#but damn critical thinking skills went down the toilet

[thebubblesoutlet]

GenZ pre pandemic vs GenZ now........look how the mighty have fallen.

[ms-m-astrologer]

Transiting Mercury enters Libra

Wednesday, October 4 - Sunday, October 22, 2023

(At age 65 I am officially elderly and a senior citizen - my Gemini Sun is a bit horrified; my Aries Moon and Scorpio Ascendant are delighted - perhaps this is my first real burst of “get off my lawn” energy, but lately I’m getting very impatient about long posts on my Tumblr dashboard. So as not to be even more of a hypocrite than I usually am, I’m going to start using the “keep reading” function more frequently.)

Back to quickies for the second-speediest planet-type thingie (the Moon being swiftest). And this is something I think we should all be grateful for - all of the transits through Libra this year, have been and continue to be very challenging.

The goals of a Mercury transit through Libra are to calm the mind - to wrap our heads around seeming paradoxes - and to truly listen to other people whom we trust and love. Remember, we just went through two-plus month’s worth of Mercury/Virgo multitasking, worry, and criticism! Simply put, our brains require balance right now. Where and how this all can go wrong:

Learning - we’re lazy students; we don’t (want to) put in the effort. Going for that “gentleman’s ‘C’,” instead of doing our best. We turn away from harsher realities - if we’re prone to wearing rose-colored glasses, we probably have them permanently attached.

Thinking and reasoning - can be cold and judgmental; Libra is represented by a machine, remember. We’re too “logical” for our own good, and can rationalize away anything our consciences niggle at us with. And again, we don’t want to spend time on “unpleasant” matters. We’d rather ponder the superficial.

Communication - we tell people what (we think) they want to hear; we express ourselves too pleasantly, or conversely, we’re too addicted to arguing; because we don’t want to “rock the boat” we fail to express anything uncomfortable - anger, dread, etc. (Actually, most of us do want to rock the boat, if not outright capsize the damned thing - it’s the consequences we want to avoid.)

My recommendations:

Meditate, even if it’s a stolen half-minute in a locked toilet stall.

Identify whom you do trust - if the answer is “nobody” then find someone - open up to and be honest with them, and listen humbly to what they have to say in return.

Most of us listen in order to respond, not to understand. Google “active listening skills” and put them into practice.

I don’t consider Libra a cowardy sign by any means - Eleanor Roosevelt, for example - for in pursuit of fairness and justice, Libra can and will stand tall and brave. We need to remember that we’re always working towards the ultimate outcomes of fairness and justice - it’s a difficult and sometimes dangerous path - and it can be done.

Another difficulty: this entire transit takes place during the “shadow of the eclipse.” It may bring up some issues we can’t clear up and resolve until after the “shadow” ends on October 31. By that day, Mercury will be halfway through Scorpio, and much more empowered and able to work through its problems.

Thursday, October 5 - Mercury/Libra inconjunct Saturn Rx/Pisces. The first little sign of adjustments needing to be made. Some authority problems; we may have to let something go.

Saturday, October 7 - Mercury/Libra square Vesta/Cancer. Lack of focus - or hyper-focus; if there is a topic we’re really interested in, in a scholarly way, that’s all we want to think and talk about.

Sunday, October 8 - Mercury/Libra sesquiquad Uranus Rx/Taurus. Some kind of delay in getting what we want - perhaps we bit off more than we could chew. If we’ve been intellectually lazy, &/or glossed over things, it bites us in the butt.

Tuesday, October 10 - Mercury/Libra semi-sextile Ceres/Scorpio. Write down any deep thoughts or insights; we can address them and work through them when Mercury and Ceres are conjunct on November 4. (Spoiler alert: that’s going to be an intense day.)

Thursday, October 12:

Mercury/Libra semi-square Juno/Leo

Mercury/Libra conjunct Pallas Athene/Libra

Mercury/Libra inconjunct Jupiter Rx/Taurus

We have a really intriguing idea but (1) partners disapprove &/or (2) the timing is off. Just because an idea is intriguing doesn’t mean that it’s also good!

Friday, October 13 - Mercury/Libra sesquiquad Saturn Rx/Pisces. Eclipse eve. More delays, though in time we may reconsider the delays as being blessings in disguise.

Saturday, October 14 - Mercury/Libra opposite Chiron Rx/Aries. Eclipse day. This might manifest as an argument, or a sudden hurtful realization about ourselves or someone else.

Tuesday, October 17 - Mercury/Libra inconjunct Uranus Rx/Taurus. An adjustment we really resist having to make, especially if it’s difficult or “icky.” As we tend to have to do come election time in the US, we’re forced to choose “the lesser of two evils” and not “the best.” This distresses and disgusts us more than usual.

Wednesday, October 18 - Mercury/Libra semi-square Venus/Virgo. Mercury and Venus are in mutual reception - in each other’s sign - which strengthens what would otherwise be some petty, unimportant annoyance. Take some deep breaths; it’s temporary!

Then all hell breaks loose, on Thursday, October 19 - Friday, October 20:

Mercury/Libra opposite Eris Rx/Aries

Mercury/Libra opposite North Node/Aries, conjunct South Node/Libra

Mercury/Libra inconjunct Neptune Rx/Pisces

Mercury/Libra conjunct Sun/Libra (aka the “Superior Conjunction”)

Mercury/Libra square Pluto/Capricorn

Our ways of doing Mercury are blasted. This not-new situation (something we’ve avoided or procrastinated having to deal with) can manifest as accusations of being “too sensitive” - or “too insensitive.” Someone is screaming, we don’t like it, and we’ll do anything to stop it and shut them up. We discover that we’ve been manipulated - or someone discovers that we’ve manipulated them. Really, really dreadful news, which we could have lessened (if not prevented) if we had only had the ovaries/balls to do something about it sooner. We can’t see any of it clearly.

The resolution to a t-square can be found via the sign not represented in the main action - in this case, Cancer. We need to be a little more tribal. What’s best for the tribe? How can we nurture and protect the tribe? We need to be more sensitive and responsive to the other people in our “families;” life does not have to be all about only ourselves and our egos/vanity, all the time. It may be wiser to go with our guts, for a while.

Remember: Mercury’s transit through Scorpio will enable and empower us to address these issues successfully.

[taiyang-too-long]

A man and his Qrow

Taiyang had always loved the smell of fire, something about it comforted him. Perhaps it reminded him of all those nights camped out on missions with his team, sharing laughs and stories under the stars. He snuggled into his pillow with a slight smile. What a wonderful smell to wake up to. Fire.

...fire?

He snapped up out of bed "Fire!" He cried out, sprinting towards the black smoke he could already see pouring into the hallway.

Had he left the stove on? The coffee pot? Oh gods he couldn't let anything happen to the girls.

He burst into the kitchen, extinguisher in hand finding not the raging inferno he expected but instead a lanky, dark haired man desperately smacking a flaming skillet with a towel in what could be assumed to be an attempt to smother the flames out. Taiyang sighed deeply as he grabbed a second skillet and covered the first with it, before switching off the stove.

The bleating of the smoke alarm wasn't the peaceful morning sounds he had hoped for. He opened the nearby window, letting the breeze clear the room of smoke and carry it outside. He turned back to the man, arms crossed.

"I can explain" Qrow began.

"Oh I'm sure you can.." Taiyang said rubbing his temples. "Please go right ahead"

Qrow paused. Then gestured to the skillet.

"Breakfast" he said.

Taiyang sighed and lifted the second skillet. The fire had suffocated leaving only a black circle that perhaps had once be a pancake. He gave Qrow a questioning glance.

"What?!" Qrow exclaimed indignantly "it's edible!"

