere I went that year, in my purse. With a firm goal in mind. Throughout my treatment I had my Mom, Nana, and husband (boyfriend at the time) to name a few, by my side. My Dad even helped me financially so I didn’t have to worry about getting my bills paid, because at the time I was in outside sales. The support from my tribe made me focused and kept me positive. Unfortunately, disease creates distance for some loved ones. Distance because sickness makes people uncomfortable. It’s not because they don’t love you, or don’t think about you, but because they don’t know HOW to be around you. Don’t know what to say. OR How to be there. I recently read about a woman who created empathy cards, she wished she had received during treatment. These are SO on point. One reads, “Please let me be the first to punch the next person who tells you everything happens for a reason. I’m sorry you’re going through this.” Another reads, “I promise to never refer to your illness as a Journey…unless someone takes you on a cruise.” One more, “When life gives you lemons, I won’t tell you a story about my cousin’s friend who died of lemons.” LOVE ALL OF THESE! She even collaborated with a compassion expert and wrote a book on how to become more emotionally intelligent and how to appropriately comfort and support someone who is ill. You can find it here. When someone you care about gets sick, don’t just offer to help. EVERYONE and THEIR NEIGHBOR does this. It’s empty. Actually say what you are going to do, and follow-through. My Nana would randomly come by with dinner. My mom, made it to EVERY SINGLE treatment. My husband, told me I was beautiful as I pulled out clumps of hair. These are the things that matter. These are the things they will remember. Fast forward… One year after I finished treatment, my love and I made it to Peru. We hiked up Machu Picchu then even higher to Huayna Picchu, he took a knee, and promised to love me the rest of my life. 4 years ago TODAY, I walked through the doors at Hematology Oncology cancer free. I can still smell the chemicals and taste the saline, feel the aches and the hot flashes. But it is over. I am forever indebted to my family and friends for holding me up, and to the nurses and doctors for helping me fight. To all the people I met along the way that didn’t make it, I think about you often. I promise, I will do my best not to squander this precious time I have been blessed with. You’re with me everyday. Since my last infusion I have become a wife and a mother, and couldn’t be happier with this life I have been given.

from WordPress http://joyandlulu.com/2017/08/22/a-day-to-remember/

#Uncategorized

[greggory--lee]

15 Ways to Create Some Extra Holiday Money

Originally this was going to be a list for my two teenagers but some of these ideas are better suited to adults with a valid driver's license and a bit of know-how. Some of these take a bit of planning and organizing, but most of them could have done on a fairly spur of the moment case by case basis. The great thing about a lot of these ideas is that you're spreading holiday cheer by helping to make someone else's other stressful and overwhelming to-do list a little bit easier. Who would not pay to have someone come do a few of these things for you? Mostly, what's important is that you remember to provide a quality item or service to the buyer with a smile on your face and in your heart. Have fun with these!

1. Baby-sit for people who need to do some Christmas shopping without their little ones tagging along. Anyone trustworthy who is over the age of about thirteen or fourteen can do this one. It's hectic enough to get in and out of the malls and shopping centers without having to drag toddlers along. Contact friends, family, coworkers, and members of your spiritual community to let them know that you're available for holiday babysitting. This can include time that the parents need to get away for office parties, charity events, and volunteering to help the elderly and less fortunate members of their community.

2. Grab a ladder and offer to clean leaves out of your neighbors' gutters. Many people are so busy during the summer months that they completely forget to clean all of the debris from their gutters when the sun is out and it's dry outside. It's cold and yucky outside now and many people are too busy to get to it themselves. They'll probably be glad that you offered and they can check it off of their to-do lists. This is not one for the youngger kids. However, they can offer to rake up the leaves in their neighbors' yards. Adults could offer to do both the gutters and the yard as one big project for a nice reasonable price. It could also be a father & son side business that you do together – while dad cleans the neighbors gutters, junior rakes up the leaves in the lawn.

3. Bake something amazing and offer to sell it to your friends and coworkers so they will not have to do their own holiday baking. You probably have to be careful about selling your baked goods to professional organizations and such, but you could do some sideline baking to help out your friends, neighbors, and coworkers who are going to be entertaining guests over the holidays and simply will not have The time to do their own baking. Have you got an awesome recipe that stands out as everyone's absolute favorite? It's the hit of every potluck? Make up some tiny sample sizes or bring it in to the office break room and serve up samples to your potential clients. Then while their mouths are watering, tell them that for a fee you'll bring them one to their home the day before their guests are to arrive. You'll have to work out the scheduling and cost of ingredients and such, but this could be a fun way to make some money and spread some serious joy. The hostess will be so pleased when she pulls your work of art out of the fridge and her guests ooh and ah over the scrumptious homemade dessert she did not even have to bake herself.

4. Offer to collect people's empty soda cans and cash them in. My son raised almost $ 300 last spring doing this so that he could go to a training course to become a college counselor for the little kids at our church. He went door to door offering to do yard work and most people just handed him bags and bags of pop cans they did not want to take the time to cash in. He collected most of them over one weekend and then cashed them all in the following weekend. We live really close to a grocery store where he could walk to cash them in, so I did not even have to get my car dirty with sticky soda drippings! This is a really good one for the youngger kids to do.

