#saving up for so long I sort of forgot how to spent over 200$

[always-a-slut-4-ghouls]

Social security will be like: oh, you saved up 2,000$ over your limit in case your insurance doesn’t cover your dental surgery? Spend it right now or we will personally kill you on sight

[pretend-writer]

Down Below (Chapter 70)

Summary: After being sent down on Earth with the other prisoners from the Ark, Y/N Reyes faces series of events and learns about survival. With new things happening around her, she is now starting a new chapter in her life.

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x reader, John Murphy x reader, Raven Reyes x sister!reader

Word Count: 2.2k words

Warning: swearing, injuries

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As I opened my eyes, I felt a massive headache as if I had too much to drink the night before. Not to mention the body ache from the force field I ran into was still there.

Clarke still chained, she noticed I woke up. 'Surprised you went to sleep, looked like you had a good nap.'

'Yeah.' I've tried to think of a good memory while I fought off the thoughts in my head. Moments with John that we had before we were locked in the skybox, the times I spent with Raven. Bellamy crossed my mind occasionally too; Even the Red Sun didn't help me forget about him.

She stared at me, 'Are you mad at me about something?'

'I'm sorry I'm a bit tired from fighting off the Red Sun, Clarke. I totally forgot to start an argument about how you love to abandon your people.'

It was out of pocket I know; Monty promised us to be better, to restore our humanity back. I knew out of everyone, I had a lot of work to do. Having Clarke beside me didn't make it any better, she continued to betray her family. I was a monster but at least I had Wonkru's back.

Clarke rolled her eyes and sighed, 'Shouldn't have asked.'

'Thought you knew by now.' I left a remark before I tossed her her keys to her chain. She threw mine back at me and I unchained myself from the wall.

Then I remembered the encounter I had with John before I came back; leaving Clarke by herself, I instantly rushing to the pond right outside the castle. I squeezed through the crowd of people, they weren't our people but my mind was too busy I didn't care. I eventually got to the middle of the crowd that was surrounding Bellamy and John.

My eyes widened as I saw John laying unconsciously, black veins popping out of his pale skin. I kneeled next to him, caressing his cheek and hoping that he'd wake up soon. 'W-what happened?'

'I don't know, I just woke up next to him like this.' Bellamy panicked, barely getting the words out of his mouth.

'Maybe I can help.' A deep voice came from behind me. It was a man with fancy clothes walking this way. 'We have something that can revive him.'

'Re-revive? So he's dead?' My mind went blank as I stared at this man. There were so many thoughts running through my head. Who were these people and can I trust them? Can I really believe that John was dead?

Another man followed behind this fancy man, he seemed to be the doctor. As he pulled out a snake from inside his bag, he kneeled next to me. 'May I?'

My heart thumped fast, scared that I might of lost John for good. I didn't know who these people were but I had no other choice; It was better than not helping him at all.

'Please, help him.' I begged, taking a step back from him to give these people some space.

Watching John breathless and unconscious killed me; I think that this was when I realized I really loved him.

It hurt to think that I would spend the days without him, not only did I love him but he was my best friend. He was with me through everything, beginning with the days when we were up in the Ark to literally yesterday when he helped me through The Red Sun.

I needed him with me. The man pulled out a rather large orange snake from his bag, putting it closer to Murphy. The snake rattled, showing its sharp teeth as it slowly crawled onto his skin.

From the moment the snake touched him, the black veins disappeared and eventually left John's skin unmarked. The snake actually worked, I thought to myself.

Murphy inhaled, coughing as he tried to catch his breath. He became somewhat conscious but he wasn't opening his eyes. All that mattered at this moment was that he was alive again.

'John, oh my-' I caressed his face, kissing his cheek over and over again. Happy tears rolled down my eyes, so relieved that I didn't lose him.

'If you don't mind, I would like to speak with you all inside. I'll have my people bring this gentleman in.' The man with the fancy outfit asked.

I nodded my head, getting up as I smiled at him. 'Yes, of course. Thank you for saving him.'

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'So what's the plan?' Clarke asked, her arms crossed as we stood in a circle.

'Make sure you don't talk for starters.' I joked but was half way serious. 'Last time around, you sided with the fucking psychopath and nearly got us killed.'

'Oh, I don't remember siding with you Skafaiya.' She commented back. She was lucky that side of me was gone, otherwise she would've been stabbed on her foot before she could say "Madi."

I looked over at her and flashed a sarcastic smile. 'Every time you're involved, something backfires. You're the reason why Earth is gone.'

'No, you and Octavi-'

'Guys, guys.' Echo stood between us, 'We have to make sure we know what we're talking about before these people show up.'

'She's right, we have to make sure they like us enough to take us in.' Shaw agreed with Echo.

Emori chuckled. 'After hearing everything that we've done, I hardly believe that's going to happen.'

Bellamy rolled his eyes. 'This is our one and only chance. Let's be on our best behavior, alright?'

Looking over at John, I watched him lying on the bed that the people prepared for him. He seemed fine but the fear of him not coming back didn't leave my mind. I already had Marcus that was severely injured that may not survive, I couldn't lose John too.

The man who seemed like the leader type walked in, the same man that offered to help John. With him came a bunch of people, most likely body guards of some sort.

'So what brings you guys here to my palace?'

I stepped in, scratching my head as I felt nervous. 'Well, we came from Earth and then we found this place after being in cryo for years. We landed and we were looking around to see if it’s habitable. Then we stumbled upon this place and well, you know the rest.'

'Earth? Wow. I haven't heard about Earth in ages.' The man smiled, 'The name is Russell and I can try to make arrangements for you all to stay. I'd first like to have a meeting to get to know you all better.'

'Before that sir, there's something you might want to know.’ Clarke stepped up, scratching her head as she let out a nervous laugh. ‘We aren’t the only ones that landed out here.’

'How many of you are out there?'

She sighed, 'Over 200.'

Russell let out a breath. 'We can't take that many, we don't even know if we can take you guys in. For all we know, you could be criminals escaping Earth.'

'Ha, that'll be crazy right?' Shaw commented sarcastically, scooting near me as Russell looked over at him.

'Can we perhaps talk to our people back in our ship, see what we can do.' I added. It was nice that they were offering their own place but who knows what these people are. Last time we landed on someone's territory, people died.

He nodded, agreeing to what I had offered. 'I don't see why not. While you guys do that, I can maybe show some of you around Sanctum. Worst thing that can happen is that we become neighbors, right?'

Bellamy stepped in, smiling to convince the man. 'That sounds like a great idea, I'll take a few with me back to the ship.'

I walked over to Clarke, whispered in her ear to make sure she heard me but no one else did. 'You guys make sure we're not dealing with psychos.'

'That's what they're probably saying about you.' Clarke made a snarky comment. I chose to ignore, I was tired of her judgement when she had no room to talk. 'Why do I have to do it?'

'Because I need to go back and make sure Marcus is okay. Is that a problem? Or are you tempted to blow this place up as well?'

Clarke rolled her eyes, 'What about Murphy?'

'John seems like he's getting better, besides I know Emori won't let anyone mess with him so I feel safer going back to the ship.'

'Okay, go do what you got to do.'

Turning to Bellamy, I tapped him on his forearm. 'I'm ready to go.'

Bellamy looked over at Murphy, then back to me. 'What about him?'

'What about him?' I asked back, replying back with a bit of pettiness. There was no need to ask about my relationship between me and John. He lost the right to know when he decided to betray me.

He got the hint as he bit his lip and looked down on the ground. It's been a while since I've saw him sad and guilty, the last time I did was when he thought Pike had executed me.

Walking pass him and out the door back outside, I prepared for another yet long walk back to our ship.

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

Going back to the ship felt like forever. My body was in pain from the force field and not to mention my leg wasn't completely healed from when I got shot by McCreary's men back at the gorge. It didn't also help that the people I was walking with were Bellamy and Echo.

I tried to put my distance between the two of them, sticking next to Shaw as much as I can as we trailed from behind. They would mumble something amongst each other as well but I had to pretend that I didn't give a shit. I hated that I was curious about what they were talking about.

Bellamy then stopped, waiting for me to catch up to them as he eventually started walking next to me. Reading the signs, Shaw caught up with Echo, walking next to her this time.

What Shaw didn't do was read my sign, giving him the signal with my eyes that I didn't want to be left alone with Bellamy. But as polite as he was, he gave us some space.

'Reyes, I really am sorry.'

'Do you remember the conversations we had when we lived at the drop ship?'

'Of course I do.'

I sighed, 'Do you? Because I'm sick and tired of hearing your apologies. That's all I've told to you when we first met and now you're doing it all over again.'

'Tell me what I should do then. Tell me how I can be better.'

'There isn't anything you can do. It's done.'

'I don't believe that it is.'

'It's not just the kiss that I'm upset about, Blake.'

He reached for my arm, pulling me to stop me from walking. Bellamy looked me in the eyes, 'Then what is it?'

'No, I shouldn't have to spell it out for you.'

'Well, I need to know to fix what I've done wrong. That's how much I care to make this right.'

A chuckle escaped my mouth, 'You know. If you really cared from the beginning, we wouldn't be in this mess.'

His brow raised, licking his lips before he said what he said. 'You don't have any room to talk, Skafaiya.'

My nose flared, anger coming out of me. With instant instinct, I shoved Bellamy but of course he didn't budge. 'You want to get back with me and you say this type of shit, Bellamy. That's what's wrong with you.'

'You're telling me-'

Instantly cutting him off, I practically shouted at him. 'No. You want to know the difference between you and John? He doesn't judge me and the mistakes that I've made. Despite all the things I've done, he understands that I am me. He loves me for who I really am.'

Bellamy swallowed the lump in his throat, staring at me like a sad, lost puppy. I knew that he hated John, especially because of the close relationship I had with him again. But this was probably the only way he will get a proper idea in his head.

'I've never brought up your past mistakes that you've made. With that, I still loved you because in the end, I knew who you really were. I knew that the things you've done wasn't the real you, it was just a mistake that you had to learn from. So don't give me that bullshit, Blake. Stop being a fucking hypocrite.'

I took a deep breath, mostly to keep myself controlled so I wouldn't cry. I didn't want to hear another word from him, I was tired of crying and explaining myself to him. Walking in a faster pace, I left him behind by himself, catching up with Shaw and Echo. I'm pretty sure they heard all of our conversation but I was too hurt to even care. I didn't know what to do with him anymore.

[fencesandfrogs]

some thoughts on dovewing and hollyleaf

so i was like 1k words into my au for dovewing where she’s cloudtail and brightheart’s daughter and it was really good and then i lost it because tumblr doesn’t understand the concept of “are you sure you want to navigate away from this page?” and i can’t tell you how sad that makes me but i’m not going to despair, because i think the world needs this.

[1.5k words. 5 minute read. wall of text.]

right. so. basically. dovewing is going to be born to cloudtail and brightheart. i have Thoguhts on what other things could be changed in po3 but this isn’t about that.

also ivykit is red now sorry i don’t make the rules. (brightheart OR dovewing are now tortie to compensate for the change in genetics, not that warriors cars about that, but i do. cloudtail inherits brown from his mother and ??? from his father because i haven’t traced all of their litters, but i don’t see why dovekit couldn’t be grey.)

so cinderheart gets dovepaw because dovepaw is anxiety child. lionblaze gets ivypaw because that��s going to be a drama engine when he’s obsessed with her sister(’s mentor, but ivypaw doesn’t know that, also later it is dovepaw bc propehcy)

cloudtail and brightheart and cinderheart work out some Sensory Blocking skills. beavers happens. dovepaw, who spent most of her time as dovekit hiding in big fluffy father’s fur because Sensory, takes one look at big and fluffy and kind tigerheart and says: yes, he is safe. i will be his friend.

(i’m a fan of tigerheart and dovewing don’t @ me, they are the cutest, and after everything bramble and squirrel put me through, i deserve some pure kind love.)

anyway lionblaze figures out dove is 3rd cat, jayfeather is like “oh sick my sister’s back” dovepaw is anxiety child, everything is fine.

nothing happens in omen of the stars i stg

tigerheart and dovepaw continue to meet up. ivypaw goes from “sister worshipped i am unloved” to “sister fragile. must protect. (also i am unloved)” bc skirmish on border patrol and dovepaw just...can’t.

everyone is kind of wondering if dovepaw should maybe be med cat? i mean she has a good ear for prey, but she can’t really catch it, and, like, she’s weird.

she’ll mention snippets of information she shouldn’t know. she knows what you were coming to talk to her about before you get there. she’s never surprised, by, like, anything far away, but she barely notices if you sneak up on her.

something is not right about her.

but dove doesn’t really want that (reminder: tigerheart and her are still flirting-friends. he’s aware that she’s got some kind of, well, problem seems cruel, but what else should he call it?, and wants to help her, but has no idea what to do), and so cinderheart is like “well. we can do this. we can.”

idk filler stuff. ivypaw finds out about dovepaw and tigerheart. like, she knew something was up, but she gets explicit confirmation. ivy gets very protective of dovepaw, dovepaw is like ‘ur not my mentor’ ivypaw sees tigerheart in the dark forest, and she goes all

bluefur being like “snowfur ur bf has rabies” in bluestar’s prophecy

and it goes about as well now as it did then (altho tbf dovepaw is more close to being in the right than snowfur was.)

ivypaw and dovepaw now aren’t speaking. cinderheart is trying to get some space from lionblaze because dovepaw is anxiety child, training with ivypaw isn’t helping, and lionblaze needs to focus on ivy dammit.

anyway yeah in this ivypaw, after dovepaw’s initial success hunting, quickly surpasses her sister, and continues training in the dark forest because must protecc also need affection

(ivypaw is very pro dovepaw be a medicine cat. the fact that it keeps her away from tigerheart is a major bonus.)

cinderheart doesn’t know what to do. finally someone is like “hey what if we go to the tribe.” because the tribe deserves to fix clan problems for once.

the tribe is like “yeah the world sure is a big place with a lot to look at. that’s why only half of us look.” (i know that’s not exactly how cave guard’s work but close enough.)

cinderheart is like “hm. what if, dovepaw, just a thought, what if you just, you know, avoid battles? i know it’s part of clan life but judging by the two souls crammed into my body, i’d say there’s been very few major conflicts over this and, reasonably, you should be able to avoid being chosen for battle control.”

dovepaw says, “but cinderheart, i’m a main character! unless i’m being punished or taught a lesson about duty, i’ll be automatically registered for every battle patrol until i die!”

cindheart says, “you’re right, i’m so sorry. hey ivypaw, [whoops yeah ivy and lion are here too sorry i forgot to mention that] what if you two learn to work as a team.”

dovepaw says, “i don’t want to work with her.”

ivypaw says, “that’s a great idea.”

because dovepaw talks very quietly (she forgets not everyone can hear as well as her), ivypaw wins.

they work out their issues, return to the clans after quite some time.

(this also gives dovepaw a good memory for a long time in the future when shadowkit is born. i don’t actually know when that happens because i just finished tigerheart’s shadow and it’s not there, but i’ll find it eventually)

anyway dovepaw and ivypaw haven’t settled their differences, but they have a peace treaty. no one is sure how to integrate the team style in most effectively, but with her senses dampened from the tribe, dovepaw gets a bit better at hunting.

she’s also now 200% anxiety, meaning she’s basically vibrating all the time, but at least she’s learning. and she’s got the technical skills, too, she just couldn’t focus on applying them.

so dovepaw gets to really earn her success.

alright they become warriors, the battle is approaching.

this is like at least 3 books worth of content when you consider that jayfeather and hollyleaf are alive and hollyleaf is kind of, either dead or alive, tunnels or not, on top of shit in this universe. she knows shit gon go down. she’s going to be ready.

anyway right so dovewing and ivypool. that’s pretty much it except dovewing is more useful during the final battle. i’m not sure how i just know she is.

alright now i’m very tired and wanted to be done half an hour ago but here’s most of an au for you.

i came back like ten minutes later to add: the later three books would focus more on ivypool, hollyleaf, and jayfeather. dovewing is off in the background flirting with tigerheart. she and lionblaze have like one and a half brain cells between them. ivy holly and jay are the brains of the operation, and everyone knows it.

so they’re making plans and preparing and dealing with trust issues and lionblaze is like “what if? cinderheart. who is the best cat. what if she and i. had children. would they be. the best cat. squared?”

and dovewing, thinking of tigerheart, is like “no you idiot bestness is additive. that’s why my kits with tigerheart would be at least two times better than any other kits.”

*to be clear, kits are here the figurative marker of a relationship since warrior cats don’t have marriage. dovewing is basically like the fifteen year old doodling her name with tigerheart. she’s not serious about having children with him (yet), but it makes a tangible concept to picture their relationship in.

and meanwhile ivy is like “so if xyz is a taitor, that means i have to win over birchfall to make sure our numbers are evenly matched,”

(dovewing. i lovewing the dovewing, but she’s, well, not that smart.)

so yeah i think book protags would go:

dovepaw (i’d like to save her for later but unfortunately i think we need her deep characterization to provide context for her and tigerheart and sensory overload), ivypaw secondary

lionblaze, hollyleaf secondary (this is kind of a filler book while hollyleaf is set up as not a permanent resident of background character hell so lionblaze is just interpersonal drama moving the plot forward and filling in propechy info)

cinderheart, lionblaze secondary (i want them to be sorted faster, and dovewing’s second book needs to be later for tigerheart drama)

hollyleaf, jayfeather secondary (transitional book in focus, sharp narration turn because i have this working as 2 3 book arcs with a weaker overall arc, and since this is about dovewing i focused mostly on the first)

jayfeather, cinderheart secondary (dove+ivy need to close the arc together, also, cinderheart is like a central character to everyone else here, so she can sustain a whole lot of b plots)

ivypool, dovewing secondary (sisters, also, in this ivypool is far more important in the battle tha dovewing is. i mean sure dovewing is doing something, but the whole success of the battle hinges on ivypool, and everyone knows it.)

*in case I post more about it this au is tagged cloudtail's daughter. I already found calico dovewing that's gorgeous.

[youxidol]

ｖａｍｐｉｒｅ!ｅｘｏ ｒｅａｃｔｉｏｎ: mate’s death

Minseok:   

Minseok was a peaceful and quiet vampire, but because EXO was on the hitlist of a coven of dark witches, he was at risk. He thought that they would come after him, injuring him for a short while, but he’d fully recover. He never expected the hit to go onto you.

A perfect spring date was ruined by the coven placing a curse on you through a potion in your drink. A curse that would slowly and painfully make you waste away right infront of your partner. 

The moment he realised a curse had been put on you, he had the Red Velvet coven give you everything possible to try and stop it, but in the end it overpowered everything. 

He carried you to the bed, hoping you would get some sort of comfort so you could pass peacefully. The action failed and you still writhed in pain, trying everything to get the feeling to leave you alone for just a second. 

He made no effort to move when he heard your heartbeat finally stop, staying curled up with you surrounding him, a position he would stay in until he was forced out of it by his clan.

Junmyeon: 

Junmyeon had always been passionate about you staying human for as long as possible, wanting you to enjoy everything he never had the chance to. As time went on, you slowly aged; it was something he never noticed. You were still you, and he still adored you. 

To celebrate turning 200, you asked him to take you to the beach that you spent most of your days on when you first met. He happily planned it and took you, just as excited as you to go back to where things started between you. 

His hands help onto your tightly, helping you sit down on the sand before he wrapped you with the thick wool blanket you had been depending on alot recently. 

Your aged body had to lean against his for support as you watched the horizon together. Memories of your life together flooded your head while your eyes watched as the sky changed with the sunset. 

The prince kept his eyes on you, his own smile coming onto his lips once he saw yours. You stayed like this until the stars lit up the dark sky, your body slowly relaxing more and more into his as you peacefully took in your final minutes of life.

His lips pressed to your grey hair and his arms pulled you closer to him upon hearing your heart came to a stop. “Thank you for letting me love you.” 

Yixing:

Your death had happened so quickly. One of the newborns Yixing was tutoring snapped at your smell and drained you of your blood and life, leaving you limp infront of the prince. 

He rushed you to somewhere private and sent his venom into your system, biting several parts of your body to get as much of it inside you as possible so you could transition. 

Everything he had planned was cancelled in favour of spending time by your bedside. He spoke of all the things you’d do together once you woke up, but as the days went on, he grew silent, simply holding and kissing your hand. 

He entered the room on the day that marked your second week, hoping to find you sat up and bombarding him with questions about what happened. The scenario that played in his head about this moment was ruined when your body was in the same position he left it, this time with your skin pale and ashy, a sign that he had failed.

No grudge was held against the younger, their thirst was something they couldn’t control, but his inability to save you and teach would be something that would haunt him for the rest of his lonely life. 

Baekhyun:

Baekhyun was a playful soul, always wanting to cuddle, play fight, and be touchy with you. Sometimes he completely forgot how powerful he was and how fragile you were. 

Like every other night, he greeted you at the door, a wide grin on his face and eyes sparkling with love. “Welcome home!” he bounced on his feet, watching you shed your coat and shoes. Once you were done, his arms wrapped tightly around you, squeezing you close to his body. 

The crack of your spine was covered by the sound of the squeals he emitted, happy to see you again after the tedious few hours you spent apart. When he pulled away, your body dropped to the floor, making him think you were pranking him. 

“Very funny,” he beamed, kneeling next to you on the floor, hands moving to your waist, ready to tickle you out of your act. 

It took him a minute to realise that you weren't putting this on, the giddiness leaving his body immediately. “Y/N?” he frowned at the lack of heartbeat. 

He took no time to gather you in his arms, nuzzling his face into your hair as he let the tears of guilt and pain run down his face.

Jongdae: 

Jongdae adjusted his tie for what felt like the millionth time, earning a chuckle from the owner of the cafe in which he was waiting for you. It was out of character for you to be late, so he decided to call you to see if there needed to be a cancellation. 