"Oh?" Taiyang shot back "then by all means ...dig in"

They held each other's gaze for a moment until Qrow, not looking away, tore a piece off and popped it into his mouth. He grimaced immediately but struggled through and chewed the food.

"See?" He said between coughs "it's -ulg - it's fine.."

Taiyang put a finger to Qrow's chest agitation creeping into his voice

"You've been here all of five minutes and already trying to burn down my house!"

"I was just doing something nice you idiot!" Qrow snarled not backing down.

"Well next time don't bother!" Taiyang retorted

"Blonde numbskull!"

"Melodramatic whiner!"

"Brainless oaf!"

"Dusty pigeon!"

With each statement the men drew closer to one another until they stood forehead to forehead growling. Their expressions dark and angry.

Taiyang was the first to break. his snort shattered he mask of anger he had been pretending to hold. Qrow was soon to follow with a snicker. The laughter grew until both were leaning against the counter to hold themselves up. It was hard to say at what point exactly in there time together, was the moment those jabs and insults became more a game than any legitimate criticism but nonetheless they found themselves slipping into it time and again.

"You laughed first" Qrow managed to get out "I win"

"Anyone would have to laugh if they saw a face like yours" Taiyang said getting himself back under control.

Their laughter faded but was echoed by the small giggles of Ruby and Yang who were peaking around the doorway. The two girls only nine and seven respectively may not have entirely understood the exchange between the men but they had seen it play out like this enough times to know it was just grown-ups being silly.

"Hey you munchkins" Qrow said dropping to a knee, his arms outstretched.

"Uncle Qrow!" The girls cried in unison leaping into his embrace.

Qrow smiled holding his nieces,as they hurriedly babbled questions about where he'd been? What kinds of monsters did he fight? Did he bring them any presents? Qrows characteristic broody expression softened as it always did around the girls. They had a warmth and enthusiasm whenever they saw their favorite uncle that could melt even the most frozen of hearts, but Taiyang noticed the wince he had made as the girls latched in around his shoulders.

"Alright girls" Taiyang said a hand on each of their heads. "Why don't you get dressed and then we can all go to the park or something"

The girls jubilantly ran off, screams and cheers of excitement filled the house as they did. Taiyang watched them go with a soft smile. They were his everything. He looked back as Qrow rose to his feet with a grimace,

"How bad?" Taiyang asked bluntly

"I'm fine" Qrow said waving him off.

Taiyang sighed and motioned for Qrow to follow as he walked into the bathroom. He retrieved the first aid kit from within the closet there in and set it on the sink.

"Sit down and take off your shirt" Taiyang said spreading out the kits contents in front of him.

"But Tai.." Qrow said quietly. Covering himself with his arms in mock modesty "..what about my innocence..?"

This prompted nothing but a stern slightly bored stare from Taiyang. Qrow grumbled and unbuttoned his shirt, tossing it into the bathtub and sat on the toilet his back to Taiyang.

His shirt out the way. The problem was apparent. A sizable gash in Qrows right shoulder. Taiyang put his hand on Qrows back, taking a good look at the wound. It wasn't serious but it was too large to let it heal on its own. It looked about a day or two old. Taiyang sighed. This is how it always went. Qrow would leave on his missions and come back torn to shreds, Tai would patch him up and he'd run off to his next adventure. Taiyang felt a scowl grow on his face, damn bird just always had to make him worry.

His eyes caught sight of the flask in Qrows hand just moments before the man took a swig. Swallowing it's contents with practiced ease.

"A bit early for drinking isn't it?" Taiyang said

"Oh my dear friend" Qrow laughed taking another gulp " it is never too early"

Taiyang held out his hand. "Mind if i have some?"

Qrow held the flask above his head letting Taiyang take it. "Knock yourself out"

"Vodka?" Taiyang asked taking a whiff of the open flask.

"You guessed it. triple distilled and pure as snow. perfect for-" Qrows words were cut off by a stream of curses as Taiyang poured the alcohol onto the open cut and wiped away the excess with a bit of cloth.

Tai closed the lid to the flask and tossed onto the mans lap a grin played across his face. Qrows drinking was hardly something new, and Tai new better than to push him too hard about it. Still at least he could put some of the booze to good use and keep it out Qrow's stomach. His drinking had gotten worse over the years and had peaked after-

Taiyang stopped himself mid thought. He couldn't think about that, about her. Not right now. Only later, when he could be alone in his cold empty room would he allow thoughts of her. He had worked hard to reign in his grief. To properly care for his daughters. It hadn't been easy but compartmentalization of his emotions had helped. His feelings had a time and place and they were when his daughters could not hear or see the pain he still felt.

"You know as much as i love playing doctor" Tai said threading a needle, eager to bring his mind back to the now. "A hospital could do a much better job"

"A hospital?" Qrow scoffed finishing the contents of the flask. "The last thing a bunch of sick people on their deathbeds need is someone bringing them bad luck...besides you do just fine.."

Tai sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere with this topic. He focused on his task. Qrow didn't even wince as the needle poked through his skin. It's hard to say whether that was a result of his inebriation or his impressive pain tolerance, but he remained still and quiet as Taiyang worked to pull the flesh of his shoulder back together.

His first aid skills had certainly improved thanks to Qrow. The mans piss poor luck usually left him with plenty of cuts and scrapes. As Tai cleaned off the newly stitched wound once more he looked it over. Feeling a bit proud of his medical prowess. Gently he placed some bandaging over the stitching hopefully to keep infection at bay.

'There, all better" Tai said heading out of the bathroom

"What no lollipop?" Qrow called after him

"Your insurance wont cover it"

After heading to his room to change into something a bit more appropriate for an outdoor outing than his pajamas, Taiyang returned to the kitchen to find Qrow leaning against the wall. mug in hand, looking out the window at Ruby and Yang running around the backyard laughing loudly as the game of tag went on. No doubt waiting for the adults to come whisk them away to the day of family fun.

Qrow didn't need to turn away to know that Tai had entered the room. He brought the mug of coffee to his lips and took a long drink, knowing he needed to sober up a bit before spending time with the girls.

"How have you been holding up..?" Qrow asked not looking away from the window

Tai didn't answer right away as he walked to the window alongside him. Qrow held out his mug and Tai took it gladly, the warm porcelain nearly as comforting as the bitter drink it held. He sipped the coffee silently glad to find it not spiked with anything.

In the months since Summers death, Qrow had at first attempted to put as much distance between his teammates family and himself as he could, sure that his semblances would bring nothing but further misery to the grieving man and his children. However as the depth of Taiyangs emotional damage became more apparent Qrow had made a point to drop by frequently.

"Better.." Tai said quietly.

He glanced over at the tall, thin man. Even when not looking directly at him, he could see the mostly hidden concern in his pale red eyes. It brought a sad smile to his face. Qrow was never very good with emotions. A trait, it seemed, all the Branwens shared, but his actions spoke volumes. He had been there for Tai when he had no one. When he felt lost and alone it had been Qrow who saved him from the darkness that encroached upon his mind and heart.

Qrow nodded. " good"

There was a long bit of silence before Qrow spoke again. Leaning over the windowsill using both hands to prop himself up.

'I.. should probably head out after we get back from the park or whatever" he said.

Qrow was already worried. Nothing besides the small fire had happened yet but who knows what trouble could be caused if he lingered too long.

"You could always stay.." Tai said softly

Qrow sighed, taking one hand away from the window to rub his weary eyes. Before he could explain why that was a terrible idea he felt Taiyangs hand lay overtop his own on the windowsill. Surprised the bird man look down as the hand tightened its grasp gently. Tai wasn't looking at qrow, his eyes were on his daughters, still playing in the yard.

