#eye health Toronto

[stayinghealthy12]

https://www.360eyecare.ca/comprehensive-eye-care-services-rosedale-yorkville-toronto/

An Optometrist Near Me: Comprehensive Eye Care Services in Rosedale & Yorkville, Toronto  

Visit 360 Eyecare for personalized eye care in Rosedale & Yorkville, Toronto. Services include eye exams, dry eye treatment, LASIK, & Ortho-K.

[sheshalove]

It’s been a disgustingly dry few months when it comes down to my creative self. Thanking the Goddess I’m able to get back to it. I don’t know why I always feel like I’ve lost the natural capability when coming out of a depressive episode. Go figure

[orphicdreamers-wp]

It’s Not Christmas Without You— Quinn Hughes

Summary: Your seasonal depression gets the best of your relationship leading to an awkward Christmas

Content Warnings: Seasonal depression, panic & anxiety attacks, use of antidepressants, ocd, chemical imbalance, angsty hughes brothers

Pairing; Ex Gf! Reader x Quinn Hughes

September

You had never quite understood why your brain felt so hardwired to the point you couldn’t comprehend anything happening around you. It affected everything you did, but no one could put their finger on why sometimes things got to be much for you it brought you to tears. For the most part, your boyfriend Quinn tried to help you but when the weather in Vancouver shifted just as he’d been named captain. He just couldn’t do it anymore, he tried but it was draining him.

You sat cross legged in the center of Quinn’s living room, reorganizing his CD collection for the third time this week. Quinn sighed as he entered his apartment, coming home from a rough roadie, all he wanted was to take a scorching shower and talk to you while you guys laid in his bed watching a cheesy movie. He didn’t utter a word as he walked past to his room and dropped his stuff off before returning to his living room and letting out a sigh, “The CDS haven’t magically moved since Tuesday dollface.”

You ignored your boyfriend, again. Quinn blew out a breath he’d been holding in for god knows how long, “I don’t think I can do this anymore.” He expected you to protest against him trying to break up with him, but you didn’t. Which somehow made Quinn more upset at the entire ordeal, “So your fine with just throwing away the last 6 years?” You kept quiet, knowing that if you dared to speak you would say something that you and Quinn couldn’t come back from. So you stayed silent as you stood up and slipped on your shoes and grabbed your coat and walked out of Quinn’s apartment and his life.

You returned to your shared loft with your friend Tess and finally let your composure fall. A wretched sob ripped through your chest as you leaned against the door and slid to sit against the wall. Tess hurried out of her bedroom and was at your side in seconds, “Oh honey. It’s okay.” You felt like someone was wrapping barbed wire around your throat, “I can’t, I just don’t know what’s wrong with me. Something isn’t right Tess.” Your breathing began to quicken as your chest tightened. Tess rubbed your back reassuringly, “I got you.” You closed your eyes and focused on your breathing. Once you were calm you turned to Tess, “Quinn and I broke up. I think I need to go home and get help.” And that was exactly what you did.

You went back to Toronto and moved back into your childhood bedroom, went to a neurologist and found out that your brain had an insufficient amount of neurotransmitters which could play part in your moods. The doctor told you that you needed to boost your serotonin and dopamine levels and prescribed you antidepressants and referred you to a women’s mental health clinic. You noticed slowly that your mood became less negative and you were able to focus better. But you also noticed that you began to get thinner and no matter what you did it never seemed like you gained weight.

December

You were reluctant to go to the Hughes Christmas dinner, although Ellen had reassured you that you were more than welcome. You still had your bad days and didn’t know if being around Quinn would make you snap and you didn’t want to snap at him. So you told your mother you’d think about it but that she should go. Which she did. You mother and Ellen were in grossed in a conversation over linens when Luke finally mentioned you, “So I guess she really doesn’t have anything to say to you Quinn. She would never miss out on Dad’s meatballs.” Quinn shot his brother a glare as your mother spoke softly, “She’s just having a hard time right now, her meds are messing with her.” Ellen smiled solemnly, “How is she adjusting to her antidepressants?”

Quinn looked taken aback learning your on antidepressants now, “Is she okay?” Your mom smiled as she lifted her wine glass to her lips, “Her doctor told her she doesn’t have sufficient neurotransmitters and it’s a chemical imbalance in her brain that’s made her feel like this all these years. The doctor said there’s a good chance coupled with the harsh weather and seasonal depression that’s what made her feel so poorly. Nothing you could have done would have helped Quinn.” Jack rolled his eyes subtly, “So because she’s mentally not okay, we’re supposed to be fine with her destroying Quinn?” Ellen glared at her middle child, “Jack! If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say sit.”

You stared at the stack of wrapped gifts you had gotten for each member of the Hughes family. You sighed as you slid off the couch and pulled on a dark red sweater and some jeans and took the gifts to your car and made your way to the Hughes family home. You were unsure of what would happen when you walked in but you were facing your fears today. You rang the doorbell, not expecting Quinn to be on the other side of the door.

His eyes held an unreadable expression that you had grown to miss. You were almost positive that you had lost your voice when he spoke, “Hey.” You smiled, “Hi, you look uh great.” Quinn rubbed his neck as a deep blush rolled over his cheeks, “Thanks. You do too.” He took some of the gifts as you I walked inside the house and placed your gifts with the rest of the gifts under the tree. You slipped your coat off and hung it in the closet with the others. Quinn frowned ever so slightly when he took note of how the jeans that had once hugged your body in all the right places were loose on you and how you looked at him like you might break if you looked at him long enough.

Ellen’s voice rang out from the dining room, “Who was it honey?” You smiled warmly as you entered the dining room behind Quinn, “Hi.” Ellen’s eyes glimmered with excitement as she hopped up and pulled you into a bone crushing hug, “We’re so glad you could make it after all. Right guys?” The Hughes men muttered out agreements. You sat down at the only empty seat which, as the universe was punishing you, was directly across from Jack with Quinn sitting beside you. Conversation flowed between you and everyone besides Jack and Quinn.

Jack spoke up in condescending tone, “So Y/N what have you been up to since you and Quinn broke up?” Jack let out a groan as Quinn swiftly kicked him underneath the table. You felt your smile drop, “I moved back home like 3 days after. I’ve been getting a lot of help. Working on understanding my feelings.” Jack hummed, “Seeing anyone? You sure are slimming down.” You tensed as you drew in a deep breath, “Nope. Wouldn’t be fair to a poor guy. I’m still in love with someone and I’m not sure relationships are for me. But can we just talk about your game against the Red Wings? I mean I was on my seat the entire time.”

Jack’s smirk fell, “You still watch my games?” You shrugged, “I watched Trev kick your ass. I also watched Quinn hand the Sharks the biggest loss. I didn’t stop watching hockey because I got broken up with.” You melted into Quinn’s touch as he placed a hand on your thigh. He mouthed inaudibly, ‘Thank you’ Dinner ended and Ellen insisted on going straight to presents. You smiled warmly as Jack and Luke opened their gifts from you. You You played more into a joke with Jack. It was a shirt that read ‘Straight Outta The Penalty Box.’ Jack’s gift sent his brother’s into laughter while Jack sent you a playful eye roll, “Now I know she actually watches my games still.” Luke’s gift seemed to be more fitting for him, he opened the box and ran his fingers over the soft tie that was adorned with red hockey sticks, “Thank you.” You smiled as Quinn picked up his gift from you, “I didn’t know what to get you so with my luck you’ll probably hate it.”

Quinn opened the box and his eyes softened as he looked at the gift, “You remembered. Why would I hate this?” He pulled out the large cooling weighted blanket. You barely remembered him mentioning wanting one. Apparently your subconscious remembered. Quinn’s eyes softened as you began to tidy up the wrapping paper as everyone continued to open gifts.

Without being noticed Quinn slipped into his childhood bedroom and opened his bag and pulled out a small gift wrapped box. He slipped it into his pocket and returned to the living room. His eyes immediately were on you as you clasped a necklace around his mother’s neck. Soon enough all the gifts were opened and Quinn spoke warmly, “I actually have a gift for you Y/N.” Your eyes widened, “O-okay.” Quinn slipped the small box from his pocket and placed it in your hand. By the size alone you knew it was jewelry of some sort.

You opened the box and your eyes widened and swelled with tears, “You can’t. Not with how horrible I was to you.” Quinn shook his head, “No I can. I have loved you since I have known you. I don’t care if your going through the worst thing possible. I love you and I just wanna be there for you no matter what. For the rest of my life. I want to be your husband. Marry me.” Your eyes welled, “I don’t know if I can give you the life you want Quinn.” Quinn shook his head as he pulled you closer to him, which you didn’t think was humanly possible, “The life I want is waking up to you pressing your ice cold feet to my legs to warm them up, the life I want is holding your purse so you can stop and pet every stray cat you see. The life I want is anytime and everything as long as you are there. You are the one good thing in my life.” You sniffled, “Fine I’ll marry you.”

[onlydylanobrien]

Live from New York, It’s Dylan O’Brien!

The 33-year-old plays Dan Aykroyd in Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, and he’s not sure he hit it out of the park. But he’s okay with that.

DYLAN O’BRIEN HAS led movies that grossed hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. He’s shared the screen in a thriller with Michael Keaton (2017’s American Assassin), exchanged jokes with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson (in 2013’s The Internship), been a long-running MTV teen heartthrob (in 92 episodes of Teen Wolf), voiced a Transformer (in 2018’s Bumblebee), and, hell, went toe to toe with Larry David while playing himself on Curb Your Enthusiasm. At 33, he’s accomplished a hell of a lot.

By the time we meet at Men’s Health’s New York City offices to chat on an early September Friday, I’ve already seen a lot of his work. I’ve always liked the way his relaxed demeanor on-screen fits with an undeniable movie-star look—and that holds true in his latest project, Saturday Night (in select theaters now and out nationwide on October 11), in which he stars as comedy legend and original Saturday Night Live cast member Dan Aykroyd; the movie is a depiction of the chaotic 90 minutes before the very first episode of SNL. But I wasn’t sold on his sheer determination—the pure conviction in his character—until I learned that, like myself, he’s a long-suffering fan of the New York Jets.

“I get psyched for the Jets,” he tells me, rocking a full beard, a T-shirt, and a pair of comfortable lacrosse shorts. As he finishes his thought, his eyes light up, but they maintain the slightest sense of eternal frustration behind them. “Even though it’s always like, Jesus Christ.”

Misfortunes of past football seasons aside, O’Brien is as hyped as he’s ever been for the season to come—he’s already done all of his fantasy drafts, though he feels better about some than others—but right now he has one potential problem: He’s going to be in Toronto, for the Toronto International Film Festival, on the night of the Jets season opener. But don’t worry, he’s got it figured out. Saturday Night’s premiere is on Tuesday, and his press schedule on Monday (when the Jets are set to play the San Francisco 49ers) concludes at 5:30 p.m.

“I’m like, I’m going to a pub. I’m getting out of the area, and I’m just going to sit and have some beer and watch the Jets on Monday night all by myself,” he says with a huge smile on his face. “It’s going to be awesome.”

