#60 seconds of flame

[tritoch]

i know a lot of people (very understandably) dislike the paladin job quests in ffxiv, particularly HW, but i do think it's fun that, now that the pre-ShB MSQ revamp is complete, paladins now have a very cool and thematic in-game storyline that happens without a word being spoken: the development of passage of arms.

none of the below is directly stated in the script, but imo it's a fairly obvious gloss on what the game presents, if you assume a paladin warrior of light. spoilers for all expansions through the end of 6.X.

in the new version of steps of faith, as vishap breaks through each ward protecting ishgard from attack, lucia mounts a final desperate effort to hold him back, with a very familiar looking animation:

but even lucia can't hold back vishap's flame alone, so the temple knights surge forward to assist her. their efforts make the shield visually more powerful and larger. the temple knights here band together in defense of ishgard, and their knightly resolve to protect their home is the difference between victory and defeat.

lucia and the knights do ultimately succeed in defending the last ward, as you have to defeat vishap before their shield falls or you lose.

later in heavensward, obviously, we will get ffxiv's most famous (failed) attempt at blocking something with a shield.

this moment can be read as fairly impactful on the warrior of light's development; as i've noted elsewhere, after the trauma of watching haurchefant bleed out in their arms at level 57, at level 58 paladins learn to channel their magic into healing (and it's called "clemency," or mercy. mercy for whom? who was guilty?), and as someone pointed out on that post, at level 58 dark knights used to get "sole survivor", letting them heal in response to a marked target's death.

for a time, you literally carry haurchefant's shield with you, and 3.3 very much literalizes in genre fashion the idea that even when you are standing alone, your fallen friends stand with you. you don't need to call any allies to stand at your side and raise their shields with you because they are already there, in spirit.

stormblood marks a pretty important turning point in the warrior of light as a combatant, in my opinion, and the text makes this clear in several ways. first, in pretty much all your jobs, you've now far exceeded your trainers and are pioneering new techniques. this is no less true of paladin, which for 60-70 abandons any trainers at all for you to show off your peerless skills in a tournament.

second, stormblood is straight up a story about you getting stronger. at level 61, zenos kicks your ass. at level 70, you kick his ass. why? because you fought and got stronger and developed incredible new techniques and became a one-man army.

for a lot of classes, this story lines up nicely with the big rotation changes or flashy new finishers on the way from 60 to 70. SMN is now busting out bahamut and casting akh morn; RDM gets verflare and verholy; DRG starts harnessing nidhogg's power directly through dragon sight and nastrond.

the tanks are divided in two: warriors and gunbreakers get huge damaging upgrades at 70 in the form of inner release and continuation, each of which lets them hit the same button many times for lots of damage and satisfying animations. paladin and dark knight get more protective abilities; dark knight gets the blackest night, and there's been plenty said about that already by pretty much everyone.

paladins get passage of arms. instead of a relentless new attack (and you get requiescat at 68, which is a way bigger deal for your dps rotation), your big reveal at 70 for zenos in your fight in ala mhigo is a superior way to protect your party, a shield that lets you stand for your allies so they never have to fall for you again. it's lucia's same shield, except you need no allies' shields to reinforce you, proof of your martial prowess and your ability to transcend limits, and perhaps in truth a reminder that you never really stand alone.

in many respects passage of arms should really feel like a paladin signature move to you now if you are playing it at this point, because you should be popping it in pretty much every fight (you are using your mits, right...?). basically every FFXIV fight has at least one big AOE with downtime that warrants passage of arms usage, usually after the mid-fight add phase with slowly filling bar. since that AOE usually drops during downtime, there's no reason not to pop passage of arms (which otherwise restricts your movement and actions), and even on normal, sometimes every little bit counts on a damage check even if it means dropping DPS (thinking here of harrowing hell P10N on release, which was...less consistent for a lot of roulette parties than you might hope).

so from 70 onward, passage of arms is in a sense a paladin warrior of light's signature move, and certainly the one a player gets to most actually enjoy (since if you're using it, you're by necessity not doing anything besides moving your camera and admiring your sick animation). it doesn't have any competition in terms of spectacle until confiteor, and those you're usually throwing out in the middle of movement.

it's such a signature, in fact, that the only other person shown using your one-person version of passage of arms is your greatest admirer, who studied your legend for over a century.

and it's when he fails (should've popped arm's length, bud) that the warrior of light decides they can't let their friends fall for them, and sends them away with the transporter beacon. this is all wrong: you were meant to die for them, not the other way around. yours is the shield that stands between your allies and defeat. it is you who will win this passage of arms and break your opponents lance. and you do.

and then later, when they need to quickly establish zero's domain as a place of fallen grandeur, the home of someone who once believed in heroes but is now a cool and cynical vampire hunter d, what do they use? a decayed statue of someone in the paladin endwalker gear doing the passage of arms animation, of course.

from a visible instantiation of knighthood as a joint effort to defend what is sacred, to a tribute to the fallen friends whose memories stand by you and animate you, to a symbol of the wol's power as emulated by their allies or darkly mirrored in other shards.

not bad for a mit button you hit once per fight and otherwise never think about!

[itsvelyria]

"types of date the f1 drivers would love"

Charles Leclerc

Exercise Dates: Charles has a newfound love for workouts, he realises as he watches you expertly straighten your arms — the ones currently holding onto the weight bar like a pro. You had convinced him to join you in a morning yoga class, claiming it did wonders for mental health. Like the stupid in-love fool he is, he had agreed, on the condition that you would join him in a gym session. In his head, you were completely taken by his impressive show of strength in a new environment. That was not the case. And to make matters worse, the bicep curls you two had did earlier had resulted in a little, minor, unnoticeable tingle in the back of his spine that sent blood rushing to the bottom half of his body.

 

Carlos Sainz

Nature Dates: Mountains were for hiking and running and the occasional stargazing session when he was in the mood for it. What he was unaware of, was their ability to host camping sessions. But you did. And you had asked him with unmistakable joy in your twinkling eyes. So now here he was, sitting on a camping chair that you had set up. In fact, everything was set up by you — the chairs, tent, fire. You had even brought metal sticks specifically for roasting marshmallows, which was what the pair of you were doing now. He watched as you purposefully burned your marshmallow, fanning out the flames that had engulfed the treat. It was quiet in the background and unlike in the city, he found himself fully focused on you.

 

Daniel Ricciardo

Driving Dates: He thought you were mad when you brought up a road trip. But he went along, thinking that a little road trip through Australia couldn’t be that extreme. He was so wrong. First, because it wasn’t through Australia and second, because he had forgotten you were the one planning. So now here he was, listening to your off-tune rendition of Coast by Hailee Steinfeld as he drives through what he is 60% sure is Wanaka in bloody New Zealand. The weather could not be more perfect, with amber coloured leaves decorating the trees and ground and the morning sun still shining through the mountains. You offer a chip to him, holding the delicate thing out between your fingers. He takes it without a second thought. In his opinion, being with you made the best dates.

George Russell

Educational Experiences: It was supposed to be a public conference about dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum. And you had plans to go alone, take some time to yourself, enjoy the strange bout of nice weather London has been bestowed. George was the one who had invited himself and waited by the door. And how were you to say no, while the man was dressed like an academic, even going the extra mile of wearing glasses. So you spent a quiet, calming few hours listening intently to a few speakers then touring the museum with your hand tucked into his. It was a nice feeling, sharing your intellectual interests with him and having him actually pay attention unlike some other ex-boyfriends you've had. Maybe you would invite him on a few more dates like these from now on.

Lando Norris

Adventurous Outings: He had brought you because it was what he did as a child and you two were on a trip to visit his parents and hometown so it only made sense. Then he saw you having the time of your life, racing down straights and winding round corners. Your cheeks were flushed and your hair matted but you had clutched to his arms and asked if you could do another round. Now, it was his personal mission to bring you go-karting in as many tracks as possible. It also helps that he actually (secretly) likes losing to you, because you spend the rest of the day with the biggest grin on your face and nothing beats seeing you like that. He also likes the little kisses you give to comfort his "bruised ego", but he will deny it till the world ends.

 

Lewis Hamilton

Group Socializing: He loved this. He thinks he can die happy like this. Okay, maybe not. But this would definitely be one of the scenes that would flit through his mind while he was dying. The immense rush of serotonin that fills his brains and muscles when he sees you fluttering around the room should be studied. His eyes never leave your form, clad in a simple cream dress, the perfect contrast to the glow of your skin. You pour bubbly champagne for his friends and have little interactions with the kids scattered around the room which sends them giggling. The adults are enthralled by you too, countless eyes lingering on your form as you leave their small groups. He can’t blame them – being the most shameless one ever. But even so, he’s the only one who can wrap his arms around your tiny waist, pulling you into his chest, the beam on your lips the brightest thing he’s seen all day.

 

Max Verstappen

Romantic Retreats: Being away from his simulator for this long felt a little weird. He acknowledged the tingly feeling in the back of his spine every morning when he woke up in the largest bed he had ever seen, looking out onto the turquoise ocean. The sea breeze that greeted him this morning was cool, and his robe hung alone beside the bathroom door. The other was wrapped around the figure gazing out onto said sea out on the exposed balcony. Someone has been by the private island with breakfast, he notes, smelling the spread of breakfast foods from the adjoining dining room. He would join you soon, thick white robe around his shoulders and you between his arms, but until then, he lets the tingly feeling settle and just enjoys the view.

[youryurigoddess]

A nightingale sang in the London Blitz

When exactly was that certain night, the night Aziraphale and Crowley met — and spoke for the first time in 79 years in the midst of the London Blitz?

And what’s the deal with the nightingale’s song, really?

Grab something to drink and we’ll look for some Clues below.

The night they met

The Blitz, short for Blitzkrieg (literally: flash war) was a German aerial bombing campaign on British cities in the WW2, spanning between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941. The Luftwaffe attacks were carried out almost non stop, with great intensity meant to force a capitulation and similarly strong impact on British life and culture at the time.

Starting on 7 September 1940, London as the capital city was bombed for nearly 60 consecutive nights. More than one million London houses were destroyed or damaged, and more than 20,000 civilians were killed, half of the total victims of this campaign.

The night of 29 December 1940 saw the most ferocity, becoming what is now known as the Second Great Fire of London. The opening shot of the S2 1941 minisode is a direct reference to recordings of that event, with the miraculously saved St Paul’s Cathedral in the upper left corner.

The actual raid lasted between 06:15 and 09:45 PM, but its aftermath continued for days. The old and dense architecture of this particular part of the city turned into a flaming inferno larger than the Great Fire of 1666. Multiple buildings, including churches, were destroyed in just one night by over 100,000 bombs.

Incendiary bombs fell also on St Dunstan-in-the-East church that night, the real-life location of this scene as intended by Neil. It was gutted and again claimed by fire in one of the last air rides on 10 May, when the bomb destroyed the nave and roof and blew out the stained glass windows. The ruins survived to this day as a memorial park to the Blitz.

Such a delightfully Crowley thing to do: saving a bag of books with a demonic miracle adding to the biggest catastrophe for the publishing and book trade in years. 5 million volumes were lost, multiple bookshops and publishing houses destroyed in the December 29th raid alone.