"Its alot easier when you are here" Tai said with a soft smile. " i understand why you want to go..but this is always your home..so.. Don't stay gone too long."

Qrow scoffed as he turned his hand over interlocking their fingers. Stupid blonde idiot, stupid adorable girls. It was going to make him go soft.

"Come on" Qrow said "we can talk about it after the girls get some fresh air and sunshine"

[negasonicimagines]

Thanks, Wade.

Finally, someone other than Dawna has given me an idea to run with! Thanks so much to @ceylon-morphe286​ !! You’re an absolute sweetheart and I had so much fun working with you to create this piece!! (Also, I know Deadpool doesn’t hurt kids, but for comedic purposes let’s just say he does. And, clearly, he’s a good enough marksman to miss on purpose, so he could be fucking with you.)

The battle was quite graphic, you honestly don’t know how you got in the middle of it. One second, you were strolling around the city, listening to Danger Days, the next you were in danger. A boulder flies at your head, and you’re shoved out of the way.

“Hey, dumbass, are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

“You saved me,” you say, gaping at the angel in front of you.

“Kind of my job, shit-for-brains.”

“Thank you, for saving my life and all,” is all you have to say.

“We’ve been over this. It’s what I do. Weirdo. Scram!”

-

“Agh! What did I do?!” You question the red-suited superhero-looking guy who’s currently shooting at you.

“You bought the last chocolate chip cookie!” he yells back, chasing you through the streets.

Until you’re clipped by a bus.

“Oh my god, she fuckin’ dead,” Wade references a Vine.

“Deadpool!” Your rescuer from the other day groans, recognizing you. “I just saved her life, could you try not ending it?”

“B..but my cookie…”

“Who gives a fuck?” She asks him, before turning her attention to you. “Where are you hurt?”

“I, uh… I might have a bruise on my shin?”

She looks at you critically, and when she helps you up, her hand touching yours, even for a second, makes you blush.

“You’re really lucky you’re not, y’know, dead. That bus was speeding and ran a red light,” She explains, and you barely manage to hear her, too focused on her face. “What’s with that dopey expression of yours? You don’t have a concussion, do you? I don’t want to deal with that.”

“Um… N-no concussion, I don’t think…”

“Good. Well, uh, see you around, I guess. Since you keep getting in danger and all.”

-

You were helping your cousin’s girl scout troop sell cookies by supervising them as they went door to door when the apartment you were in lit up in flames. All that was there was a Janitor’s cart, and the fire was getting closer and closer. It was blocking your way to the door, but you were close to the window.

“Toss the cleaners out the window so they don’t blow up,” you tell the girls, not even sure where that came from. Fire department is taking too long. “Hey, you guys learned how to braid, right?”

The girls, all terrified, nod. You offer them giant rolls of toilet paper. “Let’s get closer to the window, and we can braid it tight, long, and fast, okay? And then we’ll braid those braids together, to make a rope.”

You and the four girls you’re with work as hard as you can. The fire department gets there once you’re done, and the girls climb down the rope and safely land on the trampoline. They can only get down one at a time, and you’re sure you weigh as much as at the very least one and a half of them.

You accept your fate, glad you could at least help the little girls get to safety when she comes in.

“It’s about time I introduced myself, considering I’ve saved your stupid ass so many times. Negasonic Teenage Warhead.”

“Is that your real name?”

“Fuck no! What kind of shitty ass parents do you think I have? Come on, I’m fireproof, I’ll help you get to safety, whatever your probably dumb and totally not a cool code-name name is.”

“Y/N,” you tell her.

Damn it, why’s she gotta have a name as pretty as her face? Ellie thinks, taking your hand and leading you out of the flames, tossing flaming wreckage out of the way and allowing you to escape.

-

“Are you trying to kill yourself?” She asks.

“No, I was looking at the sunset. And then I fell.”

She snickers cruelly at this as her mentor reaches down and plucks you from where you dangle off the edge of your roof.

“Young one, there are many resources if you are feeling sad. This is not a solution.”

“I’m not trying to kill myself, I promise!” You inform them. “...I’m just clumsy, that’s all,” you add shyly.

-

You’re at the farmer’s market about to pluck an apple from a pyramid of fruits.

“Stop right there, Klutzy McGee, you’re not even touching that!” Deadpool stops you.

“Please don’t shoot me! There are plenty of other apples.”

“What? I’m not gonna shoot you, I’m gonna take you to your girlfriend!” He informs.

“I- I don’t have a girlfriend,” you tell DP, maybe he’s got you confused for someone else.

“Not yet!” He chirps, dragging you along by your wrist to a rather large home, well, a mansion. He knocks hard on the door and none other than Negasonic Teenage Warhead answers.

“I got your girlfriend!” He says cheerfully, and you blush deeply, but shake your head.

“She’s...Not my girlfriend.”

“Don’t be like that, Nega-hedgehog YA Novel Atomic Thing! You two would make a great couple!”

She looks at him skeptically, and then you, with a concerned expression. You realize you probably look like a tomato on steroids.

“You’re not going to spontaneously combust, are you? That gig’s kinda taken,” she informs you. ‘Do you want me to call the police?’ she mouths, and you shake your head.

“Ah, Deadpool and Y/N! Come in, have lunch!” Colossus says cheerfully.

You all eat BLTs, though Wade insists on having a knife with his to “feast upon it as the ancient lettuce-hunters would have.”

“So, Y/N, what would you like to do with your future?”

“I don’t know. I like helping people, maybe I’ll do something like be a nurse or a teacher.”

“Ooh, I like that!” Deadpool comments, gesturing with his steak knife and making you a little uneasy. You just know something bad is gonna happen with that knife.

“Ellie, pay attention,” Colossus requests, placing a hand on her shoulder. She shrugs it off, turning up the volume on her headphones to the point where you can hear it.

“You like MCR too?” You ask her.

“Uh, yeah… How can you hear this?”

“You have it cranked up really high,” you inform her.

“I can not hear it,” Piotr informs, and DP agrees. The two look curious.

“Oh, it’s nothing special. Just good hearing.”

“Well, damn. I was hoping you’d have an excuse to spend more time to spend with that grouchy teen over the-” He gestures towards Negasonic with the knife, and accidentally throws it at her face. You manage to catch it rather close to her face, gripping the blade. Blood drips down your wrist from your hand, and she looks at it with wide eyes, as does the rest of the group. “I stand corrected.”

“That is not normal, young one,” Colossus informs.

“Really? I’m sure she had no clue that it wasn’t completely fucking normal to catch knives thrown at people’s faces by a mercenary!” Deadpool snarks.

“Well done,” Ellie remarks, not to you, but to Wade’s sass skills.

“Have you always had such fast reflexes, Y/N?” Piotr asks.

“Uh, I mean, I guess. I would say I’ve been more, more lucky than anything.”

“But you’re always in trouble!” DP disagrees.

“And I’m not dead,” you point out.

“Ah…” Colossus sighs pensively.

Wade gets out one of his many knives from his belt and tosses it at Ellie. You catch this one as well, with your other hand.

“What the hell, Wilson?! Trying to kill me, now?”

“Not at all. Trying to get Y/N to save you. Ooh, watch this!” He aims so it’ll barely brush her shoulder, not that anyone else knows that when he shoots the pistol.

You catch the bullet between your wounded hands like a fly, feeling the burn.

“She’s totally a superhero, Iron Dick! Wait, that’s better for a different superhero in the Marvel universe, forget I said that one.”

“I’m not a superhero, I can barely take care of myself, let alone save people.”

“You saved Ellie three times from one of the best hit men in the world.”

