#this got long and rambly

[weedoccultadvice]

So like, I have been having this weird experience analyzing the Harry Potter books lately, and please indulge me while I talk about J.K. Rowling's weird writing.

My goal was simple: read the Harry Potter books to find which parts were influenced/inspired by actual magic that people do in real life. My theory was that there was a lot more magic in the earlier drafts of the books, and that she took a lot out due to fear of backlash from America's ongoing reenactment of the Satanic Panic. For instance it's quite obvious some of their magic lessons got dumbed down so that very little of what's in the books could actually be tried in real life, and I think she took out a lot of astrology.

I also wanted to do a couple errands along the way, one of which was to check and see if it's explicitly written in the books that Harry is a cis man. I'm a trans man, SO I'D KNOW. (I'm a slow reader so all I can say for now is: the FIRST book does not explicitly state Harry is cis, but if he's trans, there's some implied worldbuilding with items like the Sorting Hat that comes into play. Also I'm fairly sure the Dursleys would have gone along with him being trans because that meant Petunia could reuse Dudley's old clothes instead of having to get girl stuff. I'mma save any other explanations on the topic for a video on it.) The reason I'm doing this read-through is because I think J.K. doesn't know anything about trans people and didn't think to make sure her wizard world was trans exclusionary. AND IT TURNS OUT THAT WE TRANS MAGIC USERS HAVE A WAY OF WIGGLING INTO MOST PLACES UNDETECTED BY NORMAL MEANS.

While I was doing the re-read I encountered two sort of broad revelations:

There's a lot of old stuff in there like Latin and Greek and tradcraft stuff, but also modern magic of the more recent era... but the incorporation of modern magic cuts off somewhere before the 80s. These books read like they were written by a early 70s magician. Like they honestly read like J.K. is a magical practicioner who just didn't read any magic books written after 1972 and never discovered what Chaos Magic is, (and also, never heard of most of what happened in the Cold War). I have never found a writer, in fiction or non-fiction, more dedicated to referencing magical stuff that most magicians alive today just don't care about anymore.

J.K. Rowling's knowledge of child abuse laws and general social mores regarding treatment of children also ceased to update itself by about the 80s. I keep getting distracted by this and having to make more side-notes about corporal punishment and researching stuff like when caning was banned in England. (HInt: it was banned before Harry went to school, so in Book 1 it's fuckin weird that he assumes that Wood is the name of a cane he's about to be whipped with.) Like, this woman raised children in the modern era, she should know when canes stopped being used.

So like, when I mention that I'm doing some research in this area, this is the sort of stuff I'm reading for and the sort of stuff I'm encountering. I haven't been talking much about this journey because it seems like any time anyone brings up anything Harry Potter up whatsoever, we've got to talk about how J.K. is a terf in every other sentence. But like, y'all: I hope you slow down and re-read the books, because J.K. Rowling is a terf who is also a child abuse apologist and normalizer. She is a terf who is also a horrible fat-shamer. She is a terf who is also an ableist with a huge problem writing about mental illness. And she's a terf who's also a sexist who undermines feminism with her actual writing of female characters.

And I honestly think she double and triples down on the terf stuff so that people will only talk about that. I think it's worth talking about the fact that not only is she an awful person in the terf way, but like, every other way imaginable too. I think it's worth talking about the fact that with all the obvious biases she has, the group she CHOOSES to publicly marginaiize is trans women, and I think she makes that choice because she thinks that she'll get more allies that way. That if she wore all of her issues on her sleeve like she wears the terfness, that she'd lose a lot of allies, that a lot of prestigious charities would stop having anything to do with her. That she uses the identity of "terf" as a shield because she knows that certain people will protect a terf, and she does this specifically so people won't notice how much of a sexist, abuse apologist, ableist, fatphobe etc she ALSO is. Opinions that could lose her a lot of money and clout if people remember them enough.

She's trying to pick on who she thinks is the most unpopular kid in the class out of the hopes that the bullies in class will be her friends instead of pile up on her, but if the bullies knew what she really thought of them, THEY wouldn't even be her friends.

Also like... I just want someone else to read the actual words in these books and see what fucked-up choices she made as a writer. I think a LOT of people remembering these books are actually remembering the movies, which are way more different from the books than you might expect.

[gembroni]

do you regret making nyanders since you get asked to draw him so much?

[renesassing]

Hi! Do you have any destiny!Revan thoughts you'd like to share?

(I do not know anything about Destiny) (I've looked at the wiki trying to figure out what a risen is, and it sounds like magic or something exists? Would that be the same thing as the Force AU-wise?)

my destiny revan au is something i cooked up with a friend and is maybe kind of wild even by destiny terms. my gdoc timeline for it is far from done and it's already at 3k words. i have at least two playlists for this au alone. it's bonkers. so i don't think it's a great litmus test for destiny lore to people who are just getting familiar with it.

so in destiny there are two para-causal fundamental forces that sort've fill the niche of magic/The Force and that's Light and Darkness. it's not like the force where it's like. two halves of the same coin or even branches of the same tree. they're separate and distinct forces that have a complex interaction with each other. in destiny, risen/lightbearers/guardians (people brought back to life as immortal* warriors with Light powers aka the player characters) mostly wield Light and sometimes Darkness (the latter being a very recent addition lore-wise) and while Light and Darkness themselves are very Force-like fundamental forces that shape the universe itself, the way that guardians interact with them is much more mage-like in a lot of respects with like. oh this guardian is a lightning type and this one is a fire type and such.

Now you don't have to be a Lightbearer to use the Light, nor Darkness (though iirc using darkness is easier for non-risen), but risen are the ones with all the cool attacks.

revan is none of those things. tbf their au was mostly based around the idea of them being very close the Warmind Rasputin and the two are totes besties forever who would kill god and break the universe for each other. rather than it being about 'fitting revan's storyline into destiny as best as possible' because that is. REALLY hard to do with revan in destiny it's mostly about revan and ras being platonic soulmates, aka what if revan had a best friend and the two didn't cannibalize each other. what if revan went to war and no one held them back. what if the one thing revan felt betrayed them (the traveler) ended up kind of making it up to them.

so revan is uh. well. -looks at my notes- the hidden first speaker who survived after the collapse, had a brief internship as a disciple of the witness before they fucked it up and got stuck in the black garden for like. at least half a millennia and unmade into a god before finally breaking out in like. season of the undying (garden of salvation raid.) and yeah like none of those words make sense if you dont know destiny but that's the only way i can summarize it without writing another massive text block. anyway here's the title of my gdoc for this shit i've cooked up:

by the way i have played 0 hours of this game

[willowaus]

I think your specialty is finding that middle ground between Klaus and Caroline. What I love best is the lack of 'change' to get them together. There is growing, they learn to make adjustments, they take the other into consideration but mostly they learn to accept. I think that's my favorite part. The lack of drama about turning Klaus into a good man for Caroline. He's a thousand year old, manipulative, murdering asshat. Who adores her. And you find ways for her to accept that. Thanks.