“Hello?” the voice that greeted him wasn’t yours, sending panic through his body.

“Where’s Y/N?”

“The owner of this phone? They’ve been involved in an accident.” 

The ambulance speeding past the cafe erased any thought that you were pulling some kind of joke. He rose from his seat and rushed out of the cafe, following the emergency vehicle. 

He made it to scene in seconds after, eyes finding your body surrounded by worried people. Even though he wanted to bring you into his arms and have everyone leave, he knew the paramedics were needed, so he stood to the side, watching them examine you. 

He pushed his way to walk by your covered body while it was being taken into the ambulance. “That’s my partner,” he frowned, looking between the two. 

“I’m sorry,” one of them spoke up. “Would you like to ride in the ambulance with them?”

He didn’t answer. He just set off running. He didn’t care who saw, he ran until he reached the perfect dark alley. He couldn’t stand being there. We everything reminded him of you. He slid down the decaying wall of the building, staring blankly ahead, unable to shake off the numb feeling.  

Chanyeol: 

Protecting you had been Chanyeol’s number one task, making him completely neglect everything else. You finally got to reunite, something you both daydreamed about and played over in your heads. 

His hollowed cheeks managed to pull up into a smile as you entered the room. “Long time no see, baby,” he held his arms out for you to walk into. 

His appearance caused you to drop your bag and roll up your sleeve, offering yourself to him so he could get back to his normal self.  

“Thanks,” he whispered, wrapping his fingers around your wrist, pressing soft kisses to the skin like always before he sunk his fangs into you. 

He was surrounded by you, enjoying your smell, your feel, your aura after being separated for so long. This euphoric trance he was in made him completely miss your safeword and your pleas for him to stop. He continued to drink from you until the delightful sound of your heart faded into nothing and your body collapsed onto the floor with a thud. 

The noise snapped him out, making him realise what he had done. “Baby,” he breathed, mentally praying you were just unconscious. He knelt next to you, ear pressing to the chest that he had just robbed of a heartbeat. He fell back against the bed, his body erupting into loud sobs. 

Kyungsoo:

The hospital was a place that was too much for Kyungsoo. Too many smells, sounds and feelings that made him feel dizzy, but he pushed through it to be by your side. 

Your condition wasn’t improving, even after being given every possible treatment, leaving you bed ridden and dependant on heavy pain relief to get through the day. The doctor had told him to prepare for your passing, which he predicted to happen within the next week. 

He entered your room quietly, trying not to wake you up. While you were asleep, you looked peaceful, which was something he couldn’t bare to change. 

“I brought your favourite,” he whispered, setting the plastic tub down on the bedside table before leaning to press his plump lips to your forehead gently. Cold. He pulled back, fingers coming to press against your neck, trying to get a pulse. 

The dizziness left him, everything was silent as he leaned down to pepper your skin in kisses and whisper a slurred mess of “Thank you” and “I love you.” He couldn’t cry. He knew that wherever you were now was being kinder than this world had been, that you no longer had to suffer and that within the next few weeks, he’d be joining you. 

Jongin: 

You were snatched from right under Jongin’s nose. He thought he had left you somewhere safe, but the younger clan that targeted you had a strong scent tracker and found you within days, holding your hostage in an untouched building. 

The clan managed to find and surround the building, ready to attack at his say. 

“He’s here,” he heard a voice say, causing him to tense up. “He brought his friends.”

“Kill them,” the snappy order triggered him to rush inside, trying to get to you. He wasn’t fast enough, your bloody and bruised body slumped over in the chair, your heartbeat gone, the vampire behind it stood next to you, smirking proudly at his work. 

Rage filled him, making him use his last few moments as a vampire to wipe out everyone in the room. 

“I’m so sorry,” he breathed as he came to kneel infront of you, cupping your cheek in his palm. “I failed you. I hope when we meet again you can forgive me.”

Sehun: 

Sehun’s hand gave yours a reassuring squeeze as he lead you through the grand halls of the palace to the throne room where his parents waited. 

“Breathe. Everything will be okay,” he leaned forward, connect his lips with your cheek before pushing open the door to the grand room, exposing you to his parents for the first time. 

“Mother. Father,” he greeted, bowing his head before turning to gesture to you. “This is my mate. Y/N,” he spoke proudly, moving his hand from yours to wrap around your waist. 

“Human?” the queen frowned, eyeing you up and down. “Did you forget what we taught you?” the two rose from their thrones to approach you both. You saw your partner’s posture change from the corner of your eyes, shoulder slumping slightly. 

You were separated from eachother, his father pulling you to the centre of the room, inspecting you closer. 

“Don’t,” the prince begged, trying to push past his mother to get to you. 

The queen gathered her prince into her arms, holding him in place as his father took you from him with a swift snap of your neck. 

“It’s for the better,” his mother soothed, stroking his hair when his body went limp against her. 

[figjelly]

The 2018 Rumination Spectacular

It’s a long post. It’s gonna be triggering. Blacklist “ash 2018″ and “long post.” Sorry mobile users. Here’s a picture. Use this as a warning that you should blacklist those tags NOW if you don’t wanna read:

For about a week, I’ve wondered how to start this post. How to finish it. What to put in the middle. It’s really a shame, being depressed and anxious and all sorts of other things but maintaining a high self-esteem. It’s not like I want to. My mind and my brain and my body refuse to let me just be. They constantly remind me I have to be center stage, the best, to be adored. Let’s be honest. I don’t have high self-esteem. I have an obsessive, insatiable desire for love because I was born to abusive people. I was raised by more abusive people. I’ve continued to place my trust and well-being in abusive people. And then, when things fall spectacularly apart, I blame myself. I blame my body. I blame my brain. I blame my mind. A lot has happened this year. A big thing: the realization that I desperately crave others to want me. I want to feel loved and valuable and interesting and just wanted. And, I guess, that’s what school gave me. I left my PhD program in May 2017 and it’s taken almost two years to realize I didn’t stay in school or move into higher education because I had a burning passion (okay, I mean, I do still have a passion for my work but it wasn’t the foundation). The American education system gave an abused child something slightly better than I had: praise and positive feedback for jumping hoops. My home life twenty years ago? There was no rhyme or reason to which behaviors would yield which result. School? College? Grad school? Let’s face it. I’m white. At the time I was identifying as straight and female. I was going into STEM. Perform well, earn As, be friendly. Rules rules rules. Two weeks ago, I finally told my therapist of almost five years how my first sexual experience was a doctor raping me. It’s really funny. Hilarious actually how it’s taken thirty-one years to feel like I am my own person. Because before the doctor, there’d been my step-father (”It isn’t really enough to do anything with,” the police had told me when I was sixteen at my then therapist’s office). There’d been the high school boyfriend (”My dad was in the marines. I inherited his anger management problems.”). But there was also my mom. My grandmother who isn’t my grandmother but she “adopted” my mom as her daughter. They met online on a forum for Forever Knight, a 90s Canadian supernatural romance crime show about a woman who has a vampire for a partner. It’s really hard, yanno, to be gentle with myself. Don’t be angry.

So, 2018 was a year of me working on this. I’m still working. I’m angry at everything nowadays. There’s no good resolution to it other than to sit with it. I don’t understand how people can say, “Let anger go,” like I intentionally hold onto it. This anger and pain and trauma is carved into my bones and it gets carried through like oxygen in my bloodstream. Whenever I think about this anger at myself, the regret and the hurt, the left side of my left arm hurts. It starts about the middle of my forearm and goes to my pinky. Asking when this started isn’t a useful question. I’m angry because I let myself be used and hurt by people. I’m angry because I ignored my own needs and wants. I’m angry because now I’m thirty-one and it feels like my life is over. I made a lot of decisions and they were all made for the benefit of others. “Be your own person,” only works when you’ve got a person who isn’t desperate for love. I’m angry because I feel like I’ve wasted my life worrying about other people. Yes, yes. I’m not old. Don’t bother telling me. You don’t pay my bills. You can tell me what I feel when you give me money--substantial amounts of it. In 2005, I gave my step-father $1500. I’ve been working at the local Dairy Queen for years, saving money religiously because I was desperate to get a car, drive, gain independence. My parents told me the insurance was too expensive. My step-dad was the only driver because my mom has MS. It would probably never happen, but just in case. I should save, just in case. I gave my step-father money because he said, “The van needs fixed. Without it, you know your mom can’t get to the hospital.” I can’t remember any night between the ages of 15-17 when the police of the EMTs weren’t at my house. All of my homework was usually left abandoned in red and blue lights. I’d get back to it at midnight. Nothing mattered to my teachers except that I made As. At this point, I don’t know where blame lies but it seems pretty solid that I get stuck with the anger. 2018 was the year I realized that I don’t know how to have friends, how to keep a job, how to think about a career. 2018 was the year I realized that I have to make peace with living in poverty again. I was doing so well. Grad school was the best my finances had ever been. Until December 2013. I tried to kill myself. It’s old news. I was in the hospital. They forgot about me and I ended up spending three more days than needed. PROTIP: don’t try killing yourself during the holidays. Everyone will just tell you the holidays are rough for everyone. And finals. Mid-December is the time for students to also feel the pressure. If you’re neither of these, good luck. I took out massive amounts of student loans to go back to school. To pay my hospital bills. I was so desperate to get back into school because it was the only place that made sense. 2018 was the year I decided to change my name, my gender. I’m learning how to live in my body. It’s taken thirty-one years, but I’ve come to the realization it was mine. For six years, I took meds that made me weigh over 200 lbs all for the benefit of the high school boyfriend. For five years I starved myself because I wanted everyone to see what a successful PhD student I was. My body has never been mine before. This is a new thing for me. 2018? It started off with hope. There was less hope for most of it. I think it’s ending with hope. I hope it is.

My mom refuses to stop calling me. Five years ago, I stopped answering her calls. I begged her to stop. I was polite. I was rude. I was angry. I was at peace. I’ve tried everything. Her contacting me isn’t about me, it’s about her. It’s about what she wants. in December of 2013, I tried to kill myself.

It’s so old news, my mom told my partner when he called her, “Oh. Well, let me know when everything’s okay.” In 2009 I was admitted into the hospital for exhaustion. I’d had a breakdown in college. I was told to try yoga. Meditation. I was told it was just test anxiety. All I’ve ever desperately wanted was to be the priority.

And I bent for other people. I broke myself and put myself back together in ways other people would find pleasing. I bend and I break and now my body hurts. Chronically. In 2016 I was in a car accident. My partner has told me most of this story. I remember almost nothing. I spent two months locked up in my house with a concussion. More debt. More weight gained. My partner tells me at one point the doctors kept poking and prodding my feet. He tells me that I wasn’t responding and that my legs weren’t moving. He was horrified that the accident had left me paraplegic. I don’t remember any of this. The doctors eventually told him it was just shock. My body overloaded with too much too fast. And not enough neuron action, I guess. Too much, not enough. I discovered yesterday that Jack Kerouac said something similar. I’ve never read anything by him. Must be a common human feeling. Everything is too much. Everything is not enough. 2018 is right now still and I’m still working on reshaping myself for myself and not for others. 1987 was right then and thirty days before it ended, I came at the last minute. I’ve spent my entire life trying to make sure I was early to make a good impression. Now, I arrive when I arrive. I live in the land of -ish. Work hasn’t yelled at me. Yet. 2018: I started drawing again. I started writing again. I am trying not to feel like I’m too old. I’m working. I’m trying. I’m doing. I’m poor. I feel like my college degree warrants me not that but que was que is. I obsessively think about contacting my mom. No matter the meds, I have to count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 every time I lock the door to the comic book shop where I work. If I don’t, the door isn’t locked. I’ve never had wide hips but I’ve always had thick thighs. My butt has always been big. My culture rather I’d accept my fate as a woman, bend myself and break myself to be one. They don’t belong to me. My thighs eat anything that comes between them. I wish I was being literal. I wish my thighs had eaten other people’s hands and other body parts. Vagina dentata is too late for my tastes. I want my thighs to reflexively snap like a bear trap and break someone’s neck. But I have a hard enough time finding clothes I can live with. I’m wearing the pants of Theseus right now. I’m tired of sewing patches into the holes my thighs keep eating. 2018 and I’m wondering if I will ever stop hurting. But it’s 2018 and I know I’m a better me than I’ve ever been before. And right now, that’s enough.

[diygabl]

How to start beekeeping for free!

Beekeeping has recently become popular again, having been in decline for more than half a century. Honeybees have been in the news for all the wrong reasons: collapsing colonies, pesticide poisoning and parasitic mites - and all this bad news seems to have triggered a desire in people to want to help and nurture this vitally-important insect that - despite all our scientific advances - we still do not fully understand.

Beekeepers have generally been regarded by the media as harmless, doddery old men (mostly), who do strange things with wooden boxes full of bees, while dressed in sartorially suspect garb. However, this image is beginning to change, with more and more women and younger people being attracted to the idea of learning this ancient craft and a new urgency in the air about preserving our bees - both 'kept' and wild - for their important role as pollinators, as well as for their own sake.

Free download - An Introduction to Balanced Beekeeping

When people first consider keeping bees, their most likely first port of call is their local Bee Keepers Association. Here they will almost always find a friendly welcome and a great deal of technical chat among the 'old hands', most of which will sound like a foreign language at first. When the jargon is translated, it turns out that one will be required to part with a not inconsiderable sum of money in order to buy one's ticket into this arcane world: the glossy catalogues full of shiny, stainless steel are beguiling, but the accompanying price lists can come as quite a shock.

Did this put you off beekeeping?

Don't let it! It is perfectly possible to become a beekeeper - a good beekeeper - without blowing a good chunk of one's hard-earned savings. In fact, as I shall show you, you can even do it virtually for free! The next hurdle to confront the would-bee keeper is the hefty weights you are expected to lift and carry. Using conventional equipment, you need to be able to lift at least 50 pounds (about 25 kilos) dead weight from ground level - not something to try if you are lightly built and not used to lifting in that class. Again, this does not have to be the case: I will show you how the least fit person can become a beekeeper. In fact, using my system, you could even work a hive from a wheelchair and never have to lift more than a kilo or two. Another obstacle that may kill off the newbee's enthusiasm is that of storage space. Using conventional hives, you cannot fail to accumulate all kinds of 'extras' - odd-shaped boxes, frames, roofs, extractors - all kinds of stuff the 'old hands' forgot to mention at that first meeting - and you will need space to store it. We are talking real garage space, folks. Once more I have good news: follow my system and you will not need any extra storage space, as everything can be stored inside the hive itself!

Free download - How To Start Beekeeping For Free!

So what does it really take to become a beekeeper? 

The essentials are simple enough: some sort of hive, a hat and a veil, an old, white shirt and - to start with at least - maybe some gloves - and the agreement of the people who share your living space. It doesn't matter whether you are a town or a country dweller, so long as there is an abundant and varied supply of flowering plants from early spring onwards. In fact, bees often do better in well-gardened, urban areas than in the 'green desert' of modern, industrial farm land. Like many beekeeping novices, I began with a conventional, framed hive - the kind with sloped-sided outer boxes familiar from children's books. Soon, I acquired a couple more and began to realize that if I was to continue along this road, I would have to build myself a big shed in which to house all the spare woodwork and other paraphenalia that was rapidly accumulating - and I would have to find a way to pay for all the 'extras' I would soon be needing. Does it really need to be this way? 

That innocent question led me on an exploratory mission of reading, study and experimentation that showed me conclusively that, no it does not need to be that way: beekeeping does not need to be complicated, expensive or dependent on machine-made parts and equipment. My search for an alternative approach led me to the top bar hive - one of the oldest and simplest types of beehive - that requires little skill and few tools to build. A good start on the road to sustainable simplicity, but is it a practical hive for modern beekeeping? After some years of experimenting and testing various designs, I now have a top bar hive design that is easy to build, practical and productive, while being comfortable and easy to use for both the bees and the beekeeper. It is bee-friendly, because bees are not given any nasty shocks, like having their roof ripped off - and beekeeper-friendly because you never have to lift any heavy boxes. So what are top bar hives? 

The principle is simple: a box with sticks across the top, to which bees attach their comb. Mine have sloping sides and a pair of 'follower boards' to enclose the colony. There are many variations on this theme and all have the essential guiding principle of simplicity of construction and management. There are no frames, no queen excluders, no ekes, no mouse guards, no supers, no foundation and there is no need for extractors, settling tanks, filters, de-capping knives... in fact no need for any other equipment or storage space, other than that provided within the hive itself. And if you have just spent an hour leafing through suppliers' catalogues, wondering how you can possibly afford to keep bees, that will come as some relief! Building a top bar hive is no more difficult than putting up shelves and can be done using hand tools and recycled wood. Top bar beekeeping really is 'beekeeping for everyone' - including people with disabilities, bad backs, or a reluctance to lift boxes: honey is harvested one comb at a time, rather than by the box. From the bees' point of view, top bar hives offer weatherproof shelter, the opportunity to build comb to their own design - without the constraints of man-made wax foundation - and minimal disturbance, thanks to a 'leave well alone' style of management.

Download the FREE plans - How To Build a Top Bar Hive

So where do you get bees from? 

You can buy them or catch them, or if you are lucky, they will adopt you! Catching or luring a swarm is by far the most fun - and much easier than you might think. Bees swarm in response to their instinct to reproduce - mostly in spring and early summer - and the sight of a swarm in flight is certainly impressive. However, contrary to popular belief, this is the time when they ar least likely to sting you: their only concern at that moment is to find a new place to live. So if you offer them the right sort of accommodation at the right time - such as a pleasant-smelling, cosy beehive - they are very likely to move in of their own accord. Many people become beekeepers by enticing a passing swarm using a few drops of citronella or lemon grass oil, or better still, rubbing the inside of the hive with pure beeswax. 

Capturing a swarm is not difficult either - hold a basket or cardboard box under their football-sized cluster on a tree branch and give a good shake! It is not always as easy as that, but it is rarely as difficult as getting a cat out of a tree. 

Will I get stung? 

Most likely you will get stung from time to time, however careful you are. Local swelling, redness and itching is a normal reaction: faintness, breathing difficulties and collapse are true allergic symptoms and are potentially life-threatening. Most people who keep bees become less sensitive to stings over time, but sometimes it goes the other way and occasionally an experienced beekeeper may suddenly become allergic. So if you have any reason to suppose you may be sensitive to bee venom (only about one in 200 people are) be sure to carry Benadryl or an Epipen (adrenaline injection) and ensure that whoever you are with is properly equipped to deal with an emergency. Whether you approach it from the point of view of conservation, entomology, crop pollination or simply a love of honey, beekeeping is an engaging pursuit and a fascinating window on the natural world. Bees are in trouble right now - from pesticides, industrial farming, pollution, parasitic mites and viruses - and we need all the 'natural' beekeepers we can get to build up their numbers and give them a chance to solve their own problems. So, if you want to keep bees, build yourself a hive before the swarm season, and you could be tasting your own honey by the end of the summer!

Source:

[harleyquilt]

A new life. (Touken fluff fic)

Summary: au of if kaneki joined touka to the new cafe instead of fighting arima, inspired by 144 and requested by @rozemaryblaze and @catsoul2

Notes: probably not my best work. But thank you for 200 followers!! Again, probably not the nest fic to celebrate with…but I’ll accept any requests given!! Thank you!!!!! Please enjoy and feedback~~

It was quiet in the new cafe, only the sound of the clock ticking and the distant sounds of touka’s voice talking to yomo in the main area. It had been a year since the Anteiku raid and since then, he had decided to use yomo’s advice and join him, touka, nishiki and hinami in making a new cafe in a new ward. A new life. One he hoped he wouldn’t regret.

It had took them the whole year to save up for the cafe and decorate it and the opening day had finally arrived. Kaneki wasn’t sure if he had recovered from his…instability from the years prior to this, but he knew being with touka and the others helped immeasurably, even if that may take him a while. Though, if he was completely honest, he continued to keep a distant relationship with his friends and very rarely shared any of his past experiences that still haunted him in his dreams at night. Atleast he was here, watching over them like he should have before. He won’t allow anyone to hurt them again.

“Kaneki.” Touka called out and peered into the break room he stood in with a handful of clothes in her hand. “Here’s your uniform. Are you sure you wanted to work as a waiter?”

“Yes.” He smiled honestly and took the clothes from her with a small thank you. “You said it would help if I stopped ‘lurking around,’ as you put it.”

At first, he couldn’t say he was comfortable with the idea of going back to being a waiter in the cafe, originally planning to join yomo with his jobs with yoshimura, but of course that plan was no longer possible. Nonetheless, he couldn’t deny that touka was wrong; he spent his days mostly hidden away on his own, but he could tell touka tried hard to help him take a step back into the real world. It was the least he could do for her and besides, maybe working with touka again would help distract him from the usual voices that dragged his mind to darker places he’d rather not dwell on.

“Sorry for being honest.” Touka smirked, already making her leave. “Hurry and get changed, we’ll be opening soon.”

His eyes stayed on her as she walked away, shaking his head quickly when he realised he was staring. Again. It was something he noticed he was doing a lot of since he came back and noticed how she had changed, growing a few inches taller, her hair becoming lighter and was now more curled with her new haircut. Calling her cute now would be an understatement, to say the least.

He once again tried to push away these thoughts. Thinking about touka in such a way…he shouldn’t let his thoughts wonder off so freely. Of course, he wasn’t going to lie and say he wasn’t fond of her. If anything, she had been on his mind for a very long time now, but he knew allowing himself to become closer to her would only lead to danger and the mere thought of her ending up in a situation and dyin- no, he couldn’t even think about it. He won’t let it come to that, so for that, he’ll continue avoiding her, even if it ended up hurting her. Besides, she would never think of him the way he does for her. Not after everything he had done and how much he had changed.

Why did you have to change…

Her words echoed in his mind as he started to remove his shirt, grabbing the freshly washed one touka gave him.

