#Rebuilding Relationships

[womenusingwords]

You Had Me at Merlot

The details… Title ‏ : ‎ You Had Me at Merlot Author ‏ : ‎ Melissa Brayden  Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bold Strokes Books  Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 13, 2024 Available formats ‏ : ‎ ebook, paperback, audiobook  File size ‏ : ‎ 1291 KB Print length ‏ : ‎ 264 pages Audiobook listening length : 10 hours and 37 minutes (Narrator: Lula Larkin) Genre ‏ : ‎ contemporary romance  Trope ‏ : ‎ second…

[unplugwell]

Rebuilding Relationships After Tech Dominance: Real Stories

Explore real stories of rebuilding relationships after tech dominance. Discover the challenges and rewards of reconnecting with loved ones in a digital age.

[theexcellentmarriage]

Marriage is a partnership that requires work and understanding. If you and your spouse find it difficult to communicate or are drifting apart, it might be time to consider marriage counseling services in Charlotte, North Carolina. Frequent arguments or a lack of emotional connection are clear indicators that professional help can offer the support needed to rebuild your relationship. A marriage counselor can help couples reconnect and develop healthier communication habits, allowing them to better understand each other’s needs.

[liberty1776]

Social Fragmentation Over the years, I’ve come to accept that the marketing and propaganda apparatus (the public relations industry) has no scrupules and will regularly engage in fairly appalling campaigns to promote a product or a sponsor’s message. Nonetheless, what I saw them do during COVID-19 was on a completely different level from anything I’d seen in the past. For instance, it was so shameless (e.g., consider the gift cards, lotteries, KFC, donuts [which CNN repeatedly promoted] alcohol, illicit drugs and brothel sessions were given away as incentives to get the vaccine). Note: in this video, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer and Santa’s wife are awkwardly telling … Continue reading →

[quality-on-a-patch-of-awesome]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: SEAL Team (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Eric Blackburn/Scott Carter/Mike Smith Characters: Eric Blackburn, Mike Smith, Scott Carter (SEAL Team TV) Additional Tags: Swearing, a couple of throwaway comments about murder, Nervousness, rebuilding relationships, inappropriate time for drinking coffee, they do not do things at normal times, Worry, Self-Esteem Issues, Self Confidence Issues, mike is slowly finding his place again Series: Part 4 of 2 Navy 1 Marine, Part 23 of Universe of Trios Summary:

“It’s not that I think anything is wrong or that there's any part of this that’s bad, it’s just, sometimes, it doesn’t feel quite real. Like I’m about to wake up tomorrow and none of it really happened."

Half asleep, Metal says something that gets Mike spinning.

[mapecl-stories]

[starksmarketingllc]

Social Media Crisis Management: Handling Negative Feedback and PR

In the era of social media, businesses face the challenge of managing their online reputation effectively. Negative feedback, customer complaints, and public relations crises can escalate quickly on social platforms, impacting brand perception and customer trust. Social media crisis management is essential for safeguarding your brand’s reputation and maintaining a positive image. By handling…

[anishenanigans]

sillies !! surely nothing bad will happen to them

[proxolagist]

why yoi teeth out 🥰🥰🥹

[doctorsiren]

Guys guys guys guys guys guys guys guys guys hear me out okay

the other two times we see Reigen portrayed as a kid (when he tells Sakurai about forgetting a lunch as a child and then when he’s talking about being afraid of urban legends and alleyways as a kid), he looks like himself but small, yes?

And so it’s goofy to me that his graduation photo only kind of looks like him (yeah I get it, his hair is different bc it’s picture day SHHH LET ME COOK) but he looks like Inukawa with Reigen’s eyebrows

So HEAR ME OUT

Reigen has an older sister that’s never talked about in the show but it was in one of those Q&A things (sorry for the blurry image, it’s the only version I have and I got it from Chatter HAHA)

But it says:

Please tell us about your family.

