#lessons from Proverbs

[iamentertainmentclub-blog]

Proverbs Daily Reflection – January 6, 2025

"These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him..." It is good to know what the Lord hates, that way we know how not to offend Him.

Proverbs 6:16-19 (KJV) “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” Reflection: In this passage, God reveals the behaviors and…

[pastorhogg]

Real Friends Tell the Truth

Real Growth Happens When We Don’t VentLife Lessons Learned In a world that prizes charm and charisma, it’s easy to think of friendship as something you win through strategic behavior. Books, workshops, and seminars offer countless techniques to “win friends and influence people”—but often, if we’re honest, that influence is less about care and more about control. Beneath the polite smiles and…

[dark-l-angel]

may I please request batfam x reader where they randomly find out the reader has Omnilingualism? the reader just randomly drops lore then the batfam is like "HUH?" me pleading:

A/N: Sure luv ❤️ sorry it took a little while.. but here you go 😺

Omnilingualism is the ability to understand all languages.. spoken, written, or otherwise.. instantly and fluently, without having to learn them first.

Batfam x Omnilingual reader + onshot bonus "wait- YOU CAN SPEAK EVERY LANGUAGE?!"

Bruce Wayne:

He pretends he isn’t impressed. He really tries. But the moment you casually correct a mistranslation in one of his case files from an obscure dialect in the Amazon, his eye twitches.

Definitely runs tests in the Batcave. "For data" he claims. Lies. He just wants an excuse to hear you switch flawlessly between Ancient Sumerian and Icelandic.

Low-key starts trusting you with delicate negotiations at Wayne Enterprises. "Accidentally" leaves confidential contracts in languages no one in the room understands except you.

Oh, and you catch him brushing up on his French. He'll never admit it, but he’s trying to catch up to you.

You once whispered something scandalous to him in flawless Latin during a gala. His hand on your lower back tightened just slightly. Dangerous man, but you’re worse.

Dick grayson:

Immediately obsessed. No chill whatsoever.

"Say something in Italian!" "Now Portuguese! Oh oh.. Tagalog!"

Thinks it’s the sexiest thing he’s ever heard. Genuinely struggles to focus if you speak in another language, especially something romantic-sounding. (You catch him blushing like a schoolboy, every time.)

Tries to flirt back in another language but completely butchers it. You gently correct him, and it turns into an unintentional couples language lesson.

You catch him Googling "How to propose in 20 languages." Cute idiot.

Teases you with fake words in gibberish, just to see if you catch on. You always do.

Jason Todd :

Oh, this man loves it. Filthy mouth, wicked grin, and a brain full of bad ideas.

Purposely swears in different languages to see if you catch him. You do. Every. Single. Time.

One time you threw back a sharp insult in flawless Russian, and he damn near swooned.

Has you read his favorite banned books in their original languages. "I just wanna hear you say it, babe." No you don’t, Jason. You want to hear them moaned, don’t you?

Will 100% ask you to dirty talk in languages no one else understands in public settings. "What? I like living dangerously."

Bonus: If you tease him in French, it destroys him. He can’t fight it. French + your voice = his personal kryptonite.

Tim Drake :

Immediately runs to his laptop. He needs answers.

"Omnilingualism is a hyper rare meta-ability.. there are fewer than seven confirmed cases worldwide.. wait- does this mean you can read codes in programming languages like they’re actual languages?!"

Makes you his official decryption buddy. His Batcomputer just became 500% more efficient.

Low-key fascinated, high-key turned on.

Asks you to record audio lessons for him in various languages. You catch him listening to them at 2am with a suspiciously dazed smile.

Will absolutely text you random phrases in dead languages at ungodly hours of the night. "For science."

Damian Wayne :

Instantly annoyed that he’s no longer the most linguistically gifted person in the room.

Challenges you constantly. "Recite this ancient Arabic proverb." You do, flawlessly, and throw in the correct accent for good measure.

He respects you deeply but refuses to admit it directly.

Secretly asks you to teach him rare dialects to communicate with his animals better.

The moment you start speaking to Titus in perfect, gentle Arabic, his eyes go wide. You’ve officially earned his permanent admiration.

Bonus: You tease him by complimenting him in languages he doesn’t know yet. He storms off to study them immediately.

Alfred Pennyworth

Unbothered king. He knew from the start.

Smiles softly when you casually slip into old, classical British idioms even Bruce doesn’t understand.

Occasionally tests you with the oddest phrases from obscure Commonwealth colonies. You pass every time.

"I dare say, Miss, you have a talent most remarkable."

Secretly keeps a list of the rarest languages to see if there’s anything you don’t know.

Family game nights? Forget it. You dominate every round of “Guess That Language.”

You become their favorite asset in undercover ops. Fake passports? Check. Local slang? You’re a walking encyclopedia.

They jokingly call you their “Batbabel.” (Yes, even Bruce lets that nickname slip once.)

Jason is convinced you must have alien blood. "Bet you could sweet talk the Martians, too."

You like to randomly mess with them by switching languages mid-conversation. Pure chaos.

And they all fall a little harder every time you do.

Oneshot bonus : Wait- YOU CAN SPEAK EVERY LANGUAGE?!

It started, as many things in Wayne Manor do, in the most stupidly casual way possible.

You were seated at the long dining table, lazily flipping through your phone while Alfred served brunch. Tim was half-asleep beside you, his forehead dangerously close to his waffles. Jason was reading War and Peace in Russian, because of course he was. Damian was arguing with Dick over the proper form for his new kata routine, while Bruce pretended to read the paper but was very obviously just eavesdropping like the rest of them.

Then, Alfred, with his calm British cadence, said something softly under his breath. In French.

"Mon dieu, cette confiture est un désastre…" (this jam is a disaster...)

Without thinking, without even looking up from your phone, you mumbled back, perfect pronunciation and all,

"Pas nécessairement. C’est la confiture d’orange, elle est censée être comme ça." (Not necessarily. It's orange marmalade, it's supposed to be like that.)

Silence.

Dead silence.

Tim lifted his head slowly, eyes bleary but confused.

Jason lowered his book.

Damian squinted at you like you’d just sprouted a second head.

Bruce folded his newspaper with a quiet, deliberate finality.

Dick? Dick’s eyes were sparkling with mischief.

"Since when do you speak French?" he asked, grinning like the cat who caught the canary.

You blinked, confused by the attention. "Huh? Oh, I don’t."

Wrong answer.

"You just did" Tim said flatly, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

Jason leaned forward on his elbows, sharp smirk spreading. "Care to explain, mon ami?"

Your brain, still not connecting the dots, offered the most unhelpful thing possible: a shrug. "I don’t know. He just said the jam was a disaster. I just... knew."

“Wait.” Damian’s eyes narrowed into slits, laser-focused. "What did Alfred say, exactly?"

You repeated it, casually.

He tried to hide it, but his brows twitched upward. "That’s correct."

Now Jason was grinning like he knew something juicy. "Try Russian."

"What?"

"Say something in Russian," Jason pressed, eyes alight with curiosity.

You hesitated, then shrugged. "Что ты хочешь, чтобы я сказал?" (What do you want me to say?)

Jason’s chair screeched back from the table as he stood, hands in his hair. “NO. No, no, no, what the hell is this?!”

