T Time With Toby

The expelled half-giant. The young werewolf. The repentant Death Eater.

He protects them and gives them a second chance. All he asks in return is their loyalty.

And, if on occasion he requests that they undertake a certain task, invoking their debt of gratitude - well, that is no more than he is owed.

He once thought to add a certain disowned Black to his collection, but quickly realised his mistake.

Sirius is not an outcast, but a rebel. He knowingly chose his path, and chooses what price he is willing to pay for it. He refuses to be used.

Harry was an outcast due to a childhood filled with abuse and neglect. 

Vernon made him an outcast by dismissing his claims of magic, berating him, locking him in a CLOSET and putting bars on his window, and let’s face it, even though her editor made her cut it out, Jo intended for there to be physical abuse. 

Petunia made him an outcast by enabling and contributing to this abuse, as well as making Harry do dozens of chores while doting on Dudley. 

Dudley made him an outcast by bullying him and threatening any students at school who wanted to be his friends. 

And the rest of the wizarding world made him an outcast when they bullied him for being an outsider.

Harry James Potter became an outcast the moment he was placed with The Dursleys.

The comedy in the show came from the family’s “odd” lifestyle, rather than from infighting and petty bickering, or worse, as was common on other shows of the time, thinly veiled references to spousal abuse. They didn’t make fun of each other or act like their children were creatures from another world. Were they strange and outside of social norms? Yes. Were they united in creating a loving home and being good, supportive parents? Absolutely.

These two support and adore their children, care for an aging mother and an estranged brother, put family before everything, and they love each other, wholly, fiercely, without reserve. They are every bit as much in love after at least a decade of marriage as they were the day they met.

It’s nobody’s surprise that many of the aesthetic and thematic elements of The Addams Family in its various incarnations are influenced by Gothic tradition (not goth, that mostly came later. And not Goth, that was much much much too early), and I think Gomez’s words are a dead bullseye in terms of Gothic mentality.

“Make her feel like she’s the most sublime creature on earth”

The sublime is a recurring theme throughout Gothic literature. Although the word (like “awesome”) has lost a lot of it’s original luster over the intervening decades, sublime doesn’t really mean elevated and lofty (or even heavenly) as it’s often used today, but rather something possessing the power and grandeur to induce awe and veneration in the mind of the beholder. Although less than divine, something sublime possessed a wildness and power that transcended human ability to control…or even to comprehend.

Sublime is standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon leaning as far as you dare over the railing and still not being able to see the canyon floor below. Sublime is warrior-queen Galadriel being tempted by the One Ring. Sublime is waking up in the middle of the night in the heart of a wild thunderstorm.

“Make her feel like she’s the most sublime creature on earth”

Gomez isn’t advising Fester to treat a woman he fancies like a princess, or even elevate her to pedestal of angelic nature (who’s idea was it to equate femininity with purity anyway? What a laughable and historically damaging idea. Shame on whatever dead (probably) white dudes promoted that!)

Gomez is advising Fester that if he truly loves a woman he must do everything he can to remind her of how she’s an untameable force of nature who’s grandeur brings him to his knees in awe and terror. Just like Morticia, for Gomez.

I’ll sign off with one of my most favorite quotes of all time, because it feels suddenly very relevant:

“When I find myself surrounded by so much beauty, I feel as if I am the eye of a hurricane.”

“How much is it to fill a Venti with Espresso?”

“I- I’m sorry?”

“A venti cup. How much to fill it with Espresso?”

“Oh. uh. Well, it’d be I suppose… I only have a button for a Quad. I don’t have special pricing for twenty ounces of espresso in a single… drink.”

“Price is the furthest thing from my mind right now. How many ‘add shots’ is that?”

*deep breath of fear* “It’d be a quad with,” *clears throat* “uh, sixteen additional shots of espresso. But, ma’am, I should tell you that the shots will start to get really bitter if they have to sit and wait for us to pull twenty of them-”

“Taste means nothing to me.”