“Oh right, kaneki. I forgot to give you your-” touka stopped abruptly, her eyes widened at the sight of his bare chest, roaming them over the toned muscles he got over the past two years. A blush rose of her cheeks.

“What’s wrong, touka-chan?” Kaneki asked confused, slipping on the new shirt.

“Y-Your tie.” She sheepishly handed over the tie, biting her lip and trying so hard to avert her eyes. “You’ve changed so much. Last I remember, you were a bean pole.”

He laughed a little at her response, seeing her so embarrassed so amusing considering how she used to scold him for being so weak.

“Oh? Is that so?” Kaneki buttoned up his shirt. “I guess I followed your advice well then.”

“S-Shut up and get changed, idiot.” She stormed out of the room, releasing a breath she didn’t know she held. “How did get he get so good looking.” She mumbled to herself.

“Touka-chan.” He called out and when he heard her footsteps stop, a sly smile grew on his lips. “You know I can still hear you.”

“I’ll beat the hell out of you!” She yelled, rushing off.

…

It was closing time, the last of the few customers finally leaving and nishiki and kaneki wiped down the tables whilst touka went over to flip the sign on the door. The cafe was doing wonderfully well since it opened six months ago, many customers, both humans and ghouls, visited the cafe along with their endless compliments for touka’s delicious coffee.

She set out three new cups for her and the boys, preparing the coffee as they finished cleaning up.

“Jeez, such a busy day.” Nishiki complained and leaned against the mop. “Why am I working for you again?”

“Because you’re a lazy piece of shit with nothing better to do.” Touka sighed, pouring the water in each mug once it boiled.

“You shitty woman.” He huffed. “I deserve a raise.”

“Then insulting your boss will probably not be the best way to go about it.” Kaneki shook his head but continued to grin after he finished wiping over the last table.

“Atleast kaneki knows some respect.” Touka said smugly and stuck her tongue out to nishiki who rolled his eyes in response.

“That’s only because you two are into each other and then you say you don’t pick favourites.” Touka choked and kaneki ended up knocking over a few things from the table from nishiki’s comment, whilst he sat there smirking at their reactions. “Don’t try to deny it. I can practically smell the sexual tension and it’s bloody revolting.”

“Fucking idiot.” Touka snapped, holding up a mug ready to throw it right into his head. “I’ll kill you where you stand.”

“T-Touka-chan.” Kaneki stammered, hiding his blushing mess of a face with his hand. “You’ve already broke three mugs this past month.”

“Fine.” She grumbled, setting down the mug and moved on to finish the coffees. “He deserves it though.”

Kaneki and nishiki took a seat on the stools at the counter and touka passed them their drinks. They were silent as they took the first sip, savouring in the nostalgic taste that warmed them up as they drank. With every coffee she made, it had seemed touka had continued to make her coffees more like the managers’ and yet, it still wasn’t exactly the same. Not yet.

“This cafe is doing well, surprisingly enough.” Nishiki commented, his eyes wandered to the rest of the cafe. “And to think our lives be dammed after what happened in the 20th ward.”

“Well, it’s the least we could- wait, what do you mean ‘surprisingly enough?’ Did you not think that I could have done it?”

“If we’re talking about you who couldn’t even give anyone a decent haircut to save your life or you, who couldn’t go through one week without breaking a plate, then yes, it was surprising.”

They started to squabble once again and their voices grew louder with each comeback whilst kaneki sat by in silence, not really paying attention to the conversation. He held the mug in his hand and stared out of the window, the memories of the raid flooded into his mind.

You couldn’t protect them that day, a voice whispered harshly within him. You couldn’t save the manager or your other friends. You ruined their lives and forced them to start over. All you bring is pain-

“Kaneki.” Touka called softly, but it startled kaneki nonetheless and his mug fell from his hands and smashed loudly against the cold ground.

“Sorry.” Kaneki mumbled, kneeling to collect the broken shard but his hands continued to tremble violently, dropping the pieces as he tried to pick them up.

Worthless Worthless Worthless Worthless

Nishiki joined him, placing a hand on his shoulder and told him that he would sort it out whilst he goes to the break room to take a moment for himself. Kaneki gave a small nod and rose to move to the next room, avoiding to even look up to touka who called for him once again.

Pitiful meaningless empty weak pathetic selfish

The voices didn’t stop, bombarding him continually with a merciless wave of bitter resentment that tore his mind apart with the reminder that he was partially to blame for everything that had changed; He took nishiki away from kimi, he ruined the life touka tried so hard to build, hinami was forced to move away from the home she had finally found after her trauma. He’s the reason Yoshimura died. He ruined everything.

If he hadn’t been so selfish…

Touka knocked on the break room’s door lightly, asking if she could come inside but kaneki didn’t respond. Slowly, she opened the door slightly to the dark room, muffled sobs being heard somewhere in the dark and saw that after she turned on the lights, kaneki was in a small, crouched ball in the corner of the room, his arms covering his sobbing face and his hands clawed against his head. He flinched when he heard touka’s voice again and buried his face into his knees, trying to hold back his small sobs from her.

“Kaneki. You…” She didn’t know what she could say to comfort him.

He seemed so fine the times they were together, even if he faltered here and there. Perhaps she had only ignorantly hoped that he was healing, despite the fact that she knew better judging by how much he went through only for his only home to be destroyed. Did he blame himself? When he had reluctantly agreed to yomo’s proposal to join them, was he really moving on from his old ways, or was he using it as an excuse to distract him from the pain he secretly felt? And to think that he went through all of this on this own…not anymore, touka decided.

She approached him and sat down besides him and his grip tightened as he clenched his hair with his fists. It pained touka so much to see him in this state, the realisation of how much he must have kept to himself only now sinking in, but all she could think of was how much of an idiot she was for not noticing sooner.

“Kaneki.” Her voice was low but gentle, soothing kaneki in a such way he couldn’t describe. “Please look at me.”

He’s hesitant at first, but she waited patiently with him first lowering one arm before he removed the other, shakily lifting his head to face her. At first, he feared to look up to see pity, disgust even, written all over touka’s face, the fear that she would now see him for the weak person he was and it made him nauseous to even imagine, but he didn’t want to reject her. What he didn’t expect, however, was to see her smile. Such a beautiful smile. A smile that wiped away all worries and doubts, instantly warming his heart and calming his mind. All in one smile.

She lifted her hand slowly and pushed back his bangs and moved it down to his cheek, her thumb wiping away a stray tear from his bloodshot eyes. To her surprise, he hadn’t flinched away from her and had even shuffled closer and kept his hand over hers to prevent it from leaving him. She may not know the words to tell him, but maybe words weren’t needed right now. Maybe all he needed was to know that he wasn’t alone. She watched him shut his eyes and his brows furrowed as he rubbed small circled on the back of touka’s hand.

“Thank you.” He said, his voice hushed. “Thank you, touka-chan.”

“You don’t need to hide from me.” And she froze slightly when he nodded, resting his head against her shoulder. She brushed her fingers through his hair with her other hand and smiled to herself. “No one blames you for anything and even if they did, I would just beat them up for you.”

She felt him laugh against her, his hand squeezing hers slightly and she couldn’t deny the butterflies she felt in her stomach to see that she was able to make him happy, even if just a little.

“I’ll always be there for you, kaneki.”

…

It was so hard for her not to stare at him these days. He’s changed so much over the last few months, his roots reverted back to black with his hair becoming thicker and his face becoming more defined. His body also became more broad whilst he also grew a few more inches. She didn’t want to admit it, but he looked good.

“Careful, I see some drool from all that staring.” Nishiki smirked. “The word ‘subtle’ doesn’t seem to exist for someone like you.”

“Give it a rest.” She threw the wet cloth at his face and tried to ignore his persistent comments.

“All I’m saying is that you might as well as make a move whilst you can.” He nodded towards kaneki, who was talking to a very clearly interested, beautiful woman. “You’re not the only one into him.”

“I’m not into him.” She protested a little too loudly. “That idiot can do whatever he wants.”

Despite her words, her eyes continued to wander to where kaneki stood, the woman sitting cross legged with her head rested on her hand, her eyes fluttered with a cute smile that could bring any man to their knees. Kaneki, on the other hand, continued to remain polite, with that awkward smile of his and lighthearted voice and he clearly had no idea on how to respond to the woman’s flirting.

He seemed happy.

After she found him broken in the storage closet nearly six months ago, touka tried her best to help him move on from his painful thoughts and insecurities by being his support. After that day, he had slowly began to open up to her and shared small pieces of his past and experiences bit by bit with each passing day and eventually, the burdening weights that held him down were finally being lifted from his chest, she saw him become…happy. He started to smile more and even began to laugh again and what’s better was that he wasn’t avoiding her anymore. That was the greatest gift she could have received.

But as he opened up to her, she inevitably grew closer to him too and now she wasn’t exactly sure on how she felt. To be honest, she always had…Some feelings towards him, begrudgingly enough, but now she didn’t know how to react to them. Should she pursue them, of should she let him go and be happier with someone who wasn’t afraid to show their affection? She just simply wasn’t sure.

“Touka-chan.” Kaneki waved his hand in front of her, bringing back her attention. “Did you hear me.”

“W-What?” Touka shook her head and blinked hard. “Did you say something?”

Instead of being annoyed, he only smiled at her. He had such a beautiful smile.

“I said one espresso, please.” She nodded awkwardly and began to prepare the drink. “Such a daydreamer lately, touka-chan.” She froze when she felt his hand brush back a strand of loose hair. His touch was so warm. “Is there something on your mind?”

“I…” She almost dropped the cup, but caught it just in time. “Shit.”

He came round the counter and took the mug from her hand to set it down. Touka was more than certain that she was a blushing mess at this point, only hoping that the ground beneath her would just swallow her up already.

“Touka, your head is so hot. You must be catching a fever or something.” Kaneki frowned, placing a hand against her head. “Come on, I’ll take you to the break room. Nishiki-senpai, watch over please.”

With a knowing smile from nishiki, he nodded and gave a thumbs up to touka as kaneki began to guide her away from the cafe towards the break room. Touka, on her way out, caught a glimpse of that woman from earlier who glared right back at touka, jealousy written all over her face and touka couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

Once in the break room, kaneki gave touka a glass of water and went to find a damp cloth for her head. It was amusing in a way to see him so worried for her when it wasn’t too long ago that touka was aiding kaneki. He scurried around until he found one and dabbed it on her head.

“I’m fine, kaneki.” Touka said, but he didn’t seem to listen to her. “Stop worrying so much, my mind just drifted off a little.”

“Can you blame me for worrying?” Kaneki took the cloth away and placed his hand back onto her head, sighing with relief when he felt it was back to normal. “But I guess you’re right. I just can’t help it when it’s you.”

She expected him to leave then, but his hand stayed in placed and drifted down her cheek, his light touch sent a shiver through her. He locked his eyes onto hers, biting his lip nervously as if he was about to do something he wasn’t sure of. Touka didn’t know what to do and remained frozen in place, awaiting his next move, but instead he leaned back and quickly took his hand away.

“S-Sorry.” His voice shook and his hand moved to scratch the back of his head, turning his face away whilst he cringed at his own actions. “I don’t know what came over me then.”

Then, of all the things to happen, she pulled his tie and forced him to face her and leaned in. For a moment, she hesitated, licking her lips and waited for kaneki to push her away, but he merely stared at her with those big round eyes of his and pursed lips. She took a deep breath and pressed her lips against his.

It was weird at first, clumsy and awkward, but when she pulled away, trembling with sheer embarrassment, his hands cupped her face and pulled her back in for another kiss. It was softer this time, more patient and slow.

After a while, they finally broke away, but kaneki continued to hold touka’s face in his hands, his forehead against hers. He continued to plant small kisses on her nose to her cheek and touka smiled against him.

“Touka-chan.” He whispered, his voice laced with an undeniable happiness. “Touka-chan…”

“Yes?” She giggled and tugged him closer so that she could wrap her arms around him.

“Is this real?” Touka laughed again, kaneki beaming at the sound of her laughter, like music to his ears. “I can’t believe-”

“Shh.” She pressed a finger against his lips, dragging it down and opened his lips slightly. “Just go with it.”

“Oi,” Nishiki kicked the door. “Hurry up, your shifts aren’t over yet.”

Touka scowled, glaring at the door as kaneki leaned back. Of all times…

“It’s fine, touka-chan.” Kaneki smiled, noticing touka’s grim look. “This probably wasn’t the best time to do…This, but there’s no need to rush.”

Strangely enough, to hear such words from him was surprising. She was so used to seeing him leave, always being torn apart from each other for so long and now, he was willing to take his time, to continue this and see where it may lead. She wasn’t complaining, of course.

“Sure.” She agreed and the pair both left the room to an impatient nishiki and back into the cafe.

“When I talked about making a move, I didn’t expect you to be so sudden.” Nishiki whispered into her ear. She kicked his shin, shoving him away as she went to greet some new customers.

As she spoke, however, she noticed that kaneki couldn’t stop staring at her and every time their eyes met, he smiled ever so slightly, touka melting a little every time. All the while, nishiki continued to make vomiting noises in the background, much to touka’s annoyance.

…

They couldn’t keep themselves apart from each other, which was made evident when kaneki couldn’t stop hugging touka from behind or how he held onto her hand constantly, unable to keep himself from kissing every spot on her lovely face. He especially enjoyed watching her, even more so with how her body has changed in all the right places over the past two years.

“Kaneki.” Touka murmured against kaneki’s lips. “We still need to work.”

“I can’t help myself.” He nuzzled her and continued to hold her despite her protests. “You’re just so beautiful today.”

“Idiot. You say that every day.”

“But it’s true.” He parted slightly just to relish her flustered face. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She mumbled into his chest. “Now get back to work. I’m still your boss, you know.”

As kaneki walked away, hinami stood by touka’s side, sharing a overjoyed smile with bright eyes. Hinami nudged her, but touka acted as if she had no clue what she was smiling about.

“You suit each other so well, Onee-chan.” Hinami giggled, helping touka prepare a few more cups of coffee. “He really does love you.”

Touka shrugged, but she couldn’t hide the permanent smile that was always on her face ever since she and kaneki got together. Kaneki wanted to take the relationship slow, adoring every moment they spent together. She has never felt so warmed in her heart before.

As she expected, kaneki was very affectionate, showering her constantly with everlasting kindness and wore his heart on his sleeve, never being afraid to show his love for her in any situation. What was probably the best part for her though was the fact that he was so honest with her, never hiding or faltering to come up front with her. It was as if she unlocked a whole new side of him that she didn’t knew existed before. She was glad, to say the least.

“I’ve never seen him so happy.” Hinami reminisced. “You wouldn’t know, but way back during the time I was a part of his group, he was always so distant, his mind unstable and unbalanced. It was difficult to watch at times and yet, I didn’t know what it was I could’ve done. I was so useless then, but it seemed you were able to actually do something about it.”

Hinami brushed back a strand of her hair, her eyes lowered as she bit the inside of her cheek, her thoughts wandered back into those old memories.

“And then you rescued him.” Hinami smiled almost sadly, looking back up to her older sister. “Only you could make him smile once again and I’m so happy to see you two finally get together. It’s what he needed, I think. Thank you, Onee-chan.”

“I- well-” touka stammered, unsure on how to respond, but she quickly relaxed and held hinami’s hand in hers. “You make him happy too, silly. But thank you for taking care of this idiot whilst he was gone. It’s nice…being with him, I mean. It’s helped us both.”

“Of course, but I didn’t do much in all honesty.” Hinami shook her head, but touka flicked her forehead.

“Of course you did. Now cheer up, hinami. You’ll get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that.” Hinami pouted but it wasn’t long before she sighed and was smiling once again.

“What are you two girls talking about?” Kaneki asked as he neared the two.

“Just girl stuff, nothing that concerns you.” Touka shooed him away, but her tone remained playful. “Oh that reminds me, hinami. Perhaps you might want to go into school. We can tutor you until you can pass the entrance exams. It’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while now.”

“Me?’ Hinami exclaimed. “In school? I don’t know…”

“I think it’s a great idea.” Kaneki agreed, his face suddenly lit up. “You deserve to atleast experience college and maybe touka can even go with you. You didn’t even get a chance to finish college, did you, touka-chan?”

“Yes, Onee-chan. You and me could enter and study at the same time, it’ll be amazing.”

Kaneki and hinami looked so excited that it made it all the much harder for her to say the next few words.

“Kaneki, I can’t.” She shook her head. “Too many people already know my face. It’s simply too dangerous.”

Both of their faces dropped when the realisation of her words sunk in. Of course. It couldn’t be that simple.

“After all that hard work.” Kaneki winced. “And it was all wasted. If only if I could have done something then-”

“Don’t.” She grabbed his collar and pulled him forward to face her. “It was my own choice. Don’t you dare blame yourself.” She let go and took a step back and kaneki stood awkwardly as she spoke. “It’s fine, it doesn’t bother me. Besides, we have this cafe and that’s all I need.”

The three nodded and moved on from the subject, but it was clear that their conversation was still swirling in kaneki’s mind. Such a worrier.

It was late, touka exhausted from the day and changed into one of kaneki’s comfy shirts and some pajama shorts, dumping herself onto her bed and lazily dragged herself to her side of the bed. She looked up in time to see a shirtless kaneki walk into the room, his hair damp from the shower.

“You had a shower and didn’t invite me?” Touka grinned, her eyes hungrily taking in every bit of his muscled body. “How cruel.”

“You know why I didn’t invite you. Not after last time.” He crawled onto the bed and pulled touka into his arms. “Besides, you seem tired.”

He pecked kisses along her shoulder to her neck, burying his nose into her soft locks and shut his eyes. Her body was so warm against his, fitting perfectly into his arms.

“Oh right.” Kaneki said, shuffling back a little. “I saw you and hinami talking earlier and she seemed upset. Is she ok?”

Touka turned around, seeing kaneki wait patiently with a concerned look written all over his face. With a small nod, touka rested her head on kaneki’s chest and heard the rapid beatings of his heart as her hands moved up his back, feeling all the scars from past battles on his firm and toned muscles.

“She’s just feeling insecure,” touka mumbled. “You should thank her for joining you in your group back then.”

“Huh? I mean sure, of course, she means a lot to me. I hope that whatever she’s feeling will pass soon, I’d hate to see her upset on my behalf.” He mimicked touka’s actions and brushed his hands down touka’s back, the light touch making her arch slightly. “What about you? Are you feeling ok?”

“Just tired.” Though she knew what he was asking was about the discussion of rejoining school.

“Then sleep.” He pulled the duvet over them and rested his lips on her forehead.

“I don’t wanna.” She complained, but her eyelids started to feel heavier with every second. “I want to spend more time with you.”

“And you call me a sap.” He laughed. “It’s no big deal, touka. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I’m just scared that every time I close my eyes,” touka said after a short pause, nibbling the bottom of her lip. “I’ll open them again and find that you’re not there. That thought in itself is…terrifying.”

He looked down at her, stunned. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her grip on him tightened, clinging onto him desperately. In the past few months, touka had shared pieces of information about her past, but it was clear that abandonment was a far too common aspect of her life. In a way, it wasn’t all that surprising that she would also fear the same thing from kaneki, especially since he left her once before.

But he swore that it would never happen again. Not after he saw the pain he had caused.

“I promise you, touka.” He whispered. “I won’t ever leave you again. I promise.”

“That’s all I need then.” She smiled, looking up to press her lips against his. “Thank you.”

[troop2017]

When I wrote my last post we were newly in France with the 1st set of closures put in place (i.e. non-essential shops and business closed), but with the local elections set to go ahead the following day.  We felt fairly confident that our plan of making it to a site in the South of France and sitting out any further measures, should they occur, was still achievable…

Obviously this isn’t what happened!  However, it was a couple of days before this became clear – and it was rather sudden!

So I thought I’d give you a whistle-stop summary of our whole trip in just the 1 post!  So here goes…

Days 1 & 2:  Friday 13th & Saturday 14th March 2020 (perhaps there was a clue here?)

We arrived in Dieppe aboard a pretty empty ferry after a slightly bumpy crossing, and shared the Aire with a number of other vans (mostly French), before taking a walk around Dieppe (already socially distancing ourselves) and then spending a 2nd night in the same Aire.  (I wrote a post covering this already – click on the link above)

Day 3: Sunday 15th March 2020

We made the decision to use proper sites rather than free aires ‘just in case’, thinking that we would be able to stop on a site once we were there, and also to go further than we had originally planned.  So I looked through the trusty ACSI book and found a site in Sully sur Loire, about 100 miles south of Paris, Camping le Jardin de Sully  (You’ll be able to see my review here when I’ve written it!)

For us this was a long journey being 200 miles as we normally aim for under 100 miles.  Little did we know at this point that we would be driving almost 900 miles in total in the next 5 days before we made it home…

The campsite was lovely, and pretty empty, although there was another English couple in their caravan who were heading home via the tunnel because they had medical appointments and wanted to ensure they got home for them.

The French were out and about in droves taking walks along the river, and even in the evening the youngsters were congregating in their cars in car parks as they couldn’t go to cafes and bars.  We know this as we went out for a walk in the evening once, or so we thought, everyone else had gone home!  We were able to avoid these groups and walked for a few miles, crossing the bridge and finding the chateau (and the town Aire) and several closed bars and restaurants.  It looks like a lovely little town and we have no doubt that we will one day return to explore the area by cycle (the cycle path system is very good)

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Day 4: Monday 16th March 2020

We had been thinking of staying here for a 2nd night, but in the end decided to crack on further South.  On checking out I told the lady what we were hoping to do – in hindsight it would have been nice if she’d mentioned that President Macron was due to address the nation that evening with an important announcement.  But she didn’t, and we had contacted 2 campsites that both said they were fully open… So we headed off further South.