"That was perfect," Tim said, his voice pitching higher, caffeinated brain now fully awake.

"You said you don’t speak these languages?" Bruce asked, a suspicious tilt to his head like he was running seventeen background checks in his mind at once.

You frowned, getting a little defensive now. "I don’t! I never studied Russian, or French, or whatever else. I just... get it, I guess?"

Dick gasped, like someone hit him with a Batarang of Realization. "Wait wait wait.. omnilingualism."

Jason’s mouth dropped open. "No freaking way."

Tim’s eyes went huge behind his glasses. "That’s an actual thing, you know. Hyper rare meta ability. The brain automatically understands and reproduces any language it’s exposed to."

Damian narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms. "Prove it."

"Say something in Ancient Latin," Bruce instructed, his detective mode fully activated.

You tilted your head, focusing, and then fluently responded,

"Memento mori, pater. Etiam noctes detectivi requiem merentur" (Remember death, father. Even detectives of the night deserve rest.)

Pin-drop silence.

Jason cackled so hard he nearly fell out of his chair.

Dick was clapping like you’d won an Olympic gold medal.

Tim, meanwhile, frantically pulled out his phone, already Googling ‘omnilingual reader discovered at brunch’.

Bruce, stoic as ever, gave you a single nod of respect. "We’ll need to run tests."

"You mean interviews," Dick corrected, leaning closer with a grin. "Because I, for one, have a thousand questions."

"Congratulations" Jason said dryly, raising his glass of orange juice in your direction. "You’re officially our walking, talking, sexy Google Translate."

You rolled your eyes with a crooked smile. "Glad I can be of service."

"And you will be," Bruce added, already making plans in his head. Oh, you were never getting out of this one.

[berryblu-soda]

Is it time to bring up this post?

You're telling me "as iron sharpens iron" is a fucking bible quote???? Ninjago did a bible reference and Christianity still isn't canon???

[megapteraurelia]

can't stop thinking about messenger boy!nishinoya who takes quoting his coach's words to his other teammates so very serious, focused, the tip of his tongue sticking out as he repeats the words silently on the trek from off-court to on-court.

who steals glances of you whenever he passes the bench on which you sit on with yachi, so enarmoured that sometimes he has to suck his lip into his mouth and force his stare away from you lest he'll forget what information to relay.

who tries extra hard to look really cool out there, and who wants your reactions; head whipping around in an arc that would've rendered the neck of the usual man broken. but nishinoya was no usual man, and when he sees you distracted, he only seeks to impress you more, muscles protesting the onslaught of acrobatics he's about to unleash.

who is the first one to put up his hand, excited, thrumming with energy at the prospect of collecting you from outside duties when coach ukai calls for it, bringing news and his crazy beating heart along.

who wrestles with any teammates if they wanted to tell you something, stealing their words and hurrying over to relay them to you, just so he has any excuse to talk to you and admire you from close up.

messenger boy!nishinoya who proudly points at his chest if asked by the teacher who's going to take homework sheets to your house when you fall sick, parroting his teacher's words to you amidst sprinkles of school tales you missed during the day and practice. he stay for hours cheering you up, a perpetual grin wide on his face.

who stands in front of your desk after every lesson and gives you the proverb of the hour, four characters long — a nishinoya collection.

who beams like the sun has decided to bless him personally with her radiance when he sees you wave him over during the end of practice, and you ask him to relay a message for you to a certain someone.

"i will absolutely not disappoint. you can lay your life in my hands," he nods — serious, solemn; eyes concentrated on your mouth to catch the words as soon as they spill from your chapstick-coated lips, so he almost misses the twinkle in your eyes.

"my message is this: nishinoya yuu, would you like to go to the arcade with me this saturday?"

messenger boy!nishinoya who, for once, does not remember a single word of the japanese language to respond with. whose face flushes so hard, he freezes because he's probably never had that much blood pumped to his head before. usually, it takes detours. (coughs)

who also does not unfreeze when you laugh, a blush creeping up your neck as well, telling him to relay to you the answer of that specific someone at the next practice.

(tanaka ryunosuke later claps nishinoya's shoulder in solidarity, "didja get rejected, bruh?"

nishinoya who looks up at tanaka, eyes a bit dazed, and the movement spurs him on to catch your form from afar as you gather the bottles to wash.

he really got asked out? by you? by the one and only? not a dream? this is reality? actual reality?

"dude," he says a long pause and his hand slowly closes into a victorious fist, "i think i just won the ruffle of ruffles. the biggest prize, ryu.")

TAGLIST | @takes1

[punkpandapatrixk]

❤️‍🩹I Just Want to be Loved ♦︎ Timeless Pick A Card

We attract terrible loves for various reasons; so many lessons; but now sorrow has got to lessen. Let’s reveal patterns by exhuming roots. We’ve got to stop this cycle of disappointments. Done being made to feel as if we’re hard to love.

We’re not hard to love. Many of us were simply denied love, warmth and affection as we were growing up… Don’t know how to love self; don’t know how to love others; basically don’t know how to even receive Love… Who’s to blame now?

Why the hell were so many children denied love, warmth, affection…?

What are you going to do with yourself when you were denied love, warmth and affection as you were growing up?

☆♪°・.

‘The child who isn’t embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.’ – an African proverb

People denied warmth and affection tend to fall into a desperate loop of fishing for attention as a result of love-deficiency, right? Some learn to lick love off a knife; some pursue success (whatever that means) all too frantically; some…shoot complete strangers in broad daylight; and some who ain’t got the guts to murder complete strangers in public places go instead for antagonising strangers on social media… Gosh, that is desperate.

But you know what, not all hope is lost because there’s still plenty of us who are blessed with this incredibly RARE thing called self-awareness. There are plenty of us who will take our traumas to the graveyard than pass them down the next generations.

You, don’t deserve to have your sanity and your Life ruined by some psychos who didn’t know how to love you. Reclaim lost pieces of yourself by understanding THREE Houses in your natal chart, babe:

4th House: your roots; tells you what was lacking in your home; explains your erratic 10th House ambitions

8th House: your marriage or your desire for a bond like it; this the House where trauma manifests itself in full spectrum

11th House: your wish fulfilment; where you connect with people who support your visions; breeds a healthy sense of connection, even community

SONG: Emptiness by BoA

MOVIE: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

[PAC Masterlist] [Part 2] [Part 3]

[Patreon] [Paid Readings]

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

Pile 1 – Because I Can’t Even Trust Myself

VIBE: Trust by Hamasaki Ayumi

lost pieces (pertaining to 4th House) – Ace of Pentacles Rx

It’s clear your childhood didn’t offer a sense of stability or security—the physical kind that children usually need. It could be that a grownup left early or it could be that you moved around a lot, so you easily lost contact with new friends you’d just made. In essence, it feels like you grew up feeling ‘everything disappears eventually; everyone leaves eventually’.

Some of you might’ve grown up not having a lot of material resources, but for the majority of you tuning into this Pile, it was more a feeling of a lack of warmth. For children, the pain of neglect and a lack of emotional connection do really affect our physical health more severely. You might’ve grown up poor and sickly due to all the grownups around you being inattentive, unaffectionate, and just…unreliable at best.

