#THOUGHTS;; Iasis

[jammedmuses]

let the discourse begin [ x ]

Tisk, Tisk, you got Dissed! Funtime Freddy, Santa noticed that red stapler you stole from your co-worker's office desk last month.

“ Jokes on you! Seeing William flipping the entire office upside down looking for that stapler is WELL worth getting onto the Naughty List! ”

“ And we’d do it again! ”

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There's a reason Santa created a Naughty List. And you're just one of those reasons Golden Freddy.

Literally couldn’t care less, he goes by his own moral compass and his own moral compass alone.

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Santa's been watching you Springtrap, and right now you have a very large coal mine coming your way.

Tired sigh. “ ... thanks. It’ll keep me warm during Winter, I guess... ”

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So far you are on the "Nice" list Millie, but you'd better watch out... Santa's checking his list twice!

“ ........ I’m 14. ”

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Well, Gretel, you've been a good kid this year. Santa has lots of good stuff for you this Christmas!

“ Well! I suppose that’s not too shabby all things considered, h- heh...! ”

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Tails Doll do you kiss your Mom with that mouth?! Santa puts kids on the Naughty List for cursing, and frankly you've got a mouth like a Sailor! Naughty List for you.

“ Fuck you! What mouth!? WHAT FUCKING MOUTH do you see on my face!? ”

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Now, Bendy. Santa knows you're trying, but it still doesn't make up for last year. You're on the Naughty List.

“ WELL THEN?? I GUESS TRYING DOESN’T FUCKING MEAN ANYTHING THEN??? HOW ABOUT I DON’T TRY AT ALL AND BECOME THE LEGEND AT THE VERY TOP OF YOUR NAUGHTY LIST THEN??? HUH??? ” He took this very personally.

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Alice Angel, you must have been EXTRA nice this year. Santa has a smiley face next to your name on the Nice List!

“ Oh, you~! I just do what I can! ”

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Congratulations, Jinx! You've made the Nice List! JUST KIDDING. You've been a very bad, bad person.

“ Ugh... thanks for reminding me that I suck forever no matter what. ”

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In the words of Larry David, you've been "pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good" this year Breach.

“ Of course! I make sure everything’s good and pretty in place! ” She might have misinterpreted this at some point...

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Ho ho ho! Nice try, Banshee. Thought you could slip one past the Big Guy, huh? Naughty.

Literally starts sobbing. “ I-I’m trying the best I can--! ” How could you do this to her!?

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Whoa Ketut! You need to start thinking about packing your bags if you don't change your ways soon. Santa is more likely to hunt you down than bring you a present.

“ He’s envious that Halloween is and will ALWAYS be 666 thousand times better than Christmas! Come at me, un-spooky old fart! ”

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You'll be getting a big gift this year! A big, big box of packaged air. That's right Cubby you're on the Naughty List.

“ Oh, com’on! Actually, wait.. I can just paint a Santa Claus replica who will gift me! ” Cubby no that’s cheating, that’s exactly the kinda thing that gets you on the naughty list.

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The world could use more people like you, Gintara. Keep up the good work, and you'll make the Nice List every year!

“ Thank you! I’m glad I’m making a positive difference! I just wish my mother would’ve chosen this path as well. She would be much happier, I’m sure. I know I am! ”

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Iasis, Santa has something extra special for you this year! You're at the top of the Nice List.

“ Um. I mean thank you, but-- at the top of the list? Did I really earn that...? ” Come on kid, give yourself more credit.

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Nina Blip, you REALLY put ex-lax in Santa's cookies?! Don't expect to see your name on the Nice List anytime soon.

“ Whatever, I don’t want nor need your imaginary judgmental fat ass getting stuck down my chimney anyway. ” Don’t you have anything to say about the ex-lax, Nina?

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So far you are on the "Nice" list Bea, but you'd better watch out... Santa's checking his list twice!

“ Hey! People can’t make perfect choices every second! ”

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Kiki, you have been sooooo nice that you make "The CareBears" look selfish.

Happy bouncing!

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Way to help that old lady, Technum. Santa will certainly add you to the Nice List this year.

“ Well, when an ‘old program’ doesn’t run well, you should always find ways for it to run smoother instead of having it struggle until it crashes! ” Well that’s quite the analogy to “you should always help others” but it works.

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The world could use more people like you, Spectrum. Keep up the good work, and you'll make the Nice List every year!

“ I’m sure my brother is a far better role model, but thanks. ”

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You better start making some room for the huge lump of coal you’re about to get, or either start cleaning up your act Goose!

No. :)

It might as well use that very coal to commit arson. :))

[mierolainen]

loon voice: blondie I ran enough of them to know one when I see one

[mariacallous]

Back in the 1980s, when polenta was the hot new item on restaurant menus, I was eager to try it. I knew it was a traditional Italian dish, but it was foreign to everyone else, including me. I bought a package of cornmeal, began the preparation, and when it was done I realized I had been eating it all my life. It was the same dish Jonathan Harker ate before his encounter with Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s novel, known in the American South as “cornmeal mush” and “pap” in South Africa. But I knew it as mamaliga, which had been a staple in my grandma’s Romanian kitchen. 

Because mamaliga was such an essential in our lives, I didn’t realize that most of my Jewish friends had never heard of it. The hallways in the buildings we lived in all had the same familiar scents of Ashkenazi staples we all knew — chicken soup, challah, braising briskets, and roasting chickens. Shared values and menus.

Except when it came to mamaliga, which I learned was limited to those of us whose ancestors were from Romania. 

While our family was dining on cornmeal mush, everyone else was eating kasha varnishkes, a dish I ate regularly only after tasting it at my future mother-in-law’s house (it was love at first bite).

It all has to do with geography, I think. Polenta/mamaliga is based on cornmeal, which had been unknown anywhere except the Americas, where corn is indigenous. Christopher Columbus and other Spanish and Portuguese explorers brought corn to western Europe and Africa, where it flourished. Cornmeal became a staple.

Turkish traders noticed corn grain in the markets of Africa and brought some “granoturco” back to Southeast Europe, including the region we now know as Romania, which then belonged to the Ottoman Empire. In 1692, a Romanian nobleman tried some, thought it worthy, and introduced it to Romania. It became the country’s national dish. 

A few years ago I visited “the old country,” including the city of Iasi, where my grandparents were born, and laid stones on the graves of my great-grandparents who are buried in the one remaining Jewish cemetery (when my grandparents lived there, the city was about one-third Jewish). 

Naturally we sampled mamaliga, which is ever-present on every restaurant menu. It’s usually served as a side dish, much like any starch, but in my childhood, my grandma, and later on my mother, served mamaliga in a multitude of ways, including our favorite, mamaliga cu branza si smetana – mamaliga with cheese and sour cream, served for lunch or as a side dish at dairy dinners. 

In my own kitchen, I’ve learned that mamaliga is incredibly versatile. I’ve used it as a substitute for potatoes, noodles, and rice (complete with butter, sauce, or gravy). I’ve served it as a full meal, as a topping for brisket or chicken pot pie filling, with mushroom ragout, and with caramelized onions and cheese. I’ve even mixed it with molasses and cream to make a quick Indian pudding. 

The leftovers are spectacular, too. In fact, in Romanian households they make extra mamaliga to pour into a loaf pan, let it firm up, and then cut slices to fry to crispy goodness. I’ve served fried slices of “Romanian toast” for breakfast, topped them with gravy or cheese for lunch, or with a fried egg for dinner.