225 miles further south to be precise to Vielle Brioude, south of Clermont Ferrand and Issoire.  We chose to take the toll motorway this time, as we were going so far.  Then I forgot to press the button when paying to explain that we were a camping car (the rate will be changed if you do this).   In my defence I was intent on seeing if my Halifax Clarity card would work this time (as it didn’t the previous day when we used a short section of toll, and I’d had to use my debit card); and I just completely forgot…  It probably cost us about 15Euros, maybe 20…   I won’t forget again!

Just before our destination we stopped at an Intermarch to get some essentials, and top up with fuel.  The supermarket was very busy with several items unobtainable, but we managed to get everything that we needed, and set off again to find the campsite.

A couple of wrong turns and slightly unsuitable roads later we found it, Camping de la Bageasse, which looked much nicer in the photos than in reality!!

We were the only unit there (although there were a couple of chalets in use), and once we’d chosen our spot and found electricity that worked (by now our fridge had stopped working on gas), we settled down for the evening.

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In the evening the lady from reception came to see us to explain that the campsite was possibly to close in the morning after the president’s address.  Instead of waiting we spent the evening trying to book a ferry home.  We had problems with booking the DFDS ferry from Dieppe, and thought that we’d managed it, only for the site to crash on us again.  So we booked a ferry into Portsmouth on Brittany (at an extra £100).  In the morning though I had an e-mail from DFDS confirming our booking!

Thankfully Brittany Ferries were brilliant and cancelled our booking with an immediate full refund.  The receptionist also confirmed that the site was indeed closing and anybody on it being asked to leave.

Day 5: Tuesday 17th March 2020 (midday lockdown)

Approximately 425 miles to go, but 2 days to do this (our ferry was Thursday at 05.30am – changed from 6.30pm Wednesday foc by DFDS Ferries).

We chose to avoid the toll motorway this time as we had a bit of time.  But it did seem to take forever; so we ended up doing the last 30 miles or so on the toll; I remember to press the button this time and saved 9 Euros.  We were stopped once, just after midday, at a routine checkpoint on a roundabout – a show of our ferry booking and my ‘nous allons au bateau pour aller chez nous’ did the trick, and we were soon on our way with a smile and a ‘bonne route’.

We were then held up driving through a small town where we had to pull into a car park.  There were 2 other British vans in there with us.  A French lady also pulled up and started talking to me – I did pretty well, in that we sort of understood each other and she told me what had happened (sadly a little boy had run out into the road and been knocked over), but she just kept moving closer and closer to me!  In the end I had to run into the van saying my tea was getting cold!  (nb: I don’t understand why the police in France need to carry massive guns when attending a traffic incident in a small rural town though..)

I’d found a likely overnight stop in Mery sur Cher, west of Vierzon, and we were so happy when we made it there.  Absolutely perfect spot behind the village car park, but with a toilet, electricity, security lights and little individual pitches as well as the normal amenities.  The barrier had been removed meaning it was all free as well (although we would happily have paid).  I hadn’t been so happy in days!

Day 6: Wednesday 18th March

The traffic increased as we made our way further north, although eerily quiet as we drove through Orleans.  Driving past Chartres I was, again, amazed at the size of the cathedral – you can see it from miles away and I must see it in reality 1 day!

From Rouen the traffic really picked up, and once in Dieppe we managed to get a little lost as we had never approached from this direction before 😦  This time we were 1 of only 3 vans in the Aire – we think most people turned up late and waited in line at the port.

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Day 7: Thursday 19th March 2020

An early start (4.15am) to catch the 5.30am ferry.  We were pretty much at the back of the queue (see main photo – which doesn’t really show just how many motorhomes there were).

An uneventful journey home.  2 members of staff were operating the coffee machine for everybody as you got on (free), but there was no food being served.

All in all we were pretty happy to get home, although obviously absolutely gutted that all we had achieved in our week away was 2 fairly long walks and over 900 miles driving…

If things improve in the next couple of months however we will head off again, even if it’s only for a few weeks.

Stay safe everyone – and remember, this too shall pass and normal life will resume.  Maybe at that point we’ll all be a little more grateful for our normal freedoms 🙂

European Tour cut short by Coronavirus Crisis When I wrote my last post we were newly in France with the 1st set of closures put in place (i.e.

[arrancarwrites]

A New Start: Ambassadors of our Species! Part 2

AKA: Criessa You Dummy, Do You Know How to NOT Make Enemies!?

(( after binge-reading the last 200 or so chapters of Bleach, I’m trying to do this at least somewhat chronologically. Bare with me a few installments longer so we can get into the fun stuff! This one’s long I’m sorry（ ；´Д｀ ))

~~~

“Who’s she talking to? Head-Captain is in his quarters like always.” Criessa’s ears twitched and she froze, chest puffed out. What did they say? She jerked back around to the man she’d ASSUMED was in charge. The dumb smile on Kyoraku’s face meant he could see the hesitation in hers. Sweat dripped down her cheek. The girl beside him was giving her an awfully disappointed look; Criessa could appreciate the pity. Obviously, she grit her teeth and forced a feeble smile, they know what’s going on….

Criessa spent too much time picking her intro music and forgot to actually find out who everyone was!!!

“Obviously she knows the Captain can hear her! Don’t underestimate someone who snuck in so easily!” Another sweet Soul Reaper underling! Oh yeah, good save! Shunsui winked at her, and she gave him a thankful look. Back in action, she pointed her finger up at Kyoraku and yelled, loudly enough to maybe save some face.

“That’s right! Take me to your leader!”

“Wow you really weren’t prepared in the right ways, were you?” The lieutenant deadpanned, but Shunsui, charmer that he is, stepped in and offered her his arm. Somewhere in the crowd, someone asked someone else what she’d just referenced.

Criessa blanked, staring down at the hairy appendage offered.

“Alright then, Ms. Monserra, let’s relay this very important information to the Head-Captain.”

“Uhh, thanks. I’d prefer not to take your arm though, but the sentiment is nice.” He nodded and brought a hand to his chest, as if hurt; she kept on explaining herself before he could interrupt, “Honestly! It reminds me of the movies and plays I’ve read! Like Prince Charming!” She beamed, bouncing along while he escorted her.

He blinked. “Oh well that’s a heck of a compliment! Excuse my forwardness, again,” He smiled and held his palms up toward her, “Goodness, it seems I’m being a really rude host today! I’m not usually so mean!” He chuckled, “But how do you know about that?”

Criessa watched him carefully. He certainly was a charming guy -not her type, but still.

She raised an eyebrow, “Human things?” Kyoraku nodded and gestured for them to turn down a pathway. “I’ve always liked Human things; they’re colorful and fun. I like games, and Humans have good senses of humor. Entering their world isn’t as comfortable as here, but that’s where I’ve been hiding since Ichigo Kurosaki defeated Aizen.”

The First Division headquarters came into view, stretching up into the sky. Criessa paused at the bottom of the steps. Kyoraku put a hand on her shoulder and hid his smile underneath his hat, hand up to his mouth to stage-whisper. “Nanao and I will keep your secret about not knowing who we were.”

Criessa’s spiritual pressure bristled with her embarrassment. The red-head’s shoulders dropped and she buried her face in her hands. “Oh yeah, way to remind me how silly that was!” She peeked through her fingers towards Nanao, “You’re right I wasn’t really prepared for this.” She fluffed her hand through her hair, and shrugged, “I really just spent WAY too much time deciding on whether or not I wanted to use Welcome To The Jungle or not, I forgot to do any better observations! Well… I guess it won’t hurt, since you’re already keeping one dumb secret for me, I’ll admit it: I’m not anything close to an authority for my species, I sort of barrelled in here half-cocked, but it’s getting bad back home, and it’s not even safe for me to look for the people I’ve lost.”

A white-haired man met them, appearing a few feet away. She met his eyes as she finished her confession.

“I’m worried this is more than we can handle…”

~~~

To say that the real Head-Captain was upset by her presence would be an understatement. Some lingering primal part of Criessa’s brain was screaming how much she really shouldn’t be here, standing before Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. She took a deep breath and straightened up. No worse than Aizen ever was. She furrowed her brows, eyes still closed. Man, this life after he was captured was making her soft -she never bothered with fear before, what was wrong now?

Olive eyes and freckles. A sweet smile. Blonde hair falling in her face. A warm body underneath hers. Pretty blue eyes.

Oh yeah.

“Arrancar.” Yamamoto’s voice boomed in the silence of the room around them. No one who had remained; Kyoraku, Nanao, or Sasakibe, who was apparently the first division lieutenant, hadn’t so much as breathed loudly since introducing her as, ‘the Arrancar who broke into the Soul Society’. She looked up to meet his gaze. “What is your name?”

“Criessa Monserra. An unranked Arrancar with no affiliations.”

“So be it. Why have you invaded our Courtyards? I want to hear about this nonsense in Heuco Mundo.” The old man never budged from his place, hands firmly on the top of his cane.

“Yes,” She nodded quickly, “Men calling themselves Quincies have arrived and abducted many weaker Arrancars. Anyone left will put up a fight, but Las Noches is carefully monitored. The Espada were our strongest, most reasonable soldiers,” She opened herself to him and frowned, “without them, against an organized force, Hueco Mundo can fall.”

“How am I to believe you know all this, when you say you’ve been hiding in the Human World?”

Criessa brought her hands forward to fiddle, shoving her fingernails underneath each other. “I’ve risked a few trips, long enough to see some old comrades fighting, and see their forces in formation. My last trip… I barely outran them, and have been avoiding detection since. This is my last idea before I risk going back for a blaze of glory.” She curled her hands into fists at her sides. “Honestly,” a smirk, “after Aizen, I’m not stupid enough to side with a losing team. I don’t think joining the Soul Society is a bad future-plan.”

Yamamoto pealed an eye open for her. She supposed it should be a sign he’s taking her seriously.

“You are a Hollow. Our enemy. I could never trust you to join us, who’s mission it is to save Humans, when you are, at your core, the creature that devours them.” She felt anger bubbling hot up her spine. How dare he! “If there really is an organization invading the house of our enemies why should the Soul Society interfere? The Quncies have been dead for 100 years. Whoever this is killing you Arrancar, I should just wait until they’ve finished.”

How DARE he!! The young girl, standing before this pillar of power in their worlds, no more than a  match held to the Sun. But she burned all the same at his dismissal. She grit her teeth, baring her lower fangs.

“Don’t be a fool!” The tension rippled over her, from every corner of the room, “I’m sure you heard what I said earlier! And I’m an Arrancar; I haven’t eaten a Human soul in years.” She shook her head, trying to temper the fire in her chest. “And it would be a foolish decision indeed to ignore the army at your gates! Quincies or not, they’re amassing something!” The Head-captain, now thoroughly irritated, smacked the bottom of his cane on the floor.

Fuming, Criessa ignored his demand for silence. She was really starting to remind herself of Grimmjow.

“I’ve seen your Soul Reapers, Head-Captain! I know the caliper at which you operate! The standards you have set! I never expected you to believe me on my word, but I am powerless here! Check my information! Send me to your scientists! I’m an endangered species, and I doubt you’ll find another Arrancar to walk into your halls asking for permission to join. I thought you’d be able to see the value in that.” She dropped to one knee, and tossed her weapon onto the floor at her own foot.

Again, katanas aimed at her throat.

“I’m not going to be a part of whatever those idiots in white are doing, I won’t die like a dog! I came to you with good will! I’m ready to make this place my new path, but if you’re going to be stubborn about this just because of what I used to be, I was mistaken.”

Fire in her eyes, steam blowing out with her breath, Criessa stared into the awful eyes of her Juge and Jury.

“Lock her up.”

~~~

The darkness made time flow differently, but it wasn’t long enough until the door to her chamber slid open, and instead of Kurotsuchi coming to test more of her anatomy, his girl, Nemu, invited Criessa back into the light of day. She was being released far too early… Something must have finally happened.

“It seems you were telling the truth about the Quincy forces before.” Kurotsuchi bustled around, collecting and typing and moving things, talking over his shoulder to his former captive. One of his lackeys bumped into her, she apologized as she kept running, barely keeping the papers and little tubes in her hands as she dodged. The Captain was still blabbering, “I confess even I assumed you were crazed… or just stupid.” Criessa rolled her shoulders and shrugged. “I was excited to have a new test subject all to myself.” She swore his shoulders fell.

“I could see why. This was always a slim chance.”

“It’s interesting that you would even risk your existence for such a trivial matter. I don’t recall Arrancar being particularly hospitable.” He moved toward the exit, Criessa and Nemu in his coattails. He glanced over his shoulder with a wicked, knowing look in his eye. “Though, you did have quite the motive: Joining the Soul Society, as an Arrancar. Too bad you weren’t very convincing -yelling like that.”

“I don’t know what response you’re trying to pry out of me, Kurotsuchi. My morals align best here.”

“Interesting. What exactly do you define as moral?”

“That’s getting a bit too deep into my personal life, but why we fight is a big deal for Arrancar. We get in arguments about Ethics a lot. Some, who call themselves evolved, think that fighting should have a good, logical reason, like duty, honor, or information gathering. Maybe they’re right. Some just have that itch to do it. It’s instinctual -we’ve been clawing our ways to the top since we died in the first place.”

Criessa shrugged, blinking as they stepped out into the sunlight. She smiled. “I tend to fight for fun.” The odd, bulbous man watched her carefully as they came to a stop. “I know, I know, it sounds barbaric, but it’s not like that. Fun, like games. I don’t want to win, I want to play. I’m no good at laying waste anyway, so I stay out of the way.”

“Captain Kyoraku will be around soon to pick you up. I believe I have enough time for another question.” He turned to her, golden eyes bulging out of their facepaint. Briefly, Criessa struggled to pick one to stare at. “Obviously you don’t keep your head down as much as you say -since you’re here. What are your true motivations?”

The Arrancar kept staring into the left eye of this weirdo captain they’d given her to. Criessa loathed to think of actually hanging her head -she’d never cowered in front of anyone.The birds sang, the insects screamed, and she refused to say anything until her escort was visible on the horizon. But he didn’t need to know that. She leveled her gaze and started walking towards the Lieutenant. She snorted.

“No need in making him walk so far.” Pointedly without looking back, she finally answered Kurotsuchi. “Personal gain, Captain, same as yours.”

~~~

Trailing the coattails of the captain down the hall toward what felt like a big, intimidating meeting, Criessa giggled. Kyoraku glanced over her shoulder, eyebrows raised. She waved him off and rolled her shoulders back.

“I don’t do well under pressure, haha.” She shrugged. “Nervous laughter.”

Oooh, all the captains were gathered when she finally got to step in. They all looked pretty frumpy and serious. No fun. She frowned to herself.

“Head-Captain.” Her focus snapped back to the immediate situation when the pink kimono in front of her moved to his own designated spot, and she stood in front of the old man again. He didn’t say anything to her, and the atmosphere was stifling. Criessa let out a sigh and played with the back of her hair.

“It would be INSANELY rude to say ‘I told you so’ but all things considered, Head-Captain…” She dropped her arms by her sides and blatantly ignored the guffawing at her insolence; staring, unflinching, daring the man in front of her to ignore her advice again. Hadn’t he already lost his lieutenant?

“I will take that and we will consider the apology I owe you null, Criessa Monserra.”

She broke out into a beaming, toothy smile. “Yes sir.”

[thewanderingkru]

5 DAYS IN BURMA FOR LESS THAN 300!

Burma, the old name of Myanmar is a country in South East Asia. It is known for its beautiful and enchanting pagodas, natural wonders, and of course, its rich and unique culture.

Last July of this year, I spent my long weekend in Burma for less than 300 US DOLLARS (approximately 10,000 Thai Baht/ 15,000 Philippines Peso). For a country that is not very familiar to everyone, or perhaps, still, an undiscovered touristy place, this is definitely a must place to visit.

(Flying with Myanmar Airways International featuring my first Burmese meal. Yay!)

In this blog, I will share my thoughts, insights, as to how, I spent my five day itinerary in Burma for less than 300 USD!

DAY 1 (Bangkok to Yangon)

It takes about an hour from Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok) to Yangon International Airport. I arrived at Yangon (a city in Myanmar) at around 8PM, although it took me an hour to really got outside the airport. From the airport, it took about 20-30 minutes to the city center (although it depends on the traffic), lucky as I am, I have a best friend who happens to work in Yangon. Got a free taxi ride! Yay!

As for visa fees: As a Philippine Passport holder, I got a 14-day visa free since Philippines and Myanmar (Burma) are both members of ASEAN. So, when you arrive at the immigration, just show your passport, and of course, your boarding passes.

As for the taxi fares:

(City Center to the airport and vice versa fare: 5,000 - 10,000 kyats/ 100 Thai Baht - 250 Thai Baht/ 3 - 5 USD) However, it depends on how you haggle. The lower the price, the better! As for this trip, although I’ve only traveled in South East Asia so far, this is, perhaps, the cheapest taxi fares I’ve had.

Since it is a bit late then, although, I’ve had a hotel booked, I’ve decided to couch surf at my best friend’s place (Well, my best friend of course, offered to stay at his place for a night), because of course, it would be much better and lesser the expense.

As soon as we arrived at my friend’s place, changed clothes, and ready ourselves for late dinner and of course, in hope of finding a good bar, or club, to make the most of the night on my first day in Burma. Fast forward, we had our dinner and of course, party!

(First decent meal/dinner after an exhausting trip. You can get this at dinner meal for two approx 8,000 Kyats/200 Thai Baht/5 USD for two at 365 Cafe Yangon International Hotel)

Yes, for about 5 USD, you can get a huge burger meal at that price with a Mango smoothie (seasoned)!

(Cheers to the good life with a picturesque view of the Shwedagon Pagoda and a local Myanmar draft beer at a Sky Bar Yangon International Hotel) 

And of course, while the night is still young, although, it’s almost midnight, perhaps, time for Cinderella to go home, well, not for us. We went to a sky bar (free entrance) located near Yangon International Hotel. No need for taxi as you just have to walk. Beer costs: 2,000 Kyats/2 USD

Thus, ending the first day in Burma at the MUSE Club, still, near the Yangon International Hotel.

(Clubbing with my best friend, and of course, with the locals at MUSE CLUB)

MUSE CLUB Entrance Fee: 6,000 Kyats/150 Thai Baht/4 USD

TOTAL OF MY FIRST DAY TRIP: 11 USD

2nd day (FULL DAY TOUR TRIP IN YANGON)

From last night’s jaunts, we’ve started the day at around 10 in the morning, went to a really good brunch place in downtown Yangon and had our brunch.

(Yep, that’s full pack meal for the whole day Pagoda trip in Yangon)

(Cozy ambiance for brunch at the Brunch Society, downtown Yangon, nearby Sule Pagoda)

Brunch cost: 5,000 Kyats/4 USD each. Not bad for a full pack meal!

After our full-packed brunch, we went to our first stop: Sule Pagoda!

(Favorite view at the The Sule Pagoda over the foot bridge at Downtown Yangon)

Entrance Fee: FREE! 

Although it’s a really beautiful Pagoda, and it was my first sight-seeing of one of the beautiful Pagodas in Burma, we didn’t enter, as there was of some sort of a Buddhist ceremony. Also, during that time, it was a Buddhist holiday in Myanmar.

As we continue our walk around Sule Pagoda, we came across at some local markets along the way.

(Colorful sights at a local market in downtown Yangon)

This local market is actually located near Maha Bandula Park in downtown Yangon.

(Selfies shouldn’t be missed, of course!)

Entrance Fee: FREE!

After spending some time around Maha Bandula Park and Sule Pagoda, we went to one of the most visited Pagoda, the Shwedagon Pagoda.

Going to Shwedagon Pagoda wasn’t really that far from Sule Pagoda, however, due to the weather, as it was really hot then, we had to take a taxi.

TAXIS AROUND DOWNTOWN YANGON: 2,000 Kyats - 5,000 Kyats/1USD - 3 USD (Note: And again, since, the taxis in Yangon doesn’t have a meter, so, all you gotta do, is to haggle. Make use of that haggling skills!) I got mine for FREE since my best friend paid the taxi. THANK YOU, BEST FRIEND!

ENTRANCE FREE: 8,000 Kyats/4 USD

Of course, perhaps, just like everyone else in this world, when entering a religious or a holy place, there should be a dress code for everyone. So, no shorts or slippers or shoes when entering the Pagoda.

I bought myself a longyi (this is a local sheet of cloth widely worn in Burma), in entering the Pagoda. Although you can rent a longyi for 3,000 Kyats at the entrance of the Pagoda, however, I bought mine, for souvenir. :)

Longyi: 5,000 Kyats/3 USD 

It was my first time then, to see a crowd, it’s like a concert or convention, or more like a pilgrimage, as it was more like a feeling of the whole Burma is at the Shwedagon Pagoda, then I was reminded that, it was a Buddhist holiday. 

After a few walks around the Pagoda. Yes, it’s huge! We went to another local tourist spot, the Kandawgyi Lake. Just a few minutes walk from Shwedagon Pagoda.

After visiting the Pagodas, bucket list checked! We had our time to chill at the moment in the lake. It was a bit exhausting as the weather was really hot then, so don’t forget to bring bottled water while on a day trip.

Kandawgyi Lake Fee: FREE!

After we had our moments at the lake to chill, we went back to my best friend’s place as I had to prepare for a night bus trip to Mandalay and Bagan. It’s another cities in Burma known for its ancient and historical Pagodas.

Around 7 in the evening, I arrive at the bus terminal. I booked my overnight bus trip online at JJ EXPRESS, you can look for them in their facebook page. All you gotta do is just private message them.

Taxi ride from my friend’s place to the bus terminal: 10,000 kyats/245 Thai Baht/7 USD

If you’re wondering that, if it’s a little bit pricey, because, downtown Yangon to the Bus Terminal takes around an hour or two drive, depending on the traffic. Thus, it was typically the price going to the terminal. Also, I got myself an air conditioned taxi. And by the way, normally, the taxis in Yangon doesn’t always have an AC, so might as well, bring a fan, and of course, water!

