#trying to decide if I should include universal in my LA trip lol

[boyapologist]

people who have been to american/europe theme parks!

[secretwhumplair]

The Sink - Intro/Reference/Timeline

So. Since I stumbled back into this universe, I figured I’d finally write up a quick intro post because otherwise it’ll be horribly confusing and/or I’ll have to explain the context every time I post something out of chronological order, which we all here know will be often. Especially for the whole Xerxes/Nor/Rega mess lol.

This setting features: Xerxes & Nor/Pet (& Rega), Leigh & the shapeshifter, and I might also throw the angel in. More characters pending :D

Content warnings: Pet whump, dehumanisation, the works.

Worldbuilding

Government is corrupt capitalism is running amok not much thought was put into this line because why

Poor and especially homeless are at risk of being snatched up by pet traders. Is this legal? No one cares. If you don’t have friends/family who are either very determined or rich, say goodbye to your chances of rescue. Most pet snatchers know better than to snatch someone from the latter categories (Leigh was a mistake, we’ll get there)

Most importantly! The Sink (TM) was an event that occurred two or three generations back, with two main consequences:

Mythological-esque creatures appearing, some humanoid in appaearance and/or intelligence, some not

Children (rarely) being born with superpowers, such as shapeshifting and healing factors

Needless to say these are considered extra valuable in the pet trade

To be clear, a filthy rich upper class exists and is the main market for pets

(Not really a worldbuilding aspect but this ‘verse is also trans character central, Nor is the only cis main character so far lol. Me experimenting with gender via my characters? Nooo what are you talking about)

Leigh & the shapeshifter

Leigh grows up on his uncle’s horse farm, otherwise known as the House by the Hill

At 18yo, he runs away for mostly just bratty reasons with a friend

Gets snatched up by pet traders, who think he’s just your average runaway teen with a broken family who won’t come looking

(They’re wrong, and Leigh’s family desperately looks for him for years, but they still get away with it)

Leigh is broken and bought by a sadistic master, the works

Said master later captures a shapeshifter

The two don’t have much opportunity to interact at first but during a trip to a nice little place in the countryside their master takes them to, that changes

Both of them are pretty messed up at this point. Leigh has been captive for six years.

When an opportunity arises, Leigh urges the shapeshifter to escape - he can’t because he’s got a GPS chip or whatever - but the shapeshifter insists he come along, claws the chip out, and they escape together

Somehow or other, they make it back to the House by the Hill half-dead

Cue everyone - the pair of them as well as Leigh’s family - dealing with their recovery

The shapeshifter and Leigh fall in love, you know how it is

Xerxes & Nor

Features a redemption arc of uncertain quality, including a whumper/whumpee reconciliation. I’ll tag the pieces this concerns “ex-whumper x whumpee” (unless someone has a better, similarly concise idea. It’s mostly if not fully non-romantic so the x doesn’t really do it justice lol.)

Xerxes grew up poor, therefore at high risk from pet snatchers, therefore decided early on if it was eat or be eaten, they would do the eating thank you very much

They start training pets in their late teens, quickly refining their crude methods and building a loyal string of clients, a reputation, and a fortune

They capture Nor - a small-time criminal just getting by, without family or friends to speak of - to train and keep as their personal pet

At some point they buy the House on the Hill as their home and training facility. Yes it’s the same hill. They’re now next door neighbours to Leigh’s family (next door here still means like. Half a hill apart.) This occurs before Leigh’s disappearance

Over time, they find themself growing genuine affection towards Nor, and satrt questioning their entire life. Eventually, they set Nor free to have an existential crisis by themself

Nor, with nowhere else to go, asks for a job at the House by the Hill, and they take him in (this is after Leigh’s escape and return)

(Xerxes does offer to host him as long as he needs but obviously Nor wants to leave as soon as he wraps his mind around his freedom)

(Which doesn’t take as long as it could, Xerxes never broke him fully because they enjoyed watching him struggle with his conflicting feelings about them)

Meanwhile Xerxes takes a trip to figure out what to do with their life. Comes across one of the pets they trained, a harpy-type bird creature, now utterly ruined, and buys them back more or less on a whim to help them recover

They make up their mind that this is what they’ll do moving forward, to try and make up for some of the damage they’ve done. They ask for help at the House by the Hill. The shapeshifter goes to help so Nor, who feels he should, doesn’t have to