Father - Local government employee. A serious person, thinks I’m unemployed.

Mother - Housewife. A serious person, thinks I’m being tricked by someone into doing my current job.

Older sister - Bank employee. Told me I should hurry up and turn myself in to the cops once. Convinced that I’m a conman.

I haven’t shown my face around them in years, but it seems like we have some misunderstandings, so I’m thinking of going home once a year from now on.

SO HEAR ME OUT I made a joke that Inukawa and Reigen were actually related bc of the photo similarity and also bc during my telepathy arc rewatch, I was working on a project for my brother, and so I was looking down a lot and not at the screen. And I kept somehow mixing up Reigen and Inukawa’s voice lines because I didn’t realize how similar they sounded until they were in a place together?

And since Reigen has that older sister, what if Inukawa is actually her kid, meaning he’s Reigen’s nephew but neither of them know that because Reigen’s sister doesn’t talk to him and thinks he’s a criminal. (And the two of them never made the connections between the family names)

This is how I think it could go:

Anyways I love making up silly headcanons off of minimal information

[blackkatdraws2]

I have a lot of leftover drawings in my gallery. [Blank Scripts AU]

[Content Warning: Images below contain Gore, Death, and Disturbing/Uncomfortable Imagery]

I find it a bit cute knowing they start out as crazy and then slowly settle into something calmer and relatively healthier after learning to adapt to each other's lust-turned-love. [Stanley did it first but hey :3]

[tennessoui]

Would you like to do this one for Obikin ? 👀

22. “I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice.”

💯

[from this list of prompts]

[2. 'have you lost your damn mind?' (LATEST) - 5. 'are you jealous' - 13. 'kiss me.' - 14. 'hey, i'm with you, okay? always.' - 18. 'this is the stupidest plan you've ever had. of course i'm in.' - 19. 'the paint is supposed to go where?' - 24. 'you're the only one i trust to do this' - 27. 'i'm pregnant' - 28. 'marry me?' - 29. 'i thought you were dead' - 32. 'i think i'm in love with you and i'm terrified' - 37. 'wanna dance?' - 44. 'if you die, i'm gonna kill you' - 41. 'you did all of this for me?' - 46. 'hey, have you seen...? oh']

22. 'I've seen the way you look at me when you think I don't notice.'

"Oh," a very familiar voice says. "I wasn't aware you were attending the banquet tonight."

Anakin stares down at the empty plate before him. The servers are moving around the tables as guests rise from their seats and begin to chatter amongst themselves. Anakin thinks for a moment about trying to catch his master's eye, but Qui-Gon is across the hall in deep conversation with the representative of Alderaan the last time that Anakin checked. And anyway--he's not sure his master would intervene to help him with this problem.

Even though, technically speaking, this problem is half Qui-Gon's problem. Or, like. At least a quarter of it.

Probably.

"Though I suppose I would have known if you'd responded to my comm-message," the voice says in a lilting and crisp Coruscanti accent that Anakin knows is as much of a ruse as the rest of him.

Anakin scowls down at the table and counts to five. He is here to represent the Jedi Order as a senior padawan. He is not here to start a diplomatic incident by stabbing Prince Kenobi in the hand with a shrimp fork.

Or is it Lord Kenobi?

He thinks, yes, technically probably a lord. Or maybe it was a knight? A duke? Anakin can never remember all the words that make up Kenobi's title. He just knows that Kenobi's elder brother married the queen of Stewjon, so he's now the king consort, and Obi-Wan got to claim a bunch of useless titles without even doing any of the hard work.

And so Obi-Wan Kenobi gets to call himself a prince now when once, he'd called himself a padawan.

Once, even, he'd called himself Qui-Gon Jinn's padawan.

Anakin counts to five again and gathers up all the diplomatic words and scripts he's learned over the years. Then, he actually turns and faces Kenobi, and all of those words fly out of his mind.

