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[munson-blurbs]

Ghostin' (Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader): Chapter 6

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Summary: A plan needs to be put in place to defeat Vecna, but the situation may be more dire than anyone realizes. You and Steve take your relationship to the next level.

Warnings: smut--finally! (18+ only, minors DNI) language, S4 is canon, pregnancy, blood, it's a little bit of filler but the smut is worth it

WC: 4k

Divider credit to @firefly-graphics

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It’s been a month since you’d first heard Vecna’s chimes, the night when you’d almost had sex with Steve. You wish you could say that it was also the last time the horrendous sound reverberated in your mind, but that would be a lie. 

You hadn’t told anyone, especially not Steve. The man already approached everything with an abundance of caution; if he knew about how close Vecna was to invading your consciousness, he wouldn’t let you leave the house. And with Little Bean’s arrival only eight weeks away, you can’t afford to start maternity leave early. 

Work is busier than usual, with people trying to book their appointments before the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. You’re collecting a copay from a patient when the door swings open, smacking into the wall with a thwack.

“What the–” you stand up as quickly as your new center of gravity allows you, peering over the counter as Will Byers and Dustin Henderson storm into the office. They’re clearly on a mission, though you don’t know whether you want to be involved. The last time you joined them, you’d watched those bats go after Eddie…

“Y/N!” Dustin’s shrill voice rings through the waiting room, much to the patients’ irritation, abruptly interrupting your train of thought. “Oh, thank God you’re here. We have to talk to you.”

“Can I help you boys?” you ask through gritted teeth, trying to hide your annoyance at their outburst in your place of work. “Maybe quietly?”

“Sorry,” Will says sheepishly, shoving his hands in his pockets. “It’s just that…we need to plan our next Vecna attack.”

“Like, now,” Dustin adds, urgency prevalent in his voice. “Will told me that he’s gaining strength more rapidly.” 

You look back at Will, who shrugs and nods, touching the back of his neck. “This morning, I…I felt him. And he’s almost ready to fight like…like he was before.” Before the attack that killed Eddie, blinded Max, and destroyed the town. You shake the memory from your head like an Etch-a-Sketch.

“Okay,” you breathe out, regaining your composure. “I finish work in an hour–”

“We don’t have that kind of time!” Dustin blurts out forcefully, slamming his palms on the counter.

Will just rolls his eyes. “We have an hour,” he amends his friend’s statement. “We’ll all be at my house if you can meet us there after you’re done.” His brown eyes drift down to your bump. “Oh, how are you feeling, by the way? And how’s the baby doing?”

Your posture softens at his thoughtfulness; leave it to Will to be concerned about you and Little Bean in the midst of Vecna’s return. “We’re good,” you say, placing a protective hand over your belly. “It’s been nice having Steve around, helping out…”

Will offers a kind smile, which you easily return. Dustin, meanwhile, is less interested in having a nice conversation. “Now that we’re all caught up, can we get back to, I dunno, saving the world?!” 

“I’ll see you boys in an hour,” you say, ushering them out the door before Dustin can cause more of a scene. Eddie’d always said that the kid was, um, enthusiastic, but you’re really getting to witness it firsthand.

Before you join the group at the Byers’ house, you have a pitstop to make. Forest Hills Trailer Park has been a second home to you, though you haven’t visited Wayne as much as you should be. You often think about going to see him, but the reminders of Eddie are too painful to bear. The mugs and caps hanging on the wall, all gifts from Eddie to Wayne for various Father’s Days, birthdays, and Christmases. After the earthquake, Wayne used the insurance money to fix up the trailer, but he still slept on a cot in the living room. Eddie’s room remained unused, as though he was waiting for him to return.

“If it isn’t my two favorite people!” Wayne smiles, wiping some crumbs from his beard. “How’s it goin’? Got any new pictures for me?”

You muster up a smile in return, fishing through your bag. “Actually, yes!” You hand him the sonogram pictures, blinking back tears as you watch the older man’s eyes fill up with his own.

“Well, I’ll be,” he says softly, dragging his forefinger over the shiny film. “That’s my grandbaby.”

“Sure is,” you choke out, trying to brush away the tear that slips down your cheek before he can notice.

“Startin’ to look like a real person now,” he continues, head snapping up when he hears your sniffling. “Shit, ‘m sorry. Didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“‘S okay,” you manage. “I mean, I’m seven months pregnant. Grass growing could make me cry at this point.”

Wayne chuckles, pressing a fatherly kiss to the top of your head. “Come in, have a seat,” he offers, and you find yourself sitting next to him on the worn sofa. “How’re you hangin’ in there? Little Bean giving you too much trouble?”

