#(I would also risk permanently damaging my job beyond use if I tried to have them removed at this point in my life)

[thefirstvessel]

Sometimes I forget I have extra teeth embedded in my skull

[butsomeofusarelookingatthestars]

Hey would you do something were someone in the readers family has a criminal history, and she also works for the fbi (kind of like seaver, though doesn’t necessary have to be a serial killer) and she's been keeping it a secret from Luke cause she is afraid he'll break up with her, but then he finds out because of a case or something? I really love your blog btw 😘

Because of You

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Pairing: Luke Alvez x Reader

Prompt: Request

A/N: I really wanted to go the angsty route, but I know weall need a little bit of fluff during times like this! I’ll consider it apublic duty. I hope you are all keeping safe and well. Enjoy and take care ofyourselves! xx

“Y/N, you and Luketalk to the family. They’re the only ones who can help us.”

You sighed heavily as you slammed the car door shut, yourfeet dragging as you reluctantly made your way towards the house. The area was ratherquaint, neighbours happily conversing across the street and white picket fencesenclosing their impressively neat gardens. No one would ever have suspectedthat it hid such darkness.

But you knew better than to be deceived by appearances.

“Are you okay? You’ve been quiet all day.”

You were startled by the light grip on your wrist, jumpingin surprise as your eyes landed on Luke. During the car journey, you’d almostforgotten his presence. The concern in his dark brown eyes made your heart achewith guilt. He couldn’t find out. He’dnever be able to look at you the same. 

“I’m fine.” You replied quietly, pulling away from his graspas you focused your attention on the front door, knocking gently as youdesperately tried to ignore his inquisitive gaze. It opened slowly to reveal awoman on the other side.

“Miss Daniels?”

The woman flinched, her eyes narrowing as they landed uponyour and Luke’s badges. Clearly, FBI agents wouldn’t be welcome in her home. “I’vetold you people before, I don’t know anything! Why won’t you listen to me?” Shecried in exasperation.

“Miss Daniels. If you don’t help us-” Luke began, his voiceremaining calm and authoritative despite the circumstances. “More people couldget hurt.” He warned.  

But she only shook her head, retaining her defiant silence. “I’vetold you agent, I don’t know where my brother is.” She whispered, pressing herlips together firmly, but she couldn’t hide the fear in her eyes. Fear you knewall too well.

You froze for a moment, hesitating to betray your ownemotions. But times were desperate and you knew you were running out of timefor the latest victim. You had to forget that Luke was stood beside you as youplaced a gentle hand on the door to prevent it from being closed.

“It’s not easy…” You murmured softly, your eyes searchinghers as she gazed at you in shock. “He’s your family. He’s your brother. It’s only natural to feel asense of-” You paused for a moment, biting your lip as you searched for theright word. “-loyalty.”

The word tasted bitter on your lips. You knew what it feltlike to feel so ashamed, yet still want to defend a loved one. Even when itdidn’t make sense.

“You want to protecthim?” You asked softly. She nodded, remaining silent as a tear dripped slowlydown her cheek. “Then, the best way to do that is by helping us.” You told her,your voice surprisingly calm and reassuring as you reached forward to gentlytouch her hand. “Help us stop him before he hurts someone else.”

                                                                                                                                A quiet groan escaped your lips as you stretched out, attemptingto rid yourself of the aches and pains that accompanied a seven-hour flighthome. It hadn’t been comfortable, curling up on the individual seat positionedaway from the others, but it had been necessary.

You simply didn’t want to participate in their post-casecelebratory drinks, engage in friendly conversation…or face Luke’s concernedgaze. You knew he suspected something was wrong and the worry etched on hisface only made the guilt worse. It terrified you to think he could discover thereal reason why you hadn’t been yourself today.

For the past two years, he had only seen you as hisco-worker and friend. For only the past few months, he had been getting to knowyou as his girlfriend. And, you weren’t willing to risk your relationship orthe man you cared about…not for anything.

“The others are heading off to O’Keefe’s if you’re up forit?”

You held back a sigh at the sound of his voice, desperatelytrying to hide your dismay. Your plan had been to escape early and slip past whilstthe others debriefed in the meeting room. But, it seemed like you’d have nosuch luck when it came to avoiding Luke.

“I think I’m just going to head home.” You told him,ignoring his inquisitive gaze as you focused on packing your bag. “I think theflight back has wiped me out.” You lied, your voice faltering slightly as your handbegan to shake. You could only hope he believed it was a sigh of exhaustionrather than fear.

“Oh!” Luke murmured, clearly disappointed with your decisionas he nodded carefully. “I’ll drive you home then. We can stay at mine tonightif you want to?”

Your heart raced. Of course, he wanted to look after you. IfLuke knew something was wrong, his protective nature wouldn’t allow you to walkout of here alone. You knew you had to lie.

“It’s fine.” You told him, forcing a smile onto your face asyou grabbed your bag. “I’m tired and I think I just need some time by myself. I’llfeel better tomorrow.”

But before you could make your escape, his fingers gentlyenclosed around your wrist. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as his eyes rakedover your face in concern.

“Whatever it is you can tell me Y/N.” He murmured softly. “Pleasedon’t keep avoiding me. If I’ve done something wrong, I want to put it right.”

The heartfelt plea made your heart sink. You couldn’t let himthink he was the problem.

“I know how she felt…the unsub’s sister.” You told himquietly, closing your eyes as you ran a hand through your hair in frustration.You couldn’t bear to look at him, knowing he’d be carefully following yourevery word and trying to figure out the reason behind your distress.

“My brother used to be like that - unpredictable, explosivetemper…even cruel at times.” You croaked, the emotions threatening to overspillas you opened your eyes to meet Luke’s worried gaze. “Afterwards he’d alwaysapologise though. He was so charming and…you could almost believe he was sorry.”

You paused, struggling to get out your next sentence. Lukeremained silent, watching you carefully as you lowered your head. He was such agood listener, refusing to interrupt even if you knew he must have a dozenquestions.  

He deserved to knowthe truth.

“He was arrested five years ago. After he brutally attackeda woman.” Tears stung your eyes as you felt them begin to fall down yourcheeks. “She was in hospital for weeks. The doctors thought it could havecaused permanent damage.”

Luke reached out a hand in an effort to comfort you, but youevaded his grasp. You didn’t deserve tobe comforted.

“I knew. I knew what he was.” You rasped, your heartthundering as your breathing became increasingly laboured.

“You knew?” Luke asked quietly, his tone difficult to readas he glanced down at the floor. You felt your heart sink. He must be disappointed.

A sob escaped your throat. “I knew something wasn’t rightwith him. But he was my brother. I didn’t think-” Your voice faulted as tearsstreamed down your face, blurring your vision. “I should have said something. IfI would have maybe-”

You could still see her bruised face, the pain in her eyesas he smirked smugly in court. It had been little consolation that he hadreceived a harsh sentence. Her life wouldn’t never be the same again. Yet, evenmonths later as he sent you a letter begging you to visit, a part of you stillwanted to be there for him. Protect him.

“It’s like no matter what I do now. I’ll never be able tomake up for it.” You whispered, your cheeks stained with tears as you buriedyour face in your hands. “It doesn’t matter how many people we help, I still…”

Perhaps it was the reason you were so committed to your job,the reason why you went above and beyond for victims and their families and thereason why you stayed late so many nights at the BAU. But it was also thereason why you still felt compassion for unsubs’ relatives who pleaded with youto understand…

You felt ashamed forit.

A pained silence fell across the room as you buried yourface deeper into your hands, unwilling to witness the disappointment in Luke’sbrown eyes. It felt like an eternity had passed before he finally spoke.

“You don’t realise do you?”

You hesitated, his soft voice still calm and reassuring asyou glanced up at him in confusion. “What?”

He gave you a small smile as he reached forward to gentlytake your hand. Your heart fluttered as he tenderly stroked your wrist, themotion instantly soothing. “How amazing you are?”

His words caught you completely off guard.

“It’s because of you that we saved that girl today. It’sbecause of you that his sister decided to help us.” He told you firmly, liftinghis thumb to gently sweep away the tears that still lingered on your face. “You’renot him. His actions don’t say anything about you.”

“But I- I-” You stuttered, trying to find the words to explain,but Luke’s kindness and rendered you speechless. He smiled softly as his armswrapped around your waist and he pulled you close. You could feel thereassuring beat of his heart beneath your fingers as you rested against thewarmth of his chest.

“You are the most compassionate, loving and caring person Iknow.” He whispered into your hair, pressing a tender kiss on the top of yourhead. “That’s not something to be ashamed of.”

You could only lean into his touch, one of your handsentwining in his short hair as you pressed a light kiss against his lips,trying to express just how grateful you were for his reassurance.

“You’re you. And, I love you for that.” 

[withercat-writes]

To Lose It All

So I got inspired, prepare for angst and Flux Buddies Spoilers, done in my usual rambling style! Its based on the idea I had on what if Blackrock was after Flux Buddies! Ao3 Link

Lalna was never the same after that fateful moment in Mother’s dimension, he wasn’t sure where The Doctor had dumped him to scold him, not that Lalna remembered anything really from this time, every moment from leaving that dimension was a blur, all he knew was eventually he found his way back to the others. He never let himself get close to them though, building a new base and locking himself away. The others tried to get close, to talk to him, to get him to at least acknowledge them more then mildly, none succeeded, Lalna didn’t want to risk getting attached again. He never tried to get back to the tower, Lalnable could live there for all he cared, better away from him then nearby anyways. Hopefully Tiddles had long since ran away from the maniac.

He knew Nano told him to be good, to be better then this, but he just couldn’t find it in him to care. It’s not like she could see, she was gone, poof, vanished, no respawn, someplace Lalna may never be allowed to reach, and with that fact in mind, it could be so hard to care. So he tinkered away, building and making mild pleasantries at Xephos who just wouldn’t leave him alone. He found himself quicker to violence, though it both sickened him, and intrigued him how little he cared anymore about the pain of others, he did his best to resist this sure, but sometimes the apathy would claw at his heart, and he’d go looking for a scrap to just feel something.

Soon his hands had him build that same weapon that killed Nano, and a faint wonderance past in his mind, would if he detonated, would his respawn fail? He couldn’t bring himself to test it, but he could never bring himself to take it out of his inventory either. So there it sat, before eventually the apathy clawed too much and he went out to look for a scrap, and saw Sjin. Everyone knew what happened next, the two got too heated, literally, fire burning all around. Lalna couldn’t stop, the adrenaline like wine to a dehydrated soul. It kept getting worse, explosions and death. He saw Rythian eyes wide in shock as one of Sjin's arrows plunged his throat, before another shot through his head, killing him instantly, he felt nothing to it. He saw Zoey take an arrow through the heart through the corner of his eye, and he felt nothing to it as well.  

And why should he care anyways? They’d just respawn, they’d be fine, no worse for wear, maybe a bit annoyed, but who cares about that. There was no real consequences for them dying, they wouldn’t suffer, wouldn’t truly die, so why would death matter? They’d still be here, like Nano should have been, but she wasn’t. Nano wouldn’t be proud, but she was gone, so why care about that either. He wished they would permanently die for a moment, so they could never realize the curse they were all under.

He set down the explosives and set them off, retreating back a bit, he wasn’t fully ready to die, natural aversions to that and all that. It unfortunately did not kill him, and soon he noticed Sjin in his base and he rushed to fix the damage, he wasn’t trying to blow up literally everything, fucking Sjin! He was too late though, and the world turned white, and he couldn’t stop the smile. 

Alas, he woke up all the same, a new world yes, but he knew it was just more of the same, he clutched the sapphire in his pocket tight as he couldn’t stop a few tears. He got back to work though, building up a castle, throwing himself into his machines. No one cared beyond a few dirty looks about the end of the past world, and why should they? Everything that mattered was fine, they were alive, unharmed, with infinite potential, instead of gone, lost, dead. Everyone still had there friends, and loved ones, the lucky bastards.

He isolated himself once more in his castle, he decided this time to craft it to remind him of the first base with Nano, to hopefully inspire some emotion as he kept to himself again. This time no one cared about this isolation, it seems they’d finally given up on him, and he grew further into apathy, he learned Rythian wanted revenge, he shrugged it off, okay whatever why should he care? Then he learned about Zoeya.

Then rage bubbled in his chest for the first time in months.

How DARE he do this, how dare he come to face him for revenge with an apprentice that FELL FROM THE SKY, with an apprentice with a CHEERFUL GO LUCKY ATTITUDE, an apprentice EAGER TO LEARN, an apprentice with UNIQUENESS and OPTIMISM, and still SASS. Really the only way Rythian could have made it worse is if he gave her a sapphire, he shuddered at the thought, hand clutching her sapphire again.

How dare he get revenge with someone that reminded him so much of Nano. Revenge he could ignore? But this? THIS?? This was an insult, a grave cruel insult! To rub it in his face that Rythian has what he lost, that Rythian could do it so much fucking better, what a joke, what a piece of shit! He threw himself into his research, fine, it had been too long since he felt anything anyways, and rage and sadism was something familiar. A part of him wondered if this is the kind of thing that created Lalnable, Lalna crushed those thoughts, no, he was better then that, he would always be better then that.

He ignored every warning, buried himself even more in his castle. Came up with the ingenious forcefield idea. Then he waited, and waited, but the first one at his door was not an angry mage, but a girl, so fiery for a second he saw Nano. He blinked it off though and gave her the warmest smile he could, he wished he could say something new bubbled in his chest, but they didn’t the now well known rage and sadism just souring more, as he thinks about what could have been as he pretended everything was alright for her. The dinosaur he just kinda, ignored for the most part, gave him the creeps.

He was surprised when he heard she and Rythian got into a spat though, ha, he’d never have thrown Nano out for being a technomage, really Rythian was terrible, an awful mentor, couldn’t even give his apprentice the attention and knowledge she clearly needs, and just LETS HER SUFFER and SLOWLY FADE, doing NOTHING TO STOP, because he's a COWARD. What a terrible mage, a terrible friend. Truly Zoey deserved better. Not that he’d really be a better choice, he could pretend, but he knew they’d end up crawling back together, it’s not like anything could keep him and Nano from each other for long. Even if Zoey deserved better.

He cheerfully dodged her interests and set about crafting a gun, a gun for a dinosaur, hm past Lalna would have been thrilled, the dinosaur also seemed a bit familiar but hey what does he know. He acted how he knew he was supposed to act, cheerful if a bit distrusting, he didn’t want to drive her away after all, she’d be safe in his castle, plus it’d rub it in Rythian’s face, oh the hate Rythian would feel at the thought that stupid flux mad scientist, the dangerous warped scientist who broke respawn, was doing a better job protecting her then he could, ha. 

He handed over his laser to her, that, he didn’t know why, he did never use it though, so he didn’t really think it over, it was, kinda nice talking to someone, but he knew it wouldn’t last, besides he preferred to be alone, alone was safer for everyone. It was almost easy to forget he was explaining things to a stranger, not to Nano as he talked about his forcefield, but he didn’t forget, he couldn’t forget. So he just kept playing his part. 

This went on for a few hours, but soon, his moment of true reckoning began, and Rythian had fallen into his forcefield trap. He hoped this would be short, that he could get Rythian away before he truly gave into his anger, his one mercy, Nano would be proud. That changed, though, when he started talking, and his anger grew into a full blown rage in his chest.