As for the bus trip, I got free food and drinks. Well, it’s more just like riding in an airplane. Plus, a comforter!

Overnight sleeper bus trip fee: 19 USD

TOTAL OF DAY 2: 36 USD

DAY 3 (Bagan)

At around 5 in the morning, I arrived from Yangon to Bagan. So, there’s new and old Bagan. I stayed in new Bagan, where the chill and perhaps, hippie, as they say, areas in Bagan.

As soon as I arrive in Bagan, all foreigners should pay for the national park fee. Then, you get the rest of the Pagodas/Stupas for free (Although, not exactly since I paid 20 USD, lol!). So, always keep your national  park ticket when entering Pagodas/Stupas in Bagan, as they sometimes, ask you for it. Or, you might pay another 20 USD for it.

Bagan National Park Fee: 25,000 Kyats/20 USD

I paid in Kyats (Burma currency) since, the conversion then, was like, 25,000 Kyats = 18 USD. Saved 2 USD. Yay!

Haggling skills doesn’t always work when there’s a fixed price, though. As for the taxi from the Bagan bus terminal to my hotel costs 15,000 kyats. Expect that this is the normal price. Bus terminal to the hotels normally around 20-30minutes ride. Taxi fare: 10 USD

When I arrived at my hotel, it was almost 5:30 then, and I had to hurry as I need to catch up the sunrise in the Bagan temples. I rented an e-bike for 8,000 Kyats. Lucky me, as my best friend told me that renting e-bikes normally costs 10k - 11k kyats. Well, another perks, perhaps, since it’s a hotel e-bike.

It was also a moment of rush, as I myself, still in sleepy mode, asked the receptionist for the maps about the best spots of pagodas to catch sunrise, although, I have no idea at the moment since it was my first time in Bagan, dared to drive the e-bike with using only the map. And finally, found a good spot, for myself, to watch the sunrise in Bagan.

(Breathtaking moment while watching the sunrise in Bagan)

I know, this photo doesn’t give justice as to what my eyes saw at that very moment. Bagan is really beautiful as it is. As I barely remembered, it was only in my dreams to visit this country, and specifically, this place. Well, as they say, if you want to make your dreams come through, you have to work hard for it. Make it to a point that you do it. Privilege as it seems, but this travel session, took me months to save and make the most of this trip. At those moments, too, was, while watching the sunrise at the pagoda, perhaps, one of the best highlights of my 2017. 

(Of course, selfie, in my most, unusual and sleepless self. I had to wear my long sleeve then, since I forgot to bring a coat during this trip. Well, after all, smile!)

After sunrise watching, at around 7, I had to go back to the hotel and check-in. Thus, I had to get more sleep, since I didn’t really sleep well while at the bus, perhaps because of excitement of the wonders of the unknown. Hours later, around 10, I had my time for breakfast and took a dip in the hotel pool.

Supposedly, check-ins are usually at 2PM, however, I called the hotel the night before I arrive for an early check-in at around 5AM since I will be arriving very early. Due to circumstances, they are fully booked. But as soon as I arrived there, they got me checked in at 7AM. Lucky me, again! 

Buffet breakfast for 5,000 Kyats/3 USD. Yep, that’s eat-all-you can! Since arriving earlier, I will have my free breakfast the day after my check-in. Still, for only 3 USD, why not!

By the way, as for my hotel, I booked at booking.com and  checked in at the Floral Breeze Hotel, New Bagan. from 79 USD to 29 USD/Per night (Since it was low-season, as they say). Fast and easy transaction! Plus, very welcoming receptionist! They will help you with your itinerary trip while in Bagan.

(Morning dip at the pool after a heavy breakfast)

After some swimming time, I prepared myself for a whole day trip in the Old Bagan, Mandalay. With only maps and google maps with me, I traveled for about 20 - 30 minutes to get there. Visited the Stupas and some Pagodas. I didn’t really have an exact itinerary for the day because all I ever want was just to let things flow and make the moments do its worth.

Stupas and Pagodas fee: FREE! (Well, since I already paid when entering the national park)

(Afternoon journey to Old Bagan, Mandalay with my e-bike, locals, and my shadow)

(Shwezigon Pagoda at Old Bagan, Mandalay under the heat of the sun… Just imagine how hot it is while walking bare foot)

(Don’t mind my sweaty face while at the market as it was really and literally hot then)

After some time at the Pagodas, outside of it, was a local market, bought something for souvenirs and more longyis!

Souvenir shopping cost: 30K kyats/22 USD

(Stop-over for lite brunch at Sharky’s in Old Bagan, although it looks lite, but the chicken sandwich was huge!)

Lunch: 7,000 kyats/5 USD

After lunch, pagoda visits, and souvenir shopping, I went back to the hotel to take a rest, refresh myself and wait for the sunset. At around 5pm, I went back again outside, in hope of sunset viewing and of course, taking a photo of it. However, the sun got shy. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take pictures of it. Well, regardless of it, I got myself my own Pagoda to watch the views for myself.

(It’s just me, the pagoda, my backpack, and of course, my longyi)

(Afternoon solitude moment in Bagan, Burma)

Traveling alone can sometimes be lonely, or, perhaps, most of the time, but I think, it’s all about in the state of mind. On a personal perspective, I think, traveling alone can be fun, too, of course, because you get to discover your inner potentials especially in being responsible, vigilant, and most importantly, you discover more of yourself that you thought you couldn’t do it.

As twilight came, I went out to a local restaurant for dinner. After dinner, went back to the hotel and sleep.

Dinner cost: 5,000 Kyats/3 USD

DAY 3 TOTAL COST: 94 USD

DAY 4 (BAGAN to YANGON)

My fourth day in Burma was perhaps a bittersweet moment, as I have don’t want to leave yet, but reality hits, as I have to go back to Yangon the day before my flight.

(Morning dip before hitting reality)

I spent my morning just dipping at the pool and a full-pack breakfast in preparation for a 9-hour trip from Bagan to Yangon. It was drizzling and raining on midday til afternoon then. So, most of the time, I just spent my whole day sleeping at the bus and a bit feeling sick, because perhaps, I didn’t get to have lunch and just sleep the whole day. From 9 hour trip turns to 12 hour trip due to rain and traffic.

(”Are we there yet?” feeling… Nope, just traffic)

As soon as I arrive at downtown Yangon, I met up with my best friend again for dinner and some late shopping at junction city mall. Living in Thailand for a quite some time, there was no sign of any Philippine brand, as expected, of course. And of all places,  I couldn’t believe that, I could find a Philippine brand shops in Yangon (Bench and Penshoppe), and without further notice, I bought stuff for my self. Perhaps, a proud moment, and of course, exciting moment for me. After all, we’ll never know what’s in store in the future.

(Wandering dolls for sale in Bagan)

Bus trip from Bagan to Yangon cost: 13,000 Kyats/9 USD

(It’s a bit cheaper since it’s not a VIP Sleeper Bus, thus VIP BUS travels only on a night trip)

Yangon bus terminal to downtown Yangon taxi cost: 10,000 kyats/7 USD

Dinner at Junction City: 5,000 Kyats/3 USD

Shopping: 10,000 Kyats/7 USD

(Not in my best smile at the time, I wonder, too. But my best friend is happy to shop with Bench at Junction City, Yangon)

DAY 4 TOTAL COST: 26 USD

DAY 5 (Flying back from Yangon to Bangkok)

Not as exciting as it seems, as the morning started with a drizzle and turned to heavy rain, I didn’t explore much of the city, but instead, I went for a local cafe hopping (the usual, every time I visit a place).

(Drizzling Yangon on my last day at Burma)

(Rewarding myself with local Burmese-style fried rice for breakfast… it may look the same as any other fried rice meal, but the taste really makes it unique and worth the penny)

I had my breakfast at a fancy local restaurant/cafe (Cafe 26) which somehow a bit pricey, although still, affordable. But the ambiance and the food was really delicious! At lunch time, my best friend, toured me to a local cafeteria, where they serve the one of the best Shan noodles (popular local dish in Burma).

(Shan Noodles with Fried Tofu)

Ultimately, as they say, never leave a place without trying their popular local dish. And so, before I leave this beautiful country, I got what I deserve! SHAN NOODLES for lunch. Yay! After lunch, I went to my to Yangon Airport and go back to reality.

Breakfast: 8,000 Kyats/6 USD 

Lunch: 4,000 Kyats/3 USD (However, I got it for free since my best friend treat me)

Taxi from downtown Yangon to Yangon International Airport: 8,000 Kyats/6 USD

DAY 5 TOTAL COST: 12 USD

Airfare cost (Bangkok to Yangon) back and forth: 100 USD (Got it on sale with Myanmar Airways International)

OVERALL TOTAL COST: 279 USD.

(Waiting for my flight with my backpack, passport, and of course, my self at Yangon International Airport)

To wrap up everything about this journey, things change, plans change, people change, as it is inevitable, but one thing is for sure, if you want something to happen, it may be your dream, or your goals in life, work for it. Do it! Break barriers and of course, always be vigilant. But above all, love yourself first. Because, with loving yourself, you will understand your own worth, and what you are capable of.

Special mention to my best friend Max for taking care of me when I was in Yangon. Thank you very much!

8/22/2017

Updated: 8/23

[messysuitcaseblog]

Why We’re in Vermont for the Summer

I thought I’d take a step back and explain why we are suddenly blogging from Vermont instead of Mexico.

Our Vermont History

Friends who knew us when we lived in Mamaroneck, NY (1998-2008) know that during that time, we bought a couple of vacation rental houses in Vermont. We wanted a rural place to escape from the hustle bustle of the NY metro area, and we loved New England, where I lived for much of my childhood.

VT House #1: The Lake House

The first house we bought was meant to be our retirement home, and we nicknamed it “The Lake House.” It’s a six-bedroom chalet nestled on a wooded three-quarters of an acre across the street from 200-acre Lake Rescue, where we keep a dock with boats. The kids and I would escape for half of every summer to decompress in the Green Mountains, go swimming and boating, hike nearby trails, sit around a fire pit making s’mores and singing camp songs, gaze at stars and explore Vermont. We had a Zodiac boat with a motor and used to go tubing. Bob came up for vacation a couple of weeks each summer, and otherwise took Amtrak from NY every Friday for a weekend visit. During the winter, we came up on occasional weekends and some school breaks to ski nearby Okemo. I would XC ski on Lake Rescue.

As soon as the contract was signed on The Lake House, we found ourselves in the vacation rental business, because it came with winter seasonal renters, and that was our plan for paying for it.

VT House #2: The Brook House

We bought the second house, which we call “The Brook House,” a couple of years later because the real estate market was booming, and it seemed like a good investment. The Brook House is a 120-year-old, five-bedroom former chicken coop that backs to a creek and Tiny Pond Recreation Area, 400 acres of state forest that no one seems to know exists. Echo Lake is less than a quarter-mile away. The yard is big and there’s a little country store across the street.

We dubbed it “The College Fund.” Alas, that real estate “boom” turned out to be a bubble when the market tanked. The region is only now recovering, so we still own both houses, though the Brook is on the market. One rental home is quite enough to manage from a distance!

Two Houses Filled With Love

The houses, especially the Lake House, are an integral part of our family story, especially since we moved to Colorado in the middle of the kids’ childhoods, so this region served as an anchor for their lives. We filled the houses with people we loved whenever we could. Family – grandpa and grandmas, aunts and uncles, siblings and cousins – and friends came up to the lake for summer vacations, year after year, creating so many dear memories.

Our friend Marie Laguerre brought her twins Omar and Kayla to attend Farm & Wilderness Barn Day Camp (eight miles up the road, and extraordinary) with my kids, and lived in the house for two weeks with us. I remember Omie would eat nothing but ramen noodles. Marya and Mickey Carter did the same with kids Spencer the bed at the Brook House (and I was so proud of myself for adding plastic covers to the mattresses that summer before their arrival), is now a brilliant athlete attending Harvard!

Cousin Jeanine Troisi came and learned to ski one year; another summer she ran a hilly 5K race along Echo Lake not long after giving up smoking. I was so proud of her! My brother Mike, sister-in-law Paula and their three kids visited; we rode bikes together around the lake with the smallest kids in kiddie seats. My nephew Jake and I kayaked into the middle of the lake to watch the Perseids Meteor Shower. Our friend Valerie Rasmussen, who has since passed away, came to hike and waterfall jump one summer, and to ski one winter.

My dear friends Mary and Sam Wiley brought live lobsters from Newport, RI, and we watched lawbstah races on the front deck of the Lake House before enjoying scrumptious steamed lobsters. I think of her whenever I see those lobster pots, which we still have, just waiting for her next visit. Mary came back another year and used the Brook House as a base while visiting colleges with her son Henry. Or was it Frank? I remember Lex’s stuffed lamb Buggya Guy disappeared during that visit, somewhere between going to car to leave for the Killington Adventure Zone to enjoy the alpine slide and arriving at the mountain. Forever a mystery.

(Above - Hiking the Vista Trail at Echo Lake. Below, the view from the top!)

My cousin Loraine Carapellucci and husband Dave Handley brought their three daughters for a week, and our kids really bonded. I remember we had a merry time on the rope swing of Discovery Island, in the middle of Lake Rescue, giving kids Olympic scores for “poses” before they dropped into the water. Alas, that swing is gone now; the tree from which it hung was brought down in the Great Flood of 2012.

We even hosted a Dominican-American girl from the Bronx named Clarissa Delgado through the Fresh Air Fund, to give her her first nature experience. I remember watching stars with Clarissa, a phenomenal sight for a girl accustomed to bright street lights and no view of the starry sky, and teaching her how to fish. In fact, it seems I spent countless summer hours putting worms on hooks and extricating fish from the same hooks over and over as I taught countless munchkins how to fish off the dock. I failed hopelessly to learn to fly fish, however, despite efforts summer after summer from my friend Eddie Eagan, who was director of the local Chamber of Commerce and taught flyfishing on the side.

I loved running around the lakes, and often woke up early to kayak on the misty lake, alone on 200 acres of calm water save for a couple of loons.

(Misty morning on Lake Rescue)

So many thousands of wonderful memories! When we moved to Colorado in early 2009, we were saddened to realize our Vermont summers were abruptly over. We took a financial hit from the recession that took years to recover from, and couldn’t afford to fly the family across the country. So the houses became vacation rental businesses that I managed from afar, and Bob and I would go back every couple of years to make improvements and do work on them.

We sort of forgot that the Lake House was originally supposed to be our home.  

Reconnecting with Vermont

But this past November, we went up and stayed in the Brook House for five weeks after Bob retired. We took Bob’s mom and sister Beth, and it snowed a good two or three feet during our stay. Bob and I spent an hour every morning in the hot tub on the back deck sipping mimosas and enjoying the sound of the creek while snowflakes gently played with our hair and ice from 13-degree mornings formed little spikes on his beard. My brother Phil, wife Rose and son Philip came for Thanksgiving, and 2.0 (pronounced 2-point-oh, as we like to call Philip the 2nd) sat in the same highchair my kids had sat in as he dropped his pieces of stuffing on the rug. My niece Catherine and her daughter Audrey also came for a few days, and Aud built a snowman in the yard.

And suddenly we remembered that these weren’t just vacation rentals. They were our homes! And even though we had left Colorado behind for the traveling life and sort of felt homeless, we weren’t!

Part-Time VT Residents

So we have decided that we will live in Vermont during the summers. The houses give our kids a place to come to from college that feels like home. They can get summer jobs. They can visit their favorite ice cream place (the Ludlow Coffee Company, formerly Scoops) and eat at their favorite pizza joint (Goodman’s American Pie). They can feel anchored.

(Seward’s in nearby Rutland is another favorite ice cream joint.)

We are working hard, though. Because we are trying to sell the Brook House, Bob and I are spending long hours making improvements – painting the house and some doors, pulling up a rug and refinishing a floor, planting grass and landscaping, buying furniture, and hiring and overseeing workmen. But we’re also going for long bike rides on scenic Route 100, a refreshing opportunity after the challenge of riding in Mexico. We’re hiking the Long/Appalachian Trail, enjoying our favorite ice cream places, trying to visit every bar in the Okemo Valley. We’re running and doing yoga and lifting weights, and hanging out on the Tyson Store chatting with neighbors.

Come October, we will head back south of the border and explore Mexico for the next 9 months. But when Lex gets done with their first year at Champlain College in May, we’ll return to the Green Mountain State and move back into The Lake House for the summer. (Hopefully, the Brook House will be sold and college paid for with the proceeds!)

I relish the opportunity to enjoy the region and explore the Green Mountain State more, without the burden of juggling full-time work, as I did when my kids were young. I look forward to connecting to the community and making friends. And I urge our family and friends to come visit! Because the Lake House has in fact turned into our summer retirement home. And we want to build more memories!

[tastesoftamriel]

The beginning (a long tale by Talviel)

[Welcome to the first official Fanfic Saturday! Due to the great response I’ve gotten from you all for my first fanfic (thank you guys!), I’ve decided to keep writing! This will be a sporadic thing as I really rely on the motivation and inspiration to do it, but I’ll try to write as often as possible.]

It was Tirdas, 5th of Frost Fall, 4E 200. I tugged my worn cloak around me, shivering as winter began its descent upon Riften. I made my way along the rickety planks along Beggar’s Row and up the stairs into the marketplace, bypassing the stalls to go into the Bee and Barb to buy my parents a bottle of mead for their wedding anniversary. This had been a difficult task, and I’d spent a month saving up the meagre coin I got from catching fish and collecting garbage throughout town just for the occasion. I pushed my way into the tavern, reveling in the warmth from the large roaring fireplace. I hesitantly walked to the bar, meeting the eye of a tough-looking Argonian woman. “We don’t serve minors.” She said, and went back to polishing a tankard. “Nothing for me, Ma'am. I’m just here to buy a bottle of mead for my parents. It’s their wedding anniversary today.” Her expression softened as she took in my rugged, dishevelled state. A poor girl from the worst part of Riften. “Regular Black-Briar or reserve?” She asked. “I think I have only enough coin for regular.” I muttered, embarrassed, and pushed my gold across the counter. She turned around and brought back a bottle of Black-Briar reserve. “Oh, no Ma'am, I can’t afford that-” I stuttered. “Take it. A gift from me to you to your parents.” She smiled, sympathy in her voice. “And the name’s Keerava, not Ma'am. Come back if you need anything, child.” I thanked Keerava profusely, and smiling at the bottle of mead, I made my way to the door.

I felt a pair of eyes trained hard on me and turned around, wondering if she’d changed her mind. Instead, I saw a well-dressed man with shoulder length red hair standing by the door, his arms crossed and eyes fixed on me. He was the most gorgeous human I had ever seen, and I had to try not to gawp or drop the bottle. Acting indifferent, I made my way to the door to go home. The man moved in front of it, blocking the way. I looked up, his keen grey eyes still locked on me. “Running a little light in the pockets, lass?” He asked, a smile playing on his lips. “Gee, how’d you guess?” I asked sarcastically, holding out my arms to display my ragged clothing. “If you’ll excuse me Sir, you’re in my way.” “Just a moment of your time, lass. Come, I’ve got a table in the corner and some food. And I’ve got something to offer you.” “I don’t take sweetrolls from strangers.” I muttered, trying to move past him again yet feeling conflicted because I wanted to stare at his face all day long. He looked about a decade older than me, and I felt a twinge of sadness that we’d never be together. “Please lass, I’ve got an important task you may be able to help me with. Just a moment of your time, and you can be on your way again.” I sighed in agreement and followed him to a comfy secluded nook.

“Alright Mr Mystery Man, what’s this all about?” I asked, helping myself to an apple from the table without asking. “What this is about, lass, is helping to raise you from the gutter to glory. I saw you empty your purse just for one measly bottle of mead. You deserve better.” “I agree, are you going to donate my family 500 septims?” I asked sullenly. The man laughed. “500? 500 is just the beginning, lass. Have you ever heard of the Thieves Guild?” “This is Riften and I’ve lived here all my life. Who hasn’t heard of the Thieves Guild? Are you trying to con me into joining them?” “Con? No lass, simply asking if you would be…interested in a trial run.” I learned back in the padded chair we didn’t own at home. My interest was officially piqued. “Lay it on me, Mystery Man.” I said. He laughed, and it was the most gorgeous laugh in the world. My heart thumped. “How rude of me, I never introduced myself. The name’s Brynjolf. And you are?” “Talviel.” I said, avoiding his gaze for fear my blushing would set me alight.

“Talviel of Riften.” Brynjolf said, rolling my name in his mouth. “Tell me lass, how old are you?” “16.” I said, feeling embarrassingly young. “Let me ask you a strange question, lass. May I see your hands?” I awkwardly put my hands on the table in front of me, and he picked up my right hand to inspect. I held my breath, because the most handsome (and unscrupulous) man in the world was holding it. “Hmm, long dextrous fingers, small hands, light…I’d say that with a little training, you’ll be a master pickpocket in no time at all.” “Look, Brynjolf, I’m not sure about this Thieves Guild stuff. My family work hard and honestly. We may not have much, but we get by.” “Lass, with us you’ll do more than get by. You’ll be able to buy your folks a real house, get to travel Skyrim, eat at the finest establishments without your purse getting any lighter…do you see where I’m going with this?” He asked. I nodded, admittedly swayed. “Look lass, think it over. I’ll be in the market from 8am to 8pm tomorrow. Come see me if you change your mind, and bring a satchel.”

I wandered home with the mead, my mind racing. The notorious Thieves Guild. I squeezed my empty purse, and made my way home. “Oh Talviel, you shouldn’t have!” Exclaimed my mother when she saw the mead. “That’s all your savings gone, you silly child!” I pulled out a sweetcake I’d prepared earlier in the day while my parents were at work, and plonked it on our little dining table. “Happy anniversary.” I smiled wanly, hoping that the next year would be a more prosperous one. We ate a simple meal while chatting, though I hid my encounter at the Bee and Barb from them. I knew I would ruin their special day if they knew I had a trial run for the Guild in the morning.