It’s a relatable feeling—for most Jets fans, there’s no happier time than before the season starts, before the annual feelings of dread and doom start to set in. (The Jets would wind up losing to the 49ers, 32-19, in their Week 1 MNF matchup.) But, as Jets fans have learned so well to do over the years, we move on.

O’Brien has a long career behind him, but a long career ahead of him, too. In addition to his upcoming role in Saturday Night (which has earned strong reviews in the early goings), he’s also got the M. Night Shyamalan-produced Caddo Lake premiering on Max this month, and Anniversary, in which he stars alongside Diane Lane and Kyle Chandler, coming at some point in the near future. (It doesn’t currently have a release date.) O’Brien is the kind of actor who elevates the project he’s in, even when the project is already really, really good—but if there’s anything being a Jets fan says about someone, it’s that they know how to adjust, adapt, and bounce back. And in an industry as fickle as show business—which is put on full display in Saturday Night—that’s about as important a quality as any to have in your back pocket.

Ahead of the release of several of the biggest and most exciting projects of his career, O’Brien sat down with Men’s Health to discuss how he keeps himself sane and centered, prepping to play a comedy icon, and some of those casting rumors about him out there on the Internet.

MEN’S HEALTH: What kind of routines do you maintain for your mental and physical health?

DYLAN O’BRIEN: I don’t go to the gym. I’m not a gym guy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t exercise or train or anything. I would say I go in and out of that. I’m usually the type who’s either on a pretty consistent routine and trying to hit it hard and take care of myself for a period of time, and then I’ll let it go for a little bit. Some of that’s influenced by my schedule, too. When you go to work, it’s hard to keep up some kind of regimen. But when I’m home and I’m in between jobs, I’ve become a very domesticated individual. I love grocery shopping and cooking my own meals.

MH: What’s your favorite thing to make?

DOB: If I had to pick one thing, I love, to the soul, making a soup. It’s literally the first thing I’ll do when I go anywhere to settle in. Just a homemade chicken soup, with a chicken carcass, and get creative with the veggies.

MH: Do you have a mental health routine?

DOB: That’s typically what drives the eating and the exercising. I always feel best when I’m in a nice routine and taking care of myself. As I’ve gotten into my 30s, sleep is so important, and periods of laying off alcohol are so important. Just treating your body right and getting rest. I like to do a cold plunge session, and that’s very meditative for me. I’ll follow the simple program of “exhaust the body, relax the mind” when I’m going right.

“I was self-conscious that I DIDN’T LOOK LIKE HIM, that I DIDN’T SOUND LIKE HIM, that I thought people wouldn’t think me—Dan Aykroyd.”

MH: I totally understand the concept of using whatever levels us as therapy. Sometimes after work I just need to put the Yankees on and do absolutely nothing in order to fully detox and feel right.

DOB: That’s my soul. The Mets… obviously, baseball is a nearly every day thing. And even when the Mets are not going well, what’s soothed me since I was closely following them when I was a kid is [broadcasters Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling]. Literally, even just throwing the game on in the background while I’m getting dinner ready and just listening to those guys talk baseball—that settles me to my core. I’m totally with you on that.

MH: Is watching sports your main way of decompressing at the end of a long day?

DOB: If it’s baseball season, yeah, nightly Mets is nice. If I’m working, I’ve been known to be on jobs and randomly be bingeing some reality show while I’m on it. It’s such a decompressor at the end of the day. I love reality TV.

MH: What’s your favorite?

DOB: Of all time?

MH: Yeah.

DOB: Well, it’s between Jersey Shore and Vanderpump Rules as far as the all-timers. I’ve been a longtime OG Vanderpump fan, pre-Scandoval, and I just think that show’s a masterpiece. And Jersey Shore is a masterpiece, too. I did a film, Ponyboi, that’s very Jersey-centric, and so I drilled all of the first four seasons of Jersey Shore. My whole routine for that movie, when I needed to decompress, was just working out and watching reality TV. I lost a lot of weight, too, for that movie, and I was just trying to make my little chicken breast, and eat my salad, and work out, and watch Jersey Shore.

MH: Let’s talk about Saturday Night. How would you describe your version of Dan Aykroyd?

DOB: It might be the thing most open to interpretation I’ve ever done. By that, I mean it really was just leaping out of the nest. I’m playing this real person, but [director Jason Reitman] had no intention of just copying the person coming in. He really wanted everyone to have their own spin on the person, which, if you’re overthinking it, can be tough to do because it can be very easy to do. If you’re like, I’m just going to watch my guy’s interviews and sketches, then you can kind of fall into imitation. As far as I know, I was just doing what I thought he was like. But I don’t fucking know. That instinct was that Jason was always telling me what to run with. He was big on not overpreparing, not overwatching things, and not impersonating. I’m curious to hear people’s take, because I don’t really know. I just went with my gut.

MH: Was there one signature quality of Dan you wanted to capture?

DOB: A very earnest intelligence—he’s so quick, it was exhausting. I would always say how exhausted I was, because I’m playing someone who’s way quicker than I am, and so I’m constantly operating at a speed I can’t operate at, because he’s so sharp and fast and he never fumbles and he never curses. He never bides time. You know what I mean?

MH: Absolutely.

DOB: He’s so precise with his improvisation and his comedic skills. I came away with such a larger appreciation than I even had for his genius. And he was so young—he was a kid. He was 23 on that first season of SNL. I never processed him as being too worried about too much, which was a funny contrasting energy to the very tense atmosphere of the film in the hour and a half before showtime. He’s so loose.

MH: It’s interesting you say that, because it’s something I totally clocked, too—Dan is kind of the calm part of a storm that includes people like Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) and John Belushi (Matt Wood). How did you maintain that presence as the movie’s level head?

DOB: My way of achieving that, with permission from Jason, was to embrace this quality in myself that I didn’t originally associate to Dan—that I only then did after Jason pointed it out to me—which was to have an aloofness on set. I feel very relaxed in that space. In a way, I wasn’t too worried. But that comes with the caveat that I entered this process thinking I was so wrong for the part.

MH: Why did you think that?

DOB: I don’t know. I was self-conscious that I didn’t look like him, that I didn’t sound like him, that I thought people wouldn’t think me—Dan Aykroyd. And I guess it was an insecurity that I would be skewered for being miscast or something. But even with that insecurity, again, I’m still so happy to be there and, like, whatever, fuck it. I don’t care if that’s the response. I’m boned, but whatever. It’s great to be here and get to do this, and what a blast of a thing to get to be a part of. So, weirdly enough, that type of aloofness amidst other people having to handle some really tense stuff was what Jason was telling me to embrace.

MH: Have you met Dan?

DOB: No. Not yet. I’m supposed to meet him at TIFF. And apparently that will be both of our first times seeing the movie.

MH: That will be great.

DOB: There was a moment early on, when you go into something like this, you’re playing someone, you imagine that they might want to speak to you. They might be hell-bent on speaking to you, they might be crazy about getting their hands in it, or they might be totally hands off. And to hear that he was so not worried about it, if anything, was the first moment I was like, Oh, maybe we’re right. Because I would’ve met with him, too, but I also didn’t need it. I would have if he insisted. I’d be like, Of course—I’ve got to do that. But I vibe with the fact that he was like, no, let the kid go do it. That’s how I feel like I would react.

MH: What’s your favorite movie of his?

DOB: I was a big Blues Brothers kid. I did the Blues Brothers for my talent show in third grade. I was also a big Tommy Boy kid.

MH: I’ve loved a lot of the comedic stuff that you’ve gotten to do, including your Curb Your Enthusiasm guest appearance. What was working with Larry like?

DOB: Oh, it’s just a blast. He’s a Jets fan, too—I remember that was our first conversation we had. It was like I was just talking to a buddy, at [the popular TriBeCa bar] Walker’s, or something about the Jets. I’ve worked with a lot of comedians, and that space can be weird. The energy can be very overstimulating, and those personalities can tend to be really loud and competing. It can be a very odd atmosphere sometimes. Going to work with a guy like that… I was like, Who knows, he could be a fucking total narcissist tycoon, and he wasn’t. He couldn’t have been more generous, couldn’t have been quicker to laugh at someone else and let someone else have the spotlight. I couldn’t think more of the guy. He’s amazing.

MH: It’s been almost a decade since your accident on the Maze Runner set. When you look back at your recovery, how has that experience most impacted your life?

DOB: It was a life-changing incident. I’ve approached everything differently, you could say, particularly with regards to standing my ground on set. It’s very commonplace in the culture for young actors to be controlled, and the way they strive to do that is by always being like, Oh, don’t become difficult. Don’t be a pain in the ass. Or Are you complaining, are you being difficult? Things like that. I learned after the accident to not conflate taking care of yourself and looking after yourself. Don’t let them manipulate you into thinking that is being difficult, because I can look at that day and know I was a 24-year-old kid who was raising concerns about how we were approaching things, and they were not listened to, they were not respected. And then what happened happened. And by all accounts, it was all pretty gotten away with, I would say, as well. It’s taught me that, at the end of the day, in these spaces, you have your own back, and that’s the most you can rely on. I just turned 33. I’ve been doing this for 15 years. I know the person I am, and the character I bring to set, and the way I treat people and the way that I treat a workspace, and I know I’m not difficult. I know I’m not an asshole. I know I was trying to protect myself that day, and so I’ve just never forgotten that. That’s always rung true as being the thing to hold with me.

“It’s taught me that, at the end of the day, in these spaces, you HAVE YOUR OWN BACK, and that’s the MOST YOU CAN RELY ON.”

MH: And this is something that’s always in the back of your mind, just knowing that you’ve had this experience and it’s shaped where you are now.

DOB: It helps me. It’s a shame. It’s a shame that it had to be that for me. To build this armor for myself of just being like, No, man, I’m going to look after myself, I’m going to take care of myself, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with asking questions. There’s nothing wrong with bringing ideas, even if we’re talking creatively. It’s our job to bring ideas. There’s nothing wrong with raising concerns. There’s nothing wrong with being like, “I think we could do this better, I think we could do this differently.” You know what I mean? That’s the process. It’s a collaborative process. It’s a creative process, but also you’re dealing with big dangerous shit sometimes, too.

MH: Throughout the years, you’ve been rumored to become the Flash and Spider-Man. Is there any truth to the rumors?

DOB: No, never.

MH: Nothing?

DOB: No, none of it. Yeah.

MH: Is that of interest if an opportunity ever came up? Are you a comic book person?

DOB: I never have been. But I wouldn’t rule out anything. Certainly, it’s not of interest to me as of now. Maybe when I was 20 and they were rebooting Spider-Man—I was excited about that. But I didn’t even get past the casting pre-call or anything. No, none of those rumors have ever been true. I didn’t even know there were rumors. I just thought they were people just putting it out there.

MH: People put a bunch of stuff out there and then places pick it up and then stuff snowballs.

DOB: None of anything I’ve ever read about myself is true. So, if you want to use that template, that’s my experience.

MH: So what is of interest to you? What’s your dream?