Because of this awareness, from a young age you realised you would have to do everything yourself. You wanted to grow up quickly and do your own things your own ways. It’s not like you had to grow up fast, you wanted to grow up fast to have your freedom and power! It was…hard to trust adults. It was hard to trust the world at large.

growing pains (pertaining to 8th House) – 8 of Pentacles

On the path of growing up, I think you became a hard worker of sort? This is very nuanced though—there are layers to your developing yourself to become a hardworking person. In many ways, you grew up responsible because you didn’t want to become like the adults who had disappointed you. But since this sense of ‘responsibility’ is a product of neglect and trauma…this is coming off as your feeling responsible for everything. Everything!

Some of you could’ve been too hard on yourself, expecting way too much for your age. You’ve felt like you’re always the one with everything to prove. It’s hard living like that. It feels like you’ve put so much effort into keeping everything together, and yet, nobody sees how much you care. Nobody truly understands the fear in your mind and pain you carry in your heart.

In matters of relationship, you cling extra hard to friends or lovers, too; because deep down you’re afraid of losing things and people, again and again. This unhealthy attachment—and to some extent, controlling behaviour—is truly your wounded inner child attempting frantically to keep your Reality from falling apart…

reclamation (pertaining to 11th House) – 4 of Cups

I’m very sure that at some point in Life, your Higher Self and team of Spirit Guides are going to kick in and meddle with your Earthly business. For some people, it’s possible you could lose contact with everybody you’ve ever known in Life and go into a hermit mode to find yourself again. For some, it could be that your whole Life is simply flipped, without necessarily losing key people in your Life, for you to look at Life and human connections from a very different point of view.

It’s going to be hard, of course. Emotionally, it could be devastating. Themes of abandonment and betrayal are big in your incarnation. But you know, ultimately, all of these challenges serve to remind you that the Cup of Love and Affection you’ve been looking for has always been right inside of you. You’ve had a bitter time with a lot of people because deep down you couldn’t trust them. You couldn’t trust other people’s loyalty because you didn’t even believe that you’re worthy of that Love and Loyalty you yearn for.

Your Spirit Guides are saying, that although at some point in Life things are going to get really tough, know that when you’ve graduated those lessons, you’re going to be rewarded with the most beautiful Soulmate-shit friendships, familyship and relationship. Truth be told, part of your Soul’s scenario in this incarnation is to find your Soul Tribe; and find your Tribe you shall~

A L O N E🔻💗

ALL of you – Red Alchemist (John Dee)

becoming ONE and whole – Priestess of Healing

Access full reading + cards on Patreon🌸

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

Pile 2 – Misled by My Own Compassion

VIBE: Cry Me A River by Julie London

lost pieces (pertaining to 4th House) – Knight of Cups

It’s very likely your 4th House is in a Water sign, but if not, you’re still very much a Water-y person; perhaps your Ascendant or Moon is in a Water sign, or that you have Neptune/Moon near/in your 4th, 7th or 11th House. All of this generally makes you a deeply compassionate person. No matter what outer appearances give, you strive to look deeper into a person’s Soul. You have so much empathy and you want to believe in the good of people.

Alas! This rotten world doesn’t make it too easy. This world is not a world where kindness and compassion are truly rewarded, if we don’t learn to be a tad cruel ourselves. You’re not in the wrong for being so genuinely good and compassionate; it’s this world that’s the wrong world. You know that? Therefore, it is paramount you learn to be a bitchilante! But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In spite of this PAC’s intro, I sense the majority of you tuning into this Pile actually grew up quite well. Many of you actually grew up in loving homes and that’s why it’s been quite challenging for you to grapple with the realness of the ugliness of the world outside of your loving home. Really…people in the real world…are monsters! And you were taken aback!

But some of you instead most likely grew up in chaotic, battlefield-esque homes and that’s why you’ve striven to be so good to a point of detriment.

growing pains (pertaining to 8th House) – 0 The Fool Rx

Be that as it may, you being you… Well, you do put in the effort to try and understand what makes monsters the way that they are, right? It’s all good and wonderful, until you get yourself in deep trouble where nobody can save you but your own monstrosity. Depending on your age when reading this, this could be something that’s happened in the past or will happen; where you will be forced to grow up in the sense of seeing the world as it is and get firm with assholes!

Dr Jordan Peterson has this gold shit to summarise this spiritual lesson you will be taking at some point in Life: ‘You should be a monster, an absolute monster, and then you should learn to control it.’ Well, that’s male speech. In female speech, we just say: ‘you gotta grow up and be a bitchilante!’

Be a bitch only to those who deserve it. How would you protect yourself from monsters if you don’t have the strength to fight them at their own game, darling? If you’re harmless, weak as a fawn, if anything, the real monsters in the world are going to toy with your sanity: ‘I saw my “crazy” side once and decided I wouldn’t be involved with anyone that would take me out of my peace like that ever again.’

Be a bitchilante. That whole concept of ‘good, harmless, love and light, positivity-only’ bullshit was put out there not to really make you good but to weaken you against the truly monstrous ones. WAKE UP, BITCH!

reclamation (pertaining to 11th House) – 4 of Pentacles

So? So what if you’re selective with your affection? Not everybody deserves your compassion. That’s for sure. There are many people in the world and you can’t be nice to all of them. One at point or another, you’re gonna be a villain in someone’s story—so what? Everybody else is the main character of their own Stories; that, you can’t control.

Be careful that you’re not falling victim to your own narcissism in wanting to be praised in everybody’s Story, yeah? So then, pertaining to your 11th House, weirdly enough, your wish fulfilment is in the form of a psychological liberation from your own idea of yourself in the minds of others. I sense that if you’re East Asian this is gonna resonate much harder and louder LOL

Anyway, I want to assure you that once you’ve graduated from your spiritual lessons, you will be met with unique, courageous, rebellious weirdos who will be just as clear as you are about what it truly means to be a good person in a world that’s often very bad. How good should a person be to truly be considered a good person?

‘If I offended you, cry me a river. I’ll bring snacks and a raft. I will literally float down your tears eating chips and working on my tan.’ – Fuckology

A L O N E🔻💚

ALL of you – Green Geographer (Gerardus Mercator)

becoming ONE and whole – Priestess of Success

Access full reading + cards on Patreon🌸

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

Pile 3 – Lights Out; I’m Out to Find Myself

VIBE: To. X by Taeyeon

lost pieces (pertaining to 4th House) – Ace of Cups Rx

I’ve to preface this Pile by saying this the pile that gets a little violent…

You were originally such a positive, happy-go-lucky kid, but quite early on, this world gave you so much darkness. So many reasons to be sad. It’s not been a very kind life, to be honest. Defo many of you have tragical placements here—your 4th or 5th House could start or end in Scorpio; have Lilith/Pluto/Chiron/Saturn there or in the sign of Cancer/Pisces; or it could be that your Venus/Moon is imprisoned in the 8th or 12th House and harshly aspected, too...

If your childhood has been violent or mightily confusing, it’s a group thing, OK? You can think like that. It’s not your fault. Know that practically everybody who has these harsh placements has gone through very similar things as you. So you’re really not the only one who’s failing—whatever that means. You’ve been gaslit a lot into believing there’s something wrong with you, but it was your environment that was just filled with totally terrible Human beings. That much I’d like to assure you.