At this point I am truly fearing for my very existence in the presence of what must clearly be an eldritch being.

“Oh. Well, okay.” I put on my absolute best customer service smile to hide my terror and accept that I must face this dragon, fae, or demon with dignity. “We can certainly get that for you! The price will be _____.”

She begins to pay, I shit thee not, with golden dollar coins. We are a block from Wall Street, and this eldritch demi-being is paying for an unholy elixer with golden coins. My life will end soon, I am sure of it.

“Do you still have the ‘Add Energy’ packets?”

My heart began to race at this request. “Yes ma’am.”

“How many can I add?”

Futile though it is, at least I know the rote response to this. “For health reasons, we won’t add more than one per drink and we cannot sell the packets individually.”

“One then.”

I alter the order and tell her the new price. She pays, dumps the change and five golden dollars into the tip box. I write the order on the venti cup and pass it silently to the girl working the hot beverage station. Normally we called and pass, but this was … not something to be spoken aloud.

My fellow takes the cup, not thinking anything of the minor break with protocol, until she sees the order. She stares at me. “No.”

The woman, which I call her for no other greater insight into her terrifying being is within my grasp, simply stands on the other side and says, calmly but with a commanding tone I expect of Admirals in bad movies, “Yes.”

My fellow barista pales before her task. But we are dutiful, we are true to our task, great though it may be. She sets about clearing the two brand new Matrena’s of all distraction, and sets two tall cups in the ready position. The energy packet is emptied into the venti cup, and the shots begin pouring. 

The barista was damn near shaking. This woman’s gaze felt like the fires of the sun. Finally, the shots are pulled, the cup is filled, and the hand off takes place.

Our visiting Incomprehensible takes it to our milk bar and adds a dollop of cream. Satisfied, she proceeds to down what must have been half the damn cup.

Then she smiled at us, like a benediction and I was honestly filled with joy. And horror. She left, and we knew nothing more of her after that.

When I talk with other former employees, we quickly begin talking about “The Company” as if we’d never l, perhaps knowing that part of our soul still powers that awesome and terrible corporate machine. And when I share this stroy, other Baristas at first act shocked but quickly settle and comes the chorus, 

Hi everyone!! ^^ I hope you’re all having a great day!!

After talking to a few of you, I have decided to somewhat duplicate the giveaway I put together when Sun and Moon were coming out. If I can help even two people play a pokemon game this year, that would make me very happy! ;w;

How it works:

 There will be two winners – each can choose one copy of either Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon!

This giveaway will extend worldwide! (If you live outside of the US, I will be purchasing a digital copy for you – I only ask that you have a paypal account or another money-sharing service so I may transfer the funds to you. If you live inside the US, I will pre-order a hard copy for you).

Giveaway ends on Monday, November 13th.

How to Enter:

You must reblog this post (so I can keep track of who wants to “enter”!). Likes don’t count as an entry.

This giveaway will be hosted on both tumblr and twitter, so you may enter more than once! (here is a link to the twitter post!)

No need to follow me, but followers will be given an additional entry into this giveaway, because I love my followers!!! :>

aka you can have up to 3 entries total to win!

Requirements

Must be 18 years or older or have your parent’s/guardians permission to enter!

Must be willing to share your shipping address with me.

Please have your ask box open, or enable non-mutuals to send you IMs.

“When her father was governor of New York, he and his wife proposed that Alice attend a conservative school for girls in New York City. Pulling out all the stops, Alice wrote, ‘If you send me I will humiliate you. I will do something that will shame you. I tell you I will.’”

“Her father took office in 1901 following the assassination of President William McKinley, Jr. in Buffalo (an event that she greeted with “sheer rapture.”)“

“During the cruise to Japan, Alice jumped into the ship’s pool fully clothed, and coaxed a congressman to join her in the water. (Years later Bobby Kennedy would chide her about the incident, saying it was outrageous for the time, to which the by-then-octogenarian Alice replied that it would only have been outrageous had she removed her clothes.”