Retribution????? Justice????? What a laugh! Everyone was fine, no one lost anything real, nothing tangible, what Rythian were you upset that you lost a few pieces of wood?? Pathetic. He kept his cool though, nothing would be achieved if he lost his top, worst of all Rythian might just start pitying him instead, and augh he hated pity.

He bantered with him, shoved it off on Sjin, and he knew Rythian was buying it, buying his faux calm. He internally aughed as he kept going, if no one else cares Rythian, that means that maybe they understand things more, that maybe you’re just a mad man screaming about a loss of a base, that everyone’s long past. He couldn’t resist name-dropping Zoey.

Oh how Rythian’s face just fell, oh yes it felt good, a sadistic glee curling in his chest, the pain in his eyes. Rythian always thought his eyes were guarded but it was so easy to pry them open into pure emotion. Rythian truly did understand nothing about this world, about respawn, about being a mentor, and about love. He wasn’t even the one who killed him, Sjin did that.

He rubbed his face as Rythian just kept going on and on about murder, bullshit that was. Utter bullshit, he’d only murdered one person and that wasn’t Rythian that’s for sure, Rythian dared to equate his minor inconvenience of respawn to what happened to her? Bastard. Murder no one comes back from, murder permanetly erases people. If Rythian had been murdered, this conversation wouldn’t even be happening. 

Rythian hurled accusations of him, accusations of evil, of planned cruelty, of going down the same path, all from what? A force field designed to keep a clearly vengeance driven mage away? The fact he had a castle? Really at this point Lalna was pretty sure at this point everything he would ever do to Rythian, could easily be ruled self defense. He let himself smile, good, the nuke was already planted anyways, he got bored and it was too easy, sure he hadn’t armed it yet, it originally was supposed to be an empty threat but he could do that later. He brought it up, see how far enraged he could make this mage, a new project really, an experiment, and he was a scientist after all, sure it had been a bit, but he was.almost curious.

Smirking he went on and on about how he just needed insurance, that he can’t get rid of it, and loved the horror in his eyes, sure he couldn’t really feel emotions, hadn’t for what, a year now? Making others feel them though he found? Was pretty close of a substitute though, he liked that substitute, made him feel warmer, he poked fun at a mage fish take, and watched Rythian desperately try and make his way out, how silly, how fun, it felt good to have control, as he ignored Rythian’s edgy talk about trust.

Seeing Rythians face at the comment about him eating grass, he rushed in for the kill, talking about how he didn't know how he’d get Rythian food, not that food mattered either, a lack of food wouldn’t kill him, he knew that one personally, not eating would hinder you greatly, but alas, you’d live. Food was just one of many luxuries in this world, enjoying the horrified and sick look Rythian gave him, a face one would only make at one truly evil, that was wrong though, Rythian didn’t understand evil. Never met evil, he was just a child, a child whose mad his sandcastle got kicked, never felt true heartbreak, spoken to any truly rotten, he was just, too big for his britches. He wandered off, planning to return in a few hours, he hoped Rythian had noticed it was easy to shut off the forcefield, it was never meant to be permanent after all, like he said, talk, in safety of forcefield, that was all. 

He rubbed his face but couldn’t stop a mad grin when he found Rythian gone a few hours later, escaped, seemed he knew more about tech then he let on, good, it’d be too easy if he just let himself be caught forever, that’d be boring, no that’s not what he wanted. He’d make Rythian understand Retribution and Justice, he’d make him learn what it means to lose it all, what it means to truly feel pain and sorrow and loss. To truly understand. He felt so good reveling in Rythian's emotions, he wanted more! He wanted to truly be the scientist he knows he is and finally research into what breaks apart respawn, what sets a skeleton’s arrow apart from an explosion to kill Mother.

Alas poor Zoey though, she didn’t deserve what he was planning, to be in pain, to understand what he feels. This wasn’t about her though, and Nano didn’t deserve what Mother planned either. The fiery ones just always seemed to be the ones to burn out the fastest, what a shame, this story would not have no happy ending, his didn’t, and Rythian wasn’t allowed his either, and maybe it’d prompt the endermage to teleport him to hell.

Lalna couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen next as he put on his favorite sapphire necklace.

[scnofcain-blog]

( MUSE H )  charles michael davis ? no, i’m certain that’s just rowan ( he/him ), a member of the cain family. the thirty-four year old greengrocer is known to be extremely patient and also very spiteful. when i think of them i picture freshly pressed white shirts, hushed conversations behind closed doors, & the sound of rustling leaves. ( cami + nineteen + she/her )

hey guys !! cami here, gmt bitch, real tired person. please accept my man. 

also a sidenote: i am not a very consistent person so me using a medium gif here, a gif icon on a starter and an icon on a different thread? likely.

when the big four families settled and accumulated power, they were in equal footing. wealth, respect, ambition. the cains' reputation, however, took quite a dip in the last few years. marianna cain was the only child and heiress to the cain legacy - whispers told of her yearning for more, perhaps marriage to someone from the other important families to cement her growing relevance. instead, she picked an engineer with no relevant name or status, and dressed him up with her own surname, by then just dangling to survive oblivion, that was likely to take it away.

together, marianna and nathan revitalized the family businesses, and soon the wealth began to flow in again, uninterrupted. their mines, especially, saw a level of development unheard of since the settlement. regardless of their success though, the choice made by the heiress in a critical time told the others that the cains did not search for power, that they were not a TREAT. for as much money and jobs as they generated, the cains were to be underestimated, as they still are.

rowan was the firstborn. the pregnancy was very high risk, providing many scares to the entire family through the journey. the delivery of the premature baby nearly took marianna's life, and rowan's was hanguing by a thread for a bit as well. the rather traumatic experience deterred the family from having any more biological children, but they weren't satisfied - only a few years later, they adopted a baby boy, whom they named roman.

the small family thrived for some years. marianna and nathan were hands-on parents, always present in their children's lives despite their own busy schedules. love, nurturing and a sense of union never lacked in the house, even when the two contrasting boys butted heads and argued. somehow, the two seemed to cushion any fall.

rowan accepted a feeling of duty from a very early age. no one imposed it on him but the boy himself, as there was this seed of ambition buried inside him fighting to burst out. with his soft nature and passion for the quieter things in life, no one would have guessed he'd one day turn into a sharp businessman, but rowan carved that path for himself. his surname was on those documents his mother signed and on the side of those trucks and on those plaques. he could always feel the responsibility they emanated.

growing up, he didn't devote himself to studious pursuits. instead, he moved semi-permanently to one of the many countryside houses his family owned, and during the week followed around relatives and advisors to learn their trade hands-on. slowly, they began giving him some actual jobs, but even then, past the age of twenty, it felt like his parents were easing him into it, protecting him from failure.

( death tw, parental death tw ) rowan had turned twenty one the previous month and his brother was barely sixteen years old. during a tour through one of their newest facilities to an investor, the platforms shook and everything collapsed. under the rubble were buried HUNDREDS of people, including mine workers and the two cains. very few survived, and the heads of the family were not lucky. the accident came with not only grief but guilt, as lawsuits began piling up, both from relatives of the deceased and survivors of the event. the cains hadn't just died, no. they had taken the lives of over a hundred people in a disaster beyond imagination.

rowan's pragmatism got him through most of it all. there were businesses to be run and a reputation to repair. without nearly as much experience as necessary, the man took over more and more positions until, shortly after, all the roles his parent's had occupied were replaced by him. one man doing the job of two, because no one else could do it right. no one else could uphold it to the same standards and plans as those two. because if someone else took even just a bit of the weight that was crushing him to the ground, he'd be able to breathe, and rowan didn't wish to do so. a busy mind left no room for mourning.

meanwhile, his younger brother grew more and more out of control. marianna and nathan had been an integral part of their lives even as they grew older, acting as the glue between their clashing personalities, softening any friction that would arise. without them, and with how each of the boys chose to deal with their hurt, the two drifted apart. hard as he tried, rowan could never be their parents, nor could any of his kind words undo the damage of losing them in such a brutal way. eventually, those words earned hard edges, louder ones, frustration mingled with worry - no one would recognize them now as the siblings they once were.

roman calmed down eventually, refocusing his life a bit more and finding worthier pursuits. his older brother sits on the office his mother once owned, spends most of his nights in his childhood home, still takes care of lawsuits that keep pouring in from the collapse. it is as if rowan's clock has stopped, leaving him stranded in a role that isn't his and in a constant reminder of the tragic day that tore the family apart. in a sense, he resents his little brother, who was able to walk away from it all.

recently, however, the two began spending more time together, even though it has led mostly to arguments, their views clashing against each other again and again. the climate of insurrection spreading through creon comes as the perfect wave which the cains would ride onto reignited glory: still sitting in a very low point, the family has united to discuss the power struggle, their views on the right of an oligarchy, their opinions on the rebel groups, they ALLIANCE with some of them. behind closed doors, the cains hide from the reputation that follows that, that makes them weak. they reconvene in the one whisper they never tried to kill, that they were allies of the common man, who had no power, no status, no name.

nathan cain often spoke about his insatisfaction with the way creon was run, and his older son absorbed every word he said, clinging to it with devotion. as he grew older, his eyes turned to books, to the search for how things were done before those four decided the world was theirs to rule. many of the revolutionary rhetorics in streets now resonate with the debates he'd have with his father, the suggestions, the unconformity. from within of the system, rowan was raising questions from the very start, and now the time has come for him to whisper it just a bit louder.

HEADCANONS:

despite being a self-proclaimed not-intellectual, rowan has an impressive personal library, many of the books in it being non-fiction and earth classics.

have you seen the powerhouse that cmd is? rowan might be just a little too into fitness. catch him in his morning jog. catch him growing kale. fight him.

his obsession with work and duty make him a very unreliable person, especially to loved ones. it is certainly one of his biggest regrets, yet he doesn't seem to be able to hop off of that moving train: he's lost most touch with his brother, his most recent relationship ended with a fizzled out engagement a year ago, friends keep walking away... life is kinda passing him by and so are all the people he wishes he could keep close, yet he always does the exact opposite.

in the last few years, rowan has shifted the family business focus from the mines to the many plots of land they own. not a single one has been neglected, and creon is currently facing a bonanza of produce and livestock - the trucks with the cain logo on the side are a common sight everywhere, and they have very much monopolized the pantries and fridges of creon.

just as hands-on as his parents before him, rowan is constantly visiting both the farmlands and the places where they end up. the optics are great, and it truly has brought a feeling of proximity between this big family and the rest - how much of this is propaganda and how much is genuine is a bit up for debate.

his patience knows no bounds, except for maybe his brother. rowan is the definition of laying low and waiting, seething, preparing. it is near impossible for most people to get a rise out of him, to make him show anything but politeness and good spirits. he is, however, a very resentful person, and can hold a grudge for far longer than most would assume.

no matter how much he rises up, rowan will always see himself as an impostor, in a place he wasn't fully prepared to take over, in a role that wasn't his, in a life he didn't pick. while he does his best to act as the good negotiator, some people have and will pick at his hidden core and insecurity, and it is very much a way to get inside his head. 

character parallels: julia wicker, aaron burr, annalise keating, robb stark, jack pearson, scott mccall, terry jeffords, jackson avery, setev rogers, laurel lance, randall pearson, chloe decker, clarke griffin, harvey kinkle, daisy johnson, alexander hamilton & alan zaveri.

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

the other cains. that can be the ones in the family page or, as long as you message someone else from the family, any other relative !! they are very much united, especially right now, when it comes to the politics of creon and the times of rebellion, so this could lead to some interesting strength for the cains or even weakness if your character doesn’t agree with the way things are heading. backstab us pls. be the snitch.

ex-fiancée. him and rowan broke up a few months into their engagement, mostly because of how little time, attention and love really the cain gave him. things might be !! sad and awkward, or more angsty if we wanna throw in some other stuff that lead to the collapse of the relationship, or even a little flame that is still there and that is killing the both of them !! hurt me 

a new chance. someone love this man then. commit the same errors as those before him and think that this time it will be different. hurt yourself

look at him. someone dick down this man. he might not have the time or emotional vulnerability for a healthy relationship but he certainly can find a break to go have fun !! 

rebel rebel, your face is a mess. the cains are threading dangerous territory with the opposition to the big four families, by getting closer and closer and trying to allign themselves with their movement. this could lead to some interesting friendships, alliances or full on mistrust and clashing of ideas !! rebel leaders and just your good rebels ready to rise up or at least hear the others out, vote cain for the people i guess

fight him. maybe one of your character’s relatives died during the infamous collapse of the mine. maybe you just don’t like the persona of the man of the people who, simultaneously, is sitting on a fortune and on power. maybe you think he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. anyway, fight him

an old friend. someone who somehow has stuck by his side through all these years. they’ve been friends since they were just children. life has moved on and they’ve both changed a lot so bring me some drAMA

pals pals pals. even though most of his come and go, mostly by his wrong doing, someone please befriend this man. take him out for drinks. pls. 

[thatssomental-blog]

Too Coward for the "Coward's Way Out": Living with Passive Suicidal Ideation

TW: This article may be hard for some to read, but is intended to assist others who may be dealing with passive, or active, suicidal ideations. The following text contains details of suicidal thoughts (without intent) and mentions self harm (briefly, and without detail), in addition to depression and it’s relationship with suicidal thoughts. 

So many people label suicide as the “coward’s way out”. If that’s true, then why is it that I feel like a coward because I could never follow through? Passive suicidal ideation is defined as wishing you were dead or that you could die, but having no intention to take your own life. Whereas, active suicidal ideation means one is not only struggling with these thoughts, but may have full intention, or a plan already in place, to take their own life. Passive suicidal ideation is still a risk factor among patients with depression and suicidal thoughts, and just because you are not planning your great escape from this world now, doesn’t mean you should skip out on your therapy sessions. All that being said, it is very real, your thoughts are just as valid, and you are not alone in feeling the way that you do.

Before I continue, I would like to specify that “wishing you were dead or that you could die” isn’t a reference to how you feel waking up in the morning, before you reluctantly drag yourself to work/school, it is in reference to a very real, deep desire to stop living, that may come or go, or may stay with you incessantly, even on your best days when everything seems hunky-dory. I am specifying this, because as someone who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, the mental illnesses that myself and others suffer through daily are not meant to be #relatable, just because you like things neatly organized or hate your job/school.

My own struggle with suicidal thoughts is a plague that I can't seem to get rid of. I suffered from them long before I even knew what suicide truly was. I was about 14 when the first thought came along, and I clearly remember it. I was putting away the clean dishes and took a knife from the dishwasher. I stood there for about five minutes straight, just staring at it, and thinking that I could just slash my wrist open and the numbness I’d been feeling for weeks would all go away. I scared myself with that thought, put the knife away, and didn’t do it; I couldn’t do it, and I wouldn’t have done it. I can’t remember any other thoughts as vividly as that single instance, but sometimes they were there, and sometimes they weren’t, and every time I had them I could never bring myself to act on them.