Even without this context, judging by the seemingly unending night, overwhelming cold and darkness, broken heating at the theatre, and seasonal clothing (like Aziraphale and Crowley’s extremely nice winter coats), it’s rather clear that it was the very beginning of the year 1941.

Everything suggests that Aziraphale and Crowley’s Blitz reunion happened exactly 1900 years after their meeting in Rome — which, according to the script book, took place between 1 and 24 January 41 (Crowley was right: emperor Caligula was a mad tyrant and didn't need any additional tempting; there's a reason why he was murdered by his closest advisors, including members of his Praetorian Guard, on 24 January 41).

Interestingly, both events involved a role reversal in their otherwise stable dynamic, with Aziraphale spontaneously taking the lead instead of letting the demon be the one to do all the tempting and saving, and ended with a toast.

The S2 Easter Egg with the nuns of the Chattering Order of St Beryl playing table tennis at the theatre suggests that the Blitz meeting happened on a Tuesday afternoon, which doesn’t match any of the above mentioned days, but sets the in-universe date for 7 January 1941 or later.

The Chattering Order of Saint Beryl is under a vow to emulate Saint Beryl at all times, except on Tuesday afternoons, for half an hour, when the nuns are permitted to shut up, and, if they wish, to play table tennis.

The nightingale

January means one thing: absolutely no migratory birds in Europe yet. They’re blissfully wintering in the warm sun of Northern Africa at the time. But, ironically, when the real nightingales flew off, a certain song about them suddenly gained popularity in the West End of London.

It might be a shock, but A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square wasn’t a hit from the start — even though its creators, Eric Maschwitz and Manning Sherwin, were certainly established in their work at this point. The song was written in the then-small French fishing village of Le Lavandou shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War with first performance in the summer of 1939 in a local bar, where the melody was played on piano by the composer Manning Sherwin with the help of the resident saxophonist. Maschwitz sang his lyrics while holding a glass of wine, but nobody seemed impressed. It took time and a small miracle to change that.

Next year, the 23-year-old actress Judy Campbell had planned to perform a monologue of Dorothy Parker’s in the upcoming Eric Maschwitz revue „New Faces”. But somehow the script had been mislaid and, much to her horror, replaced with the song A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. She had never professed to be a singer but even so, she gathered her courage and went out onto the moonlit set dressed in a white ball gown. Her heartfelt rendition of the now evocative ballad captured the audience’s imagination and catapulted her West End career to stardom.

It was precisely 11 April 1940 at the Comedy Theatre in Panton Street and the revue itself proved to be a great success — not only it kept playing two performances nightly through the Blitz, but also returned the next year. And the still operating Comedy Theatre is mere five minutes on foot from the Windmill Theatre, where Aziraphale performed in 1941, and not much longer from his bookshop.

Now, most Good Omens meta analyses focus on Vera Lynn’s version of the song from 5 June 1940, but it didn’t get much attention until autumn, specifically 15 November, when Glenn Miller and his orchestra published another recording. And Glenn Miller himself is a huge point of reference in Good Omens 2.

According to the official commentary the infamous credits scene is establishing Aziraphale and Crowley’s final resolve for the next season using the same narrative device The Glenn Miller Story (1954) does in its most crucial scene. It starts with the tune (and audio in general) totally flat, then adds a piano on one side, and gradually becomes fully multidimensional. The Good Omens credits not only emulate the same sound effect, but bring it to the visual side of the narrative by literally combining the individual perspectives of the two characters together. Even though they’re physically apart, their resolve — and love to each other — brings them even closer than before. Aziraphale smiles not because he’s being brainwashed, but because he knows exactly what to do next.

Some of you might have noticed that Tori Amos’s performance for Good Omens is actually a slightly shortened version of Miller’s recording — much less sorrowful than Vera Lynn’s full lyrics that include i.a. this bridge:

The dawn came stealing up

All gold and blue

To interrupt our rendez-vous

I still remember how you smiled and said

Was that a dream or was it true?

Which is a huge hint when it comes to what we can expect from the main romantic plot line in the Good Omens series. The original song introduces an element of the doubt — it seems like there was no nightingale at all, only the mirage woven by the singer clearly intoxicated with love, much like Aziraphale and Crowley for the length of the last six episodes. Crowley’s comment in the season finale might allude to that interpretation, stating that there are no nightingales — never have been. It was all a dream. But the version we’re working with here is short and sweet, and devoid of that doubt. In the Good Omens universe angels were actually dining at the Ritz, the streets were truly paved with stars (or will be shown as such in the next season), and a nightingale really sang in Berkeley Square, as the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent narrator, God Herself, had shown us.

All in all, it’s not an accident that the “modern” swing ballad activating Aziraphale’s memory and opening the 1941 minisode is the Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller. It’s a track naturally associated with A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square when it comes to music style and the sentiment in the lyrics.

But why the sudden popularity? In the great uncertainty and hardship of the Blitz, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square provided solace and escapism for listeners, offering a glimpse of hope and love amidst the darkness of war. It became a universal anthem of resilience and a reminder of the power of love transcending difficulties. By January 1941 the whole city knew this tune by heart, including a certain West End aficionado with a cabinet full of theatre programs in his bookshop. Thanks to Maggie’s grandmother, he most probably had a record at hand to play during his spontaneous wine night with Crowley. We can only suspect the details, but it was was mutually established as their song exactly at that time or soon afterwards. Pretty sure we will see a third installment of that minisode for many, many reasons, but especially because of this “several days in 1941” answer by Neil:

The Man Hunt

In 1941 A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square gained even more popularity as the romantic theme of the Fritz Lang’s newest film Man Hunt. The 1939 story by Geoffrey Household first appeared under the title “Rogue Male” as a serial in the Atlantic Monthly Magazine where it received widespread comment, soon becoming a world-wide phenomenon in novel form. Its premise criticizes Britain's pre-war policy of appeasement with Germany, ready to sacrifice its own innocent citizens to the tentative status quo. Sounds a bit like Heaven's politics, right?

Yes, I'm trying to make you watch old movies again — like all the other classics, Man Hunt (1941) is easily available on YouTube and other streaming websites.

The next part will include spoilers, so scroll down to the next picture if you prefer to avoid them.

The plot of the movie seems simple enough: the tall, dark, and handsome Alan Thorndike, who nearly assassinates Hitler, narrowly escapes Germany and back in London continues to evade the Nazi agents sent after him with the help of a young trench-clad “seamstress” named Jerry, bridging the class divide and becoming unlikely friends-partners-romantic interests. It doesn’t end well though.

Jerry's small London apartment serves as a hideout for Alan when he was being followed by Nazis, similarly to how Aziraphale's bookshop is a safe haven for both Crowley and Gabriel in S2. She helps the man navigate the streets and eventually out of London — by sacrificing herself and getting forcefully separated from him by a patrolling policeman. The last time they see each other, Alan watches Jerry look back at him yearningly and disappear in the fog, followed by the elderly officer.

Unfortunately in the next scene we learn that the latter is a Nazi collaborator and helps the agents apprehend Jerry in her own flat. Staying loyal to her love and uncooperative, she’s ultimately thrown out of a window to her death, but posthumously saves Alan once again — through the arrow-shaped hatpin he gifted her earlier that is presented to him as the evidence of her off-screen fate.

Long story short, thanks to Jerry’s sacrifice Alan not only survives, but is able to join the war that broke out in the meantime and go back to Germany, armed with a rifle and a final resolve to end what he started, no matter how long will it take. The justice will be served and the dictator will pay with his life for his sins.

I wouldn’t be myself without mentioning that the main villain has a Roman chariot statue similar to the one in Aziraphale’s bookshop, an antique sculpture of St Sebastian (well-known as the gayest Catholic Saint) foreshadowing his demise, and a chess set symbolizing the titular manhunt/game of tag with the protagonist.

Aziraphale’s song

Will Aziraphale sacrifice himself as well? Or has he already? If his coin magic trick can be any indicator, we should expect at least a shadow of a danger touching the angel’s wings soon.

Let’s sum up the 1941 events from Aziraphale’s perspective: the very first time they’ve interacted after almost a century, Crowley actively sabotaged his entire existence twice by stepping onto a holy ground and by being outed by agents of Hell, both on the very same night and both because of his undying dedication to the angel. That’s enough of a reason not only for performing an apology dance, but also maintaining a careful distance for Crowley’s sake for the next 26 years. Only when he heard that his idiot was planning to rob a church, he gave up since he “can't have him risking his life”.

That’s when Crowley, sitting in a car parked right under his bookshop, offered him a ride. It wasn’t even subtle anymore. It was supposed to be a date, this time both of them understood it. But Aziraphale wouldn’t risk Crowley’s safety for his own happiness, especially not when he can name his feelings towards him and knows that they are reciprocated — the biggest lesson he learnt back in 1941.

So he did what he’s best at, he cut Crowley off again, but this time with a promise of catching up to his speed at some point. Buddy Holly’s Everyday, which was originally planned to play afterwards instead of the Good Omens theme, adds additional context here:

No, thank you. Oh, don’t look so disappointed. Perhaps one day we could... I don't know… Go for a picnic. Dine at the Ritz.

Aziraphale, carefully looking around and feeling observed through the whole conversation in the Bentley, consciously used the “Dine at the Ritz” line from A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, from their song, as a code only the two of them understand. Not as a suggestion to go out for a meal, but a promise. A hope for the privilege of being openly in love and together — maybe someday, not now, when it’s too dangerous — even if it leads to a bad ending.

Fast forward to 2023 when for one dreadful moment Crowley’s “No nightingales” robbed Aziraphale even of that semblance of hope. He looked away, unable to stop his tears anymore. Only their kiss helped him pull himself together and make sure that a nightingale did sing the last time he turned — just like in their song — this time without a smile, as a goodbye.

[ncat]

The Conduit

So heres the conduit! I'm very happy with how this turned out.

The conduit as a class is best described as a "Con Based Martial with spellcaster aesthetics", since, mechanically, it fills a martial role, being a class that doesnt use resources, with a primary party focus on dealing damage, while flavor wise, it goes around slinging blasts of energy at people.

This class mechanically is very much based on the warlock of 3rd edition, with flavour and some mechanical inspiration from the Kineticist of Pathfinder 2e.

The two core design elements that I tried to stick to with making this were 1. Being resourceless and 2. Customizability.

For the first point, none of the class features are limited in uses per day. No feature adds an additional resource for the player to track, nor uses spell slots nor etc. The closest it comes to a resource is its Exertion mechanic, where certain things tire out your conduit character. Though, this serves less as a resource, and more as a temporary debuff, reducing your damage output whilst its in effect, before being easily removed.

The second point is customizability. The first element of this is subclasses. Of course, theres the variety of subclasses to pick from, but notably, is that unlike other classes, you aren't bound to picking just one subclass. From 7th level onwards, whenever you reach your subclass feature level, you can choose to continue advancing in your subclass, or you can take the initial features of a different subclass. This means while you can do a more traditional route of going "I'm the lightning guy, I'm taking lightning every level", you can also do an avatar style "Master of 4 elements" and have 4 different subclasses by level 20. Mix and match them as you like, be the "Fire and Lightning" person, be the "I control water mostly, but also a little bit of ice", combine your elements and so forth.