It wasn’t natural how you were abused psychologically and emotionally. The people around you drew a parallel to Cinderella’s stepsisters in the Disney classic. It’s ridiculous like that. I think you grew up terribly lonely and created comfort characters in your head to console your sorrows? It’s very likely that your comfort characters were in actuality a mirror fragment of your Soul Family’s existence locked in your memory bank.

growing pains (pertaining to 8th House) – XIV Temperance Rx

Life, unfortunately, isn’t a Disney movie. As a result of the psychological and emotional abuse you’ve endured in childhood, your friendships and relationships might’ve been quite turbulent, at times even violent. Juuust a small number of you could’ve dealt with being called a violent kid, or you could’ve struggled with anger management and have terrible tantrums. All of these have made human connections quite difficult to navigate.

It’s not like you want to be a nasty person, right? Many times, you couldn’t help the way you react/respond to what’s being said and unsaid because, somehow, there are many things that people do and say that trigger a trauma response in you. There’s a very difficult Mars thingy going on here. I think many of you resonating with this Pile have some difficult Mars (ruler of Scorpio) placements/aspects that affect the way you manifest human connections in your Life.

Speaking in terms of synastry, it could be that you’ve attracted a great deal of people whose Mars aspected badly in your natal chart—consequently triggering bad traumas and manifesting violent outbursts in your connections. Ultimately though, these negative experiences with other people could’ve enforced your belief about how unlovable you are, which, really, is a false belief…

reclamation (pertaining to 11th House) – 5 of Wands

It is a false Reality that you’re unlovable or unworthy of a healthy relationship. That bullshit was implanted in you through the creation of a harsh environment that caused you a great deal of rage. Of course, you’re accountable for how you behave towards other people, but your foundation was never quite healthy or peaceful or harmonious, so… How about we put it all behind us and focus on healing? After all, it’s not like the people you’ve had a beef with were completely innocent? XP

It's kinda selfish to think like that, but you can depend on your own discernment to distinguish who amongst the people you’ve hurt or had a beef with to apologise to. Remember: sometimes apologies only make you weaker and looking at the unique bullshit astrological placements you were born with… apologising to the wrong fucker would only get you gaslit even more! So, don’t. Don’t apologise for the distress you experienced under other people’s lack of support.

Burn that bridge and detach yourself from that old stinking world. With your sheer willpower, you have it in you to rebuild your own little world of love and peace. After all, those harsh placements you were born with, are you aware of just how much power they bestow you? These placements come with a lot of turbulences but once you graduate your first Saturn Return, they also give you a burst of power unlike any other!

Lights out. Not entertaining aenergies that seek to nip your power at the bud anymore. Burn, baby, burn strong! Burn the whole Tower and find yourself on new lands~!

A L O N E🔻💜

ALL of you – Gold Alchemist (Roger Bacon)

becoming ONE and whole – Priestess of Solitude

Access full reading + cards on Patreon🌸

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

[PAC Masterlist] [Part 2] [Part 3]

[Patreon] [Paid Readings]

[revelboo]

OOO I FOUND IT! I know I learned about it in history class, it was the Amago clan of ninjas 🥷 that had that saying “Those who desire only technique will never understand it's everything beyond that”. And here’s two quotes by Sensei Toshitsugu Takamatsu also known as ‘The Last Shinobi’: “How difficult is life when one is not surprised by anything and laughing, everyday.” And “Knowing that disease and disaster are natural parts of life is the key to overcoming adversity with a calm and happy spirit.”

It was one of Sensei Takamatsu’s lessons about keeping spiritual peace and balance while not letting internal darkness consume one’s life. (Hope you don’t mind me doing themed quotes, I find traditional ninjas and samurai, especially their lessons and proverbs, fascinating😅).

The Samurai Code Pt 2

IDW Drift x Reader

• You’re real, warm against his servos as he makes his way through the halls toward the medbay. He’s also painfully aware of how badly you’re shaking, the way you’re curling into yourself. “Can you understand me?” He asks, parting his servos enough he can see your eyes almost squinted shut, face drawn like you’re in pain even though he’s sure he’s not holding you tightly. Feeling of one of your tiny hands grabbing onto his servo, clinging to him.

• That prickling, fiery feeling is a tide washing over you in waves, stealing your breath when it crashes over you and leaving you trembling in agony when it washes out. “Make it stop,” you manage, pressing your face against that giant hand as the sensation tears you apart again, shredding you into nothing but suffocating pain. “Please.”

• “You’ll be okay,” he promises, lying to you, because he has no idea what’s happening. Spark twisting at the agony in your words, there’s nothing he can do but run a servo against your spine in what he hopes is a comforting touch as he enters the medbay. Ratchet looks up from where he’s sterilizing tools when he enters. “I can’t fix this,” he whispers, holding out his caged hands, because he can feel the way your heart beat shifts into something frantic and wild with every time you clench into a tighter ball. Those little, pained noises you’re making going right through him.

• “Where’d that one come from?” Ratchet groans, reaching to accept your little form and he’s almost reluctant to give you up as crazy as it is, you’re just clinging to him like he’s the only thing keeping you together. Hovering as Ratchet lifts you from his hands and reaches for a scanner to pass over you as the shaking gets worse. Eyes opening and finding him, little hand trembling and reaching out for him.

• There’s two of them now. You’re dimly aware of the first one explaining how you’d just appeared, but everything is so fragmented, pain breaking you apart piece by piece. And then there’s panic choking you, until you’re reaching for the first one. The one with that soft, soothing voice and gentle hands. Wanting to ask him to not leave you here, please, don’t leave you alone, but unable to focus enough to say any of it. But then he’s reaching for you as the other one frowns, extending a huge servo to you and in your fear, you latch onto him, the only thing even slightly familiar amid the pain.

• You curl yourself around his servo, pressing your face against him. Needing him and he stills as the shaking eases and you slump into an exhausted sleep. “Best guess it has to do with however they got here,” Ratchet says as he studies his scanner. “Rodimus already alerted me that he found another one, so you’ll have to look after that one.”

• “You can fix this,” he says, spark twisting uneasily as he carefully accepts you back from Ratchet, aware of how fragile you feel in his servos. “Ratchet?” That look the medic levels at him is answer enough, but it’s not the one he wants as his attention dips to you.

Previous

Next

[gemsofgreece]

Origins of Modern Greek folk sayings

NOTE: By "origins" here I do not mean absolute exact origin as this would be impossible to know. It rather signifies the likely first documented usage of the saying in the Greek literary heritage.

Ένα χελιδόνι (ή ένας κούκος) δεν φέρνει την άνοιξη. Meaning: A single swallow (or a single cuckoo) does not bring the spring. This is where the english idiom "one swallow does not a summer make" come from as well. Origin: Μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεἶ ( A single swallow does not create the spring) - Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle (384 - 322 BC). Aristotle said this phrase inspired by one of Aesop's tales (620 - 564 BC).

Το ένα χέρι νίβει το άλλο. Meaning: Each hand washes the other. It exists in English as well as in other languages, spread through Latin "Manus manam lavat". Origin: ἁ δὲ χεὶρ τὰν χεῖρα νίζει - Epicharmus, 5th century BC.