“Well, I only saved her because-”

“Because you want to fuck her!” Wade cuts you off, and you look scandalized, a blush creeping onto your cheeks. Piotr and Ellie look at him like he’s insane, which he is, but- “What?! I see the goo-goo eyes Y/N gives her when she rescues her. I see the way Ellie looks at Y/N’s ass! Someone had to say something!”

You wish the ground underneath you would just vanish, you’re so embarrassed by his words that you don’t even notice his comment about Ellie checking you out.

“Y/N, would you like to join us? You are a gifted young girl and...”

“In case you missed the sign, this is kind of a place for gifted young people,” Wade finishes.

“I- I don’t really think I can help you, I’m sorry,” you deny his request.

“You can. I saw what you did for those girl scouts, and you said you wanted to help people earlier, right?” So, she was listening.

At Ellie’s insistence, you decide: “Oh.. Okay.”

“Yes! Another moody teen to annoy! Finally! I can’t get a rise out of any of the others!”

“Let us take you to the infirmary,” Piotr says.

“I’ll do it,” Ellie offers, walking you down the halls of the surprisingly quiet school. Deadpool follows closely behind, wanting to hear every detail of his OTP’s conversation.

The nurse, a mutant with the power to heal others, quickly fixes your wounds.

“Thanks for doing that, earlier. Saving me, I mean.” “W-well, I mean, I had to make it up to you s-somehow. All- All those times y-you saved me, I mean…” You tell her, more shy now that it’s pretty much just the two of you. You stand, walking over to the sink to wash the gunpowder off your hands. You lean against the counter, but you slip on a stray glob of  hand-sanitizer that happened to be on the floor, grabbing onto a cot for purchase and trying to get up only causing you to slip more and more until you give up and let your face smush into the hardwood floor.

Ellie giggles at this, and you swear she sounds like an angel when she laughs.

You get up, rubbing your nose.

“Y’know, if you want to be one of the big shots like Colossus or whatever, you’re gonna have to be a lot less clumsy than that.”

Wade crashes into the infirmary. “Y’all having sex yet? I brought popcorn and dental dams!”

You and Ellie both look at him, like ‘WTF DUDE I’M TRYING BUT YOU KEEP COCK-BLOCKING!’

“Uh… I’m gonna go make some chimichangas. Lucky by Britney Spears, you better confess to Moody Teen Number Three before she puts those earbuds back in!” He dashes away.

“Why does he feel the need to play Fairy God-merc?” You ask her pitifully.

“Confess what to me…?” she asks you.

“Um- Uh- I- I killed the Easter Bunny!” You sigh, isntead deciding to tell the truth: “No, uh… I like you. LIke, uh, like-like you. I think you’re really pretty and mysterious and funny, and, I’m not really any of those things, so it’s cool if you don’t feel that way about me, but-”

She laughs at you, like it’s so funny that someone as horrid as you would like her. “You..Like me?”

“Yeah, it’s dumb, I know, sorry for wasting your ti-” Ellie grabs your arm as soon as you turn around, and kisses you.

Oh, you think. Thanks, Wade.

[asfeedin]

10 Social Media Fails to Avoid in 2020

Chances are you’ve witnessed a social media fail sometime in the past year. It usually results from a sense of urgency, or a miscommunication that ignores common sense, all for the sake of gaining attention.

It’s true: Follow just a bit of poorly-advised posting on social media, and you, too, can create your very own brand fail in a matter of minutes.

Many brands are over-concerned with posting frequency and speed, and not concerned enough with tactics that ensure quality and proper context. A single spur-of-the-moment tweet can cause irreparable damage. And even after it’s deleted, the examples below show that content on social media never truly dies — so make sure you have a plan in place that establishes clear boundaries and best practices.

As proof, here are ten of the worst social media fails you might ever come across.

11 Social Media Fails to Avoid

1. Chase’s Poem About Financial Woes

In 2019, Chase posted a #MondayMotivation tweet that aimed to encourage audiences to save money. However, it came off like the bank was teasing its audiences for bad spending habits.

Source

Then, the situation got worse for Chase when presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren tweeted in reply.

Source

2. IHOP’s April Fools Rebranding

Leading up to April Fools Day 2018, IHOP announced on social media that it was rebranding from the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) to the International House of Burgers (IHOB).

For 60 pancakin’ years, we’ve been IHOP. Now, we’re flippin’ our name to IHOb. Find out what it could b on 6.11.18. #IHOb pic.twitter.com/evSxKV3QmT

— IHOP (@IHOP) June 4, 2018

People began tweeting criticisms for the brand while also making fun of the name. Even though the joke aimed to gain attention, it seemed like the reaction was pretty mixed and confused.

Because almost everyone knew IHOP was up to something, the joke fell flat despite its major online chatter. 

3. EA Posts the Most Downvoted Reddit Comment in History

A few years ago, Reddit gamers were discussing a pricing issue on a subreddit related to the EA game they were playing. These gamers felt like they had to spend more money on a game they’d already purchased to get to new levels. At this point, in an effort to do damage control, EA wrote a PR-like response to one of the Redditors explaining and standing by the pricing of the game.

Redditors, who were more interested in solutions rather than excuses quickly downvoted the item. It soon was sent to the bottom of this subreddit becoming the most downvoted comment in Reddit history. 

4. Massachusetts’ Bay Transit Authority Asks Audiences to Post “What They Love About It”

On Valentine’s Day this year, the MBTA launched a contest asking Twitter audiences to tweet a 60-second video about something they loved about MBTA. Those who entered the contest could win a round-trip JetBlue flight for two.

At this point in time, the MBTA has dealt with major criticism related to fair increases and ongoing rail construction. Twitter users that enjoyed complaining about the MBTA swarmed to this tweet about a number of sarcastic replies stating what they “loved” about the system. Here’s one great example:

5. Rhode Island or Iceland?

Good intentions fell flat for the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation in 2016, when it made one grave error in a $5 million promotional video — and used footage not of the great state itself, but instead, of Iceland.

The mistake went viral and gained far more attention than an Iceland-free version of the promotion would have, but it wasn’t exactly the type of publicity we imagine the bureau of tourism was hoping for.

Thanks to the social media skills of Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, you can enjoy your very own private viewing of this social media fail.

Help tell Rhode Island’s story by sharing our new brand video #weareRI https://t.co/alIIcZ2DIghttps://t.co/qh3YtF0q0s

— Gina Raimondo (@GovRaimondo) March 29, 2016

6. Amazon Offers 10-cent Discount on PlayStation

In 2015, Amazon created #PrimeDay as its own corporate version of a Cyber Monday. Unfortunately, at that point, many of the discounts and offerings didn’t quite live up to consumer expectations — and the hashtag went viral for all the wrong reasons.

One kicker came when Amazon offered a whopping $0.10 discount on the Sony PlayStation 4 Console. It didn’t take long for #PrimeDayFail to start trending on Twitter.

Damn been waiting for the PS4 to go down 10 cents

#AmazonPrimeDay pic.twitter.com/eIiThMX9IT

— lupe (@cherryyyybomb) July 15, 2015

7. Apple’s #bendgate

Any time a brand winds up with a trending hashtag that includes the word “gate” in it, you know there’s trouble.

In 2014, Apple released the iPhone 6 with great fanfare, with one of the most aggressively highlighted features being that the phone wouldn’t bend under pressure in, say, your back pocket.

In a video that now has more than 69 million views, Unbox Therapy squashed Apple’s claims by demonstrating how easy it was to bend the iPhone 6. Once the damage was done there was no going back. A war of words promptly took place between avid Apple fans and detractors, garnering even more attention on social media. 