It’s no wonder that the Romanians called dried ground corn mamaliga, a word that translates to “food of gold.” It’s a tribute not merely to the grain’s beautiful yellow color, but to its adaptability. Whatever you call it, this dish is an enduring winner and, as far as I am concerned, another treasure of the Ashkenazi kitchen.

[luceafarul-de-dimineata]

Romanian siblings posting

So, I think the current Romania character in Hetalia is very Transilvania. He lives in Sibiu, he has beef with Hungary and we never see him (from my memory) interacting with Turkey or Russia pre-USSR. So, Transilvania he is.

So that leaves the other 2 big parts of Romania up for nerds like me to write for. Wallachia and Moldova/Moldavia (they're Țara Românească or Valahia and Moldova in Romanian so I might switch between those names.)

Wallachia, Moldavia and Transilvania are all siblings, the children between Dacia and the Roman Empire. They barely got to see their parents because they were all too young to remember them.

The three got seperated soon after, Transilvania getting kidnapped by Hungary, Wallachia constantly bickering with Turkey and Russia breathing down Moldavia's neck.

So, here are the character introductions for my little ocs of them. I actually have a lot more toughts on Wallachia than Moldavia so this is more of a Wallachia post

~Wallachia~

She's the youngest of the siblings (around 19 years old in human years).

She just wants to be left the fuck alone to plant her veggies and take care of her goats

She loves impaling things, crushing potatoes, steak, poking Turkey in the ass with her pitchfork

She has a pet goat called Esus because it's gramaticly correct

She adores cheese and anything with lactose. She refuses to believe lactose intolerance is a thing.

She can speak a shit lot of languages: Romanian, Turkish, French, English, German and Italian. In that order.

Her and Serbia have matching tatoos and they both dyed a bit of their hair blue just because

Wallachia keeps begging Serbia to join the EU because she wants to hang out in the back of the class and get drunk on medical alcohol like in the good ol' days

Serbia and Wallachia are childhood friends. Serbia actually thought Wallachia a few words in serbian and slavic (including the word for love)

Back when Turkey was the Ottoman Empire, he would constantly try to invade Wallachia

He did succeed but only a bit

They fought a lot and Wallachia was one of the brattier territories

She really did enjoy seeing the turks impaled at her border

All and all, Turkey was the closest thing Wallachia had to a father, so, inspite of their previous conflicts, Wallachia still talks with Turkey

At some point Turkey let Greece in charge of Wallachia

They got along quite well, especially since Greece would pay her to get naked

Wallachia and Greece still keep in contact and they send eachother cringe christmas and easter gifts... usually socks or cards

Once Wallachia and Moldavia joined forces together, banboozling the West by electing the same president, they played rock paper scissors and Wallachia won.

She once beat the shit out of Bulgaria, to the point that some western powers had to stop her from doing it

Never leave Wallachia in a room with Hungary. That bitch will be dead in an instant

Wallachia loves her siblings a lot but she's also a firm believer in consensual bullying

She did basicly every college under the sun at England's place before he threw her out. Now she's staying in Italy with Felicio

Her and Romania constantly try to see which one is better: Cluj Napoca or Bucharest

It's Iasi, guys, come on

~Moldavia~

She's the middle child at about 20 years old in human terms

She's the scapegoat of the family

Moldova is her kid and she's a very proud mom

She makes the best alcohol in the family

She was a lot closer to Wallachia than to Romania

She's the only one of the three that still constantly goes to church

She created the ice bucket challange and she's amused by how people were using it

She's the best storyteller of them all. She just has a very sweet and homey voice.

She's dating Ukraine and they're in a loving relationship together.

[meushell]

The Tok’ra Lineup

* Means the name is not canon or an original character.

The information is a combination of canon and headcanon, based on my series, Stargate: The Tok’ra.

Information may be updated as necessary.

Updated: 4/24/24

Aldwin and Gete*

Aldwin was a former healer and became one once again.

Gete was a nobleman, in charge of his city. He was in arranged marriage that he had no interest in. He developed, instead, a relationship with his brother-in-law, Tovol. When joining the Tok’ra, Gete appointed Tovol to be in charge of his children, something he didn’t trust of his own brothers. Tovol accepted his niblings as his own, and a 100+ years later, Gete’s descendants still rule. Gete visits them from time to time.

(Technically, Aldwin wouldn’t exactly be canon because I mistook the host’s name for the symbiote’s name, then wrote them in multiple stories before realizing my mistake.)

Anise and Freya

Scientists. They ended up marrying Daniel Jackson, having formed a relationship when the three of them had amnesia.

Cordesh and Nelay’an*

Yep. These two.

Cordesh* and Glebu*

Cordesh wasn’t quiiiiite as dead as everyone thought.

Delek and Tian “Toma”*

High Councilors.

Tian is also an artist. He keeps his true name safely guarded, so goes by “Toma.” Tian’s family was killed by Jaffa, something that he keeps guarded from even other Tok’ra.

Delek is very cautious around the Free Jaffa as a result. Delek, himself, is bitter towards Earth humans, knowing they did nothing whenever his brethren died on their planet.

Egeria

The Tok’ra queen.

Garshaw and Yosuuf

Grand Councilors, second in command of the Tok’ra.

Yosuuf was a wife and mother before joining the Tok’ra. She still visits her grandchildren, and Garshaw is accepted as part of the family.

Iasis* and Malika*

Raised as sisters, they chose to blend together. Iasis is a queen, being a clone of Egeria. She was created without the Tok’ra’s knowledge. She was rescued and adopted.

Jalen

Jalen is the symbiote.

Jarvo* and Korra

They switch between being operatives, security guards, or bodyguards.

Jaydin

See Pel and Liandra.

Jolinar and Rosha

Look! It’s Jolinar and Rosha!

Rosha injured herself to get out of an arranged marriage to join the Tok’ra. It wasn’t that he was a bad man, but she wanted more in life, and straight up asking to join the Tok’ra would have humiliated her family.

Jolinar was born to be a leader, but like Rosha, she wanted more than what she was destined to be. In her heart, she was truly an explorer. She used her leadership skills to make many allies for the Tok’ra.

Jolinar and Quinta

Jolinar’s Nasyan host. He lasted for about a whole…six months as a host.

Jolinar and Samantha “Sam” Carter

And Sam!

Kela’an* and Drack*

Communications Officers. Mates to Anise and Freya. The relationship ended upon Draco’s death. Kele’an encouraged Anise and Freya to move on with Daniel.

Kela’an* and Samantha “Sam” Carter*

With having burns herself, Sam chose to blend with Kela’an instead of letting Kela’an die. Because Sam has Jolinar’s memories, Kela’an has taken them for herself, to ensure that Jolinar and her hosts will be remembered. They are mothers to Iasis and Malika. However, since Kela’an blended with Sam while she was pregnant, her memories did not pass to Malika.

Kelmaa and Eir*

Healers. (Kelmaa is the first symbiote to look like she’s going “eh.”)

Kilso*

A Tok’ra healer.

Lantash* and Setta*

They fell in love with Jolinar and Rosha, or rather, Rosha had the hots for Lantash and didn’t care that his host was female. This would have lead to a beautiful marriage, but unfortunately, Setta was killed by a Jaffa.

Lantash and Martouf

Operatives. Security. Diplomats. They were mates to Jolinar and Rosha. They were first interested in Sam because she was Jolinar’s host, then fell in love with her. They are fathers to Iasis and Malika.