Ό,τι σπείρεις θα θερίσεις. Meaning: You will reap what you sow. Widespread proverb. Origin: Εί κακά τις σπείραι κακά κέρδια αμήσειν (If one sows bad things, he will reap bad things) - Hesiod (~ 750 - 650 BC).

Κάλλιο να σε ζηλεύουνε παρά να σε λυπούνται Meaning: It's better to be envied than to be pitied by others. Origin: κρέσσον γὰρ οἰκτιρμοῦ φθόνος (for envy is better than pity) - Pindar, (~ 518 –  438 BC).

Έπαθε και έμαθε Meaning: He suffered so he learned Origin: τὸν πάθει μάθος (the suffering becomes a lesson) - Aeschylus (~ 525 - 455 BC)

Μη με συγχίζεις Meaning: Don't confound me, meaning "don't make me upset" Origin: μή μοι σύγχει - Homer (8th century BC)

Μη με σκοτίζεις Meaning: "Don't put me in the dark" meaning "don't annoy / bother me" Origin: Αποσκότησον με ("Get me out of the dark" AKA the notorious "Don't hide the sun and gtfo" line) - Diogenes to Alexander the Great

βίος αβίωτος Meaning: "Unlivable life", unbearable life Origin: Ἀβίωτον ζῶμεν βίον (We live an unlivable life) - Philemon (362 BC – c. 262 BC)

Ἐχει και του πουλιού το γάλα Meaning: "It even has the bird's milk" meaning it has anything you can imagine Origin: δώσομεν ὑμῖν γάλα τ᾽ ὀρνίθων (We will give you even the milk of birds / hens) - Aristophanes (446 - 386 BC)

Άει στον κόρακα Meaning: Go to the crow, an equivalent of "go to hell" Origin: ἔρρʼ ἐς κόρακας! (go to the crows) - standard phrase, frequently used by Aristophanes

Κάθε αρχή και δύσκολη Meaning: Every beginning is also difficult Origin: Αρχή δήπου παντός έργου χαλεπωτέρα (the beginning of every project is the hardest) - ancient saying

Η αλήθεια είναι πικρή Meaning: Truth is bitter Origin: ἔχει τι πικρὸν ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας λόγος (there is something bitter in the words of truth) - Demades (380 - 318 BC)

Η αλήθεια δεν κρύβεται Meaning: Truth cannot be hidden Origin: Ἀδύνατον τ' ἀληθές λαθεῖν (It is impossible to hide the true thing) - Menander (342 - 291 BC)

Φοβάται και την σκιά του Meaning: He's even afraid of his shadow (used when someone is afraid all the time) Origin: τὴν αὐτοῦ σκιὰν δέδοικεν (he's afraid of his own shadow) - Aristophanes (446 - 386 BC)

Καμιά δουλειά δεν είναι ντροπή Meaning: No job is shameful Origin: Έργον δ' ουδέν όνειδος - Hesiod (~ 750 - 650 BC)

Χτίζεις στην άμμο Meaning: You build in the sand, meaning you're doing something pointless, that will be ruined or over very soon. Origin: Εἰς ψάμμον οἰκοδομεῖς - Plutarch (46 - 119 AD)

[pastorhogg]

Today's Spiritual Disciplines

As the Day Begins: Seeking Strength in His PresenceIn this morning’s meditation on 1 Chronicles 16:11, we are called to begin each day by seeking the Lord’s strength and presence. In doing so, we root ourselves in His power rather than our own striving, setting the tone for a Spirit-led day. A Year in the Life of Jesus: When Seeing Still Isn’t BelievingOur reading in Matthew 12:38–42 reminds us…

[unconventialsailormoon]

Don’t Wait for Me

Pairing - Erik Killmonger x reader

Warnings - Slow burn, enemies to reluctant allies to almost lovers, soft angst, cultural healing, yearning, forbidden tenderness

Summary - You were just supposed to teach him Wakandan, language, history, tradition. Not fall in love with the prince who swore to burn it all down.

You meet him on the third day of your new post.

The first two are filled with whispered warnings in palace halls.

“Keep your head down.”

“Speak only when spoken to.”

“He doesn’t want to be here.”

“He’s dangerous.”

You expect a storm.

You get a man in gold and leather, eyes so sharp they cut into your quiet like a blade. He doesn’t knock when he enters the study room, just pushes the door open with the back of his hand, saunters in like he owns it.

(Technically, he does.)

“Where’s the tutor?” he asks, already unimpressed.

You glance up from your table, brush a speck of dust from the Xhosa scrolls. “You’re looking at them.”

He scoffs. “You?”

You lift an eyebrow. “Yes. Me.”

He stares. You stare back.

A beat. A breath. A challenge.

“Fine,” he mutters, dropping into a seat. “Let’s get this over with.”

⸻

You try to keep the lessons clinical. Neutral.

But he keeps bleeding into everything.

His presence is oil in water, loud, slick, unignorable.

He stretches in his chair like he’s bored. Answers questions with a smirk. Dares you to snap.

He calls your pronunciation “cute.”

You call his Wakandan rusty and full of bullet holes.

You think he might actually like that.

“You think you’re better than me, huh?” he says one day, after you correct him for the third time. “Because you grew up here?”

“I think I’m better at grammar,” you reply, deadpan. “That’s why I’m the one teaching.”

That earns you a laugh.

You hate that it sounds like honey.

⸻

Still, he keeps showing up.

Once, he brings his own pen.

Another time, he repeats a proverb back to you, perfect tone, perfect structure.

You don’t praise him. He notices.

“You got somethin’ against me?” he asks after a particularly long pause.

You don’t answer.

Not because you don’t have one, God knows you do.

But because the problem isn’t that you don’t like him.

It’s that you’re starting to.

And you don’t know what the hell to do about that.

⸻

One night, it rains.

Thick, silver sheets against the palace windows. You’re late to the lesson, soaked to the bone. You expect him to mock you.

He doesn’t.

Just looks up from the table and frowns.

“You walk here?” he asks.

You shrug. “I live off the edge of the grounds. It’s not far.”

He looks at you like it is. Like he knows what far feels like.

He tosses you a clean cloth from the back of a chair. “You’re drippin’ all over the scrolls, [Name]. Dry off.”

You blink. It’s the first time he’s ever said your name without sarcasm.

It lands different.

Soft. Sincere. Like maybe you’re not just a means to an end.

“…Thanks,” you murmur.

He doesn’t reply. Just goes back to writing.

But when you glance down at his page, your breath catches.

It’s a proverb about home.

“A person without knowledge of their past is like a tree without roots.”

⸻

You don’t say anything the next day.

But you bring a book he hasn’t read yet.

You leave it on the desk without a word.

He pretends not to care.

(But the next time you enter, it’s bookmarked and underlined.)

⸻

It becomes routine.

Lessons, smirks, long silences.

Your fingers brush when you pass him ink.

He holds your gaze a little too long when you correct his cadence.

His accent softens. So do your walls.

Once, he calls you “uThandwa lwami.”

You flinch.

“You know what that means?” he asks, almost teasing.

You meet his eyes. “Don’t say things you don’t mean, N’Jadaka.”

He stiffens at the name. No one uses it.

No one dares.

But you do.