You shake your head. “Just the usual aches and pains. They’re kicking a lot lately, especially while I’m trying to sleep.” Right on cue, Little Bean delivers a roundhouse kick right above your navel. “Wanna feel?”

His eyes widen, unsure of the proper etiquette when touching a pregnant woman’s stomach. You take his cracked, calloused hand and place it where Little Bean’s foot just was. The faint fluttering of a kick brushes against his palm, and he jerks back instinctively before laughing and returning it back to your bump.

“All right there, Karate Kid!” His gray eyes twinkle with joy as he speaks directly to the baby. “Y’know, your dad kicked up a storm when he was in his mama’s belly, too. I have a feeling you’ll be just like him, for better or for worse.” He places his hand back in his lap. “God, I miss that kid so much.”

“Me, too,” you say quietly. “I don’t know how I’m gonna do this without him.” You look up at the older man and choke back a sob. “How am I gonna get up every morning and see a child who looks like Eddie without getting depressed?”

Wayne lets out a long sigh, rubbing the scruff along his cheeks. “I wish I could say it gets easier. I really do. I keep expecting him to barge through the door, rantin’ and ravin’ about Dungeons & Dragons or his music. Shit, I kept tellin’ him I’d go to one of his concerts…” 

“You had to work,” you reassure him. “Eddie knew that. He understood.”

“Thanks, darlin’.” Wayne swipes at his cheeks. “I think about him all the time. I’m sure you do, too.” You nod in agreement, and he continues. “I think about everything he could’ve been if he was alive. All these possibilities—gone.

“But you,” he manages a small smile, “you and Little Bean are like a glimmer of hope in the darkness. I don’t want you to forget that.”

The two of you sit in a comfortable silence until you work up the nerve to ask, “What if I can’t keep them safe? What if something…happens to them?” Like it happened to Eddie, you say silently. Like it happened to Chrissy and Fred and Patrick. Like it happened to Max. Like it could happen to Steve. Or to me. 

“There’s no easy answer to that,” Wayne muses. “We can’t control our kids or the situations they find themselves in. I keep wonderin’ what would’ve happened if I was home when that cheerleader was here. Maybe things could’ve been different.” He looks up towards the ceiling, unknowingly glancing where a gate to the Upside Down once was. “We just do the best we can, and we hope that they learn.”

You start to stand up, stopping when Wayne says, “You’re gonna be an amazing mom. And, uh, I don’t know that Harrington kid too well, but I heard he’s a decent guy.”

“You—you know about me and Steve?”

A blush creeps into Wayne’s cheeks. “‘S a small town. People talk and, uh, there’s not too many expectin’ teenagers who lost their baby’s father in the earthquake.”

You swallow thickly. “Are you mad at me for being with him?” The last thing you need right now is Wayne’s disapproval. 

He shakes his head. “Absolutely not. No one expects you to do this alone. Eddie wouldn’t want that. He would want you to find someone who loves you and loves Little Bean.” His gaze meets yours. “Does Steve love you and the baby?”

“Yeah,” you smile, thinking about how patient, sensitive, and kind he’s been to you. “Yeah, he really does.”

“Good.” Wayne nods, helping you to your feet. “Get some sleep. And if you need anything, you know where to find me.”

You drive over to the Byers’ place after your shift, stifling a yawn as you knock on the front door. Everyone else is already there, and you feel a pang of embarrassment at being the last to arrive. The insecurity dissipates as Steve practically tramples over his friends to be by your side.

“Hi, my love,” he murmurs into your scalp as he kisses the top of your head. His arms wrap around your shoulders so he can pull you as close as your belly allows. “How was work?”

“Good. Weirdest thing happened today, though,” you tell him, laughing at the puzzled look on his face. “I was just minding my own business when these two hooligans came in, ranting and raving about some monster from this place called the Upside Down?”

Dustin, who’s well within earshot, scoffs at your remark. “Two hooligans? I take offense to that statement!”

“You’re right,” you concede, “it was just one. Will was perfectly behaved.”

The curly-haired boy shows off both of his middle fingers, only to be met with a thwap to the back of the head from Chief Hopper. “Don’t be an ass, kid,” he warns, pulling out a chair for you to sit on. “How’s life treating you, sweetie?” he asks, plopping down next to you. 

“It’s exhausting,” you admit with a tired laugh. 

“I can’t imagine,” Joyce says, handing you a cold glass of water. “Pregnancy was hard enough for me without all this.” She gestures wildly, mimicking the chaos that brings you all together now. 

You drink the water, feeling the condensation on your fingers. Steve’s arms snake out from behind you, hands crossed over your chest. “You can go home and rest, baby,” he whispers in your ear. “We’ve got this covered.”

“M’fine,” you fib, because nothing about this is fine, but you know you can manage to sit and participate in the planning. “Besides, I…I wanna help.”