Health care is necessary for a healthy life. In the US healthcare is expensive, whether you have coverage or not. Health Insurance, especially with Mental Health included, is hard to come by. Even if you’re one of the “lucky” ones that manages to land a job that provides it, a good plan for yourself, not to mention a whole family, can easily eat up what little bit of wages you work for, and have to live off of. In the past several years, life has been difficult for me, though it was mostly adjusting to living the independent life, learning how to pay bills, and learning how to take care of myself. Despite all of the challenges and obstacles I’ve faced in that time, I was doing pretty well. Even through the trauma of sudden death, which my family is not equipped to handle, I managed. Within the past eight months, I attempted to better my situation by leaving a toxic work environment and moving on to something new. Unfortunately, by choosing to leave that job I also left what little health coverage I had, and since have had to move on to even worse challenges and obstacles, all with untreated, depression, anxiety, body and gender dysphoria, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. If you’ve never been through that, I’ll tell you right now that it is hell, and as petty as I am, I wouldn’t wish anything I’ve been through on my worst enemies.

Factoring in all of the above, with the soul crushing feeling that your whole life and all of your freedom is crashing down around you, like an imploding dumpster fire, it really adds up. In my last few months before moving back home with Mom and Dad, something none of us want to do even if we love our parents with a fiery passion, I was at rock bottom. I couldn’t bring myself to do anything but the bare minimum, which made moving day tougher than it already was, and left me feeling hopeless and drained of life. I would lay on my couch for hours, wrapped in a blanket, staring at the wall with an empty mind and heavy heart, it was the worst I had ever been, and I allowed myself to wallow in it, only making it worse.

Even now that I am home, and surrounded by the love of my family, I frequently wish I was dead. I don’t think such things only when everything is going wrong in my life, but the harder times get the more I just want all the pain to go away. I think of scenarios in which I could put myself out of my misery. I own a gun, I have access to others, and medications, not to mention every knife in the block or kitchen drawer that could easily end all of my suffering. But, why is it that despite my desires to no longer deal with life's stresses, my battle with my seemingly, ever changing, gender identity, and my unbridled hatred for the world we live in and the multitude or horrible people in it, do I refrain? Why, when it seems like the only option for peace of mind and escape from the emotions I can’t control, can I not do it? Why, when I wish for the calming embrace of death, do I fear strangers who could kill me in cold blood? Why, if I want to die, did I seek medical attention, without any health coverage, and go to the ER when I legitimately thought I was dying?

Fear of the unknown. I was raised in the Christian faith from a very young age, and was even baptized twice. My mother was raised within that same faith, and my father is an atheist. Despite my current pagan-leaning/agnostic dogma, there is a fear bread into me from childhood that I will burn in hell. Since becoming “woke”, so to say, I have completely denounced the Christian god for what he is. Despite my genuine certainty that this god does not exist, and if he does, he’s actually quite a terrible deity, because of how I was raised, I will more than likely carry that fear of denouncing him and burning in hell with me, for the rest of my life. Religion aside, and taking things from an atheistic perspective, maybe I’m just going into a hole in the ground when I die, but the thought of everything being black forever is also terrifying for me. Even though I am aware that, in this scenario, I will literally not be conscious of my own death, it is almost impossible for me to wrap my head around it, and as someone who has exhibited a very present case of FOMO all of their life, that just doesn’t fly with me. Regardless of whether we go to sit at Odin’s table in Valhalla, or up to a magic golden kingdom in the clouds where everyone is happy and wants for nothing, or we just literally kill over like a toy with dead batteries, no one actually knows until they actually die.

Fear of failure. I have had a very hard time succeeding at pretty much everything I’ve tried in life. No matter what I do, I never feel like the product is good enough. I am my own worst critic, and, on top of that, I am a rage-quitter. If I am not instantly or naturally good at something, I get bent out of shape when I mess it up, maybe I cry, then I quit, and I move on. (Though that statement doesn’t apply to absolutely everything, it applies to a pretty big chunk of things.) One of the greatest fears that keeps me from “attempting” is knowing that if I mess up, I may not recover. Some people are saved at the last minute, and depending on what you’ve done to yourself, sometimes the wounds or the manner in which you’ve attempted will mend. However, if some things are done incorrectly, i.e. putting a bullet in your brain, or a fall that just wasn’t quite big enough to kill you, you may still survive, but there could be permanent consequences such as brain damage, loss of mobility, etc. I’m sure you catch my drift. I suppose this also technically falls under fear of the unknown, because you never truly know what’s going to happen until it does. Sometimes you just have to stop and ask yourself, would you rather be depressed and fully functional to the best of your capabilities? Or depresses and handicapped, and therefore, with your anxious/depressed brain, if it works anything like mine, an even heavier burden on those around you?

Forcing others to suffer. I am very lucky to have an amazing family that is full of love. Even for those of us living a life that others may not agree with, disowning and/or not loving one another is not in our vocabulary. I am very close to my mother and my grandmother, and it would devastate them beyond comprehension. That used to be my only line of thinking, however things have happened and times have changed. Less than two years ago, we buried my grandmother’s youngest child, my mother’s youngest sister, and one of my best friends, who was more like my sister than my aunt, along with her unborn son. Even if I intended to follow through on my own suicidal thoughts, and even excluding the above reasons, I could never force my mother to bury her only child, or my grandmother to bury another grandchild. I also have an amazing SO and friends who would at least be a little devastated, as well.

I just can’t. Ignoring every other reason I have included, I just can’t do it. Despite my fear of death, failure, and hurting those I love most, I just don’t have it in me. It’s not the pain that I worry about, one could easily swallow a bunch of sleeping pills and hope to not wake up, and as much as I hate to admit it, I have physically self harmed before, way back in my teen years. I don’t know how else to explain it, other than I just can’t. I have a huge fear of missing out, if I don’t know all the details of something it will drive me nuts, and I hate surprises. Despite how great it would be to just not have to worry, and despite how hopeless I feel, there is a part of me that knows something better is coming. If I were to take my own life, there are countless things I would miss out on, things I’ve always wanted and things that I may not even know that I want yet. The future is a mystery, and I’ll never find out what it holds if I don’t have one.

Do those things make my suicidal thoughts invalid? No, and though your reasons behind your lack/full intent may differ from mine, they do not make yours any less valid, either.

I am by no means encouraging suicide, though if you ever lose your battle just know that I will never call you a coward when you’re gone. Suicide is the final side-effect of losing your battle with a very real illness, one that may not be visible to even those closest to you.

My parting wisdom is this: Whether you intend to follow through on your suicidal ideations or not, if you take your own life, you will never be around to see it get better. I know it seems hopeless, I personally feel hopeless about 95% of the time, and I know that sometimes it seems like the only escape from not only the world, but your own mind. I really do. I know it hurts, and even if I don’t know what you’re going through, or how you feel, perseverance is the answer, not death. If you are strong enough to make it this far, through all the grief and torment and suffering, then you are strong enough to build your own future. Please don’t take that away from yourself, no matter how much you may want to.

If you, or someone you love is feeling suicidal, please check thatssomental.tumblr.com/resources for a list of suicide and mental help phone lines, chats, and websites.

©thatssomental.tumblr.com 2019

[nachtfaust]

Central Arc has ruined the future of Shokugeki no Soma.

This post was made to partly for me to vent and complain the major disappoint chapter 263 has left most of us. Reading this will have spoilers, you’ve been warned.

There’s too many to cover but let’s start an easy one; The outcome of finale.

Let’s be real here. Erina was the one who beat Tsukasa and Rindou. With only 10 minutes to spare, Erina was capable of putting a dish together from scratch and won 3-0. The author has made Erina way too over-powered at this point. Even if we factor in Souma, he and Erina wasn’t off to a good start.

Again, Erina only needed 10 minutes to create a dish capable to beat both the 1st and 2nd’s dish. Let that sink in.

Eishi and Rindou had impeccable teamwork and the skills to back it up. The ingredients they used for their dishes practically surpassed anything they’ve made yet Erina and Souma managed to win despite the number of flaws they held. Isshiki said they won because they “truly enjoyed cooking” and I find that.......dumb. Even though cooking from the bottom of your heart has been one of the recurring themes used from time to time, it shouldn’t be used here. It didn’t teach Azami anything who’s the main enemy here.

I’d also like to mention Souma's character development is very bad at the moment. He has almost 0 personality prior to his first day of school and pulls stuff like this^ in the middle of an important match; risking everyone’s expulsion and the school on the line. He deserved more than a pinch on the cheek.

Azami Nakiri was.............the biggest mistake in this entire arc. He started off pretty good but as the plot progressed, he became less of a threat. My favourite part about Azami is that despite how much damage he’s done to the manga and the school, this is the ending he gets. Central Arc is the longest arc and being the big bad, this is what he gets

What a lame ending for him....

Erina to her dad "Thanks for everything" like he did anything for her at all? OK. Her grandfather is the one that raised her, not him, it’s like the author forgot that or something

Erina: “Thanks for manipulating the Elite 10 into firing my Grandpa who raised me, mentally traumatized me when I was young, tried to use and exploit me for your own plans, almost expelled my friends, separated me from Alice and Hisako......you've truly done a lot for me...” LOLOLOLOL

My biggest concern for this arc is probably how poor the Elite Ten was treated.

They were basically sacrificed for Souma and Erina’s character development in my opinion and it wasn’t worth it.

For being the most powerful chefs in the entire school who’s experienced the cooking world outside of Tohtsuki, they were easily beaten by 1st years and at some of their specialties which pretty much cheesed me.

One of the perfect examples was Nene. She lost to Souma because she didn’t take the room temperature into account and you’d think she would considering, it’s her specialty. Souma and Erina using peanut butter squid was another one and it was effective??? Alice lost to a seat and she’s the closest there is to a seat in my opinion but Souma won against 3 of them? OOOOOOKKKKKK

Other than the Elite Ten itself, the seats power at this school was degraded in chapter 263. The new Elite Ten are the winners which was the stupidest move next to making Erina the director and Souma the 1st seat. And if we’re going in the order of elimination, Alice, Hayama, and Kurokiba who made is further in the Autumn Election wouldn’t get a seat. The problem with assigning new seats is that the previous Elite Ten can literally challenge each of them the next day and win back the seat so I don’t know what the author was thinking when he was writing this.

The rebels won the seats easily with nothing on the line other than expulsion. It’s like the seats hold no value in Tohtsuki anymore. Seats were being given to winners like Halloween candy

I’d like to remind everyone in chapter 9 that Souma’s expulsion wasn’t enough to challenge him for the SEVENTH seat. If that isn’t enough for the seventh seat, what would the first seat’s value hold?

Apparently nothing considering how Souma easily got it. Which brings me to the point of him being appointed 1st seat. He legit when from no seat to 1st.

There are better students for this role. Souma isn’t the strongest, Erina is. The fact that Erina appointed Souma for this role because he “contributed a lot” is beyond me. That’s like a slap to the face. “I’m better but you should be the 1st seat”. If she’s going to be headmaster of the entire school, she better not make decisions like this again.

Speaking of director, Erina was appointed despite being a high school student that hasn’t graduated yet because her grandpa is retiring.

It’s like the author doesn’t know what to do with Erina at this point for making her too OP. Heck if she’s OP, might as well make her more OP by making her stronger than her grandfather.

Erina’s character development was good at one point but as the plot dragged on, it resulted in creating her to be this perfect, flawless, and ultimately strong chef. A Mary-sue basically.

The author stated that the only reason Erina remained the 10th seat is because it was the only seat available and considering she’s a Nakiri, I don’t see why she didn’t decide to challenge the other seats considering she could floor all of them with her eyes closed. We know she’s capable of betting something equal of value since she’s a Nakiri. If she was capable of all of this but decided to target smaller clubs by shutting them down permanently, I’d say that’s pretty bitchy. And not the good bitch mode.

I don’t know about you guys, but I know being the headmaster of a school requires more than just the God’s Tongue and chef skills. And don’t argue with the “fiction doesn’t equal reality” crap. There’s limits.

Erina used to be so great but the contrast to her now and before is so disappointing. She had her own character, she had her own flaws, but now she’s just a carbon-copy of Souma.

I hope this is the last we see of her considering she’ll be busy with headmaster cause there’s no point on focusing on a perfect character.

This person did a fine job nailing some other points as well:

Before I move on, I want to mention that Senzaemon (her grandpa and ex-director of the school), declared that Souma is the 1st seat and Erina is the new headmaster. You’d think that since he’s holding that much power to appoint positions, he could have used it against the Elite Ten when they voted to fire him? Or that the director holds the highest position in the school so the Elite Ten wouldn’t be able to fire him for Azami? The author forgetting stuff like this exists seems be a running pattern....

People are speculating that since Souma’s reached 1st seat, it might be worldwide, and as much as I’m semi-excited for it, I’m disappointed. Having worldwide challenges means new characters to dump into the trash bin like what they did with the Elite Ten. Challenging other schools or however they might go with it takes the “Shokugeki” out of “no Soma” cause last time I checked, Shokugeki’s was a Tohtsuki thing.

I wanna talk about Megumi a little bit since she’s considered one of the main characters next to Souma and Erina. (She’s also a favourite of mine)

The fact that Megumi gets a seat makes me so sad. Megumi works hard, like from zero even if it’s hinted that she has hidden potential. We constantly see Megumi putting her best effort in the manga so I just wanted to see her earn her seat like everything else she works hard for but it's just handed to her?

I think that’s all I really have to say to ch 263

TL;DR

[stopforamoment]

PART ONE What Makes a House a Home (1 of 10)

MASTERLIST

Book: The Royal Romance (After Book Three) Pairing: Bastien Lykel x OFC Rinda Parks

Word Count: 2,118

Rating: M for Language

Author’s Note: Obligatory disclaimer that Pixelberry Studios owns the TRR characters and my pocketbook with those darn diamond scenes. OFC with all of her quirks is all mine. My apologies if Tumblr or I do something stupid when I try to post this. The keep reading link shows up on my laptop but not my phone. Ugh.

Series Nine: The Transition

Series summary: This takes place in the beginning of October when the transition to Drake Walker as the security officer is now complete. It’s Bastien’s last day at Valtoria Primary School and the community gets together to say thank you and goodbye to Bastien. This series focuses on Rinda’s place in her community and her feelings about the future. It also focuses on the transition she’s making from widow, teacher, and mother to someone who wants something more with Bastien.

Chapter summary: Rinda’s house is a constant hot mess because her home is the gathering place for the neighborhood kids, but she doesn’t mind because she knows life is too short to sweat the small stuff.

PART ONE What Makes a House a Home (1 of 10)

Rinda’s house was always a disaster--that was no secret. She was barely able to keep up with the basics throughout the week. In the bathroom she tried to wipe the sink and clean the toilet bowl on a regular basis and Swiffer the area around the toilet bowl (Henry’s aim still needed work and half the neighborhood kids used that bathroom because it was too much work for them to walk a block or two to their own house). However, the shower curtain was always kept firmly closed. Open it and be nosy at your own risk. In the kitchen she tried to keep up with dishes, counters, sometimes the the stove, major spills, and the area where they ate their meals (usually half of the table was cluttered with papers—work stuff and important paperwork Rinda wasn’t ready to deal with yet). When they moved to Cordonia they had to leave their Ollie Bollie dog with friends back home, and Rinda quickly realized how much she missed having a dog to clean up the floor spills. Rinda didn’t believe in making the bed every morning because it was a waste of time since they’d just sleep in it again that night, but sheets had to be changed at least once a week, and you made your bed then. Major cleaning like picking up clutter, vacuuming, and washing floors was done on the weekend. Folding laundry too, but it was still the norm for Henry and Rinda to search through the clean clothes basket when they needed something to wear. (So really, folding the majority of your clothes could also be considered a waste of time.) In spite of the weekend cleaning, her house was usually a mess again by Sunday night because kids were in and out all weekend. But she didn’t mind because life was too short. Way too short.