DOB: There are obviously filmmakers I’ve loved since I was a kid who I would love to work with. I always want to challenge myself, and I always want to go with my gut and trust when I respond to something, I’m responding to it for a reason. Trust that when I’m scared of something, maybe that’s a good thing I should lean into. Try to find the new filmmakers, and try to champion them, and be a part of the early parts of the careers of our new wave of filmmakers. Try to champion original things as much as I can, too. I feel like that’s obviously trending so much further and further away, and towards extinction, that I just feel like it’s important to lend yourself to those things when you can, as much as you can.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Source: menshealth.com

[kudouusagi]

Buddy Daddies Drama 3

Miri: Trikyua torounto!

Kazuki: Huh?

Rei: Huh?

Miri: Ugh! Kazuki-papa! Rei-papa! Trikyua torounto!

Kazuki: Toriki? Toronto? Oh! So that izakaya is opening up a store overseas now, huh?

Rei: Which Izakaya?

Kazuki: Oh, you don't know about it, shut in? It's so cheap and good! Ah... now I want to eat yakitori.

Rei: Nice... I want tare flavor.

Kazuki: Huh? No, salt flavor. If you're drinking alcohol it has to be salt!

Rei: Well, I don't drink...

Miri: It's not yakitori! It's if you don't give me a treat I'll trick you!

Rei: Trick? ...Why?

Miri: I'm a monster! I'm scary!

Kazuki: OH! You mean trick or treat!

Miri: That's right! Trick or treat!

Rei: Is that a secret phrase for a discount?

Kazuki: Mmm, just forget about the izakaya for now. 

Kazuki: I see! So it's almost halloween? Oh right, I feel like we got a flier from Anna-sensei saying something about halloween... Umm... I think it was around here... 

*searches for flier and pulls it out*

Kazuki: Oh here it is! Umm, let's see... "Once again our preschool is holding a parent and child halloween event with the chamber of commerce." 

Rei: A parent and child event?

Miri: I want to be the best monster!

********************

Kyuutarou: I believe that Miri's preschool and the chamber of commerce hold this halloween event every year.

Kazuki: Hmm. I had no idea!

Rei: Kyuu-chan, what do the parents and children that participate do?

Kyuutarou: The parents take the kids dressed in costumes around to the different shops on main street. Then they normally say-

Miri: Trick or Treat!! If you don't give me a treat I'll trick you!

Kyuutarou: Oh, so scary! Here you go, a treat.

Miri: Yay! Thank you! *Eats candy and squeals in delight*

Kyuutarou: That's how they get treats. Though that's a bit too simple of an example. The children have to trick the adults in safe ways and then the adults give them treats. The parents escort them as they do that.

Rei: I see.

Kazuki: So... Miri wants to be the best monster at that event...?

Miri: Yeah! I was talking with Taiga-kun at preschool and...

Kazuki: Taiga-kun!? The kid who was with you at the zoo? Huh? What is this? Are you talking with Taiga-kun all the time now? I haven't heard about that...!

Rei: Kazuki... your eyes are scary.

Kyuutarou: And what you're saying and doing is cringy.

Kazuki: Guh, it's fine, isn't it? I'm a first year father so I'm sensitive!

Kyuutarou: Enough, just listen to what Miri is saying.

Miri: Listen to me!

Kazuki: Oh, sorry, Miri. So...? What were you talking about with Taiga-kun?

Miri: Taiga-kun and the other boys, they said if someone scares a lot of adults they'll get a lot of candy so they're having a competition to see who can be the best monster and get a whole bunch of candy! I'm gonna compete too!

Rei: Kazuki, translate.

Kazuki: Uh... well... all I got was she wants to compete...

Kyuutarou: In this event they get more candy depending on the quality of their costumes and tricks. So in other words, it's a competition to see who can get the most candy from scaring the adults, isn't it?

Kazuki: I see... it does seem like the type of competition that brat would come up with.

Rei: She can get a lot of candy, huh? Miri...

Miri: What?

Rei: If you get a lot of candy would you share it with me?

Miri: Ehh...?

Kazuki: Hey! Don't mooch off a child!

Rei: Ever since Miri got here all the candy has disappeared from our place.

Kazuki: Yeah, for Miri's health. Because if I left them around, you and Miri would just eat them all and not eat dinner.

Rei: Sometimes I just want to stuff myself with them like I used to.

Kazuki: Are you a kid?

Kyuutarou: They're already graduated, but the best monster from last year got enough candy to last 3 months.

Rei: 3 months!?

Kazuki: You can get that much?!

Miri: How much is 3 months?

Kazuki: Uh? ...It means you wouldn't run out even if you ate them every day.

Miri: That much?! Then I can give you a few, Rei-papa.

Rei: Huh? Really?

Miri: Yeah!

***********************

Kyuutarou: You're free to participate however you want, but what are you going to do?

Kazuki: Hmm... Well, we can't laugh in the face of that much candy... but most importantly...

Kyuutarou: Most importantly?

Kazuki: I need to put some FEAR into Taiga-kun so much he won't talk to Miri so freely anymore...

Kyuutarou: Huh?

Kazuki: Okay, Miri! If we're doing this we need to give it our all! We just need to scare people, right? We'll make you the most terrifying preschooler in the shipping district!

Rei: Yeah.

Miri: Huh? I want to be the best monster though!

Kazuki: Yeah, that. So it's decided! Let's go home and have a planning meeting!

Rei: As much candy as I can eat!

Kazuki: Let's go!

Rei: As much as I can eat...

Miri: Ah! Wait, papa!

Kyuutarou: Miri-chan, if you run into any problems you can talk to me about it anytime, okay?

Miri: Yeah! Thank you, Kyuu-chan! Bye! Kazuki-papa! Rei-papa!

*Door closes*

Kyuutarou: *Sigh* Will they be okay?

*********************

Miri: I'm home!

Kazuki: Miri! Remember you have to wash your hands and gargle when you get home!

Miri: Okay! Turtle, mountain, wolf, bike vroom vroom vroom! (names for hand positions to remember how to wash your hands well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzsqynHMwlg)

Kazuki: Now then...

Rei: What should we do for the trick?

Kazuki: Well, it seems like a trick that scares people would be good, but... Miri!

Miri: Yes?

Kazuki: What kind of trick are you thinking about doing? Try and show us!

Miri: Okay! Towel... a white bath towel... Ah! Here's one!

Rei: A towel? What's she going to use it for?

Miri: Put it over my head and.... Wah... I can't see...!

Kazuki: Eh? Hey, Miri... Are you okay?

Miri: I'm a monster!

Kazuki: Huh?

Miri: If you make me angry I'm scary! If you don't go to sleep I'll take you to the monster world!

Rei: I see... So she's that white thing from the picture books?

Miri: Was I scary?

Kazuki: Oh... yeah! You were very scary! But to be the best you might need to make a bit more of an impact...

Miri: Oh... I'll go put the towel back...

Kazuki: She needs a little more of an impact... Rei, do you have any ideas? Something to make them scared stiff and then start doling out the candy?

Rei: Make them scared stiff... and then dole it out...?

*Pulls out gun*

Rei: If you don't want there to be gunshots then give me all your red hots!

Kazuki: No! Nope! That's completely out! That's even scarier than a monster! You're going to get the authorities called.

Rei: Oh... what about you?

Kazuki: Well, unlike a shut in like you, I've experienced Halloween before, but...

Rei: But?

Kazuki: Adult halloweens costs money... Last year Carol and the others were dressed up and they wrung me out until I was completely broke!  But despite that... there were no tricks! Such tough times!

Rei: Don't tell Miri about that...

Kazuki: It's not like I would!

Miri: Tell me too!

Kazuki: Ah! It's nothing! It's nothing! But don't just start shouting out of nowhere!

Miri: Did I scare you? Was that a good trick?

Kazuki: Huh? Hmm... that's right... I guess we gotta start with the best way to scare someone...?

Rei: Did you think of something?

Kazuki: Well... we still have time until Halloween... So how about this? We each try to trick each other? 

Rei: So you mean I trick you and you trick me?

Kazuki: That's right. And then whoever tricks the person the best, or makes the person say "Wah!" the loudest is what Miri will do at the event! What do you think?

Rei: It sounds kinda annoying.

Kazuki: Don't be like that! You want candy don't you?

Rei: I do.

Miri: Me too! I want to try too!

Kazuki: Yeah sure. But it's not like you'd be able to scare us, Miri.

Rei: What's the time frame?

Kazuki: Well we'll need a few days to prepare before halloween... So how about for a week starting tomorrow?

Rei: Okay. Miri... try your best too.

Miri: Yeah!

Kazuki: Then we start tomorrow!

Rei/Miri: Yeah!

************************

Kazuki: Okay, it's done! Miri, Rei, come over here.

Rei: What?

Miri: Wah! Cupcakes? Why?

Kazuki: We had too much of some of the ingredients so I thought I should use them up. This one's for you, Miri. And Rei gets the adult version. 

Rei: Adult version?

Kazuki: Come on, just eat it.

Miri: Okay! Itadakimasu!

Rei: Itadakimasu.

Kazuki: I got you! Miri's is a custard cream cupcake but Rei's is filled with super spicy sauce! I looked up tricks that were sure to work on the internet!

Miri: Mmm! It's so sweet and yummy!

Kazuki: Right? What about your's, Rei? How is it?

Rei: *Eating* Hm? Ah... It tastes different than I expected, but...

Kazuki: Huh? What's with that normal reaction? Don't you prefer sweet things? Hold on, let me try it.

Kazuki: *Eats some and spits it out*

Kazuki: Miri! Water! Give me water!

Miri: Water? Are you thirsty?

Kazuki: Just give it to me! Hurry!

Miri: Okay!

*Kazuki gulps water*

Kazuki: AHH! So spicy! I got carried away and put in too much!

Rei: What? Was this supposed to be a trick?

Kazuki: Man, why are you fine?

Rei: I guess because I had training to prepare me for being tortured where they gave me poisons and other irritants?

Kazuki: Oh, I see. No wait! How could you have had special training!? That's not helpful to us! Next!

*************************

Kazuki: I'm home! When buying ingredients for 3 people, shopping is nothing to laugh at. Rei! Come help me! Rei! Is he playing games again? Damn it!

Rei: Ah Ahhh...

Kazuki: Hm?

Rei: Ah ah ah ahh...

Kazuki: What are you just saying "Ah ah ah ahh?" and you're moving slowly... are you hungry?

Rei: Ahh...

Kazuki: If you just keep saying "ahh" I can't understand!

Rei: Zombie.

Kazuki: Huh?

Rei: I was trying to be a zombie...

Kazuki: Ohh... as a trick? I see. Yeah. You normally have dead eyes anyway so I didn't notice at all. Sorry.

Rei: Next.

**************************

Miri: I'm home!

Rei: I'm home... I picked up Miri-

*popping sound* 

Rei: An attack!

*Rei pulls out gun and shoots*

Kazuki: Wah! Stop, stop!

Rei: Oh, it's just you, Kazuki?

Kazuki: Don't give me that! It was just crackers!

Rei: It's a rule that if you hear gunshots you have to counter attack!

Kazuki: Of course you've had special training for that!

Miri: *Giggles* It's just like Christmas! Aren't the popping sounds fun?!

Kazuki: Next!

********************

Kazuki: Hey, Rei? Why are you lighting candles in the dark...? What are you planning?

Rei: A trick.