Xerxes’ ex-clients are not thrilled with the development. One of them winds up kidnapping Xerxes to whump the living shit out of them

They’ve always had a difficult relationship with their clients due to their background, à la “we’ll tolerate you as long as you’re useful”

Oh did we mention they have a healing factor? Because they sure didn’t, knowing full well what it will mean to their clients. But of course, their captor figures it out

Xerxes thinks no one will care to save them. But of course Nor does and manages to strike a deal with their captor

Cue Nor caretaking an utterly shattered Xerxes because he knows they need someone they can trust around them which includes exactly one (1) person (barely) especially after what just happened to them

As Xerxes recovers, they carefully negotiate what their relationship will now be. Nor moves up the hill to help with the recued pets

Rega

Rega is trapped in a heavily abusive relationship, as good as a pet, but of course he doesn’t admit that to himself, manages, despite his own doubts, to ask Xerxes for help, and moves into the House on the Hill, where he ends up falling in love with Nor.

[movingtolatoday]

New Post has been published on Moving To LA Today

New Post has been published on http://movingtolatoday.com/love-california-especially-surf-city-live/

I Love California, Especially the Surf City I Live In

Where should I start….

It all began when I moved to SoCal…

My life wasn’t going according to plan back in Texas. I had recently graduated from University and I was a bit stuck helping my parents get their USA residency. We are from Mexico but we came here to have a good life. The process of helping my parents took 9 months and finally when they got their papers.. I felt relieved( I was finally able to move out and find a job and start my professional career).

Little that I know it wasn’t that easy. My first plan was to moved to Dubai .. but that didn’t go so well. Not only because I couldn’t find a job but I also didn’t had enough money to go and stay there and find a job. I had spent so much money on going out and helping a friend in need. I decided to stay in the US and get some experience and maybe later on move to my so beloved Dubai.

I met this guy online that lives in LA and started talking to him almost everyday. He talked about how great California was and that it was a great place to live.. despite of how expensive the cost of living is. I always loved California and it was a place I wanted to move when I graduated from High School… which also didn’t happen because I was too young to be living by myself (according to my Dad). I decided to apply to some jobs and visit California and see what my options were.

I visited LA twice and it wasn’t until the second time I visited that I got a job. A job that wasn’t exactly what I wanted. For starters the location wasn’t in LA it was actually in OC (Orange county) which is still a pretty cool place to live I have to admit.

That shitty Job was my only excuse to move because I no longer wanted to live in Texas. The next step was to find a place to live.. after hours of searching and investigating areas near my Job, I just couldn’t find anything. OK here it goes…… but don’t judge me, I went on Craigslist. Yup! Craigslist was my last resort and my only key to find something. I said to myself “How bad can it be, its worth the try” Lol. I am not gonna lie it wasn’t easy but i founded a great place to live In Huntington Beach only 2 miles away from the beach at a great price( to be exact only $725 a month utilities included and did I mention we have a pool!) it was just unbelievable. The people reading this in SoCal please don’t be jelly Haha. That’s why we should never judge a book by its cover.. I didn’t judge craigslist neither should you.. okay maybe just a little bit somethings can be super sketchy there I have to admit. I was just lucky and now I really love the place where I live. The tenant and my roommates are great and I can’t complain. The only thing is maybe I share a bathroom but that’s about it…

Okay taking my story back to that time. I had finally found a place and I was so ready to go back to Texas pack all my things and move to SoCal. That’s exactly what i did. Took the first plane back to Texas and I started packing. Call me crazy but i drove from Texas all the way OC all by myself hahaha. It took me a week to pack and exactly one day of driving if it wasn’t because I stopped in Arizona to rest. When I finally got to LA I had all that weekend to sleep and rest before I started my job on Monday.

My Job literally sucked no joke… It was the worst job I ever had. I was working 12 to 14 hrs a day for only minimum wage (commission base only) . I had no time for myself I had weekends off and they were begging me to work on Saturdays like for real? This wasn’t explained to me when I got interviewed which was so unprofessional…I did knew the kinda job that I was doing . I only wanted an excuse to move out. A month passed and i was slowly getting tired of this job … you may be thinking a Month and tired of the job already .. Well yes! It sucked that much… In march I went on a business trip for the job.. and in that trip i decided to quit i wasn’t getting enough money and management was so rude and inconsiderate to their employees. I had no benefits no 401k … nothing. I was talking to my sister that night that I decided I was gonna quit once the trip was over and one of my coworkers overheard that I was telling her that and that I also had a job interview that coming Monday.