There were occasional incidents. One time Phillip was bouncing a football in the house, even though Rinda repeatedly told him not to. He and Henry were screwing around, and the ball landed in a pot of spaghetti sauce, but the momentum also knocked over the entire pot. The boys suddenly got quiet, knowing they were in big trouble. Bastien was there, and he was more interested in seeing Rinda’s reaction than to be upset with the boys. Rinda quickly turned off the burner, but she needed a moment before saying anything. She didn’t care about the mess but she hated wasting food, and it was a neighborhood meal night so it was A LOT of spaghetti sauce and they were supposed to eat in 10 minutes. She asked Phillip and Henry to check with Mr. Ariti and Mrs. Manikas to see if they had more spaghetti sauce. Then Henry would show Phillip where the cleaning supplies were, and Henry had to help Phillip clean. The stove was still hot, so they’d have to wait until after supper to clean it and yes, it would be harder to clean once the sauce started crusting and drying up on the stove. She would also have some other chores they’d have to do, but she would tell them later that night after she thought about it a bit. But before she went to the pantry to check for more spaghetti sauce she turned to the boys with a grin. “You know if that would have been a baseball it wouldn’t have been so messy, right?” Then Bastien teased Phillip that it was too bad he couldn’t make goals that well. Henry started laughing at Phillip, and Phillip started laughing too. After supper the adults laughed at the incident—it really was funny Phillip had such perfect aim, and it was one of those things that became a memory that everyone laughed about years later. “Remember when Phillip . . .” But what Rinda didn’t realize until the next morning was that there was spaghetti sauce spattered on the ceiling. She sighed. That would have to wait until the weekend. But of course, she never got around to cleaning it because she was too short to reach it, even on a chair. That was just one more thing to add to the deep clean list before she moved. Then there was the clutter. The house was small, so it felt like there was no room for the things they accumulated as the weeks went by. There was a large bin of lost and found items by the door, and kids were often told to check the bin once a week. Usually, however, parents would come and Rinda would welcome them in with a cheerful grin and tell them to poke around. She kept clean clothes in a separate plastic bag. She usually found random things when she was folding laundry, and it was silly for the parents to have to re-wash things, so she always tried to keep clothes clean. Things like shirts, socks, and shoes would be mixed in with the clothes Henry would scrape off his bedroom floor (even though Henry had a laundry hamper in his room) when it was time for Rinda to do laundry. She just threw things in the washer, and she would chuckle at the things she’d find as she folded clothes. She swore the kids must go home naked some days.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg. In her living room there were large sheets of white paper taped on her wall next to a toddler work of art drawn in defiant permanent marker. It was Rinda’s fault. She made the rookie mistake of leaving Sharpies on the kitchen table one day, and the Manikas toddlers found them and used that spot on the wall to express themselves. Rinda couldn’t bear to clean up their artwork. It reminded her of Henry’s toddler scribbles on her walls back home. She and Jameson always meant to reprime and repaint the walls, but when they finally got around to it Henry was older, and Rinda begged to keep a couple of Henry’s better art pieces. Just paint around them. Please. He was growing up so fast. Seeing Owen and Will’s scribbles on her wall reminded her of home, and Mr. Manikas promised to help her wash and paint the walls when it was time for her to move. Then Rinda put up the pieces of paper, and everyone helped remind the boys that they could only draw on the paper with the special markers Mrs. Parks gave them. And not every home had paper on the walls. This was a special treat that was only at Mrs. Parks’ house.

There was random glitter throughout the house and crusty glue stains in the carpet from a group art project. Maddie and Cosima thought it would be fun to make glitter prince and princess crowns in the kitchen one rainy afternoon, so there was glitter everywhere from then on. It was just impossible to get it all cleaned up. That same afternoon Phillip and Henry were in the living room cutting cardboard and gluing pieces together to make swords and shields for all of them. They were on the carpet because Rinda was working at the kitchen table and she had papers spread everywhere. So now there were some bare spots in the carpet where the scissors went through the cardboard and permanent crusty areas in the carpet from the glue spills that just wouldn’t come out. Maybe if she rented a steam cleaner? But just add that to the move out cleaning list. Rinda also made a mental note to see what constituted “wear and tear” in her housing contract.

Then there was the living room clothesline with Ziplock bags of money and a chore list attached to it with clothes pins. She had lists of “above and beyond” chores that needed to be done around the house, and anyone who wanted to do the chore could do it. When it was done to Rinda’s satisfaction, the child could have the money in the Ziplock bag. Mr. Ariti and several other neighbors decided to add their own chores and money to the clothesline. It was just easier to keep the jobs posting in one location, rather than have the neighborhood kids pester everyone when they wanted to earn money. One kid did try to steal a Ziplock bag before doing the chore, but he was turned in by another indignant child. Rinda had a chat with the boy and then let the Lord of the Flies group mentality take care of the rest. It was never a problem after that.

Bastien was a neat and organized person, and in all honesty he was appalled at the pandemonium in Rinda’s house—until he got used to it. Then he couldn’t imagine it being any other way, and the joy in her house made up for the lightening rod of chaos that made her house a home.

Mr. Ariti would just grin as he watched the children race in and out of her house, and he would laugh as Rinda would apologize to him—and everyone else—when they came over. But Mr. Ariti understood. He remembered what it was like to have young kids, and he still welcomed the neighborhood children to play in his yard. Sometimes he’d ask Rinda about a new stain on the floor or dent in the wall and Rinda would sigh, thinking about how much she’d owe for the damage to the house. But Mr. Ariti told her not to worry about it. Just tell him the story of what caused that new mark, because it kept him young to have all the children around. Besides, everyone in the neighborhood would help her fix up the house before she moved. It would be fine. Just keep living life and making this house a home.

What Rinda didn’t know was that Mr. Ariti owned that house. It was his starter home, and he had so many memories of him and his wife trying to raise four children in that shoebox of a house. Being invited to dinners and seeing how her home became a magnet for the neighborhood children made him happier than she would ever know.

When Mr. and Mrs. Ariti were younger that house next door, the one that Mr. Ariti now lived in, was owned by an older couple who were the backbone of the neighborhood at that time. They often helped Mr. and Mrs. Ariti with their kids and reassured them that a messy house was fine. Just enjoy life because kids grow up faster than you realize. Besides, it takes a village to raise a child and just pay it forward. They’d understand one day what that meant. And when that older couple were ready to move into a retirement community they offered to sell Mr. and Mrs. Ariti their home for a very low price, but only if Mr. and Mrs. Ariti agreed to somehow pay it forward. Perhaps they could rent out their smaller home to younger couples who were just getting their start in life.

When Rinda was chosen to come to Valtoria the timing was perfect and really, it was meant to be. It was a last-minute switch to bring Lorinda Parks to Valtoria and the person in charge of housing for the new teacher was in a panic. But Mr. Ariti heard that there was a teacher exchange program starting. The previous family who lived in Mr. Ariti’s starter home bought their own house and were preparing to move out, and even though it would be cutting it close, Mr. Ariti could have his starter home available to rent. But then Mr. Ariti heard the new teacher was a widow with a son. It was just the two of them, and he knew she would be at Valtoria Primary School, where so many of the neighborhood children went to school. It could be a perfect fit, and Mr. Ariti offered to donate the use of his house for the semester, with the condition that he remain anonymous. Even the families in the neighborhood didn’t know who actually owned that home. They just knew it was always rented out to young couples. When Mr. Ariti met Rinda and saw how much she added to their neighborhood community he couldn’t be happier. Well, unless they stayed in Cordonia for more than a semester.

Mr. Ariti always reassured Rinda when she worried about the condition of the house. Trust me, Rinda. You don’t have to worry about the condition of the house when it is time for you and Henry to move. Just keep living life and making this house a home.

[greyias]

“if anything happened to you…” Theron/Grey

Umm… this got angsty�� like whoa. I’m, uh, sorry Nonnie? I probably owe you some fluff after this. (Also not going to lie, this piece of art by @meonlyred​ was the image in the back of my mind while writing this.)

Set Post-Copero. Theron’s trying to keep it together, but the cracks are starting to show. Please be warned this is a bit dark, as I don’t think our boy is in a good place right now.

The days are long, but the nights even longer.

Sleep is elusive. When it’s not chased away by visions of the galaxy being devoured in flames, it seems to be pushed aside by the nightmarish memories of late. Sometimes it’s the faces of the lost souls damned by recent events, other times it’s just one shattered face that won’t let him rest. Tonight it’s somehow all of the above.

Theron sits up in bed, one hand scrubbing across his face as reality chases away the last remnants of his dream. He lets the soft hum of hyperspace travel drown out the words echoing in his skull, lets the darkness dampen out the too bright image of her face being consumed by flames.

“If anything happened to you…”

Except it already had. In his dreams it always does. Even the ones that start out pleasant somehow go off the rails quickly. Like his subconscious doesn’t believe he’s allowed them anymore. It’s possible he doesn’t. His usual cure for insomnia is meditation, but he can’t risk performing those techniques in case someone’s watching. Can’t look like he’s trying to hold on to any piece of the past he’s made a spectacle of swearing off. He’s tried to adapt some of the mental exercises to lying down in bed, but his results are mixed at best. Some nights he’s so exhausted he falls into a dead, dreamless sleep — but he never wakes feeling rested.

Theron has been undercover before. And for far longer stretches than this has dragged on — but he knows this time is different. Knew it before he ever set foot on that damn train. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to play the part he’s chosen, or how to act to expectations, but the constant and unending scrutiny is starting to wear at him. One wrong move and it’s all over — that kind of thing used to give him a thrill back in the SIS. Now it just fills him with a cold dread.

There’s no safety net here, no one coming to his rescue if he screws up. He is completely and utterly alone by his own design. He always used to work best that way, fly by the seat of his pants to get the job done and probably get yelled at by Marcus once he got home. There’s no boss waiting to yell at him, and there’s no home for him to return to. He left Odessen behind with nothing but the clothes on his back — and now he doesn’t even have those.

Sometimes he doesn’t feel like he has anything left.

Nothing but the mask he slips into place every morning before he walks into this den of serpents he’s embedded himself into, as he listens to every poisoned word that’s formed by their forked tongues. He fits right in.

Theron hates this character he’s playing with a passion, the jaded traitor looking to end it all — but every time it starts to chafe, when he wants to plant his fist into the nearest cultist face, or he starts to falter as their requests chip off another piece of his soul, he closes his eyes and he’s reminded why he has to keep the mask in place.

In his mind eye, she’s always the first thing he sees. She’s wearing that last smile she graced him with, the one on Odessen as they’d shared their last kiss. That was the image he’d forced himself to burn into the back of his mind. Not the shattered look he’d left her with on Umbara, although that one visits him often enough in his dreams. But he has to hold on to some semblance of perfection, some reminder of why it’s important for him to not slip up. Something beyond the wider, dire galactic repercussions. Something personal and dear to him. It may be selfish, but at this point what does that even matter? One happy little memory, a cherished thought at the back of his mind to keep him going is all the momento he has. Too risky to bring anything else with him to contradict his cover story, even if sometimes he wishes he had something physical to hold onto during his weaker moments such as this. When he keenly feels the absence of the warm body he’s grown accustomed to sleeping next to. That he knows he’ll likely never feel again. 

He’s seen the way some in the Alliance still look at Arcann. Theron’s not sure if his fake crimes outweigh those of the former emperor or not, but forgiveness is not in everyone’s repertoire. Not everyone has the seemingly endless patience and open heart as his Jedi.

However, he doesn’t expect her to be waiting for him at the end of this — a large part of him doesn’t really expect to survive long enough for that to even be an issue. He just needs to get the Alliance the intel they need to snuff out this conspiracy, root out the whatever moles have infiltrated their ranks. At some point, everyone’s luck runs out, and Theron’s pretty sure he used up all his chances ages ago. And probably a few other people’s as well. But… as long as she makes it through, and one day flashes that smile he loves again, even if it’s never for him, then maybe everything will have been worth it.

One of them deserves a happy ending.

She of all people does, after everything she’s been through. More than anyone else he knows. He’d been a fool to think that somehow he’d get to share in hers. After Haashimuut, it had been clear that life would never go according to his plans, so there had been little point in making any beyond the moment. Dreams were just that, it was always better to focus on reality and the problem at hand. He’d never been destined to have a normal life — and every time he catches glimpse of one it’s immediately snatched away.

There was a moment after Yavin where he’d forgotten this, but then there had been Ziost to remind him. Then after Ziost there had been Zakuul. Then there had been five hellish years where that lesson should have finally sunk in. Should have stuck when Valkorion haunted every early step of their relationship. Should have known that after they’d finally defeated Vaylin that their near domestic bliss had been too good to last. Worse, he’d let it distract him from the clever web being weaved around them all until it was too late.

He had been blind before, but Theron knows now. Nothing in his life will ever be permanent. No matter how hard he tries to hold on, it will always be snatched away from him — whether by his own stupidity, or by darker forces trying to make their mark on the galaxy.

But they will not make their mark upon her.

Those bastards might have set this entire chain of events into motion — but Theron will not let them finish it. His progress with them is slow despite everything he’s done to ingratiate himself to them. Sometimes he wonders if they really believe any of the lies he’s fed them, or if they’re just using and baiting him along as much as he is with them. It feels like they’re about to move into the final act of this prelude to galactic annihilation, and Theron has yet to see the whole picture — but he’s seen enough. If he could only verify all the players in this little production, then he could identify the true puppet master pulling all the strings. Then he could cut this serpent off at the head.

Not for the first time he wonders if Lana has been able to put the clues together he’d left behind on Copero. A thread of doubt weaves its way in. Theron had pulled enough sabotage on behalf of the Republic. He knows how to make damage look convincing but still leave enough viable data behind. He’d designed the charge he’d used on the map himself, but there were so many variables, if he had miscalculated…

Valss’s vision surfaces in Theron’s mind and he allows himself the shudder, fairly certain it won’t be noticed in the dark. The Alliance needs those coordinates, needs to finally confront and dismantle the Order of Zildrog. Stop them before they can use that weapon. Perhaps he should have found a way to make a copy of the data, even with the eyes of the Order watching. But he’d already risked enough letting that transmission get intercepted so they’d know who was behind this. He tries to have faith in Lana, faith in her endless tenacity and quest for the truth to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

He’s already trying to come up with a backup plan, figure out a way to draft a communication with the coordinates to the planet — and make sure it arrives to its intended recipients. Every one so far has him going down in a blaze of glory as he holds off the Order — something he’s trying to save as a last resort. They still have to search the planet for the hidden vault. There’s still time for the good guys to catch up and put a stop to this madness. Time for the legendary Outlander to pull off the impossible like she always does. He just has to give her the chance to shine.

Somehow the dimness of the morning brings clarity he needs after another sleepless night. There’s no coming back from this, and the dark path stretching out before him is the only one he can tread. He never wanted to walk this road, he still doesn’t, but he’s burned the bridge leading back home. It’s too dark here for the light he loves so much to flourish, and he refuses to let it extinguish her flame. He’d promised to do anything to protect her, and despite what it may look like to the outside observer, he doesn’t break his promises to her.

So, wearily, he fixes his mask back into place, and walks back into the den of serpents.