Steve opens his mouth to protest, but he’s cut off by a balding man with glasses, who stands on a chair to call everyone to attention. His bushy eyebrows pinch together when he sees you, extending his hand and offering a toothy grin. “Murray Bauman: karate expert, Soviet ass-kicker, and matchmaker.” He winks in Joyce and Hopper’s direction. “Now,” he continues, raising his voice. “We need to come up with an idea to defeat this Vecna fucker–sorry, kids–once and for all. We have an advantage that we didn't have before–time to plan.”

“But not too long,” Will jumps in nervously, explaining how he can feel the monster gaining strength.

Murray’s booming voice takes over again. “So, what do we know?” He taps a pen to his bearded chin.

“For starters,” Robin pipes up, “we know that everything’s a hive mind. So if we draw all of the creatures in, we can bring them all down at once.”

“That means we’ll need a lot of manpower,” Murray muses, writing down hivemind on a notepad. He looks up suddenly as Erica grunts out an ahem. “And womenpower, sorry. Jeez, with the semantics.”

“El, Max, and I have a connection to him,” Will says. ��If we go into the Upside Down, we can lead you to him easily.”

Lucas places a gentle hand on Max’s shoulder. “Should she be back in there? I guess it’s not safe for any of us, but…”

“We’ll need bait,” Steve says, biting his lower lip nervously. “And he’s only been coming after me so far, so I guess we know who it’s gonna be.” He crosses his arms over his chest, scratching at the stubble that’s formed on his jawline.

“No!” you cry out before you can stop yourself, feeling your cheeks heat up at your outburst. “Steve, what if…” You can’t watch anything happen to him. You’re flooded with the image of demobats swarming towards Eddie, tearing at his flesh as he screams in agonizing pain. Blood seeping between his teeth as he lay there dying. You and Dustin watching helplessly, begging him to stay alive as he took his final breath. “What if he gets you?”

“Sweetie,” Joyce breaks in, rubbing your upper back tenderly, “if this is too much…”

“It just can’t be Steve,” you murmur. “I already lost Eddie; I can’t lose Steve, too.”

Steve shakes his head solemnly. “It has to be me. I’m the one who’s heard—”

“I hear them,” you blurt out. A hushed silence falls over the room. “I hear the chimes. I haven’t had a—a dream yet, but I hear the chimes.”

No one says a word until Steve manages to find his voice. “Why—why didn’t you say anything?” His tone is a mix of sadness, concern, and anger. “How long has this been happening?”

“A month,” you admit sheepishly, and his cheeks flash red. 

“A month? A fu—freaking month?!” This comes from Dustin. Hopper shoots him another dirty look, which he ignores. “What, were you gonna wait until Vecna ripped your eyeballs from your head before telling anyone?”

You can’t help it; tears stream down your face and you get up and walk out of the house. Dustin yelps out an ouch, which you can only assume is from another back-of-the-head slap. 

“Good going, Henderson,” Steve hisses as he chases after you. He catches up to you easily, taking your hand in his. “You gotta talk to me,” he says, gently but firmly. “Tell me everything.”

The malicious, degrading voice inside your head tells you to keep it a secret, that telling him the truth will only make you seem more pathetic, that you’re already enough of a burden. 

But as you look into Steve’s big, brown eyes, you remember the promise you made to him. “It started the night that we almost had sex. I haven’t been hearing it a lot, but it’s enough that I know I’m not just imagining it.”

Steve exhales. “I mean, I know that can’t be a coincidence,” he says. “But I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t say something. Why keep it to yourself?”

“Because people already treat me like I’m fragile,” you explain. “And, I dunno, maybe I am. I mean, I’m pregnant, the baby’s father died…but I wanted to handle this on my own.”

“Baby,” Steve murmurs, gazing into your eyes. “I know you’re new to this whole alternate-dimension, giant-scary-monsters scene, so I’m asking you to believe me.” He takes your hands in his, squeezing gently. “Vecna is the worst one we’ve dealt with so far. None of us, not even Hopper, can do this alone.”

You think for a moment, biting your lower lip in concentration. “Can you fill me in on the plan?” you ask. “I’m gonna go home and rest.”

“Of course.”

“And, Steve?” you continue, and he nods. “Promise me two things.”

“What?”

“One, you won’t put yourself in extra danger,” you say, “and, two, you let me be part of it. Not going into the Upside Down or anything, but I need to help.”

Steve pauses before responding. You know that he wants to protest, to tell you that there’s no way in hell he’s letting his pregnant girlfriend fight. But he knows that it’s beyond him, beyond you. This is something you need to do to avenge Eddie’s death.