Malek and Amb*

Outpost Commanders and Scientists. Amb is a bit shy. They ended up marrying Aldwin and Gete. Along with Aldwin and Gete, they were very closely involved in raising Iasis and Malika.

Ocker* and Jin*

Per’sus’ personal body guards. Jin died protecting him and Einar. Ocker is batch mates with Delek. Because the two were the last of their batch, they became very close.

Ocker and Kima*

After losing Jin, Ocker transferred and became Chief of Security at the Risa Base. Their deaths reinforced Delek’s anger towards Earth humans.

(Ocker’s photo is just recolored Lantash.)

Pel* and Liandra

Liandra was on the High Council with her beloved symbiote, Jaydin. After Jaydin was murdered, she re-blended with Pel. Liandra was given the opportunity to rejoin the council, but she refused. Knowing that being on the council was why Jaydin was murdered, Liandra took to Pel’s job, being in security and sometimes bodyguard, instead. Even with Pel’s help, it took Liandra years to accept Jaydin’s death. Eventually, they became mates with Iasis and Malika.

Per’sus and Einar*

Grand High Councilors.

Per’sus was batch mates (or clutch mates if you prefer) with Jaydin and Cordesh. He was also Egeria’s mate for over nine centuries.

Einar had a 150+ years romance with Cordesh and Nelay’an. Per’sus, having never gotten over the loss of Egeria, never got involved.

Relek* and Tur*

Tur was a distant cousin of Martouf, one of four survivors when their people were massacred. He immediately fell for Saroosh and Selmak, even before blending with Relek.

Ren’al

Scientists. They were married to Ocker and good friends with Delek. Ren’al is the symbiote.

Selmak and Saroosh

High Councilors. They were married to Tur and Relek. Unfortunately, their mates couldn’t be there when Saroosh died, a few days before she turned 203.

(Best I could do for Selmak’s image since we don’t see all of her at once.)

Selmak and Jacob

Space Dad! And Selmak. Aside from being leaders, they also work as operatives.

Selmak’s previous marriage ended upon blending with Jacob. Tur and Relek still loved her, and she loved them, but neither Tur or Jacob had any interest in dating another man.

Jacob is Sam’s dad. Selmak feels like Sam is her daughter, but she accepts that Sam doesn’t feel the same way.

Shorvek* and Lon*

Security Guards. They were dating Aldwin and Gete. They asked to go up on the surface, soon after meeting the Tau’ri, then were never seen again.

Thoran

High Councilors. Thoran is the Symbiote.

Twig* and Hurton*

Hurton’s previous symbiote was killed. After being forced to hunt down his fellow Tok’ra, Hurton escaped. He ended up blending with Twig and rejoining the Tok’ra, where he began dating Einar (though not Per’sus).

Vorran* and Fenz*

Security Guards and/or Body Guards. Vorran was sent to the Risa System after some odd behavior.

Zarin

Operatives. Zarin is the symbiote.

[lifeofuswithmt]

Hello there, I wanna ask, can I have a free reading?

DOB: 12 March 2003

Time: 23:15/11:15 PM

Location: Iasi, Romania

Thank you for this opportunity!

You maintain yourself well, and you put thought into your fashion sense. You take care of your skin, face, and hair. You carry yourself elegantly. You take care of your looks and your impressions of people.

If you don't do above mentioned things then you should start doing them that will improve your financial condition.

Your original family transformed in some ways.

Your younger brother(or your neighbor) could be aggressive. But you responsibility of him.

You may be good at studying or your focus in life is on creativity and romance.

If you have any questions you may ask in the comment box.

[riflesso-sfocato]

Chisinau -> Athens

The first day of my trip was quite exhausting. Waking up at 5 am and spending almost all day trying to get to your destination may be not only time consuming but tiring too. Found out that I can fall asleep in any circumstances if I really want to sleep.

Also, it was my first experience with plane transfer (stressful but successful). Good to know that it’s not so terrifying as I’d thought it would be.

Chisinau -> Iasi -> Bucharest -> Athens

Things to consider for the travels:

Take water and something to eat

Think twice when you decide to save money, your time is precious too

[jayhorsestar]

both hr ladies, both miele (halchiu north), honey re., and eph.holding (distributor antibiotics), were recently calibrated, thought a diff. scenario, though. ropharma is social democrats color, miron mihai former shareholder EPH group, and founder of plant at eph inc RO BRV 1998. florina contacted me during 2022 on jumbo shop floor, she formerly raw mat purchasing n aquisitions manager. procurement site. hazmat incl., so she always relayed intel to miron, or shimon at florida, always. miron would had enjoyed online history, and called gabi, the CEO at eph.h, comme d’habitude. gabi is linking liberals at bucharest operei plaza to social democrats at iasi and dorna and dornafarm, and ropharma, and lately coca-cola ploiesti. elections prepps arrived w/ 2023, and no later than april liberals expected to enter opposition, and social democrats take the lead w/ internal affairs too. which is eventually organizer on elections by law. marcel saying rosita retired, was basically confirmation gabi and miron were on a call lately calibrating ropharma and eph.h at dividends times, exactly like 2002, carbon copy. apparently merelyin my head, and relayed HR ladies only, miele and eph.h, NO RESULTS. none, m

[pastelwitchling]

The Last Avenger: Alex Manes Appreciation Week Day 3

               The inside of the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft was like a stroll through Disneyland for Alex’s friends.

               Liz’s eyes were wide on the pristine labs and expert scientists as they shared findings with one another. Max was the only one safe to run a finger across the glass of a high-voltage plasma ball, unaware of the awed looks he was garnering from the other agents. Kyle gave a kind, polite smile to every medic and agent on board who came up to him to shake his hand, Maria was studying a case of gems, unbothered by the glow and faint whispers the stones emitted as other agents seemed to be, and Isobel seemed content with seeing how many places she could sneak into to people-watch.

               Mostly, everyone seemed eager to talk to Alex, to shake his hand and welcome him back despite his protests that he wasn’t back and that they please go away.

               The only one who seemed uninterested by any of it was Michael, clinging to Alex’s side like he worried Fury would steal him away if he let his guard down.

               “You’ve been watching us,” Alex said.

               “I’ve been checking up on your friends, yes,” he said. “During that year you were away dismantling Project Shepherd and were particularly difficult to find, I thought of monitoring your hometown for a while. Just my luck that you grew up with some talented people.”

               Alex stopped and faced Fury calmly. He was still holding his shield. “You can’t have them.”

               “Alex,” Fury sighed, crossing his arms. “Your friends are gifted, I’ll give them that. They remind me of another group I knew a long time ago. But they’re useless without a leader.”

               Alex clenched his jaw and looked away, towards where Isobel sat with her legs swinging over a hangar of more battleships. He could hear Liz’s eager ramblings from somewhere deeper inside.

               “I can see you need some time,” Fury said, stepping back. “And I need to check the radars. I’m sure Agent Hill can carry on with the report.”

               When Alex looked up again to argue, he was met with a stone-faced woman in a tight bun and piercing blue eyes.

               He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I know you’re pissed.”

               “I don’t know what you could mean, Mr. Manes,” she said curtly and walked past them. “Please, this way.”

               As she went on ahead, Alex and Michael lingered back. “Why does she look like she wants to stab you? There’s no past girlfriend I have to worry about, is there?”

               “What – you know I’m gay, Guerin!”

               Michael raised a brow. “Did her fiancé leave her for you or something? ‘Cause I’ll kill him, too.”

