#fr make me a designer. praying has got nothing on me

[unsearching]

one of those i <3 new york shirts but it says I <3 Body Hair in a fancy, girly font that exudes whimsy

thats it thats the post

[mint-moon25]

WAS - SO - EXCITED - I WAS - INFLUENCED - BY -

AMAZON - KDP - PRICES - THEY - LOVE - $0.99 -

CHANGING - eBOOK - PRICE - ($3.95) - WHAT I -

MEANT - GRUESOME - 3 DAYS - WAS - EVEN -

PURSUADED - 2 - TRY - ETSY - BUT - I COULD -

NOT - FIND - MY - DIGITAL - PRODUCT ALSO -

HAD - 2 - SIGN - IN - 25 TIMES - ROBOFORM -

NOT - ACCEPTED - TRIED - 2 - APPS - AS - A -

SELLER - THEN - ALWAYS - REMEMBERING -

THEIR - CODE - REQUIRED - $0.20 - PER XO -

LISTING - GOOGLE - SEARCH - SAID - FIRST -

SALE - AFTER - 2/3 MONTHS - NO - THANKS -

ETSY - HAS - LOTS - OF - DIGITAL PRODUCTS -

HATE - THEM - I'M - STICKING - 2 - AMAZON -

KDP - 6 MONTHS - OVER - $100,000 - GOT -

THAT - WE - STICK - 2 - WINNERS - AND -

AMAZON - MAKES - UNLIKE - ETSY -

OVER - $1.29 BILLION - EACH - DAY -

GETTING AN - OUTLOOK.COM - EMAIL -

ACCOUNT - GIVES - U - FREE - OFFICE -

WORD - DOCUMENT - 4 - eBOOKS - SO -

HERE's - THE - REQUIREMENTS -

CANVA PRO - RESIZER - 8.5 X 11 -

INCREASE - SIZE - USE - JPG AS -

DOWNLOAD - ZIP - FILE - OPEN -

USE - LARGE - ICON - THEN XO -

UPLOAD - 2 - DESKTOP - PAGE -

IMAGES - WILL - SHOW - THAT -

IS - WHAT - US - PUT ON THEIR -

WORD - REGISTERING - OUTLOOK -

EMAIL - ADDRESS - GIVES - U - XO -

AUTO - SAVE - U - WANT - THAT - 2 -

LAYOUT - SIZE - CLICK - LETTER -

8.5 X 11 - THEN - INSERT - PHOTO -

INDIVIDUALLY - ADD - eBOOK -

REQUIRED - 2 - ADD - PAGE XO -

TABLE - OF - CONTENTS

SO - ALWAYS - ADDING - THAT -

MANUSCRIPT - UPLOAD - AND -

COVER - CONVERTER - MUST -

USE - GOOGLE - CHROME AS -

COVER - NEXT - TIME - I'M - USING -

PNG - 300 DPI - I'M - GUESSING IS -

INCLUDED - PRICE - NEXT - SO XO -

GET - 70% - ROYALTY - I WILL - YES -

REMEMBER - 2 - CHANGE - MY XO -

PRICE - FR - ($3.99) - TO - ($3.95) -

WAS - SO - EXHAUSTED - TRYING -

2 - MAKE - WORD - AND - PAPERBACK -

SUBMISSION - WORK - I - WAS EASILY -

PURSUADED - 2 - USE - $0.99 REALLY -

I'M - SO - HAPPY - RIGHT - NOW - AND -

NO - COMPETITION - AT - AMAZON -

THEY - SOMETIMES - HAVE GREAT -

COLORING - BOOK - COVERS - BUT -

INSIDE - IS - NOT - GREAT - AT - ALL -

SO - RIGHT - NOW - I'M - STARTING -

THE - NEXT - BOOK - I'M ALREADY -

HERE - AT - BRICKELL - CITY - YES -

CENTRE - OUTDOOR - MALL - SO I -

WILL - START - 2ND - BOOK - I'M -

SO - TIRED - AND - EXCITED TOO -

ALMOST - 1 YEAR - HOMELESS IN -

MIAMI - FLORIDA - AND - NOW - THAT -

IS - ENDING - WITH - PUBLISHING SO -

I'M - EXHAUSTED - EXCITED - THIS -

VERY - MOMENT - WILL - PRAY AND -

PRAY - THAT - I - FIND - FAVOR - FOR -

THERE's - NOTHING - ELSE - I - CAN -

DO - ABOUT - MY - BOOKS - WITH -

PRO - VERSIONS - BUT - I'M - YES -

GOING - 2 - MAKE - IN - FUTURE -

MY - COLORING - BOOKS - FRM -

MY - COMPUTER - AFFINITY - PUBLISHING -

UNIVERSAL 2 - AFFINITY - PHOTO - AND XO -

MORE - HIGH - CLASS - I - CAN'T - WAIT -

JESUS - IS - LORD - 'FROM - WHERE WE -

ARE - 2 - WHERE - WE - NEED - 2 B' - AS I -

SHARED - NEED - DENTAL EXTRACTION -

MORE - THAN - 1 - AND - IMPLANTS - SO -

SIGNING - WITH - CIGNA - DENTAL PLAN -

TAX - DEDUCTIBLE - I - CAN'T - WAIT FOR -

MY - NEW - LIFE - 2 - BEGIN - CHOOSING -

ILLUSTRATION - AS - MAJOR - 4 - I - WAS -

INTIMIDATED - BY - ARTISTS - BUT - LOGO -

COMMERCIAL - WORK - WHAT - GRAPHIC -

DESIGNERS - DO - THAT's - NOT - ME FOR -

CREATING - ART - WORK - BOOK COVERS -

PAINTING - ANYTHING - ANIMATION - YES -

CREATION - THAT's - ME - AND - IT'S YES -

CALLED - ILLUSTRATION - SO - THAT -