Oh wow, thank you. 

But yes, Klaus could never be a good man. He can do good things but after a thousand years he’s not going to just wake up and be able to become a genuinely good person. He doesn’t know how to be and it would take a hell of a lot longer than a thousand years for him to ever be. But there’s really no motivation for him to ever do so. He can learn to do better but even then its for very specific people and under certain circumstances. Which is why it usually takes Caroline like half of one one my stories to really start to see that and even begin to accept that. She’s only had 18 years to mold who she is. She’s still beginning her entire life really and the enormity of what Klaus has lived is a hard one to even imagine. 

But that doesn’t mean he gets a free pass. If anything it makes her hold out longer and harder and the two of them have to work at it in order to work. Compromise is something that has to happen on both sides. Which is really hard for a thousand year old hybrid and a stubborn 1 foreverteen but its what needs to happen for them to work. 

And Klaus would want it to work. It took him a thousand years to even be able to move beyond fixation or obsession and step his toes into that whole love business without simply killing the object of his desire. He’s pretty much not going to let anything come in the way of that. Not even himself. 

[lover-of-mine]

Hi Anna 🥰

First, can you believe we got a HUG???? After what? 66 episodes?

Second, I REALLY want to know your thoughts on the expression Eddie made when he realized Tommy was gay. It's the same expression he wore when Shannon asked for a divorce, I think. The "I've been reading this entire thing wrong" face. But why do you think he was so stunned by the fact *Tommy* wasn't straight? I think he was realizing that the way he and Tommy interact differs So Much from the way he and Buck do, but I don't know (running on no sleep again this week, forgive me if none of this makes any sense 😅)

I feel like he wasn't as surprised to learn about Buck because he's doing that "first to understand thing" or at the very least had a hunch about it.

hi baby 🩷🩷 we got a hug, was is over 🙏 and we know Eddie is gonna be all over Buck next episode too, so like wins all around.

So, that expression, that did look like his "you're altering my world view" expression and we have a few options there. There's the funny one, the "was Tommy trying to woo me?" possibility, Tommy did fly him to Vegas for ringside seats, yk? And just having a minute about it lol. But the thing is the episode proved Eddie is deeper in denial than anticipated (rip Eddie fell first essay you will always be true in my heart), but like I said with the whole Eddie is last to see, first to understand, where Buck needs more time, Eddie needs a heavier hit, I don't think just the idea of Buck dating someone would trigger something, he needs to see something or Buck needs to do something, I don't know what rn, I just reblogged a post about the possibility of Buck saying he's in love with him before Eddie is ready to deal with it, and I can totally see that, you can have things ending abruptly with Tommy, Eddie wondering why, Buck being unable to lie to him about it and Eddie being slammed into the realization by something going ridiculously wrong (I will never stop pushing for my Buck drowning in the season finale, so you could do a situation where Buck confesses in some level like saying "Tommy thinks I'm in love with you", something goes wrong, Buck almost dies on him again and he's like oh fuck, and then you have that conflict transfer to season 8 while we wait for them get their shit together) because we all know that "it doesn't change a thing between us" is gonna come back around, same with the Maddie talk, but I also think they need to give the audience some indication that Eddie likes men and/or Buck before Buck can say that. But I just went on a tangent. Tommy. I think Tommy being as similar to Eddie as he was set up to be isn't just about Buck working out the kinks before Eddie, also I can't believe Lou actually said that completely unprompted, but I don't think it ever occurred to Eddie that someone like him could be into men too. Because Eddie spent his whole life doing the right thing in a very twisted way. He got his girlfriend pregnant, so he married her, he joined the army to provide for her and Chris, the show keeps implying he's looking for a mother to Chris, not an actual partner, with these "proper latina women". He loved Shannon, and he thinks he can recreate that. BUT he has a partner, who's not only helping him with life, he's also helping him with Chris, so he checks both boxes. But he's also a man. So he never had a reason to look at it. Until that partner started dating another man, who's extremely similar to him. The pieces for him to be like "oh, that's an option?" are literally all there. He literally said "you and Tommy have it right". Like literally. The seed is planted. The thought is there. At any moment, this man can look at Tommy being that sure of his sexuality and his masculinity and liking a lot of the things he does and also liking Buck, and being like "maybe men are an option" that would lead to an "is Buck an option?" that could give us some nice movement.

I think the question here is who the show wants to reach the "oh am I in love with him" conclusion first. They both have most of the pieces of the puzzle, Buck has more because he has the attraction to men piece, but I maintain that Eddie would be less freaked out about the liking men aspect of loving Buck then Buck would the other way around. It's kinda like we kept writing feeling realization fics where Eddie was totally fine with the idea of wanting to fuck Buck through the mattress but panicked at the idea that he wanted to hold his hand but Buck was the other way around. There's also the problem of what label they are going to give Eddie. Even if most likely it will be just indirectly. I feel like the episode actually even kinda gave us enough to argue that man as demiromantic, but I digress, they doubled down on him loving Shannon, so you kinda can't go the strictly gay route, and he's not stereotypically bi, but obviously who needs stereotypes and it would kinda be nice to see some bi4bi thing that's not stereotypical, and they can go the who cares, he loved Shannon, now he loves Buck route which I think would be the most plausible? Considering they are probably not gonna go there with the demisexuality of it all. And also depends on how attached they want Buck to be to his queer awakening. I think the realization that he's into men and in love with Buck are tied together, but that's a personal opinion, I think his brain would accept the attraction to men and instantly attach that to Buck. But they could very much give Eddie a man to explore things with too. Circling back to the look, I kinda think that was a "I didn't know a guy like Tommy could like men" that's just slightly to the left of the realization of "I didn't know a guy like me could like men" and that could come back to help him get there.

[wingedknightrose]

On Gabriel's character in LoS2

Guiltless thinks I should rant. So here is a bit of a ramble. I'm sorry if it doesn't make any sense.

It should go without saying, but SWEET SERAPH SHOULDERS, BATMAN, THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE.

So, I actually really like where they went with Gabriel in this.