Kazuki: Huh?

Rei: It was late one night.

Kazuki: Well, something's starting...?

Rei: My best friend and I were riding our motorcycles along a coastal road when I happened to stop at a bus stop for a break. There I saw 3 jizo statues in a row... When I glanced at them... I noticed one of them didn't have a head. When I looked around, I saw the head had fallen to the ground. I picked up the head, put it on top of the jizo, and got back on my bike.

Kazuki: Rei... Rei-san? What are you muttering about?

Rei: I then started having these weird feelings. I was thinking "my back feels weirdly heavy...", "I didn't like this..." "it's cold...", "This is weird...", "I'm scared! I'm scared..." when I heard a ding dong from an unexpected visitor. When I looked at the intercom's monitor... the man there claimed to be the head priest from the temple located right next to the bus stop where the jizo was located. With a pale face, he opened his mouth and said "Are you the one who put the head on top of the jizo?!" Then he kept muttering the same thing over and over, "You can't leave the head on the jizo. You can't leave the head on the jizo. " I thought it was suspicious so I opened the door but the priest wasn't there. I started to feel creeped out so I tried to call my best friend but I wasn't able to get in contact with him... Right when the head priest showed up... he was riding along the coastal road and got in an accident. He died instantly... When I asked about the person he got in the accident with, it was the priest who came to my door. Hey... Kazuki. 

Kazuki: Huh?

Rei: When are you going to scream?

Kazuki: Well the part that made me want to shout the most was the introductory part where you were cruising around with this nonexistent best friend! It's fine to tell a scary story but at least make a believable setting.

Rei: Ahh...

Kazuki: And this is halloween! Don't just mix in random Japanese things like jizo and head priests! They don't really go together!

Rei: I see... so that's the problem?

Kazuki: Damn, and going to all that trouble to set the scene. Where exactly do you expect to find a somber looking preschooler telling ghost stories on halloween like this?!

*****************************

Miri: *Quietly singing*

Kazuki: How's Miri?

Rei: She's singing in her sleep.

Kazuki: I see... *Sigh* We've tried to do so many different tricks...

Rei: Halloween is hard...

Kazuki: Well, now that I think about it we are assassins... I don't really know where the line for scary is for normal people...

Rei: Is there anything that makes you scared, Kazuki?

Kazuki: Hmm... The face Kyuu-chan makes when we mess up a job...?

Rei: That... yeah... it's scary.

Kazuki: Since this is a request from Miri I assumed it would be easy but... this mission is much harder than our normal ones.

Rei: We won't be able to make Miri the best at this rate...

Kazuki: Ugh!! Why can't we come up with any good ideas!? We just need a halloween trick that Miri would be able to do that would still be slightly scary even to us! 

*Phone buzzing*

Rei: Kazuki, phone.

Kazuki: Huh? Huh?? Sheep? Ugh... Hello?

Mary: Hello. Right now... I'm in front of your dumpster.

Kazuki: Huh?

*Phone hangs up*

Rei: Who was it?

Kazuki: Well... I don't really know...? Maybe it was a wrong number?

*Phone buzzing*

Kazuki: No... they're calling again...

Kazuki: Hello?

Mary: Hello. I'm Mary-san. Right now I'm in front of your elevator.

*Phone hangs up*

Kazuki: Eh? What was that?

*Phone buzzing* 

Kazuki: Hm?? Ugh! Hello! Who is this? Don't you have the wrong number?!

Mary: Hello. Right now... I'm in front of your door. 

Kazuki: No, I asked who you ar-...

*Doorbell rings*

Kazuki: Eh?

Rei: Who would be here so late?

Mary: Hello... I'm... Mary-san. I'm a doll that a girl called Miri threw away once. At that time...  I lost an arm and a leg then... so I came to get them.

*Doorbell rings*

Mary: Open up. Give me back my arm and leg!

Kazuki: *Gulps* Your arm and leg? I've never heard about this from Mir-...

Mary: If you wont give them back... I'm fine with your arms and legs too.

*Doorbell rings*

Rei: Kazuki... is this an attack?

Kazuki: Well... they said they're a doll named Mary... who wants her arm and leg back from Miri... and If she doesn't get them back... she's fine with ours...

Rei: A doll? What? So outside is the person who was making that weird phone call...? I'll go look.

Rei: Huh?

Kazuki: What is it, Rei?

Rei: Well... no one is showing up on the monitor.

Kazuki: No one? But it's definitely ringing...

*Phone buzzes* 

Kazuki: Ah!

Rei: Another phone call?

Kazuki: I'm gonna answer... Hel-... *door creaks* Eek! Who's there!?

Mary: I'm Marry. Right now... I'm right behind you. So...

Miri: Give me your arms and legs Kazuki-papa and Rei-papa!!

*Kazuki and Rei scream*

Kazuki: Wait... Miri?!

Miri: *Giggles*

Kazuki: Weren't you... sleeping?

Kyuutarou: You're too scared. You're bothering the neighbors.

Kazuki: Kyuu...

Rei: chan...?

*Door opens*

Kazuki: Why?

Kyuutarou/Mary: I'm... Mary-san. When I saw Miri at her preschool, she told me what was happening.

Kyuutarou: And so we decided to try to trick you together.

Miri: Kazuki-papa! Rei-papa! Did we surprise you? Did I do good? Were you scared?!

Kyuutarou: It seems like it went well. As proof of that they both made cute screams, didn't they?

Kazuki: Kyuuuu-chaaaaaan!

Rei: Kyuu-chan really is the most scary!

**************************

People: Trick or treat!

Kyuutarou: Kazuki, how long are you going to pout?

Kazuki: Of course I'm pouting... since Miri secretly did a trick with you!

Kyuutarou: It seems that Miri was lonely since you guys were just messing around and ignoring her. Since it's your daughter's event you need to make sure to think about it with her as the focus.

Kazuki: Ugh... Sorry...

Kyuutarou: Here.

Kazuki: I didn't order a coffee though?

Kyuutarou: It's to say I'm sorry. I've been reflecting on it too. Since I never thought assassins like you would be so scared.

*Kazuki sighs and drinks*

Kazuki: It seems even more bitter than normal... But why did you help Miri, anyway? Was it to pick on us for messing up so many jobs recently?

Kyuutarou: That was part of it.

Kazuki: Wah! It was?!

Kyuutarou: Since I've known about your situation with Miri, you've been coming to my shop with her a lot, haven't you?

Kazuki: Huh? Ah... like on our way home from preschool or to pick up information about our jobs from you...?

Kyuutarou: Miri tells me that the omurice I make is good...

Kazuki: Huh?

Kyuutarou: Isn't that reason enough to help her?

Kazuki: Oh... I see...

Kazuki: Thanks for the coffee. Miri and Rei should be getting here soon.

Kyuutarou: What did you end up deciding on for Miri's costume and trick?

Kazuki: Well, we brushed up your idea for a trick and made Miri a look like a real french dol-...

Lady: *Screams*

Kazuki: Oh... something exciting seems to be happening!

Man: A gangster zombie?!

Kyuutarou: No... rather than exciting...

Kid: Mom! It's a zombie!! I'm scared!!

Kyuutarou: They seem to be screaming...

*Phone rings*

Kyuutarou: Hello?

Mary: I'm Mary-san. Right now I'm in front of your store. 

Kyuutarou: Okay, okay. I'll open the door now.

*Opens door*

Miri/Mary: Ahh! Ahh! I'm Mary-san!

Rei: Give your arms and legs... and candy to this girl.

Kyuutarou: Why are you walking around holding Miri, Rei?

Rei: Because Mary-san is missing an arm and a leg.

Kyuutarou: Why is your head covered in blood?

Rei: Because Miri dropped a cake with red sauce she got on the way here on my head.

Miri: Tehe! 

Kyuutarou: Why are all of the people in the shopping district running away from you?

Rei: I don't know... I was just walking around normally.

Kazuki: Uhh... have you looked in a mirror? You look much more like a zombie than you realize. I mean, it looks like your head is covered in blood. Your eyes... well they're always dead looking...

Rei: Ahh... but you weren't scared, Kazuki.

Kazuki: Well, I'm used to this. Ah... I see. So you're a bit too scary for the people in this neighborhood...

Miri: Kyuu-chan, did I become the best monster? Am I scary?

Kyuutarou: Huh? Y-yeah... hehe... you're scary. You're scary.

Miri: Yes!

Rei: Kazuki... why is Kyuu-chan all frozen?

Kazuki: Huh? Well, this is just a guess but... I think it's because he didn't expect that the silly thing he did would cause people at this peaceful halloween event to scream... You know because this isn't for realistic costumes or an Osaka theme park... and you look that realistic right now. 

Rei: But... we're not getting that much candy for it...

Kazuki: Hmm.... that's probably because it's TOO realistic...

Miri: Trick or treat! Give me a lot of candy, Kyuu-chan!

[hazybisou]

❛ BACKGROUND ON REMI ❜

🫐close my eyes, fantasize, three clicks & i’m home

series masterlist | main masterlist

✮ remi was born on december 12, 2003

✮ she was born in toronto and lived there up until she was 5

✮ she moved to the united states to live in michigan

✮ remi would always think back to luke ever since the move and ask herself where he was and how he was doing

✮ little by little she began to forget until it completely stopped coming to mind

✮ she attended private schools her whole life as her parents believed it would help her further her education (it did)

✮ remi has always been focused on her studies (especially during high school) in order to get into the University of Michigan

✮ she did cheer her junior and senior year of high school

✮ once she got to umich, she decided to try out for the cheer team and got in

✮ her favorite music artist(s) are frank ocean and the smiths

✮ she has 2 tattoos

✮ a small tattoo of a pair of ballet shoes that’s rests behind her ear

✮ the other tattoo is between her hips, just above her ass. the tattoo is the name if her favorite song by frank ocean, godspeed

✮ remi was a little drunk when getting her second tattoo

✮ she’s majoring in health & medicine and hopes to go to medical school after graduation

✮ she rarely ever parties or goes out to bars

✮ she has a strong relationship with her family as they are her rock and support her through whatever

✮ she has two siblings

✮ she has a brother who’s older by 2 years and whose name is nathan

✮ she has a younger brother whose name is enzo and is 13

✮ although she’s the middle child, her parents favor her more over her brothers (they still love nathan and enzo though)

✮ she’s watched the notebook over 43 times and has cried every single time

✮ remi likes to say she has an average amount of friends (around 4-7 according to her) but in reality she has more

✮ shes in alpha phi at the University of Michigan

✮ she only signed up for recruitment for her friend, vicky

✮ when bid day rolled around, the pair had sat next to each other to open their bids

✮ they both saw the name ‘alpha phi’ and just like every other girl around them, they began to shriek in excitement before hugging each other

✮ she moved into the sorority house soon after and shared a room with vicky and another friend of hers, daniella

✮ remi only ever attended football games (she obviously has to, she’s a cheerleader) and never any other sports games

✮ she loves the winter and snow

✮ she’s shy at first but as you warm up to her, she gets more and more social

✮ she is currently a sophomore at the University of Michigan

idk if i got any of that sorority stuff right as i haven’t gone through recruitment myself but we’ll just roll with it. anyways here’s a little bit of background info on remi

[flanaganfilm]

Mike, can you tell us your experience premiering Oculus at tiff 2013? I recently saw Perri Nemiroff’s interview with you (looking like a baby btw- so young) and it made me think about what your mindset must have been as in getting yo experience the launch of your career, post Absentia, at one of the most prestigious festivals.