The next part of customizability is in talents. Talents are very much your classic invocation style feature, of which there are... like. 60 of them at this point. But! Theres a lot of variety in what they do. While you have your choices of ones that give additional powers, like flight or teleportation or whatnot, a large bulk of them are dedicated to one thing: Reshaping your elemental blast. Go out there as a fire guy and blast people with fire, then turn around and literally explode everything around you in flames, then focus your blast into a roaring line of fire that pushes everything within it towards you, and then rush the last man standing with a spear made of literal fire.

The talents are designed around not just being able to reshape and modify your blast in a bunch of different ways, but you can combine them together and do cool stuff.

Because at its core, I wanted to design this class to fill a very specific style of fantasy, and thats of the type of magic you see in some settings where its just "I control this one element", and then from that the mage turns that into a billion different things.

A fire wizard will say "I can cast fire bolt, fire ball, and scorching ray". A fire conduit instead just has an elemental blast, but they can turn that elemental blast into a bolt that is hurled at one person, or have it explode into a ball of flame, or split it into multiple beams.

Its very much a creativity first subclass, and thats whats behind its capstone! The capstone is all of this at its epitomy, the ability to freely reshape your elemental power (By freely, temporarily learning talents) into whatever form you imagine.

Hell, customizability is built even into the very core of its flavour

Yeah <3

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this class as much as I enjoyed writing it and as much as I enjoy talking about it <3

[gojoswhitebabydolllashes]

Let death be kinder than any x-men

Logan howlett x reader

---

ERRRRM I WOULD SAY DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE SPOILERS BUT WERE IN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST🦅😃

-

Warnings: I still don't know 😭 the reader makes a massive mistake. Idek if this is how xaviers powers work but wtv. Major Canon divergence. 🎶 represents when Charles is talking to reader in their head.

-

I know that sometimes I ask for too much sometimes. And I think today I did. It really does depend on how you define mistakes.

I knew Charles would help me. How did I know that the 21 year old version of my old professor 60 years in the future would help me? Because I just knew Charles Xavier like that.

"You want me to what?" He scratched his jaw.

"I want you to get inside logan's head and tell me what he's thinking of," I gulped and leant against the wall.

I could only tell that this would have consequences beyond my understanding. Beyond perhaps what anyone could really understand.

"I can try. I would ask why you need this, but I already know," he grinned with his lips high to his nose.

I scoffed a laugh and looked out into the city through the trees. Dark lights and fireflies. Night-time and fireworks. Onyx that encased sparks of all colours.

"So you'll help me?"

"Of course I will. What else do have to do in this damn world?"

-

🧠

There was this one time at the mansion when I punched Scott summers in the mouth for telling Logan he was a coward. I let him drip blood on the floor and make noises of pain as he held his painful jaw that would be bruised and red by tomorrow.

"Don't you ever fucking say that shit again"

-

It was a warm night, though still cool enough for a bonfire. Even though we were supposed to be in the middle of a fight with the sister of the man, I was sitting beside and saving the other mutants, we had collectively agreed, Wade and I, that a night to sit here wouldn't hurt. And convincing Logan was not easy, but he pulled through with an offer of whiskey.

After a while, Wade passed out, and Charles was minding his own business on the grass, when we asked what he was up to he replied 'I'm on the phone' but he had no phone in sight, and it took Logan a few seconds to realise.

I didn't know what to say to Logan. I didn't feel like saying anything or if anything would even work. He probably doesn't want to say anything either. After our altercation in the void, I didn't know what the fuck was going on anymore. I wanted to ask about it, but I was afraid his answer would be exactly as I thought.

"I didn't mean it" he said suddenly "what I said in the void, I didn't mean it"

It had genuinely shook me that he was first to bring it up.

"Oh," I said. "I was gonna ask you what happened, but I wasn't sure if anytime was going to be right"

Logan chuckled. For an unknown reason, he just did and sipped his drink. "Anytime after I die is perfect for these kinds of things"

I tried to smile and act like I was cool but in reality I was dying inside. I was screaming kicking and crying and throwing up and tearing adamantium bars off jail cells.

"I don't know what came over me," he admitted. "The truth is in my universe my wife was experimented on by scientists. Fuckin mad men"

I couldn't tell in the light, mostly because I wasn't looking at him but I could hear it. He started to tear up. I could hear the tightness in his throat, the strain on his voice.

"And-" He stuttered.

"And do you know what the worst part is?"

I don't.

I should. I feel like I should. But I shouldn't. I couldn't. I didn't want to know. Or did I?

🎶 "You do"

"What's the worst part Logan?"

"They did it right in front of me. Right in fuckin front of me!" He lurched forward and slashed one of the trees, causing it to fall in threes.

He panted. Growled. Boiled with rage that set the ground alight in metaphorical fire. Raging flames, like wildfire. Upset and grief that acted fuel.

"It's not your fault, logan" I said softly

"BUT IT IS!" He yelled back at me.

He put his claws away and sighed, looking away for a moment to catch his breath "I'm sorry"

"It's alright" I replied

Logan rubbed his face "Let's call it a truce. I swear I won't try to turn you into shredded meat again" he held out his hand.

"Sure. No shredded meat" I put my hand in his, shaking it.

They were fucking hairy and calloused. And heavy. Maybe the world's manliest hands. And veiniest. Fuck what am I doing?

"No shredded meat" he repeated

And we both laughed

[lonelypep]

hi tumblr

ive been rewatching gravity falls and i thought it would be funny to recap certain events in the show with no context whatsoever

-dipper sings dancing queen by abba with a mutant bear he was about to kill.

-stan, a man in his 60-70s, lectures a child on how to formulate an evil plan. (the child is 4 years old, stans rival, and having a mental breakdown because stan's granchildren are in his armpits)

-dipper gets literally mauled by a wolf and decides its better than going to his sister's sleepover.

-larry king gets decapitated.

-kids break in to a convenience store where one of them gets high out of her mind on cheap illegal ice cream (normal tuesday for these kids)

-kids find out about the 8th and a half president: who made the first all-baby supreme court.

-grunkle stan wins the football bowl. he taught the footballers and their gloating friends a lesson. he wins a football winning trophy, and a beautiful woman aptly named beautiful woman. but he couldnt have done it, any of it, without his sidekick footbot.

-soos is canonically afraid of british dog men. hes so real for that honestly.

-ARE YOU SICK OF PILES OF OWLS CONSTANTLY BLOCKING YOUR DRIVEWAY?! WELL THEN YOU GOTTA GET OWL TROWEL

-youre laughing. people are sick of piles of owls constantly blocking their driveway and youre laughing.

-the only on screen character death, with the exception of bill, is that of big henry, who sacrificed himself by taking a golf ball to the other side of the mine. the protagonists never learn this.

-soos turns into clay and starts breaking the laws of the universe. so stan kills him with a radio.

-two kids travel back in time and crush toby's musical theatre dreams.

-"dudebro" became a mainstay in my regular vocabulary for two years because of this show.

-grunkle stan teaches a bear how to drive. he almost gets arrested in this episode. not for teaching a bear how to drive but because of tax fraud.

-soos' stomach emits whale noises.

-mcgucket has apparently exploded an entire downtown city because his pal earnie didn't come to his retirement party. justified tbh

-stan starts booing some little kids because they told their grandpa they loved him

-let me just set the scene for a sec here: its 2016. its a beautiful summer day, where the hazy nostalgia of a music festival fills your eyes, your ears, and the uneasy excitement of love in the hot summer air makes every second better than the last. suddenly, a gigantic flaming head of a man saying "i eat kids" descends upon you from the sky. the graphic horror is something youll never forget. the grotesque image of people in terror at this gargantuan mass of flaming flesh. it burns into your eyes. is this it for you? you see a child, clueless to the situation, ask his mother his final words: is the giant flaming head going to eat us? she says yes. as it consumes you, you cry a single tear. im done being dramatic but this did happen

-beautiful men eat out of stan's trash (this apparently happens consistently)

-youre laughing. darn beautiful men are always eating out of his trash and youre laughing.

-stan strips on public television.

-gourney gets eaten by a halloween monster. he is only freed when soos eats the monnster.

-the gravity falls universe has a public television program where babies fight each other.

-grunkle stan tries to burn aforementioned four year old nemesis alive.

-ok not really but he tries to blind him at least which is still pretty bad.

-grunkle stan tries to steal an animatronic badger

-mabeland has a government entirely run by mabel. this makes mabel an autocratic fascist. sorry i dont make the rules.

-soos' mom turns into a chair.

-theres a character named toot toot mc bumblesnazzle, who plays a banjo. go ahead and guess his narrative importance. if you guess cult leader, correct!

-neil degrasse tyson plays a pig.

and last but certainly not least, stan has illegally shipped pugs across the us border.

[punkpandapatrixk]

🪩Your World-Changing Talents — Timeless Pick A Card

First, you change something about yourself, because you see the value in doing so, then you change your worldview. Second, you devote yourself to your Personal Happiness, because you see that happy people create better, kinder worlds, then you pursue your Art. Third, you jump timelines and shift your Personal Reality, and as you create your Destiny, so you sprinkle the world with excitement that is like that of your own~!💅🏻👗👒✨🦋

SONG for all piles: Tsukema Tsukeru by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

MOVIE for all piles: Kamikaze Girls (2004)

[PAC Masterlist] [Part 1] [Part 2]

[Patreon] [Paid Readings]

Reading guide: For those unfamiliar with tarot meanings, your ‘8 of Pentacles’ devotion—the second segment of this PAC—revolves around your almost sacrificial determination to pursue your Art. Whatever you choose to do with your Life, to become something great in this world… anything worth achieving in this world… always requires a certain degree of sacrifice. Dunno who the fuck came up with that Law, but that’s how it is in most cases.

Whether or not your sacrifices will be worth your while, is a pondering you can only answer after you’ve walked the plank and made manifest all you thought would be important to you. But remember this tiny fact: your Life Force has a time limit. So I always say, ‘If you’re gonna spill blood sweat and tears for anything at all, make sure it’s something that’s important to your Soul’.

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

Pile 1 – Flame of Vengeance Incarnate

VIBE: Yoyuu by AKKOGORILLA

your untapped superpowers – 5 of Cups

I think you’re someone who carries a pool of regrets in your heart. You don’t always swim in it, but it’s like a weird aquarium of all your disappointments in a world you’ve come to know, and dislike, which you carry inside of you. When you were a kid, you already had set expectations about what you want to be or do with your Life. I guess you weren’t allowed to be yourself; weren’t supported in pursuing your heart’s true desires. You thought to yourself, ‘It’s not like what I like is a bad thing!’

People’s failure to understand where you’re coming from broke your heart—perhaps also self-esteem. You could’ve been made fun of for your unique perspectives. Because you were different, people acted as if you were out of touch with reality—like you were insane for even having thoughts and desires that didn’t match the norms. Your behaviours, mannerisms and fashion could’ve also been a source of your getting ‘bullied’ or belittled, in a manner of speaking.