I admit that before the game went out I was a liiiittle concerned with how I'd react to playing as Gabriel, since he's, you know, mr hot shot evil himself, but I was pleased with how they went about it.

...This isn't off to a very coherent start, is it? Maybe I should just tell you what I see in Gabriel based off of his interactions with others.

Let's start with Trevor. Trevor is, as the travel book tells us, all of the feelings Gabriel has for his son given form. Trevor is his light, his guide, and perhaps the last wholly human emotion he's got. Notice how no matter where he is or what he's supposed to be doing, Gabriel drops everything for Trevor. Trevor's telling me to go someplace? Better follow him. Trevor's running to me scared? Tell me who's trying to hurt you and I will make them regret it. Trevor wants me to find all the pieces of this mirror, despite the fact that as of right now I cannot see it helping me in any way? Of course I'll get you your stuff, son, now sit here and stay safe. Somebody is actively trying to bring harm to Trevor? PAPA DRAGON MODE ACTIVATE.

I guess what I'm getting at is that from the first interaction with Trevor, we're shown that Gabriel isn't a complete monster. A part of the man he was is still in there, and that's the part that is driving him to seek death. He doesn't want to be a monster anymore.

Now, Marie. Marie is of course the love of his life. Maybe he was a bit upset with her for hiding Trevor, at first, but Gabriel still loves her enough to forgive her, and it's clear to me that he holds nothing against her. If anything, he adores her even more for the fact that she still loves him, despite what he's become. And, seeing as this Marie is technically a figment of Gabriel's mind, she becomes the mouthpiece for thoughts that Gabriel probably struggled with quite regularly. How often do you think he looked around the castle and thought that he didn't belong there?

Of course, in the end, Marie serves the same purpose as Trevor--to remind Gabriel of the man he once was, and allow him to leave the monster behind him.

Now let's talk about the Toy Maker. I had gone out of my way to avoid the video they released of that boss fight, so I had no idea what I was in for when I got there. The setup for the fight was interesting, what with the Toy Maker's story and all. I had honestly expected Gabriel to murder him at the end, but he didn't. Suddenly this vampire, who was willing to slaughter so many people, spares this old man that had been trying to kill him not moments before. And his parting quip about the heart...I dunno, that felt like it meant a lot more than what was said. Of course there was the whole story behind the Toy Maker, but with that line coming from Gabriel, I almost felt like he was talking to himself, too, and I couldn't help but feel like Gabriel's family is his heart--especially his son.

Now onto Victor! Victor was interesting, because not terribly long ago for Drac he hated the Brotherhood and everything they stood for. Now here's the leader of the Brotherhood trying to kill him, and he spares the man. He doesn't even know Victor's a Belmont when they clash, he just knows the man's a holy warrior. But he has his blade to Victor's throat and then he just stops. And then he sees a family walk by, and then all of the people hiding here, and he instantly pulls away, and lets Victor stand and speak. And then he tosses him the antidote, nevermind that he gained nothing from it!

That was the big turning point for Gabriel's character, for me, was his interaction with Victor. Here's this vampire that claims he hates God and humanity and pretty much everything that isn't named Marie or Alucard, and yet not only does he refrain from harming these helpless people, he actively helps them for no expected reward. Not what you typically expect from an evil dude.

Of course it's fitting that Gabriel confront Inner Dracula after his whole deal with Victor is done (still not over that). Inner Dracula is essentially everything that makes Gabriel a monster. The hate, the rage, the desire for vengeance, the pain, even--it's all there. And who does it target? Trevor. Because Trevor is the last light Gabriel has left. Marie is dead--she cannot help him outside of the power she has in his memories. But Trevor is still technically around--as Alucard.

More on that later.

So yeah, obviously the darkness goes to harm Trevor, and, hold on, this feels familiar--oh wait, right, Mirror of Fate is a thing. What really brought the clash between father and son in that game? Gabriel's monstrous side, that's what. And it killed Trevor, just like it's trying to do now.

I cannot tell you how satisfying it was to beat that thing like a drum.

So, after Inner Dracula is defeated, I kept getting the sense that Gabriel wasn't...well, he wasn't really Dracul anymore. He wasn't the total monster. Of course, you don't really get to see that when he faces against the acolyte, but the fucker deserved it for what he did to Victor (told you I wasn't over it)

And then we get to the reveal. But just before that, there's a little exchange between Gabriel and Trevor that had me in tears:

"Promise me you'll choose your family."

"I already have."

Those two lines. Those. Two. Fucking. Lines.

At first it just seems like Gabriel is talking about here and now, that he's now choosing his family. But then the reveal of what actually happened at the end of that siege hits, and you realize, Gabriel chose his family a long time ago, back when he was still more monster than man. Alucard came to him, told him he had a way to give Gabriel what he wanted, and proved that he didn't actually hate his father, and Gabriel chose to work with him. Nevermind that the last time he gave up everything he had it ended horribly for him, and was what got him into this situation, even, he's still gonna do it. Oh, I'm sure the opportunity to have his revenge against Zobek and Satan played a part in the decision, but I think the fact that it was Alucard asking this of him was also a deciding factor.

Why would that be? Because Gabriel loves his son, and for a while he probably believed that his son hated him. And Alucard did, for a time, but now here he is, no hate or resentment in his voice, just a request that would help save the world and perhaps save his father all at once. I'm sure Gabriel was touched by the fact that Alucard didn't seem to hate him anymore, and I'm sure that got through to him. Hell, the last thing he says is "When will I see you again?"

And then Alucard is there and Gabriel remembers everything, and the two of them working together is so amazing I literally had to put my controller down and jump around squeeing like an idiot.

And when Satan has to fight against Gabriel, how does he do it? By possessing Alucard. Alucard is the most important thing to Gabriel, so what better way to defeat him than to use his son against him? Of course, all that does is crank up Papa Dragon rage mode past the maximum levels.

And then Gabriel has the Combat Cross to Alucard's chest, and it seems like the only way to win is to kill his own son, but then Gabriel does what he promised little Trevor--he chooses his family. He bluffs Satan out, stabs the fucker, and then tends to his son. And instead of offing himself, he chooses to live--probably for Alucard.

And Alucard seems to accept this.

That's why I'm not terribly fussed about the ending. I mean, Gabriel gets what he wanted, in the end. He gets to have some measure of peace, he gets the chance to be free of the monster that he was, and most importantly, he gets to live with his son.

And I don't think it would have been right for Gabriel to die, right there at the end, because I don't think he's hit redemption just yet. Oh, he's well on his way, don't get me wrong, but I think he needs to live a bit with Alucard before he's really ready to let it all go.