Kenobi looks unfairly good in the ivory white of his outfit. The top half is mostly lace, which--isn't it cold in space? Isn't it cold on Stewjon?

He's wearing a small, ceremonial circlet atop his auburn hair, and the glinting gold of the crown offsets the white of his robes nicely. He just--

He looks so beautiful, even as he's lounging in the chair next to Anakin, eyes pinned on his face as if he'd wait all night just to hear him speak.

That sort of look is dangerous. Anakin knows that intimately well. That sort of attention...Anakin isn't built to withstand it for long. Not without succumbing to all and any of Kenobi's demands. He's sure he has a backbone, but it just melts when he's around Kenobi.

But not anymore. Anakin's twenty now, and he's going to be Knighted any day. He's above such weakness.

"I'm sixteen years your junior," Anakin bites out, hand becoming a fist in his lap. "Don't you think maybe it's a little inappropriate to be comm-messaging me without my master's approval?"

Despite the venom he tries to weave through what should be a cutting rebuke, Kenobi's eyebrows raise. He doesn't look ashamed nor does he look particularly discouraged. "After all the rest of the inappropriate things we've done together, darling, I'd think you'd overlook a comm-message."

Anakin's scowl grows exponentially, but Kenobi continues without pause, "Though if you'd like me to get your master's retroactive approval for every time we've interacted, I shall of course. Do you think he'd approve of your judicious but creative use of the Force when you used it to hold me up against the Senate Commons wall and kriff me silly before my meeting with the Chancellor, or should I leave that out?"

Anakin can feel his face flushing, and he's quick to stand, throwing his napkin onto his empty plate and striding away. He needs--he needs to be further away from Kenobi. He needs to not look at the man, not hear him. Then, he'll stop wanting him.

He must stop wanting him. It's ruining his life.

So of course Kenobi follows him because there's nothing he loves more than ruining Anakin, apparently. He's not even being subtle about it anymore, grabbing Anakin's wrist in plain view of all and sundry and using his grip to tug him out of the banquet hall and into an unused nook of space.

It's small enough that there's not much room to stand apart, but Kenobi at least makes the good faith attempt to drop Anakin's wrist and step away from him. In the Force, he feels strange. Worried, almost, which is not an emotion that Anakin has ever felt from Kenobi. Kenobi, who crafts an air of not caring about anything or anyone whenever Anakin and his master are near. Kenobi, who's purposefully disrespectful to Master Jinn, acts purposefully slow and air-headed and conceited.

He could have been one of the best of us, Jinn had told him once. It was the only time he'd ever talked about Kenobi. He made different choices, and I suppose he still blames me for them.

"Come now, Anakin, tell me what's wrong," Kenobi says, nudging at him almost clumsily in the Force. The touch startles Anakin. It's been twenty years or so since Obi-Wan left the Order. Or since Master Jinn refused to take him back as his padawan after a mission on a civil-war struck planet and Obi-Wan had had no choice but to leave the Order.

Jocasta Nu told him once: all stories have different endings and beginnings when the teller changes.

He thinks that's especially true when it comes to whatever tension exists between Kenobi and Qui-Gon. Though Anakin wasn't wise enough to keep himself out of it, he's certainly not stupid enough to shove his nose so forcefully into the middle of it.

"I've seen the way you've looked at me tonight when you think I'm not looking," Kenobi is saying, wheedling really, as his Force signature rubs even more insistently up against Anakin's, like a--like a loth cat winding around his ankles, searching for affection it knows it will be offered.

No. Not anymore.

"Enough," Anakin snaps, throwing up his highest shields and pushing away from Obi-Wan.

"Just tell me what I've done, darling," Kenobi says. Pleads, really. A part of Anakin thinks it's a very good look on him, and then hates himself for thinking it. Weak. Kenobi makes him weak. "It's not that you don't want me anymore, or you'd have spent less time gawping at me all night."