Do you actually understand why you’re viewed so differently like this? The truth is, you’re an alien. You’re an astronaut with a mission. Two scenarios: 1. You came here to play whilst learning to understand the unique limitations that afflict the world of the Humans, 2. You came here specifically to break down conventions and boundaries because the limitations of the Human world are causing its inhabitants to stray even further from the truth of the Divine GOD of All That Is.

your ‘8 of Pentacles’ devotion – 7 of Cups

In a manner of speaking, you came into this world with a specific desire to not fit in, because your Soul’s purpose is to add more layers, shades, depths of colours into the Human experience. I hope that makes sense, seriously. You’re not necessarily a fighter of sort (you could decide to be though), but you’re just wanting to show people: ‘Yo, there are many ways to enjoy a Human’s Life. You don’t have to be restricted like that. Damn!’

Of all the piles, your rebellious spirit is the loudest. You could identify as an Indigo, Crystal or Rainbow Child. You could also have been born in the 50s, 60s, or you’re just generally into the punk aesthetic of that era. It was an era of vulgar charisma. Something about the spirit of rebellion of many artists during that era speaks to your Soul and could’ve inspired a pressing desire for Freedom. You like your Freedom and you’d do anything in your power to protect that Liberty—your sheer dignity for being alive.

You shouldn’t (you know you wouldn’t) stop dreaming your ideal Reality, no matter the oppositions. The drabness of the world actually pisses you off, and you want to fight that grotesque by being exactly your weird and wonderful self. You are fuelled by some kind of rage about the ropes put around people’s necks when it comes to choosing their own dreams or other people’s. You seek to destroy those ropes and avenge those whose flames of passion have been dimmed by their societies. You know you’d never allow yourself to be ordinary because your very existence IS your vengeance.

support for you to thrive – 4 of Cups Rx

I know you’re afraid of cages and lethargy. You’re most afraid of living the same days over and over again and repeating the same routines that have nothing to do with your Soul’s truths. You’re afraid of living the rest of your Life being normal, vanilla, unaccomplished, and above all, insignificant and unmemorable. This particular fear runs in the background of your mind and could cause you to want to be changeable at all times. But living on Planet Earth, a little bit of structure is necessary if you want to maintain any semblance of sanity.

Rather than being always ready to try all kinds of venue—to challenge or prove yourself in all ways to all people—try to really know the few things that actually matter to you. If you could devote yourself to only a handful of things that you know you will never regret dedicating your lifetime and energy into, you could become a real master of something meaningful. And if you do care about what some close people think about you, perhaps this is the best approach?

I think you could really change your world the moment you decide to focus. But first you have to find the precious light bulbs that shine a Light on the things that are treasures to your Heart. You probably won’t have enough numbers in your years to try and explore all possibilities, right? So, focus. Focus on one or two things that really matter. Below essay may be of some use😉

☆°・. Devotion to A Vocation .・°☆ | Punk Girl Culture + Pick A Card

PARADIGM SHIFT🔻💗

raison d’��tre by your Oversoul – Red Astrologer (William Lilly)

manifesting with the Magic of your being – Priestess of Innocence

Access full reading + cards on Patreon🌸

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

Pile 2 – All-Encompassing Spiritual Courage & Creativity

VIBE: NEXT LEVEL by aespa

your untapped superpowers – XIX The Sun

Since you were a child, you have always been different in that you saw the world with a brilliance in your Third Eye that allows you to see the deeper truths—as well as deceits—of the world. Always wiser beyond your years, you were practically a child sage. You saw through the black and white lies of the adults around you. And you felt a cold disregard for the mundanity of the hobbies and activities children your age were into.

You saw quite clearly some really strange things about the Human world that were normalised. And you couldn’t wrap your head around all this normalcy that wasn’t normal to you. In your heart, you promised yourself you wouldn’t be absorbed into all that insanity. So you created a world of your own that had nothing to do with the one you were part of. The world of your creation had only the colours you liked. It was separate from your immediate reality, but this inner world contained everything that would one day become your real Reality.

Of all the piles, I think you’re the most likely to become a celeb of some kind. Probably even a superstar in the entertainment industry. But whatever your line of vocation may be, you are definitely someone who will be recognised vastly by the public. Mostly for what you do to shine a new light unto this drab world of deceit. You could become some sort of a whistle blower—sharing with the world hidden truths that would liberate the minds of many people.

your ‘8 of Pentacles’ devotion – Page of Wands Rx

I think you’re someone who’s always been clear about certain evil and malice in the world that you think you were born to fight. But if you had to fight anything at all, it was that you had to fight for your place in the world. You believed that when you get older, you’ll be able to do something about all that’s wrong, abnormal, about the world. I’m not even sure if you’re fully aware of this, but…

Do you struggle within yourself to make manifest simple desires that should come easily to fulfil your basic needs—for your psychological and spiritual wellbeing? Manifestation doesn’t seem to work in your favour as easily as it does other people. You may have wondered what you’re doing wrong in the world for God to disfavour you so much. You can’t really understand what others are doing right for their manifestations to come so quickly.

But… easy come easy go, right? Your Soul actually has a very particular interest in understanding how the Devil works in this Matrix of a world we are living in. That’s why you’ve dealt with some serious lethargy and lack at some point in your Life. All for you to truly understand limitations, lack mindset, and many other trauma issues that typically hold people back from making manifest a Life of their true desires. If you can fully understand how limitations are set in place, you can unravel them for good!

support for you to thrive – Queen of Wands

If you chose this pile, there’s a very high chance you’re a Starseed. That’s why you refused to be like your environment or upbringing. You had this NEXT LEVEL understanding of who you are on a Soul level. You believed you were higher than the folly of Mankind. Sounds like arrogance, but what can you do when you’re literally nobler than the rest of Humanity, whose main characteristics are destructive, deceitful and bloodthirsty? You’ve always known you’re better than THAT.

Of all the piles, I think you’d resonate with the idea of never having your own free will. To some extent, it’s quite true because you’re like this important agent of change whose mission is too important to fail. From the Higher Realms, your Higher Self and team of Spirit Guides were almost controlling your every step so you’d always be guided towards your Highest Destiny. From your perspective down here, some things may seem unfair. But if you could’ve seen things from your Higher Self’s perspective, you’d understand how supported you are in this messy Game called A Human’s Life.

If you’ve resonated with this pile, please acknowledge you’re a very special individual. You really came to Earth to be a trailblazer of sort. You’re definitely going to be famous one way or another. And although you may be worried about certain aspects of Life right now, there’s a secret here: knowing how much of your Life is dictated by your Higher Self, do you really think you could ever fail—at anything, really?

I’d recommend you read the previous segment again with this in mind😉

PARADIGM SHIFT🔻💛

raison d’être by your Oversoul – Gold Alchemist (Roger Bacon)

manifesting with the Magic of your being – Priestess of Healing

Access full reading + cards on Patreon🌸

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

Pile 3 – No-Nonsense Happy Go Lucky Attitude

VIBE: 2 Baddies & Ay-Yo by NCT 127

your untapped superpowers – Queen of Swords

Okay, I think people underestimate you because of the way you look, or that you don’t talk a lot. But you’re a quiet engine. There’s a lot going on in that pretty head of yours. You’re really intelligent, in fact, so intelligent you’re literally a weirdo for doing things differently. You know what I mean? Prof Snape, when he was a student at Hogwarts, figured out unusual-but-effective ways to brew his potions more quickly, with results that were even more potent. He was a quiet weirdo, but he was a brilliant potion master. Potion making was his interest, after all.

Do you know what your hobbies are? Are you brave enough to admit the things that light up your world? You must have pride in the pursuits that give true spiritual meaning to your Life. It’s your Life anyway. If you’re a bit shy about having strange interests, try to really understand the reasons your fears/worries/anxieties arise in the first place. Whose approval do you seek and why do you care anyway? Babe, it’s up to you what you wanna do with YOUR Life. Always remember that. On another note…

Because you’re so cute, or small, or soft-spoken, or just really patient (maybe just on the surface?), people think your head is empty. Mean people get really confident thinking they can fool you with their stupid words and stories. But quietly, you always, always see through their bullshit. One way or another, you always figure out who’s been shit talking behind your back, too. Your intellect literally cuts through the stupidity of conceited people. People would never expect such sharp intelligence to be housed in such a pretty face.

your ‘8 of Pentacles’ devotion – 10 of Cups

When you want to do well in the world, I think you really want to do it for your community. Your community could be your family, circle of friends, or the world at large, really. I think you don’t give yourself enough credit for how much you care. I think people could see you as standoffish, always doing your own thing, at your pace, can be quite lonesome, but you do care, dang, from a distance.

I think you don’t really want to be in close contact with people because you feel constantly misunderstood by them. It breaks your heart and you’re just afraid your hatred would only grow if you allowed yourself to feel that way always. So you intelligently decided to be a little closed off—it’s all your own protection as you also protect people from your nastiness (when you get upset). I think you’re really smart in that you know how to strike a balance. You just want to live in a peaceful world.

When you’re alone surrounded by only the things you like, you’re at your best. You think people should all strive to be a little selfish but happy like that. I think you could really change the world via showing people how prioritising your mental health and peace of mind leads to a better personality LOL

support for you to thrive – 3 of Pentacles Rx

You definitely need to work on your own. At least, you need to have your own thing that you can manage just by yourself. You know, the world isn’t the same as 50 years ago. Nowadays, thanks to the Internet, there are so many ‘jobs’ that can be managed alone. You can be an Internet creative in all kinds of medium. You could also be a solo small business owner. You could also be an online freelancer. You could also be an NFT miner or something.

I dunno, the possibilities for the future of ‘jobs’ are evolving constantly now and I think you’d be happy to know there are so many ways you can maintain your independence whilst avoiding dying alone and penniless. You don’t mind being alone; you just don’t wanna be penniless. And here is your confirmation that it is possible for you to live like that LMAO

Though I really think, when you’re much older you’ll eventually find your Soul Tribe and do exciting things with them. But that path will be accessible to you only after you’ve founded a solid base for yourself doing something you’re genuinely enjoying doing for the rest of your Life.

PARADIGM SHIFT🔻❤️

raison d’être by your Oversoul – Red Alchemist (John Dee)

manifesting with the Magic of your being – Priestess of Luck

Access full reading + cards on Patreon🌸

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

[PAC Masterlist] [Part 1] [Part 2]

[Patreon] [Paid Readings]

[satoshi-mochida]

Some indie game recommendations from ones I’ve played or know enough about them to suggest them to others(mostly in no particular order), Part 7.

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9

Eternights

Iron Lung

The Stanley Parable

Dredge

Cult of the Lamb

No Time to Explain

We Become What We Behold(Creator’s itch.io page/Steam version)

Amanda the Adventurer

One Chance

SCP – Containment Breach

60 Seconds series

There Is No Game series

Valiant Hearts(I think it counts as indie)

The Final Station

Idol Showdown

Mundaun

Night of the Consumers

Endoparasitic

Passpartout Series

Kemono Heroes

Melatonin

Blossom Tales series

Decarnation

LISA Series

Shiver

Clustertruck

The Flame in the Flood

The Pedestrian

Guts and Glory

Poly Bridge Series

400 Years

VVVVVV

Disillusion

[coreene]

It's the 1 year anniversary of Lorelei's Journal! I can't believe it's been a year since I've started sharing this thing. When I started I had no idea it was going to take me this long to write it, nor have I thought how long it was going to be.