And maybe one day the two of them will decide that they don't want to live as vampires anymore. The Combat Cross didn't shatter or magically vanish after it got forced through Satan's ribcage. They probably still have it. And when Gabriel and Alucard are ready, if they ever do decide that they're ready, they can use it. And then maybe they'll be able to join Marie and Sypha and Simon and Victor, and they'll all be a family.

That would be their choice.

So yeah. Other people might think that LoS2 was a weak story, or that the ending was crap, but I adore it. And I love how Gabriel interacts with the various people he meets--there's more to him in this than just "warrior trying to save his wife" or "former knight turned vampire that hates the world and everything in it" and that's really what I wanted from the game, as far as the character goes.

Rei out.

[yoccu]

It’s really wild having a therapist who can actually see the progression of my dissociation. Esp since I can’t super remember what I was like when I first started therapy, but from what everyone else says I was WAY worse off, dissociating MUCH more frequently, when these days I don’t really much at all.

I’ve had rough EMDR sessions but I never totally “leave” as she likes to put it. But with the spider today, that was something I really wasn’t anticipating (OBVIOUSLY?) and I responded to it really weirdly bc of the environmental situation.

First, I was literally trying to do emotional processing so I was like, on the edge of my limits for things like FEAR already, so the one incident nearly just made me full on burst into tears (it didn��t, I kept myself together, which is kind of for worse lmao we are always working on why I never cry during therapy even when I’m clearly exerting a lot of effort NOT to) so I had a more violent reaction to it than I might otherwise, but also it was about the way I’d react to, say, a grasshopper or a moth being near me suddenly, so it wasn’t atypical, either.

But the worst part lmfao was that she’s my fuckin therapist so she actually wanted to explore the reaction with me. Usually, people give me a weird/judgemental/kinda worried but not sure why look and move on, and I shove the phobia response down and everybody continues on with life and I don’t have to feel the bulk of my fear and shame bc haha! I don’t have to feel it!

But bc we stayed w it and bc it was something I’d consider excessive to display in company, my brain was like “okay, fuck this, either you’re going to be suddenly fine OR you’re going to blink and be back at home, I don’t have any other options for you,” but luckily I was able to communicate this, and I definitely sort of waffled between the two options in a state of noncommittal to either.

It was definitely the most I’ve dissociated in therapy in a long time, and I do kind of feel like I blinked and now I’m back home, but she worked with me to keep me aware enough that I can recall what happened in the session (spoilers I mostly just felt awful) but she actually talked me through it, acknowledging that I was very clearly TRYING to dissociate while also very clearly TRYING not to.

And I guess it’s just validating as shit to have someone say that. Like it’s not some fantasy experience I invented bc I wanted to be more disordered, like, it’s visible to someone who is trained to understand what she’s seeing when it’s happening. And even if I hated it, she encouraged me to stay as present as I could and I did, and it’s good to know I can even when it’s really really difficult.

Now that I’m home safely I’m trying to revisit that feeling instead of packing it away. Because I also am aware that she finally SAW how bad the phobia is instead of hearing me talk about it rather confidently. She was really clearly worried about me and concerned by my reaction, which I super hate but also reassured me bc it shows me that I haven’t been exaggerating my frustration with how much people don’t seem to understand how bad it is. Because I’m really good at freezing and internalizing my responses, I can never articulate to anyone how bad my phobia responses are in a way they understand. It basically only ever gets through to anyone if they see me going through it, at which point I ALWAYS see this expression on people that’s like “idk wtf this girl is going through but it’s CLEARLY not good” and as it gets into summer here I’ve been TRYING to articulate this to my therapist but, understandably, she never really got it until she saw it in action. Because it really is excessive but it’s also completely fucking mysterious bc I can’t even tell people WHY I’m scared, and when people try to tell me why I’m scared I get FURIOUS because I...literally know what they’re thinking bc I’m thinking it too

Ugh whatever all that to say: it kinda sucks that she’s gonna probably remember this incident for the remainder of my treatment bc it was INCREDIBLY embarrassing and I’m not sure I’ve ever felt that measure of shame in front of anyone before, but also I clearly am relieved that I don’t have to try and get her to understand how bad the phobia is anymore. Also it’s relieving that she could see the struggle I had wrt dissociation as a result because that’s not something I’ve ever experienced someone showing me compassion for, before. It’s so nice to have someone validate that me “getting over” an emotion is VERY VISIBLY CLEARLY not the healthy decision for me, when my whole life I’ve come to understand that it’s what most people in my life “want” for me. That is, people who love me want me to not be in pain, so I’ve repeatedly ignored my pain in order to make sense to other people and not experience them suffering as they fail to understand how to help me. But it’s hurt me a lot to do that. And finally someone didn’t actually want me to. And could see how conflicting it is for me to experience going through that time and time again.

And now I just want to curl up in the dark and take a nap. But I’m gonna keep doing chores bc that’s probably better ✌️

[baronessblixen]

If you wanna have a dose of self love listen to Billie Eilish’s new song “my future” idk if you think she’s some depressed robot(she’s not) but it’s a really good song and it’s uplifting, all about not needing a significant other to be happy. If you don’t like her style or this song it’s still a really good message. People think I’m weird for liking her music because I’m way older than her but I can listen to whatever the crap I want

I actually know nothing about her so I don't have an opinion about her. It's really not my kind of music and her voice drives me insane. Why can't you like her music because you're older? Music is so universal!

I read the lyrics (I really can't listen to her music, I'm so sorry) and they're great. Thank you for sending this to me! Self love is super important. I definitely believe we don't need a significant other to be happy. I know people who would definitely be happier if they were single, but society is still putting so much pressure on us to find our one true love, get married and blah. Meaningful relationships are important, yes. But who says it needs to be a romantic partner? And it's so important to love oneself too. No matter what, you will always be around yourself. So spend some time with that person and make sure they're okay.

[ayliemonroe]

𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 // @marcodiangelo​

valentine’s day - february in general - was a month aylie would prefer to skip altogether. everything seemed to be catching up to her. the anniversary of her mom’s death, her relationship with marco, not having ryder or cole or her dad close enough to run to. she wasn’t alone and she knew that, but she was feeling more alone than she ever had. which was probably why she had found herself a few drinks in at avalanche. it wasn’t uncommon for aylie to be seen around there and even less uncommon for people to ask her to sing. so when they called her name, she took one last drink and went up to the stage area. 

it wasn’t until she was halfway through the song that she spotted marco in the room. “and i tend to close my eyes when it hurts sometimes, i fall into your arms, i’ll be safe and sound til i come back around” aylie sang with every emotion she had built up in her, eyes only on marco now. it was magnetic - she didn’t want it to be, but she couldn’t help it. he was always there. “i let my guard down and then you pulled the rug, i was getting kind of used to being someone you loved.” the music faded out and she heard the applause, but aylie, smiling shyly, tucked her hair nervously behind her ear and rushed off the stage, hoping to just grab her things and leave before bumping into the one person she simultaneously needed but didn’t want.