               Despite it all, despite the fatigue, Alex laughed, pinching the bridge of his brows. He laughed until he got woozy and had to hold onto Michael’s arm.

               “We were friends,” he said. “She’s lost a lot of friends before who were also Avengers –”

               Michael hummed. “And I’m guessing she didn’t appreciate that you ditched?”

               Before Alex could answer, Agent Hill whipped around, and they had to stop suddenly to avoid running into her. She was unperturbed.

               “Our findings show that the invaders arrived weeks after Jones’s signal because of the frequency change in space,” she said. “They call themselves the Iasi, minions created on a long-lost planet called –”

               “Oasis,” Michael finished grimly. “Yeah, we’ve heard of it.”

               Agent Hill regarded Michael a moment, and Alex had the feeling she was sizing him up, wondering whether or not he was worth Alex leaving them all without a word. Hill’s eyes narrowed, but she said nothing to him.

               “They’re a combination of flesh and highly-advanced technology, created for one purpose, and one purpose only; to destroy.”

               “So they must have a leader,” Alex deduced. “The brains behind the operation.”

               “But who could that be after Jones?” Michael asked.

               Agent Hill turned around to press something on the long computer behind her, and they were suddenly standing in a whole simulation of blue particles that formed a foreign planet which Alex guessed had to be Oasis.

               Michael’s eyes were wide, but Alex felt like coming home to something. This used to be his life, after all. He thought he would die here. He still could.

               “What the hell –”

               Agent Hill pointed at a small person standing between them and clicked his image. It enhanced to show Jones with a machine. Some warped version of the Lockhart Machine.

               “We’ve been tracking radio signals since Mr. Manes cracked the Lockhart Machine –”

               “When are you going to stop calling me that, Maria?”

               “And through Mr. Manes’s breakthroughs on the machine,” she said more loudly to drown out his voice, “as well as our outside sources –”

               “By outside sources,” Michael cut in, “you mean –”

               “Yeah,” Alex sighed, “Captain Marvel. Carol’s really nice, actually, I’ll introduce you sometime. If she’s still talking to me, that is.”

               Agent Hill watched them stoically. “Are you finished?” she finally said, and Alex gave her an exasperated look before she carried on. “Right then. The signals point to a facility in Alaska, which naturally, was searched. It was abandoned and the evidence burned, that much was clear, but we did find one thing.”

               She held up what looked like a bloody patch torn off a uniform. It was burned and torn, but Alex recognized the symbol behind the damage. He would’ve recognized it anywhere, the bird with outstretched wings, a black flame behind it.

               “No,” he breathed. “N-No, I – I killed them all. I ended it.”

               Hill didn’t seem to want to argue this time and looked down, her eyes softening.

               “That’s them, isn’t it?” Michael said grimly. “That’s Phoenix.”

               Alex pressed the heel of his palm to his temple, his eyes shut tight. He was getting dizzier and dizzier. When was the last time he slept? He couldn’t remember.

               “They’re back?” he murmured. “They were working with Jones?”

               “And now they’re here to finish what he started,” Agent Hill said. “Take this planet for their own, burn it down, and start over. And they can only do that by doing what Ultron tried; make the Avengers extinct.” She took a step towards Alex. “You get it now, don’t you?” she said, her voice pleading. “You are all that stands between or world and the monsters that want to destroy it.”

               “Alex,” Michael put a hand on his back, his voice stern. “You don’t have to do this.”

               Alex looked back at the Phoenix emblem and was reminded of something an old friend had once told him, before passing on Captain America’s shield as it had been passed onto him.

               “We do what we can, kid,” he’d said. “And then we do a little more.”

               A little more. And, really, if it would keep Michael safe and give him the world where he never had to worry about anything, what wouldn’t Alex do?

               Not enough, he’d thought before. This would be enough.

               He tightened his grip on his shield and straightened his back. Agent Hill seemed to realize his decision at the same time Michael did. Michael said nothing.

               “Well?” Fury’s voice sounded and they turned around to see him standing there. “Have you made your choice?”

               “On one condition,” Alex said darkly. “It’s my team, my decision. If I decide to veer off course for whatever reason, you better damn well stay out of it. They’re my priority.”

               Fury nodded slowly, like he’d been expecting this. He crossed his hands behind his back. “Then gather your team, Captain. It’s time to get to work.”

@alexmanesappreciation

[jammedmuses]

IASIS (Pokémon OC) has been added to the muse list and the muse interest checker!

[mierolainen]

shady OC-tober guys

25. Anthelstein, royal court alchemist and caromancer, hobbies include making soup (npc) 26. Ruslan Rasulov, a con artist of dubious competence, tangentially involved in the arson of Redberth (npc)

[k00260803]

D A N I E L A I S A C H E

- artist research -

Daniela is an expressionist painter from Romania it was quite a difficult one to source

After graduating from University of Iasi, Romania, Having had private lessons from the famous Romanian painter Ion Neagoe, Isache has a really strong sense of surrealism.

The thorn tree ( 2019 ) oil on canvas

I really liked the vivid colours voicing some sort of connection to something?? Maybe roots??

Human to nature?? Man to man?? I’m not quite sure but I like to sit and wonder

Her use of colour inspired me to do my tree painting in a variety of colours // expressionism

I understand it’s not as fully vibrant as Daniela’s I’m glad at the attempt so far,

Too get back on topic Isache subject matter mostly profiles and abstract objects, this also has me thinking she’s a very gritty painter

Take this one for instance

Photosynthesis oil on canvas

More biophilia themes running through her work I’m not sure why I find it really thought provoking why the leaf? Why the boob?? It’s beautiful I can imagine a thick layer of oil and how well the colours bounce off eachother,

I’m sure there are better resources for expressionism yet I’m glad I spontaneously came across Isache their striking pieces!

<3

R E F

https://www.artmajeur.com/danielaisache

https://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/d/danaisache/

[lantur]

Castlevania: “The Journey,” Part One

Summary: The story of Trevor and Sypha, post season two. [Part one: Trevor and Sypha reunite with Alucard, Sypha and Alucard have a confidential talk, and Sypha helps Trevor with an issue that's keeping him up at night.]

-

Sypha is the one to kill the last vampire in Braila.

It isn’t her most elegant spell. She simply lights him on fire. When it is over, she sinks to her knees where she stands, in the middle of the dark alley. This hadn’t been a fight on the scale of defeating Dracula’s generals, but her exhaustion is cumulative. That had been one explosive fight. This has been close to a week of combat night after night, flushing out every last vampire in the town.

Trevor comes to her side. He eases her to her feet, supporting her with one hand on her back, and the other on her arm. His hands are gentle and warm. She leans against him, weary to the bone. Maybe it’s just her exhaustion getting the better of her, but she wishes he would never let go. “Hey,” he says. “Are you all right?”

Sypha closes her eyes. “I’m tired,” she says, and she means it, from the bottom of her heart. Not just from the past several nights in Braila, but from the three months before this, of ceaseless travel and combat and tension. “I need to rest.”

“We’re done here,” Trevor replies, eyeing the piles of ash in the alley. “We’ll get you to bed. It’s going to be okay. I’m sure you’ll feel better in the morning.”

“Thanks,” she says.

“Actually,” Trevor adds, as they slowly make their way out of the alley. He’s limping a little, and she resolves to check on the injury later. “You are going to feel better in the morning. You know why?”

Sypha winces, placing a hand to her side. One of the vampires had thrown her hard against a the side of a building, and she’s worried that the rib might be fractured. She’s too worn out to banter with him as they usually do. “Why?”