And he doesn’t tell you not to.

⸻

Then comes the garden.

It’s late. Past curfew. But you can’t sleep.

You find him under the moon, shirtless and scarred, sitting beneath the shade of a flowering baobab.

You mean to leave.

But he says your name again, quiet, like a song with no audience.

“…You ever hate this place?” he asks, not looking up. “Even a little?”

You sit beside him. The air hums with something thick and unspoken.

“No,” you say truthfully. “But sometimes I hate the way it forgets people.”

He exhales hard. Like you punched the wind out of him.

“My mama used to tell me stories about this place,” he says. “Said it was made of gold. Said it was ours.” He leans back, bitter. “Then she died in a shitty apartment in Oakland while the king of Wakanda looked the other way.”

You don’t apologize. He’s not looking for pity.

“I don’t know how to forgive that,” he whispers.

You reach out. Touch his hand, slow and trembling.

“Then don’t,” you say. “But don’t let it take the rest of you.”

He looks at your hand. Doesn’t pull away.

Just stares. Like maybe this is the first time someone touched him without trying to take something.

“…You soft,” he murmurs.

“You’re not.”

He smirks. “Not yet.”

⸻

After that, things change.

He brings you fruit from the kitchen before lessons.

You correct his tenses without flinching.

You argue about history, about kings, about legacy.

One day, you say “You could be a good one, you know.”

He goes still.

“…A good what?”

You smile, sad and secret. “A good king.”

He looks away.

“You think they’d let me?”

You don’t answer.

But the silence says it all.

⸻

You’re not supposed to fall in love.

He’s not supposed to stay.

But he kisses you anyway, on the last night before he’s due to speak in the council chamber.

It’s soft. Brief. Like a promise wrapped in regret.

“Don’t wait for me,” he says, voice ragged against your skin.

“..I know ” you whisper back.

⸻

Then he leaves.

Not a word. Not a letter. Just echoes in the study room and an empty seat where he used to sit.

⸻

A month passes. Then two. You try not to look for him in every shadow.

You fail. Often.

But one night, you return to your quarters to find a single sheet of parchment on your bed.

It’s a proverb.

Written in imperfect, familiar handwriting.

“The tree remembers. The axe forgets.”

And at the bottom -

“I remember everything. - E”

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Acrostic

Acrostic poem - a type of poem where the first letter of each line (or each paragraph) forms a hidden message or word.

A fun way to craft an ode to your beloved or a sneaky form of dissent—public resignations by disgruntled officials are a particularly popular place to deploy one—acrostic poetry can be very simple and spare, or take a more understated form in full verse.

The word “acrostic” comes from the French acrostiche, descended from the Ancient Greek phrase meaning “highest, or topmost verse.” Acrostics (like their cousin, the acronym) can also be highly useful mnemonic devices.

How to Write an Acrostic Poem

Unlike other forms of poetry, there are no rules when it comes to rhyme or meter for acrostics, so writing one can be a relaxing kind of word puzzle. You may find that you develop a naturally consistent rhythm or line length as you make your way through.

To write your own acrostic, break apart a single word, so that the individual letters become the initial letters of their own respective lines (or, if you like, the last letters of each line).

Let the word you chose serve as the theme of the poem; get inspired by nature, like in haiku, or use the name of your best friend to extol upon their virtues.

You can also craft an acrostic by listing out the letters of the alphabet in order, a variation called an abecedarius. (An abecedarian sounds easy enough, but the real trick comes when you reach x.)

Examples of Acrostic Poems

Acrostics were incredibly popular in medieval literature, where the hidden words were tucked in as tributes to a wealthy patron or prayers to a saint. They even appeared in the original Hebrew of The Old Testament, popping up in psalms and proverbs.

Classical literary examples of acrostics include this unnamed ode to an Elizabeth from Edgar Allan Poe, written around 1829 and only discovered after his death:

Elizabeth it is in vain you say "Love not"—thou sayest it in so sweet a way: In vain those words from thee or L.E.L. Zantippe's talents had enforced so well: Ah! if that language from thy heart arise, Breath it less gently forth—and veil thine eyes. Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried To cure his love—was cured of all beside— His follie—pride—and passion—for he died.

Lewis Carroll often wrote acrostics for the neighboring Liddell girls, Lorina, Alice, and Edith, like this one from Christmas of 1861:

Little maidens, when you look On this little story-book, Reading with attentive eye Its enticing history, Never think that hours of play Are your only HOLIDAY.

And that in a HOUSE of joy Lessons serve but to annoy: If in any HOUSE you find Children of a gentle mind, Each the others pleasing ever.

Each the others vexing never- Daily work and pastime daily In their order taking gaily- Then be very sure that they Have a life of HOLIDAY.

And in his famous book, Through the Looking-Glass, Carrol’s ending chapter "A Boat, Beneath A Sunny Sky" is also an acrostic, featuring the full name of his main character’s namesake: Alice Pleasance Liddell.

A boat, beneath a sunny sky Lingering onward dreamily In an evening of July - Children three that nestle near, Eager eye and willing ear, Pleased a simple tale to hear - Long has paled that sunny sky: Echoes fade and memories die: Autumn frosts have slain July. Still she haunts me, phantomwise, Alice moving under skies Never seen by waking eyes. Children yet, the tale to hear, Eager eye and willing ear, Lovingly shall nestle near. In a Wonderland they lie, Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die: Ever drifting down the stream - Lingering in the golden gleam - Life, what is it but a dream?

Source ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[bisnes-socks]

i added my thoughts to the takavoltti lyrical analysis here but today i want to talk about why i think takavoltti is one of käärijä's most finnish songs ever.

this got a bit long, so just so you know what to expect going in: what i mean by most finnish is that there are references and tone of voice that are very specific to finland, there is complex use of the finnish language AND there are melodic/musical choices in the song that sound very finnish to me.

okay, here goes.

the dialogue that opens the song is already a sort of key moment to this finnishness of it all. when he says "emmä tiedä, kolisee jos kolisee, mut mun on pakko sit koittaa vetää tosi matalalla" he is doing a bit of a voice but more than that, he is talking in a way that is not quite his. his inflection, the rhythm, those are not natural to him or his dialect. you can hear it particularly when he says "koittaa vetää tosi matalalla". i don't know if it's at all easy to hear if you're not finnish, but it's not.. a serious voice or tone. the other two voices, one of them is modified to be high and the other talks like a sports announcer. the whole scene is quite comedic and it's a very specific genre of comedy that is very finnish indeed. it's also the type of thing he has been doing since always. (EDIT: OKEI MORE CONTEXT IN A REBLOG HERE)

funnily enough, you guys know köpi kallio now, the therapist in skit and autiomaa video? yeah köpi and his long time partner in crime viki are good examples of this type of humour i would say. they have their own podcast/show called viki ja köpi show but before that they were radio hosts and have been working together for ten years. the character voices and the whole vibe of the scene in the beginning of the song is very viki ja köpi to me, very ylex type comedy (yes ylex the radio station who did the ruisrock interview who still isn't back from the war).

and the small comedy bits stay in there through out the song, and they continue to have the same delivery instantly recognisable as comedic.