“Okay,” he reluctantly agrees. “Do you want me to come with you? I don’t mind; Robin or Henderson can fill me in–”

“No,” you shake your head. “I mean, thank you. But I’ll be fine. I can even put on some music, think of some happy memories. Like the time I kissed you at Family Video.” You smile, leaning on him as you press your lips to his. “I think it went something like that?”

Steve furrows his brows teasingly. “Hmm, I’m not quite sure. Show me again?” He leans in and kisses you, soft and slow and sweet. His hands cup your cheeks, sending tingles down your spine. “And you promise me you’ll call the Byers if you need anything. I’ll come running home, okay?”

You nod, heading towards your car. “I promise.”

When Steve arrives home a few hours later, you’re sleeping soundly in your bed. You’d barely managed to change into your pajamas before passing out, radio tuned to your favorite rock station. You don’t wake until you hear the apartment door close, with Steve muttering, “shit,” when it slams louder than he’d intended.

“Steve? That you?” you call out sleepily.

“Yeah, ‘m sorry, babe. Didn’t mean to wake you.” He slowly walks into the bedroom, hands plunged deep into his jean pockets. “We, uh, we made the plan, if you wanna hear it.”

“Maybe later,” you say, sitting up and beckoning him over to sit next to you on the bed. “Can I tell you about a good dream I just had?”

He raises his eyebrows. “No Vecna?”

“No Vecna.”

He breathes a sigh of relief. “I’d love to hear it.”

“Well,” you begin, kissing his neck, “it involved you…and me…making each other feel really good.” You let your hand drift to the seam of his pants, and he immediately stiffens, whimpering at your touch. “I want you, Steve.”

“Baby, b-baby,” he stammers, palming himself. “Are you sure? I know today’s…it’s been a lot.”

You shift so that you’re straddling his thighs, sucking a bruise at his collarbone. “So fucking sure.”

Steve slips his middle finger into your cotton panties and runs it along your folds, making you moan. He finds your clit and rubs slow, methodical circles. “Wanna make you feel good, beautiful girl,” he murmurs, using his free hand to grip your thigh. “You take whatever you need, okay?”

“Mhm,” you hum, slowly rocking your hips and increasing the pressure on your sensitive bundle. “‘S perfect…so perfect. Your hands are like magic.” You bring your arms to his shoulders, steadying yourself. He blushes at your praise before sliding the finger into your pussy, pumping it in and out. He starts at a slow pace, gradually increasing it as you clench around him. “R-Right there, Steve.” You start to bring your own hand to your clit, now aching with need, but he stops you, using his thumb to continue where he’d left off.

“Sorry, baby; just got distracted,” he admits sheepishly. He removes his finger from you, and you whine at the loss of contact. He chuckles as he tugs off your panties. “Poor thing. Don’t worry, love; just need to get myself ready.” He shimmies out of his jeans and his briefs, with much more ease than you got out of your panties–thanks, pregnancy–and brings you to the edge of the bed. You wrap your legs around his lithe waist as he lines himself up with your entrance.

Steve pushes inside of you, stretching you deliciously. The moan that escapes your mouth is downright filthy, and you cover your face in embarrassment. He lifts your hands away, saying nothing but peppering your face with kisses.

You pull him closer so he has to rest his palms on the mattress as he thrusts into you, chanting your name and I love you over and over. 

“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” he says, eyes rolling backwards as he bottoms out inside you. “Can’t believe you’re mine. Can’t believe you’re my girl, holy shit.”

“K-Keep touching me,” you instruct him, and he continues rubbing your clit as he pistons his hips. You feel yourself inching towards the finish, though you can’t move your body as like you used to. “Little more pressure, baby. Please.”

“Don’t have to beg me,” he groans, “although I can’t say I hate it.”

“Please, please, please,” you cry, “need all of you, Steve. Your hands, your cock, everything.” Your pussy clenches around his length as you come, shivering with pleasure.

Steve’s orgasm doesn’t happen quite as easily. As soon as he gets you off, something changes. It’s as though you can see the cogs turning in his head; he’s clearly overthinking something.

“You okay?” you ask. “If something’s wrong, you can tell me the truth.”

“Nothing wrong with you,” he says, still thrusting into you, desperate to stay hard. “Just keep worrying that we’re doing something we shouldn’t be.” He tries to avert his gaze from your bump, the bump that’s growing Eddie’s baby, but you catch him.

You shake your head. “We can stop if you want,” you assure him, though you’d be lying if you said you weren’t dreading the moment he was no longer inside you, “but you and I…we’re so right.”

“I know. I just wonder if he’d be mad at me, y’know?” Steve admits, pulling out slowly, much to your dismay.

You think back to what Wayne told you earlier in the evening. “Eddie would want me to be with someone who loves me and Little Bean. He would want me to be happy.” You bring your hand to Steve’s. “And you’re that person, Steve. You’re my person.”