    8. Greggs’ Turns a Fail into a Win

Robots aren’t always smarter. In 2014, a Google bot mistakenly attributed an offensive slogan to U.K.-based bakery, Greggs. Hilarity — to some, at least, ensued when Greggs’ Digital Brand Manager, Neil Knowles, turned a potential brand disaster into a monumental win.

Thanks to the clever back-and-forth between Knowles and the Google team, and the massive publicity garnered by the exchange, Google’s original error wound up being one of the best things to ever happen to Greggs.

Hey @GoogleUK, fix it and they’re yours!!! #FixGreggs pic.twitter.com/d5Ub7qtrLG

— Greggs (@GreggsOfficial) August 19, 2014

9. Coca-Cola vs. Russia and Ukraine

If you’re going to create a huge promotion that displays a giant map of Russia, it’s generally a good idea to make sure that map is accurate. Or, better yet: When in doubt, don’t show a map.

Coca-Cola received massive backlash from Russian citizens when it posted a promotional branded image made to look like a map of Russia — which left out Crimea. In response, many consumers took to Twitter to post images of themselved pouring Coke into their toilets, leaving a trending impression.

Then, in response to the backlash, Coca-Cola published an updated map that included Crimea — which was promptly bombarded by outcries from Ukrainian citizens, due to tensions resulting from Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Lesson learned: Don’t publish original content that’s inaccurate, and has the potential to be highly (and globally) controversial.

Source: The Guardian

10. A Giraffe for Ghana Tweet from Delta

Sometimes, all it takes to avoid a social media fail is a simple Google search.

During the 2014 World Cup game between the USA and Ghana, Delta sent out a congratulatory tweet to the U.S. soccer team. The tweet included an image of the Statue of Liberty with a “2” representing the U.S. score, and a giraffe with a “1” that was meant to represent team Ghana’s score.

There was one tall problem: Ghana doesn’t have giraffes. Of course, Twitter users jumped all over that one. 

PHOTO: Delta Airlines thinks there are giraffes in Ghana. There aren’t. http://t.co/9VsWsCfQSe pic.twitter.com/pGMJ6p0ljA

— theScore (@theScore) June 17, 2014

Just remember: It’s always best to take extra time to conduct some easy research, and avoid social media gaffes — no pun intended — like this one.

Avoiding Social Media Disasters

You might have noticed a pattern in some of the “fail” examples. Twitter is not to be trifled with. Once something goes viral it lives on forever. The best way to avoid a social media brand fail is to establish a meticulous social media management approach. This allows you to control the types of content you post and the messaging your brand communicates with.

Regardless of how small your audience is or how innocent something might seem, there’s always a reason to quality-check before posting.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2017 but was updated for comprehensiveness in February 2020.

Source link

Tags: 10, 2020, Avoid, fails, media, Social

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2yCJ7qi via IFTTT

[bryonysimcox]

Goodbye Aragon, hello Catalunya: Week 5, Spain

This week saw us depart Zaragoza and head to a secluded cottage nestled amongst vineyards and olive groves. Life on the road seems surreal and sublime.

You would think by now the reality of living nomadically would have settled in. But it hasn’t! While we’ve become accustomed to the rituals and rhythms of our new lives, the actual feeling of knowing we don’t have a brick and mortar home or stable jobs to return to still feels bizarre. What’s more, knowing that we can explore so many different places, often blessed by more pleasant weather than the UK at this point of the year, feels like a gift.

I am very conscious to remain mindful and grateful while travelling and living in Suzi the van. I’ve never wanted to take the experience for granted, or to boast that this way of living is better than anyone else’s. Whilst it feels like a ‘gift’ to be able to live in this way (even if it is only for a few years), I have to keep in mind the sacrifices made to get this far: the process of building the van, the cost of doing so, and the relationships we have put under strain by leaving family and friends.

(images) Painful memories from 2019 of the seemingly endless van build!

Living like this certainly isn’t for everyone. But for me, I feel like I’m exactly where I need to be.

Exactly where we are (in physical as opposed to metaphysical terms), as I write this blog post, is up in the hills above the Spanish coastal town of Palamós. We started the week in the city of Zaragoza, wrapping up some video editing and life admin. On Thursday, we drove south-east towards Barcelona on the coast, and then up from there towards Palamós, where we have been lucky enough to stay in a secluded cottage belonging to Dan’s family. Dan is George’s best mate, who featured in the previous blog post.

We had really enjoyed Zaragoza, but by the start of this fifth week on the road we were ready to leave and get some more miles under our belt. We’ve been honing down our ‘vanlife admin’ routines but still managed to overfill the waste water tank from the sink on Wednesday evening. It wasn’t a disaster, but was a reminder of how used we become in domestic settings to all our services being piped in and out, out of sight, like water, gas, electricity and waste. After the clean-up operation, the prospect of cooking an evening meal and washing everything up again felt pretty undesirable, so we headed into town for dinner.

Eating out is a really big treat, as we’re living within a tight budget to make sure we can sustain our travels. That evening, we were both really craving a vegetarian burger and were hoping we could find a good one amongst Spain’s meat-heavy dining scene. The Bronson Bar, where we eventually stopped, did not disappoint with an incredible veggie burger, and as the third meal we’ve eaten out in five weeks(!), it was totally worth it. That said, it’s worth noting that we both really enjoy cooking, so making food in the van isn’t usually a burden, but a joy.

The challenge of cooking food in a van becomes a fun daily activity: making tasty, healthy and inventive vegetarian and vegan food with the produce that we can find in local shops.

On Thursday, we had passengers in the van! Taking others is a welcome chance to shake things up a bit; share conversation and pass the time with others, and of course to use our swivel-sofa (which I’m very proud of). We took Dan, who was headed to Barcelona to catch a flight to Berlin, and Alison, a bubbly Bolivian girl headed to Martorell who we met through BlaBlaCar. There are so many wicked apps encouraging the ‘sharing economy’ out there these days, and BlaBlaCar is the perfect example: hooking people who are driving somewhere with spare seats in their car up with people looking for lifts. It works both ways - we get some petrol money and the passenger gets an affordable journey in the comfort of a car (or campervan).

(images, left to right) A full house in the van, saying goodbye to Dan after a brilliant week with him in Zaragoza.

Headed east, the rocky expanses of Aragon gave way to a changing landscape: more verdant and fertile but still dramatic in its own way. We had arrived in Catalunya.

Having dropped Alison off in Martorell and then Dan off too, we were suddenly in the heart of Barcelona, a city we both know and love. Throngs of people, active street fronts, night-time buskers and signs in Catalan all added to the charm, and although we were set to immediately leave the city up the coast, George and I were so excited to be back that we agreed we would properly return to Barcelona before we leave Spain and spend a few more days there.

An hour up the coast from Barcelona, we found an Area Autocaravanas in Sant Celoni and stopped there, late Thursday night. The next day, glorious sunshine greeted us and we went for a bit of an explore - revealing that behind the train line and industrial area we were parked next to there lay a charming little town! Sant Celoni’s narrow streets, brightly coloured houses and bustling town square amid preparations for the upcoming carnival made for a perfect wander and photo-taking session.

(images) Sunlight and vibrant buildings made Sant Celoni a visual delight.

Yet again, travelling by road allows you to discover these unassuming little places, brimming with life and characterised by vernacular architecture and everyday activities.

Having caffeinated/wandered/read my book/eaten bread with olive oil to my heart’s content, we left Sant Celoni mid-morning and continued north. From the seaside town of Palamós, we drove up into the hills, and as soon as we were on the dirt track flanked by vineyards that leads to Dan’s family’s cottage, I was pretty damn excited. I’d been to the cottage once before, three and a half years ago when George and I were still doing a long distance relationship between the UK and Australia and I could hardly dream of the adventure we’re on today. Back then, when it was just a holiday getaway, it was a blissful spot, and returning to it once again as a week-long stopover on a very different journey, it brought back that same bliss.