I made my way to the markets at a little past eight, surprised to see that Brynjolf had set up a makeshift stand loaded with potion bottles. “Ah, you came, lass.” He said with a wry smile. I pointed at the bottles questioningly. “Skeever repellant. Let’s just say we found a ‘supplier’ and have so much of it we don’t know what to do with it. Besides, everyone needs it in a hole like Riften.” He explained. He leaned closer to whisper surreptitiously to me, smelling of cinnamon and cloves. “Now lass, your trial begins. I want you to pick ten pockets before the day is through. That doesn’t mean literally pockets. Satchels, jewellery around necks, stuff the stall keepers leave out in the open. Anyway, ideally I want them to be about 200 gold in value. Think you can manage it?” I nodded uncertainly, glancing around our surroundings. “Does it have to be in the market itself? I know Balimund leaves the forge for lunch around two, and always leaves things lying about.” Brynjolf smiled. “You’re already the most promising candidate I’ve seen in a while, lass, thinking outside the box. Alright, the forge is yours, but try keep it to the market if you can. Good luck, I’ll have my eye on you.”

I gulped, looking around. The morning patrons as well as a few travellers were bustling about, and my eyes scanned the crowd before I made my move. I spotted a Redguard traveller, who clearly had never been to Riften before, as he had a bulging purse of coin hanging from his belt. Acting neutral, I walked forward and bumped into him, my hand snatching the purse at the same time and dropping it into the open satchel I’d prepared on my left side as it was closest to him. I apologised, and went on my way. That was one. Next I crouched behind the pile of cabbages at Grelka’s stand, thinking about poaching a few but thinking better of it as not more than one would fit in my measly satchel. Instead, I waited for her to become engrossed in business with a customer, then sneaking forward, I lifted a strange but expensive-looking dagger strapped to her her boot. Two down. My heart was hammering, but I felt a thrill like nothing before. By noon, I’d made it to six items. Brynjolf distracted the crowd by loudly touting his wares as I worked, his eyes always coming back to me every now and then.

I walked up to Madesi nonchalantly, making some small talk when a traveller pushed me aside, thinking me just a poor child. Annoyed, I reached around with one hand to lightly snatch a newly purchased book and a potion of some sort from his open satchel, biding my time as I saw Madesi unlock his display case for the traveller. They talked at length while picking up the fine jewellery piece by piece to admire, when I saw my opportunity. The traveller had placed a gold hair comb on the edge of the stand instead of back in the case. I loitered around, then ‘accidentally’ knocked the comb to the ground. Neither Madesi nor the traveler seemed to notice, so I tucked it into my satchel and made my way towards Brynjolf, who was taking a break from touting his skeever repellent and sitting on the wall eating some bread.

“Well I’ll be damned lass, are you sure you haven’t done this before?” He said, impressed. “I’ve been counting. Just one more to go. You can do it.” “I need a breather, Brynjolf. I’m starving and tired from concentrating so hard. Let me wait until Balimund is gone, and I’ll grab the last item off his work table.” Brynjolf looked sympathetic. “Aye, lass. Take a seat. I forgot how tiring the first trial is to a rookie.” He said apologetically, breaking off half of his bread to pass to me, as well as a potion of stamina to wake me up. I eagerly chugged down the potion and devoured the bread within a minute. “Lass, when’s the last time you ate?” Brynjolf sounded concerned. “Last night.” I replied, dusting the crumbs off myself. “My family can only afford to eat once a day, so we just have dinner.” “No wonder you’re a little runt. Where do you live, lass?” “A small hut on Beggar’s Row.” I mumbled. Brynjolf noticed me blushing and hanging my head in shame. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, lass. I was in your shoes, once upon a time. Can I get you anything else to eat?” “If it’s not too much, I’d be really grateful.” I sighed, my stomach rumbling. “Come on, let’s go to the B and B.” He said, gently pushing me off the wall.

By the time I’d ravenously made my way through a large bowl of rabbit stew and a plate of cut fruit, I noticed it was about time Balimund was off for lunch. “Well,” I said, “no time like the present. I’m going to the forge now. Do I meet you back at the marketplace after?” Brynjolf shook his head. “No. You’re to make your way through the Ratways. Go all the way through and you’ll find yourself at a small tavern called the Ragged Flagon. I’ll meet you there. By the way,” he suddenly said, “you can fight, can’t you, lass?” “If you mean whacking a slaughterfish dead, I guess so.” I said, feeling my gut churn. From the day I was born, my parents had strictly instructed me never to go anywhere near the Ratways, as nothing but trouble lay within. “Then I suggest you lift a blade off Balimund. You’ll need it.” “Brynjolf, is there another way through? I don’t know if I can do this.” “Sorry lass, but you’re on your own. Every rookie’s done it, even me. I was just ten when I joined the Guild, and I’m still standing. I believe in you, lass. Now go, I’ll see you at the Flagon.” He said, ruffling my hair.

Balimund was gone, as I’d expected. I walked around the forge, looking around discreetly in case anyone was watching. There was nothing near the bellows, so I sneaked toward the working bench. Jackpot. A sword lay there, simple but sharp and glinting in the afternoon sun. It was heavier than I expected, but I tucked it into my belt and uneasily made my way towards the Ratways. Taking a deep breath, I silently opened the door and stepped in. The smell of stale urine, vomit, and alcohol filled my nostrils and made me gag. The slimy walls were dimly lit by sputtering tallow candles. I sneaked my way around the corner, only to find two sleeping figures. Rumour had it that only the worst criminal scum and madmen lived in the Ratways. If possible, I would try to avoid them, knowing by their hefty builds that I would be crushed in a second if they woke up. As silently as possible, I tiptoed past them, and it was only when I was in the next room I allowed myself to breathe again. Suddenly, a chorus of squeaking emanated from a large gap in the wall, and three skeevers charged at me without warning. Awkwardly but as quickly as possible, I drew the sword and slashed at them one by one. I felt a nip through my worn shoes and plunged the sword down, spattering blood everywhere. In a minute, they were all dead. I decided right there and then that I hated killing.

Sticking to the walls, I inched my way through the Ratways, hoping my final destination was near. As I nervously made my way down a ladder to get to the other side of a large chamber, I suddenly heard a cackle. Human. I swore under my breath and drew my blade again. A ragged figure crawled towards me and I inhaled hard. In the dim light, I managed to make out the figure of an old woman rising to her feet, her white hair tangled. With unexpected speed and a screech, she charged at me, and I flailed at her with my sword. She ducked and threw me to the ground. “No!” I shouted, kicking and trying to pry my arms from her grasp. She held me down, and only then I saw sharp fangs heading to my neck. In a panic, I wrapped my legs around her and flipped her over with a strength I didn’t know I had. Caught off guard, she released my arms and I plunged my sword into her heart with all the strength I could muster. She let out a scream, and crumbled into dust. Before anything more could happen, I rushed up the ladder on the opposite side, holding back tears. I was a killer. I was no better than the Dark Brotherhood. In a daze, I made my way through a narrow corridor, pushing open a few rusty gates, and came upon a wooden door. I pushed it open without thinking, my blade still in my limp right hand.

I was in a dingy circular room. Ahead, a worn wooden sign advertised the Ragged Flagon. I’d made it. I inched my way across a narrow stone path, trying not to fall into the murky water beneath, and found Brynjolf, now dressed in leather armour with a hood over his red hair, standing by the bar counter along with a woman and two men. They were deep in conversation and only turned around when I dropped my satchel on the floor. “Lass! You made it!” Brynjolf called delightedly, coming towards me. He noticed my distressed face, and leaned down to eye level with me. “Lass, Talviel, are you alright?” To my horror and embarrassment, the tears I’d been holding back since stabbing the vampire came rushing out, wracking my body with loud sobs. “Lass, what happened?” He unexpectedly hugged me, and I sobbed into his shoulder. “I…I killed her, Brynjolf. I killed her, I didn’t mean to, but she attacked me, and I didn’t know what to do…” I rambled, feeling an absolute mess. “Oh please, she was just a vampire.” The pale woman at the bar with long blonde hair called out. Brynjolf whipped around, suddenly angry. “You knew a fucking vampire would be down there? Vex, you irresponsible twat, the lass could have contracted Sanguinare Vampiris, and then what? She’s just a child!” He yelled, and Vex looked unfazed. “A vampire could always be useful to us.” She shrugged, taking a swig from her flagon. “Vex, I swear to the Nine Divines…” Brynjolf growled, looking about ready to punch her. “Easy, easy, our little Vex here evidently miscalculated the strength of her opponent but the girl is here and alive.” The bald man with a deep and grating voice said, jumping between the two. He turned to me. “What’s your name, child?” “T-Talviel.” I stuttered, wiping the last of the tears off my cheeks and angry at myself for making such an embarrassing introduction. “Lovely to make your acquaintance. I’m Delvin. Well Talviel, I’m going to take your satchel to Tonilia over there so she can count out your loot from today. No need to cry. Get yourself together and Brynjolf will take you into the cistern to see Mercer. If all goes well, you’ll be our sister in crime.” He said, unexpectedly gently. Brynjolf put a hand on my shoulder. “Come on, lass. Time to introduce you to the big boss.”

We made our way through an unsuspecting storage cupboard and pushed through the door hidden behind it. A towering domed ceiling rose above us, while a few people walked around, going about their business. The centre of the room was divided by stone pathways leading to a wide circular centre, and was surrounded by water. In a corner stood a statue of a woman I didn’t recognise. At the opposite end of the room was a large desk and bookcase, with a sour-looking Breton man scribbling in a ledger. Brynjolf led me across the central pathway towards him, and introduced us. “Doesn’t look like much to me.” The man, Mercer Frey, grunted, clearly annoyed that we’d interrupted his work. “Still, scrawny is good. Get into tight spaces and all. Now listen carefully kid, because I’m only going to say this once.” He went on a long monologue about the history of the Thieves Guild and my duties and responsibilities. I nodded on cue and willed it to be over with. Eventually, he met my eye. “Welcome to the family.” He said. “Now get lost, I’ve got work to do.” Brynjolf guided me away and smiled. “Well done, you’re part of the Guild now. Welcome to the family, lass.”

[smallfriendlyhamster1187]

Waytfm hype-train: @$11.87 Doki doki time motherfucker

Tormeson: We expect good, written commentary

biglawk: oh my god it's happening

Danimark: I expect great things

Waytfm hype-train: @$11.87 get the fuck in here and start playing

Waytfm hype-train: So help me god, I will ban you

$11.87: ok but i only have one hour

$11.87: one sec

Waytfm hype-train: Fuck, why are you so awful

Waytfm hype-train: Skip whatever the fuck it is

$11.87: i have a life my dude

biglawk: get your shit together 11

biglawk: jesus christ

$11.87: i have to go to UVA

Waytfm hype-train: you have a game to play, fuck your life

biglawk: how about you fucking call UVA up and tell them to wait

Waytfm hype-train: ^

Tormeson: :veryTru:

$11.87: https://www.twitch.tv/movkeyb

Waytfm hype-train: Wait, are you legit streaming this?

$11.87: not with commentary, but yeah

$11.87: since my gf is sleeping

$11.87: but if you want to follow along

Waytfm hype-train: We demand commentary here

Waytfm hype-train: Type it out

$11.87: yeah i'll do that

$11.87: but you can watch along

Waytfm hype-train: I might pop in

$11.87: hmm what should my name be

$11.87: a boat name generator says i should be "Limerick II"

$11.87: so thats my name

Waytfm hype-train: No, that's awful

Waytfm hype-train: Name yourself oby

$11.87: nah im a boat rn

Waytfm hype-train: Fucking restart the game

$11.87: fine

$11.87: yeesh

Waytfm hype-train: You're almost at sec's level of playthrough awfulness

$11.87: oh the sayori girl came up to me

$11.87: brb putting on pants irl

biglawk: i'm going to be sick

Tormeson: @secular25 your gameplay was fine I'm sorry for having mocked you

Waytfm hype-train: haha

Waytfm hype-train: @secular25 Fuck you sec, you'll never be forgiven

$11.87: this game is far improved when i think of myself as being a boat

Waytfm hype-train: I'll make that game for you

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434352582534889483/unknown.png?width=400&height=48

Waytfm hype-train: Hatoful Boatfriend

$11.87: i feel insulted

Tormeson: I want a british Sayori calling you a chav now

10: 04 AM] $11.87: =\

https: //media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434353085293527050/unknown.png?width=400&height=61

$11.87: fuck off main character

$11.87: you're so melodramatic

biglawk: MC is the worst

Tormeson: 0 to hate in 25 seconds flat

Waytfm hype-train: Fucking MC

Tormeson: Impressive

$11.87: who is MC

Tormeson: Main Character

biglawk: main character you dip

$11.87: oh ok

$11.87: i meet girl with large bust, named "girl 1"

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434353366458564608/unknown.png?width=400&height=183

Waytfm hype-train: That's how you know it's anime

$11.87: > this club is full of incredibly cute girls

$11.87: MC confirmed thirsty

$11.87: well, thats a given, seeing as he is a boat

Waytfm hype-train: Holy shit, I'm banning you

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434353710894940180/unknown.png?width=400&height=65

biglawk: uwu

Tormeson: :smilepls:

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434354038256173066/unknown.png[10:07 AM] Tormeson: That's the only anime emoji I have

Tormeson: I think

biglawk: i long watching 11 screenshot things

Waytfm hype-train: Everytime I see the name "Limerick" I want to just delete this whole channel

$11.87: Limerick II

Waytfm hype-train: Mes, how can you not have anime emojis?

Tormeson: I dunno, I'm not in servers that have a lot :shrug:(edited)

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434354508496371730/unknown.png?width=400&height=44

$11.87: why is everybody so coy

$11.87: "these are good cupcakes you made"

Waytfm hype-train: Motherfucker, have you read a VN before?

$11.87: gasp HOW DARE YOU

Waytfm hype-train: Also, if you wanted to bump the resolution down to like 720 or what have you, I'd appreciate it. not only is my internet carried in by carrier pigeon, but I also have a daily datacap

Waytfm hype-train: it's pretty awful

$11.87: one sec

$11.87: its at 720 and 10 fps

Waytfm hype-train: Aight, I can do doki doki powerpoints

Waytfm hype-train: Hopefully

biglawk: 11 you broke your stream wtf

Waytfm hype-train: It's at 480p now, actually

$11.87: its working for me

$11.87: oh oops

$11.87: lemme fix that

Tormeson: Eleven, my first VN was DDLC and even I wasn't surprised by this

Waytfm hype-train: Go play Saya no uta, Mes

Waytfm hype-train: stream it

Tormeson: I have exams tho

Tormeson: After exams?

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434356081435607040/unknown.png?width=400&height=32

Waytfm hype-train: You think I care about your life

$11.87: time to seduce monica

Waytfm hype-train: She's onto you 11

Waytfm hype-train: Abort game

Waytfm hype-train: Get the fuck out of there

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434356229834407936/unknown.png

10: 16 AM] $11.87: some romance going on in here

Tormeson: Monika would probably wipe the floor with you, Eleven

biglawk: you don't even stand a chance

Tormeson: And I'm not talking about her club, just Monika

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434356457534914560/unknown.png?width=400&height=216

$11.87: title screen

$11.87: stop telling me about these teacups when you've not animated them

$11.87: they just have their hands behind their back

$11.87: thats a weird ass way to hold your cup of tea

$11.87: "ah i read a horror book once"

$11.87: me_irl

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434356908489703424/unknown.png?width=400&height=27

Tormeson: I think Eleven is our world's MC

Waytfm hype-train: Yeah, Saya no Uta is kinda bad. it's a shame, because it's a cthulhu love story, basically, but cthulhu is a loli and it kinda ruins it

Tormeson: Fun fact my second VN was DDRC

Tormeson: I haven't played any other VNs

Waytfm hype-train: Oh, boy

$11.87: i have 200 hours in some anime dating sim

$11.87: but i just afk'd that for two weeks

$11.87: im not really one for VNs or animes in general

biglawk: lmao

Waytfm hype-train: No, fuck off, you don't get to say "I have 200 hours in a dating sim" and "I'm not one for VNs"

Waytfm hype-train: You shit

biglawk: ddlc was my first and so far only VN

$11.87: who tf is like this

https: //media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434357829168660480/unknown.png?width=361&height=300

biglawk: nic

$11.87: this girl is going to snap her spine or something

$11.87: also is there some fan thats out of shot that makes the hair billow

Tormeson: No she's just perfect

Tormeson: Doesn't need a fan

Waytfm hype-train: Mes

Tormeson: And she has a strong spine

biglawk: we're all her fans

Waytfm hype-train: Don't

$11.87: oh no

$11.87: i actually have to do something

Waytfm hype-train: You trash

$11.87: i forgot that this was a game and not just a powerpoint

$11.87: since i spent the last 20 minutes just reading the slides

biglawk: who are you gonna try to bang

Tormeson: You

Waytfm hype-train: Write your poem

Waytfm hype-train: Go go go

Tormeson: :ablobwink:

biglawk: :heart_eyes:

$11.87: monica obviously

$11.87: what the heck how does this work

$11.87: um

$11.87: time to write some magical literary masterpiece

Waytfm hype-train: Click a word

Waytfm hype-train: then click another

Waytfm hype-train: And do that until you've spilled your heart out onto a page

$11.87: > suicide

Waytfm hype-train: >picking papa

$11.87: > one girl jumps up and down excitidly

Waytfm hype-train: hmmm

$11.87: i have daddy issues, ok?

Waytfm hype-train: You have no idea

Waytfm hype-train: Yuri is trash-tier, just so you know

Waytfm hype-train: Natsuki is like a worm crawling around on the ground

biglawk: delete tihs

Tormeson: Yuri is trash-tier only if trash-tier means top-tier

Waytfm hype-train: My girl Sayori floats above like an angel though

$11.87: hmm mr "oh jeez whats a 'book'" is now effortlessly flirting

Waytfm hype-train: You're a fast learner

Waytfm hype-train: There had better be A)voice and B)a saved VOD when you finish this game after you're done with your other stuff

$11.87: hmm, i can probably record

$11.87: but rn my roommates are loudly watching something else

Waytfm hype-train: Eh, this first hour probably doesn't matter so much(edited)

$11.87: also yuri sure seems to be a datelet

biglawk: explain this word

$11.87: she is very ungood at being subtle

$11.87: she's bad at flirting

Waytfm hype-train: Have twitch save your past broadcasts, though, if they don't already

$11.87: i think the bigger question is "what sort of chad am i where so many people are tripping over themselves to date me"

biglawk: big booby goth tho

$11.87: they only do that if you have enough subs or something

Waytfm hype-train: That is a big question

Waytfm hype-train: I don't think they do?

$11.87: also brb im getting some water

$11.87: my recording software can probably do that

Waytfm hype-train: Haven't really looked too much into that

$11.87: " i just happened to buy two of them"

$11.87: hmm that was a bit heavy handed

Waytfm hype-train: You ain't seen shit

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434360808248442881/unknown.png?width=400&height=37

10: 34 AM] Waytfm hype-train: Buckle up motherfucker

Waytfm hype-train: Quit ruining my posts, 11

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434360967158300682/unknown.png?width=400&height=30

https: //media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434361015996645376/unknown.png?width=400&height=36

$11.87: > implying that the MC being a doofus will be a surprise twist

biglawk: but who is the real MC

$11.87: oh no

$11.87: stop bullying me

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434361467806941200/unknown.png?width=400&height=184

$11.87: :thinking:

Tormeson: >LimerickII

I might just delete this channel

$11.87: i told you, im cosplaying as a boat

Tormeson: Hmmm

biglawk: why delete this whole channel when you can just delete 11

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434361939792101376/unknown.png?width=400&height=36

$11.87: this some tasty smut

biglawk: lewd

Tormeson: Don't make me use this

https: //media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434362150668992512/Capture_2018-04-13-10-39-46.png?width=194&height=301

$11.87: > sorry i didn't know you were self concious about that sort of thing

$11.87: you fucking idiot MC

$11.87: brb getting water

$11.87: back

$11.87: oh no its decision making time

$11.87: who should i show my poem to

Tormeson: Who's your fav?

Waytfm hype-train: Gross

biglawk: decision time

Waytfm hype-train: No one wants you to whip out your poem

$11.87: ill show it to my waifu, monica

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434363648316538902/unknown.png?width=400&height=78

$11.87: this game is not good at being subtle

Waytfm hype-train: Your face isn't good at being subtle

biglawk: i hate you and your boat

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434364023979638804/unknown.png?width=24&height=300

$11.87: i like how this is handdrawn

$11.87: like, is that canon?

Waytfm hype-train: ?