Steve smiles at this, pumping himself with breathy grunts. “Keep talking, babe. Keep telling me how bad you need me.”

“Can’t you feel it?” you taunt. “‘M so wet for you, Stevie. All for you. Just need you back inside me.” He presses the tip of his cock into your needing pussy, hissing as your walls envelop him. “Want you nice and deep.”

“Gonna give it to you,” he moans, dragging himself in and out. “Gonna fill up this pretty little pussy till I’m dripping out of you. Everyone’s gonna know you’re mine.”

“All yours, Stevie,” you echo, and no sooner do you say it is he spilling his hot load into you, sputtering and swearing. 

He slows down his pace, withdrawing with a sigh before helping you fully onto the bed and cleaning you up.

“I love you, Steve,” you murmur into the crook of his neck, belly resting on his stomach and arm draped over his hairy chest.

“I love you more.” He kisses your temple, and the two of you fall asleep naked in each other’s arms.

“I’m all yours, Stevie.”

You sit up quickly at the sound of a condescending voice, tone pinched and mocking. “Who’s there?”

“Oh, Stevie, I belong to you. Even though I’m having Eddie’s baby, I’ll forget all about him. Like he never existed.”

Steve wakes up at that. “Did you say something?”

You shake your head, trying to speak, but you’re interrupted by the same voice. This time, it’s dramatically deeper.

“Everyone’s gonna know you’re mine. You’re King Steve’s, baby. King FUCKING Steve’s! Wooooo!”

Eddie appears at the doorway, covered in mud and dust. His curly hair is matted with blood. “What a nice show, huh? My girlfriend and my friend fucking each other while she’s knocked up with my kid. Real classy.”

“He’s not real,” Steve mutters. “It’s not really him.”

Not-Eddie chuckles meanly. “I bet you’re waiting for him. Waiting for me to turn into him. But it ain’t gonna happen. Because he’s not here.”

“Go away!” you feebly yell. “You’re not Eddie!”

“Of course not,” he sneers. “Because I’m dead. And you left my body here to rot. So he’s using it, using me to command his army. And we’ll destroy you and this stupid fuckin’ town.”

“Wh-What are you saying?” Steve stammers, grabbing your hand. “You’re like his…his puppet?”

Not-Eddie flashes a bloody grin. “Ironic, isn’t it? He’s my puppet master. My source of self-destruction.” Suddenly, something flashes behind his eyes. The coldness dissipates, and fear sets in. “Help me. He has my soul. Please, someone help–”

And then he’s gone.

--

[countrymusiclover]

45 - The Rightful Queen

Part 46

The Lion Knight and Dragon Princess

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Cersei snapped at me spinning around on her feet and nearly collapsing to the stone floor by who she was before her. “What are you looking at - J -Jaime.” Biting my lip I prayed that she would believe the little white lie that we were doing right underneath her nose.

I kept my gaze on the twins who moved to the center of the room embracing one another in a tight hug. Cersei buried her face against the fabric of his tunic shirt. He wrapped his arms around her body, burying his nose into her short blonde hair before he tilted her face up to look into his watery eyes. “Cersei.”

“You’re hurt.” She muttered through some tears when he winced after she had pushed her heads against his chest.

Jaime shakes his head, lifting her chin back up so she’d focus solely on him. “It doesn’t matter.”

“You’re bleeding.” She sniffed crying more tears, removing her hands off his chest seeing her hands covered in blood from the wound he appeared to have gotten injured at.

My husband brushed her hair out of her eyes. “That’s not important. We need to get out of here before they come for you. You can’t keep the throne anymore.”

“Give up the throne, do you hear yourself?” Cersei drew her head back and he dropped his hands from the side of her face.

Jaime didn’t give her a verbal response instead he grabbed her face in his hands a second time and he smashed his lips down upon hers. I lowered my gaze to the stone floor hating how it looked to watch them kiss since they were brother and sister. “If you wish to live and not be killed it’s the only way.” He broke the kiss resting his forehead down upon hers.

The golden lioness shoved her hands against his chest angrily. “I will not give up my power. I have worked too hard all of my life to have this. I refuse to let anyone take it from me!” Cersei stomped her feet on the stone floor getting more frustrated.

I lowered my right hand downward to the sword on my hip, wrapping my fingers around the blade handle. “Cersei, you have one chance here to bend the knee and give up your crown. Once you do that you’ll get to live-“

“Go to hell you cunt!” She whipped her head back around in my direction, baring her teeth.

I glared at her, stomping up to her where we were nearly chest to chest with one another. “I’m glad you never were betrothed to my brother Rhaegar. He was the greatest person I have ever known. He gave genuine care about the smallfolk unlike you did. You are just like my father was when he burned everyone with Wildfire.”