[televinita]

Zoo 3x07

It's Labor Day. I have labored. On the things that matter, like doing my damnedest at catching up on this show.

Hark! I did not realize how much I missed this show being about zany animal chases out in the field until we were finally blessed with just such an adventure, starring our favorite partnership -- plus a special guest. I think we all know which Hated Dad, in a showdown between Srs. Oz and Morgan, is my favorite. Let's all give a big round of applause to our top Mitch/Jamie shipper, Max ("I take it you're back together with my son?" I am impressed he managed to hold that in all the way to nightfall, honestly)

I'm gonna assume, based on their easy banter here, that he and Jamie stayed on good speaking terms and he had a valid reason for snaking (pun intended) custody. Though I am gonna need to know a) why he uses the phrase 'back' together, because I have a lot of witnesses to attest to the fact that they have no concrete evidence of a relationship on the books prior to this year, and b) again, why they could not legit have been together in S2.

Just assume I loved every second of Mitch complaining at Max, and Max being entirely "lol this is great, what a fun time with my son, listen to my boy snark" in response.

MITCH SNARKING ABOUT THE V. ROMANTIC PLACES JAMIE HAS TAKEN HIM SO FAR. (now stop me before I spiral into my QuickSad place with all the headcanon I came up with in 2015 about where I saw them going on vacation)

Anyway, speaking of zany animal chases, the giant invisible snake is my new favorite hybrid. (I don't know what to do with Jamie's Dragonslayer move of stabbing herself out of it after being swallowed. I've called this show insane so many times it has lost all meaning.)

"Jamie is the person I trust most” asdkl;fajsdl;afjsdklfjasd. I mean, he says this and kinda fails at showing it, but I like hearing it out loud as confirmation of his thoughts. [edit: and actually, I guess fear of losing that person would be a big motivator in not wanting to risk the possibility yet. Peace with ending, made.]

I'm not sure how to feel about the last scene given that Mitch didn't get a word in edgewise and all of his faces were Sad Regretful Puppy faces, but I think how Jamie handled it, finding the perfect blend of confrontation, sympathy and consequences, might be my favorite thing she's done all season.

I spoiled myself on ahead of time on him injecting her with the amnesia tranq, and honestly all I feel is sympathy that all of this is so far beyond Mitch's control* and he's backed into a corner scrambling to contain the situation on his own, maybe do less damage if has at least an idea of a solution before he presents the problem. I'm assuming it's not going to go well for him, but I can appreciate why he tries.

**poor Mitch. All he wants to do is just hole up somewhere in peace and quiet with his girlfriend for a while and the world is like, "Don't you dream impossible things!" And yes I just worked a Taylor Swift lyric in there, minus a question mark to completely alter its context.

Other Stuff

I think we all know, at this point, who I am rooting for in a knock-down fistfight between Abigail and Clementine. In related news, I better not hear a peep from the latter against the former doing what any mother would do to rescue her (creepy, horrifying nightmare) baby.

I did enjoy all of Mitch's wonderful, irrational "no tank! tank bad!" responses to the proposed treatment for Clem's baby. I told you being unbearably emotional about his daughter was his best attribute. And his general expression watching her go into the tank is a lot of what I was missing last episod4.

Also awww @ giving her that last tiny reassuring smile as the last thing she sees before the tank does its job.

Jackson taking up the Big Bro / Uncle reins around Clementine is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Helping fix stuff at which he is woefully under-qualified and taking her sass! Opening up about heartbreak! Tracking down baby daddies! THIS IS THE BEST. Can this show just be all Mitch and Jamie doing Action/Adventure Stuff while Jackson and Clementine hold down the fort, provide backup and bond.

So is Sam really the father or not? Because I gotta tell ya, I was not whelmed by his short-lived face, and as much as I would love very much for Clem's baby to be raised with the help of the village for lack of a life partner, I would also secretly like to be dazzled by the Knight Of Magic Spermatozoa. Also, if Clem really did sneak off in the middle of the night, I have another demerit waiting for her steadily worsening permanent record.

Worst part of episode: I officially have zero patience left for the Kenyatta Family Drama Hour. Dismissed.

P.S. GOOD NEWS: I went to bed frustrated and puzzling over the fact that I still couldn't understand the season 3 plot or how it connected to season 2, but my subconscious must have worked on it all night because I literally woke up this morning and went, in awe, "I Understand." I mean, not entirely or enough to be brave enough to say it out loud, even for the purpose of having people check my work, but enough to not feel rage at how boring the show is anymore. Whereas last year the episodes would fly by, this is the first episode since, like, 3x02 that didn't feel like it took 900 years to finish.

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

i'm seriously considering dying my hair blue by the end of the year. mind sharing your tips?

Ahhhhh, I feel so honoured to be asked this question, lol. I have allllll the blue hair tips! So as some background, I’ve had blue hair for five years, with the full head done for three. I don’t know if you’ve had funky coloured hair before, but to preface a couple things:

Blue hair dye is one of the hardest, if not hardest semi-permanent colour to remove.

I don’t want to scare you out of dying your hair blue, but I don’t want to give advice and skip on this. :( The dye I personally use is Ion Colour Brillance’s sky blue, as well as their purple.

This is the sky blue if you aren’t familiar:

And this is the purple:

For a deeper, super rich royal blue that has hues of indigo, that’s my go to. I used two tubes of the sky blue and one of the purple for probably the first two years of full head. Keep in mind, my hair is relatively short (it’s around shoulder length), but it is really thick. Three tubes of Ion dye is sort of not cutting it anymore, but since I’m cheap, I thin the dye out with water (NOT conditioner, just simple water) because Ion dyes are notorious for being super thick.

This concoction creates this hair colour:

With the 2:1 ratio, in real life, the result is a *tiny* bit more on the purple side. It’s definitely blue though (and super vibrant as well!). The reason I add the one tube of purple is simply because I’m cheap, and the purple acts as a barrier between the blue and fading. Ion’s purple fades rather quickly (when I was first starting out with hair dye, I used it on its own on small chunks of hair), so after around three washes, it goes away, and then the fading of the blue starts. I hope that makes sense. So basically, mixing the two allows the purple to fade first, and leave the blue around for longer. The purple dye also tones the hair quite a bit, especially if your blonde base was rather yellow.

I don’t use this 2:1 ratio anymore, simply because I have a plethora of purple dye I need to finish up first. So instead of buying two blues and a purple, I just buy three blues and mix about one and a half tablespoons of existing purple into the batch. This creates a very similar result that’s just a tiny bit less purple, of which I prefer because I find the colour I used to get clashed a little too much with my skin tone.

Both the 2:1 ratio and the ratio I use now fade into this colour after 3-4 washes, depending on how often you wash your hair:

I wash my hair around twice a week. This is the colour my hair looks most of the time. I touch my hair up/rebleach my roots once a month.

I find these concoctions of dyes don’t fade much beyond this:

(This was my hair after I came back from Mexico. The colour still didn’t budge after I swam in the ocean, in a pool, stood in the blazing sun for an entire day, and washed it four times in one week.)

So if you’re looking for something more on the permanent side (and I would definitely argue that Ion blues are permanent, and I’ve tried four: sky blue, aqua, sapphire, and shark blue), Ion is the way to go! If you don’t want something permanent, and would rather the colour fade completely back to blonde, I’m not super sure which dye to recommend here, since I’ve really only used Ion. I used Manic Panic’s After Midnight blue in grade eight twice, and I found it faded a LOT more than Ion, but there was still definitely green staining. I’d recommend diluting with lots of conditioner then, if you’re looking for something more semi-permanent. Even though the dye calls itself semi-permanent, there’s always risk of staining the hair. Just something I should mention as a precaution!

If you’re looking for more of a silvery blue like the colour my hair is at the moment, such as in this picture:

And in this one ft. my stupid face because I make stupid faces when taking pictures of my hair LOL:

I did this by mixing two tubes of Ion’s shark blue, and one of Ion’s titanium (all in their semi-permanent range). I won’t say I particularly recommend this method though, because the colour above^^ only happened after I did a colour glaze with Ion sky blue, purple, and LOTS of conditioner over the dyed titanium/shark blue hair. The mix of titanium and shark blue turned my hair straight up green, lol, so I’d raise caution there!

Okay, so now that I have all the colour stuff and warnings out of the way here are tips I often use:

1. Make sure your blonde base is as light and even as possible.

Ignore my roots in this picture, as they aren’t an accurate depiction, but this is how blonde my hair is under all the blue:

If you get your hair to a level 10, you’re gold. Though I’m not going to lie, my hair usually still looks fine if I’m at a level nine, or even an 8, but that’s kind of a stretch. If you want a colour like the silvery blue I have up above, you’re definitely going to need to get your hair to a level 10. If you’re using other blue dyes not in the silver range, a 9 should work okay. When in doubt, do a strand test on your blonde hair FIRST. It’s hard to go back after putting dye on clean blonde hair, so strand tests are your friend until you find the right mix that works for you.

Getting your bleach even before slapping on colour will save you a lot of hassle in the future. I know this because when I was in grade 8 and made the initial bleach on my hair, it was patchy and yellow with lots of level 6 and 7 tones, and the overall colour looked awful. If you have very dark or coarse hair and have never done this before, getting the bleach done first by a professional might be a good idea. While I’ve never gotten a professional to do my hair before, I’m putting this out there. Of course, if your hair is already bleached to the correct level, you’re cool! Be cautious if you bleach on your own, and do further research!

2. Keep coloured conditioner in the bathroom.

I mix a small amount of my dye and hair conditioner, and leave it in my shower so when I wash my hair, I have that to refresh my colour. If you do this (it’s not super necessary, but I like to use this method), I mix mine until the conditioner leaves a slight stain on my hand.

3. DEEP CONDITION.

Bleached, dyed hair isn’t always the healthiest. I’ll admit, after all this time of bleaching, my hair is hellaaaaa damaged. Deep conditioners and the right shampoo and conditioner often help. My favourite shampoo and conditioner is the Garnier Whole Blends coconut one:

My hair is naturally curly, and since bleaching tends to sort of mess with curl patterns, this duo does a really nice job at bringing them back. (If you have curly hair, I’d also keep this in mind: bleach doesn’t like curly hair and tends to straighten it out. :(( If you bleach in the healthiest way possible, you risk the least in terms of your curl pattern.)

My favourite deep conditioners are Wen’s Sweet Almond Mint Intensive Hair Treatment:

And One N’ Only’s hydrating mask:

Pantene’s Ultimate 10 hair BB cream is also amazing. I love that stuff so much. One n’ Only’s Argan oil is also a must for me.

I think that’s all I have to say in terms of tips? The biggest piece of advice I can give to you is to make sure you pick the right blue dye for what you want. Blue is rather forgiving in terms of covering colours up, but it doesn’t fade out very easily. So definitely make sure you pick a dye that’ll work for what you’re going for!

I hope this helped! If you have anymore questions, please feel free to ask. I know this was kinda not super specific, so I totally don’t mind clarifying/adding if you need! But, I hope this was sort of a start. :) Again, please don’t hesitate to reach out, I’d love to do whatever I can to help!

Good luck! :)

–Rachel

[kansascityhappenings]

Brexit complete: UK officially leaves European Union

https://newsource-embed-prd.ns.cnn.com/videos/newsource-video-embed.js

Brexit has happened. After 1,316 days of political turmoil, the UK now stands alone as the first nation to have ever left the European Union.

It has ended the careers of two Prime Ministers and left the very future of the United Kingdom in question. Scotland’s case for independence is becoming harder to ignore while Britain’s perceived selling out of Northern Ireland has played into the hands of those wishing to see Irish unification.

That’s just the politics: Britain’s economic future and place in the world have not been this uncertain since the end of the World War II.

Speaking to the nation an hour before Brexit finally happened, Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged that the country was divided: “For many people this is an astonishing moment of hope, a moment they thought would never come. And there are many of course who feel a sense of anxiety and loss … I understand all those feelings, and our job as the government — my job — is to bring this country together now and take us forward.”

Johnson has political capital to spend. His election landslide last year means he has the power to start rebuilding the UK in his own image. It also means he can remold the country’s position on the international stage. And in a world of shifting geopolitics, whatever path Johnson decides to walk will have implications beyond Britain’s borders.

The key question that needs answering in the next 11 months: Will the UK stick with its European neighbors and their multilateral view of the world? Or will it drift across the Atlantic and team up with an increasingly confrontational American foreign policy?

Why 11 months? Because, according to the deal Britain signed with the EU, this Brexit transition period ends on December 31, and whatever deal the two parties have reached on their future relationship — if any — kicks in.

Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, says that Johnson faces a huge strategic choice: “For decades, the foundation of British foreign policy has rested on two pillars: the UK has been an influential member of the EU; it is also part of the transatlantic alliance, with NATO and the US at its core.”

In an ideal world, post-Brexit Britain would now be free to forge new economic relations with both the EU and the US, while maintaining a diplomatic equilibrium that allows it to be a power broker between the two.

But as Trump’s America drifts further from the European agenda on so many big issues — from climate change to Iran engagement with China — any decision Johnson makes favoring one party risks straining relations with the other.

Johnson is already attempting to navigate the China minefield that stretches across Europe.

The EU’s China problem is acute. On one hand, stagnating European economies benefit from Chinese investment. On the other, that investment comes with the potential security risk of allowing state-owned Chinese companies to operate in Europe. And that has implications for Europe’s intelligence-sharing allies, such as the US.

Earlier this week, Johnson’s government decided that it would allow the Chinese telecoms firm Huawei to build part of the UK’s 5G network, despite serious security concerns. The government said Huawei’s role in the project would be restricted to areas that meant it wasn’t a risk to the UK.

One person unlikely to be happy about this is US President Donald Trump. In his economic war with China, Trump is looking for friends. And as the UK leaves the EU, desperate to sign trade deals — especially with the US — he sees an opportunity to pull the UK into his orbit.

Trump seemed distracted as the news broke on Tuesday and it’s possible that London’s assurances were enough for the President. However Johnson chooses to handle the Huawei issue going forward, officials in both Brussels are DC will be paying very close attention. And whatever decisions he takes, it creates an immediate short-term problem for Europe’s own power-balancing act between the US and China.

“The EU’s top priority is balanced relations between the big two: China and America,” says Steven Blockmans, head of foreign affairs at the European Center for Policy Studies. “If the UK has a closer relationship with either, it could create problems for Europe.”

Europe also has a complicated relationship with Russia. Many EU nations rely on Russian investment and natural resources. But Europe has led a sanctions charge on Russia for its illegal annexation of Crimea and alleged state-sanctioned attacks on Russian dissidents living in Europe. Arguably the most high-profile of these cases was the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in England. Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement.

Johnson was British foreign secretary at the time and was quick to blame Moscow, driving a push for the international expulsion of Russian diplomats.

That was then. During last year’s election, Johnson made big spending promises to the public he now leads. Russian investment could help make ends meet, given that the City of London is a favored destination for wealthy Russians.

“A clampdown on assets that are held or transferred through the city is crucial to maintaining a common European stance,” says Blockmans. Johnson’s advisers assume he will stick to his hard line on Russia, but there are long-term concerns in eastern Europe. If he budges even slightly, it causes problems for Ukraine, whose independence from Russia is an EU priority.

Sarah Lain, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, says that Brexit “creates uncertainty over what resources the UK will have to maintain its position on eastern Europe.”