WILL - B - THE - MAJOR - I'M - GOING -

4 - ONLINE - WITH - ACADEMY - OF -

ART - UNIVERSITY - SO - BACK - TO -

CANVA - PRO - ENDED TRIAL WITH -

PIXOMOTO - READY - 2 - MAKE - MY -

2ND - PAPERBACK - AND - eBOOK -

HAVE - FUN - EVERYONE - SWEET

[riszellira]

Reflection: Get Connected

There’s hardly any restaurants, bars, or establishments that have no Wi-Fi connection. When customers enter, they ask first for the password, not the menu. The success of whatever projects you may have in today’s world is judged by how connected you are. Otherwise, you will be left behind.

The Gospel speaks the same line of thought. It speaks of a connection that has neither a password nor a payment. It is to be connected to Jesus through the Eucharist.

St. Damien Joseph de Veuster, whose feast we celebrate today, was a priest who volunteered to be assigned in isolated islands with a lepers colony at Molokai. Designed to be disconnected from the world, he had to deal with a ministry that could be both discouraging and depressing.

Saint Damien experienced it while in prayer in a small makeshift chapel in front of the Eucharist. Describing to Jesus his struggles and the details of the day, he constantly maintained his relationship with God in prayer. Saint Damien said of the experience, “Without the Blessed Sacrament, a position like mine would be intolerable.”

Jesus in the Gospel today assures us when we feel alone in such moments: “Abide in Me.” When we feel like we have no companion in our life’s project, Jesus consoles us, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

In his zeal and ministry with the lepers, Saint Damien eventually got contaminated with leprosy at the latter part of his life. He said, “I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ.”

What an unwavering connection Saint Damien had with Jesus until his dying moment!

~Fr. Haluendo Amit, OCD

To whom do you connect to abide faithfully to Jesus?

I seek Your face in the people I serve, O Jesus! May they also see You in me. Amen.

Prayer

… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.

… for the strength and healing of the sick.

… for the healing and peace of all families.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

GOD BLESS!

[survivorreelsmagicwithin]

Episode 2 - “Y'all. Vote me out fr cause I'm inactive as fronk” - Joshua (through Autumn)

I hate flag-making challenges. I will not be helpful at all, and I hope that someone else can take the reigns and lead us to victory. I honestly feel safe going into a tribal council, but I do not want to test that theory.

Next morning

With Chips and Jules working on the crest designs, I feel confident that we will do well in the challenge. Maybe not the best, but definitely not the worst. I still have the same anxious feeling that my tribe is not active enough for my taste, but I will just have to live with it for now. Besides, at least this is not immunity because that we increase my anxiety by so much. But, I keep forgetting to search the idol hunt which is my bad, but it is just so hard and long that I do not really feel like searching all the time lol

ART CHALLENGE <333 i love these challenges. Jess made my picture 110% better and its super cute. The note that she wrote with it is also hella cute and I love the whole HP aesthetics bc i never got to go to real hogwarts ;-; but i'm sure most of yall can related. The boys weren't too helpful but nick was better than jacob who is sick. Nick was way more active aka jacob said 3 sentences the entire challenge sooooo…. if we lose idk I might just save jacob anyways bc pregame relations.