“You have no right to speak to me in that tone. I am the Queen! - argh! What - what do you think you’re doing?” I quickly spun the blonde around where her back was against my front. I snatched the dagger out from inside one of my combat boots and pushed it lightly against her throat trying to be as confident as she was when she did the exact same thing to me years ago.

Cersei struggled to fight against my hold, thrashing whatever way she could but I pressed the dagger a little harder against her throat drawing blood. “It doesn’t feel too good does it. To be in the same position you had me in all those years ago. Now listen to me, I don’t wish to hurt you and I won’t do anything so long as you bend the knee and address the last Targaryens as rulers.”

“Vaella, let her go.” Jaime raised his voice at me.

I clutched the handle of the dagger I was holding to her throat. “She attempted to kill our daughter, Jaime. She’ll keep coming after our family - what else are we supposed to do?”

“Come here.” Jaime crossed the room yanking the blonde from my grasp with one arm holding her against his chest. His other hand reached down and I watched him grab a hold of a very thin sword attached to his hip. “I need you to listen to me very carefully. You need to listen to me.”

Cersei spat in her brother's face. “What could you possibly have to say to me? You’ve always been the stupidest Lannister.”

“The North Remembers.” Jaime simply declared down to his sister.

Cersei knitted her brows together in such confusion. “Wha-what?”

“My name is Arya Stark. I want you to remember that before you die.” Jaime raised his hand with the tiny sword in his fingers stabbing her in the middle of the stomach and lowered her body to the stone floor. He raised his other hand removing a face mask and showing Cersei that it was in fact the youngest Stark daughter who everyone else believed was dead after she had killed her father.

Cersei began gasping for breath while I crossed the room lowering myself down on one knee to be level with her in her very last moments. Brushing her short hair from her face I slide my dagger back inside my combat boot. “I tried to offer you another way, Cersei and you didn’t take me up on it. You are no longer the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.”

“Vaella! Vaella!” Lifting my head up sharply I recognized the familiar voice booming throughout the halls of the Red Keep.

Arya turned her head in my direction, we could now both hear the loud sound of bells from the tower ringing through the streets meaning Jaime and Tyrion must have agreed on a side plan like we had. “Are you going to find him?”

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” I nodded, raising myself up from the ground and bolted out of the room and around multiple corners throughout the huge castle. My hair was flowing behind my back while my boots scattered across the stone, up and down every set of stairs I could call out his name like a wind and a prayer. “Jaime! Jaime, Jaime, Jaime!”

Halting in my tracks my boots screeched against the cold stone when I noticed that I was standing now in the center of the throne room. The Iron Throne was directly in front of me and I almost didn’t notice my feet moving forward to the throne steps. Closing my eyes I recalled a very faint memory of my mother when I was a young child the closer I got to the throne of swords.

Making my way up the stone steps I brushed the fingertips of my right hand on the armrests of the sharp chair. I pictured my mother in this moment, the moment I realized that I didn’t want what life was forced upon her.

“Momma, have you ever sat in that chair?” The innocent girl in me at the age of 8 years old asked my mother while we were walking up to the large sword chair.

Rhaella, my mother smiled down at me keeping my smaller hand in hers. “Unfortunately I haven't, dear.”

“Why?” I asked a simple question.

Mom bent down on a knee to be eye level with me, showing such a gentle look on her face. “Well because I am not the one in charge. I may wear a crown and be called a Queen but it doesn’t make me the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.”

“Why doesn't it. Daddy wears the crown and the people say he's in charge.”

Mom brushes hair out of my face. “That’s the way of the world. Men are the ones in charge. But you, my girl , will be different than most.”

“What do you mean, momma?” I tilted my head to the side not understanding what she meant by that.

Rhaella placed both her hands on the side of my face kissing my forehead before she delivered words I would remember for the rest of my life. “You Vaella will be the best Queen there ever was because you are my daughter. You are the best version of your father and I. It will make you the greatest Queen the Seven Kingdoms have ever known.”

“I’ll do my best, momma.” I smiled down at her, throwing my arms around her neck and she hugged me back.

Turning around on my feet I sucked in a very sharp breath lowering my body down onto the cold chair of old swords. Tapping my fingers on the armrests I winced slightly recalling how many times my father had nicked his hands on the blades and drew blood almost every day. “I’ve lost count on how many times he cut himself on the throne.” Shifting my gaze upward my violet eyes landed on a set of green eyes I knew better than anyone else.

“Jaime - I was beginning to think that I’d lost you.” I released a sharp gasp bolting up from the seat and down the steps as fast as my feet could carry me.