It currently has 194k words and 45 chapters! I have made it to act 3 but act 3, as we all know it, is an overwhelming chaotic mess but, I am determined to write it in a way that it can make some sort of sense.

I do plan to end it at 60 chapters which coincides to 60 in-game days, as each chapter is a day. Depending on the things™, it might get a little bit longer - we're gonna see what happens!

For those that do not know Lorelei's Journal is a rewrite of the game in journaling format and uses 1st Person POV. The main romantic pairing is Astarion x Fem!Tav and Lorelei is a half-elf rogue.

Act 1&2 are written from her POV, Astarion starts writing in act 3 alongside her. But I also have a series with one-shots, written from Astarion's POV (mostly 1st person).

And a post-game (non-canon) fluff series written for the Winter Fluffle of 2023.

This is not all I've done for this series however. I've also made a calendar and marked the events that has happened in the fic (and by extension the game) so far!

The Calendar of Harptos is the calendar used in the game and more info can be found in this post.

Now, if I move onto the OCs:

This is Lorelei (Tav)

Her name comes from the song Lorelei by Theatre of Tragedy. I haven't checked it very recently but if my memory serves me correctly, it is also the name of sirens in germanic mythology. (I also like the song Lorelei from Scorpions)

Her guardian (and also her old flame) Athedrin

I've created his name using the information I've linked in this post. It comes from mixing "tath" and "drin" which mean "blue, midnight, night" and "rogue, stealer" respectively. I like to think his name would mean "Midnight rogue"

And lastly, Lorelei's unfinished family tree (slight spoilers):

This one has a few spoilers but I doubt many people who decides to read this will make it this far on the post (or will actually read the fic). And it is also still a wip so the names and descriptions I haven't used in the fic might change.

My plan for its second year is finish up and hopefully start on the following stories I have been turning in my head for the past year.

Thank you everyone for reading this far, thank you everyone who liked, reblogged, kudoed, left a comment and was with me on this journey one-way or the other!

[haggishlyhagging]

On March 9, 1977, Francine Hughes returned from business college to her Dansville, Michigan, home and put a frozen dinner in the oven for her husband, James. He didn't like it. Francine, he said, should be at home preparing meals for him, not running off to school. He beat her up, as he had done many times before; and to drive home his point he tore up her schoolbooks and term papers and forced her to burn them in the trash barrel. Twelve-year-old Christy Hughes called the police, who came to the house long enough to calm James down but declined, as they had many times before, to arrest him. They left James, tired from beating Francine, asleep in his bedroom. Determined to "just drive away," Francine piled the children into the family car. "Let's not come back this time, Mommy," they said. She carried a gasoline can to the bedroom, poured the contents around the bed where James lay asleep, backed out of the room, and set a match to it The rust of flame sucked the door shut.

Francine Hughes drove immediately to the Ingham County sheriffs office, crying hysterically, "I did it. I did it." She was charged with first-degree murder.

Dansville adjoins East Lansing, home of Michigan State University and consequently of many social-action groups. Within two months feminists and other interested people in the Lansing area had formed the Francine Hughes Defense Committee to raise money and public awareness for her defense. They were careful to say that they neither advocated nor condoned murder, but they held that women confronted with violence have a right to defend themselves. They argued that "Francine Hughes—and many other women facing similar charges—should be free from the threat of punishment," for Francine Hughes was a battered woman.

At the time wife-beating was a growing feminist issue, following close on the heels of feminist attacks upon rape, a crime it resembles in many ways. Both rape and wife-beating are crimes of violence against women. Both are widespread, underreported, trivialized, and inadequately punished by the legal system. Both are acts of terrorism intended to keep all women in their place through intimidation. In fact, rape is often part of wife abuse, though so far only a few states acknowledge even the possibility of rape within marriage. The chief difference between the two crimes is that while the victim of nonmarital rape must live with a terrifying memory, the abused wife lives with her assailant. Rapists are, in Susan Brownmiller's phrase, the "shock troops" of male supremacy. Wife-beaters are the home guard.

American feminists took up the issue of wife-beating when they learned in 1971 of the work of Erin Pizzey, founder of Chiswick Women's Aid, the first shelter house in England exclusively for battered women and their children. Rainbow Retreat, the first American shelter for abused families of alcoholics opened in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 1, 1973; and in St. Paul, Minnesota, Women's Advocates, a collective that began with a phone service in 1972, opened Women's House to battered women and their children in October 1974. Rainbow Retreat, during its first two and a half years, sheltered more than six hundred women and children. In St. Paul the five-bedroom Women's House sheltered twenty-two women and fifteen children during its first month of operation; less than a year later Women's Advocates were negotiating to buy a second house. Across the country the shelter movement spread to Pasadena, San Francisco, Seattle, Boise, Albuquerque, Pittsburgh, Ann Arbor, Boston, New York. To open a shelter was to fill it beyond capacity almost overnight. Suddenly it seemed that battered women were everywhere.

While activists opened shelters, researchers and writers set about documenting the problem of wife-beating or, as it came to be called more euphemistically in the academic literature, "domestic violence." The records showed that 60 percent of night calls in Atlanta concerned domestic disputes. In Fairfax County, Virginia, one of the nation's wealthiest counties, police received 4,073 disturbance calls in 1974. During ten months in 1975-76 the Dade County Florida Citizens Dispute Settlement Center handled nearly 1,000 wife-beating cases. Seventy percent of all assault cases received in the emergency room at hospitals in Boston and Omaha were women who had been attacked in their homes. Eighty percent of divorce cases in Wayne County, Michigan, involved charges of abuse. Ninety-nine percent of female Legal Aid clients in Milwaukee were abused by men.

The FBI guessed that a million women each year—women of every race and social class—would be victims of wife-beating. Journalists Roger Langley and Richard C. Levy put the figure at more than 28 million. Some said that one in four women married to or cohabiting with a man would become a victim; others said one in three. In some areas the incidence seemed even greater. In California the experts said one of every two women would be beaten. And in Omaha, the Mayor's Commission on the Status of Women estimated that 95 percent of women would be abused at some time. There scarcely seemed need of additional evidence, so the same statistics began to turn up in every new account, but repetitious as they were, they showed all too clearly that wife-beating is a social problem of astounding dimensions.

-Ann Jones, Women Who Kill

[notjuststardust]

Hallucinating

Plot Twist: You aren't actually hallucinating. Scenario: Rengoku and reader were childhood friends but because of the dangers of being a demonslayer he stayed away from them until a shapeshifting demon came back and proved that safety is not a matter of him being present or not.

Warnings: Angst, mentions of panic attack, mentions of hallucinations, fluff toward the end

     “I am hallucinating.” I have said this three times. Three times in the past 60 seconds. My best friend was a demon slayer who as he rose up the ranks was forced to stay away. Two years. Maybe three. I tried to stop counting.

     I saw Senjuro at my door. I thought it was Senjuro until I realized Senjuro was not that tall. Not as buff. I am hidden in the pantry drunk on my own hope. Trying to drown myself in darkness so I can excrete this living hope delved so potent into my veins.

     This has happened before. I’ve seen him before but he wasn’t real. 

     It was a demon in disguise.

     I cannot bare the thought of being lied to again. I had never killed a demon but its flesh was easy to slice with my sword. The sword that Kyojuro had given me before he had become a Hashira. Kyojuro’s head flew clean off and I did it without hesitation. Killed the face of my beloved.

     There is an overwhelming boom. The scent of ash is in the air. It reminds me of the smell of the demon withering away. I want to wither away.

     “(Y/N)!” I shrink into myself. I feel as if I could rearrange my organs to fit into any space if it could just hide me from this. Stall this moment. Silence plagues my home like an inky fog. I cannot breathe. I will not. I burrow my head into my knees. A small creak fleshes the pantry door and a pause. “Little flame?” I freeze.

     The demon did not know to call me that. That was why I knew. How I figured. I tilt my head up just to peek. I will entertain my delusion for a fraction of a moment and it will be gone. His eyes are the color of the guts of honeycomb. His face is grown. Sharper than before yet around it there is a fervent halo. His hair is still the same. A mix of golden oranges and reds. I stare and stare until I realize 60 seconds have gone by.

     “You’re not real.” The words come out more like a question than a statement. Kyojuro tilts his head and a slow smile rises on his face.

     “I am as real as you are, sunflower.” His voice. I missed his voice. 

     “I chopped your head off.” I confess and he has grown inexplicably silent. His eyes study me.

     “Senjuro told me,” his throat bobs as if the words he meant to say are still stuck. “I admit I did not think my absence would cause such injury. I apologize for not being here to protect you.” His whispers come to me tenderly.

     “Just eat me already.” His throat swells at my murmurings.

     “That would be a waste of a beautiful woman,” he rolls back on the ball of his heels, sinking his butt to the ground. He crosses his legs and shuffles with something in his pocket. He has placed his body in front of the door so I cannot slam it in his face. “I brought you something.” I am looking at him from my peripheral now. I do not let him leave my sight. His hands pull out a jar of dried pink petals. I stare at it. 10 pink petals, rose petals. “I kept these for our wedding.” he continues, twisting the cap of the jar but before he can open it my hand grasps his forearm.

     “Where are those from?” The real Kyojuro would know the answer. His cheeks grow meekly warm.

     “They are from the bouquet I gave you that day I declared my love for you.” His face is so flushed, his eyes fighting the urge to look about I almost don’t believe it.

     “It’s really you!” The tears have begun to fall before I have my arms strung around his neck. His spare hand catches my waist, his face burrowed in the shoulder I almost knock him out with. I feel as if I have been torn apart and sewn back together all at the same time. Even as I pull him into me I tremble like a quaking earth. My body is fighting the desire to pull him into my own flesh so I can make him part of myself so I may never lose him. Never again.

     For the first time since I have seen him I am back in my own body. I believe my own mind.

     “I missed you too, (Y/N).” His lips are at my ears a heavy ache in his words.

     “Why are you allowed to come see me now but not earlier?” I pull back squaring over the inches of his face. His lips are parted. The rays of sunbeams in his eyes dim.

     “It was a matter of safety,” his voice drops an octave. “But I can see now you are just unsafe seeing me as you are in my absence.” I stare at him for a long moment.

     “That’s it?” His brow knit tight as if in offense.

     “My status made me a large target for those I loved. By no means was it an easy decision for me to not see you,” a feeling stirs in me that I cannot quite name. “I thought of you everyday.” Then I feel a sting. Tiny stings everywhere like glass has shattered beneath my flesh and if I move it grazes muscle sapping away any strength I may have left. 

     “Did you ever think to ask me?” I have a lot of nerve. It was Kyojuro’s choice to become a demonslayer. His choice to throw away his childhood but I cannot help but wonder why he thought to choose to abandon me in the process. 

     “No.” He is stern but soft. “I was not going to ask you something that you would have gotten yourself killed over.” I watch how he remains so still. A statue that’s breaking apart from the seams. He wants to move. He is bursting open from the inside if only to protect me.

     “I would have followed you into battle.” I say the words he leaves unexpressed and he nods. “You would have been so focused on keeping me safe that you’d never do anything.” I finish quickly.

     “No, you were never a stumbling block.” He doesn’t miss a beat, smoothing over my hair with his palm.

     “I know, Kyojuro.” He stops to examine the pantry doorway.