Won reward, but now we have to win immunity again. I really hope that this reward helps us continue to survive. I don't want to have to vote anyone out. We've been getting first, but I really just want to survive this challenge, its known to be hard.

I think I have been stuck with the second most challenge inept tribe in the history of my ORG career. I literally said so many answers in my version of the story and Jules just fucked it up. And then they got the girl's name wrong. And then they started mixing up characters. I know I did well, but fuck these people. God. Now we need a tribe to get 0 which is very unlikely. I will just resign myself to tribal. I hope and pray that these people have some common sense and do not want to vote me out

Listen. Listen. Listen. I dang knew this story was going to be Harry Potter based. I knew in my brain and in my heart that I shouldn’t have been the one to start that thing. What do I do? Start the dang thing. Oh well. We did alright. I would be shocked if we won tho but if we don’t I’ll be relieved. I def don’t feel confident enough but I really had a lot of fun with my tribe. I really miss this and really hope that my time isn’t cut short! I feel really good about my tribe mates sincerely. And that’s kind of scary! I would hate to see any of us to go and how it’s going to affect the bond we have if we vote someone out. In this moment with Max sitting out, it may be him who goes if we go to tribal. I hope that isn’t the case. I’ve got my fingers crossed for us. Huff Puff strong!

Honestly Jules dropped the ball sis!! But it’s okay, I love her. She’s really nice and I know she tried her best. Plus she’s in an alliance with me and Owen, so we should have the numbers against Joanna or Miguel if we go to tribal. Personally, I’d prefer Joanna to go. She’s kinda domineering, but she’s also an asset in challenges thus far. She is organized and direct. I’ve also talked to her a bit more than Miguel, so I guess I don’t really care who goes.

I’m happy I didn’t fuck up the reward comp and the shit that I drew got us a win!

I really hope I don't bomb that challenge, I answered everything that Kevin talked to me about.... I think!  The rest of them tried very hard but I am SOOO glad that I asked to do my part at the end because my memory of repeating things is horrendous but I'm usually pretty good at bullshitting test answers... too bad I got some of the multiple choice stuff wrong.

I think that if we do lose I am still in a good spot on this tribe and hopefully I won't be in danger.  I feel like I'm on everyone's good side and Max kind of just disappeared so maybe we could just vote him out this round? Idk.

Hopefully we don't have to worry about it.  I smell a swap coming up pretty soon and I just hope I'm either with Owen or with some of the people from my tribe.  I have no idea if they know anyone or are close with anyone in the other houses.

I'm still feeling the closest to Lily and Kevin but I have been talking to Landen a good bit too these days so hopefully we'll be safe or we can all just agree on Max.

16 minutes later

OOOOOH IS LANDEN PAVING THE WAY FOR A MOVE TO SEND MAX PACKING???

He just told me that me, lily and kevin are precious angels that must be protected and that he likes Max when he's around too so that sounds like something... HMMM...

I can't get cocky, I always go home when I get cocky. But I like this.

my host chat saw this first (shout-out to Drewie and Dennis): Y’all I’m an idiot. I thought I only knew 2 people in this game (Owen and chips). Then I remembered I also know Jess, Autumn, and dan. Literally love and respect each of you my brain just don’t got the strongest memory no more. I’m so sorry!!!! I literally just told landen I only know 2 ppl. I’m just gonna try to not remember it happened.

Ugh.....I need to get it together.

I love my tribe talking to each other now that we have to!! Everyday I'm like damn either I'm on the bottom or I'm not the only one with piss poor social game. Ok so... the moment the hosts said we got 1 point, I started getting ready for tribal lmaaaooo. No sense crying over it either because all the tribes basically just had to show up in order to beat that

Like how could we not go to tribal with a score of ONE? That shit's embarrassing hahaha. That's like when your teacher passes the test back to everyone sitting around you but not you so you KNOW it's bad. But you know what? It's all good cause I'd rather us take the L now and get it out the way and we can all laugh about it cause losing won't be funny after long. The real question is: will Gryffindor do this the easy way or the hard way caaauusse we all know who the weakest link is. I just wanna see if someone puts two and two together without my prodding. Chips already said we voting together right and I'm like yes sir. There's no better place than being on the same page

WE WON OMG!! Jules basically gave me nothing, which is fine, i understand, but i'm so impressed that we pulled that off. Absolutely killing these reward challenges really helps!