While the UK remains committed to supporting Ukraine, Kiev’s concern is that, “given the possible economic impact from Brexit and the perceived blow to the UK’s reputation as a strong foreign policy actor,” Britain might be unable to support Ukraine in the same way, says Lain.

Johnson’s policy shifts could be subtle. But they will color a complicated picture in the international community. A big economy with serious diplomatic power nudging in one direction shifts the weight in a delicate balancing act.

The most complicating factor in all of this, of course, is the unreliable figure currently occupying the White House — who happens to be up for reelection in November.

“We are in a period of negotiating a new world order, and Britain needs to navigate a path that maintains strong relations with as many of our allies as possible,” says Sophia Gaston, managing director of the British Foreign Policy group.

That new world order will largely be determined by how successful Trump is in his attempts to reshape the world to America’s advantage, and of course, if he’s still in the White House this time next year. “The UK is leaving the EU at a time when Trump is trying to renegotiate the transatlantic relationship as he pivots his attention from Europe and the Middle East to competition with China and Asia,” says Leonard.

It’s no secret that Trump’s priority with Brexit is a trade deal that could buck global norms on food standards and the regulation of medicines. Doing so would present the US with the opportunity to set precedents in trade that were previously unthinkable — and could even see a hike in global drug prices.

For Johnson, a trade deal with Washington would be a political prize, proving that Brexit had been worth it all along. However, a wide-ranging deal with America could damage the UK’s relationship with the EU. Leonard says that Trump, unlike presidents before him, is “much more transactional” in his dealings with other nations. The price of cozying up to him could cost Johnson big with European allies.

So, what will he do? Gaston believes that Britain will ultimately “operate as a mid-tier military power with top-tier assets in soft power, diplomacy and development.”

The big question: what global status does Johnson want the UK to have five years from now, when Brexit is done and dusted? “There’s a danger that as Britain leaves the EU, it puts getting trade deals above all else and will not be a big strategic player as it becomes obsessed with bilateral relationships,” says Leonard.

As foreign secretary, Johnson didn’t say much about how he saw the new world order. As the UK moves into its brave new future, the world is still in the dark as to exactly who will benefit from its considerable heft.

And while some claim that this won’t matter, it’s not a view shared by those at the helm of many world powers. If Johnson does decide to move further from Europe, there’s “a danger from a European perspective that Britain could become a disrupter, a bit like Turkey or Russia, that tries to divide and rule different European countries, is not reliable and is unpredictable,” says Leonard.

And if it does drift across the Atlantic towards America, Brussels could soon miss having one of the world’s loudest diplomatic voices, with nuclear weapons, a big economy, a world-class intelligence network and a permanent seat on the UN security council, firmly in its ranks.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2020/01/31/brexit-complete-uk-officially-leaves-european-union/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2020/02/01/brexit-complete-uk-officially-leaves-european-union/

[topicprinter]

Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.Today's interview is with Elizabeth Grojean (u/Eliz008) of Baloo Living, a brand that makes luxury weighted blanketsSome stats:Product: Luxury Weighted BlanketsRevenue/mo: $100,000Started: April 2018Location: New York CityFounders: 1Employees: 2Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?Baloo Living is asleep and wellness company launched from Bali in 2018. Our signature product is a weighted blanket, an incredible tool for calming the nervous system with gentle pressure, similar to the way being hugged or held makes us feel naturally comforted. These blankets have been used for decades by therapists and are only now going mainstream as people discover just how powerful they can be for improving sleep and soothing anxiety--without the use of medication.It’s exciting to be bringing a product to market that does so much good and only beginning to reach critical mass. The market for weighted blankets is exploding - currently, on Amazon, there are millions of dollars in sales monthly, and we know that e-commerce generally represents 10% of retail sales in the US. We reached six figures in our third month, and seven figures after our first holiday season before even a year has passed! Baloo took off like crazy, partly because we stand for the highest product quality, customer service, and thoughtful design.imageWhat's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?In 2017 I quit my job in marketing and publishing in New York City and booked a one-way flight to Bali. I was completely burned out and confused about the direction of my life. I’d been working so hard, yet felt unfulfilled. In the process of leaving every familiar security behind, I came to understand that I’d been looking for wholeness through external validation. In the first weeks without a title, company, or convenient identity, I felt completely naked. Over the course of weeks that then became months, I softened my external cover and started to discover what life could be like when there’s nothing to prove, nothing to justify, and no one to impress; the experience of being enough, satisfied and happy, just because, was the greatest and most beautiful discovery!I came back to New York City feeling so good and got smacked in the face with reverse culture shock. I tried to go back to life as I’d known it, but I had changed so much, I could never go back to working in an office for someone else. I’d spent almost all of my savings and had just a few thousand dollars left, but made the difficult decision to choose the path of uncertainty and risk, and go back to Bali with no income, with the intention of launching a business that I could run remotely and independently. In Bali, I met so many people running businesses while traveling, and I knew the secret to learning was to be surrounded by a community of kind people who could teach me.Back in Bali, I quickly went through an online course to launch a brand through Amazon FBA. Through product research, I discovered weighted blankets, and less than a week later, booked a flight to visit with suppliers and pick up samples. The moment I tried my sample weighted blanket for the first time, everything changed--I fell in love with the surprising, deeply relaxing sensation that crept in. At that moment, this business went from a project to a passion; the miracle of our bodies to self regulate and heal when given a nurturing environment is amazing to me.Baloo Living is a product company standing for respect for the body’s wisdom and gentle self-care and comfort. I was inspired to share the experience I had of reconnecting with myself by escaping to Bali with the rest of the world who can’t take the time to travel but can take a few minutes for quiet time with a Baloo blanket to find stillness and peace within.imageAt my home office in Ubud, Bali, Spring 2019Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.Right away, I knew that I could improve on the products being offered in the market. The blankets I saw were either made of synthetic materials or low-quality cotton. Baloo is made using a very soft, premium cotton that feels luxurious as soon as you take it out of the box. It’s heavy but super breathable and cool, so it can be used all year round because good sleep should not be seasonal!Baloo also uses a lower profile batting because the thinner the blanket, the more finely the glass microbeads inside contour the body, giving a more immediate, grounding feel. We also eliminated plastic from our packaging, and we only use materials certified by the Oeko-Tex Standard 100, which means free of chemicals, clean and safe. Finally, we include a small gift--a link to Tibetan and crystal bowl recordings, which have been shown to help the mind and body relax.Despite the best product design, our first order hit some snags. The inspection report came back with a failing grade, just one week before the Chinese New Year. Factories close for the entire month, so I had to pause the shipment and wait before I could visit the factory personally to inspect the order. We sorted through each piece and eliminated almost twenty percent of the pieces that were damaged. The experience taught me to know the production process very well, and also gave me peace of mind to know that each blanket we shipped was perfect.Since then, I’ve found a new manufacturing partner who is incredible to work with. The prices are higher but the facility is sparkling clean, the management team is excellent, and I can sleep at night knowing our products meet the highest standards.This is a photo of my sister Kimberly and a friend tying ribbons around our product inserts at a coworking space in Ubud, Bali. I hand-carried the inserts to the factory, where we inserted them as we inspected each blanket:imageDescribe the process of launching the business.I launched Baloo through Amazon initially. We shot beautiful photography at a villa in Bali and optimized the listing for the best keywords. The first order came within a day, and I can’t describe the joy at seeing it! Soon, we were selling three to six weighted blankets a day, and I didn’t think I could stand it--it was beyond my wildest dreams to have a product that someone would exchange money for!The first person who contacted us for a return made me so sad; I was in Bali, and I arranged for a courier to pick the box up from the woman’s apartment building in Manhattan and deliver it to my sister’s for safekeeping. The courier cost $40! It’s so funny looking back, but I feel a personal connection to each customer, and want people to be well taken care of.For the first few months, sales were made only on Amazon, but as the holidays neared, I reached out to a PR firm to help us with placements in gift guides. PR takes a couple of months at least, as the editors need time to learn about your brand and work it into their editorial calendars. Fortunately, we got an unexpected piece of the press just at the end of November when New York Magazine’s The Strategist named us the “Best weighted blanket to gift” - in just two days our website, balooliving.com, was flooded with orders and we completely sold out of our entire Q4 stock.We had hundreds of people emailing us to be put on the waiting list, and at this point, I was the only person doing customer service! I called my mom and asked her if she could stop what she was doing and help me respond to emails. She worked with me for the entire month of December and we started to take pre-orders for January delivery.Now, my mom is a permanent member of our customer service team and answers our phones to help customers decide which blankets to order. Her background is in mental health and counseling and she’s a certified life coach, so I couldn’t imagine anyone better prepared to take care of our customers.Now that we are a year and a half in business, we have received a number of accolades and high profile reviews, and the press is one of the main drivers of our website sales. We also invest in organic SEO, Google shopping ads and paid search. Our channels have shifted so that Amazon represents a bit under half of our sales with the rest from our website and select partners like Macy’s, Verishop, and The Grommet.imageBaloo’s operations and fulfillment team - Sean Zhang, Hasimew Jallow, Nancy Grojean, Elizabeth Grojean, Benjo BoteSince launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?I believe it’s a combination of touchpoints that help us build and maintain a relationship with customers. The unboxing experience, which is the moment of the first impression with our physical product, can’t be overemphasized. That’s why we made the move to pack our blankets in a reusable cotton dust bag, and tie the product inserts with a ribbon. So much care has gone into the product and the brand, that we do everything we can to deliver that experience to the customer.Email and social media are the other ways we stay in touch. While we take a restrained approach to discounts and promotions, we do offer discounts at key gifting times, and we find that once someone has tried the blanket, they want to share it with friends and family members, so it makes a natural gift. So while it’s not a consumable product, we do see anywhere from 15-20% of our customers are returning customers.How are you doing today and what does the future look like?I’m committed to running a lean and bootstrapped company. It makes things harder in some ways but also keeps us creative. In addition to our original weighted blanket, we now offer a smaller size (the Mini Baloo), duvet covers, and French linen pillowcases. We are launching a new product right before Black Friday that I can’t yet reveal, and turning on global shipping, which will help us gauge interest in markets outside the United States.One of our greatest opportunities lies in the heart and story of our brand, so we will be looking for new ways to share that, and connect with people on an emotional level; through Facebook ads and organic content, plus videos on-site and in email.I have several product ideas that I’m so excited to launch and will plan for next year. These will help us build a stronger foundation as a brand that stands for comfort and self-care. We’re also looking for ways to grow our giveback to our nonprofit partners: the Pajama Program, which gives children and their caregivers’ tools for building reassuring bedtime routines; and Carbonfund.org Foundation, to offset our carbon footprint. We're also looking to do more for the environment through corporate givebacks, such as giving a percentage of our sales to the Rainforest Alliance, which we did for a time.After spending a couple of years in Bali, I’m really excited to be back in New York City and meeting so many inspiring entrepreneurs and creative people. I’m challenged every day and can’t wait to see what happens next!imageThrough starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?Be thoughtful about engaging consultants or agencies. I’ve made the mistake of rushing forward into contracts with a person or team because I’m impatient and want things to move forward, but it’s far more efficient to take the time to make sure the person or company is the right fit.But, hire experts! It will quickly reach the point when you cannot take the time to learn everything yourself and cheap freelancers can also waste time. When you bring someone on who is a true expert, make sure they’re open to explaining their thought process or methods with you, so you can learn from them while they support your project.What platform/tools do you use for your business?Our website is built on Shopify and we’ve just launched with Shopify Fulfillment Network to the warehouse and fulfill orders from the East Coast. I’m excited to see how the faster shipping speeds to the East Coast improve our conversion rates.Border Guru is a great service that our west coast fulfillment center uses to calculate duties and shipping at checkout for international orders. This means the customer isn’t surprised with a customs bill upon delivery.I use FreeeUp to find high-quality freelance help which comes vetted (unlike Upwork). I also hear that Jobrack.eu is quite good but I have not yet used it, it’s primarily for sourcing technical talent from Eastern Europe.Our team communicates throughout the day on Slack, our headquarters is in New York, and we have team members in San Diego, Denver, North Carolina, Barcelona, New Jersey, and Austin, so we try to have video calls every two weeks to connect and share updates as a team.Brexhas helped us manage our cash flow, allowing us to borrow cash for 60 days with no fees or interest.Transferwise has made it easy to send money without paying wire fees.We use Klaviyo for email because it is powerful segmenting lists and creating user journeys.Orderly Emails is an app that saved us a lot of time, it allows you to synch the design of your Shopify store’s automatic emails all at once, versus updating each template.What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?Power vs. Force by Sir. David R. Hawkins examines human behavior and the fundamental access to the truthfulness or falsehood of any statement or supposed fact. This, I find most interesting in honing the ability to read situations and my own motivations and decisions, as I try to move forward with integrity and awareness.I’m a big fan of Dr. Joe Dispenza, and most recently read Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, which helps me expand my thinking outside my familiar bounds.I love Shopify’s podcast, Shopify Masters, which hosts a wide variety of e-commerce business owners with different business models, goals, and strategies. I learn something from each episode, no matter the guest’s background.I find belonging to groups and attending events to be extremely valuable for building and growing a supportive network. I recommend AMZ Innovate in New York City each September for Amazon sellers, and Digital Marketing Skill Share (DMSS) in Bali each October for diverse digital marketing tactics. I’m a member of Dynamite Circle, which is for all digital entrepreneurs, not only product-based businesses, and I participate with the NYC Fair Trade Coalition to stay abreast of innovations in sustainability, textiles, and sourcing.I always recommend getting involved with groups or organizations in your space, either in person or online; one small insight or learning can pay off exponentially against the time or money invested.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?Know that no one knows what they’re doing, especially gurus. Each person’s business is unique and comes as a result of timing, effort, circumstances and luck, and the future is always changing. I suggest educating yourself as much as possible, be it through webinars, books, courses, or any other resource, but take action quickly, even in small ways, to make the jump from conceptual thinking to practical application. You will learn SO much through doing, and even a small step might feel irrationally scary at the time, especially if you’re challenging your self-imposed limits or ideas about what you “should” do or beliefs about the “way things are done.”The BEST piece of advice I took was to list a product for sale on Amazon that was a small test product. The process of creating a barcode, labeling the product, shipping it to FBA, writing the listing, and then actually selling the product gave me confidence. Even if I lost money, the experience of taking each step was well worth it. In the end, I found something that made $300 a month, which was a huge victory!Last but not least, find people who understand and support what you’re trying to do. It’s hard enough to believe in yourself when you’re doing something for the first time, so do yourself a favor and put people around you who can believe in you, when you don’t.Where can we go to learn more?WebsiteInstagramElizabeth’s InstagramElizabeth’s LinkedinIf you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos, tools, books, and other data.For more interviews, check out r/starter_story - I post new stories there daily.Interested in sharing your own story? Send me a PM

[superblyjovialtheorist-blog]

Tip cheap car insurance in new orleans louisiana

"Tip cheap car insurance in new orleans louisiana

Tip cheap car insurance in new orleans louisiana

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://saleinsurancequotes.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

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My daughter just got into an accident and totaled my car. This is in Michigan and she is not listed on the insurance. She spends most of the week at her fiance's house (who drives her to work, school, so forth) and comes home for the weekends and rarely uses our cars (once or twice every month or more). Now my insurance is saying they can not cover her because she does not live at home, even though she never really moved out and her permanent address is at home, even when she went away to college. She is under absolutely everything for us, but they are trying to tell her to work with her fiance's car insurance for medical coverage. I never saw a reason to put her on our car insurance because she doesn't use the cars and I don't think it's fair to put it under her fiance's insurance because he had absolutely nothing to do with it. Any suggestions on how to go about this situation would be really appreciated!""