The words are cruel in their truthfulness and they hit unerringly at Anakin's shame, and so he's snarling back at him before he can stop himself: "Everyone was gawping at you, you're dressed like a schutta."

Kenobi doesn't look to be offended, which riles Anakin further.

But then--then the man steps closer and rests a hand on his chest. They're of a height now that Anakin's grown another two inches over the summer. Obi-Wan's eyes are right there. His lips, also.

"And yet who have I dragged off into a dark corner to ravish me?" Kenobi asks, voice pitched low and eyes blinking sultry blue at him from beneath his eyelashes.

"Yeah," Anakin bites, "only because even after twenty years you're still trying to get back at my master for throwing you out like trash. But the stupid thing is that he doesn't even think about you anymore."

The words hit the way Anakin had meant them to, but as he watches the way Obi-Wan's eyes shutter, the way his mouth tightens and the way he takes a step back and his hand coming up to hold his elbow, Anakin realizes that he didn't--he didn't realize what it would look like, to hurt Obi-Wan.

He hadn't realized Kenobi could be hurt, that Anakin had that sort of power.

And maybe he doesn't really, maybe this is just Anakin's master hurting Obi-Wan all over again, but it's still Anakin wielding the weapon. Anakin who was trusted enough that Obi-Wan did not see it coming.

"I see," Obi-Wan says, and Anakin can't hide his wince at the tone. He doesn't like that tone. Didn't realize how warmly Obi-Wan spoke to him until the chill set in.

But it's not as if what he said was wrong, Anakin tells himself. And it's not as if Obi-Wan's been fair to him either, using Anakin like that.

And--and sure, maybe when they first started...whatever this is--was--maybe Anakin had wanted to use Kenobi too. After all, he'd been eighteen and charged with guarding some rich senator at an event just like this one. And Padmé Amidala had been there, and Anakin had been so desperate for her attention that he'd thought--maybe if he could make her jealous by talking with Kenobi--

And talking had turned into kissing had turned into bedding, but it hadn't been about Kenobi, not really, not that first time. It'd been about Padmé and how much Anakin had wanted her to notice him, see him for the man he'd become.

And he's sure that Kenobi had bedded him with ulterior motives too--not to make Qui-Gon jealous, of course, which is a thought that Anakin doesn't even like to think about, honestly--but to make Qui-Gon upset. Master Jinn didn't like the slimmest reminders of his old apprentice. To find out that his old apprentice had bedded his new one...no, Master Jinn did not, in fact, appreciate that.

So they'd both had ulterior motives the first time they slept together, and they'd probably had them for a while after too. It was an arrangement. A casual affair.

Before Anakin had gone and developed feelings for Kenobi, of course.

And now it's not fair. None of it's fair, because Anakin's in love with him and Kenobi's still just sleeping with him for the sake of some bruised pride he's been nursing for twenty years and now Anakin's gone and hurt him, genuinely hurt him, and he doesn't feel the way the Chancellor had told him he'd feel when he told the prince where to shove it. He just feels awful, like he'd been hurt too.

"I apologize for wasting your time, Padawan Skywalker," Kenobi is saying when Anakin tunes back into his voice. His face is hidden behind a cool mask of untouchable indifference. His arm is still crossed in defense over his chest. "I was mistaken in the understanding we had between each other, and I have thus overstepped erroneously."

It's not fair, Anakin thinks wildly as Obi-Wan steps away from him like he's going to move out of the alcove altogether. It's not fair that Obi-Wan's apparently so good at the diplomatic script of the Jedi that he can fall back on it at any moment, even after all of these years, and it's Anakin who can apparently only ever use his words to hurt.

So Anakin doesn't use his words. It's instinct, probably the first one he ever learned, to reach out in the Force instead. Nudge their Force signatures closer together and drop his shields so he can feel--truly feel--the heat of Obi-Wan's presence in the Force entangled around his own.