"Y'all. Vote me out fr cause I'm inactive as fronk."

Tonight we learned Joshua is a feminist selfless man that I stan because he's volunteering to go home without me having to put his name out, which I was going to do. Like imagine if every guy had that kind of self-awareness, to recognize why he should be the vote and then embrace it instead of wreaking havoc. And wanting to see others succeed more than yourself? King shit! He knew when to hang it up and did just that. Like the number of times I've seen a vote get complicated for no fucking reason because everyone wants a fight to the death. Enough- I'm old, tired, and cannot exert too much energy at once. We got a long game ahead of us, not to mention quarantine. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you Joshua. We need more players like you and I appreciate your service

im back back BACK AGAIN with another confessional! not much has changed but a few updates for the sake of these being required :) 1. max has become even more inactive, he's not reached out to me personally since the first day and any time i messaged him after that he's sent me nothing back that i can build a convo off of, so we just have stopped speaking. Luckily this challenge only required four people and everyone else SHOWED UP!! or at least spoke about their availability, while he did not. However in his defense he said he was having some issues at home and i feel for him but his inability to connect has been an issue before he spoke about anything in our tribe chat with us. I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt but this point my relationships with the other 3 are leaps and bounds ahead of where I am at with Max. Maybe he can pick up some speed if we continue winning challenges but, it's not looking too hot. SPEAKING OF CHALLENGES, well first we lost reward AGAIN, but we won immunity.. AGAIN! thank goodness for not being first or second boot, i always love being able to avoid these early tribals and if i can get to a swap without seeing one that would be ideal, but also if we do go and maybe vote out max? wouldn't be the worst thing. Moral of the story we won and thats exciting! however.. if we didn't.. the first big push of strategic talk came up with landen when he hinted at being frustrated with max's lack of presence which I also share. I do believe if we lost me and landen could have most definitely picked up ruthie and lily to form a four against him, if he even came to tribal. That would be my ideal situation and if we continue on this tribes hopefully it gives me a nice cushion to fall on if we do lose so i dont have to entirely blow up my social game within the first few rounds by voting out someone i've built a connection with. If max can go and the remaining four hufflepuffs can make a swap I would feel good about that, and maybe in the right circumstances we could work together on the swapped tribes because i genuinely like all of these people (yes max too but in this specific scenario he wouldn't be included bc... well..) anyways to close this off i still absolutely ADORE lily, she is fun and our conversations are really good, and same goes for ruthie, hopefully i dont have to see either of them or myself go home before we can really start playing because i think we could do some damage. :) ok anyways this was longer than i thought it would be goodbye

I'm still not over the fact that I was able to answer 7 of those questions right. I have the memory of a plastic fork.  I also love that we are SAFE!

I do kind of hope things get spicy and we swap this round and become two tribes of 9. That'd be cute. I don't want VI to get bored and crack on me. BUT ALSO I think I have solid enough relationships with almost everyone on this tribe... so who knows?!

Also... these hoes really out here trying to search for an idol in PUBLIC. IN PUBLIC. WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON HERE?

Dear diary, seems like we keep winning challenges, which is great but tbh i feel like every time i give a disadvantage to my team because english is not my first Language, and so far its been a vocabulary test and a listening and speaking test. I mean I knew I signed up for school but damn. Give me some macarena  or drinking tequila challenge and I'll crush it

bippity boppity boo im back again with almost no content kdfasjhdskjfh

Ravenclaw working smarter and we keep winning, period!!! Thankful that y'all put Dan and I together....bc truly we will be unstoppable in these competitions. I kind of want to lose soon though to see how things would shake out, but I don't really have bad blood with anyone. Joanna seems passionate enough in the tribe chat and the challenges, even if she's dry in PMs. Miguel still won't give me anything other than a "how are you," but I hope the best for him in life lol

Still love Jules and Dan, and we made a three person alliance, but I haven't talked with either of them much one on one since it happened.... I really need to step the social game up eventually, but right now, I'm coasting, and maybe that's what I need before I find the time and resources in this game to strike!!