New truck insurance business law?

THE NEW TRUCK David Simpson purchased a new truck and titled it in his name. City Bank loaned David money for the truck. City Bank is named on the title and kept the title to the vehicle. David went to National Insurance and paid to insure the vehicle. The agent at National gave David a paper to prove the truck was insured until the policy issued. One day, when the truck was parked at Davids work, vandals slashed the tires. David had the following coverage on the truck. Bodily Injury Liability $ 100,000/300.000 Property Damage Liability $50,000 Uninsured/Underinsured $100,000/300,000 Medical Payments $2000 Collision with $500 Deductible I. Comprehensive with $50 Deductible 1. What is the contract between National Insurance and David called? 2. David is what party to this contract? 3. National Insurance is what party to the contract? 4. Why did National keep the title to the truck? 5. When will David get a clear title in only his name? 6. What is the paper that David received from National? 7. What is the money David paid to National called? 8. The insurance is expensive. Why does David insure the vehicle? 9. Why does David have the right to insure the vehicle? 10. What factors determine the cost of Davids truck insurance? 11. David called National to tell them about the accident. What is this called? 12. David expected National to pay for the damage to the truck under which coverage? 13. Will David have to pay any money for fixing the truck? 14. Will points be charged to David? 15. David gets the insurance check to pay for the damage. Why is the check is payable to both David and City Bank? 16. A friend tells David that he can make money off the insurance company if he exaggerates the damage to include a scratch made when David swiped a mailbox. Can David legally include the minor scrape too? 17. A hit and run driver sideswiped David. Which coverage will pay for the damages? 18. The owner of the mailbox got Davids tag number and called the police. When David called National to report the damages, which coverage will pay for the damage?""

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Tip cheap car insurance in new orleans louisiana

Tip cheap car insurance in new orleans louisiana

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What are some good cheap car auto insurance in the washington dc area for a 23 yr old female?

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also, what does he/she drive and the year?""

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I am a 16 year old male in california, who just bought a 92 Buick Skylark and I need to no what would be my best bet when it comes to getting insurance, I would like cheap insurance""

What's the cheapest auto insurance ?

What's the cheapest auto insurance ?

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I received a call today from my JOB PROVIDED Health insurance company. The representative asked me a number of questions about what I have done about my epilepsy and what medications I am currently on. Why did they call me? My mother said that they do this to determine if they are going to drop you or not. Can they drop me even though it is provided threw my job?

Does anyone know of any ortho dental insurance (cheap or reasonable) in Texas? ?

I need braces... I have Blue Cross Insurance but ortho isnt incuded in my plan. I am with Blue Cross through my job. I am so upset! I need this done. Or is there a place where I can get them for really cheap? (Braces)? Thanx for your help.

If I put my plates on someone elses car will my insurance cover it?

My brother is a dealer and I will be borrowing a car for a day or two and I am wondering if I take off the dealer plates and put one of my own cars plates and carry my insurance card, will my insurance cover any accidents or damages that may happen? If I need to do anything else, let me know in detail what and any costs.""

What is an average monthly insurance rate for a 16 year old driver?

I want to get ideas for what people pay. I want to know where I can get the cheapest insurance.

What solutions would make health care treatment instead of health care insurance more affordable?

considering out of pocket expenses? and would this be a conservative approach to the health care issue?

Tip cheap car insurance in new orleans louisiana

Tip cheap car insurance in new orleans louisiana

How to get insurance check from mortgage when home owners did their own repairs?

Our home was flooded out in September. It completely flooded the basement and a few inches on the first floor of our ranch home. We had contractors replace the furnace and hot water heater and the electrical system. However, all the other repairs were made by our friends and families. We have all worked tirelessly for two months. The insurance company *finally* sent our check. The Mortagage company has the check and is telling us we need contractor estimates? We have completed all the work. The insurance company based the check and estimates knowing we were going to make the repairs ourselves. What should we do?""

Cancel Car Insurance in Florida-How?

It's my dad's car and everything is under his name. Currently his out of the country and won't be back for a month or two. He got two cars insured with Progressive, one I want to cancel because it's broken down. Told the insurance agent about it and he told me to go down to the tag(building, whatever it call) and turn in the tag to get a paper? My dad is not in the country so will I be able to turn the tag in for him without problem? and what tag is the agent talking about(registration tag?) Also will there be any other document needed? (Going down tomorrow but gathering some information first) Thank You.""

Cheapest Vans to insure?

Hi, I was looking into getting a van as a first car, ideally I was after something like a van/car cross, basically an estate with no back windows, I'm not sure of the group. I was wondering what decent vans are out there and what would be cheapest to insure? The main reason for wanting a van is I regularly surf and would sleep in the back occasionally.""

Should Keep or Look into term Life Insurance Quotes?

I have a whole life policy which I have been paying 45.00 per month for 16 yrs. I have to pay this amount until age 99 so they say. The amount it was for when I bought it was 50,000. It builds cash value. I am now 62. Should I keep this policy or look into term insurance?""

What is the cost of car insurance with out drivers ed.?

I am an 18 year old girl, looking to get a small used car something like a older civic. What would the average monthly payment be. I live in NH and I have good grades, never been in ...show more""

Why is Obamacare called the Affordable Insurance Act if it provides health care?

Why is Obamacare called the Affordable Insurance Act if it provides health care?

What to do when car insurance refuses to cover an accident?

My boyfriend crashed his friend's car recently. He had permission to drive it but happened to get into an accident. His friend has insurance for the car and my boyfriend has his own insurance, but neither ones' insurance will cover the car. He thinks his options are limited to only taking over the car payments or going to court (the friend's insurance says it should be reported as stolen if he doesn't pay up). Shouldn't the friend's insurance be extended to cover my boyfriend as a temporary driver? Aren't there other options?""

Cheapest SR22 car insurance?

Can anyone recommend which auto place (ex: safe auto, geico, etc) has the cheapest SR22 insurance. I already know there's alot of different variables/situations but i just need an idea. I've only had 1 dui and it was 5yrs ago.""

Car Insurance Quotes?

Need help with some insurance quotes. Looking to pay cash for a car maybe a 2001 impala, 2000 honda accord, 2001 toyota camry. Need a couple of estimates on how much insurance would be. Driver is over 25, clean driving record, female driver. Lives in Florida. Thanks""

Car got broken into... How much will insurance cover?

So my buddy calls me in the morning of the last day of school (I decided not to go and sleep in). He needs to borrow my jumper cables for my friend. He comes over, and we head over to my car to get the cables. I open the trunk, and my subwoofer isn't in my car any more... Head over to the passenger side and see that the window was smashed in, they stole my mp3 player and broke the recliner for the passenger side chair... Right in front of my house. I'm wondering how much will get covered by insurance... We have Progressive. I'm wondering if a. They'll cover the price of the sub, mp3 player, and cost to get the recliner fixed (sub and mp3 cost a total of $200-$250). idk about the recliner, maybe $60. I know they'll cover the cost of the broken window ($200, already dropped it off to get fixed), but my dad (owner and insurance payer of the car) is wondering if the increase in rates will be worth saving the $200 in window repair. Thanks. Make sure to take your valuables out of your cars at night or in a sketchy area, guys.""

How much will car insurance cost?

I'm getting my restricted liscence this coming January, because of my job. I'm trying to figure out a budget. I'm a 15 yr. old female who drives a 2007 toyota camry. Thank you for any help in advance!:)""

Would a Honda Rebel 250 be a good starting motorcycle?

I still do not have my license. I intend on getting it soon. I've waited too long to get it. But I would like to own a motorcycle instead of a car. I don't live anywhere near the cold so, icy roads aren't a problem. And I am 5 foot 2, so I'm guessing this would be a good choice of motorcycle. Oh, and if you own a motorcycle, could you answer a few questions for me? Do you need a special license for it? And is the insurance a killer? Thanks for all of your help.""

Looking for affordable health insurance in Arizona for my child ONLY?

Kidscare is no longer acccepting applicants and and SCHIP has been discontinued.....All the sites i go to that offer quotes are only for adults and the deductibles are outrageous.... ...show more

""Whats the average payment for motorcycle insurance, for ages under 20?""

I live in South Florida, the Motorcycle in mind would be an Harley Davidson Iron 883 (2012 model) it's a sportster/cruiser and also having a 883 cc. I'm not sure if this helps, but I just want to know what I'm going into.""

Which insurance company in Ireland provides the cheapest car insurance and best service?

Which insurance company in Ireland provides the cheapest car insurance and best service?

Any life insurance policies for someone who is 84?

Why would they insure that age, you ask. I dunno. Do they?""

I have a question about my insurance for...?

ok i am 16 years old...17 in September and i am wanting a motorcycle sometime before i go to college...i have farm bureau insurance and i've not had a wreck before...so what would my insurance cost me to be driving a motorcycle at the age of 17 with no wrecks or tickets or anything?

Why is my motorbike coming up wrong on insurance quotes ?

I Have a Gilera Runner VX 125cc, When i go onto gocompare & all other insurance websites it asks for my reg & when i put it in and select vehicle its coming up as a VXR 180cc, when i go on to HPI its 125cc & on my logbook its 125 could anyone explain why this is happening ? thanks for your time.""

""How much does car insurance cost for 23 years old male, first driver/car?""

I am 23 years old and just got my driving license few weeks ago. I am planning to get volkswagen golf match 1.4, but don't know if i will get cheap car insurance for it.. If you know anything please help..does anyone know the exact monthly/yearly cost of the insurance? if it will be too expensive what will be a cheapest one...i don't mind vauxhall corsa but i prefer golf ,and reason is straight forward, we all know :) help would be much appreciated.""

Grad. Student needs health insurance?

I will be quitting my full-time job to attend Grad school full-time in May. Unfortunately I will lose my health insurance covered by my employer. I really cannot go with out health insurance. I need affordable coverage. Any suggestions?

How much would it cost to insure a cheap motorcycle for a teen?

I found a good bike for two thousand dollars it's nothing fancy but it's enough to get around so I was wondering how much would it cost to insure a bike like this. I have very good grades my parents have a good driving record so I think that will help

Do I need Car Insurance to get a Georgia Drivers License?

I'm 19 years old and Ive been ready for my driving test for a while now. I just need to know if I can take the driving test in Georgia with my mom's car. WITHOUT being on her insurance. And YES her car is insured. I just want to take my test, get my license, and worry about insurance and a car later.""

Is there some kind of insurance I can buy for my pit bull while renting a home/apt?

I'm not looking for housing, but I know how difficult it is to get while owning a dog over 25 lbs and a pit bull mix to boot! Is there a type of insurance that I can get that will over-ride or cover whatever it is in the commerical insurance that makes people reject me for my dog breed? I have read somewhere there might be, but I don't know what it is and what was the experience with using it? I'm wondering if it's something I should get now and have a history of having or just get when I need it.""

Do you have health insurance?

how old are you and how old are your kids?

How much do you pay for your teenager's(16) auto insurance?

I just got a learner's permit, and GEICO says that they do not charge for learner's permit. However, when I get my driver's license, it'll cost an additional ~$500 per 6 months. I am a straight-A student, records are clean, and I'm NOT adding an another car--just me--into my parent's coverage. Is this expensive? Normal? Cheap? What do you pay, and what company are you covered by? thanks""

Tip cheap car insurance in new orleans louisiana

Tip cheap car insurance in new orleans louisiana

Cheapest Car Insurance Rates - Chicago?

Not sure if my fathers age has anything to do with rates, but he is 65 years old and pays $600 for six months (for one of his two cars) a 2003 Toyota Corolla with over 100,000 miles on it. He's currently with State Farm. Are there any companies that are as good (not sure what qualifies as being good , but heard that State Farm is good ) but for half the price? And is $600 for six months a lot for the above car? I know insurance covers more than just damage to the car (like injuries caused to others), but the car probably isn't even worth more than a couple grand. So not sure if paying that much is even worth it. Any thoughts?""

Sr22 insurance help please anyone?

Ok so i got pulled over last week...and i got a ticket... I also have to appear to court because i got another ticket for no insurance proof.. i was driving my dads vehicle and i couldnt find the insurance card but I can proof my dad did have insurance... So would I still have to file for sr22????

Health insurance for a single 23 year old male?

Well I have a couple of questions of how does this health insurance work. Do i automatically qualify right away after i pay all the fees? I want to know an estimate of which insurance best fits me and so on. I'm new to this so any advice will do. I have a link that has 10 best health insurance but don't know which to choose. http://health.usnews.com/health-plans/ca

21stcentury insurance?

21stcentury insurance?

When you buy a used car how many days do u get to put insurance?

How many days can u drive around whit it whitout insurance ? how much time do u get to go the DMV and stuff ?

Best car insurance company in Ontario for new drivers?

Hey Guys, Got my first car! YAY!!!! I was just wondering if you guys can recommend the best car insurance company and rates in Ontario for new drivers? Please let me know. Thanks.""

Please help first time traffic ticket In California?

So i got a ticket for no. Insurance on november and in the mail a citation of 859.00 due by dec. 10 dont have the money but i got insurance now..whats going to happen in court im very scared :/

Would a warrant for a no insurance ticket affect me in california from minnesota?

Would a warrant for a no insurance ticket affect me in california from minnesota?

What is the cheapest Mitsubishi lancer insurance wise?

I want a Mitsubishi that looks nice, a bit like an evo, without the crazy insurance price or high speed engine. Any suggestions. I'm 19 and have been driving just over a year.""

""Cant B on husbands car insurance, he said no cuz dad is on it & he wasnt gonna stop lending his car 2 his fam.""

I would like to be on my husbands car insurance. He said no because his dad is on it and he was not gonna stop lending his car to his family. He would however open a separate account for me. I asked him to stop lending the car he said no, it was his car.""

Insurace for a 2001 mustang?

My girlfriend who is 17 is wanting to get her own car. Her parents won't let her put a car on their insurance plan so she wants to get her own. She is looking at a 2001 mustang v6 automatic and wants to know, roughly, how much the insurance would cost her on her own. (she plans on getting esurance).""

""What's the cheapest motorcycle insurance in Ontario, Canada?""

I could only find ONE motorcycle insurance thing called Kingsway and its $156 a month for a Kawasaki 125 Eliminator, which is BLOODY EXPENSIVE. So are there more motorcycle insurance things..... that are cheaper????!!! I'm 21. Thanx.""

Car insurance?

I have hear that car insurance can be a little cheaper if its a 4 door. Is this true? I have a son getting ready to drive and I was wondering.

Health insurance deductible?

Okay, so I don't fully understand how insurance works and I can't seem to get an answer to my question. My health insurance deductible, do I get it back? As in after exhausting it through appointments/hospital visits/ect. Do my monthly payments go back towards that? Is it gone for good? I haven't even been able to get someone from the company on the phone to answer me!! Please help. Thank you!""

Insurance checks?

i own a business that was robbed recently. i have already gotten my insurance check to replace my stolen items. they only gave me wholesale cost, so i wasnt able to replace everything.... just today, they found most, but not all of my stuff. do i have to give back my insurance money?""