It's easier after that to reach out his hand and catch Kenobi's wrist. Then it's easier than anything else to use that hold to push him up against the wall and bracket him in with his body to keep him there.

Kenobi doesn't fight against his touch, but he doesn't bloom under it either, the way Anakin's gotten used to him doing. He doesn't even look at him, keeps his eyes on the neck of Anakin's Jedi robes.

"No, I'm sorry," Anakin murmurs, squeezing Obi-Wan's captured wrist. "I didn't--I didn't mean that. Not at all."

"If you didn't mean it at all, you wouldn't have said it," Obi-Wan points out, which is...well, correct, technically, but Anakin doesn't like to hear it.

"I was just...someone told me that," Anakin admits. "And I--I mean, I know you and I know--what we have. And what it is. And I'm fine with that, I understand it. I just let it get to me, that maybe you only like me cause you're still out for revenge against my master. But, um."

Obi-Wan is looking at him now, something soft and quizzical and confused coloring his gaze.

"I thought I couldn't stand being nothing but revenge to you," Anakin makes himself say, even though his breath feels caught in his throat. Danger, danger. He is skirting too close to the truth. He is saying too much. But if he doesn't say anything, what then? "But that's not so bad, I guess. It's better than being nothing to you at all."

Which is a lesson that Anakin has just learned and is eager to never experience again. Even if it makes him pathetic and weak and spineless and some prince's playtoy, or whatever else the Chancellor had implied. He'd like to see the Chancellor stand up to Obi-Wan's dignified yet wounded eyes.

"Darling," Obi-Wan says, and for a moment his hand cups Anakin's face. It's just long enough of a touch that Anakin can't help but to lean into it with an exhale. "You've never been nothing to me."

Anakin gives into the urge to kiss him. It's a miracle that Obi-Wan lets him.

It's also nowhere near enough; Anakin is a greedy sort of man. He doesn't want nothing or a little more than nothing from Obi-Wan. He wants everything.

[veveisveryuncool]

havent drawn them in a while

[phonification]

i cant stop thinking of ghost knife possessing balloon whenever hes hanging out with suitcase and goofing around

[mapecl-stories]

Between Screams and Silence: A Family Seeking Healing in California in the Holstein Switzerland

Loud shouts echoed through the street where Maik lived. In front of the house, Maik's mother and her boyfriend were arguing. The boyfriend was Maik's father, which brought Maik close to tears. When Maik heard his father's loud shouts and curses, he rushed down from the second floor and could hardly believe what he saw: Maik's mother squatting on his father's car, urinating through the open sunroof.

"Mamma, stop it, you can't do that!" Maik cried out desperately, tears streaming down his face.

"Go inside, this is none of your business!" Maik's mother shouted at him and stepped down from the car.

At that moment, a police patrol with two officers pulled up. "Good day, it's the police. We were called by the neighbors and wanted to check if everything is alright," the officers introduced themselves.

"The 'alright' one is over there," Maik's mother replied.

"Let's all calm down for a moment, and both of you, please show us your IDs," the second officer said, then asked if the boy (Maik) had anything to do with the situation.

"This is our son," Maik's mother said, "he lives with me." "FOR NOW," his father retorted angrily and added, "The court will decide who gets custody!"

The officers checked the IDs, wanted to know if it was only about custody, and got this response from Maik's mother: "The swine has been cheating on me with my best friend for two years, I just kicked him out!"

"She peed in my car, that woman is out of her mind!" Maik's father bellowed.

The officers could hardly suppress their grins, but then they asked Maik's father: "Are you registered here too?"

"No, I haven't registered yet…" Maik's mother interrupted him and shouted, "That won't happen anymore!"

"Did you urinate in the car?!" one of the officers asked Maik's mother.

"No, I'm not crazy, I know that's a crime!"

"Maik saw it, ask the boy," the father replied, pointing at the crying boy.

One of the policemen approached Maik thoughtfully and said, "Is that true, did you see it?"