Oh, I remember that very well... a lot changed in a very short amount of time. And I think I know the interview you're talking about, I keep trying to link to it here but it doesn't take...

So there are few things to point out about Oculus and about what was happening in my life at the time. When Oculus got greenlit, I was working full time as a reality television editor. I used to sneak out of my job at lunch to go to "doctor's appointments" whenever I had to come for production meetings or casting sessions (they started to think there was something really, really wrong with my health).

Making the movie was an amazing learning experience - it was my first "real" movie, and full of lessons. It was the first collaboration with people who would become pillars of my career moving forward, like producer Trevor Macy (who is now my partner at Intrepid Pictures and who has produced everything I've ever made since) and my DP Michael Fimognari, who is one of the most important collaborators of my life. It was also the first time I worked with a young actress named Kate Siegel, who played the spooky ghost in the mirror.

We went into TIFF with distribution already in place. FilmDistrict had committed to the project during the Cannes market before we shot the movie, so we thought we were set. It was going to be my big theatrical debut.

Just before we premiered at TIFF, FilmDistrict abruptly and bafflingly dropped the film. I still don't really know why. They had committed to a worldwide theatrical release for the movie, but for reasons that were never made entirely clear to me, they dropped us just before the festival. Suddenly the whole enterprise was in jeopardy, and I didn't know if anyone would pick the movie back up.

I was absolutely terrified.

Being my first "real" movie, I didn't really know how this world worked and couldn't understand why our distributor didn't want to release it. We'd made the movie they had been excited about, they seemed to really like it, and we'd done everything they asked - it was a shock to the system. So when we rolled into tiff, we were homeless and trying not to let FilmDistrict's abrupt change of heart poison our chances of another sale.

I had never been to TIFF before but heard about Midnight Madness, which had seen huge sales from Cabin Fever and Insidious. Bidding wars had broken out while the films were still screening. But being part of the program was absolutely no guarantee of distribution - in fact, this might be the highest this movie would ever rise.

Trevor Macy and I went to the world premiere of The Green Inferno, which was playing the night before we played, and the audience was ROWDY. Like, shouting and hollering throughout the movie. We looked at each other with wide, nervous eyes - if this was the Midnight Madness audience, they were going to hate our movie the next day. We were considerably slower, ponderous, and atmospheric in a room that seemed to demand visceral, overt entertainment. I left the screening feeling dejected and a little doomed. Trevor was more upbeat, citing conversations he'd had with the programmer, Colin Geddes, who assured us he'd put our movie in the best possible spot for its success.

Our screening was September 9th, 2013 at midnight. I was petrified, and we were sold out. I remember walking into the theater feeling like this was the most important screening of my life. I wasn't alone, thank goodness. Trevor Macy, Michael Fimognari, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff, Rory Cochrane, and James Lafferty were on hand. The film seemed to play well. It was the opposite of the screening the night before, which Colin had told us would happen - "watch," he had said. "The Saturday night slot is the big crazy one. You guys are Sunday, and it's going to be completely different. They'll plug right in."

He was right. You could hear a pin drop for most of the first half, and then there were moments of scattered applause that picked up as the film progressed. By the end, people were jumping in their seats and cheering for young Tim and Kaylee. There was an audible gasp when the anchor swung. And the applause at the credits seemed heartfelt and loud.

Most of that is a blur for me. I found this grainy pic from the Q&A after the film. I still had no idea how it had gone, or what was going to come out of it. I remember having hard time putting words together, and I vividly recall feeling like I sounded like an absolute moron whenever I talked, and trying to pass the microphone over to the actors as often as I could.

It's tough to see everyone in the pic, but from left to right it is Colin Geddes, Michael Fimognari, myself, Trevor Macy, Katee Sackhoff, Brenton Thwaites, Rory Cochrane, and James Lafferty.

When I stepped out of the theater, though, I became aware that everything had changed. I was immediately surrounded by people who had seen the film, suddenly shaking a ton of hands and realizing that it had been a hit. I walked into the theater by myself, utterly anonymous, and feeling every bit like an imposter. But everything was different when I walked out. I remember someone from the press talking about it years later, and saying "I was there that night - you walked into the theater with nothing, and walked out with a career."

People were asking me to sign stuff. That had never happened in my life. People wanted to get pictures. It was SO. FUCKING. WEIRD. Someone snapped a picture during that little whirlwind, and you can see it on my (young, skinny, hopelessly naive) face - an overall bewilderment, a gentle disbelief that this was happening:

I loved my experience at TIFF. And it absolutely started everything. Relativity, Blumhouse, and WWE Films joined forces to make an offer on the movie at the festival, and we left with a theatrical distribution deal. My career had officially begun. Now, I wouldn't feel like it had for several more years - I remained in fight/flight/survival mode well through Gerald's Game - but in retrospect, yes, that's when it happened.

Thank you for asking this question, it's been a while since I've looked back at this period of my life. It kinda makes me want to watch that movie again. It has been a LONG time, and I owe it a lot.

Maybe everything.

[annieqattheperipheral]

The two of them just sitting in public in Toronto is kinda crazyyy omg how are there not a million fan photos by now

🫣 not me leaving for work half hr early to detour the wrong way to walk by and around the coffee shop they were at next to a hotel eyes peeled for a beast in a bright white t-shirt lumbering awkwardly thru my hood gigging with zero couth over what his pretty little bestboyfriend is honk laughing over

👀

Not me at all. I just went for a stupid walk for my stupid mental health. I feel great.

@ronandhermy coming for me..

I wore my beat up jeans fully prepared to go into the bush

[ofmermaidstories]

hello, please have this list of sunday evening thoughts & things & questions without any real answers:

1.

“Gaza is basically a man-made hell on earth”, by Jeremy Scahill. A interview with a Toronto surgeon, Yasser Khan, about his latest medical mission into Gaza, and the destruction facing the people and the health-infrastructure there.

I had one young man, about 25 years old, he lost one eye that I took out myself. He spent about five, six, or seven years, basically spent thousands and thousands of dollars in IVF treatment because he got married young and they wanted to have a child and they couldn’t have one. So he spent years on IVF treatment and finally had a baby that was 3 months old. And there was a missile attack by Israel at his home. He lost his entire family, including his baby and his wife and his parents and family. He’s by himself, single guy. I took his one eye out, and he has nobody in this world. He just kind of walks around the tent structures, just kind of walking around with no home and trying to sleep wherever he can.

i genuinely wonder at what a future with israel looks like. not just with the palestinians they’ve displaced, but like, with the rest of the world. israel will be dismantled, eventually, but until then how long is this misery going to be allowed to drag on? the US (and UK) are like—encouraging it. they want it, it’s always been in their joint interest that israel be established. idk. i have no doubt they’ll let that genocidal boot camp of a settlement run rampant like the brain-washed, blood-thirsty nazi wave they are, but all things give—this can’t carry on. the horror our varying governments force on us by watching it will have to boil over, eventually. the question is just—how, when. capitalism has done a bang-up job of separating us in the west from each other. you can’t take down your government if you don’t know your neighbour’s name. :/

2. these comments, on the youtube videos i’ve recently watched.

This first comment was a response to @/mynameismarines book review, ‘is to gaze upon wicked gods a colonizer romance?’. i find colonizer/colonized pairings to be intensely interesting, because they’re so often done so badly LMAO. i am not a person who believes there are topics/things you’re not allowed to write; everything is fair game. but the price of that is that you have to do it well, and by well i mean like—you have to ask yourself the question, “what does this mean for the people involved?” and you have to answer it. and you have to be prepared that at the end of the day the audience you invite might not agree with your answer!!! like, i think people in the romance/YA spheres think of colonizer/colonized as like, shorthand for a power-imbalance trope (which it does involve!) but it’s like, more than you know, some Billionaire/Secretary cliche. it’s literally the question of, ‘can you come to care about someone who is currently perpetuating the misery of your people?’ Like!!! that is a big question!!!!!!!!!! and you have to do the asking of it, the thesis of your book, justice. and that is a hard thing to do!!!!!! most of us tend to like… not like people who hurt the other people we love, LOL. so if you’re going to write that, you have to work overtime with it.

i’m sharing this comment here because it’s particularly addressing molly x. chang’s (the author of to gaze) knee-jerk reaction to (genuine, thoroughly detailed) negative reviews. which on one hand is understandable: molly was one of the targets in the goodreads sock-puppet review bombing, by one of her peers. but her reaction to these genuine reviews (brought to her attention by a third party!) has been an interesting case-study in like, why the lines between fanfic communities and traditional publishing blurring is a bad thing. because @/aclutteredlife is right, we have different rules here in our community that properly published books have, with their readers!!! i think it’s natural, for instance, for readers to be drawn to a proxy (Reader-chan for us) to be put in a position that generates a lot of angst (losing your family to a raid by a band of fantasy barbarians, for example), because that angst creates an opportunity for The Romance (the comfort, the understanding, the regret and then the assimilation into a new life with ur romance at the centre, cherished wife of the Hot Fantasy Barbarian Husband). in a fanfic, if you have issues with how it’s being presented, you might leave a dissatisfied comment—(“why is she forgetting that Hot Fantasy Barbarian Husband murdered her entire family???”)—but the general understanding is that it’s not for you, at that stage!!! like it’s probably some 14 year old kid that’s just recently discovered captivity tropes or something, like sure you can be annoyed or frustrated but if the writer doesn’t want to answer (or be asked!!!) those questions move on, you know? you didn’t spend money on this, you can hit the back button and find a different fic. complain about it to the group chat if you absolutely have to, LOL. but move on.

but when it’s a traditionally published book who’s author was supposedly given an advance for it the size of half a million dollars? half a million dollars that the publisher is going to try and make back by selling it to readers like you, who will part with your hard-earnt money for a copy? yeah. we’re not a community just trying to entertain each other and ourselves anymore, at that stage. you made a transaction. a transaction to then engage with this piece of art, and the transaction part of that exchange means you get to ask those hard, uncomfortable questions—especially if the art in question doesn’t.

this point kinda bleeds into the next one, tho, so i’ll let the screenshot speak for itself:

LOL. yeah….. yeah. yeah. 🥹

the third comment is from the same video as the second (booktok, brainrot, and why it’s okay to be a hater), but i thought the highlighted part was interesting because it like, kinda made me think of the way things work around here on tumblr, in our fanfic corners LOL. like… you know. how we might share little soundbites about ideas, or just a throw away couple of sentences about an AU or character. and we all do it, that’s the culture of our community, i just find it interesting—telling—that it’s such a… quick and almost guaranteed way of like, getting enmeshed into the community, getting followers, etc etc etc.

like i said, these are just some thoughts & things without any real answers to them. i am always happy to hear ur opinions too (unless they are wrong in which case i regret to inform u we will have to knife fight over it 😔😌🫱🏽🔪).