(video) George’s travel film documenting our trip here three years ago.

Since arriving at the cottage on Friday afternoon, we’ve made it our base, our home, our escape and our office. Just a simple building with a small plot of land has offered so many creature comforts - such as a verandah that we can do workouts on, a shower that we can use after said workouts, an oven that we can cook with (a welcome change from just having a two-burner hob in the van), a wood fire, a normal bed and even a flushing toilet!

Having a place to stay like this little cottage is an absolute privilege and we are floored by the generosity of others.

(images) Our home for a week, a cottage up in the hills above Palamós.  

Even though we only just left Zaragoza where we’d been positioned for more than a week, coming to another place for a whole week has been critical. George is tantalisingly close to finishing the ultramarathon documentary about Jacko, Steve and Pat, and the other footage-sorting, editing and admin jobs have been piling up for me. So the two of us are really getting our heads down and trying to treat this like a working week, removed from the distractions of vanlife.

Even though it sounds like I’m moaning about all the self-inflicted ‘work’ we’re doing, I can't imagine travelling in a van without a focus. Having Broaden, the documentary channel which we’re launching, allows us to express our creativity, learn technical skills, meet new people, and hopefully generate some income too. It’s becoming more and more clear to me how important it is for everyone to have some sort of creative outlet like this, to express themselves outside of their conventional activities or job. I recently finished reading ‘The Amateur’ in which the author Andy Merrifield champions those who make and create, who follow their passion and do what they love. The book tied up a lot of my feelings about resisting the status quo and ignoring the internal voice that says “it’s not even worth trying, you’re not an expert”. Listening to the deeply personal and evocative ‘Gaba’ podcast from Adam Martin has been further encouragement that our own perspective can be deeply valuable for others - as Adam’s is for me.

My ongoing resolution is to keep making and creating - whether that be doing graphic design, making collages, writing blog posts or even just cooking new meals. But also, I want to keep supporting others who make and create.

(images, left to right) Storyboarding a new video we’re making, ‘The Amateur’ which I’ve just finished reading, making collages as AnalogueBryony.

It feels almost coincidental that quite a few of our friends are underway with their own creative endeavours, whether that be our aussie mate Pat making a podcast about running, our pal Matt Carline starting an online community ‘That Thing You Like’ for people to share their passions, Andy’s ‘Bad Luck Book Club’ designs, or Rosie Tee’s growing musical career and jazz-infused releases to name just a few. If this blog can have an impact on others, I’d like for it to be a platform to champion positive initiatives and projects, and to spread the message that it’s never too late to start. Never too late to make, create, learn, and be a self-professed amateur.

Of course, it’s not all video editing and life admin. On Saturday, we were lucky enough to catch the Carnaval de Palamós. Although the sunshine would have you believe otherwise, this is the town’s annual winter festival, complete with various festivities and competitions across 11 days. Saturday was the day of the grand parade, where each team goes to impressive lengths to prepare co-ordinated dances and wear perfectly matching costumes. Starting from a bar on the waterfront, George and I wandered along the spectator-filled pavement, walking towards the oncoming parade and frantically snapping photos along the way. It was a frivolous and joyful affair, with participants of all ages and a welcome low-key approach (no H&S officers or Police barricades as you’d expect in England).

(images, left to right) 1950s beach babes who were having so much fun, some impeccably dressed seamstresses, and a bunch of fantastic seahorses: just a few of my favourite costumes from the festival.

I've always loved dressing up, so I was floored by the commitment to epic costumes. From start to finish, the whole carnival parade was surreal and sublime.

So that’s it for this week’s post. Reflecting on another week leaves me feeling refreshed and ready for the next. I’d also just like to say what an honour it is hearing from those of you that are reading these posts, as I know they’re long and sometimes tangential! My only hope is that I can share a little of the magic that George and I are experiencing on this bumpy adventure, and as I said, perhaps inspire others to take a leap towards their own desires or projects too.

I’ll leave you with this passage from ‘The Amateur’ which really resounded with me:

"To be an amateur is to perform for yourself, to draft the script to your own life, not simply in work, a state of being as well as a mode of doing. It is to do things well because you're intimately connected to what you do, because doing well correlates positively with being well, with well-being. To be an amateur is to enrich yourself beyond wealth. Amateurism is an affair of the heart, like love. It is complicated and messy, often tumultuous. But it is always about honest human expression."

[tellerford13]

MO ASTOR- CHAPTER 24

We don’t own the bikes, brothers, or any “related” Sons of Anarchy, trust us, if we did we wouldn’t have the time to write. No money is being made from our stories. So, please don’t sue. It’d be a fruitless endeavor indeed. That being said, Harley, Journee, and any other newbies are ours, and we don’t share. :Whispers in creepy voice: “My precious.” The universe This reality is a mix of cannon, and our own ideas. We strive to keep the boys cannon, but since we will be shifting around some of the events, that will reflect in our writing and their personalities as well. It’s our goal to provide you with quality fiction, and solid, fleshed out OFC. We appreciate constructive criticism and love LOVE reviews, they are a writers life blood and definitely help encourage us and inspire us. We will be posting on our Tumblr where we’ll have fun pictures from time to time as well. http://tellerford13.tumblr.com We’ll also be taking requests for one shots, preferences or imagines for all things Sons at our other Tumblr, so check it out and send your thoughts!http://tellerford13oneshots.tumblr.com/ And just for fun, we’ve decided to start a Pinterest for the story! So if you want a glimpse at our girls and see into our world, check it out! https://www.pinterest.com/tellerford/

                                                        A/N: Are you feeling that stolen hour, cause I know we are. This is a short bit, but there will be more later this week. We wanted to get something out for y’all to read in the meantime.

SIDENOTE: Telford will kill me for this but it’s also her Birthday tomorrow (or today depending where you are) SO send her some love and thanks! (She’s the brain behind the operation I just post!) 

                                         Mo Astor Chapter 24

Journee

It’s odd stepping out into the sunshine and heat. Scotland had an overcast, damp vibe that I enjoyed immensely. It was like a permanent fall. Fall, my favorite, but not an often experienced season. Filip threads his fingers in mine as he leads me toward the baggage claim and I mentally switch modes. It’s Chibs now unless we’re alone or in close company. Things are different here. There’s a lack of freedom that comes with being back home, but this is where our roots are planted. I wouldn’t know what to do with a normal life. My time spent in college showed me that. I couldn’t relate to the average eighteen and nineteen-year-olds, hungry for their first taste of freedom and making shitty decisions. In our life, you’re always older than your years.

You have no choice. You see and hear too much, and safety precautions are a real thing. It changes the way you view life. I wanted to do my time, get a slip of paper and get out. There’s something to be said about having a skill to fall back on, and I like the image it gives me. There’s protection in that. The best thing an Old lady can offer is a good reputation. It keeps them separate from the shadiness the town knows Samcro has going on. It’s a careful balance we keep with Charming. We keep the corporations away who’d end their “Charming” way of life, and they turn a blind eye to the MC. It’s a system that works as long as everyone holds up their end of the bargain.

“Do we know who’s picking us up?” I ask.

“No clue, Love.”

Deep down I want it to be Juice. Two weeks is a long time to go without seeing his face or hearing his voice. I worry about my misguided son. He wasn’t brought up in this life, and his naivety could potentially get him in trouble. I’m working on the areas someone could exploit. I’ve seen what happens to men like him before in our culture. Chibs and I will make damn sure it doesn’t on our watch.

Chibs grabs our bags, and I admire his strength and gentlemanly ways. I’ve been in love with him since I was fifteen, but the reality of being his woman is even better than my teenage dreaming. He returns, and I thank God we opted to mail the other bags home.