Maik was completely distraught, crying and stammering, "I don't want to say anything, I don't want to get involved, they're my parents."

The officer laid his hand on Maik's shoulder in understanding, handed him a tissue, and said, "It's okay, you don't need to say anything about it."

Meanwhile, from across the street, there was a soft chuckle now and then, so the other officer turned around and saw two teenagers with a smartphone. The officer went over and asked, "What are you filming here?"

"The scene, the woman stood on the car and peed inside, you don't see that every day!"

Meanwhile, Maik's mother grabbed the garbage bin and quickly emptied it over the car's sunroof. The second officer tried to console Maik, so he couldn't prevent the action. The two teenagers could hardly contain their laughter, and the officer standing next to them confiscated the smartphone to secure the evidence.

When the officer crossed the street again, he told Maik's mother, "The boys filmed you."

"WHAT? This can't be true, is it going to end up on the internet?" Maik's mother asked, horrified.

The officer returned their IDs to her and the father, saying, "No, I've seized the phone and you'll receive a letter from the prosecutor's office!"

"Why?" the mother wanted to know.

"We're initiating proceedings for property damage and public nuisance."

The other officer gave the father a restraining order to dissolve the family scene. Both parties separated from each other, and in the end, Maik's mother had to pay 1000.- for the property damage. In court, she also received one year probation because she had exposed herself and urinated inside the car in front of minors and in public. Additionally, she had to cover the cost of cleaning the cars, which served as a lesson for her.

Maik didn't want to be torn away from his family home and continued to live with his mother, but he still maintained a good relationship with his father.

The days after the incident were marked by an uncomfortable silence in the house. Maik felt trapped between the fronts, while his parents tried to mend the fragile remains of their relationship. The events had left deep rifts that weren't easily repaired.

Maik tried to focus on school, but his thoughts constantly revolved around what had happened. At school, he avoided his friends; he didn't want to talk about it. Instead, he immersed himself in books, trying to forget reality.

Weeks passed, and a semblance of normalcy slowly returned. Maik's parents reached a kind of truce, but the tensions were still palpable. Maik was now 17 and could better comprehend the situation. He longed for peace and stability, but the prospect seemed distant.

One evening, as the sun set over the hills of the Holstein Switzerland, Maik sat alone on the small porch in front of the house. The tranquility of the evening hours was only interrupted by the gentle rustling of the wind. Suddenly, he heard his father's footsteps.

"Hey Maik," he said softly and sat down beside him. "I'm sorry you had to witness all of that. It wasn't fair of us."

Maik looked at his father, unsure of how to react. But then he felt a warmth rising within him. It was the longing for an intact family that was burning inside him.

"I'm sorry too, Dad," Maik murmured. "But you have to understand, I can't just forget about it."

His father nodded in understanding. "I'm not asking you to, Maik. We all made mistakes, and now we have to find a way to move forward."

The two sat in silence next to each other, watching the evening sky. It was a first step on the long road to healing. In the following months, Maik's parents slowly began to address their problems. They sought professional help and tried to leave the past behind.

It was a painstaking process, but little by little, the family found their way back to each other. There were relapses and setbacks, but they fought together. Maik learned that forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting what happened, but rather letting go and starting anew.

The Holstein Switzerland surrounded them with its peaceful beauty, and slowly, they also found inner peace. The family tragedy had left deep wounds, but they had learned that even from the darkest moments, new light can emerge.

[ongreenergrasses]

it’s really interesting to me the divide in how people see Peeta and Annie’s relationship, got a couple asks about it that will come up in a couple days but. Peeta talks about Annie like she’s property in the cafeteria scene, to her face. when she’s spent years being seen as not her own person, struggling with her own identity or worse, being seen as someone else’s. I used to think otherwise but when someone pointed that out, I realized there’s no way that relationship wasn’t strained after that, at least for a while. it’s a despicable thing to do.