[totallyfunkless]

I was too soft for this world

I wanted to write about TGI and how much I love it. I spoke about it in therapy last week (lol) and my therapist helped me realize that I connect to it even more than I already thought I did.

Well, here we go.

I've always connected to Halsey's music. I was on here in the 2010s during my high school years and I remember seeing Halsey everywhere and falling in love with their music. I fell off for a few years, but when I saw the Graveyard performance at the AMAs in 2019 I was reeled back in -- and I couldn't be more grateful that I saw that performance.

From there I was listening to Manic all the time. I fell in love with it and connected to that album more than I had any album I'd ever heard. 929 is still my favourite song of all time, I love it so much.

I saw Halsey for her IICHLIWP tour in 2022 in Toronto at Budweiser stage and from that day I've been obsessed. Trust me, ask my friends and they will tell you how annoying I am, and I don't care lol.

When I heard The End for the first time in June I cried. For background info, I have been chronically ill for 7 years now. At 21 I randomly began having hip pain and was diagnosed a year later with a form of arthritis in my spine called Ankylosing Spondylitis. I also have Fibromyalgia and a form of Colitis. I write about my experience with my chronic illnesses (currently for WebMD) and I'm a chronically ill/disabled content creator over on IG.

I'd known Halsey was chronically ill, but hearing their experience in just this one song really got me. Then I heard Lucky. The pop song we all needed for the summer of 2024. I was absolutely obsessed with Lucky. I couldn't stop listening; it helped get me through the summer, which was probably the worst summer of my entire life.

I had just gotten out of a relationship that made me very physically ill due to the stress of it (hi, Panic Attack). My friend had passed away due to liver failure, and I was alone for the entire summer. I knew this album was what I needed, and every single that came out helped me keep going. Knowing I'd have to get through the summer to hear TGI helped too.

Fast forward to the release of TGI. Oh my god, I was waiting for this and anticipating it so badly. I wanted to hear it since the second I listened to The End. I knew it would destroy me, but I was ready. As soon as it hit midnight I had my headphones on and I was listening. This album means so much to me, and I relate so much more than I could have ever guessed.

Not just the chronic illness side of things, but the themes of toxic relationships, the relationship with my father, mental health, family, and friends passing away far too early.

Panic Attack describes a lot of my life this past year. In August 2023 I suddenly began vomiting multiple times a day and no one could figure out why. My GI ran tests like a Gastric Emptying Study, an Endoscopy, and bloodwork. Nothing came back, and I was getting extremely frustrated with both him and my body. The vomiting went on for about 10 months. Multiple times a day, almost every single day. During this time I was in a relationship where my partner did not respect my limits in regards to my physical disability. They believed i could do more and told me that to my face. It wasn't until I was months out of that relationship that I realized that the vomiting was caused by the stress of the relationship. The further I get from the breakup, the less I have vomited. Panic Attack has opened my eyes a lot to what stress can do to the body, and how much a relationship can affect you not only mentally, but physically, too. "My spirit has been broken My optimisms getting sore And I would love to love you But my body's keeping score"

The End I already spoke about, but the theme of getting sick and dealing with doctors who won't listen, the confusion of becoming ill every so often with new diagnoses ties into my life quite perfectly. I know I haven't dealt with anything as serious as h has, but I can still relate to this theme heavily.

"If you knew it was the end of the world, could you love me like a child? Could you hold me in the dark? If you knew it was the end of the world, would you like to stay a while? Would you leave when it gets hard?"

Hometown reminds me a lot of my friend Karn, who passed away back in 2021. We went to high school together and were best friends afterward. We would bike together a lot, and then when I got sick, he was the reason I got my first cane. He was my most supportive friend in terms of my illnesses and my limits. I think about him nearly every single day and I miss him to death. The line "he's evergreen at 17 for the last 11 years" hit me like a truck. I'd never really thought about it, but Karn is evergreen at 24. Somewhere in the clouds he's riding his bike and laughing, just like he used to. He will always look the same. ♥ I'm so sorry that h and others can relate. The heartache of losing someone far too young has been so hard on me with multiple of my friends, so I hurt for everyone who can relate.

"Like the others from my high school, all those sad suburban ghosts Trapped in a cross next to a highway, while the rest of us get old"

Hurt Feelings oh boy. I've had a rocky relationship with my father since I was a child. The yelling, the getting mad at me for everything, making me scared of doing anything even slightly wrong. Things have lightened up since he's gotten older, but those memories are always in my brain. I'll never forget the feeling of fear when he would yell. "I'll be changing like the weather but I'll never be like him" Mark my words I will not be that kind of parent. Ever.

"You know my father isn't dead, but it don't feel like he's still here It's strange now that he's grey, getting older by the day And my eyes tell me that he's harmless despite what my heart has to say"

On the topic of parenting, this is one thing that speaking to my therapist made me realize. Something not many people know about me is that I've always wanted to be a parent. My whole life I've just wanted to be a mother. So badly. As the years have gone by and the more sick I've gotten, I've started to realize that this may not happen for me. The amount of energy I will need and the amount of energy I have daily do not match. It absolutely breaks my heart to think about it, but it's something I feel that I need to learn to be okay with. Whether it happens or not, I have to accept it.

So in the conversation with my therapist, I had mentioned that this album featured Halsey's son and there's a lot about him in the songs. She stopped me and said "Oh, she has a son?" and I responded with Yes. "Do you think you relate to this also because that’s something you've always wanted, and how do you feel that she has a child with all of their health stuff going on?". And I was stopped in my tracks. I hadn't thought about it. Obviously, I'm so happy that h has Ender and Avan.

Thinking about it now, I do have to say that I'm envious of them because of how happy they are and that they have this lovely little family building. Something I've always wanted, and something I hope so badly to have someday, despite all of my health issues. I've had many thoughts in my head since becoming sick that I'll never be loved and I'll never be fully understood because of my chronic health issues. My most recent relationship confirmed those fears, though my brain fights those fears because I see others with happy and healthy relationships despite health challenges.

I proceeded to tell my therapist about the photos from Halsey's 30th birthday party, and how happy she looked in them. Something about those photos makes me so happy. The look in h's eyes. I told my therapist that I hope to achieve that feeling someday.

Being a writer and content creator who speaks on my experience on a regular basis, I respect the hell out of you, Halsey. Talking about all of this and making an album surrounding it is so vulnerable, real, and raw. I know firsthand that it is not easy, and it opens up a lot of negativity from people who simply don't understand your experience.

I want to say thank you for TGI. Thank you for all of your music. You've helped me (and so many others) so much and I am forever grateful for you and your words. Your voice is changing lives.

I hope any of this makes sense. This is the first time I've written for fun in literal years, so I may be rusty.

Thank you, h ♥

Love Steff aka totallyfunkless

[chirpingfromthebox]

Interview with Taylor Heise: After the first practice in Toronto for mini-camp

You can find the video for the interview here! Be sure to show them a little love with a view or a like or comment and support journalism of the game.

Also if you're looking for some quality screenshots of excellent Heise faces, look no further! She's definitely pumped for the new season.

As per usual Heise is a very tricky person to transcribe, because she talks extremely fast, but I love y'all, so I'll embrace the challenge.

Like usual the transcription is under the break.

----------------

----------------

HOW WAS YOUR OFF-SEASON?

Great. I got to go to a lot of different places and do a lot of fun things. I think that’s one thing our team did really well this year, was go out. You know, you give all you’ve got for seven months and you can, in that last six that you have left [someone double-check that math], you wanna make sure that you have a really good summer and are coming in with your mental health high and being ready to go. So I think we’re really excited. But for me, I spent a lot of time with my family and friends and got to travel.

I went to Telluride, Colorado. That was probably the highlight of my summer. Did a lot of training with Grace Zumwinkle—actually we train everyday together. So we’re usually in the same area 24/7. She keeps me going and keeps me humble in the things that I’m doing.

HOW WERE THE ESPY’S?

That was unreal. Definitely an experience of a lifetime. You’re used to just sitting on your couch and watching that. But being there in person and seeing all the crazy, you know- I would say famous people. I’m sitting there and you’re like ‘I’m a small fish in a big pond.’

But the ESPY’s were super cool. I had- my boyfriend came with me. And just having, like, Hilary Knight was there. And just having different people that you can experience that with and just honestly take it all in and be there present in the moment was really cool. And I got to talk to Cam Newton. I talked to some people- you just expect you’re never gonna talk to in your entire life. So, it was cool.

WHO WERE YOU THE MOST STARSTRUCK BY?

Allyson Felix actually came right in front of me in this picture line. She had to go onstage and I was like, ‘By all means. Head on in there, girl!’ So she looked amazing. And she’s just someone- I love watching track and field and she’s been someone that has kicked ass for a really long time.

There’s was a lot of other people as well, some people I’ve seen on TikTok, and some people that are social media famous, that was another crazy experience. Just eyes wide open the entire time, pretty much.

HOW MUCH HAS YOUR LIFE CHANGED SINCE BEING DRAFTED FIRST OVERALL?

I want to say a lot, but at the end of the day I’ve just been doing a lot of the same things that make me happy. And, you know, training. I’ve trained every summer, I rarely take more than 2 weeks off after the season—this year a little bit more. I was a little injured this past year, so working through that. And you know, you take that with a grain of salt and you just move on with what you’re doing. And I think this summer, just taking everything from last season and digesting it. And saying, that was a lot about everything was the first. The first this, the first that. This year we’re gonna focus on hockey and I think it’s gonna be something that you’re not gonna have seen from a lot people. I think a lot of people are gonna pop off onto the scene for us.

So I’m excited and my life has definitely changed. You know, I bought a house, I kinda settled down in Minnesota for right now and it’s just been really fun to kinda live the dream that I always wanted. And I’m kinda doing that right now. So I would say just continue to work hard because all this can go away in a second if you stop working hard and doing the things that make you good and the things that make you stand out.

I think just for me, just continuing to focus on those little things, but also remember that I’m here to have fun and I’m here to be a good teammate for my players and my team and my coaches and everything like that.

[Not sure what the question was here]

Yeah, I think all teams. I think it’s gonna be a lot of people on the scene this year that you either haven’t heard of or just players that have- you know last year I think every team was really good and every team this year is gonna be even better considering they’re getting more players on each team coming out of the NCAA and other places.

I think just for our team, like we’ve had such solid goaltending for so long and, you know, I think last year there was some lulls in that, but that comes with the territory. In those games we didn’t play well. And you can’t have a goalie that’s gonna back you up 24/7. I think both of our goaltenders—all four of them actually—right now are looking really good. And just on the forward side of things, Kendall—after having a baby last year and having all that—she still did what she needed to do. But I think this year she’s got that mindset of gonna turn things around and go out there and have fun.

Honestly, I’ve just been really pumped to see everyone out there, honestly. I just think everyone’s gonna have a really good time and take everything with a grain of salt, because you never know when it’s gonna be your last game. You never know when you’re gonna get hurt, you never know when you’re gonna be out there playing. So take everything for granted. [I’m just going to assume she was talking so fast the “don’t” got lost in the shuffle on that last sentence?]

DOES THE TEAM HAVE A TARGET ON ITS BACK?