The idol hunt is hard but Dan seems onto something. Honestly he's gonna be a big threat sooner or later so he's sticking around as long as I can keep him! The last two games I've been in I've seen "goats" get dragged to the end and locked in final 3 positions, and then these perceived goats have ended up winning. so I want the big players in this game to rise to the top and fight it out in the end!

let’s say i am como we dice.. fed up with a lot :flushed: a lot meaning joshua starting to get on my nerves a bit! he’s genuinely sweet n all but.. the way he complained about us losing by putting down others work HHH pissed me off. which is why i will be voting him out hehe.. but so far my misting has worked because no one wants to vote me out! mwah

Slytherin killed the memory challenge. We thought we were all gonna flop bc all of us thought we sucked at memory stuff. um well we knocked it out of the park? Ravenclaw got 4 and huff/gryff got 1. We got 7 so oops. I do hope things turn out well for Gryffindor but no one I really know/care about is in that house so I'm not too worried. I hope they continue to lose or even hufflepuff since ravenclaw has 2 of my friends in it.

I have been TERRIBLE with confessionals but only because there's really not been much going on? I have an alliance with Dan and Owen, and even though I wrote off Joanna I was DEFINITELY wrong in doing that. Miguel is sort of the outlier. Our team is kinda iconic though? We've done so well on all the challenges. I might be the weakest link? More to come.

it's pretty sad but the whole tribe has agreed to vote max if we lose, basically he's just never around because of what's going on at home and like thats sad but... we gotta do what we gotta do *shrug*. I'm really feeling good about Hufflepuff moving forward, i've never bonded this much this easily with EVERYONE on a tribe and i just feel like if we keep winning or even if we lose and have to vote out max, we could be a great group for the future. especially i feel great about working with kevin, we dominated eve's game after eve came between us in 2020 that dastardly witch... :P (juuust kiddin. love ya!) but now we could totally do well in this game too i think.....

lily and ruthie are just so sweet and we really bond talking about pretty much anything,, especially lily is a great conversationalist and i just find it so natural to talk to them both. i'd love to work with any combination of people from hufflepuff in the future, hopefully i start sucking a little less at all these challenges. i think i did pretty great on memory :D

So here is the summary of what has happened since last time

We had a reward challenge that was drawing. Mine sucked. Apparently 3/4 so no reward.

We played Telephone. My team didnt realize that details are the most important parts of that and didnt share then with Autumn so Autumn didnt share them with me. Then I didnt know them when asked about them.

We scored 1 point and lost. Since I still have no alliance I'm scared that it could be me. So I kind of got an idea how everyone was feeling.

Juls let me know she wanted to vote Joshua and- it's not me so that's fine!

Then I was talking to Autumn about it and - OOP! Josh asked to be voted out. So unless he plays an idol I'm supposing he is leaving after asking to go.

woo my tribe won immunity!! we are safe! i’m glad bc i’m forming good relationships with ppl on my tribe. i think we all get along rly well so i hope we keep winning. the challenge was fun and i slayed bc i’m skinny mwah

Ya know what’s refreshing? Being on a tribe that actually wins!!! The last three games I’ve played I’ve been on flop ass starting tribes.

Now we’ll lose every challenge

10 minutes later

This sickening bitch just found a hidden immunity idol!!!! Good until f6 L A D I E S!!!!!!

HI BARBS SO I WAS GROUNDED SO I MISSED THE CHALLENGE BUT MY HUFFLEPUFF BABS SLAYED SM SO IM LIVING

CONFESSIONAL 2.1 —

Not much strategy has happened this episode, just simply tribal bonding! We are SlytherWINNING, getting reward and immunity this time! How wonderful.

Regarding my tribe mates, I love all three. I pray, pray, pray we make swap, i do Noh want to be a dirty bad guy and have to vote one out.. yet. Haha.

I was drunk during immunity, one full glass of rum & coke, so I am shocked that we won immunity. Honestly, I feel silly admitting I was drunk to my tribe because... if I can do that when drunk, imagine if I was sober. Competition Beast, duh.

I also gave up my run this round for the tribe to use. Was partially social, partially I just do not understand how to do the Hunt, so I might as well help the greater good. Either way, it comes off positively.