$11.87: did monica actually draw this little slide thing on her paper

Waytfm hype-train: lol

biglawk: yes

biglawk: what do you think of her poem

$11.87: :shrug:

Waytfm hype-train: Monika's poems are shit

Waytfm hype-train: Natsuki has the good stuff

$11.87: roni just shouted "yuri is best girl"

$11.87: so i know who her waifu is

Waytfm hype-train: Roni, shut the fuck up

Waytfm hype-train: We're trying to have a moment here

biglawk: based roni

Tormeson: Roni is right

Waytfm hype-train: I'll ban all of you

Tormeson: Tell her that she's right

Tormeson: :(

Waytfm hype-train: I'll corrupt 11's game so he can't play anymore if you keep poisoning his mind

biglawk: i would be banned a million times for yuri

Waytfm hype-train: You will be

biglawk: oh no

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434364791575019521/unknown.png?width=400&height=41

$11.87: thats some good mind reading MC has

$11.87: then again he's a boat so pretty much any action he takes is impressive

Waytfm hype-train: Go play hatoful boyfriend

$11.87: the fuck is this shit

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434365292391563286/unknown.png

$11.87: this reminds me of that joke with the table

Tormeson: :tharking:

Waytfm hype-train: Flicka flicka

$11.87: why cant i tell what my poem is about

$11.87: it is just a bunch of random words on a piece of paper

Waytfm hype-train: Yeah, you're a pretty shitty poet

$11.87: hm this poem is the best imo

$11.87: its not 2deep4me

$11.87: HAHAHAHHAHAHHAA

$11.87: this poem is so trashy i love it

$11.87: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/433621801512337410/434366555699019788/unknown.png?width=249&height=301

biglawk: way is going to ban you

Waytfm hype-train: Listen here you little shit

Tormeson: I'm not a Natsuki-boi but I actually like that poem

$11.87: > i dont get an option as MC to trash on her poem

$11.87: whats even the point of playing tbh

$11.87: anyway i need to head out

Waytfm hype-train: Yeah, you'd better get the fuck out of here

$11.87: i'll have my laptop so i can remote access if i have any downtime

$11.87: but i won't be able to alt tab as easily to give comments

Waytfm hype-train: Commentary is paramount

Tormeson: :ANGERY:

biglawk: just wait until you're back home

Tormeson: ^Way rn

$11.87: oh god i can't wait to get 0 sleep tonight

$11.87: im not bringing my bed

$11.87: so its blankets and floors for me and roni

Tormeson: >having a bed

You fucking bourgeois scum

(napkin) i might miss your msg: who is roni?

Tormeson: Eleven's gf

(napkin) i might miss your msg: understandable

[colorfulsuitdestiny-blog]

Car insurance for Fiat?

"Car insurance for Fiat?

Hi, guys i was just wondering how much will it cost me for full coverage car insurance for 2013/2014 Fiat Arbath in State of California. Im 24 years old? I'm just wondering how much will it cost in California.

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

RELATED QUESTIONS: 

Who is looking for affordable health insurance?

life insurance, health insurance, long term care""

How expensive of a car can i get if im military?

I'm looking ahead into the future a bit but in about a year i will be an E3 in the USAF. I will be bringing home about 1700 a month before taxes, so about 1300-1400 after taxes. I only have about 100 a month of bills and obviously live for free(housing and food). I was wondering, how much of a new car can i finance through a dealership. I have about 1000-1100 after i set aside some money into the bank. So that leaves me about 1000 a month that i could set aside to car, and insurance. I know my insurance will be pretty high, but i was wondering if anyone has any first hand experience as to how much of a car i'd get approved for. BTW: I have good credit, i dont have anything big on my credit report, but ive had credit cards, and cell phone, and furniture and insurance payments for about 3 years, and never had any problems with payments. So my credit is good with what i have, but i dont really have anything big so i would need a codigner if i were to try and get a car today. But from what ive read dealers usually approve anyone in the military, and especially if they have decent-good credit. THANKS!!!""

About how much does car insurance for a BMW cost??

i dont know if the car model matters but just in case lets say a 2004 BMW 325i for a guy under 30

Who needs insurance?

Auto insurance is a hit or miss conception with police enforcement doing the insurance company's work for them. Too many drivers have no insurance leaving responsible drivers to pick up their tab. Why don't we tack on 10 or twenty cents per gallon at the gasoline pump to go for insurance. If you don't buy gas for your car, you're not going to be able to drive.That way, if you drive, you automatically have insurance. This frees up police to do real cop work, cuts down on the cost and makes sure everyone who drives has insurance. Whadya think?""

Will 3 points increase my car insurance by much?

if so how much? Is it very bad to get 3 points?

Does taking driving classes cheapen the cost of driving insurance for new drivers?

I'm planning to get my driver license when I turn 18 which is in two months and I live in Massachusetts. The state law says that you don't have to take driving classes in order to get your driver license if you are over the age of 18 but I am taking in order for my driving insurance to be less. If so, do you save around 10-15% on driving insurance rate? And how long does this discount on this insurance last for drivers.""

Is affordable (not free) health care a right or a privilege?

There are many constituancies in this debate not the least of which is individual health responsibility. That said the costs are driven in large part by greed. Insurance, hospitals, doctors, drug companies, lawyers, restaurants and the food industry and fraudsters all have a dog in this fight. If affordable health care is believed to be a right (I believe it is) then all of these constituants need to come together. Al Tennessee""

Where can i get really cheap auto insurance. when i turn 18 I am getting my own car and own insurance.?

I don't make that much money probably only about 200-300 dollars a month so I wanted to know where i could get the cheapest car insurance in ME. i don't want to do a car quote now because I am not old enough and I don't actually have my license and a car now but I would just like an average or what around what the cheapest cost is. Thanks

How much would a typical car insurance cost for a punto? im also a new driver and 20 yrs of age.?

How much would a typical car insurance cost for a punto? im also a new driver and 20 yrs of age.?

Affordable health insurance in Florida for someone who is 22 with no kids.?

I am 22 years old and I live in Florida. I have no health insurance but I really need it because I have asthma and alot of other health issues that seem to come up alot. Does anyone know of any type of affordable health insurance or anything that could help me?

How much do you pay for auto insurance?

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Health Insurance company for a graduate student? What one is best as far as price and coverage??

Anyone have any suggestions for a good health insurance company for a graduate student? The coverage from the school is one thousand a semester and thats way to much.

If you get your drivers license do you have o pay insurance?

im 16 and my mom wont let me get my license because she says she would have to pay insurance

Where can i get cheap insurance?

I Would like to get a new auto insurance, where can i find cheap insurance? Thanks in advance""

What is the best Car insurance?

I'm a 16 year old student and i've noticed that car insurance is very expensive. Whats the cheapest insurance i can get, that covers a lot of situations?""

Alliance United Insurance?

So I just want to know all of their current plans and prices? For 2 adults and 1 minor for auto insurance.. I live in California.. Thanks!

Does anyone know of any affordable health insurance companies for individuals living in Ohio?

Does anyone know of any affordable health insurance companies for individuals living in Ohio?

How to make insurance cheeper?

what are the things i can do to make my car insurance cheaper? i have good grades my car is 97 color gold

""How much woud monthly car insurance cost for a 19 year old, and a 1963 Dodge Dart?""

I saw I nice 1963 Dodge Dart for sale, and Id like to get it but Im not entirely sure how much insurance would cost, if I can get some sort of ballpark range so I know whether or not to buy it""

Name of the Insurance Company?

Orange and Halifax insure phones/laptops ect... However who is the actual company who the insurance is ? I mean it is Orange and Halifax but who is the real insurance from who take the commission or what ever it is.

Can I borrow money from my life insurance policy?

I have had a life insurance policy since 2002. It is only for $50,000.00. I have always paid and never been late. I am now in a bind and need this money to start up a business. Being that I have had this policy for now a little over 8 years, can I borrow the full amount?""

Do I need to include a speeding ticket that got reduced to a moving violation on a new insurance policy?

I am trying to get a quote for insurance and it asked if I have had any tickets. i did get pulled over and got a ticket once, but I had a lawyer get it reduced to a moving violation so it wouldnt affect my insurance at the time. do i need to mention it when i try to get insurance somewhere else?""

How much will my monthly payment and insurance be for a sports car?

im trying to figure out how much my car insurance will be. im 17, ive never owned a car, have no credit history and i want to buy a 1990 toyota supra which is a sports car. the car will probably cost $5000. i just really need to know how much i can expect to be paying a month with insurance and monthly payments""

What would be my annual AND monthly insurance cost for me to own a car in my name?

What would be my annual AND monthly insurance cost for me to own a car in my name?

Camaro z28!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... insurance costs?

how much would insurance cost for a 1990-2000 camaro z28 cost for a 16 year old boy

Car insurance for Fiat?

Hi, guys i was just wondering how much will it cost me for full coverage car insurance for 2013/2014 Fiat Arbath in State of California. Im 24 years old? I'm just wondering how much will it cost in California.

Would I lose my auto insurance?

Hey there, I have been in 2ed car accident, and its my 2ed one in the past two years. I was wondering If my insurance would drop me, or cancel my renewal or just raise my rates? If it helps they where both rear ends, and no damages to my car, and just scratch to the other car.""

Is it possible to get a national insurance number when you are under 16 years old?

I am applying for a job at a cafe, but the application form requires a national insurance number, I am 14 years old.""

Is dental insurance mandatory in Massachusetts ?

Medical insurance is mandatory in Massachusetts, but is the dental insurance also mandatory ?""

I borrowed my parents car. am i covered under their insurance?

they forgot to put their insurance card in the glovebox so i got a ticket for no proof of insurance. The ticket will be dropped if i bring in proof of insurance. will it work to just bring in their insurance card? i do not drive their car very often. We live two hours apart

How does LIFE INSURANCE work?

my cousins dad dies of cancer and he had life insurance. the family got $500,000 . -did the insurance company just give them the money away. or did they make certain payments? doesnt insurance lose money? -do they go on a spending spree now or what?""

Who is the cheapest insurance company for first cars?

i am a female, and i am just wanting to buy a cheap first car""

What would car insurance cost in Florida for a 16-year old male with a 2006 Ford Mustang GT?

I am currently 15 years old and I plan on getting my first car next year for my junior year in high school. One car I have just fell in love with is the 2006 Ford Mustang GT that I plan to buy used from a used car dealer. My curiosity has led me to ask what would it cost for car insurance under my circumstances and desires. I only plan to drive to school everyday and sometimes in the weekends. Of course I would need to sign my insurance under my mother's since I'm a minor. How much would this cost for me?

What is the typical cost of maintenance for a Mercedes C240 per year including insurance for a young driver?

As the question states. :) Thank you so much for your help!

Best health insurance for babies?

Hi everyone I am 24 and kind of new to this. I'm pregnant with my first child and I would like to know what would be the best insurance for my newborn and when I should apply for it. I currently have insurance through my job and its great the only thing is I'm not considered full time so if I put the baby under my insurance there goes half of my paycheck. It is the same for the baby's father. I have a loooong way to go before my due date but I like to be prepared when it comes to things like this because it is very important to me. If there is anyone out there who has a good place to choose I'm all ears!

Who provides cheap car insurance for young people?

I am 19 (nearly 20) and live in Leeds. I have a 2002 1.6 ford focus valued around 4000.00. My insurance at the mo is with Quinn and only 3rd party fire and theft and is 85.00 per month. I have 2 years no claims and want fully comp. Anyone got any idea's where I can get it cheaper? The price comparison sites aren't helping that much, any ideas?""

Car insurance for teens?

Hi, so I just got my license today and now I have to insure my car but don't really have much information about how to do so. I'm an 18 year old girl and I only drive to and from school, which is about 7 miles away from my house. I have a Toyota corolla 2005 model but it belongs to my grandma. she's planning on completely giving the car to me and insuring it completely in my name and canceling her insurance because she no longer has a means to drive, since she only picks me up from school. My family doesn't really want to put me on their insurance and insist that I have my own separate plan. My whole family uses Geico btw. so if I wanted to insure the Toyota completely in my name, I would have to first get a quote right? if I set up the insurance with a certain amount of mileage, would that decrease the amount I have to pay? what about good student discounts ? if there are any cheaper alternatives please recommend them to me! I'm a full time student so I can only afford so much :(""

My mom is 84 and has trouble paying her supplemental insurance at 225 per month. What can she do?

Where can she find affordable medicare supplemental insurance. She now has Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and she no longer can afford it. Thanks for your help.

Having a baby in Texas with no insurance.?

My friends husband died 10 days ago, he had a family insurance which now comes invalid tomorrow. What can she do, she has no money to pay insurance and is 7 months pregnant. Is there some sort of welfare or social help ? There is maybe a possible payout from 401k insurance and she could use that money but it may not arive in time.""

Can I get insurance??

Im 18 years old. I have never had insurance before because my parents have never had insurance. I just graduated from high school. I need insurance to help pay for some dental work. I dont have a job yet but Im working on getting one for the summer before i go to school. I know I am legally an adult so isnt there some kind of poor young peoples' insurance I can get? Or can I still apply for medicare or something because I am still basically under my mothers care. I appreciate any suggestions.

Insurance Q???

would my insurance rates go up if i title/register my sons car in his name

Health insruance for the umemployed?

I'm actually employed but theres no insurance....Are there any insurance companies that I could get with, keeping in mind that I already have health problems......You know most insurance companies wont even write because you have problems already, are there any that will???""

Best way to buy health insurance?

I had health insurance, up until Sept., when I could no longer pay the expensive ever-increasing policy. I now have a job, but it does not include benefits. Can I buy health insurance online? I mainly want a low-cost policy that would cover accidents. Thanks for any advice!!""

Cheapest method for car insurance for 17 year old male?

Cheapest method for car insurance for 17 year old male?

Help with getting car insurance in NY?

I really need to get a car, just got my drivers license but the insurance companies are trying to charge me over 600 a month. I have heard about people getting their insurance in maryland and other close by states, will i be able to do that? or anything ? oh and i'm 22 btw""

Do amended tickets affect car insurance? if so how bad?

I need to know if the tickets that i got last year, but had them amended to non moving violations, will still affect my car insurance.""

Will my daughter driving permit have an affect on our insurance rates?

Will my daughter driving permit have an affect on our insurance rates?

How come they want this much for car insurance??

My brothers leasing a 2013 Buick Regal GS, They want $1900 a year from him for full coverage. They want $2000 from my dad a year ONE WAY for a 2008 jeep commander v6.. Both with perfect insurance records no tickets.""

Insurance question please answer if you know?

my friends husband has colon cancer the health insurance is about to run out she is looking for morer health insurance does anyone know any health insurance that will insure him?

Advise please for a cheapest and reliable car insurance here in orange county CA?

For a 2012 honda civic LX thank you

How does car insurance work?

I got a ticket for not having endurance but the car i was driving (my dads) does. Can i just show proof of insurance to get the ticket off or does the insurance have to say my name in order to be taken off? Example:: In that case how do you explain road tests at the dps for driving license? They ask for insurance of the car your testing in but clearly its not in your name since you don't have a license yet they let you drive it. What happens in case of an accident? Will it not be covered since the person behind the wheel is not in the document? Can i take off the ticket or not? Or is car insurance all about the person behind the wheel? Isn't it supposed to be for the car no matter who is driving? Please explain if i got it all wrong and have to pay the ticket

Car insurance for Fiat?

Hi, guys i was just wondering how much will it cost me for full coverage car insurance for 2013/2014 Fiat Arbath in State of California. Im 24 years old? I'm just wondering how much will it cost in California.

Question about car insurance?

I know it's a broad question - but what is the average rate for car insurance for someone over 25 who is a safe driver?? Also is it possible for your car insurance to drop $100 in 6 months??

Insurance or Laywers Office??

Insurance or laywer payout? Not sure what to do at this stage. Insurers are willing to compensate me for a fall. Am getting conflicting advice. Some say go to laywer for sure, insurance will rip me off. Others say don't go to laywer as they will take a chunk of your compensation and you may be left with far less than the insurance offer. In general which one do you think accept, laywer or insurer""

Should parents buy life insurance policies for their young children?

What do you think? Give good reasoning for your argument...THANKS!!!

What is a good website to compare auto insurance rates?

What is a good website to compare auto insurance rates?

Does a spoiler on a car raise the insurance?

does having a spoiler on a car made it into a sports car and thus raise insurance?

""What are some good, reliable cars that don't have super high insurance?""

I'm 18, responsible driver, clean record which will stay clean. Looking for another car still. Will almost positively be under 2005 and not a sporty one. I was looking into Acura Integra. But, kinda like maybe something like a Jeep Liberty (if insurance isn't high!) I will be on my parents insurance and both of them have clean records so that should lower it anyways. Would Audi A4 or a Suzuki or Kia sedan be fairly cheap?""

How much does motorcycle insurance cost in California? I'm 20 years old and thinking of getting a bike.?

I'm thinking of getting a Yamaha R6. Still don't know what year? Anyone got any tips of what year i should get?

What is Aflac? Insurance? Something you add on to insurance?

They are offering a meeting at work with an Aflac rep but really gave no information. I currently have no insurance at all. Is this something I would want to look into? Thanks!

What happens if you get into an accident without car insurance in MA?

My friend drove and without car insurance in MA. And she ended up going through a stop sign, and totaled another car, what will happen?""

""How can forcing us to buy health insurance, be the same as mandatory car insurance?""

I don't own a car, so I don't pay car insurance. Nobody is forcing me to buy it. But under the Obama individual mandate, we will all have to buy insurance or get fined. This is based on the assumption that you will get sick and not be able to afford your own care, and so will choose to be a burden. Those are a lot of assumptions. Can we force somebody to buy something that they don't want, based on assumptions that may or may not be true??""

I'm not gay but need health insurance?

In my state (ct) my boyfriend can not add me to his health insurance policy because we are not a homosexual couple. We live together and have for a long time, but because we have the option of getting married I can't have coverage. While I am happy that Ct takes homosexual relationships into account, I feel heterosexuals are being discriminated against. We are not religious and in no hurry to marry- we are very happy. Any thoughts on the legalities here or how to get around this?""

How much is the insurance for a trampoline?

I am looking into getting a trampoline but I would like to get liability insurance. I have AAA and I was wondering how much my homeowners insurance would go up if I get a trampoline with a net around it

Health insurance for foreigners?

I am from India & I would like to know about the health insurance options for indians working in Malaysia. My husband is working but I am a housewife. His company takes care of his insurance. We are trying for a baby and I would like to know about the health insurance options for foreigners in Malaysia.

Cheap car insurance...who are you with?

i am looking for cheap car insurance for my two cars. i had my license since i was 18 and now im 20. i have no tickets and i need to find insurance please help me....who do u have and how much do u pay?

""Motorcycle blown over in 35MPH wind, would the insurance company cover it? And would I be declared at fault?

07 zx6r. Left it outside while I was away came back to it on the ground. Heavy winds last night.

Will my homeowners insurance drop me if my dog bit someone?

So last week the side gate to my house was left open and my dog got out. She bit one of my neighbors down the street, I'm guessing out of fear (she is a rescue dog). The bite wasn't too serious, but it did break the skin so my neighbor went to urgent care to get bandaged up. We apologized and offered to pay any medical costs upfront, but my neighbor preferred to let our insurance companies handle the claim. My dog hasn't bit anyone in the past, and isn't considered a dangerous breed (labrador, border collie mix). We've let her off leash at the dog beach and dog parks with plenty of other dogs and people running around, and she hasn't shown any type of aggression. What I'm worried about is my insurance company dropping us from their coverage, and us subsequently having trouble finding homeowners insurance in the future. We tried convincing our neighbor to let us settle without getting the insurance companies involved, and explained the situation, but with no luck. Does anyone have any answers or advice about the whole situation? Should I make a claim first and let our insurance company know, or should I just sit and wait for the whole situation to play out? BTW I live in California and my homeowners insurance is Wawanesa""

Car insurance rates for honda civic lx?

hello, trying to get my own car, and i found a 2002 honda civic down the street from me for 4,000, im 17 (male) in CA and have been driving for over a year now, i have one speeding ticket and was unable to go to traffic school to erase my point(s) unfortunately can anybody tell me an estimate on insurance rates for this car? or the cheapest way to insure this car for me any help would be great!""

I need health insurance I'm self-employed?

I want to get Health Insurance but I'm not sure where to start. I havnt been to a doctor in a few years. I'm 39 and in good health. Will they require a physical from a doctor?

Is hurricane Insurance mandatory on Fl homes?

Is hurricane Insurance mandatory on Fl homes?

Car insurance rates in Ontario for new driver?

I plan to import my '01 Camry from USA to missisuaga. How much shd I expect to pay p.m. in car Insurance rates ? I have 3 yrs clean driving history in USA.Will my driving history in USA help with getting a better rate in canada ? Initially I will have only a US drivers license.Pls help shed light on my doubts .. Forgot to mention - I am married , age 30 yrs""

Car insurance?

What is THE cheapest car for a newly qualified driver to get insured? I have looked at things like corsa's but they are really expensive to ensure, 5/6 times the value of the car, im female by the way if that matters. I expect to pay alot but i would rather get a better car which is more expensive and cheaper insurance than a crap car with high insurance? Any ideas?""

Obamacare and still insurance premium skyrocketing?

Now that Obamacare has passed and in place why insurance premiums are still skyrocketing at record numbers? isn't it the main primary reason for (to have)obamacare is to curb the ever increasing cost of health insurance premium??

IF YOU GET PULLED OVER WITHOUT CAR INSURANCE?

IF YOU GET PULLED OVER AND YOU Have no insUraNce on your car how much is tHE fine???

Would my car insurance cover this?

I heard on the weather Channel today that they are expecting severe thunderstorms in the Tallahassee area that can produce damaging winds large hail and tornadoes and my older brothers a weatherman and he kind of confirmed it. I know my apartment insurance covers it but what about my car insurance. since i have 2 more years on my lease and my cars in perfect condition.

Insurance cost on Audi TT 16yr?

I currently drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee (2002) to and from school but im in need of something that gets better gas mileage... I am currently very interested in an Audi TT because it is an inexpensive fun looking car and gets approx 28mpg. I am looking for around a 2000-2002 model Hard Top. How much would insurance cost for a 16yr Male Good Student while driving an Audi TT? Is there a huge difference between that and driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee? Thank You

Car insurance for Fiat?

Hi, guys i was just wondering how much will it cost me for full coverage car insurance for 2013/2014 Fiat Arbath in State of California. Im 24 years old? I'm just wondering how much will it cost in California.

Best car insurance for my children while they're at university?

My two children (aged 20 and 18) have gone to university this year. They've left their car (VW Polo) at home. What is the best way to insure this car now? It's only getting used when they pop home, and a bit more over Christmas and Easter, probably summer too. However I can't find any insurance that will take this into account. I've got my own car, so theirs is just sitting there for 8 or 9 months out of the year. Does anybody know of any insurance providers that will insure a car while taking this into account?""