My husband quickly made his way into the center of the room catching my body after I nearly tackled him to the hard floor underneath our feet. Wrapping my arms and legs tightly around his body he buried his nose into my messy hair. “I was terrified that something had happened. Ohh, I’m just relieved you’re okay Vaella.”

“Jaime, um - there’s something you should know.” I broke away from our embrace, running my hands up and down his forearms.

He raised a brow at me. “What happened, Vae?”

“Cersei’s dead and she had one of the Ironborn shoot down Luciya.” I nervously gulped feeling tears welling in my eyes.

Jaime’s protective mode came to the surface where he grasped my hand in his left. “Let’s go find her now.” Together we ran toward the doors moving outside as quickly as we humanly could manage.

[mogspawner]

Deceit. (smp)

It is not Sunday but Im making this post to show what kind of content I'd be bringing to my blog! Please follow if it interests you because I will do a series like this every week! Submissions of your own smp's / personal favorites allowed under conditions!

Need some more Minecraft series to get into? A completed story hosted by Legundo for your viewing pleasure, watched this series when it released and truthfully its incredibly underrated. I will go in to describe this for you!

No warnings needed!

"May I interest you in an egg, in this trying time? "

In the words of our good man Legundo, himself: "Welcome to Deceit. Hardcore players meeting together in a world for a game of 'Survival' and 'Social Deduction.'"

This hardcore-based server is centered around two lives which each player has, their First life is your gentle run-of-the-mill Minecraft experience with friends.

Well, Mogspawner, you must be saying to yourself right now as you read this blog. What happens when you lose your first life?

You are onto your last life and given a role. (3)

Crafter(4): Survival route, aimed at continuing to stay alive in the endgame. Uniting with others of your shared role.

Traitor(3): Traitors are pretty self explanatory, they are the infiltrators to the Crafters and seek to dish out justice and mayhem alongside their traitor friends to remain the last standing team.

The Killer(1): The killer has a single role. Total annihilation. No side should be left standing when you are done with them, and oh boy are the possibilities endless.

The goal is for the Crafters to survive, the Traitors to kill or the Killer to try and win the game at all costs. Seems pretty fun, right? Wrong. Each player will do their best to lie, cheat and deceit their way to victory. Who comes out on top? Who survives after all's said and done. Find out on Deceit!

Let's meet our players!

Here I am going to list links to all the content creators involved Youtube channels. When it comes to getting into series, its always important to pace yourself and I will give some insights on which perspectives you should watch for your own catered experience! Spoiler free, of course.

Legundo: Legundo is a sure choice to pick if you like a little bit more seriousness. If you go in for lore, dramatic re-telling's and story rich interactions. This is the perspective for you! Legundo has participated in both season of Deceit!

Switchbackmongo: If you find yourself rather introverted and awkward Mongo is the person to watch! There a couple cinematics and plenty of jokes to sit back and enjoy. Mongo has been on both season of Deceit!

Taneesha: Personal favorite. Most hardcore players know Taneesha for her general aloofness and playful behavior, if you find yourself the type of person to leave floating tree's just to annoy your friends this is the perspective for you! Has participated in both season of Deceit.

Loony: Personal favorite. Favor yourself a little chaotic POV? This is the one! Loony has a share of getting into plenty of shenanigans while also giving it a good old MC playthrough feel. Loony participated in both season of deceit.

There are plenty of other content creators who do not have their playlist public, active or made into videos. The content you receive in other views is what is provided but I will list them here instead: Skyes, Pezcat, DavisWho, PainDomination, alongside characters from season two!

Fancy yourself a completionist? Here is a link to every single video in Lore order. I specifically adore Fixxit's perspective in season 2, but thats just me!

See you later, swompers!

[mysticstronomy]

WHAT IS A COSMOLOGICAL WALL??

Blog#267

Wednesday, February 1st, 2023

Welcome back,

Is the Milky Way special, or, at least, is it in a special place in the Universe? An international team of astronomers has found that the answer to that question is yes, in a way not previously appreciated. A new study shows that the Milky Way is too big for its “cosmological wall,” something yet to be seen in other galaxies. The new research is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

A cosmological wall is a flattened arrangement of galaxies found surrounding other galaxies, characterized by particularly empty regions called ‘voids’ on either side of it. These voids seem to squash the galaxies together into a pancake-like shape to make the flattened arrangement. This wall environment, in this case, called the Local Sheet, influences how The Milky Way and nearby galaxies rotate around their axes, in a more organized way than if we were in a random place in the Universe, without a wall.

Typically, galaxies tend to be significantly smaller than this so-called wall. The Milky Way is found to be surprisingly massive in comparison to its cosmological wall, a rare cosmic occurrence.