“Because we are going on a vacation.”

Sypha brightens. “We’re going to see Alucard?”

 “I was thinking more along the lines of those hot springs in Craiova, or that beer festival in Iasi we heard about when we were traveling through last month…” Trevor looks down at her and smiles. “But sure, we can go and see Alucard.”  

She squeezes his arm. “You always know what to say to make me feel better.”

They’re moving slowly, nursing their various injuries, and it takes them more than forty painful minutes to reach their inn, on the outskirts of Braila. They’re both similar degrees of filthy, dusty, and bloody, but they collapse into the narrow bed fully clothed, shoes still on, curled toward each other, and fall asleep within moments.

-

It takes a week of travel from sunrise to sunset to make their way back to the Belmont Hold and Dracula’s castle. For the first time since setting out on their journey after Dracula’s defeat, they travel at a leisurely pace and don’t go seeking trouble. No demons or monsters to vanquish from towns and cities, just the open road.

It is the break Sypha needed. It is nice to have a brief spell of peace and quiet, a respite from bloodshed and injury. Besides, as naturally as magic comes to her, it does drain her energy and physical reserves. This is the first opportunity she has had to recover fully in a long time.

There is just one reason she misses the thrill of the fight. For months - ever since they met, actually - combat against the monstrous night hordes have been a distraction from her travel companion.

Not that Trevor is so insufferable and obnoxious that she needs to be distracted from him. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Sypha has never been prone to crushes. Ever since she was a teenager, she could acknowledge a handsome man with one look, and a brief, clinical observation in her mind that yes, he was attractive. And then she would move on, her mind already occupied with more pressing matters, like a new spell she was studying or creating, or how to modify an old one she had mastered, or her Speaker duties.

She’d only had one real, significant experience with attraction, before. He was a physician in the town of Szolnok. Soft-spoken, kind, passionate about helping the townspeople, and so very intelligent. She had hung onto every word out of his mouth. But she was sixteen, and he was twice her age. When she found out he was engaged to be married, she had cried for the rest of the night and avoided him until the Speakers moved on to their next town. For two months after leaving Szolnok, she had thrown herself into her studies with zealous passion, redirecting every bit of longing she had felt for him into the study of magic.

For four years, Sypha lived in peace, until Trevor Belmont rescued her from a cyclops under the city of Gresit.

It was all downhill from there. She had developed feelings for him, completely by accident, and they had hit her with astonishing force and suddenness. By the time they had spent their first night in the Belmont library, she was already too far gone.

Monsters, demons, and vampires distract her from Trevor’s presence. They distract her from her frustrating, involuntary, ridiculous intrusive thoughts about how he’s feeling today, his voice, his face, his hands, when he smiles, how incredibly brave and determined he is, how smart he can be when he actually makes an effort, how stupidly happy she is just to talk with him and have his company as they travel. Whether they’re trading insults at one another or at the Church, or speculating about what they will encounter in the next village they happen upon and how they can help the people there, or sharing memories and stories of their pasts, or discussing something deeper.

Without the monsters, demons, and vampires, it is just the two of them. Trevor seems relaxed and unbothered. He sleeps more soundly at night than she has ever seen him sleep before, one arm thrown over his face, snoring lightly. Sypha lies awake beside him for a good portion of each night and wonders at the perversity of it all, at how she can be so happy and so filled with hopeless, melancholy longing at the same time.

-

They arrive at Dracula’s castle - Alucard’s castle, now - late on the eighth afternoon of their journey. Trevor and Sypha make their way up the steps of the castle, and Sypha raises her hand to knock politely. Trevor just pulls a knife from a pocket of his cloak and bangs on the door with the handle until Alucard pulls it open.

“I see that Sypha still hasn’t taught you manners,” he says dryly, but the effect is somewhat spoiled by the fact that he is smiling like Sypha has never seen him smile before.

She leaps forward and gives Alucard a hug, and even Trevor manages a companionable pat on his shoulder.

The three of them start talking almost at once and they continue for hours, lingering over a dinner of an enormous roasted chicken, sliced strawberries covered in sugared almonds for dessert, and then drinks. One glass of warm mulled wine for Sypha, a couple of tankards of ale for Alucard, and more than a couple of tankards of beer for Trevor.

She has countless fond memories of nights around the fire with her Speaker caravan. Dinners with Trevor, either huddled around a campfire or shared at some disreputable tavern or another, are more of a treasured part of her daily routine than she would ever admit. But this is comfortable, truly, classically comfortable, in a way that those nights haven’t been. Each of them has a velvet armchair to settle in, not a spot on the ground or a narrow, splintering bench. (Alucard sits upright, like a perfect noble gentleman. Sypha curls her knees to her chest and settles against the back of the chair. Trevor sprawls and slouches in a way that can’t be comfortable, although he looks as content as a cat who has gotten into the cream.) A large fire roars in the hearth, warming her cheeks and hands, and there is no need to retreat into a cloak or blanket for shelter.

“I can’t believe it,” Alucard says, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t believe it if Sypha hadn’t corroborated your story.”

“Your distrust wounds me,” Trevor deadpans, taking a long draft of his beer. “I’m a reliable source all on my own. When have you ever known me to falsify or exaggerate a tale?”

Sypha deliberately looks at the ornate grandfather clock in the corner of the room. “Oh, about fifteen minutes ago. Our prison guards were little more than pimply teenagers. Hardly as menacing as you painted them.”

Alucard laughs, and Trevor halfheartedly tosses a throw pillow at her. “Quiet, you. One of them certainly looked like he had some troll blood in him.”

“Seriously, though,” Alucard says. “I’m surprised that a human acted with such depravity. Dismembering ten townspeople and scattering their limbs about the village. I would have believed it was a werewolf or a demon from the night hordes, as everyone suspected.”

“We thought so at first too. That it would be a simple matter of finding and destroying the creature. It was only after Trevor and I were framed and arrested that we realized that of course a demon or any of the creatures from the night hordes wouldn’t have the ability to do such a thing.” Sypha shrugs. “And then he slipped up. He made a kill outside of the full moon. It was clear we were looking at a human suspect then.”

Trevor does a mock bow. “Another mystery solved by Belmont and Belnades.”

“Belnades and Belmont,” Sypha corrects, and then plunges ahead before Trevor can whine about it. “Tell me everything that you know about werewolves, Alucard. Trevor didn’t remember anything about them being written in the Belmont library. It wasn’t a werewolf this time, but if we ever encounter another situation where we suspect werewolf involvement, we need to know what to do.”

“Trevor doesn’t remember anything about werewolves in the Belmont library due to memory loss from years of gratuitous alcohol abuse,” Alucard replies, straight-faced. “There are three whole volumes on werewolves in the Sara Wing. Bound in werewolf hide, no less. It’s pretty disgusting. At least your ancestors managed to get the wet dog smell out, Belmont.”

“I have had it with the verbal abuse,” Trevor declares, before draining his tankard to the last drop and standing a bit unsteadily. “And the last thing I want to do is talk werewolves before bed. It may give me nightmares. Should we save this for breakfast?”

Sypha is starting to grow tired, after the long day and the heavy meal. It’s been so nice to catch up with Alucard, though, and she isn’t ready to end the night yet. “I’ll stay down here for a while,” she says, looking up at Trevor. “Good night.”

“Night,” he says, turning away and lifting a hand. “Also, fuck you.”

This last is directed to Alucard. Sypha sighs, and Alucard cheerfully gives Trevor’s back the finger. “Don’t get lost,” he calls.