Hoping for a smooth journey for a little longer!

x nick

Joshue has basically quit at this point so I have no fear going into tribal

[withoutbounds-fr]

An hour before Devi arrived, and twenty minutes after she was supposed to have arrived, Alphonse was pacing at the door, with concern riddling his expression - much to the simultaneous bemusement and dismay of his husband on the stairs. 

A mock smile sat smooth on the Skydancer’s mouth as he watched the back-and-forth of the other dragon. He huffed, “It’s not like she’s been [i]eaten[/i].” Al shot him a glare in retaliation, albeit one lacking any kind of malicious conviction, so it merely made Beachcomber chuckle. Shaking his head, he continued, “Devi is fully capable of fending for herself, you know that.” The other paused in his movement, as if considering his words, before deflating visibly, and sighing.

“Late,” he implored, “She’s late.” Alphonse’s eyebrows drew further together, and his eyes met his husband’s briefly. The anxious pacing continued. It was Beachcomber’s turn to sigh.

“You’re being unreasonable. Ahava would’ve said something if it was really bad. Patching up might've taken longer than usual,” he shrugged when he finished, but the white dragon was no less worried. Drastic measures must be taken. Standing up on wobbly legs, he clambered down the stairs and across the hardwood sea between them, nails clicking against the floorboards. When he reached his goal, he pulled Alphonse to his chest, huffed a little, and then gently curled his head around to rest on the other. The effect was immediate. He melted into the Skydancer’s embrace, burying his face into the soft fuzz there.

Impossibly quiet came, “I worry, is all.”

“Nothing wrong there; someone should. Devi might be fully able to punt anyone who tried to cross her straight to the moon but the woman has the self-preservation of a homicidal three-year-old!” He laughed at the notion and smiled as he felt the Spiral join him, with a shudder of laughter against his chest. Improvement. “She’ll be here soon,” he said and prayed his voice held more confidence than he felt.

Thankfully for the both of them, she was. Sometime while waiting, Beachcomber had moved to the stairs, and his husband had literally climbed up the walls with impatience. But now from his perch on the ceiling he could watch the figure lazily cough her way through the door, toes wiggling briefly as she blinked at her surroundings. A bit dishevelled and similarly disgruntled, but whole nonetheless. Al didn’t give her a minute to recover before lunging from his place on the ceiling to greet her. Once done, he chittered absentmindedly about everything while he led her to the living room, inspecting her injuries.

“You’re quite late,” he said from the spot where he was poking at Devi’s ribcage. She looked up then, shifting where she sat.

“And what of it?” a teasing challenge, a smile playing at her lips. At the moment, the Guardian was more grateful that the smaller dragon had let her find a seat than bothered by the fact that he still planned on interrogating her and good tempered because of it.

Alphonse just sighed, in on the joke but no less exasperated. “Next time,” and Devi could tell it was his best stern dad voice, “Ask Ahava to send word instead of scaring me to my scales.” He raised an eyebrow at her, checking for compliance, “Hmm?”

Devi laughed bitterly at that, a sound which turned into a yelp as he pressed on a tender part of her paw pad. “That’s my favourite leg I’ll have you know!” The snip held too much mischief to be mean. But she paused, then, face growing serious again, gaze turning downward, “And she does too much already. Can’t bother her any more than I already do.” The Spiral looked like he wanted to disagree, but said nothing.

Silence, for a few minutes. It was Devi who relented first, wanting to shift the tone of the conversation, “How are the kiddos, Al?” They always perked him up.

Beaming, he took the bait, “Oh, they’re lovely! Per usual. Gemini was promoted-” something dark jumped over his features, “Promoted to General! She sent us a handwritten invitation to the ceremony Salem's hosting - you should see the stationary, Beachie has it above the fireplace.” There it was. The card sat off to the side of the mantle, where it was partially illuminated by red light, and only somewhat hidden in shadow. Devi recognized the material from her days with BloodMagic, but thought better of mentioning the price of the material. The manor had been paid for by Beachcomber's coin, and money was a sore spot for the Spiral.

“And Satyr?” She questioned, eager to distract from her wounds for even just a moment longer. Plus she was fond of his wayward son.

“He… hasn’t been around recently,” he prodded at a bandage on her tail, making her squirm, “Between you and me, I think they got into another fight.” The remark was so soft Devi barely caught it, but she didn’t have to ask who ‘they’ were. It was common knowledge that Beachcomber and his son rarely got along. Guilt flashed deep in her stomach. She shouldn’t have brought it up.