[aprilmillerphd-archive]

When April was fourteen she found her father's dead body in his study. In some universes she collapses in on herself. Leaves home. Goes to Brown. Forgets about her family and never speaks with them. Not for ten or more years.

Staring across the stage at the lowered curtain, these are the thoughts that distract her as the orchestra opens. Side stage she spies Ingrid giving her an enthusiastic double thumbs up. Ingrid is her competition and one of her best friends. Ingrid is also not human. April only knows this because two years ago when April and Ingrid met, it was days after Ingrid had joined the company. They'd been in Paris and someone had tried mugging them. Ingrid, who at the moment is dark skinned, with wide almond shaped, amber brown eyes. A high forehead and natural, kinky curls that halo her face. Had turned a vivid blue and sort of... grown about three feet. The mugger had been frozen solid. April-- April had been duly impressed. They'd been attached at the hip since. It was funny because Ingrid was her biggest competition for the principal position. A position April had held for almost a decade.

The orchestra reached the first crescendo and the stage lit up. Curtains rising and she spun out across the stage, limbs graceful. To be fair though; April knew the shelf life of ballerinas was limited, and she was cutting it close in her late twenties as it was. She was transitioning into film and television and when she left ballet entirely Ingrid would step into the pincipal position and show everyone just how amazing she was.

The ballet came to a close some hours later and April hid in one of the dressing rooms with Ingrid giggling, rumor had it there was a new stage hand hired onto the company and several of the dancers could not stop talking about him. Ingrid shared April's opinion, "Another man who'll try and sleep with half the company and be summarily fired for it."

April laughed, "You mean he'll try an' sleep with you an' I'll get to laugh as you shoot'im down."

Ingrid shrugged, and smiled slyly, standing, "Maybe. Try not to stay too late." Before she ducked out of the dressing room leaving April alone.

Later that evening at the after party-- April stood leaning against the couch laughing at something someone (she had no idea who, half the people who came to these parties were some semblance of rich/famous/or otherwise ridiculously well-connected) had said to her before her smile became strained and she made a hasty retreat to the penthose's balcony.

[dramatisperscnae]

ok, so i know that you said judas would consider his beliefs to be judeo-christian, but are there any specific faith practices he’s kept over time? where does he turn to in times of doubt?

To be perfectly honest I haven't done a deep dive into the historic practices and the way they have shifted where Judaism is concerned. I know a shade more about Christianity due to living with a theologian and working at a renaissance festival, but it's hardly my area of expertise ^^;

That said:

Judas, quite honestly, still considers himself to be Jewish more than anything else. Being a Christian Jew is not something he can call himself due to what that has come to mean in modern times, but it's honestly the actual technical term for what he is: a Jew who follows Christ. Thus he mostly keeps to the Jewish holidays, while also observing a few Christian ones that have evolved over the years. The only reason he defines his religion at all is because the man teaches comparative religion and the question continually comes up so he has to have some kind of answer for it ^^;

He celebrates Passover over Easter - for him Easter is a time of quiet, often somber reflection and meditation [though he does like the chocolate bunnies XD] - and Hanukkah over Christmas - Yeshua wasn't born in the winter [my theologian housemate guesses it would have been closer to March by the Gregorian calendar] so why would Judas celebrate the Nativity then when that's not when it happened? - but he also pays respect to Lent and Advent, and more than a few saints' days, as well as the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas that begin on the 25th and end on Jan. 6 with the Epiphany/Theophany - which, Judas holds with the Eastern Christian tradition of that date commemorating only Yeshua's baptism in the Jordan River.

Honestly, Judas's private religious traditions really are a fascinating amalgam of various things from various sects that have evolved through the years, and I could probably sit down with my housemate and write a full essay on which ones he follows and which he doesn't - and at some point I might >w>

As to where he turns in times of doubt, that would be inwards and to Yeshua's teachings as he remembers them. He has, and does, visit synagogues and churches - fairly equally, honestly - but when he's troubled he prefers to sit by himself quietly and…well, call it contemplation, call it meditation, call it prayer, whatever you like; it's a little of all of them. But mostly what it is is Judas allowing himself to process whatever is troubling him and enact a plan to move forward either around or through it. He's too used to having to do the work himself - and is there not a saying that God helps those who help themselves? His prayers since Yeshua's death have gone unanswered, but he holds fast to the notion that if he stays true to what Yeshua taught him then things will ultimately turn out okay.

It might take a while, but it'll be okay.

[nataliescatorrccio]

🔥 + the taylor swift fandom

Let's divide each group into social media websites, because the fandom acts differently depending on the time of ecosystem we're in

Tumblr Swifties: mostly chill after Taylor left Tumblr, there are some annoying people who are really far up her ass, but it's a loud minority. Tumblr TS fandom is like a retirement home, we do bingo, PowerPoint and selfie nights and we yell about pretty things like graphics and gif. So it's fun for the most part when you block the weirdos.

Twitter Swifties: it's like swimming in a river full of crocodiles. 0/10 do not recommend.

Tik Tok Swifties: same as Twitter Swifties, but they're also pretty aggressive when it comes to her as well, they engage in conspiracy theories like Dear John is about Martin Johnson, because why not? And they dissect every detail of her life based on songs like she's a fictional character. Also during May-June, a bunch of them were waiting outside the studio and chasing after her car and even waiting outside her garage, soo yeah very creepy.

To sum up, it very much depends on your ecosystem, but also seeing Swiftie hate from equally insane fandoms like the Directioners (sorry bestie), Arianators, Beyhive, etc is jarring...