They hear his slow movement out of the sitting room and up the stairs, and then his footsteps fade from earshot. Alucard glances at her. “Does he really get nightmares?” he asks, lowering his voice. “I couldn’t tell whether he was just being Trevor, or being serious.”

“Yes,” Sypha admits, after a moment. “I think we all do. But I think that Trevor’s pre-date ours.”

Alucard’s face settles into the familiar lines of sadness. “Yes,” he says softly. “That makes sense.”

Sypha reaches over and takes his hand. “How have you been?” she asks. “I’ve thought of you every day. Both of us have, really. Neither of us wanted to leave you alone here. I can’t imagine how hard it must be.”

Alucard looks away, but he doesn’t pull back. “It’s been difficult,” he says, after a long while. The light from the fire casts flickering shadows on his face. “I would like to tell you it’s easier every day, but it’s not quite. Some days, some weeks, it is easier every day. Then the next day, I’ll wake up and I’ll see something that triggers a memory of before, and it’ll be four steps back.”

“I’m so sorry,” Sypha whispers, squeezing his hand. She hates feeling so useless, so powerless to help. If there was only a spell she could cast; but this is something even beyond the powers of magic. “Is there anything I can do to help you? If you want to talk, about anything, I will listen.”

Alucard looks back at her, and with effort, he gives her a small smile. “That’s a kind offer,” he says sincerely. But…” he sighs. “I spend enough time with my own thoughts, in my own head. I don’t want to dwell on any of that while I’m in your company…and Trevor’s. I’d rather hear about what’s going on with you.”

He fixes her with a rather perceptive look, then, and Sypha fidgets. “You’ve heard the good stories,” she says. “Although, now that you mention it, I forgot to tell you about this time that Trevor had to pose as a baker in Sebes.”

Alucard raises an eyebrow. “As intriguing as this sounds, that’s not what I was getting at, and you know it.”

Sypha unwittingly channels Trevor and slouches in the armchair guiltily. “I don’t,” she says unconvincingly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Ah, you’re going to make me get embarrassingly specific. What’s going on with you and Belmont?” Alucard asks. “Are you f--”

“No!” Sypha snaps, feeling her face growing hot. “Absolutely not!”

“Okay,” Alucard replies, unfazed. “But you want to be.”

“No!” she protests, and it takes an effort to keep her voice low. The last thing she needs is for Trevor to overhear this conversation. “Not at all! It isn’t like that!”

Alucard rolls his eyes. “Please, Sypha. Don’t insult me by denying it. I’m not blind, or deaf. I see how you two are together. I saw it back when we first found the Belmont library, and you two have been off by yourselves for months now.”

She grabs the pillow that Trevor had tossed at her earlier and squeezes it hard. “Ugh! You’re just as bad as he is!”

Alucard laughs. Sypha groans, burying her face in the pillow and wondering if she could smother herself with it. “Don’t laugh,” she says, muffled by the pillow. “This is embarrassing enough without you rubbing it in.”

“It’s Trevor Belmont you’ve got your eye on. You should be embarrassed.”

Sypha slumps deeper into the pillow. Alucard laughs again, before reaching over and patting her on the shoulder. “I’m just teasing you.”

“I know,” Sypha mumbles, sitting up. She still feels flushed. “There really is nothing going on between us, though. Trevor and I are just friends. As you and I are.”

Alucard looks unconvinced, but he humors her. “You could change that, you know.”

“I think I’ve made my feelings quite clear!” Sypha crosses her arms. “I haven’t been shy or coy about how I feel for him. I haven’t danced around it. I suggested that we travel together, months ago. We walk arm-in-arm, we rest against each other while traveling, we sleep together, literally. And yet--” She bites her lip, fighting a sudden ache in her chest. “Nothing more than that.”

“That’s because Belmont is an idiot. A stone-cold moron. I know you say you haven’t been shy or coy about your feelings, and most normal men would have taken the hint months ago, but again. Belmont is an idiot. You’d probably have to kiss him before he got it.” Alucard rolls his eyes again.”It’s good that that wouldn’t be a problem for a woman as brave as you.”

“I don’t know,” Sypha says quietly, looking into the fire. “I’d be lying to you if I said I hadn’t thought of it. Or been tempted. But - I don’t know.”

Alucard looks at her curiously. “Are you nervous?”

She hears the rest of his sentence, the You’ve fought and defeated the generals of Dracula’s army, and curls into herself defensively. “This - the way I feel for Trevor, the things I feel - it is all very new to me,” she says, making a terse gesture with her hands. “I know that many women my age are mothers. But I have always been more occupied with my studies and with my duties as a Speaker than with boys. Or men.”

 Alucard takes it in. “Ah,” he says, finally understanding. He reaches over and takes her hand in his cool one, and Sypha reluctantly meets his gaze.

“You have nothing to be nervous about,” he says simply. “You remind me of my mother, you know. You’re smart, fearless, determined, passionate, kind, and gifted. And beautiful. That’s clear to anybody who’s spent any time with you, let alone anyone who knows you as Trevor and I do. And Trevor - he’s an idiot, yes. But he knows you, and to know you is to love you. I wouldn’t worry.”

Sypha just looks at him, stunned. Before he can move back, she throws her arms around his shoulders. “Thank you, Alucard,” she whispers.

Alucard pats her on the back. “You can repay me by naming your firstborn after me, no matter how he protests.”

She pulls back, and can’t help but giggle. “We will see.”

Alucard glances at the clock in the corner of the room and winces. “I’ve kept you up way too late,” he says. “I forget that humans need to sleep more than I do. I’m sorry. It’s almost one. Do you want me to walk you back to your room, or do you remember where it is?”

“I remember.” Sypha stands, gathering her blue Speaker cloak from the armchair. She reaches down, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Good night.”

“See you in the morning.”

Sypha makes her way up the grand staircase, shaking out her cloak and wrapping it around her. There’s a chill in the air away from the fire, and her heart aches to think of Alucard wandering this great castle all alone. If she could just find a spell to conceal this place from others’ eyes, and lock the studies and the laboratories and the libraries away from plunderers, then he could travel with her and Trevor. It will be much better for him to have their company all the time, instead of once every few months. Besides, It had been nice to confide in Alucard, to speak her mind openly.

She had loved her Speakers as members of her family, but that being said, there had been no one her age that she had been able to bond with like she had with Trevor and Alucard. It’s a strange thing, to love people but still not quite be able to call them friends, she reflects. Before Trevor and Alucard, the only person she had ever truly confided in, sharing her feelings honestly, was her grandfather.

There’s a light on in the small library in the guest suite, down the hall from her room and Trevor’s. Sypha glances in as she passes, expecting that Alucard must have left it on earlier in the day. She stops dead when she sees Trevor, slouched in an armchair near the lamp, absorbed in a book.

He must have noticed her, because he stops reading and looks over at the entrance. “Hey,” he says.

“Hey yourself,” Sypha replies nonchalantly, masking a moment of inward panic. There is no way that he could have heard her conversation with Alucard, right? They had kept their voices down. “I thought you were tired?”

“I was. Am.” He carefully marks his page with the black satin bookmark. “Bedroom’s weird, though. I couldn’t get comfortable. I checked out yours, too, to see if I’d have better luck there. Same thing.”  

Sypha frowns. That seems hard to believe. “I’ve seen you sleep like a baby while sharing a stall with livestock in barns,” she says. “What’s wrong with the rooms?”