“... So how much magic are you going to stuff into my veins this time, glow-boy?” Despite the two being the same age, he always seemed so young compared to her. But that wasn’t her focus right now. Solving the ache in her bone on the other hand, well, that was a more pressing matter.

The light returned to his eyes, “How about we go and see.”

Alphonse always went back to his books for spellcraft, no matter how many times he did this. He would say he wanted to be thorough, but actually, it was because his favourite text always renewed magic’s [i]magic[/i]. Its opening lines claimed that you could put time in a bottle, capture every possible action and reaction, both performed and not, and it fit snugly into the same space you’d keep a day’s ration of water. That Infinity was quantifiable and endlessness measurable with the forces they were tampering with. Here, magic was a creature simultaneously tame and wild. He’d once read Devi the passage, in the silence that followed a dying fire, and she’d [i]loved it[/i].

Devi had always believed in the fascinating qualities of magic and watching Al’s skilled hands prepare the healing spell was hypnotic. There were luminescent paints and dog-eared books and foreign herbs scattered throughout the air, each periodically checked upon as the white dragon painted a spiralling, weaving, fluttering design over and down her back, tracing the bowing arch of spine and quivering scales. The magic circle hummed from its spot on the floor, and Devi ignored the way it pulsed warm where she lay on it. There were too many colours to count: reds and golds, blues and silvers, greens and bronzes, each glowing unabashedly against her hide, drowning out the wounds beneath. More lines were painted along her flightless wing; a spot was added behind her ear, subtle and unassuming. It burned at her skin as something changed in his eyes. They were ready.

3/?

FR Thread

The Lore That Inspired This

Devi | Alphonse | Beachcomber

[jnfsavellon]

Quarantine Life, Alright.

(Selfie file photo, April 7, 2020)

April 8, 2020 - It's barely two weeks into the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Cebu City since the Mayor's declaration last March 27 but the changes were drastic which I will describe in the later paragraphs.

To name one is the near-zero traffic congestion comprising mostly of private cars, shuttle services for front liners and employees exempted from the "lockdown."

Our neighborhood here in Sitio Colveta II was peaceful. I can drive my car with ease. I'm my mother's chauffeur while I'm on paid leave - Yeah, Big Head's waiting for a reallocation because my clients won't let me work from home - my route is from home to Barangay Bulacao's Health Center and Birthing Center and back home. At times we're having stops at the grocery stores to stock up our inventory; we're not hoarding, just stocking up.

I could remember Mother spoke that such smooth traffic reminded her of the 80s to 90s roads where everyone was just walking around with lesser people and vehicles roaming around the streets. She said that traffic became worse during the 2000s, but yeah that was it.

I even told her that I could hear our parish the Archdiocesan Shrine of San Roque's bells ringing at 8:00 pm. The church is 600 meters away from home.

Safety and health was a top priority at this time. I've got to credit to Station 11's regular roving rounds in the neighborhood. Neighbors have been called out by police due to the former's hard-headedness because they're still going out of their respective houses at this period. The officers usually use their megaphones to call them out, but there was one time that they've had enough. One officer came out of the patrol car to warn them of their stubbornness. I share the same sentiments with the police on this part. The quarantine period is for everyone's well-being, and there are still stubborn people outside.

(File photo, April 7, 2020)

I shared a post of a former photojournalist that captured a photo of a congested Tabada Public Market. No crowd control. Just significant foot traffic that makes you itch to the bone. The good thing on the next day, the LGU and local police set up a post on the entrance/exits to ensure that people are following protocol such as wearing face masks and quarantine pass.

People just have to be aware that this coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic isn't just the seasonal flu where you could just have some home treatment to get rid of it. It's a new strain that eats out your organs most especially the lungs potentially leading to pneumonia. Once you have it, you'll be isolated away from your loved ones. You'll be met with front liners in PPE spacesuits whom you can't distinguish who's who because they are covered from head to foot. These came from the words of veteran journalist Howie Severino, COVID patient #2828 and now a survivor.

PET PEEVES!!

Speaking of pet peeves, I'm just bothered with some situations whenever I'm out in public to run a few errands: citizens, whether supermarket employees or customers are wearing their face masks improperly. They're wearing it covering just the nose. Worse is that some even take it off and hang it under their chin. Clothe masks have the least protection we can have compared to the N95 counterparts. People just need to be reminded of this.