I don’t think it needs to be said. Obviously we have that target and pressure’s a privilege. We’ve said that. It’s easier said than done. I think going out there everyone’s gonna give us their best and I don’t think that’s even gonna have to do with us winning. I think that’s simply gonna have to do with rivalries from last year, every team being really good, and just having the sense of urgency that this team won. We’re gonna kick their butts. That’s just how it’s gonna go. That’s how it’s always been. It’s a rivalry, every team’s gonna have one with every other team, I would say.

It’s exciting to just have a league where there’s no days off. Literally no days off. Unless you’re not at the rink, that can be your day off, but every time you’re playing a team I just think that it’s important that you give it your best. And everyone’s gonna give us their best as well.

CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR INJURY?

Yeah, it’s just lower body injury and I’ve went through it a little bit. Timing: not great. But at the end of the day it’s something you gotta go through and I think last year my shoulder injury couldn’t have come at a better time. Would I have wanted it to not happen? Absolutely. But when it did I had that perspective of sitting in the stands and kind of seeing that I got a little too caught up in the details of things and I think when I came back that love of the game shot back up in me and I was having 0 trouble going out there and having fun.

So you just gotta remember that everything happens for a reason. I have a faith-based background. Everything happens and you just gotta get through it. And I have great teammates and great best friends that have kept that—as well as family—that have kept me up. ‘Cause you know, shit happens. At the end of the day, it just is what it is. And you know, I’m excited to be back out there with my girls and with the coaching staff. It’s been exciting and I’m moving up every single day.

WHERE DO YOUR POSITIVE ATTITUDE AND GENEROSITY COME FROM?

Absolutely my parents. They have raised me to be that person that- you know you think of that person, that little girl, that little boy, that you’re signing for? Like, that was me. And I didn’t necessarily have that because I wasn’t in the hockey background. I grew up playing basketball and I would have loved to have Steph Curry to sign my shoes. That’s kind of the thing I would have had as a kid, but now being able to come up, and I’ve purposely picked to go up on the concourse. And I know that some people will go, ‘Probably shouldn’t go up there. You’re gonna get stuck for 2 hours.’

But for me, in those days, even when you’re having a bad day and you had a bad game, going up there might be the best thing for me. Because I get to see all these girls who don’t care about the score. They couldn’t give a less of a crap that you lost 4 to 0. But they’re just excited to see you, they’re excited to get you to sign the sweatshirt that their mom made on Etsy. Just so many fun things you get to experience. And it keeps you humble. 'Cause you go up there and you’re like, ‘oh, this sucks.’ You see a sign that’s like, this kid put in 2 hours of work after school writing this sign for me. It’s just easy. My parents always raised me to be- to go out there and do that extra thing. Whether that be my stick handling, shooting, on the ice, off the ice, or if that’s talking to someone who wants something. Whether that be advice or just a signature or a hug. I’m always there for that.

[I can confirm that she wasn't lying when she said she likes to go up to the concourse after games! Typically at Minnesota home games they have an autograph table and 3 of the team members are chosen for it. But players are free to come up anyway. And Heise regularly comes up to chat with people. Just, honestly, meeting Heise is exactly what you would hope it would be. I have yet to see a fan walk away from meeting her without a big smile.]

HAVE YOU CIRCLED THE GAME AGAINST TORONTO IN MINI-CAMP?

I think that either way we’re gonna go out there and- every team’s gonna have a rivalry and you’re gonna pick it. Honestly ours might be Boston, it might be Toronto, it might be New York. I just think it’s gonna come down to who’s gonna come down to who’s gonna be out there playing a game we don’t like. Or say that at the end of the year things got a little chippy. You’re probably gonna take that into next year. Like I have a thought from last year that I’m ready to get after when I get back. I’m not gonna say what it was. But I think everyone’s gonna have that. And I know that they probably circled it and for us we’re just gonna go out there and trying to figure out lines and figure out powerplay, we’re trying to figure out our team. Obviously you’re there to be competitive and you’re there to win. But it’s just more important to get things together and to play as a team and make sure everyone’s feeling their best.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST DRILL YOUR TEAM DID?

Knockout. That one’s called Knockout and I actually grew up playing that in basketball. You dribble and you try to knock someone’s ball out. It’s the same thing in hockey. We usually go two lines- in between the blue lines, but Ken had it between the red and the blue today. So lots of bodies, short amount of time. You’re there to protect the puck. If your puck goes outside the blue or the red you’re out. Usually you come up with- like Grace and I will be partners and we’ll be like, ‘We’re not gonna hit each other’s puck out.”

You come up with alliances, I guess is the word. Survivor of the fittest. As well as who has the best- the most people on their side. But yeah, practice is, you know, the day before games we usually do about the same thing. It’s easy for everyone to get enough flow, to know what they’re doing. We don’t even have to say what’s going on. A little bit now, just with new people and new things. But practice was great today. I think we’re getting used to playing with people. We just got our lines. So, it’s all over the place. It’s definitely looking really good and it gives me a lot of perspective on how this season’s gonna go.

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE NEW PLAYERS?

I can go through all three.

I think Claire [Thompson] is someone that, obviously, you go out and you show what you got at the Olympics. That’s what you want to do. And she came out and blew everyone out of the water. For someone who is so smart, I could ask her any question in the book and she’s gonna answer it very honestly, with a very educational based background. So you can tell that on the ice. She’s very analytical. She goes through what she thinks is right and she’s never gonna make that bad play. She’s gonna make the right play 9 times out of 10. And she’s really good at puck protecting. She can get shots through. She’s played at the highest level. Not worried about her at all.

I think Britta’s someone I’ve played with for awhile. I’ve played with her at the World Championships last year. She’s a big body. She can tip. She’s got this bandwidth of can play a 200ft game and is gonna work on all those skills at all time. She’s competitive. You don’t really want to get up in a ring against her.

So her and then Klára. I don’t know if you were watching practices much, but she had like 3 snipes today that were...you can tell that I’ve played against her on Czech and she’s just unreal. She brings this competitive nature, but she’s a little smaller, but she can shoot the puck. I’m excited to see her snipe a few goals this year for sure.

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE LINE THAT YOU’RE ON?

Absolutely. Obviously that’s how we ended. I am more than happy to play with anyone. And I think this team is very able to shift around. We did a lot of shifting last year. We’re just excited to continue the legacy we started. But to continue to ramp it.

[stayinghealthy12]

How  Weather Affects Eye Health: Tips for The Beaches, Yorkville & Rosedale Residents

Discover how Toronto's weather impacts eye health in The Beaches, Yorkville & Rosedale, and learn how to protect your eyes year-round.

[ateez-himari]

Hi bb(you already know who it is) thanks for answering my asks and I'm glad you appreciate it cause I aprreciate you🫵more mwahh💓💓

I get what you mean and I'm glad that you didn't make hima be flawless like what is shown in the kpop industry, the industry tends to show it's idols being delicate, lovely, happy, healthy, but honestly none of us know what's going on inside their heads they might have mental problems, physical problems, and might also compare themselves to other idols whether they are their seniors or juniors, and I'm glad that mimi is more confident and happy in her body and mindset, as well as our mingi, I'll always love him dearly and cherish him for his braveness❤️‍🩹

And indeed society is stupid and if you are confident in yourself they call you arrogant and if you're not they say you're weak and sensitive there's literally no right option except to be who you want to be and act how you want to act❤️‍🩹

And nowww I have another question to askk🧐 have the other members ever faced problems because of hima and mingi's relationship? (like company problems, schedules and other related stuff)

Love you bb mwahh😼💓💓

Hey again sweets 🥰I do appreciate it, I get excited to look at my inbox every time I see a notification! It also makes me feel happy that someone appreciates my content so much that they have questions about it 🥹💕

Honestly Mingi's been my bias since I got into ATEEZ because even if he's not the most confident he has such a beautiful personality, and it's amazing that we can see him gaining more confidence in himself! He's also so genuine, he screams when he's scared, he doesn't force his laugh, he does things that make him embarrassed but he owns it, he's just a big boba eyed chick 🥺All the members are just so amazing over all, I went to their Toronto concert - first time seeing any concert ever - and just seeing them running around during songs like 'Dancing like butterfly wings' or 'Dreamy day' made me smile so much it hurt.

Allegedly there's no rule against dating at KQ so there have never been many problems with their specific relationship, their CEO - who they call their 'dad' - was actually very happy for them since he suspected it for a while, but unfortunately didn't get confirmation from his own babies until Coachella. Her relationship with Mingyu was the one that saw more pushback company wise since no one was truly fond of their youngest - who already had a lot of eyes on her every move - being involved with someone from a group that had an even larger audience.

Matz were the members most anxious about their relationship since them breaking up could mean a drastic change in the entire group's dynamic, and talked to both about how they felt in depth about one another to make sure that this was a good decision. They were also aware of the toxic nature of her previous situation-ship with Mingyu and were afraid that their maknae's heart was still very vulnerable to the point of entering a relationship without much thought towards her mental health, although they quickly saw that it was true love.

The members did face some problems when Mingi broke the news to Atiny, with false 'fans' getting angry at the fact that no one had told them or that they were even allowing this in the first place. Much like some people tend to focus on WooSan as a potential ship instead of the two's absolutely incredible vocals, body control, personality, etc, there were times where they used MinAri to overshadow the rest of the group, thinking about the speculations more than every member themselves.

Since no one knew they were together until a few months ago there were no changes in schedules or opportunities, although lately they have started appearing as a couple at events, such as; The Porsche The Art of Dreams 'Capsule Dreamscapes #01 Seoul' event and pushBUTTON 2025 Collection Show. Their own industry has recognized them as the 'IT' couple of fourth generation and brands have begun using this for their own publicity, so there have been somewhat of a rise in opportunities.

As usual, thank you so much for your question sweets, love you! 😘Mwahhh!💕💕

[ezekielbhandarivalleros]

The Meeting

Paring: Jake Tweneboah (Open Heart) and Ade Augustine (Bloodbound) - Friendship Pairing

Summary: Jake and Ade have been online friends for a while now. Ade plans on day to come visit Jake in Toronto

Rating: - General 

Collab Fic with @aesthetic-aag

It’s a really special day for two best friends Ade and Jake. They are meeting for the first time since they met online a few years ago and will really help cement this friendship in stone. Here is the story of how it happened. It all starts at Budapest Park in Toronto

Ade's POV

If I had a dollar for arriving at places early, it would probably be in thousands. Seriously. Some people consider it a good thing but to me, it isn't. My anxiety keeps me occupied especially during these situations. It goes off the charts. Even though I know I can do it, I still doubt myself. Today has to be a good and memorable one. Because I'm meeting my long time online bestie Jake in Toronto. Yes, I'm flying from Muscat. And, by flying I meant I already did. I'm at the airport with my luggage looking at the exit gate. Me and Jake have been besties for years. We always talked about how we're gonna meet one day in real life and give each other the biggest of the biggest hug.