     “Pardon me if this is too personal,” I can see his breathing harbor as if my position in the pantry pains him. “Do you hide in your pantry often?” He peers at me, concern pulling at his cheeks.

     “No,” I take a deep breath. “I just didn’t want to have to chop your head off again. I wasn’t sure if I was going crazy or if I was about to die.” I stop talking and fixate on a hanging ivy across the room. Kyojuro breaks the silence.

     “I’m sorry for not being here.” He sounds broken.

     “Don’t,” it comes out rougher than I like but I do not correct it. “You were never responsible for my safety,” I fiddle with my fingers. “If the demon hadn’t looked like you I’m sure I wouldn’t be hiding in my pantry but it did and now I have a vivid memory of slicing your head off of the bone.” Visions come back of his head on the floor disintegrating into matter. I choke down my nausea flitting my eyes to his.

     “What did it feel like?” I gawk at him, mouth closed shaking my head.

     “Kyo, I can’t..,” he rests one of his hands on mine. “It felt like I was only cutting meat. The bone felt like.. chopping bamboo.” Tears tickle my eyelids. “It was far too easy for me to decide to just chop it off and it felt powerful to be able to do so with such ease.” I stop talking feeling like if I continue I’ll drive him away. I hadn’t questioned killing him that day.

     “Your memory, was the blood cool to the touch?” His voice is tender when he speaks, his eyes scouring me for any discomfort.

     “Cold.” Is all I say. Rengoku steals his hand back and stands up. 

     “Come,” he murmurs, bringing his wrist to his mouth. I follow him and watch him until he sinks a tooth into his flesh.

     “Kyojuro!” I screech taking his wrist from him. He just stares at the blood pooling out from the skin he just tore.

     “I don’t mean to scare you, firework,” I glare at him. “Does my blood make yours run cold?” 

     “No, I mean it makes it boil that you did that to yours-“ I stop when a little of it dribbles against my hand. The crimson liquid is a warm pool of sunshine. There is no cold to its substance. “It’s not cold.” My eyes snap back to meet his.

     “Killing a demon feels far different from killing a human. We are made up of different things,” he pulls out a towelette from his pocket and dabs the blood. “I do not want you to fear thinking that you know what it’s like to kill another human. I can assure you the feeling is much different.” It had never crossed my mind that Kyojuro had ever had to cross such a line, though riddled with callouses his fingers wove light. Never pain.

     “Are you sure?” He rests his palm on my head.

     “Yes, little flame,” he stops to look around. “I suppose we should talk somewhere more romantic.” My mouth goes agape and my cheeks aflush. 

     “There is nowhere in my home that is ‘romantic’.” I chuckle at his wording.

     “I think you doubt your homes romancing capabilities.” Kyojuro laughs and I stifle back one. His pinky finds mine and guides me to the back porch. He opens the door and the sun brims at the horizon. The sky is a canvas of orange paint dunked across its surface. The horizon eats up the honeysuckle bit by bit. The sun to be swallowed soon.

     “That doesn’t count.” I turn to Kyojuro who is already staring at me. He remains soundless, his eyes transfixed on my lips. I start counting. 10 seconds. He stares at me for ten seconds before he realizes what he’s doing and blinks back to meet my eyes.

     “I had forgotten how beautiful you are.” he breathes as if he’s about to strike his sword but he just looks to the sunset. “Can I be honest, little flame?” I nod, taking a side step closer to him. He notices and smiles a small smile. “I do not think I deserve this.” I stop and consider all of the options he could be talking about.

     “Please elaborate.” He silences, the tense of pondering set in his jaw at my request.

     “Your forgiveness.”His voice trembles. Telling him that he is not responsible for what happened will not work.

     “No one deserves anything if I’m being honest.” He watches me like he doesn’t know who I am. “Hasn’t everyone fallen short? None of us deserve to even live,” I shoot him a onesover and he looks far more assured. “So I can spare some forgiveness because I do not deserve yours either.” I lean into his shoulder and he grins.

     “I suppose you are right,” I look up at him and he begins to breathe again. Our noses are inches apart. I do not move. “I desire more than your company, little flame.” A nervous smile graces my lips. His eyes travel to my lips and back to my eyes so many times. He seems uncertain. “I know that you desire my company,” he murmurs against my lips. “But do you desire more?” His stare holds me steady when I nod. It is minuscule but with how close we are I know he sees it.

     One of his hands cup my cheek while the other braces against my neck. He smiles, breathing as if this goes wrong he will pass away. I stifle a nervous giggle bringing my hands to his neck. They are clumsy and unpracticed in kissing so I’m not sure where they are to go. I close my eyes and he gently eases me into the kiss. I tremble a bit at the warmth now pressed to my mouth. Passion is palpable in the two seconds he remains there but he restrains himself like the warrior he is. 

     “I’d like you to come live with me.” He says, forehead pressed to my own. I have both heard him and read his lips yet I can’t believe either sense. I shake my head to get it back on straight.

     “Is that allowed?” I quirk an eyebrow and he nods.

     “For family,” he has a serious expression. No grin is on his face. “I’d like you to become my wife.” I feel as if sparklers are being ignited within my bones. I restrain myself and assess him before I even think of a response. His right shoulder seems tense. His jaw is set tight. I cross my arms at him raising a brow and a smirk instinctually sets itself upon my face.

     “I’m only going to answer if you say the thing.” His eyes widen.

     “The thing?” He tilts his head.

     “The thing people say when they are asking someone to.. you know,” his eyes are unfocused as if they are in another place as if he has to search the most inner parts of his brain to understand. “Nevermind, it was a stupid re-“

     “(Y/N) (L/N) will you marry me?” He has somehow sunken into one knee in a seconds notice. He even has a ring made of gold. It is simple but gorgeous nonetheless. I cover my mouth because I’m unsure if laughs or cries will escape out of it next.

     “Yes!” A foreign giggle escapes me as Rengoku scoops me off the ground into the air.

     “Delightful little flame.” His voice becomes quieter the closer to the ground he brings me. I finally inhale.

     “Kyojuro, how are we going to get married? We are only 17.”

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Saturday Fandom :) This ep is solid gold. We see how Lucy takes care of Tim in her own way in this one. How pranking is one of their natural love languages. The continuous pining era continues on. It’s pretty damn glorious. Let’s get going shall we?

5x06 The Reckoning

We start off with Aaron and Tim. The more we get these two more I love it. Aaron asking Tim if he should be working? Didn’t he just have surgery? Tim deflects and says it was only an old bullet. Mmhmm. Aaron really jumps in after that. Says he heard him talking to Ashley about him grabbing rest of his stuff.... The balls on him LOL Tim straight up walks away from his ass before he can speak more. It’s so funny. Lucy can immediately see how grumpy Tim is as he approaches her.

She stops him and gets him to say good morning. Your girl won’t be ignored Timothy haha Also seeing her and Chris laughing no doubt added to his grumpy fire. He was trying to avoid it all together. Sadly your wife will not allow this. Tim is as civil as he can muster up. Not wanting to say or do more. Truly doesn't want to be around the clown.

So after his pleasantries he takes back off. Leaving Lucy stunned in his wake. She immediately looks to Aaron. Who says too much and yet not enough for her. Lucy is reaching for more but Aaron isn’t stupid. He stumbles around and tries to get away ASAP. Fearing he’s said too much as it is. The fear Tim has instilled in him is hilarious. Lucy is left wondering what the hell is going on with her best friend?

Aaron tries to get Tim talk again. Idk why he thinks he would truly I don't. lol He flames out pretty quickly with the idea. It's a swing and a miss good sir. Only one who gets that is currently not in this shop. They stop to help this director with a prop that fell out. Aaron tries to lift it solo to impress this girl. He fails so badly. Tim has to be tagged in to help him. This is where the premise of this episode begins.

Tim placing his radio down in her truck bed to help. Their hilarious banter kills me while they lift it up. My god it’s amazing Tim doesn’t kill Aaron regularly LOL Poor Tim looks wiped by the time they’re done loading it back up. He has to take a call while Aaron fails miserably at hitting on her. It’s so funny I’m cackling. They get called away while the director takes off with Tim’s radio...

The director finds Lucy of all people to return the radio to. What cracks me up the most is the director's confusion from Lucy's excitement LOL All she wants to do is the right thing with it and get it back to Tim. Here's Lucy 0-60 explosion of happiness with how delighted she is he forgot it. This scene is so great for a couple reasons. First off her calling Tim 'Broody.' I’m dying. I mean he can be pretty broody especially right now. It just kills me that’s how she referred to Tim. Second she seems so confused by Lucy’s excitement.

She starts going off about how Tim is a super cop. How he’s never once let her forget about being late to roll call one time. Asking her 'Can you believe that?' This girl is like ‘Ok….’ She just wanted to drop off a radio LMFAO. Even says ‘You’ll give it to him right? ‘Wondering if Lucy will given how giddy she is about him losing it. Lucy promises her she will…but she just gave her a Christmas present ha Not a good day unless she can mess with her soulmate.

Lucy is about to tell him when we see a look of realization dawn over her. Now we know she knows something is wrong with Tim. For him to forget his radio is a sin he would’ve blasted her to the wall for. She knows he’s off. Just doesn’t know why. Teasing/pranking is one of their love languages. Which is why she chooses this path with his radio going forward. So married even when they aren’t even sharing scenes.

We return to Tim and Aaron ripping apart their shop for his radio. Tim is frantic as he searches for it. Says he’s going to check their kit bag again. It then hits him that the lady they helped has it. Tim knows Aaron was trying to hit on her while he was on the phone. What Tim didn’t see was Aaron absolutely crash and burn with his lines.

So Tim asks if he got her number? Aaron KILLS me with his answer. He seems so cocky with his 'Almost.' I’m rolling. Tim’s reaction is the best part. Like what the hell am I going to do with that info? It’s completely useless and helps him in no way. Their dynamic is hysterical. I don’t know pre-Lucy Tim could’ve handled Aaron the way present day Tim does. lmao

Tim’s phone goes off. It’s someone texting him about his radio. He is so very confused what's happening. Also very agitated they're holding it hostage. Aaron asks who it is? Tim doesn’t know but says they’re in a lot of trouble. Aaron being his rookie self just says to do an incident report. Tim tells him why he can’t do that. I mean a day of suspension for a Sergeant isn't a good look...So I don't blame him for wanting to hunt it down instead. Tim zooms in and say that he knows where this is. So the race begins to find his stolen radio.

The guys arrive at a coffee truck. Aaron making a comment it looks sketchy af LOL Tim defends it saying this is where he gets his coffee every morning. Goes on a mini rant about screen writers and oak milk mafia. I love this man so much. His dislike of screenwriter continues and it's so funny. Aaron saying that line I love so much. That I have used couple times in previous reviews. Telling him he’s like the old dude from UP. I mean he is. haha But we love him just the same.

He asks the owner if she’s seen his radio? She tells him no. It’s then he gets another text of his radio on a studio lot. Aaron is so confused why this is happening. Saying they haven’t asked for money or anything. They could be doing anything with that radio but not this. Tim says he’s not sure but they’re gonna find out.