5. Sell something on eBay. I know a number of people who make a decent second income all year round by digging around for antiques and such from the Goodwill and then fixing them, cleaning them up, and selling them for a much higher price on eBay. You have to know what to look for, but these folks will pick up an old pair of stereo speakers for $ 10 or $ 15 and then sell them on eBay for $ 200. The customer pays for shipping. You can also do this through garage sales, flea markets, and estate sells too. Most of the time and work goes into hunting for the cool treasures that someone will want to purchase.

6. Hang up people's outdoor Holiday lights for them. As a single mom, I would have loved it if someone had come to my house and hung the Christmas lights on my house for me. My children always wanted us to decorate the outside of the house and I hated not being able to do that for them. I did not know the first thing about how to go about hanging them up. I did not even own a ladder! So, I would think that you could go around offering to hang up people's outdoor holiday lights for a fee. It they like like me and do not even have lights but want to get some, you could offer your expertise as to which kind to buy and where to get the best prices and such.

7. Grab a broom or a shovel and offer to clean the neighborhood sidewalks. This is another good one for the younger teens. There's always sidewalks that need swept or shoveled. And there's always someone too busy or too tired to do it themselves.

8. Work a second job as seasonal help at one of the department stores in the mall. Most of the major department stores hire extra help in October or November so they can have them fully trained by the time the really busy holiday shopping season kicks in. They are kept on until after the inventory counts are done in January. Then most are let go if they have not quit already. Those who have proven themselves to be quality employees will often be asked to stay on longer.

9. Sell something at holiday bazaars. I suspect that you have to get these kinds of events lined up ahead of time with a bit of preplanning and such, but plenty of people make a decent seasonal income by selling cool arts and crafts type items at those holiday bazaars. Often a percentage of the sales goes towards a fundraiser, but you still make enough to make it worth your time and energy to create the art and to hang out at the art shows.

10. Sell your plasma. We all know how important it is to donate blood during the holidays, but many people do not know that you can get paid for sitting through a procedure quite similar to the donation process. The difference is that they run your blood through a machine that separates the plasma from the red blood cells and puts the red blood cells back into your body. It take longer and I guess that's why they are willing to pay you for your time. Years ago, I used to do this when my kids were really little and we needed some extra money for upcoming birthdays and such. They would not let you do it more than once a week or so and they just paid about $ 25 each time, so you had to plan ahead if you were going to raise $ 100 or $ 200 for something you wanted to purchase. Contact your local Red Cross or other blood donation centers for help finding the plasma centers.

11. Clean homes for others who have holiday guests coming. Typically, if someone has out of town guests coming for the holidays, they have a lot more on their to-do list then just cleaning their toilets and shampooing the carpets. You could become a real lifesaver for those in a crunch who are too busy, too old, or too tired to do a deep deep cleaning before the guests arrive. Some might even hire you again to clean up after the guests leave too! Teens can do this just as easily as the adults can.

12. Run errands and do odd holiday jobs like wrapping gifts or delivering packages to the post office. You could start a little side business where all you do is run other people's errands for them. Drop off and pick up the dry cleaning. Take their pet to the vet. Deliver cupcakes to the charity fundraiser. Pick up a competent of gift certificates from national department stores that will later be mailed out. Address and stamp their Christmas cards for them. Do their grocery shopping. Pick up new printer cartridge and some desk calendars for them. It's all of those tiny little errands that make for frazzled schedules and crazy timelines. For a fee, you could do it for them.

13. Decorate the inside of people's homes or offices for the holidays. You do not have to be a professional interior decorator to be helpful. If you've got a reputation as having a good eye for attractive and festive decorating, you can help others to set up their trees, hang garland, and place some nice poinsettia here and there. You can help make people's homes and their office space a warm inviting environment and also include coming back after the holidays to break it all down into storage containers as part of the deal. I hate teasing down the decorations and would love to pay someone to put it all back away!

14. Cater some dinners for the extremely busy shoppers or for Holiday parties. Those who are not awesome cooks need not apply for this one! Let's say that your boss is having the annual company Christmas party at his house and his wife is swamped with running kids back and forth to choir concerts and peewee football camp while shopping and planning for her in-laws who will be flying in to visit only Three days after her husband's company party at her house !!! You could offer to cook and cater the event for her. You'll once again be making someone else's holiday season so much easier while approaching extra money for yourself. Decide in advance on a menu and who's purchasing the ingredients needed. Then all you have to come up with is a dollar figure for your time and grandma's secret recipe for those little mini-cakes that everyone loves so much.

15. Chauffer someone's children to and from school and other activities so the parents have some free time. This is not quite the same as babysitting. You'd be amazed at how much time a person can spend picking up and driving two or three kids to different events and hauling musical instruments and sporting gear from one event to the next. You could simply run a taxi service for children and teenagers who need rides from point A to B. You do not have to hang out and watch them once they get there. Just make sure they arrive on time. Even just having an afternoon at home to cook and clean house while someone else gathers up all of the kids and brings them all home could make a world of difference for someone.

As you can see, some of these services could easily be turned into a year-round side job or they could have been dropped as soon as the holidays are over. Perhaps you'll find that you love catering people's meals, you love refurbishing antiques, or you love running errands and taxiing others around from place to place. You could go into business for yourself and by next year, you could quit your 'real job' and be happily self-employed. Then again, your teenager could discover how much time and work it takes just to raise enough money for some generous Christmas shopping. After learning the value of a dollar earned, they may decide that college is a good idea after all!

Copyright 2004, Skye Thomas, Tomorrow's Edge

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