How can i get cheap car insurance?

cheap car insurance

Why is my car insurance so high?

my car insurance is very high its something like 5000-10,000 and plus its only third party and the car is cheap 500 fiat punto ive checked confused several times still same prices""

Is everyone that gets insurance through work getting their notifications that insurance is going up?

Has anyone else noticed a great number of questions complaining about ins going up. These people are getting insurance through work. The notices must have gone out this week?

""In GA, if the moving violation is no longer on my DMV record, can insurance companies penalize me anyway?""

A bit over two years ago, I got a ticket for a turn I made that wasn't sharp enough. In GA, moving violations leave your record after 24 months, so it should be gone by now. Can my insurance company continue to penalize me for it, though? Do they have to lower my rates now that it's off my record? If I go to a new insurance company, will my current one pass along the information somehow even though the DMV doesn't have it on file?""

The average price of car insurance for VA drivers?

I'm planning on getting my license very soon. I've been planning ahead by saving up car money and figuring out what type of car I want. However, my dad often mentions how insurance is gonna bite you in the ***. so I would like to know what the average price of car insurance is for young or new Virginia drivers. please and thank you. (I've heard rumors that sometimes it helps if you have a beige or gray car. true?)""

What is the cheapest insurance for an 18 yo first time car?

i asked my uncle, he said it could be around $300 for 6 months, idk if it is true or not. but are there any cheap insurance? idk, please help. if i want to buy a new tundra, how much it does it cost?. i work full time. $3k/month.""

Whats the best California insurance ?

I want full coverage what's the best company

Will my parents' Geico insurance rate go up if I (uninsured) get into an accident?

I got into an accident today which was my fault and damaged the front lights area. The car I was in is my mom's who is covered with Geico. Geico will cover all the damages done for this car and the other one involved, but will the insurance go way up? By how much?""

Car insurance quote?

does anyone know a website that can give me an aprox car quote without having to go through all of the sign up etc process?

Insurance componies that cover transgender?

Does anyone know of any insurances that cover transgender medical needs (specifically ones to do with being transgender)

How much will my car insurance cost me?

I am 18 years old, I just got an 07' Chevy Silverado and I need insurance tomorrow, how much do you think it'll be monthly? Also how much would it be if I got on my dads or grandmas insurance? I need cheap! haha""

Car insurance for a 16 year old?

What would an estimated car insurance amount be for a 16 year olds first car being a 2000 BMW 323 i?

19 years old and cheapest insurance i've found is 4.5k WHATS GOING ON?

Right basically i'm 19, recently past my test tried looking at every single type of car there is even with pass plus discount and it's barely even gone below 6000 (4500 wasn't even what i found, it was my sister that probably got one of my details wrong) I've even tried having parents as named drivers and i cant think of anything else i've not already tried. Even friends i know have had it less than 2000 and at the moment i'll be happy to get below 3000 Pleaseee help!""

I need help understanding Health Insurance Deductibles?

Ok, so I'm going to get health insurance and I'm Having a challenge trying to understand the deductible situation. The Health Insurance I'm looking into is Blue Shield of California and they have many plans, and it seems that the prices get a bit higher when the deductible gets lower. What does the annual deductible mean? Is that the amount that I have to pay off first before my insurance can cover me?""

Asking all female drivers under 25- Whats a cheap car insurer?

Asking all female drivers under 25!! Does anyone know of or have been with any cheap car insurance companies? Ive already checked quite a few but they seem really expensive...Please help!

Car insurance at parents address or rented?

I am currently down on a rental property contract at my boyfriends rented house, however he is the head tenant and I am down as being at the property, I still live with my parents and am there half of the time and my drivers license, finance info, bank statements and everything else go there, however I am not sure if I am registered at my parents and boyfriends, which I assume I am because my mum still puts me down on the electoral poll. I plan to use my parents address as my registered address however it asks where the car will be kept overnight, and there is not one set place, if I use my parents the insurance is cheaper and if I use my boyfriends it's 100pound more. Can anyone advise me on what address to do? As I am at both addresses different times of the week. Thanks""

How do I find the best auto insurance company?

My rates for auto insurance rates keep on going up even when past citations drop off. Is there a way to lower my car insurance premiums? How do I find the best auto insurance company? Thanks for your help!

How can i start selling life insurance at home and what type of license do i need?

Would i be able to start my own buisness online and localy selling another companys life insurance and setting up appointments what kind of license do i need to sell insurance and for my own buisness do i just selling life insurance for another company do i just need a llc license

COBRA insurance help?

I recently got fired is it cheap to get cobra insurance? Have you ever paid for COBRA insurance usually how much it cost for family? are my only option buying my own insurance or cobra or no insurance. Is Medicare only for older people???/?

Can you get car insurance in British Columbia from anyone other than ICBC?

I've been searching around and it seems that nobody will sell insurance in a province that has a government insurance agency?

""After a DUI,about how much a month does your car insurance go up?

First DUI and I share a policy with a family member.

How much is my no registration and no insurance ticket going to cost?

This is in California, if you have any idea please lemme know thanks!""

If I look for car insurance at the end of the year or month will I save money?

I've heard that if I insure a car at then end of the month or year I should save some money as the insurance companies want to meet there targets. How much am I looking to save if I they give me a deal?

Where can I get a good car with cheap car insurance in UK?

I'm going to start driving soon and wanted to know where to look for a good car with cheap car insurance. I just need a car that can get me around to places.

Car insurance for Fiat?

Hi, guys i was just wondering how much will it cost me for full coverage car insurance for 2013/2014 Fiat Arbath in State of California. Im 24 years old? I'm just wondering how much will it cost in California.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/question-how-much-you-think-my-insurance-please-help-henderson"

[unextordinary-blog]

My year in one post: 2017

okay so its starting to get closer to the end of the year lets have a recap of 2017.

january: I don't have a job anymore, I am not going to school at the moment, I am moving for the hundredth time, and I have to give up my dog and cat, then someone loses my cat. ( so its safe to say january was definitely not my month) but bright side this is the month where i start to talk to my "future" husband. well sort of (this will be explained in a later month).

february: so it's a new month. I am jobless with no prospect of going back to school until the next semester. on top of that our landlords are total pieces of literal dog shit (like im not kidding they have about 5000 dogs in their house and it smells like dog shit) anyways life is starting to look up JUST THE TINIEST BIT because ya girl got a date. i am dating. newly dating. and on top of that i still don't know that my future husband is single yet. (he doesn't like the idea of me dating)

march: we have officially moved into my moms boyfriends house and i already hate it. Its awful i have no closet, no space, no job, no pets, and no will to live (except for my future husband). Its safe to say my life lowkey sucks because not only do i have a curfew now? I have to pretend to not hate my life and i actually have to get out of the bedroom im staying in (yea thats right im not allowed to call his guest bedroom "my room") my moms boyfriend is a total dickwad. he gets what he deserves in later months tho. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ( WAIT A MINUTE I just got some info that karma was doing her job all along and i completely forgot part of living with my momster and her dickwad was that I had to do all the chores around the house and dickwad left $200 in his pocket when i was doing laundry and i found it. in my defense i tried to tell them about the money but then they got on my ass for talking to them while they were talking or something so i shut up and spent some of the money on a tattoo. it was the best revenge ever. I had been planning on getting one for months and dickwad and momster HATE tattoos and he technically paid for mine and it was great)

April: HOMAGAWD my life is looking up. I got a job, my "future" husband is visiting and the guy I'm kinda sorta "dating" is a good kisser but i swear to y'all if i hadn't already been on like 4 dates with this guy i would have thought he was catfishing me (he ends up ghosting me anyways so whatevesss). My momster and her dickwad of a boyfriend don't like my new job because it doesn't pay a whole lot? ( oh i forgot to mention they want me to pay rent for the "bedrooom" I'm sleeping in; y'all this room is literally a bed, a dresser drawer, and MY TV) ALSO did i mention this guy is total pack rat (THE BEDROOM IM IN HAS ALLLL OF HIS JUNK IN IT) and there's no central heating and I'm sick. I have bronchitis and we barely found out. meanwhile my supposed "mother" thought I was just being annoying with my coughing and her stupid boyfriend literally had the AUDACITY to tell me if I don't get rid of my cough by the end of the week then he was going to "do something about it". (LIKE IM SORRY I HAVE BRONCHITIS IF I COULD WAVE MY MAGIC WAND THAT I JUST RANDOMLY PULLED OUT OF MY ARSE AND MAKE MYSELF BETTER I WOULD SORRY MY ILLNESS IS INCONVENIENCING YOU). this man is weird he has like every book written by trump and is a civil war reenactor and has can goods from before I was even born because he doesn't believe in expiration dates. so I didn't want to find out what he meant by that so I booked the quickest doctors appointment I could get. I had been sick for 3 months by this point. also I paid over half the rent at my old place but I was always making like $1000 a month sooooo I could afford it. anyways my "future" husband and I have an amazing 3 days when he visits it was like no time had passed and it wasn't until he was gone that I realized that I couldn't live without him anymore.

May: ITS OFFICIAL BITCHES my "future" husband is now my boyfriend, it literally took him an hour for me to say he was my boyfriend. twas a struggle. but pretty much since the day he left we hadn't gone a single day without talking via text or calling each other. we thought about waiting until he came back to texas to date, but that would be two years and we weren't having that because we would have ended up waiting for each other instead of dating long distance which is kinda a waste of time. anyways I am no longer sick. at least I don't think and karma is just DOING ITS WORK on my mom and her dickwad boyfriend. My mom was being treated like she deserved by her new job and dickwad had lost his chief position because hes an alcoholic asshole with little man syndrome now he is paying over $10,000 for a DWI lawyer. meanwhile i was thriving I was getting more work I was looking into ways to pay off my school my life still sucked and the only reason im alive is because of my "future" husband.

June: did i ever mention that june is my favorite month of this year. love is in the air bitches. june is the month for marriages and engagements. SPEAKING OF ENGAGEMENTS yea that's right he proposed AND ON TOP OF THAT he surprised me with a visit and i nearly had a heart attack and it was a great few days. then my momster ruined it by being her and by hating me as per usual we weren't asking for permission at this point to get married we were just going to get married whether she agreed or not. and i was moving out and my "future" husband and i had a 101 plans (also i dont like the word fiance its dirty and gross) our 101 plans obviously fell through you can plan all day long and life is just like "LOL gurl you thought" but it all turned out fine in and in our favor in the end. we are very thankful for the people who stuck by our side when things were getting tough and sooo grateful for all their help we wouldn't have been able to do it without them.

JULY: ITS OUR WEDDDDINNNGGG MONNNTTTTHHHHHHH!!!!!! I had never thought "hey you're going to be my husband one day" when I saw my husband for the first time in the 2nd grade. he apparently did, he thought i was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and was happy i had moved to his town. that innocent love obviously turned into something more as we got older and he always knew that something special would happen with us there had to be a reason God had kept us close all those years. we were married july 10th in a court house with our high school friends my momster and her dickwad boyfriend and my new family that consisted of my husbands parents and siblings while my maid of honor watch via facetime (she had work and the ceremony lasted like 20 mins) leading up to our wedding he "proposed" properly on the couch while we were watching a movie and his best friend was so upset that he was not included in the proposal. we promised to include him on our 5 year anniversary at our vow renewal. we were married on the 10th we had our honeymoon that night in galveston. on the 11th we went to our best mans house, watched hoarders all morning, played ping pong, went to go see a movie with our old clique from high school, slept on a too small air mattress with a too small blanket in freezing cold room and woke up early. he dropped me off at my momsters and we said our teary eyed goodbyes and said we'd see each other again in december and I watched him drive away to the air port. I turned 20 the next week and I had 1 good day then on the 18th my mom decided to yell at me and fight me about money (remember how i said i was trying to pay off my college stuff well my mom knew that. it was no secret. well i found a way and i had gotten the money the week i got married and i paid it off and put the rest in savings and refused to touch it) well my mom yelled at me until she was blue in the face because since dickwad fucked up his finances with his DWI they were now strapped for cash and wanted me to pay for everything and I refused. just because we said I'd move in december doesn't mean plans are set in stone and if I would have paid them in advance I would have never seen that money again. the risks were to high for me to pay that much in one sitting. so we argued on the 18th she didn't talk to me for two days then on the 21st she gave me an ultimatum and told me to pay or get out. meanwhile my husband and I were thinking ahead and I was already packing and by the 22nd all i had in the bedroom i slept in was a duffel bag of clothes and hamper full of my bedding I told her i was moving out on the 23rd on a sunday and by the time they got home from church me and everything i had would be gone from that house. remember my husbands best man and best friend and the small air mattress and cold bedroom?

August: they both had a house together and that was the house i stayed in until the second week or two of august i spent almost a week with my dad and his family so i could say my goodbyes. i came back to the guys house for 2 days finished packing said my goodbyes to all my friends and then my dad was there with a jeep for all my stuff and we would start our long trip to VA. the first day we drove from TX to atlanta then the next day atlanta to VA.

I was finally home. there he was my knight in blue digital camo. we'd only been married a month and already our plans were askew. my dad stayed for 2 extra days and helped us get settled into our new apartment then left.

september: we are 2 months into our marriage and our first month living together. these next two months will be the hardest months in our marriage. we're getting used to each other getting to know our homelife quirks it is a difficult transition for both of us I am used to an abusive passive aggressive household where i lock myself in my room and he is used to empty barracks and going out everyday just so he doesn't have to be in the barracks all day. it was hard but we wouldn't want to bicker over mundane things with anyone else.

October: its spoopy time and my husbands birthday is this month we have a tv and new bed for our master bedroom we have a cat but Im pretty sure we got him in september. we're not really fighting as much at least not about stupid things we know what pushes our buttons and we're communicating better. I have to turn down my first job because its too far of a drive. ( we immediately regret it) the hubs 21st birthday rolls around we have the worst mexican food ever and he has the strongest margarita in the world it was really a great night. Halloween we sit on the couch watching movies and just stay in all day.

November: my husbands family have informed us that his little brother will be graduating from boot camp this month and will be going to school on a base in VA and that they were coming for thanksgiving. so we get the house in order for our new guests. we buy everything from a thanksgiving ham to new towels when they arrive his parents are sick with the flu and my husband still has work the next day on thanksgiving. his mom and i spend the entire next day cooking and getting everything ready. when my husband gets home we have dinner and watch a movie or two. the next day is my husbands day off and we all had planned on eating out so we had lunch then went to the beach for his mom and then my husbands base to give a tour for his mom (insert eyeroll here the woman takes pictures of quite literally everything its almost annoying)and then finally we go back home so we can get his little brothers stuff and we can drop him off at his new base. (which is a whole lot more difficult then it should have been.) they end up giving him a weekend pass but by then we're all dead tired and want to go home but no, we go bowling on base until its time to take his little brother back to the barracks. then the next day is even more annoying my husband picks up his little brother and some breakfast and we trudge to a museum of an old ship for about 2 or 3 hours. keep in mind my husbands parents are still sick with the flu and everyone is tired except his little brother and my husband has work at 3am the next day. on top of that his parents need to get on a plane this same day and my husband and i need to drop off his little brother back on base. needless to say it was another long day and we finally had our house back my poor husband had work at 3am and around 9am i hear him come home apparently since he didn't leave early on thanksgiving he got to leave work early that day which meant we got the entire sunday to ourselves. it was a long weekend.

December: its only the 13th and we have been married for 5 months now and it will almost be a year since we started dating. (how time flies) his best man is supposed to visit in january and we are both so excited.

so much little stuff has happened this year that would make this post even longer. we got a motorcycle, my husband is trying to pick out a car for me i thought about doing online college, we both haven't really thought about what we want for christmas and our cat has fleas so its been a very eventful year.

[travelinghermit]

The Amazon

First off, who forgets a rain jacket when entering the largest rain forest in the world? Well that person would be I ladies and gentlemen and I only discovered this while aboard the motor canoe without any kind of cover as it started to rain. This was just the beginning of what was about to unfold over the next five days as I embedded myself deep in the Amazon rain forest and thankfully my guide Dario came more prepared than I and brought a spare poncho. Our party consisted of I, Dario the Ecuadorian Naturalist, Ainsley a Canadian girl who joined the expedition last minute and thankfully saved me $200, and three native Huarani men. Eduardo who was the best canoe driver and two other guides. We set off from Coca Monday morning at about 830am and drove two hours to the National Parks Port which was our gateway into Yasuni National Park, the deep Amazon. This truelly felt like an expedition as I looked out into the brown murky Shiripuno river which stretches hundreds of kilometers all the way past Peru. With a truck load of provisions such as a tank of gas, food for five days, and whatever else necessary we were all set. Honestly I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was given a rough itinerary but it was all in Spanish so it was of no use to me, besides I preferred leaving the agenda to the unknown. We set off with the motor canoe all packed by 1130am and began the long journey down the Shirpuno river to the village of Bomeno in the heart of Yasuni National Park. We were already technically inside the Amazon when we left as the rain forest in Ecuador is split in two parts, the Upper and Lower. The upper section is located in the area around Tena which is the home of the Quechua Native people. The population of the Quechua is massive, they are the prevailent Natives of Western South America yet where we were going you would find none as just up till recently no Quechua would roam the Lower Amazon as they feared the Huaorani tribes people. A warrior race who just until recently in the1960s were an uncontacted tribe living off the land in the rainforest as they had for hundreds possibly thousands of years. The Quechua and Huarani had been in constant conflict with each encounter consisting of Huaorani ambushes and ending up with countless Quechua deaths. When the Huaorani were first contacted by European missionaries the contact ended in disaster when all five of the missionaries were murdured all by spearing. This was the tribe I was to spend the next five days with. In the last fifty or so years the Huaorani have embraced the modern world yet still found a balance between their ways and using outside technology. When we arrived late Monday night into the village some of the children and adults were watching their new flatscreen TV just bought in February watching the Marvel movie Thor. How times have changed. Back to the boat ride - It might have taken nine hours but it was absolutley thrilling the whole way there. The rain forest was everything I dreamed it would be. Massive trees growing out into river, plants that looked how I would imagine they looked in prehistoric times. In fact I am convinced I did enter a land before time. Plants that looked like giant ferns but they were really a species of palm tree. The deeper we rode trailing the serpentine river the farther back in time we travelled. That was one surprising aspect of the river how curvy it was, it truelly felt like the Shirpuno river was some sort of Anaconda itself. We passed by white caymen chilling on the beach, tortoises sunbathing on fallen tree branches, toucans and macaws flying through the skies, and finally we passed the king, or was the king. A beached, decapitated anaconda with a huge bulge in its stomach. Certainly its half digested prey left in its belly. Its one thing to see these beasts from the comfort of home on a tv screen but its a completely other level being in arms reach of it. Dinosaurs certainly still roam this earth because that thing was no animal, even labelling it with all the other reptiles seems a stretch. By 630pm it began getting dark and next thing we knew we were sailing in the pitch black of night with our asses sore from sitting on wooden seats for seven hours and yet we still had two more to go. The sky was clear revealing all its stars giving us something to look up too and finally we arrived in Bomeno at 830pm. Their radio system was down so they had no idea we were coming but rapidly they set our surprisingly comfortable hut for us. That first night we slept like bricks. Over the course of the next four days we lived as they did. Many Huaorani men accompanied us on our expeditions into the jungle. The eldest being a man named Ginto who was extraordinarily. The only person I have ever seen make a proper spear within five minutes, and can take any leaf and form it to make a very convincing Harpy Eagle whistle call. On the first day with the natives they took us on a hunt. Yet looking back on it I am not sure how serious of a hunt it truelly was but it was still exhilerating. They possessed a three maybe four meter long wooden blow pipe which was there main weapon for hunting monkey high in trees with poison blow darts they obviously make all by themselves. They dont rely on guns or anything modern except a machete. A blow gun and spear is all that is needed. Along the way we found fresh jaguar prints which was about as close as I wanted to get to one. We swam in the murky Shiripuno river and trekked into the jungle. Every two meters it seemed we were stopping and our guide Dario would tell us of the many uses of plants the Huaorani people exploit. Vines to make baskets and even grip tape for spears, plants for poisons and medicines, trees to make canoes. It seemed like every plant had a usage to the Huaorani people. It was absolutley fascinating yet I got tired of all the stopping I just wanted to trek. Third day we went out Anaconda hunting. Taking the canoe down the river, into the jungle, and then all five of us rode on this tiny wooden canoe that seemed like it could flip over with one wrong shift of weight. We had to all be completely silent as to not disturb the animals. We found a type of prehistoric bird that I forgot the name but the sound of the area around us throughout the jungle was buzzing incredibly loud. The jungle is very much alive. Unfortunately both times we went out to hunt for the Anaconda not to kill but just to see turned out without any sight. Yet that afternoon for lunch I tried my first monkey meat. A howler monkey which Martine a man in the village hunted the day previous. It tasted surprisingly alot like beef. The Huaorani love monkey meat. They will chose that over deer or peckory (a type of wild pig) anyday. They believe when you consume monkey meat you also acquire monkey like abilities. The last part remaining was a paw and when I put it right next to my hand it was oddly similar. The remainder of the time was spent trekking in the jungle and practising with their blow pipe which I wasnt too bad with. Hitting the fruit on a pike a couple times yet the weight of the long pipe affects your aim noticeably. Id like to think my archery practise helped as aiming is really no different. We also went fishing in the Shirpuno and I caught a pretty decent sized catfish that we all ate for dinner. Made me feel like a true Huaorani warrior providing for my tribe. That was really cool. My brief five day jaunt in the Amazon rain forest was something truely special. I remember going to the Gold Museum in Bogota on Day 3 of the journey and learning of the natives and writing on this blog that I wanted to spend time with some in the future and here I am. It was refreshing to see a completely different side of life, of humans. To see some of the insanities of modern life. It just made me want to start my garden again, made me want to be more self sufficient because these people dont rely on anyone but eachother. When the men hunt they give graciously to everyone in need. Another unforgettable life experience in the books and yet I continue forward on the journey to the end of the world.