They make it the studio lot fairly quickly. They find out it’s where Tim’s fav movie was filmed. Aaron starts to put it together little more. Saying first his fav coffee place then his fav movie. Whoever this is texting him knows him really well. It’s then it hits Tim. it’s Lucy. Ain’t no one knows that man better than her. He knows it too. Who else would know about his elitist black coffee spot, favorite movie and the lot it was filmed on? His wife heh.

We get our first real scene of the episode and it’s glorious. They’re about as married as it gets in this scene. I love how post 5x05 they’re back to being flirty and playful. The teasing is top notch in this scene. Tim asks her right off the bat where his radio is? Lucy plays dumb and says maybe a vengeful spirit took it. It is Halloween after all. Tim doesn’t give into her teasing at first. Ask's why she’s doing this? He's SO grumpy Lordy lord. Good thing Lucy is well versed in all things Tim Bradford.

This doesn't phase her in the least. She charges forward with her plan. Continuing to play dumb and says she doesn’t know what he’s talking about… The sarcastic banter really picks up above. He asks if she’s doing this because he was tough on her as a rookie? I mean that could be one reason haha But that isn't THE reason Tim. Lucy is armed with sass and maximum level teasing with her reply ‘We’re you? Gosh, I hadn’t noticed…’

Lucy throws out her bait waiting for him to take a bite. Hoping he does so. Wrapping her concern into some playful banter. Thinking if she offers up her 'help.' He will crack and tell her what's going on with him. Tim holds steady and is just as sassy in his reply. Telling her there is nothing going on with him. Ok Tim....it's not like you're talking to the one person who knows you best or anything...

Lucy drops the playful banter and gets real with him. We can hear the concern in her voice. Especially the way she says 'Are you okay?' She is truly worried about him. She can't stand him being upset and her not knowing why. We do see him soften when she shows that concern for him. His words are saying one thing but his face is saying another. Look at that man above. All soft looks and heart eyes for her asking. For caring.

Despite the sweet look above he is is deflection nation with Lucy in his reply. Come on Timothy of all the people to do this to she is not the one. Can read you like a damn book blind if she had to. The thing to note here is the amount of feelings being shown here. Goodness these two are so damn loud with their feelings. In the middle of the bloody precinct no less. Which has been a thing for them since S4 really. No one could've been shocked they ended up together. If they were they clearly weren't paying attention ha

All Lucy wants to do is fix it for him. It's her natural instinct to do so. But the problem is Tim isn't sharing the problem so she can do this for him. He is being SO stubborn. She truly doesn't understand why he's being this obstinate. The best part of the scene is Lucy legit stomping off in frustration. Can't stand anymore of his games and takes off.

She is so damn mad he won’t just share with her. Share with your wife Timothy. His reaction kills me as well. Eric crushes it with the facial expressions. It's so friggin funny. Tim is just as exasperated with her and she is with him. Gah these two idiots in love. Acting like an old married couple in public. Lucy keeping his damn radio if he’s going to be a stubborn ass LOL I’m dying this scene is masterful.

Lucy comes up to Aaron again seeing if he knows anything. He tells her Tim is just upset about his radio. Lucy offers up she will give him the radio if he just spills it. Aaron holds strong and says he doesn’t know. Tim bypasses her on the way to the shop. Lucy’s sass is fantastic ‘Hi. Good morning.’ Mirroring the one at the beginning of the episode.

Like excuse me hubby you can’t just ignore me and not say hello. Lucy asks the question she already knows the answer to about his radio. Tim tells her it’s in the shop. We hear a call go off for a supervisor. Tim reaches in and grabs this gigantic radio answering dispatch back. Oh Tim...

Lucy’s face is hilarious. Trying not to laugh at his stubborn dumbass. All she wanted you to do was talk my love. Not like you haven't done that before. Now you’ve forced her hand in this prank war LOL Tim is trying so hard to save face with his ‘This is it.’ Lucy giving him crap that hasn’t been standard since the 60s. Tim ignores her and tells Aaron to roll.

Lucy can’t help herself and wants a picture of him with it. I love how cute she is. Tim ignores her and rolls up his window. Her reaction to him shutting window it's so funny. I mean look at HER FACE in that second gif. Like she wasn’t going to think of something to get him to use it. To get back at him for doing that. He brought this on himself. You can’t play these games and expect to win Tim haha

Such a wifey in this moment wanting a pic. I’m laughing so hard about this scene. Lucy tells him to do a radio check. That way she can get her damn pic. Tim’s face is so very over it. I’ve said this many times before. This is the woman you’ve chosen to love Tim LOL Her unbridled joy at thinking of this is so precious. Enjoying her damn self torturing him till he finally fesses up. Can you imagine the camera roll on both of these goobs phones? Probably a plethora of these types of moments. If looks could kill in that 4th gif. Good thing she's immune.

We catch our lovely duo at the end of shift. Lucy comes up with his radio. Hands it back to him. I love how both hold onto it longer than necessary. The symbolism with the radio was seen writers I see you. It was their way of keeping them connected through out this episode. Lucy’s way of staying connected with him. Doing her best to try and distract him. Take care of him in her own way through this prank. One of their love languages whether they admit it or not.

She didn't even know what was wrong but knew she needed to do something for him. Lucy telling him she thought it would be more fun to torture him. Help distract him from whatever he’s going through right now. Wanted to help him get his mind off of whatever is bothering him. Comments she should know better than to get into his personal business... Gah look at the way that man looks at her after she says that. To paraphrase Chandler Bing 'Could he be anymore in love with her?’ You are his personal business Lucy Chen.

All that’s been running around in his mind since you kissed him in 4x22. Tell me you’re in love without saying you are. That’s both of them in this scene. Especially our boy. Tim see's what she did for him. He can’t let her walk away without explaining. This is such growth for him. Look at this man sharing why he’s upset with her. Being truthful and honest about what happened. Lucy’s ‘I’m sorry.’ I truly think she is sorry for him but not for the situation. Inside I’m sure she’s doing victory dance of epic proportions.

He then does Lucy one more solid. Tells her he appreciates her radio gag. That it did help take his mind off things. I love this sfm. Not only has this man shared his feelings with her he then does this. My damn heart. Being so vulnerable in this moment with her. If you don’t see the growth that is this moment for Tim you haven’t been paying attention. I’m so proud of him. Look how far he's come. All because of that beautiful human in front of him. Beautiful inside and out. The impact she has had on this man is unreal.

Also It’s heart eyes nation out here and we’re all here for it. I mean she pranked him so he would feel better. And then he did. That’s love people. Also so very on brand for them it’s insane. Another thing I adore is he is going out of his comfort zone. All to thank her for what she did for him. Not just be annoyed but thank her. 'Started from the bottom now were here.' Oh my lord the growth. Let's not bypass the affectionate stares Lucy is throwing his way as well. This is a two way street of heart eyes and affection in this moment.

The way he looks at her when after she says ‘Well, good.’ Look at that man above. Might as well be a billboard that screams ‘Tim Bradford is hopelessly in love with Lucy Chen.’ Also my god he looked delicious as hell in that shirt. Dark blue does him wonders mmm. That’s my fav color with my fav human. Double yum. Plus biceps on display. Sinfully delicious this man.

Anyways heh There is so much left unsaid and tension between them. You can see it above. There is more Tim wants to say. It reminds me of their parking lot chat in 4x22. Where Lucy is holding her breath as she waits for it. Tim trying to build up the courage to say it. Before he can the clown walks over. Having no idea what he’s just walked into.

Chris comes barreling in like an idiot. Or maybe for once he senses something. But that might be giving him too much credit. Lucy asking if Tim wants to join them? I mean that sounds like legit hell to Tim. He understands her motives though. Maybe if it was just her….Tim does his patented fake Sanford smile. The one where it doesn’t really touch his eyes.

He’s just uncomfortable and wants to go. Look at his body language all he wants to do is flee. He declines and tells them to have fun. You can see Chris's face is slightly confused when Lucy offers this. Like why are you offering for your boss to join us? Cause she's in love with him but you're not gonna put that together. What a ignorant putz lol

We talk about the pinning era in this first half a lot. This one moment is the most epic of the pinning. Tim Bradford is legit LONGING for Lucy out in the open. How he blatantly turns back to watch them go. My poor heartbroken man. The way he drops his arm in defeat. Frustrated she’s with Chris and not him. Gah it's so good. Tim looking devastated she’s with the clown. That he has to go home alone without her. That mistake from 4x12 coming back to haunt him in this moment. Watching as they leave with deep longing and want in his eyes for her. He sighs and climbs into his truck.