and that isn't to say the subject matter can't be serious. i think, again, this is something that feels inherently finnish to me. other finnish people feel free to chime in because this is hard to explain, but our culture is one where coping through making light of things is quite normal. and our sense of humour tends to be on the darker side, at least if you compare it to the american style of comedy that has taken over globally. so to make a song about there being too many demands on you and how you have a problem with setting boundaries and agreeing to insane shit, but to do it by interjecting the song with jokes just idk.. it sits in our culture lmao.

i honestly don't know how to explain this better, but quite dark comedic elements like this (after all he gets properly fucked up in the stunts it seems) in a song with a serious subject matter is something we've been doing for decades in this country (juice leskinen, for example) and it is something so loved by finnish people. we love a song that is just fucked up on multiple levels. käärijä is just adding his own style to this cultural history.

okay, onto the language.

the verse opens with "tekevälle sattuu" which is a finnish proverb.

quick finnish lesson: the word sattua in finnish means both to hurt and to happen. the word tehdä means to do but tehdä kipeää means hurting. like.. now that i think about it tämä tekee kipeää = this is doing (me a) hurt is valid and correct finnish lmao.

tekevälle sattuu, the proverb, actually means "things happen to those who do" but he is playing with the different meanings here, because he goes on to say "ain sattuu ku tekee" which can both mean "things always happen when you do" or it can mean "it always hurts when you do". then he goes on to say "ku tekee, ku kipee, ni kipeetä tekee" which is once again playing with words, because kipee here means both pain but also being sick. "ku tekee, ku kipee" would translate as "when you do as if you're sick" and "kipeetä tekee" means that it hurts.

so to recap (i'm not trying to provide a smooth translation, but highlight his wordplay:

tekevälle sattuu = things/pain happen to those who do [things]

ain sattuu ku tekee = shit happens/you get hurt when you do [things]

ku tekee, ku kipee, ni kipeetä tekee = when you do [things] like you're sick [in the head], you get hurt

so this is all to say two things: he's using the finnish language in a very clever way that really only becomes clear if you know the language and all of these idioms and proverbs. and also that he is very good at what he does. it has taken me four paragraphs to explain 13 words.

and he doesn't even end there. "oon yllytyshullu, ain hulluksi yllyn" is more play on words. jesus, jere. okay guys, stay with me.

yllytyshullu i explained in my previous analysis, but recap: yllytys means incitement and hullu means crazy. yllytyshullu is someone who does crazy shit when prompted.

"ain hulluksi yllyn" here he is using the word yltyä which is the same root as yllytys, but yltyä means usually more like.. to intensify. (for example: sade yltyy = the rain is getting heavier, or tuuli yltyy = the wind is picking up)

so to say hulluksi yllyn, he's saying like.. i let myself be incited and/or i always take it to the max, to the point of crazy.

and then he uses very clever rhyming words: "ja tää hullunmylly on kylmempi kylpy". hullu means crazy, mylly means mill, hullunmylly is basically a hullabaloo.

as you can tell, all of this is like bordering on impossible to translate accurately into a smooth translation. and that's just the first verse, but i'd be here all night if i explained the whole entire song 😭

and this to me is a very clear sign that no matter what sort of an audience he has internationally, he's not compromising on his language. and i find that admirable and, as a finnish person, very comforting too. this song is sort of reassuring, like he is reinserting himself very firmly into finnish culture, with the language and the comedy that do not translate very well. 

and if you look at the pre-chorus and chorus, the specific references keep coming: calling him kärtsä (finnish people have a lot of nicknames for him), "hyppää kybäst pommi" the slang use of kybä to mean ten meters, he mentions duudsonit (the dudesons) and he mentions jorvi hospital. all of these feel like he is signalling to a very finnish audience. (also "oon syypää sun hymyyn" could count as a cheek reference, cheek used to be like the biggest rapper in finland).

okay, time for melody and music speak. i only have one simple point here: melodically and musically speaking that has to be the most suomi iskelmä chorus i've heard from him. ever.

you could take that melody and insert it as the chorus to like any song on iskelmä radio. iskelmä is a finnish schlager music genre. kind of impossible to describe but something that finnish people will instantly recognise. the opening, with the piano synth could also open an iskelmä song.

very suomi, very iskelmä.

so.

all of this is why i think takavoltti is about as finnish as it gets. a suomi iskelmä about having serious issues with boundaries that uses clever finnish and paints a comedic picture of a banged up black-eyed käärijä who has dislocated his shoulder but is still showing thumbs up is like.. so much finnish condensed into three and a half minutes.

i know not everyone thinks the song is hilarious but i do. it's both hilarious and very serious and that's how we like it here.

and of course the fact that there is an "ai vittu" in there. we like that too.

[halfbloodgf]

Quotes that remind me of Severus Snape

"When can I say your name and have it mean only your name and not what you left behind?"

— Ocean Vuong, from On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (Penguin Press, 2019)

"Nobody is coming to save you. Get up."

"Some children are simply born with tragedy in their blood."

"I am so sorry to all the people I hurt while I was hurting."

"All the hardest, coldest people you once meet were once soft as water. And that's the tragedy of living."

"I'm sorry you were not truly loved and that it made you cruel."

— Warsan Shire

"I have spent all my life resisting the desire to end it."

— Franz Kafka

"I think you know how to love better than any of us. That's why you find it all so painful."

— Dad, Fleabag, Season 2: Episode 6

"What is a home if not the first place you learn to run from?"

— Courtney Love Prays to Oregon, Clementine von Radics

"You talk like a book."

"He had the awkward tenderness of someone who has never been loved and is forced to improvise."

"I'm restless and harsh and despairing Although I do have love inside ne. I just don't know how to use love. Sometimes it tears at my sh, like barbs."

"Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter."

— African Proverb

"You are so brave and quiet I forget you are suffering."

— Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (via books-n-quotes)

"l avoid my gaze in the mirror; I have no interest in learning what it feels like to meet my eyes."

— Jayson Greene, excerpted from his memoir Once More We Saw The Stars

"Why are you full of rage? Because you full of grief."

— Anne Carson, Gief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides

"The eyes of a soldier."

"If you don't want a sarcastic answer, don't ask a stupid question."

"You can't always be strong, but you can always be beave."

"I have more scars than friends."

"He always had that 'I hate you and everyone in this fucking place' look."

[arctrooper69]

As Iron Sharpens Iron

"As Iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

Beta-read by @dragonrider9905

Chapter 3:

Previous // Next

Warnings: Jealously. Mentions of masturbation (nothing explicit).

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

Despite the initial crash landing, the mission seemed to have been successful and the trip back to Ord Mantell was, so far, uneventful. The ship lay in a sleepy silence, punctuated only by Wrecker’s occasional snoring from where he lay on the ground against Gonky with Omega and Lula tucked safely in his arms. Phee and Tara played a quiet game of Dejarak and Echo sat watchfully in the co-pilot’s chair beside Tech, who was engrossed in something on his datapad until the ship dropped from hyperspace and landed smoothly back on the planet.

Hunter took moments like this whenever he could get them. It was rare to have time to himself, especially now that Omega and you had joined the squad. But right now, rest did not come so easily to him.

Your outburst at Tara, the way you zoned out during his mission brief, not to mention the cold shoulder you'd been giving him for the past few days - it just wasn't like you.