[sproutwings]

Coldwave and Goldenvibe

Coldwave:

A+: OTP | A: I love it | B: It’s really cute | C: Not a bad ship | D: I’m neutral on it | E: I don’t really like it | F: NOTP | N/A: I don’t know the ship well enough

All the Coldwave GIF sets I reblog are tagged “I wish I could ship it but I don’t”. Because, really, I can see it, technically, I understand where the shipping is coming from. But when I watch them interact, my feelings for them automatically snap to ‘platonic life partners’. Like, obviously there’s some deep connection but I see them more as friends. Quite probably the only friend either of them would say they have. (Also, weirdly, even though I’m a multishipper at heart, I somehow can’t see Leonard with anyone who’s not Barry, unless it’s in an OT3 context…) 

Goldenvibe:

A+: OTP | A: I love it | B: It’s really cute | C: Not a bad ship | D: I’m neutral on it | E: I don’t really like it | F: NOTP | N/A: I don’t know the ship well enough

They’re so cute - I wish they had more scenes together in canon. (I wish Lisa got more screentime, full stop.) That little throw-away line in Infantino Street when Leonard promised Cisco to put in a good word with Lisa if he got him out of there made me squee so hard. (So, really, probably more like, A-/B+.)

[allyitis]

[cw: rape, acephobia, misogyny]

the whole “ace rape is rare” thing bugs me because people will basically say it’s a myth that aces made up to seem oppressed and that in reality it only happens in isolated incidents...

i was trying to figure out why that sounded so familiar, especially paired with “no, you’re lying about this thing because i’ve decided it’s bullshit”...

and it’s because that’s how people talk about rape in general, particularly against women. i mean, how many times have we seen rape culture described as a myth? how many times have we seen someone stand up and say, “this is a thing that happened to me,” and it’s immediately met with insistence that they’re lying and that false rape claims will ruin a person’s life? 

like as a woman, if i say anything about how i’m at risk of being raped because of my gender, i’m told that women aren’t oppressed anymore and rape culture is just some bullshit that evil feminists made up so that they can rise up and destroy men. like it’s just so eerily familiar. and before y’all start with the whole “different words change the meaning of sentences!!!” i’m just stating that as a woman (and... i guess, survivor??) the familiarity makes me very uncomfortable. 

(also, like, in general, casting doubt on a person’s description of their experience of rape is a gross thing to do. you do not know a person’s rape better than they do.)

i also just generally hate the idea that if you haven’t been the victim of a violent crime you aren’t oppressed because uh. a lot of us haven’t been the victim of a violent crime. that doesn’t erase the potential for that crime to take place, nor does it erase the multitude of systemic factors that lead to oppression outside of violent crimes.

anyway basically plz stop parroting the words of MRAs and acting like it’s fine because you changed the target. there is never a situation wherein it’s okay to say a survivor is lying about their rape.

[ndelphinusarchive]

And this is why I can't read anything related to Israel

I end up mad at everyone.  There is no right in this situation, damned near everyone has fucked up in massive ways at some point, but no one wants to admit it.  Israel has committed serious human rights violations that are not only unworthy of a democratic country, but also in violation of everything the Torah stands for.  Palestine, particularly those in Gaza, has responded by terrorist attacks that kill innocent civilians (one of the very things they're angry at Israel for doing) and destroy whatever credibility they may have in the international arena.  I tend to consider Israel more in the wrong because a government should never use military force on civilians, but I can't ignore the very real problem of terrorism either.  Terrorism solves nothing, it has never once been effective.  It only serves to make people afraid and I can't condone that.

I also don't think either side is putting forth a workable solution.  The situation cannot stay as it is, that much is clear.  Palestine needs to have autonomy, needs to be given legitimacy as a State and all the freedoms that come with it.  The IDF needs to get out and focus on defending Israel rather than this continuous oppression of the Palestinians.  Israeli settlements need to stop being built on Palestinian land, there's plenty of free land in the Negev that people can move to.  That said, the Palestinian mantra of returning to their original homes is also completely unworkable.  It hasn't been two or three years, it has been over 60.  Allowing Palestinians to return to their homes would mean forcing other people out.  I don't believe that doing the same thing to current Israelis as was done to Palestinians is any more fair that what happened in the first place.  We are talking about real people with lives and jobs and history, where the fuck are they meant to go?

Very few people seem to realise these very basic problems.  Which means I can't read anything at all unless it's a news source (and even all of those are biased in one direction or another).  I know that and plan my blog following accordingly.  Unfortunately, I didn't realise that I can't even read bloody gay blogs without finding this crap.  Did you know that I'm a bad homo for liking Tel Aviv?  It apparently makes me a horrible, horrible queer and liberal.  I have to hate everything about Israel with all of my being in order to be a real gay man.

Nevermind that Israel is the most gay friendly country in the Middle East.  I don't give a damn if acknowledging that is encouraging tourism and sending funds to them, it's true.  Homosexuality is banned in most Middle Eastern countries and in some punishable by death.  With all respect to Israel, it doesn't take that much to be gay friendly compared to frickin' Iran.  Yet they manage to be gay friendly even by US standards.  If I get married my marriage there is just as valid as any other non-religious one (which is to say that it can't be done in the country, but if I go somewhere else they'll recognise it like they do with my straight, Reform friends).  I'm allowed to serve in the IDF if I really want.  My medical care is just as covered as anyone else's (though finding an Israeli surgeon who performs trans operations is damned near impossible).  It's not a perfect country by any means and outside Tel Aviv it can be positively homophobic, but legally speaking I'm better off there than I am in San Francisco.

This doesn't even get into how other-ing it feels to be told that I can't be a good queer if I like Israel.  Part of Jewish identity involves a relationship with Israel.  That relationship isn't always good, but it exists.  In my case it's similar to what I might have with a racist sibling: we disagree, but I still have a certain amount of love and affection for them.  That relationship can't be ignored, even if it's not particularly important to the individual.  There are three main things people ask me after finding out I'm Jewish: do I keep kosher, how does that affect my being gay, and how do I feel about Israel.  I've tried not caring, tried ignoring that it's even really relevant to my life, but the reality is that I am going to be asked and it does affect me and I do need to have that relationship.

I am sick to death of the LGBT community talking about religious tolerance and how we should be accepting of those of us who are Christian, but leaving out everyone else.  Why should I be expected to praise the Metropolitan Community Church for being gay inclusive when no one is asking the Christians in attendance to do the same for the Union for Reform Judaism?  Why am I expected to plan events on Sunday evenings to accommodate church attendance while no one cares if I miss something on Friday evening when I'm at synagogue?  Why the hell must my secular gay chorus always sing Christmas songs for our winter show?

And why the fuck do I have to put up with people telling me that I shouldn't make a trip to Israel, a country that holds deep historical meaning even beyond the religious aspects, if I want to be a good queer.

[hockeyrpffanman]

Soooooooooo....

Here’s the thing...

I can’t stop thinking about @nomorelonelydays BearKing!Evgeni/Consort!Sidney AU and I’m just completely enamoured by it. Like Heart Eyes forever.