Both of their looks are saying so much in this moment. This is what I mean by angsty goodness. Hurts so good to watch these kind of scenes. Lucy sensing his eyes on her and looks right back. The game has changed for her now he’s not with Ashley. It shows as she gazes back at Tim. She's supposed to be present with the clown...but her look indicates she is anything but that. Lucy is back at that truck mentally with Tim as she returns that look. She is throwing out just as much love and longing as Tim is in these looks of theirs. She is feeling what he is throwing down and feels the pull to him. Damn good ep good I love the pining era. It’s *chef kiss*

~~~

Side notes-non Chenford

James and Nyla was goodness per usual always enjoy their SL’s

Wes’s SL was ROUGH. Elijah winning and his past being drug up in this one. I wanted to smack him a bit and so did Angela lol

Thank you as always to the amazing readers of these reviewer. Your likes, comments and reblogs fuel my soul and I adore you all. See you in 5x07 :)

[missiodei]

[FFXIV] YCH CHIBI COMMISSIONS

Hello I'm offering YCH chibis for FFXIV characters. These start at $45 USD for lined flat colors, and $60 USD for lined rendered chibis.

Note:

You MAY ALSO order these for ocs and characters not related to FFXIV. You will still need to specify which posing you would like, and provide references of your character and their weapon(s).

Please click below to learn more.

ALL PAYMENTS ARE IN USD.

If interested or if you have questions please contact me via Tumblr dms, my email @ missiodeicomms@gmail.com or discord if you have me added. You may also put in a request via Vgen, which will help me to get verified there.

Payment will be processed via Vgen if you place an order there. For all else, Paypal will be used.

Includes

A chibi of your character and their weapon of choice, lined and with flat colors. (Starting at $45.)

OR

A chibi of your character and their weapon of choice, lined and rendered. (Starting at $60.)

Details

You will receive the full-sized .png with a transparent background.

Slight modifications/alterations to the base pose may occur if the weapon would obscure too much of the body or face.

BLM includes the thunderball shown in the sample image free of charge.

Add-ons

More complex designs may incur additional fees.

Additional effects (flames, sparks, flowers etc.) will incur additional fees.

Vanilla Carbuncle/Egi/Fairy summons for SMN/SCH are an additional $5.

Bahamut/Phoenix summons, as well as modded summons (ie. Nald'Thal, Hades, etc.) will be counted as a second character and charged/calculated as such (ie. Bahamut/Phoenix will be $45 or $60. Hades/Nald'Thal summons will be the base of $45 or $60, plus extra for how complex they are.)

Vanilla MCH Automaton Queen will be treated and charged as an additional character.

Vanilla RPR avatar is an additional $5. Any modded avatars, depending on how complex, may incur additional fees or be charged as an additional character.

Fray or any modded Living Shadow will be charged and treated as an additional character for DRK.

I could mix and match poses (ie draw a caster with the drg/sam pose), though this may incur additional fees if it requires me to redraw much of the base.

Important

All transactions/Communication are via PayPal/Tumblr DMs/Email/Vgen.

I will draw all FFXIV races.

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I don't mind topless characters including those with breasts, but I will not draw genitals. The vanilla look for the Emperor's New Breeches is what I will draw for bottoms if you want them near-nude.

I will not draw sexual content.

Please view my ToS here.

[xxcrystalinerose]

EA Patch 2 dropped!! I'm so happy we finally get more UI icons, every visual update makes the game feel a bit more complete. I hope we get new portraits soon!

Some thoughts about the patch:

1. When I first downloaded the patch I immediately went on an Underworld run on Persephone aspect (Skull) and Surface run on Moros (Flames). Glory gain only on Omega cast feels like a major nerf to me and makes the aspect clunkier, while the Moros aspect is straight up cracked now after the basic update to Flames in general. I was clearing entire rooms with 60% extra mobs settings in under 20 seconds lmao

2. Flames in general are doing much better! The attack speed majorly helps to incentivize me picking any other Attack-oriented hammer upgrade than the one that adds channelling speed and attack speed. Moving while firing is also MUCH easier and now I'm no longer an Umbral Flames hater. Even with the nerf to special base damage, the Flames are still good!

3. Fucking finally they adjusted that real annoying vulnerable window between the Axe's block ending and the Omega Special landing. More incentive to use the Charon aspect and specials in general! Slightly-but-noticeably faster Omega Attack channel speed + basic tuning to crit buff proc makes Thanatos aspect EVEN BETTER too.

4. Momus aspect got reworked, so goodbye 1k Omega Specials lmao. Haven't had the chance to test it though.

5. As of currently imo the weakest weapon overall (playstyle, aspects, base damage, etc.) is the Argent Skull, while the strongest is the Moonstone Axe. My favorite is still Sister Blades though.

6. No wonder I haven't finished Original Sins yet, because apparently the Barren Chaos curse is really rare.

7. Reworked chance to encounter Boon rooms helps in steering my builds better. Now I don't have to use the same keepsake across 2 different regions just to rarify too!

8. Wolf Howl's reduced Hex cost makes it EVEN MORE SPAMMABLE. Pro tip: always pick up the Path that lets you use it twice in a row and the one that makes you Impervious for 2 seconds after using it. Easy.

9. Gatling lasers from Moneybags are less annoying; conversely Mourners are even more annoying. Balanced as all things should be. Queen Lamia is no longer a pushover.

10. Funniest patch note of all time. Nuff said.

[aiysan2]

Teaser for 'Going Under' Dabi x reader

When Dabi runs away from home and comes a cross a curious girl who grew up in a cult.

Series masterlist

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It was a very spontaneous decision, running like that. He just couldn't bring himself to turn around and confront him again. The constant neglect that he endured became to much for him, he wanted to cry more than anything, he just wanted something to put his pain out on but no tears came. A product of the fire he suffered many years ago.I should kill the bastard.The bastard could be anyone, his brother, his father, infact it should be everyone, everyone who stood by and watched the torment and increased his pain should fuck off and disappear. They should burn in hell alongside him so he can taunt them for eternity.His legs couldn't stop moving and he couldn't stop the flames surrounding his face almost obscuring his vision as he ran through the woodland area miles away from any city.He stopped, just for a second clutching his chest in anguish. He was tired. His legs having enough strength only to hold his weight, and with a burst of adrenaline make him able to walk about 100 metres more.Touya was filled with dread as he looked around, it was dark, he couldn't see much the only light coming from the azure flame in his palm. Yet, that gave nothing as the wood surrounding stretched for miles and had no unique features that could be used to mark his way." Fuck." He muttered fingers twitching in anxiety. He didn't know where he was, he didn't remember how he entered, his anger clouding his judgement. He was stuck.He took a staggering step forward trusting his instinct to take him somewhere safe, he was absolutely fucked if he fell asleep when the creatures of the night drew near. If he could find a cabin or something that proved safe he could find rest for the night.He panted, the sound of blood in his head muffling his ears, his body begging for some type of break. What the fuck?Almost like an iron wall, trees grew thick and tall, eerily symmetrical in height and size. Easily 60 All Mights tall and 15 wide. It had to be the result of a quirk, trees didn't grow in a circle barricading whatever was in the circle.He didn't hesitate to investigate, curiosity overcomming whatever his body was begging him to do.He was happy for the rain otherwise he would've set the trees alight with his methods. His body set alight, he had little care for what he did with it now, it already seemed damaged beyond repair anyway. The bark crisped up as he walked forward, burning a Touya shaped hole in the tree as he moved on.He had to have walked 50 metres before reaching the other side of the tree. He gaped when he saw what was there.Obviously some people had run away and left a civilization behind. He wouldn't have thought it was barren but the lack of light and overgrown trees, proved that had to be true.His heart flipped in joy at the thought of having somewhere warm to sleep. He walked to the closest cabin, it was quite small and basically empty when he looked through the window.He didn't hesitate to kick down the door, not taking into consideration the noise he was making when entering. The room only had a small stool in the centre, eerie, but he had no time to think about that as he pushed himself into a corner to sleep off.He thought about his father, he thought about his mother, he thought of his two brothers, his sister, his friends from school and all he felt was sadness. He wished he would've died all those years ago instead of being stuck wandering the earth with evidence of his suicide attempt. And with these thoughts occupying his mind, he wept.

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[svynakee]

Zuo Le: a naïve newbie overly concerned with the rulebook

As someone who played Arknights Global since server launch and a day one Hellagur user, my first impressions of Zuo Le comes with a strange nostalgia for Arknights as it was 4 years ago, when his subclass was first added to the game. Zuo Le is undoubtedly the strongest Soloblade Guard (which I still call Musha in my heart) we have. He’s the Degenbrecher, Reed the Flame Shadow, Mountain of his subclass.

And in terms of power level, he’s mid.

Hellagur was the first 6 star Soloblade added to the game in April 2020 (Global server). As an old veteran of Ursus, a militaristic nation, who has grown disillusioned of his country’s patriotic attitudes the identity of a strong, self-sufficient DPS geared at dealing with elite enemies fit him well. He wanted to stand alone, dealing with dangerous foes before they reached the main defensive line of operators, refusing healing so medics could focus on other squad members. His kit provided dodging and an attack speed increase as his health dropped lower. He was made for desperate victories and impossible odds, relying on only his own skills and a bit of luck. An old soldier, no stranger to war. Block-1 would prevent him from getting overwhelmed with multiple strong enemies, while his high damage would carve through lesser foes easily; a mark of his experience and understanding of his own limits. Hellagur was elegant in his design and exciting to use, providing an alternative to boss killers like dreadnoughts (Melantha, Skadi) and burst-type (Silverash, Eyjafjalla).

But in a game where you can only bring 12+1 operators he demanded more attention and strategic thinking than easier options who performed the same tasks. Some players found this a bonus. But it was a detriment in terms of meta. The paradox of a laneholder who advertised self-sufficiency by self-healing, but relied on RNG dodge, a steady stream of enemies of a certain strength, leaked large groups of enemies due to Block-1 and needed proper skill activation for survival. And ranged enemies were his bane, chipping away at his health if they did more than 60 HP damage per hit.

I used Hellagur. I raised him to level 90. I used him in Contingency Contracts, events, to clear new main story maps.

But bosses got harder. Enemies got faster. Elemental damage became more common; Wandering Medics could solve this issue for most operators, but not the unhealable Soloblades. And Hellagur entered retirement for the second time in his long life. New Soloblades (still called Musha) were added. None were 6 star, and the only one to make waves was Utage, whose S2 provided Arts damage burst and encouraged her use as a nuker: a mini-Surtr of 4* rarity.

Four years after Hellagur, Zuo Le made his debut. His design followed the Soloblade traditions while adding modern upgrades, a revitalisation of old ideas. He is the first Soloblade to make use of Barriers, a mechanic that had been present in the game since launch and present on other unhealable characters like Hummus (Reaper) and Penance (Juggernaut). With the Soloblade’s identity based around their attack speed increase at low HP, the idea of replacing HP while increasing survivability is so obvious that it’s frankly criminal that it took four years to implement. His +1 Block skill (S2) at lvl 7 costs 24 SP, unlike Hellagur’s (S3) which costs 41. His range-extension skill (S3) is one tile further than Hellagur’s (S3) with a much lower 28 SP cost. He not only increases attack speed at low health, but SP regeneration as well, making his already cheap skills easily spammable ensuring his DPS and survivability remain high no matter the conditions. He is the shining future of Soloblades, in an era where their niche is threatened by ever-stronger Dreadnoughts, Juggernauts, Reapers and Duelists (but not really Duelists). Zuo Le easily stands ahead of every Soloblade in the game. He is the champion to bring back the glory of Hellagur’s debut, addressing every flaw in the Soloblade’s design while piling on the damage to catch up to 2024 Arknight’s premium DPS.

But Zuo Le made a miscalculation: you see, the other subclasses have been cheating.

Mountain is a Brawler Guard, a low DP cost Block-1 subclass meant to deal with weak enemies at the start of a map. He blocks 2 and heals himself. Reed the Flame Shadow is an AOE Caster masquerading as an Incantation Medic to keep her DP cost low. Degebrecher’s S3 is auto recharge, with a Swordmaster Guard’s massive range and damage, with a unique debuff that disables enemy normal attacks. Mlynar sneaks in some true damage while in his mandatory idle phase as a Liberator Guard, using his taunt and reflect passive. In 2024, operators are expected to do more than their job description. Zuo Le stuck to the rules.

Zuo Le is the most Soloblade a Soloblade has ever Solobladed. And he shall remain so, at least for the next 6 months. He’s an extremely strong DPS and laneholder. Unfortunately, that’s not enough anymore.

Zuo Le’s main weaknesses are the same as other Soloblades: he is susceptible to ranged attacks that he can’t retaliate against, elemental damage can wear him down when there are no enemies, and Block-1 leaks large waves. I find myself using him in IS standing in front of a low rarity and low DPS defenders like Spot and Cuora, charging up his skills to clear out the enemies she gathers up. His S3 range is good for providing support to other lanes when placed horizontally; Blaze and Thorns users will be familiar with this strategy. He performs well enough.

But for a casual player, I think his performance will feel worse than other 6 star laneholders. He’ll leak a slug because his S2 didn’t charge in time, die to necrosis damage, get frozen and fail to recover his HP before getting bonked…and when you stare at your squad wondering what to tweak to get that perfect clear, Zuo Le will start looking like the guy to replace. I think Soloblades and other Block-1 elite killer types (Skadi, Viviana, Hoederer) have a tendency to feel worse when they underperform compared to other operators. Zuo Le isn’t a weak operator, but among strong operators he will feel worse to play.

The first Soloblade character was a veteran of bygone wars, tired of fighting but reluctantly joining the battle to spare others the suffering he knew too well. In a way the Soloblade subclass echoes Hellagur himself, feeling like they were made for an older style of combat that Arknights has since moved on from. In a time when many DPS bring other utility to the table, and the utility classes bring considerable DPS, Zuo Le honours the Musha’s legacy perhaps a bit too much for his own good.