“See for yourself,” Trevor says. He stands and yawns, before tucking the book under his arm and proceeding out of the library.

Sypha follows, after extinguishing the lamp. “For the record, I resent that you thought of stealing my room.”

“Turnabout is fair play, and all that.” He looks back at her and smirks. “I don’t complain when you steal the blankets at night.”

“I do no such thing!”

Trevor had left the door to his guest room ajar, and he pushes it open, leading her in. The only illumination comes from the fire in the hearth, but that is enough. He gestures expansively at their surroundings. “Yours is the same.”

Sypha takes it in, wide-eyed. It’s a little surreal. The bed is simply massive, covered with not one or two blankets but three, in varying shades of dark blue and gray, and to call them simply blankets would be a disservice. Blankets as she knows them are rough, plain, homespun. She slips her boots off and pads across the room, her feet sinking into the impossibly thick, plush rug that covers the stone floor. She reaches out and brushes her palm across the top blanket. It is incredibly soft and sleek, but heavy at the same time. Just one of them would be more than enough to warm her, and she can’t help but think back to all the nights outside where she’s shivered under three thin blankets.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” she says wonderingly. This is even softer than rabbit’s fur. “I’ve heard of it, though. Is this velvet?”

“Yeah, it is.” Trevor comes to stand beside her. He’s very close, and he leans down and presses his palm into the blanket, next to hers. His hand dwarfs hers. “Sit down. Or lie down.”

Sypha settles onto the bed, feeling rather conscious of his presence, but even that can’t distract her from the next shock. “Oh!” she exclaims, startled. It’s like she’s sinking. “It’s like what I thought a cloud would feel like, when I was little.”

Trevor sits beside her. “That’s a good way to put it.”

Sypha stretches her arms out, still feeling a little bemused by the way the bed seems to contour to her body. It’s so soft, so pliant. “What don’t you like about this?” she asks. “It’s very comfortable. It’s more than comfortable, really. This is the definition of luxury.”

“It’s too comfortable.” He grimaces. “It’s too much.”

She sits up. “Explain?”

Trevor shrugs one shoulder. “I’m not used to this,” he says shortly. “I’m used to the ground, sleeping underneath my cloak. Or on a hard bed in some inn. That’s been my life for the past ten years.” He looks at her out of the corner of his eye. “Remember how on edge you were, the first time we slept in an inn? You said you missed looking up to see the moon and the stars. You felt trapped.”

Sypha nods. “I remember.”

He opens his mouth as if to say something, and then falls into a brooding silence. Sypha nudges him. “Hey,” she says. “Is there something else that’s bothering you?”

Trevor sighs, running a hand through his already-disheveled hair. “The last time I slept in a room like this was the night before the mob came for my family,” he says, finally, and she notices the pronounced dark circles under his eyes. “My room, when I was a kid - it looked kind of like this. It felt like this. With the blue velvet blankets and everything. I lay down tonight and I tried to sleep and I just…I couldn’t.”

She embraces him without hesitation. “I’m so sorry, Trevor.”

He rests his chin on the top of her head, and places a hand on her back. “That last night, I think I fell asleep excited about some hunting trip my dad was going to take me on the next day,” he says. He sounds so far away. “I had no idea. No fucking idea.”

Sypha pulls back and looks at him, before resting a gentle hand against his cheek. “There’s nothing worse than thinking about the moment before everything changed,” she says. “ And remembering the person who you were before that moment. In that last night when everything was still normal.”

“Isn’t that the fucking truth,” Trevor replies bitterly. To her surprise, he takes her hand, resting it between both of his own. “What was that moment for you? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Sypha swallows over the lump in her throat. “It’s all right,” she says. “I remember the last real conversation I had with my parents, before they sickened with the plague. We argued because they felt I was studying magics that were too advanced for me. They were dead within the week.”

He puts an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. “Fuck God,” he says, with his usual succinctness. “That’s awful. I’m sorry.”

Sypha wipes at the corner of her eyes discreetly. “I agree. Though…”

“What is it?”

“You know that I am not religious,” she says, looking up at him. “But one could argue that the God who so cruelly orphaned you and I, and Alucard, is the same one who led the three of us to find one another.”

“You’re such an optimist,” Trevor grumbles. “Such a ray of sunshine. It’s a little obnoxious.”

She can’t help but smile at hearing him sound more like his usual self. She rises, grabbing a pillow from the head of the bed. “Yes, well, now that I think of it, I have a solution for your little bedroom problem.”

Trevor coughs. “Can you not call it that?”

“If the shoe fits…” Sypha tugs at the top blanket until he moves, and pulls it off the bed. It’s incredibly heavy in her arms, and trails against the ground. “Don’t just stand there and stare. Make yourself useful and take the other pillow.”

“I’m not even going to ask.” Trevor does as she says, and follows her as she makes her way out of the room.

She leads him back to the library, and unceremoniously deposits the pillow and blanket on the large rug in front of the bookshelf. She kneels, straightening the arrangement. “Give me the other pillow.”

He hands it to her, and Sypha looks at her handiwork, pleased. “There you go,” she says. “Now you have a hard floor to sleep on. I brought the blanket because there’s no fireplace in here, but I figured that you can use your cloak as your primary blanket so it feels more familiar.”

Trevor looks at her with an unreadable expression, which is a little unusual. Normally he’s clearly either disgruntled, determined, content, hungry, or troubled, with the occasional contemplative or thoughtful look sprinkled in. “Thank you,” he says.

Sypha wills herself to keep from blushing. “I just wanted you to sleep well. You snipe at poor Alucard so much more when you’re tired.”

Trevor snorts. “Poor Alucard, my ass.” He settles down on the floor, stretching out with a sigh and looking much more comfortable. He closes his eyes, and then cracks one open to look at her. “Well, are you coming to sleep or not? You snipe at poor me so much more when you’re tired.”

“Oh, I--” Sypha starts, flustered. They sleep together outside to stay warm, and they share a bed when they stay at inns because they can only ever afford one room and neither of them is going to sleep on the floor. But she has a perfectly serviceable room here, but now that she thinks about it, maybe it would feel strange to sleep away from Trevor after months of sleeping beside him. She’s surprised he even asked, and he’s looking at her expectantly.

“I thought you didn’t like how I supposedly steal blankets,” she manages to recover, settling down beside him as casually as she can. Trevor offers her a portion of his cloak, and she pulls the velvet blanket over both of them.  

“I don’t. But the way you talk in your sleep kind of helps me fall asleep. Distracts me from the internal monologue of the grim business of saving Wallachia from the forces of evil, and all that.”

“Happy to be of service.”

They rest in companionable silence for a while. Trevor’s presence is as warm, solid, and reassuring at her side as it always is, and Sypha is on the verge of falling asleep when he speaks.

“You always are,” he says. “I don’t tell you this enough, Sypha, but you’re a great friend. The best I’ve ever had.”

Maybe not quite the words she dreams of hearing, but they warm her heart nevertheless. She turns her head to the side, resting it against his shoulder. “So are you, Trevor.”

Trevor places his hand on hers, another surprise, and she drifts off to sleep with a small smile on her face.