“Ready, love?”

“I am.”

We move toward the exit, and I smile as I spot a familiar head of hair.

“Jackie boy,” Chibs yells making me giggle. J gives Chibs a fleeting smile and a manly hug.

“Good to have you back home, brother.”

His eyes are dull, and there’s tension he’s holding. I glance around and frown when I don’t see Lee.

“What happened? Where’s Lee?”

“I needed some one-on-one with my sister,” he says sheepishly.

I sigh. “What did you do?”

“What? Me? Nothing. That’s exactly why I’m trying to talk to you. I need some advice on how to proceed.”

I glance at Chibs. “Do you mind driving , Filip?  This is going to take awhile.”

“Aye, I’ll drive, get our boy fixed up.”

“Start from the beginning,” I say as I walk between the two of them.

“Well, for starters. Wendy went off yesterday .We were there to check up on her, and I flipped out when I found her hanging over the toilet puking her brains.”

“Did she—

“No, but that was my first thought too. She’s just got really bad morning sickness.”

“Stupid bitch,” I mumble.

“Yeah, well she was right. I left, she found out she was pregnant, and I hooked up with Lee and got happy. I haven’t thought about what this would do to her or later, my relationship with my own kid. I mean shit…I’m creating a shit storm for him or her to be born into. What judge in their right mind is going to award full custody to a man with my record or my affiliations?”

“The one we buy,” I say honestly.

He shakes his head. “There’s so much shit going on at once, Journee.”

My full name is a screaming siren. He never does well when forced out of his depth.

“When isn’t it in our lives? It’s just another hurdle to climb. Wendy was already crazy. You add hormones, and a woman scorned vibe to the mix, and you get extra insane. She’ll calm down after it’s all said and done, cause she knows as well as we do, she has no choice. That bitch ain’t got the balls to try to take you to court. She knows who runs this town. You have to deal with her and keep the peace until she pops baby T out.”

“Baby T?”

“Teller, duh.”

He chuckles.

“You make it sounds so easy.”

“Not easy, just necessary. Problem solved. Can I get my Lee time now?”

“About her…”

“Jackson Nathaniel Teller, I’ve been waiting what feels like my entire life for shit to happen between you two. If you ruin this now, I will fucking kill you with my bare hands.”

“Jesus, Baby J.” He looks at Chibs. “You sleep with one eye open brother?”

“I don’t inspire that emotion in her, Jackie boy.” He winks, and I giggle.

Jax shakes his head as we finish our trip through the underground tunnel to the car. He hits the key FOB, unlocks the car and pops the trunk. I can tell there’s more. He’ll spill it once we’re in the backseat alone. I place my hand on Chibs chest and tilt my head up for a kiss. He palms my ass, pulling my body to his and I moan as our tongues tangle. The wedding changed a few things. He never would’ve done this in public before. I like it. We part, and he places his forehead against mine.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Always, lennan. I know his happiness affects your own.” I place my hand over his heart before I peel my body from his and force myself to join Jax.

“This better be good. I should be sucking face with my old man during this ride.”

“I love her, Journee.”

I laugh. “Is that all? Bro, I could’ve told you that years ago. I tried a dozen times.”

“You don’t understand. This changes everything.”

“This is what it means to really care for someone, Jax. That fear of hurting them or losing them is how you know it’s the real thing. You’re finally ready to put someone ahead of yourself. I’m so glad I’m here to see it. Humility looks good on you.” I muse his hair, and he swats my hand.

“You’re a little shit. You know that?”

“Seriously Jay. You’re freaked out because you finally have something you don’t want to lose. It’s not a bad thing. It’ll keep you from making dumb ass decisions. The real tragedy would be living a life where you never experience that kind of love. We both know you dropping the L word on Lee right now would not be a good thing. You jump in head first. She tests the water repeatedly, waits a little more, and then she dips a toe in. You need to be patient. You want to keep her? Then you need to temper that impulsiveness and wait for the right moment.”

“When will that be?”

“I don’t know, but you will.”

He huffs.

“J, have I ever steered you wrong when it’s this important?”

“No.” he shakes his head.

“And I won’t start now.”

He takes a deep breath and nods. “Alright.”

“You good.”

“As good as I’m going to get.”

I pat his cheek. “Welcome to the land of mortals young blonde god.”

“What?” he wrinkles his nose, and I laugh as we weave through traffic. Someone’s eager to get home. The tone for Simple Man rings out. “Mama told me when I was young...” And I laugh. Of course, she has to call the minute, we land.

He rolls his eyes. “Hey, Ma. Yes, I have them. Because Chibs is driving. Nothing. Can’t a man want to catch up with his sister?” He scowls.” Seriously? They just got back. They probably have jet lag out the ass.” He grimaces. “Yeah, I’ll let them know. No, Lee isn’t pissed at me. Yes, I know. I don’t plan on it.”

It’s always amusing to see Jax read the riot act by his mother. Partially because it means she’s not going in on me. She took the mother role to heart, and never let go. I’ve had my ass chewed out by her more times than I want to remember. “She’s right here.” He thrusts the phone at me, and I know the shoe is now on the other foot.

“Hey, Ma.”

“Hey, baby, good to hear your voice. I worried that he’d chained you to a bed and decided to keep you over there permanently.”

I laugh. “It’s more likely it’d be the other way around.”

She chuckles. “That’s my girl. A woman’s got to know how to control things while letting the man think he’s running the show.”

“You taught me well.”

“That I did. We’re having a family dinner tonight. I expect to see the two of you there.”

I mentally sigh. “Ma, we just touched down.”

“Exactly. So you’ll have enough time to spruce up, bring those vacation photos, and get home.”

I roll my eyes and bang my head against the seat.

Jax chuckles, and I elbow him in the ribs. His laughter becomes a groan, and it’s my turn to smirk.

“Fine, we’ll be there.”

“Good. I can’t wait to have my babies all together again. Especially now that you’re married and soon to be carrying a grandbaby. The first one with a mother I love.” I shake my head. That’s Gemma always light years ahead of everyone else. The ink is barely dry on the marriage license, and she’s talking about kids.

“We just got married.”

“And it’s past time we had some little brown babies running around here.”

I snort. “Only you could get away with saying that.”

“Damn straight. “ I hear her exhale, and I know she’s smoking.

“We’ll be there, but we might be late. I have to hunt up clean clothes.”

“I can’t wait to see you, baby. Love you.”

“Love you too Ma.” I hang up and shake my head.

“You miss Scotland yet?” Jax asks.

I laugh. “Meh, this is home. Besides I’m about to have a niece or nephew, and I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

“It’s coming up fast.”

“How are you feeling about that?”

“Ready. I had a talk with my dad, and I got my head on straight. I can be a good dad.”

“I know you will be,” I say sincerely. “You got a lot of people who’ll kick your ass if you aren’t.”

He chuckles. “Never one to mince words.”

“I hear it’s a family trait of mine.”

“Yeah. I hear your big brother is pretty cool.” He wraps his arms around my shoulders and pulls me against him.

“God, you are so conceited.” I roll my eyes and shake my head. “Tell me what else I’ve missed while I’ve been away.”

I lean into his warmth as he tells me in a boyish animated way that fills me with joy. He’s changing in the best possible way.