So imagine that Consort!Sidney is a very powerful magician. Like we’re talking time distortion, elemental control, psychic powers, healing the works. Although these powers develop over a very long period he still has a significant amount of potential energy floating around him at all times. Sid has trouble controlling his powers because there is so much of it, so instead of letting it overwhelm him or cause sudden outbursts at random times, he lets it out in a slow and even pace that manifests in nature taking the energy and using it to its will. Sid doesn’t exactly have control over how nature uses the energy, but it’s not hurting the plants or energy fields he releases it to, so it works out in both their favors.

This power becomes evident to the people of his home and they start requesting Sid’s services to the farmers and croppers to strengthen the harvest. At first Sid finds this agreeeable, especially during his teen years when he has so little control of it at first and he can just release the energy he didn’t need. But after a few years and into his later teen years he starts to notice a pattern in his powers.

It wasn’t anything huge at first, a few extra requests on his list than normal. Then came some that were well out of the realm of the kingdom’s territory. Obviously Sid wasn’t committed to these obigations so he politely declined their requests and sent them some samples of his magical work in the event they were interested in his true magical worth.

As these requests grew and were more demanding it was noticed by royalty that the situation outside the kingdom was becoming hostile toward them. To save the kingdom from the grievances of the hostile kingdoms Sid was sent away to control his powers or find somewhere else to live.

Sid takes his leave gracefully as he could, he basically said goodbye to his family and promised he’d be okay, and set off for another kingdom, or someplace safe, to practice his magic. In his practice and travels he comes across then Prince Evgeni on his way back from a successful mission doing lord knows what they did in those ages.

The weather had been terrible for days, mostly due to Sid’s poor mood from being kicked out of his home and forced to find some place to live. The rain had been almost constant and Sid felt bad for a while that it was so heavy. Then he worried if he didn’t do something the area would flood soon.

Enter Geno who sees Sidney walking along the path and is immediately scenting the magic that swirls around him. Sid of course immediately picks up on Geno’s animal transformation magic and sees him as a potential ally in his struggles. It was almost as if the gods had fated their union on that’s road. As Sid walked up to Geno, who was in full guard protection, the rain slowed to a stop and the ground around them glowed with sunlight. The clouds seemed to dissipate away the longer they stood there together just looking at each other. The flowers started springing up around them along the roadside and they both knew this was a good sign.

So Sid goes home with Geno, bringing a hope and ray of light to a kingdom that has been cold and dark for a long time. Sid is warmly received by the Malkins and is offered to stay in their kingdom as long as his heart desires. Sid thanks them for the hospitality and takes up residence there at the castle at their insistence.

Outside their initial meeting Sid and Geno didn’t spend a lot of time together. Geno was busy running a kingdom’s army while Sid was training with the kingdom’s head Sorcerer learning all he could in all things magic. They often saw each other at dinner every evening, but their time was very confined to other commitments for them to ever spend more than a few passing comments to each other.

Queue a few years down the road, Sid is an accomplished Sorcerer and the Kingdom’s sole magic advisor to the royal family having succeeded his master after his passing. Geno, although still prince, has shown his true worth of managing his portion of the army that he’s been placed in charge of the entire army with the option in choosing his cabinet of officers.

Naturally, Sidney is the chosen Sorcery advisor and he becomes a regular part of Evgeni’s daily meetings. They start to grow closer as time goes on. They find a lot of common interests between them when it comes to their magic and share stories of their upbringings. It is during these raw and open times that they come to appreciate the other being present. There is an unspoken spark developing between them that goes ignored for a long time. Many excuses they make together as to why they never acknowledge the tension that arises at time between them.

It all comes to a head late in the year of Sid’s twenty-fifth year. He’d been with the Malkins for over six years and had developed a good sense of when trouble was on the horizon and was able to steer the kingdom away from it in most cases. In this case Sid barely had enough time to warm them that trouble was coming before it was right on their doorstep and waltzing it’s way into the kingdom.

This trouble took form in a witch, and not just any witch. This witch was someone from his past. A witch that wished to become betrothed to Sid while he was still in his old kingdom. One of the requests he had politely declined and sent back on it’s way. Unknowingly he had set events in motion that would cause significant trouble for the Kingdom he currently lived in.

Geno, unaware of this information, greeted the witch cautiously and welcomed her in out of courtesy of the country. Sid attempted to head them off before they came to far into the grounds, but it was too late, once she stepped into the inner circle of Sid’s protections she could do whatever she wanted within and be protected by Sid’s magic.

Sid confronted the witch of course. Asked her why she’d come, what was her purpose and when she’d be leaving. The witch was crafty for sure. She had followed Sidney’s magic to the town and gotten lost many times in attempting to find him, thanks to Sidney’s cloaking of the kingdom. She was still offering her hand to him and wanted to join forces together. Sidney, feeling the truth deep within the witch once again declined the witch and asked her to leave.

Geno, confused about what was going on, asked Sid to clarify, which when Sidney did made Geno’s resolve steel itself and he reiterated Sid’s request for her to leave. In a fit of laughter and rage the witch vowed to destroy Sid if he wouldn’t come with her and cursed him before Sid had a chance to protect himself, but not before Geno was able to get a shot of his bow off at the witch and striking her dead center. She crumbled to the ground in a pile of ashes, but her magic remained.

Geno turned to Sid who was down on the ground and unresponsive. Geno runs to him and when Sid doesn’t answer him he picks him up and takes him back to the castle for medical attention. The doctors in the kingdom are stunned by his presentation and despite their best treatments they can’t get Sid to respond. Since Sid is their only Sorcery advisor they place out calls to neighboring regions for a competent sorcerer to the kingdom. In the meantime Sidney finally comes around, but he’s very weak, barely able to stay awake long enough to have a decent conversation before he is back to sleeping again.

Geno, feeling guilty for allowing the woman into the ground in the first place, is bedside with Sid for more hours than anyone can count. When the sorcerers finally arrive Geno is meeting them himself and giving them everything they might need to help Sid, only leaving Sid’s side to collect herbs and items the sorcerers need to complete rituals and potions needed to help Sid. But despite all of the work that happens they determine that Sid has been cursed with high level magic and tell Geno it’s only a matter of time before Sid wastes away and dies from the curse.

Geno is beside himself at first, denying that Sid, his friend and confidant, the kind man he’s been hoping would become his one someday, was going to die at all. There was just no way that would happen. This denial turns to anger and in a fit of rage he transforms into his bear form and scares the sorcerers out of the castle and kingdom. It takes several days and a search party deep in the woods to find Geno who had finally turned back human after exhausting all of his energy running.