Next thing one of the managers called me and asked me if everything was okay and i said, Yes everything is fine. She then said, “so why you want to quit’ and i was like who said i wanted to quit?????? I overheard she said.. she was far from me the only one that could have said anything was my coworker who I realized was a snitch……. Then my manager said I also overhead you have job interview on Monday. I felt threaten by her and I told her, yes I do is there a problem.. I am allowed to do it. There is no words to express how unprofessional this was. To the point that she even said we are sending all of you back home when the week wasn’t even finished. We still had more day of work there! Thankfully I was only 3 hours far from my home, So I drove back home that Friday night and on Saturday I wrote my resignation letter. In a way it had to happen this way because it open my eyes that I was being exploited by this company. There is so many things to go on detail about this but I will not go into it …You can already see it sucked!

Paloma

I had no friends since this job consumed me a lot. I did have a friend who would call me occasionally and he was, I guess, the only person I could talk about what happened in my life. He is the kind of person who would talk to me for a long period of time and then he would disappear for also a long period of time. I haven’t talk to him in like a month. So he is not a reliable friend. I was without a job for about 3 weeks to be exact. In those 3 weeks I focused on finding another job. I had several job interviews and no luck. I was nervous and desperate for a job.. You know I have bills to pay as everyone does. The only thing that saved me was my tax return.. and I thank God for that.

I went into old habits of talking to strangers online on a virtual chat that I used to use a long time ago. I believe that kind of helped me to distract myself and talk to people since I had absolutely no friends. I met cool people that I talk to now and its been great so far. During that time I also met a girl that lives near me and now we are good friends.. I enjoy hanging out with her a lot.

The third week I finally got a call from a recruiter. She had found me a good job. I did the interview and in less than a week I had a job already. Things just started to fall into place and I was finally getting my life back. I forgot to mentioned while I was unemployed I decided to become a vegetarian and its been a great month without meat. I feel amazing! I am not saying I will never eat meat again but I can definitely say we don’t need meat in our systems.

For now I dedicate my time to getting the best out of life and to be a better person. I feel like my life has just started and that definitely this chapter will be a good one. Moving to another state wasn’t easy at the beginning but now I feel blessed and I know many good things will come my way. I miss my family back in Texas but I know my Dad is proud of me and that was my initial goal in moving out. I really wanted to show him that I can be independent and that I am grown woman. Even though I miss Texas I know living there wasn’t for me. I love California especially the surf city I live in.

Keep up with Paloma on her blog! VISIT PALOMA’s BLOG

[laviedepaloma]

My First post ever!

Where should I start....

It all began when I moved to SoCal...

My life wasn't going according to plan back in Texas. I had recently graduated from University and  I was a bit stuck helping my parents get their USA residency. The process of  helping my parents took 9 months and finally when they got their papers.. I felt relieved( I was finally able to move out and  find a job and start my professional career).

Little that I know it wasn't that easy. My first plan was to moved to Dubai .. but that didn't go so well. Not only because I couldn't find a job but I also didn't had enough money to  go and stay there and  find a job. I had spent so much money on going out and  helping a friend in need. I decided to stay in the US and get some experience  and maybe later on move to my so beloved  Dubai.

I met this guy online that lives in LA  and started talking to him almost everyday. He talked about how great California was and that it was a great place to live.. despite of  how expensive the cost of living is. I always loved California and it was a place I wanted to move when I graduated from High School... which also didn't happen because I was too young to be living by myself (according to my Dad).  I decided to apply to some jobs and visit California and see what my options were.

I visited LA twice and it wasn't until the second time I visited that I got a job. A job that wasn't exactly what I wanted. For starters the location wasn't in LA  it was actually in OC (Orange county) which is still a pretty cool place to live I have to admit.

That shitty Job was my only excuse to move because I no longer wanted to live in Texas. The next step  was to find a place to live.. after hours of searching  and investigating areas near my Job, I just couldn't find anything. OK here it goes...... but don't judge me, I went on Craigslist. Yup! Craigslist was my last resort and my only key to find something. I said to myself "How bad can it be, its worth the try" Lol. I am not gonna lie it wasn't easy but i founded a great place to live In Huntington Beach only 2 miles away from the beach at a great price( to be exact only $725 a month utilities included and  did I mention we have a pool!)  it was just unbelievable. The people reading this in SoCal please don't be jelly Haha. That's why we should never judge a book by its cover.. I didn't judge craigslist neither should you.. okay maybe just a little bit somethings can be super sketchy there I have to  admit. I was just lucky and now I really love the place where I live. The tenant and my roommates are great and I can't complain. The only thing is maybe I share a bathroom but that's about it...