[canaryatlaw]

Well today was fairly good I suppose. My emotions were somewhat blah sometimes but other times they were ok, so that's something at least. But yeah, alarm went off at 7 and I convinced myself to get out of bed by 7:01 (okay, it just turned 7:02 when I stood up) and did the whole normal morning thing, got to my office and started on the work my boss gave me yesterday for today because she was gonna be out in the field for most of the day. It was two unfounded packets and then two permanency hearings for next week. The first unfounded packet was kind of questionable, it was against the natural mom who apparently let a cousin who has sexually abused the oldest daughter come to some visits, but they unfounded because he was supposedly never alone with the kids (which is shitty rationale IMO) and because the outcry wasn't completely trustworthy because the girl has developmental delays and couldn't come up with a set timeline. But at least hopefully that issue is dealt with. The second one was sadder, but not because of the actual situation, where two little girls were saying that their otherwise perfect record foster parents who they'd been with for two years out of nowhere started beating them, and everyone involved pretty much agreed their mother had put them up to that because she's disrupted the placements of her (apparently numerous) other kids in the system multiple times before just like that. And of course they got moved because of it and it just made me sad. So very selfish. But with those done I moved onto the permanency hearings, two older kids, one of which has been on run but is now considered to be off run but in an "unauthorized placement" because she's living with her boyfriend, but she's like, 17, so she really shouldn't be. We need to do a visit with her at some point before court so I tried calling the like 3 numbers listed on her sheet and got no answers, left a message at one at least. That was a dependency case coming in. The second came in as an abuse case but kind of became a dependency one, the younger kids were returned home but because of the older son's mental problems he wasn't and was given a goal of independence. Apparently he has a fairly low IQ (somewhere in the 70's I think) and very defiant behavior to just about everyone, but it looks like he managed to just graduate from high school, so that's good at least. So I prepped their forms depending on their cases and then sometime around then it became lunch time. It was one of the ladies on the calendars birthday, so we had ordered out from her favorite Greek place (she's like, hardcore Greek) and all ate in the lead attorney's office. My actual boss still wasn't there, but it was kind of nice to just sit and talk to the other attys, we have a women on our calendar which is kind of cool, and they were ragging on one of the ASA's who apparently has a bit of a sexist side, so that was good to now. But yeah, mostly we just laughed and had a good time and I enjoyed it. The gyro I got was pretty good, and only minimally hurt my stomach (unfortunately expected) but I just felt super full for the rest of the day, even though I didn't finish it. Back to work after lunch, just dealing with some other files and reading through the last reports on the TPR prep. There was apparently a rather in depth one I hadn't seen yet that was critical in changing the goal for the second kid, it was quite the insight into the parenting skills of the second father who looked half decent on paper but apparently had quite a ways to go in reality (he was asked like, if his kid was returned home to him (not that he ever lived with him to begin with) how he would deal with him being sick and he said something about his temperature would be office if it was like "in the 90s or 100s" because he thought normal was "in the 80s" so, yeah). So that was a good final piece to that puzzle. I looked through a big file twice trying to find an appointment order to attach to a criminal investigation unit request, but it was not in there, so I ended up having to request the paralegal fetch it for me tomorrow (I mean, I know how to do so myself, but the lawyer I was doing it for said to have the paralegal do it, and he's really cool, so it works). I might've worked on some other little things at some point but I think that was most of it. I played a little candy crush at the end of the day before heading out like 10 minutes early to hopefully catch the 5:03 bus to get home a little earlier, because I had a limited amount of time to get something done before I had PT at 7. So I knew my Amazon rental textbooks were due sometime at the end of this month, and it's been like in my mind this entire time, I'd been saving boxes for them, but never actually got around to just boxing them up, printing a label and bringing them to the UPS store. I know it's getting late in the month though so last night I checked online when the deadline was, and oh look, it's today, and the UPS store closes at 7. Well. I guess traffic was good because I actually managed to get off the bus by 6:08, which is impressive, and thankfully gave me more much needed time. I ended up having to use two boxes, one of which was a USPS flat rate box that somebody sent me something in but I was like you know what I'm just gonna slap the UPS label on it and hope nobody notices 😂 so I leave with the two boxes in my cart at like 6:45 (they weighed like 15 pounds between them, so I knew carrying them wouldn't end well cuz I've been down that path before), then walked to the UPS store in town and dropped them off quickly, then walked the rest of the way down the street to PT (I'm forever grateful to live so close to so many crucial places). I was back with my original guy today for the first time after his Europe trip, and he took a bit of a different approach today because some of my muscles were still super tight, so he asked if I would be willing to try this thing called dry needling, which is like sort of acupuncture but not but basically sets off a twitch response in the muscle and supposedly sets it back to its baseline if it was being under or over active (or at least that's how it was explained to me). I wasn't a huge fan of the idea, but my back has still been killing me after weeks of PT, like over a month now, so I said what the hell I've dealt with worse and went with it. It wasn't too bad actually, I couldn't really feel them going in but then when they hit the muscle there's like this dull achy cramp feeling that's not pleasant at all, but it doesn't last very long and you can like physically feel the muscle release. I think he only had to do it like 3 times and it really released, so that was good. We tried some slightly adjusted exercises after that and by the time I got out of there it was almost 8:30. I already had my cart with me and we ran out of toilet paper last night (again) so I ran over to jewel across the street, and also grabbed eggs and milk because I was out of those, a few yogurts, two frozen meals with meat in them, a bottle of Advil since I almost ran out, and of course a giant thing of toilet paper. I could like, barely shove it all into my cart but it just fit. I was pretty tired at this point but I wanted some damn ice cream so I walked back down the street and waited in line at the ice cream place. I was gonna get the peach Melba frozen yogurt again that I've been getting lately that's really good and makes me feel slightly less guilty, but then I saw that they had black cherry (it's one of their rotating flavors and I hadn't seen it in a while) which is like, one of my all time favorites, so at the last minute I switched and went with that). By the time I got home after that it was like, 9:10, but I made some eggs (now that I had more) and sat down to watch the second episode of the keepers, being that I said I'd keep with it, and holy shit, you can definitely say I'm hooked now. Like the episode was absolutely horrifying to watch because it mostly consisted of these women describing the heinous sexual abuse they were subjected to as children at the hands of the priests at their school, then ends with this giant bombshell that strongly indicates they had something to do with the murder of the nun who two of the girls had confided in, which was the tagline that originally got me interested in the series. Well, I'm all in now, for sure. And yeah, sometime after that I called it a night and got ready for bed. During the day I was of course obsessively checking my grades since tomorrow is the grade deadline, and at some point discovered I got an A- in crim pro II. I was slightly disappointed with this, but I also know I shouldn't be because that class was literally all ASA's and PD's and then there was just me, the person from juvenile court who just likes criminal law, so of course the curve was gonna be harder, and I still beat out a hell of a lot of people who intend on doing that for a living. So I know I shouldn't be disappointed with it, but I still can't help being a little bit. I'm just really hoping I pulled off that A in LARC now, but I really don't know. Still waiting on that damn grade. I would be surprised if I got less than an A-, but I'll probably be pretty mad if I do get an A- just because I worked so damn hard in that class and it was such a pain in my ass. Plus, going from last semester getting 3 A's and 1 A- to 3 A-'s and 1 A doesn't sit well with me as far as keeping my class rank, which was the goal here the whole time (I mean, top 10% just has such a nice ring to it.....sigh). But I guess we'll see. That grade just better get damn posted tomorrow, she's had our appellate briefs for over a month now and there's only like 13 of us in the class, you really have no excuse for blowing the grade deadline (especially with all the shit they supposedly hammer into us about the importance of meeting deadlines). So yeah, hopefully we'll find out on that tomorrow. Okay, that's all I got. Guess we'll see what tomorrow brings. Tonight was also officially 1 week since I started my new med, which means it was time to up it to 2 a day instead of 1, per my doctor's instructions, so hopefully that won't wreak too much havoc on my brain (I really hope so, anyway). Okay, really done now. Goodnight baes. Stay beautiful.