Another thing is the long lines in the groceries and the padala centers and public market. They are essential, but the inconsistent practice of social distancing is just disturbing to see. I remembered one time I was at Shopwise with my mother, and there's this customer behind me who just keeps getting closer and closer while I was trying to distance myself. I couldn't blame myself because this crap has been giving me anxiety since the disease's spread, and I'm not buying this to catch it.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

Nevertheless, Mr. Severino's recovery story gives us hope that we shouldn't feel lonely during these tough times. He made sure to keep in touch with loved ones through video chatting. Do you what you gotta do to make yourself safe and productive. This was my point in Episode 08 ("Do What You Gotta Do, Citizens of Earth) of the Jump Shot Podcast.

I'm happy to be with my family at these times. I feel that there's safety here at home. I'm out of that paranoia I felt while I was traveling to work and going back home. Every time I went home, I was irritated and exhausted. During that weekend I broke down while I was on a call with Charrie, realizing that my mental well-being was shaky because of that ordeal.

But still, I figured out that I should stay at home. Then here I am writing. I still have enough funds to sustain our daily needs. I'm maximizing my time staying healthy and spending time on my pastimes.

I'm doing my home workouts together with my brother at least thrice a week. We have this exercise mat, a homemade 10-pound dumbbell, and a 20-pound barbel, and tons of health and wellness videos you can find on YouTube. It may seem nothing compared to going out to a gym or playing basketball, but something is better than nothing.

(Taco Monday!!!! April 6th)

We're continuing with our healthy diets of boiled egg, canned tuna or sardines, sometimes there's tacos and shawarma wraps filled with seasoned ground pork, cucumber, white onions, tomatoes, and a variety of sauces like sriracha, ketchup, mayonnaise, and hot sauce - our mother's best home cook meal (haha).

Also I'm focusing on some of my skills like Photoshop and audio editing. We're producing the most podcast content right now compared to December to February (haha).

Charrie is catching up with Photoshop as well. She's doing some editing as I've been tasking her to do graphics like the shirt and product designing and creating a sample logo for a possible business hopefully we can concretize it soon.

(Our second to the last coffee night out at Starbucks IT Park, March 14th)

It's been two weeks since we saw each other. We're currently in a long-distance mode right now. Yeah LDR, although Liloan is just 25 km away, the border lockdown is inevitable. So we've got to stick to online communication - it's reminding us of the humble beginnings of our relationship haha. But yeah, we've got some catching up to do after this crap.

(After the Holy Mass live streaming, March 21, 2020)

Meanwhile we've organized the parish's social media team, under Fr. Carmelo Diola's guidance, to continue serving. We're live-streaming the daily Holy Masses while increasing our reach as much as possible. We've also had catechetical-recollections. This way we can serve to have the people sustain their spiritual nourishment. It's just fulfilling to serve once again after many years as an altar server. It's good to be back in my old parish nevertheless. Check our Facebook page.

FINAL THOUGHTS

At this time there are still over 43,000 persons under monitoring (PUMs), and it's still early to call off the ECQ. I do hope Governor Gwen Garcia and Mayor Edgar Labella would consider an extension while strengthening the safety and weakening the virus' spread. I just hope there would be enough supplies for each family especially the ones who are relying on their jobs that were stopped due to implementation of the Executive Orders except for the front liners and other exempted industries.

There are complaints that there are local government units (LGUs) having delayed deliveries the relief goods from house to house especially in our barangay. Mother has had phone call duties as well, answering complaints of other citizens. The barangays lack manpower I've learned. I'm not sure what the real reason for the delays. On one side I believe that the LGUs are doing their best to deliver it - in Barangay Mambaling, there are 8,000 households. On the other people are starving as they are relying on jobs that were forced to stop as what I've mentioned.

I hope they would sort that out while we are quarantining. After all at the end of the day we just want to have peace and order. We just need some patience I guess.

Going back let me sum up my thoughts: (1) Health is a top priority; (2) SOCIAL DISTANCING please, (3) Let's pray for this pandemic to end, (4) Be a better citizen, stay disciplined, (4) Catch up with loved ones, (5) Keep busy, make your day productive.

I guess that's it for now.

Stay safe.

- James