From a tactical perspective - as your squad leader - he knew that he should go and find you as soon as possible, sit you down and demand you tell him what was going on. It was his duty, after all, to make sure his squad was okay both mentally and physically. It was imperative that he knew everything in order to be able to move smoothly and efficiently as a team.

But for some reason, Hunter felt glued to his seat. Something fought that well-trained commando logic from inside of him, pressing upon him, crushing him like a foot on his chest.

Taking a deep breath, he sat up straighter, cracking his neck.

“Emotion is natural. Fear is natural.”

Hunter remembered the words of one of their trainers on Kamino. He'd laughed it off with the rest of the squad. Scared? Genetically enhanced special forces commandos? Not likely. It was so long ago, he barely remembered the lesson. It wasn't important at the time. Maybe it applied to regs, but not to him. Hunter was their leader, their older brother - he couldn't afford that kind of weakness. So why had he suddenly remembered it now?

“They are in every man's very nature, but you're different. You don't have the luxury to dwell on those feelings. You freeze, you die, so train yourself to let it pass. Focus on the task at hand.”

Hunter let the strange emotion pass, willing the weight to lift from his chest

It felt different though, everytime he glanced towards your bunk, he couldn't help but to recall how you felt cradled in his arms. How your breath caught in your throat when you met his eyes. You hadn't even noticed, but he did.

The door to the fresher opened and you stepped out, turning towards him.

Hunter stood, intent on coming to the bottom of whatever this was. A faint, peculiar scent wafted from you. The feeling he’d so skillfully pushed away only moments ago, bubbled to the surface again. It swirled in his stomach, pooling with tangible heat beneath his skin. It made him hungry in a way nothing had before. He shifted uncomfortably, thankful for the way his armor hid the growing bulge in his pants.

Touching your face, feeling your body in his arms, wishing it was anything but the brutality of battle that called you to him.

He’d been with women before - a drunken fling, or a way to blow off steam after a long mission. This was different. You felt different.

He glanced away, shame springing to the surface at the hopelessness of his desires - but he could hear your body tense, and feel you turn away.

Oh gods, she knows.

Maybe it was the moment his hand rested far too long on your knee. You had stared at the gesture - but it was one of the rare moments when he couldn't really tell what you were thinking. Perhaps the way you stiffened signified your discomfort - perhaps he'd misread that small spark in your eyes.

Hunter stood quietly for a moment, opening his mouth as if to call you back to him, but he made no sound. He closed his mouth again, drawing his lips into a frown, codpiece loosening in a melancholy disappointment.

No. I have a job to do.

“Hey,” he called over to you, keeping his voice low so as not to draw attention from the others.

You froze. Oh gods, he can probably hear my heartbeat. He can smell me and I just…. You glanced back at the fresher door.

Oh gods, he knows.

The thought of him was too much. His hands on your skin, his lips on yours, those beautiful amber eyes that bled sincerity and comfort - it was all too much. It was a lie. You had to let it go or you would explode. Finally alone in the fresher, you could close your eyes and imagine that it was his fingers that caressed your sex and not your own. The release you craved had come almost too quickly and now you were left with an empty longing.

“What.” Your reply came sharply, colder than you’d intended.

“Are you okay?”

The question caught you off guard and you nearly found yourself telling him everything.

I can’t do that to him.

Airing the stupid schoolgirl crush you had on him would only serve to make him feel guilty. You didn’t want his pity.

“I’m fine, Hunter.”

I’m not fine, this is killing me.

“Are… are you sure?” He paused, unsure what kind of response he even expected. You sounded tired. “It’s important you let me know if something is bothering you.” he finished.

“I said I’m fine.”

Hunter shook his head, suddenly incensed by the cold rebuttal. There had to be something wrong and he would find out what.

You can fix this, a voice in his head demanded. Man up and fix this. That's your job isn't it?

“What’s going on with you!?” He snapped, visibly frustrated.

That was not what he'd meant to say - or maybe it was. Hunter didn't know anymore.

Immediately he shut his mouth, seeing your expression phase from one of shock, to one of anger that mirrored his own. He just wanted to help! He just wanted to make things better. Why did you have to make it so hard?

“Excuse me!?” Your eyes flashed, matching his frustration with anger of your own.

It forced its way through your veins like red-hot coals.

What the hell am I doing? You thought. Pining away like a lovesick teenager for a man I work with!?

You sighed.

But he’s so much more than that. The feelings you tried so hard to beat down, forced themselves up through your anger like weeds growing in the cracks of a walkway.

You mowed them down. No. It’s a fantasy. It isn’t real. Get it together before someone gets hurt.

Hunter doubled down, “You heard me. I just want to know what your problem is so we can work out whatever it is!”

“My problem!? Oh my gods, Hunter! I’m fine! I told you I’m fine so please just leave me alone!”

Hunter opened his mouth and closed it again, unable to put words to the whirlwind of confusion, grief, and anger that spiraled about him like a storm.

He watched as you spun sharply around and headed out the door.

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

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[writesaboutdragons]

365 Proverbs for Daily Living

Day 75 – Self-Destruct Button

A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom, whoever does it destroys his own life. He will be beaten and despised, and his reproach will not be wiped away; for jealousy kindles a husband's rage, and he will not show mercy when he takes revenge. He will not consider any compensation; he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation. (Pro 6:32-35 NET)

Read: Revelation 2:18-29

One of my favorite animated series is Phineas and Ferb. They have a pet platypus who is actually a secret agent, whose nemesis is Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

The evil doctor is always inventing dastardly devices to help him take over the tri-state area, and they almost always would succeed except for the fact that he always builds into each a self-destruct button, frequently right beside the power button.

While Perry and Doofenschmirtz are scripted as if they are a side gag, their battles ALWAYS clear the scene from whatever Phineas and Ferb are up to, much to the chagrin of their big sister Candice, who is always trying to ‘bust’ them to their mom, who never seems to notice what her kids are up to.

While the series contains so many object lessons we could be here for days, I wanted to focus on those crazy self-destruct buttons. If I were Heinz, I’d have kept them off, had them locked behind a shield. Hidden them in a safe place. Put them deep inside the casing. In short, made them hard to get to. But, no, they were always easy to find, with a large red button, clearly labeled.

We’ve got one built in too, you know. It’s the drive that helps us replicate the species. But when allowed to run in sinful directions, it destroys our fellowship with God, then our fellowship with our spouse, and often our fellowship with others, too. We are still paying for the sexual revolution of the 60s, but it’s getting stale to blame the hippies for our problems today. Because, truth be told, we’ve always had a little of Thyatira in our blood. It’s not something any of us like to admit. And if we stick close to God, keep our hearts fixed on him, and put up enough safeguards, we might forget that self-destruct button is there. But if we keep trying to push it, dear Christian, we’re eventually going to blow up.

Prayer:

Father, may I keep my mind fixed on you, today. Amen

[madam-of-lithuania]

Here's my another art work painting from my art school, our lesson's were assigned by our teacher to study Pieter's Bruegel's works

So here's Francis in my painting inspired by Pieter's Bruegel's painting "Netherlandish Proverbs"

I wanted to draw Francis since mostly I never drawn him that much, the only time I drawn Francis was in Eurovision 2023 sketch