When he comes back he requests other sorcerers to come and see Sidney. There must be something they could do for Sid. His beautiful Sid that grows weary and his Light fades more and more every day. Geno spends more time with Sidney and after a while just get into bed with Sidney, at his request while he’s still conscious, and holds him close. While conscious Sid asks Geno to tell him stories about his childhood again and they fall asleep there together, Sid first and then Geno after he knows Sidney is asleep.

The weather turns foul. Initially after the attack it was just dark and cloudy, but after Geno’s outburst it started to rain. When they found Geno the rains stopped for a day before a steady drizzle started. And it stayed that’s way for a week before the clod started to set in, months before the winter was due to set in. The first snowfall was about two weeks after the attack and the blizzard came shortly after. The kingdom was at the mercy of Sidney’s uncontrolled energy fields and none of them wanted to approach Geno lest he burst out again. Late one night the blizzard let up and the snow actually stopped for about an hour.

In this hour Sidney sat straight up in bed, something he had been unable to do over the last three weeks, and proceeded to get out of bed. Except he couldn’t because Geno was preventing him from leaving. They had a staring match for the longest time before Sid began to struggle.

“Geno, let me go, I’m using the last of my powers to suppress this storm long enough to put this to an end.”

“No, Sid! I refuse to let you die. You need to fight this. WE need to fight this. I can’t watch to die.”

“I can’t watch you die either! This storm could kill everyone here. I need to do this. Please, Geno. Please, Let me go.”

“NO! I’m want to SAVE YOU! Not let you go into sunset to never be seen again. Break my heart, Sid.”

“I’m trying to save you. Haven’t I caused enough trouble?”

“Sid, you not trouble, you never trouble! I’m not just burst out of nowhere for trouble. I do it out of anger. I’m want to help!”

“AND I JUST WANT TO DIE!”

That stopped them both. The blizzard had also stopped at that exact moment, the silence deafening in light of Sid’s true feelings. Geno, unable to wait another minute, gathered a protesting Sid into his arms and just held him. Sid’s protestations slowed until he was holding Geno tightly around his chest and began sobbing. They sobbed together, Sid’s loud and hiccuping sobs, and Geno’s quiet tears flowing down and soaking Sid’s shirt in a silent plea.

There were no more words after that, just Geno’s strong arms holding Sid through the rest of the night. Just before Sid fell asleep he turned to look at Geno and held his face between his frail hands. Geno placed his own hands over them and held them in place. In that moment they felt as one with the other. Nothing to hide behind anymore. Sid pushed forward into Geno’s space and Geno met Sid halfway in a chaste, but not less meaningful kiss.

There were no sparks, no Hail Marys, or a sudden change in Sid’s appearance. This was it. It was the end and they’d wasted all their time for this one confirmation they both needed at the end. They pulled apart and they were both smiling with tears in their eyes. They laid there together for the rest of the early morning, just holding the other for everything they were. The storm outside started up again, this time not in a roar, but in a steady downpour of snow.

~~~

Geno left Sid’s room later that morning numb and broken in millions of pieces. He told the guard to let no one in the room without his permission and went to the only place he knew he could stand to be.

In Sid’s study, the one place that Sid really infused his magic in, there Geno let himself fall apart. As soon as the magic hit him he was on the floor and sobbing loudly. He cursed everything he could think of while he fought his inner demons form coming out, preventing himself from losing control. His howls and growls of his grief could be heard throughout the grounds. The heartbreaking sounds ripping over the silence of the kingdom the storm left in it’s wake.

His mother came in and comforted him for a while. Nothing could help the hurt he felt, but his mother’s presence was calming. He allowed himself to let go while she was there, at least long enough to wallow in the pain.

~~~

Days passed. No one was allowed into Sid’s room. Geno had open the window there to allow the cold in to preserve what he knew would be left of Sid so he could have time to grieve. It’s not like there was much left to Sid by the time...

Geno couldn’t think about it. He holed himself up for two days in grief before he came out of his hole and started helping with slow removal and planning around the kingdom. the weather was stable for once in the three weeks since the curse and Geno hated it, knowing what it meant. He worked day and night to get away from the pain he was feeling.

A week after the end Geno was sitting in Sid’s study, as he normally did after he got up in the morning, just basking in Sid’s magic. He missed him so much. He pawed his way through Sid’s books and hand writings, just looking for pieces of Sid to keep with him. He could hear chaos happening somewhere behind him, but he ignored it. While he was in Sid’s study, nothing could affect him. Nothing could take this away from him. He’s safe and warm as long as he’s in this room.

When he heard the door open Geno growled in warning. He gave specific directions for a reason. No one was to bother him and his rules would be upheld. When the door didn’t shut he growled again, this time with malice and pure anger laced in it, hoping to scare the offending intruder into his safe space away. But the intruder remained, ever present behind him and unmoving since walking through the door. Geno was about to turn around and give this intruder the lashing of their life, but he was stopped by the voice of angels.

“Geno...”

The voice was just as he remembered it. The voice of a thousand angels and all things good and bright in his life. Geno turns so quickly he gets whiplash and has to steady himself before his eyes can focus. There, in the doorway, the same as he was when he met him, was Sidney; beautiful, tall, amazing and completely and one hundred percent alive. Geno can’t speak. He can barely breathe. He’s on fire and cold as ice at the same time.

“Sid...”

It comes out as a croak. It’s definitely the worst he’s ever sounded and he can’t understand what he’s doing still standing there while the love of his life is alive and well and just there in front of him. Sid obviously realizes that he’s shocked and starts walking toward him. This triggers Geno’s brain to work and they meet half way in the room.

The resulting slam of energy and passion from Sid confirms to Geno that Sid is alive and real. They kiss for what seems like an eternity. The impending doom gone and forever away they take advantage of their second chance before it’s taken away.

~~~

Afterwards they bask in their glory together and talk about what happened and why. Sid can only imagine that the curse was based on the witch’s wrath and that true love was the only way to break it. It’s the oldest trick in the book, and Geno is skeptical as fuck, but he’s not looking a gift horse in the mouth. They celebrate Sid’s return with a banquet feast, after Sid lifts the snow and excess water from the land and fixes the damage he inadvertently caused. After his welcome back, Geno never leaves Sid’s side and brings him promises of a beautiful life together in a kingdom far far away for the rest of their days together. The End

P.S. They have twenty babies, Sid loves being pregnant and there is a bear part (and a steamy scene in there somewhere) to this story, but I’ve run out of room and it’s late so I’m saving that for another day.