I'm so grateful to have met him and I know that so is he. But, my anxiety has other plans today. Even though, I'm excited and want to run out of the gate as if my life depends on it. I'm still hesitant. What if I screw up? What if I do something that ends up embarrassing me and him? Or only me? What if he thinks that I'm nothing but a stupid person? He is well aware about my mental health issues and is very understanding. I drink water, count till 10 in my mind, close my eyes and take deep breath. I open them. Now, I feel better and prepared. I walk towards the gate as I take a deep breath. Well, here goes nothing. 

Jake's POV

The day is finally here, the person who I call my best friend is finally coming to see me in person right here in Toronto. I’m shaking and excited at the same time. What if she doesn’t like what she sees, what if I say something and it ends up costing our long-time friendship.

She’s a girl after all and females can be really harsh critics. I look at myself through my phone’s camera. Nothing is wrong with my hair and outfit. I shouldn’t worry about it too much, she basically almost knows everything about me. I take a couple deep breaths to calm my mind down. I’m not afraid of meeting people but why does meeting someone I've known for a years at this point now that it feels like a challenge.

I walk over to the trash and throw away the pair of empty lensed glasses. I've heard people say that glasses make you look smart and respectable but I don’t need to lie for someone to like me. They should like me for who I am. I look at the time for the last time on my phone and start walking towards the gates of the park we planned to meet up at. Well, here goes nothing.

In the distance I see her. I wave my arms to signal her to me. She doesn't see me and starts heading to a gruff looking man sitting on a bench. Just by looking at the man sitting it felt as if he'd beat anyone up if they looked at him slightly in a way he didn't like. I guess I should have told her how to find me. I quickly rush to her side to pull her away but in a way where she doesn't intermediatly see me and prop my hands over her eyes. I see a smile forming on Ade's face as she spins around to hug me. Even though we already know each other I introduce myself to her as if we are meeting for the first time. "Hello My name is Jake, what's yours" I say this with a smile plastered on my face.

Ade's POV

I hug Jake tightly. “Hello. I'm Ade.  I'm so glad to finally meet you, Bestie. How are you?” He smiles. “I'm great. I'm really happy that we finally met.” “I told you we would meet one day in real life.” He nods. We walk and sit on the bench and exchange gifts. I couldn't stop smiling. After all these years, we're here. We finally met. And, he's such an amazing person. We talk about a lot of things. He asks me about my flight and I tell him that I came here straight from the airport, which earns me a surprised look from him. I ask him about Jackie and he tells me that she's well. Then, I tell him that I'm kidding. He laughed. We get so busy that time literally flies. We don't even realize that it's almost night.

Jake's POV

I called an Uber which I paid for straight  to my apartment. As we arrived my cat Charlotte, a grey British-shorthair greeted us at the door. “Welcome to my home, please make yourself at home” I say. Ade heads to the sofa but not before going the dining room to place down the gifts she had brought me to then make herself comfortable. “Where’s Jackie, I’d like to meet her?” Ade asks me. “I’m sorry she isn’t here at the moment, she left to visit her family for a month” A frown starts to form on Ade’s facebut it quickly changes when Charlotte comes next to her asking to be picked up and cuddled. “It looks like Char really wants some attention, I’ll go make us cups of hot chocolate while you keep her company” I say as I head into the kitchen grabbing two cups. I pick out a SpongeBob themed cup one of my favorites for Ade while I choose a plain colored cup for myself.

Charlotte and Ade immediately start bonding as I can hear purring coming from the living room. Charlotte has seen Ade before from the pictures she’s seen her send me. The hot chocolate is ready and I offer her Ade the cup. Charlotte sees what’s going on and noticing Ade's hands move away from her and jumps away from Ade’s lap to lay in her cat bed. I guess she’s giving us two some space for chat and catch up. We talk about the many recent things that have happened in our lives and the books we’ve been reading.  We get so busy that time literally flies. I excuse myself and head to the guest bedroom that we have if any of my or Jackie’s parents or siblings are in town and come to visit and set it up for Ade. I’m very excited that one of my besties is here. Next time it’ll be her turn to accommodate me. For now it’s time for me to enjoy our time together.

The day has come to an end as these two best friends will cherish these next coming days as the best days of their lives.

Ade's POV

It's been a few minutes since Jake left the room. And, by now me and Charlotte are inseparable. I take a toy ball and throw it and she brings it back to me. We keep playing like this and she's enjoying it from what I can tell. Jake served me Hot Chocolate and it's really good. I finished it on minutes after he left. I see Charlotte yawn and then go back to her cat bed and falls asleep. Looking at her, I yawn too. I'm still exhausted from my flight and I look forward to bed already. Jake comes back in the room and looks at Charlotte and then at me. “The bed is ready. Feel free to stay here as long you like.”, he says as he sits beside me. “Thank you bestie.” He smiles and looks at the empty cup and then asks, “Did you like it?” He looks kinda nervous. “I loved it. It was really tasty. Thank you.” 

He smiles again and says, “Don't thank me. I'm just very glad that you're here. Finally, in person.” “I know. I can't still believe it, but I'm so grateful.” I say “Me too. You should go and rest. I'll see you tomorrow.” I nod to him and walk to the door. I stop and turn back. Jake gets up from the couch and I run back to him and hug him. For a moment, he surprised but then he hugs me back. “Thank you Bestie. I'm so glad that we finally met.”, I say. “No problem at all, bestie. And thank you too.” We hug for a moment before saying our goodbyes. Then we go into our rooms.

Tomorrow is another amazing day and I can't wait for it. Another day that I get to spend with my bestie and my new friend Charlotte. 

The End.

[hoursofreading]

THE ONLY BOOTH that stood out was at the far end of the exhibition hall. A company had tented its little patch of real estate with an inflatable white cube that looked like a large, quivering marshmallow. Inside the cube was Keith, a soft-spoken man whose earnest features and round physique conveyed a gnome-like benevolence. Beside Keith was a large screen. On the screen was a woman. The woman had dark hair, dark eyes, and purple lips that endeavored a smile. Her shoulders rose and fell, as if to suggest the act of breathing, and though she looked toward me, her gaze was elsewhere. “This is Chatty,” Keith shouted over the roar of the blowers keeping his enclosure erect. Keith worked for SapientX, a company that makes photorealistic conversational avatars powered by ChatGPT. SapientX had custom-built Chatty for Project Voice. Chatty could answer questions about the conference agenda and show you a map of the exhibition floor, except she couldn’t do it just then, said Keith, because they couldn’t seem to connect her to the wi-fi. Keith was happy enough to walk me through the visuals. Chatty’s face was the collaborative effort of fifty different companies. A company in Toronto did the eyes. “There’s like eight guys and all they do is eyes all day,” he said. Chatty’s face was a composite of several different races. Her voice was a composite of several different women. Her voice still needed some work, he admitted. “Right now she’s kinda mean.” I picked up a brochure that featured a roster of “digital employees,” complete with their names, headshots, and “personality scores.” I wondered what industries might hire them. “They’re mostly for kiosks,” Keith responded with a tone of defeat. “Like at a mall or a museum. Also military training. Stuff like that.” Keith directed my attention to the exterior of the cube. A large banner depicted an older male, prosaically handsome, with a square jaw, a custardy dollop of silver hair, and pale, limpid eyes. This was Chief, said Keith. “He’s a navy guy. And he talks like a navy guy. We work in forty different languages. So if you’re training someone in Ukraine how to operate an American tool, we have that language built in.” Keith went back inside to rustle me up a T-shirt. He told me that the company was also breaking into health care — nursing homes, to be precise. Keith explained the vision. Your mom is old, and you’re constantly reminding her to take her medicine. Why not leave that to an avatar? The avatar can converse with your mom, keep her company, fill up the idle hours of the day. Plus, you can incorporate a retina scanner to check her blood pressure and a motion sensor to make sure she isn’t lying dead on the floor. “Say there’s an elderly woman with dementia,” he said. “Her avatar will look like she did when she was younger. So she has someone to identify with. Does that make sense?” I imagined a future geriatric Keith, lying in a nursing home bed, conversing with his younger self. Would such an arrangement appeal to him? “There’s not going to be a choice,” he said. “A lot of old people are going to be talking to avatars in ten years, and they won’t even know it. When I was touring facilities in San Francisco for people with dementia and stuff, those places are like insane asylums. But some patients still have some cognitive function, and that’s who the technology would be for. It’s definitely not going to apply to the guys that are comatose.” We stood in silence for a moment, and he faced Chatty, who hovered before us, drifting in her strange, waking trance. “I wish they could fix the internet,” said Keith. “I swear, she gets nasty. She like, looks at me bad.”

An Age of Hyperabundance | Issue 47 | n+1 | Laura Preston

[findingtarshish]

16, 30, 34 and 38 for the ask game. For all 3 blorbos because I don't want to choose >.<

Questions can be found here by the talented @evrensadwrn! Pls send more asks!!

16. How good are they at acting “alive”?

Harmony is certainly the best out of them due to her magic; the ability to walk in daylight tends to trump all other concerns, but the rest of the Path of Innocence helps her too: she's impossible to detect with either medical exams or supernatural observation, and she is very active in her local mortal community. Golconda seekers want what she has (Actually the Praesidium wants it because the ability to suppress clan banes means they could rebuild the pyramid)

Andrasta on the other hand has always struggled with appearing human, partially because she never has been. She's a werewolf! After her Embrace, however, her sire tried to break her down to turn her into a demure, exotic concubine. Instead, she has caused untold violence and destruction and might have caused the fall of Rome. In modern nights, she's reached Ego 9, a fairly major feat, and can fairly easily pass as human, but her ego is much more fragile than Harmony's.

Finally, Leo. Leonora is in many ways a natural vampire; she's well suited to the night, and she thrives in undead society. She can usually pass for human with her 8 Humanity, but her weird fashion sense and red eyes give her away.

30. Do they have a clan that they do particularly like?

Harmony likes Tzimisce, for obvious reasons (wife). She gets a foam finger with #1 dragonfucker on it.

Andrasta likes Nosferatu. Her current PLP is a nossie, and they are good friends :) Part of it is also overcompensating for her hatred of her own clan, as most think of Toreadors and Nosferatu as opposites.

Leo likes Toreadors! She's quite artistic, so she appreciates the similarity in mindset. She just met the Torrie primogen in Toronto and they're getting along swimmingly (for now)

34. What are their thoughts on blood dolls?

Harmony was her sire's doll before the Embrace, and to be honest, she still thinks of herself as a doll. Part of it is due to her Kiss addiction, but part of it is due to her poor mental health thinking of herself as only worthwhile when she's giving to others. She for her own dolls, as priestess of the (now) largest Bahari garden in Philadelphia, she is slowly transitioning from consensualist (siren) to consensualist (osiris), and has a cult to feed from.

Blood dolls are useless to Andrasta, as she's too old to keep her prey alive when she feeds. Even when she was young, she never partook of Michael's dolls, preferring to feed on the guilty, which invariably meant murdering veteran legionnaires.

Leo's never had a chance to develop a herd, but she likely wouldn't- she likes hunting as a siren too much.

38. Do they care about the taste of blood?

Harmony and Leo both have preferred flavors, but they aren't particularly interesting in that regard.

Andrasta, on the other hand, pretends not to care about blood flavor, but secretly enjoys the taste of evil deeds and absolute terror when she murders another oil exec.

Thankie for the questions ^.^