-

to be continued

-

[zuviromania]

Oja Semipermanenta Vogue 110 Dark Thoughts Lucios Lila Rossa, 10 ml

Oja Semipermanenta Vogue 110 Dark Thoughts Lucios Lila Rossa, 10 ml

Oja Semipermanenta Vogue 110 Dark Thoughts Lucios Lila Rossa, 10 ml – Produs din sectiunea Produse Cosmetice, categoria Maini si unghii, subcategoria Oja Semipermanenta la pretul de 25 Lei; Producator: Lila Rossa Produse valabile pentru transport in toata tara indiferent de orajul in care locuiesti: Bucuresti, Cluj-napoca, Constanta, Craiova, Targu Jiu, Baia Mare, Timisoara, Iasi, etc.

[profoundlyfuriouschild]

A new adventure

               Being an active child, I was always prepared for an adventure. But nothing prepared me for what was to follow. My biggest fear of mine was to be far-away from everybody I loved. My adventure started at eighteen when my life as a teenager was over. In the summer before college started, I made all the preparations that were needed. I got all the details about living at the dorms, and I was very excited about it. I spoked with several different people about it and I got really good information that helped me get an idea about my new journey. I was very excited about the thought of leaving the town and be on my own, making new friends and going out visiting interesting places.

Said and done, once I decided where I was going to live for the next year I start preparing my stuff. My enthusiasm started  to fall when I first entered the room I was supposed to live. The conditions were so bad, that I instantly wanted to get out of that building, but I didn’t gave up. I put a big smile on my face and I said to myself “I can make it work, one you will bring your things everything it will look a lot more different”. I went home that day and told my parents that everything will be perfectly fine. I only hoped that my roommates will be nice and we will get along

           The start of my first college year was near and I did everything in my power to avoid leaving  even though everybody insisted that I should leave a day or two earlier. I left on Monday morning, very early so I can make it to the opening ceremony. On the way to my bus I had little drops of tears in my eyes, but again I put a big smile on my face and I told myself that everything it will be alright. The road to Iasi was very well known to me, but in that morning I thought that was one of the longest and ugliest trip. My feelings were all around the place and I was about to start crying in every moment. I entered my room again with that smile that was not actually mine and I had my first contact with my roommates. Two sisters, one on her last year of college and the other a first year like me. Soon I found out from the oldest one new information about college and about the city. In that moment I realized that I did not knew the city at all, and I all I wanted to do was to go back home and to stay there and never leave again.

A few weeks later I found myself in a really funny situation where I realized how ignorant I was. I was in the tram and I got to the station where I supposed to get down and I stood there waiting for the doors to open automatically for me, and I waited and waited but nothing happened. I started to get confused and my first instinct was to look around to see how other people do but for my misfortune there was nobody getting down to that station instead of a lady that waited behind me. I was so nervous that the tram was going to leave and I will get God knows where that I pretended to drop something and in that moment the lady behind met got annoyed and pushed a button. I got down very quickly, put the head down and rushed to the dorms. I felt so helpless and so scared and I thought to my self that I will never make it trough the year. I got even more sad when I got into my room and my roommates were actually sleeping and from outside I could hear people singing and having fun .From that point I always wanted to go home and I never wanted to go back, in a few words I was in continuous journey. I never told to my parents that I was not happy. They knew that something was wrong with me, that I was not okay but I would tell them that I just tired and I have a lot of work to do for school. I suffered from homesickness a lot, and was one of the bad cases. I was amazed that I was the only one that suffered from it, or I was the only one brave enough to admit it.

Things got brighter for me when I got to interact more with people and to see Iasi in a new light. People in this city are very nice but you can always see the hurrying around the streets. Mothers with little kinds that are trying to get to school before the bell rings, men’s that blocked in traffic and they try to find the shortest route to work, students that are late for a class and they know that if they don’t make it on time they won’t be able to take the exams. The only persons that are not in a hurry are the old people that you can see them walking around the city, that after years of work and hurrying are now able to enjoy the little things that the town has to offer. Trams zooming around like insects, buses that are in a continuous move that you get the feeling that they never stop and that they don’t care about the people but they care more about the place, the history. One of the first places that I get the occasion to visit was the city library named BCU and I was completely amazed by its beauty. But what makes you fall in love with that places is the way that people spoke about that it. Our guide presented the place in such a beautiful manner that you could not miss the pride she has in her voice when she told us the history of the building.

           In the next moths I moved from the dorms and went to live with some close friends because I thought I couldn’t live in that place any longer. To go live with them felt like a good ideea because I thought I knew them and I will fell a lot more comfortable around them. They were very nice and were very welcoming and never felt that I was disturbing.I got to became more familiar with places and I learned where every tram or bus goes. Little by little I started to feel more comfortable with the city. Even my family got to see the change in my mood and my state of spirit. When Christmas come got to see the way the city changed in this spectacular place. There were lights everywhere, little Santas waiting for you at every corner, big Christmas trees at every corner. I observed that the you can distinguish the locals from the tourists. The locals prefer to take a quite walk, to drink a coup of hot wine bought from one of the small shops, when the visitors are louder, always taking pictures. I pretended to be a local, when in fact I was a tourist.

On February 2018 I got to the hospital, not with my will but there I saw how people are treated differently because of how they look and what they possess. I got in contact with different people coming from different social classes. The most interesting person was an old lady that started to tell me about his nephew that was around my age. Because of his social status and because his parents were not able to support him financially, now he has a child with a seventeen year girl and they live together in a room made by himself. This kind of stories are common for a poor region like this where people from villages are not able to get over their conditions.

The following night, in my room was bought a small boy with high fever that was unconscious. The moment that the needle touched his skin he started screaming and me and his mother started to cry. The nurse yelled at the mother’s boy to get out and then she turned in my direction and told me in a docile voice to get out from the room. Standing on the hallway I reflected on what just happened. Because I looked like I was more educated then the poor women I got a better treatment, and the women who was scared for her child’s life was treated in a miserable way. The most interesting thing was the fact that the women didn’t said a thing about how the nurse treated her. Looking at her I understood that she didn’t care about how they are treating her, she just wanted her son to be treated well. From curiosity I asked her why she permitted this kind of behavior and she told me that the nurse is more respected than she is because she is a nurse.

By the end of the year, I learned and I find out more about myself than I thought I knew about me. I was put in situation where I had to act for myself or to stand up for others. I think that it was an opportunity for me get more mature and to get out from my comfort zone without being too faraway from my loved ones. I learned how things work and how easily somebody could take advantage of you. I visited a lot of different places and learn something about them without knowing, now I know to find my way without getting scared. I think that every persons goes trough a phase like mine when he goes to a different place. Even if I did everything in my power to get all the information about the city, there were a lot more thing to learn about it. Things that you can only find out by searching the streets. Like finding a good place to eat or a good places to drink coffee or tea. A place where you can play games, see a movie, to see a play. 

[didssph]

Moon by day 🌝 or moon by night 🌚? Swipe to see a collection of moon shots I did in the past months. First 4 pictures are taken using the Tamron 18-400, last picture is taken with 70-300. All of them without using a tripod (you can see the last one is a bit shaky shaky, there is no image stabilization in the Nikon lens) What are your thoughts? Which one is your favorite? let me know in the comments 😊 . . If you like this photo, please consider sharing it with your friends; it would also be a great help if you save it. Saving a post is a Super-Like and helps more people discover it. . . #lunar #moon #fullmoon #astral #space #astronomy #throwback #nightshot #nightscape #stelar #moonandstars #youresa #cosmos #nikon #nikonphotography #nikonisti #nikond5600 #lightroompresets #lightroomedits #lr_tone #mooncollection #tothemoon #happy_life_captures (at Iasi, Romania) https://www.instagram.com/p/CN7C0AIFBNX/?igshid=1fowmjoni7lil