Does anyone know where a 17 year old with a 3.8 grade average and a good driving record can get insurance?

I can't find anyone that will cover him,except Progressive, and they want 1400 dollars a year.""

What if i cancel my auto insurance and get back after six months?

I canceled my auto insurance before six months. now I got another car and I got accident before I purchased insurance for this car with the same company. then I purchased the auto insurance.so, my question is does my insurance company has to cover for this.""

Low income health insurance?

One of my friends recently came to US from a different country. She sold whatever she had and came to US with 25000$. Recently since she was sick she had to go to emergency room for three days. The problem is she did not have any kind of health insurance. Somebody in the hospital told her that she might be eligible for special kind of low income insurance. Her salary is 900$ per month and she get some help from her brother to be able to pay for rent and living costs. Here is my question: does having 25000$ in the bank account disqualify her for this low income insurance? Do they expect that she pay nearly all these 25000$ for the cost of her visit to emergency room? She was asked to provide all the documents regarding her bank accounts, rent she pays and documents showing her income. She is living in Bay area.""

""How much will car insurance cost me, as a young driver?""

I will be 17 in may next year, but I need to start saving for insurance. Does anyone know any cheap insurance deals, also who they are, and how much? I live in UK thanks :)""

New health insurance question?

How long after health insurance policy starts can you go to the doctor? My insurance starts on 11/01/08 just wondering how long should I wait to go to the doctor for my yearly checkup?

Can my car insurance company take action on a DUI without a conviction?

I was stopped for a DUI, but have not yet been convicted since the court process takes forever... Well I would like to buy a new car, and it looks like my insurance company will check my record at that time. I have just checked out my record myself, and it shows that I have had my license suspended for 6 month for DUI, but it does not say that I have been convicted of the DUI. I have reason to believe that the charges will be dropped. Can they raise my rates or drop me at this point? Without a conviction?""

""My car was totaled, do I still have to make payments to my car insurance?

I was in a car crash in the beginning of August and my car was declared total by my insurance. I still had 5 more payments left and called my agent which said I still have to pay for them?

Car insurance Voluntary Excess?

hi just got a quote from a insurance broker for cars and i put down 100 Voluntary Excess but what does this mean?

Costco auto insurance?

a friend of mine the other day told me that she pays 90 dollars on her car insurance and she is 16 years old. I just wanted to know if there is a catch because it sounds too good to be true.

Classic car for a teenager?

Coming up to my 17th birthday soon and i need to buy a car. The sort of car i like is the plymouth cuda 1970 opel manta 72 ford cortina 72 chevy 69 So that kind of muscle car look. However being a teenager i am limited to what i can drive. What would be a good buy and something i can get insured on. Hope you can help Thanks :)

Tip cheap car insurance in new orleans louisiana

Tip cheap car insurance in new orleans louisiana

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/car-insurance-cost-estimator-joshua-murray/"

[sherristockman]

Why Sleeping Less Than Seven Hours a Night Is a Recipe for Ill Health and a Shortened Life Span Dr. Mercola By Dr. Mercola In the featured video, Joe Rogan interviews professor Matthew Walker, Ph.D., founder and director of the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Human Sleep Science and author of the book "Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams,"1 in which he shares the latest discoveries about sleep and how it impacts virtually every area of your physical and mental health. I read Walker’s book last fall, and share his view that sleep is profoundly important — even more important than diet and exercise. After all, you’re not likely to reap maximum rewards from other healthy lifestyle habits if you’re constantly exhausted. Beyond that, lack of sleep has been shown to raise your risk for chronic illnesses such as dementia, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity. In fact, the World Health Organization has tagged shift work as a “probable human carcinogen” because it causes circadian disruption.2 Lack of sleep is also associated with shorter lifespans. Like Walker, I believe getting quality sleep, and enough of it, is the single most effective thing you can do to reset your brain and body and invigorate your health on a daily basis. Sleep Deprivation Is a Form of Self Abuse There are many reasons why you may sleep poorly, and one may simply be related to your mindset. Many, especially in the U.S., still view lack of sleep as a badge of honor — a sign of drive, ambition and achievement at the expense of sleep. Worse, good sleep is often characterized as a sign of sloth. As noted by Walker in one of his lectures,3 “We want to seem busy, and one way we express that is by proclaiming how little sleep we’re getting. It’s time for us to reclaim our right to a full night of sleep, without embarrassment or the stigma of laziness. In doing so, we may remember what it feels like to truly be awake during the day.” According to Walker, “Humans are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent reason,” and based on his studies, he is convinced no one can make it on five hours or less of sleep without suffering some level of short-term impairment or long-term illness. There’s an exceptionally rare genetic mutation known as advanced phase sleep syndrome that allows some to thrive with minimal sleep, but you’re far more likely to be struck by lightning than have this rare genetic mutation. Rogan and Walker also discuss more acute symptoms of sleep deprivation. This includes wild hallucinations, sometimes reported by ultra-marathoners and others who for various reasons have attempted to go without sleep for extended periods of time. As an example, Walker recounts the story of Peter Tripp, a disc jockey who, in 1959, tried to break the world record for sleeplessness. He stayed awake for eight days straight, doing a continuous broadcast from Times Square. “By Day Three, he was having florid delusions and hallucinations,” Walker says. “He was seeing spiders in his shoes; he became desperately paranoid, thinking people were trying to poison him … “ He also became belligerent and abusive toward everyone around him. “He was clearly psychotic,” one of the attending psychiatrists said. His experiment is detailed in the short video below. How and Why Sleep Deprivation Can Trigger Psychosis In a very real sense, when you forgo sleep for extended periods of time, you begin to dream while awake — hence the delusions and hallucinations. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is a 90-minute deep sleep cycle during which you dream. Tripp’s experiment revealed that even though he was awake — walking around and talking — his brainwaves showed he was asleep, and it was during the REM cycles that he was most likely to hallucinate. Essentially, he was experiencing his nightmares in an awake state. Tripp finally went to bed after remaining awake for 201 consecutive hours, and slept for 24 hours. Upon waking, there were no signs of delusions and Tripp reported feeling quite normal. His wife, however, disagreed, saying he’d changed. The couple eventually got divorced. The attending psychiatrists also agree that after his experiment, his personality had changed, and that the change appeared to be permanent. He was no longer as cheerful and easygoing as he’d been before. Arguments with his boss led to the loss of his job as well. Those who knew him best insist those eight days of sleep deprivation damaged his psyche long-term. Parts of Your Brain Become More Active During Sleep As explained by Walker, your brain doesn’t shut down during sleep. Quite the contrary. While some parts are subdued, other parts become far more active than during wakefulness. During REM sleep, the visual, motor/kinesthetic, emotional and memory centers all ramp up their activity. Meanwhile, activity in your prefrontal cortex — the “CEO of the brain” that rules rationality and logical thinking — decreases. This is why dreams can be so visually and kinesthetically powerful, sucking you into a vortex of emotion while simultaneously being completely irrational and illogical. And, when you are sleep deprived, this “dreaming while awake” state can start to seep through, as it did in Tripp’s experiment. Indeed, studies have shown skimping on sleep is a surefire way to lose emotional control, become more emotionally volatile — and more irrational. If you frequently feel emotionally off-kilter or struggle with a short fuse, chances are you might manage your emotions a whole lot better were you to get more sleep on a nightly basis. Walker also cites research showing there’s a dramatic difference in injury rates between those who sleep enough and those who don’t. Athletes who get just five hours of sleep have a 60 percent higher injury rate than those who get nine hours. Five Common Enemies of Sleep Walker defines sleep deprivation as sleeping less than seven hours a night,4 and statistics show half of all American adults fail to get the recommended eight hours of sleep each night. An estimated 1 in 3 is getting six hours of sleep or less per night. According to a Gallup Poll,5 Americans slept an average of 7.9 hours a night in 1942. Today, the average is six hours and 31 minutes, Walker says, adding, “That means there’s a huge swath of people well below that average.” Walker also notes that “One of the big problems with lack of sleep is that you don’t know you’re sleep deprived when you’re sleep deprived! Your subjective sense of how well you’re doing with a lack of sleep is a miserable predictor for how you’re doing objectively.” So, with sleep deprivation being so rampant, what’s the cause? Walker pins the blame for our consistently declining slumber patterns on the following “enemies of sleep:” Alcohol and caffeine: These and other substances, such as sleeping pills, interfere with sleep quality and sleep time Artificial lighting: We have effectively electrified the night, and light at night damages your health by degrading your sleep Loneliness, anxiety and depression: The longing for connection and the effects of mental illness can often interfere with or cause people to forego sleep Long work hours: The international business environment, increased global competition and longer commuter times are just a few of the factors contributing to the increase in work hours and stress-related burnout Overcommitment: Schedules are filled from morning to night, and many people are unwilling to trade entertainment or socializing with family and friends for sleep When asked by The Guardian if he takes his own advice about sleep, Walker replied:6 “I give myself a nonnegotiable eight-hour sleep opportunity every night, and I keep very regular hours. If there is one thing I tell people, it’s to go to bed and to wake up at the same time every day, no matter what. I take my sleep incredibly seriously because I have seen the evidence. Once you know that after just one night of only four or five hours of sleep, your natural killer cells — the ones that attack the cancer cells that appear in your body every day — drop by 70 percent, or that a lack of sleep is linked to cancer of the bowel, prostate and breast … how could you do anything else?” Simple Sleep Hacks to Improve Your Sleep As noted by Walker, there are a number of ways to “hack” your biology to improve your sleep. Following are some of his favorites. For many more, see “Sleep — Why You Need It and 50 Ways to improve It.” • Keep a regular sleep schedule seven days a week. Go to bed and wake up at the same times each day, even on the weekends. This will help your body to get into a sleep rhythm and make it easier to fall asleep and get up in the morning. To this, I would add getting bright sunlight exposure in the morning and for at least a half-hour to an hour right around noon, to help reset your circadian clock. • Avoid bright lights and minimize use of electronics in the evening. Both bright lights and electronic screens are major sleep thieves, robbing you of the ability to fall asleep quickly. Research has shown that the more time you spend on electronic devices during the day, and especially at night, the longer it takes to fall asleep and the less sleep you get overall.7,8 Walker suggests dimming the lights in your room and reading a book rather than watching TV or using electronics before bed. If you must use electronics in the evening, I recommend installing blue-blocking software such as Iris, or use blue blocking glasses. • Make sure your bedroom is cool enough. Studies show the optimal room temperature for sleep is between 60 to 68 degrees F. Keeping your room cooler or hotter can lead to restless sleep. When you sleep, your body’s internal temperature drops to its lowest level, generally about four hours after you fall asleep. A cooler bedroom mimics this natural temperature drop. Sleeping naked can also help. • Keep your feet warm. While your body needs to be cool, your extremities need to stay warm for optimal sleep. At least one study has shown that wearing socks to bed reduces night waking. • Take a hot bath or sauna before bed. When your body temperature is raised in the late evening, it will fall at bedtime, facilitating sleep. The core body temperature drop that occurs when you exit the bath signals your body it’s time for bed. Beware of Electric and Electromagnetic Fields Based on the research I’ve done, I believe eliminating electric and electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in your bedroom is a really important factor that can improve both your quantity and quality of sleep. EMFs have the ability to disrupt your pineal gland’s production of melatonin and serotonin, and are a significant contributor to mitochondrial damage and dysfunction, which is at the heart of virtually all chronic disease. EMF exposure has also been linked to neuronal changes that affect memory and your ability to learn.9 EMFs harm your body’s mitochondria by producing excessive oxidative damage, so “marinating” in EMFs all night, every night, can cause or contribute to virtually any chronic ailment, including premature aging. Ideally, shut down the electricity to your bedroom by pulling your circuit breaker before bed. Also be sure to shut down your Wi-Fi. Keep in mind that even if you completely shut off the electricity in your bedroom, your room may still be electrified. This is what happened to me, and when I used sophisticated body voltage measurements I was able to detect this. This is a result of electrical fields (not electricity) transferred into your home by the electric utility and spreading in your home. This can be remediated using certain kinds of shielding paint that is then grounded to form a Faraday cage, which stops the fields from entering your bedroom. Should You Use Melatonin? Rogan asks Walker about the use of melatonin. Is it advisable to use melatonin if you’re having a hard time falling asleep? Walker recommends the use of melatonin to resynchronize your circadian clock when traveling between time zones. “You can use melatonin strategically for jet lag,” he says. “Once, however, you are stable within the new time zone, melatonin does not seem to be efficacious for healthier sleep … But if it works for you — no harm, no foul. Keep taking it.” Ideally, it is best to increase your melatonin level naturally, which is achieved by exposing yourself to bright sunlight in the daytime (along with full spectrum fluorescent bulbs in the winter) and complete darkness at night. If that fails or isn’t possible, I’d suggest trying a 5-HTP, which I believe is a superior approach to using melatonin, especially if you’re older. 5-HTP is a hydroxylated form of tryptophan that easily passes your blood brain barrier. Your body converts 5-HTP first into serotonin (which may give your mood a boost), and then into melatonin. In one study, an amino acid preparation containing both GABA (a calming neurotransmitter) and 5-HTP reduced time to fall asleep, increased the duration of sleep and improved sleep quality.10 You can also take some magnesium malate or glycinate before bed to increase body relaxation. Cannabidiol (CBD) oil is yet another option. CBD oil not only helps reduce pain and muscle spasms, which may keep you awake, but also promotes general relaxation and has been shown to improve sleep. To Optimize Your Health, Make Sure You Get Enough Sleep Regardless of the reason for your sleeplessness, research linking chronic poor sleep and lack of sleep to disease and illness cannot be ignored. Research (cited by Walker) has shown that a single night of sleeping just four hours lowered the amount of natural killer cells — powerful immune fighters that target malignant cells — by 70 percent. In other words, a single night of sleep deprivation throws you into what Walker calls “a remarkable state of immune deficiency” that raises the risk that cancer cells will multiply in your body. Additionally, each spring, when we lose an hour of sleep due to the switchover to daylight saving time, there’s a 24 percent increase in heart attacks — and that’s from the loss of a single hour. In the fall, when we gain an hour of sleep, there’s a 21 percent decrease in heart attacks. “That’s how fragile and vulnerable your body is to even just the smallest [change in] sleep,” Walker says. Sleeping just six hours a night for seven days straight has even been shown to distort gene activity. Genes related to immune function were switched off, while genes related to tumors, chronic inflammation and stress were overexpressed. The scientific facts underscore my belief that there is no substitute for, nor any excuse for not getting, a full night’s rest. If you think you “don’t have the time” to sleep for seven or eight hours because you have too much work on your plate, think again. As noted by Walker, “Why do we overvalue workers that undervalue sleep?” The fact is, sleeping less does not equate to greater productivity. In fact, the complete opposite is true. When you’re working on an inadequate amount of sleep, attention, logic, efficiency and productivity go down the drain and emotional reactivity goes up. Given its importance, I encourage you to take a few moments today to evaluate your sleep habits. Are you getting enough sleep? If not, what’s one change you can make to improve the length and/or quality of your sleep? If you need help getting started, check out my 16 Chronological Tips to Improve Your Sleep, or read through “Sleep — Why You Need It and 50 Ways to improve It,” hyperlinked earlier.