Okay taking my story back to that time. I had finally found a place and I was so ready to go back to Texas pack all my things and move to SoCal. That's exactly what i did. Took the first plane back to Texas and  I started packing. Call me crazy but i drove from Texas all the way OC all by myself  hahaha. It took me a week  to pack   and exactly one day of driving if it wasn't because I stopped in Arizona to rest. When I finally got to LA I had all that weekend to sleep  and rest before I started my job on Monday.

My Job literally sucked no joke... It was the worst job I ever had. I was working 12 to 14 hrs a day  for  only minimum wage (commission base only) . I had no time for myself I had weekends off  and they were begging me to work on Saturdays like for real? This wasn't explained to me when  I got interviewed which was so unprofessional...I did knew the kinda job  that I was doing . I only wanted an excuse to move out.  A month passed and i was slowly getting tired of this job ... you may be thinking a Month and tired of the job already .. Well yes! It sucked that much... In march  I went on a business trip for the job.. and in that trip i decided to quit  i wasn't getting enough money and management was so rude and inconsiderate to their employees. I had no benefits no 401k ... nothing. I was talking to my sister that night  that I decided I was gonna quit once the trip was over  and one of my coworkers overheard that I was telling her  that and that I  also had a job interview that coming Monday.. Next thing one of the managers called me and asked me if everything was okay and i said, Yes everything is fine. She then said, "so why you want to quit' and i was like who said i wanted to quit?????? I overheard she said..  she was  far from me the only one that could have said anything was  my  coworker who  I realized was a snitch.......  Then my manager said  I also overhead you have job interview on Monday. I felt threaten  by her and I told her, yes I do is there a problem.. I am allowed to do it.  There is no words to express how unprofessional this was. To the point that she even said we are sending all of you back home when the week wasn't even finished. We still had more day of work there!  Thankfully I was only 3 hours far from my home, So I drove back home that Friday night and on Saturday I wrote my resignation letter. In a way it had to happen this way because it open my eyes that I was being exploited by this company. There is so many things to go on detail about this but I will not go into it ...You can already see it sucked!

I had no friends since this job consumed me a lot.  I did had friend who would call me occasionally and he was I guess the only person I could talk about what happen and my life. He is the kind of person who would talk to me for a long period of time and then he would disappear for also a long period of time. I haven't talk to him in like a month.. So he is not a reliable friend. I was without a job for about 3 weeks to be exact. In those 3 weeks I focused on finding another job. I had several job interviews and no luck. I was nervous and desperate for a job.. You know I have bills to pay everyone does. The only thing that saved me was my tax return.. and  I thank God for that.  I went into old habits of talking to strangers online on a virtual chat that I used to use a long time ago. I believe that kind of helped me to distract myself and talk to people since I had absolutely no friends. I met cool people that I talk to now and its been great so far.  During that time I also met a girl that lives near me and now we are good friends.. I enjoy hanging out with her a lot.

The third week I finally got a call from a recruiter. She had found me a good job. I did the interview and in less than a week I had a job already. Things just started to fall into place and I was finally getting my life back. I forgot to mentioned while I was unemployed I decided to become a vegetarian and its been a great month without meat. I feel amazing! I am not saying I will never eat meat again but I can definitely say we don't need meat in our systems.

For now I dedicate my time to getting the best out of life and to be a better person.  I feel like my life has just started and that definitely this chapter will be a good one. Moving to another state wasn't easy at the beginning but now  I feel blessed and I know many good things will come my way. I miss my family back in Texas but I know my Dad is proud of me and that was my initial goal in moving out. I really wanted to show him that i can be independent and that I am grown woman. Even though I miss Texas I know  living there wasn't for me. I love California specially the surf city I live in. :)

This is my first post ever ..I will try to post twice a week so wait for my other posts coming out soon! I have a topic that I think some people,  specially women can relate to.

OH! btw writing is not my strongest....so don't judge me if my grammar isn't the best lol

The End...