“She was dressed in a blue wedding dress and dramatically cut the wedding cake with a sword (borrowed from a military aide attending the reception)”

“When it came time for the Roosevelt family to move out of the White House, Alice buried a Voodoo doll of the new First Lady, Nellie Taft, in the front yard.”

“Later, the Taft White House banned her from her former residence—the first but not the last administration to do so. During Woodrow Wilson’s administration (from which she was banned in 1916 for a bawdy joke at Wilson’s expense)…”

“As an example of her attitudes on race, in 1965 her African-American chauffeur and one of her best friends, Turner, was driving Alice to an appointment. During the trip, he pulled out in front of a taxi, and the driver got out and demanded to know of him, “What do you think you’re doing, you black bastard?” Turner took the insult calmly, but Alice did not and told the taxi driver, “He’s taking me to my destination, you white son of a bitch!”

This is Alice as an older lady. The pillow says “If you can’t say something good about someone, sit right here by me.” 

Starborn-Witch’s Eclectic Giveaway 

I’m so excited to share my first giveaway with you all! I was going to wait to do this until I re-open my Etsy shop, but I recently hit 6k and wanted to express my gratitude to all the amazing people that support me on this platform ♡ Thank you to each and every one of you! 

Participation Rules:

You must be following this blog

You must be 18 years of age or older

Likes are okay to bookmark, but don’t count as entries

Each reblog counts as one entry

Reblog as many times as you like, but please don’t spam!

DO NOT tag this as a giveaway, it will jack everything up

DO NOT reblog this to giveaway blogs, ^^^

If reblogging to a side-blog, put your main in the tags

Must be willing to provide shipping info (confidential)

One winner will be chosen using a random number generator from Random.org and will be contacted via the messaging system. Please be sure that your messaging feature is turned on so I can notify you if you win. This is open to international followers. I will ship anywhere on the globe. 

The Prizes:

12pk scented colored pencils

unicorn notepad

holographic seashell journal

oversized unicorn mug

indoor star string lights 

vial of lavender

vial of rose petals

vial of mugwort

palo santo stick

sage wand

8 oz pink himalayan salt

10pk rainbow spell candle bundle

LUSH “twilight” bath bomb

Sailor Moon sticker pack

3pk cosmic sequin patches 

opalite egg

quartz geode half

medium sized calico pyrite specimen 

tigers eye pendant

rose quartz tumbled stone

amethyst tumbled stone

green aventurine tumbled stone

clear quartz point

selenite log

Art Psalms by Alex Grey (hardcover) 

Bringers of the Dawn by Barbara Marciniak (vintage)

The Runes by Lisa Peschel (paperback) 

The Enchanted Spellboard (spirit board) 

25pk organic fair trade green tea

green marble mortar and pestle

6pk essential oil starter kit

This giveaway is not affiliated with Tumblr in any way, shape, or form. The winner will be contacted the day the giveaway ends. You will have 24 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.

Giveaway ends on Samhain (31 OCT 2017) at 11:11 am PST. Good luck! 

1) they have a LOT of commercial breaks

2) i didn’t realize that ads for medicine were actually like this

“Hi. This is Rathford and Tyson law firm. We’re representing a class action lawsuit on behalf of people who were prescribed sybelifex for their asthma. It turns out that sybelifex can cause spontaneous bleeding from every orifice and also super cancer. If you or a loved one has been affected by sybelifex, please contact us at xxx-xxx-xxxx or go to our website at sybelifexmurderedmydog.com.”

Me: Okay. What did you have in mind?

Client: I have something in mind, and it’s special.

Me: …Okay. Well, send me the details, and maybe some samples that point to what you want out of the design.

Client: Okay, great.

The next day:

Client: Have you started?

Me: Um, no. I’m waiting on samples those samples and that info from you. I don’t even know the product’s name yet.  

Client: Great! I’ll be waiting.