The new findings are based on a state-of-the-art computer simulation, part of the IllustrisTNG project. The team simulated a volume of the Universe nearly a billion light-years across that contains millions of galaxies. Only a handful – about a millionth of all the galaxies in the simulation – were as “special” as the Milky Way, i.e. both embedded in a cosmological wall like the Local Sheet, and as massive as our home galaxy.

According to the team, it may be necessary to take into account the special environment around the Milky Way when running simulations, to avoid a so-called “Copernican bias” in making scientific inference from the galaxies around us. This bias, describing the successive removal of our special status in the nearly 500 years since Copernicus demoted the Earth from being at the center of the cosmos, would come from assuming that we reside in a completely average place in the Universe.

To simulate observations, astronomers sometimes assume that any point in a simulation such as IllustrisTNG is as good as any, but the team’s findings indicate that it may be important to use precise locations to make such measurements.

So, the Milky Way is, in a way, special,” said research lead Miguel Aragón. “The Earth is very obviously special, the only home of life that we know. But it’s not the center of the Universe, or even the Solar System. And the Sun is just an ordinary star among billions in the Milky Way. Even our galaxy seemed to be just another spiral galaxy among billions of others in the observable Universe.”

“The Milky Way doesn’t have a particularly special mass, or type. There are lots of spiral galaxies that look roughly like it,” Joe Silk, another of the researchers, said. “But it is rare if you take into account its surroundings. If you could see the nearest dozen or so large galaxies easily in the sky, you would see that they all nearly lie on a ring, embedded in the Local Sheet."

"That’s a little bit special in itself. What we newly found is that other walls of galaxies in the Universe like the Local Sheet very seldom seem to have a galaxy inside them that’s as massive as the Milky Way.”

Originally published on scitechdaily.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, February 4th, 2023)

"WHAT ARE GLUONS"??

[miaikon]

From learning a Sci-Fi script to picking up a Con-Lang (or, a very long very nerdy Star Wars rant)

I need to rant at this to the void, and this blog is my go-to for these things. I feel free to do so since no-one comes here anyways.

A bit of background

(or, the part you can skip if you want to get to the nerdy rant now): I've been into Star Wars on and off since my teens. I'm nearly 40, so that's a few decades. I do watch the new series, and became very fond of "The Mandalorian" really fast. In-between seasons, my spouse and I also re-watched most of Clone Wars. In early 2024, we started a Star Wars 5E TTRPG campaign with a friend, where my spouse DM's, Friend plays a Jedi, and I play a Mandalorian (and she's just so much FUN to play). My character is one I came up with around... 2017? Maybe? IDK if you can find her if you scroll down far enough. Currently re-designing her, though. I originally came up with her after working my way through the Travis books and becoming fascinated with Mandalorians for some reason.

Accidential Language Acquisition

My latest obsession (and distracion from the summer heat) started with me looking up some Mandalorian phrases and curses for RPG purposes. Yes, I know, none of this is canon any more. None of us cares. We kind of make our own canon. Then I found out there's a script - and I was lost. I loved codes and obscure scripts as a child, and I did learn to read Hiragana in my 20s, so how hard could this be? I looked for a chart and found this site, which offers practice reading (and a dictionary, amongst other stuff). So, I started learning the characters in, I think, late July. I read quite well by now, my writing does lag behind. Juuust... the practice phrases are written in the Mandalorian language.

I didn't set out to learn a constructed language. I really did not. I just wanted to know WHAT I was typing. So I looked up the sentences on the cheat-sheet after I got them right. And some words started repeating, and I picked them up. Kinda automatically. I swear, I only practice reading/ writing this for like 15 to 30 minutes a day. After a while, I half-understood what some sentences said. Reading Star Wars fanfiction did not help (or help a lot, depending on your POV) there. I looked up missing words, building a bit of a vocabulary. It's erratic still, but I noticed something. In conversations, my brain sometimes supplies the Mandalorian words I know now. (I usually do catch myself, although stuff tends to slip in when I'm alone with my spouse, to his amusement.) My language center does not know this is a con-lang, after all. I also tried to write a ransom note in Mandalorian, which was a fun experience (for a private project). Through fan fiction and looking up stuff, I also learned about the Legends version of Mandalorian culture. That stuff is fascinating, although I feel like a visitor to an abandoned city. Everyone's gone (since Legends is out of print and stuff is falling into obscurity), but it's still cool to look around. It gives me a kind of bittersweet, nostalgic feeling, too. So many passionate minds, and things I'm so happy to experience, but wished I knew about sooner. Aay'han, if you will, only it's memories I never made. Nostalgia for what could have been. Not gonna lie, I'm obsessed. It's a feeling I seldom get now, although it was quite frequent when I was a teen. It feels great and enjoyable and unhealthy and I think I need to stop. I'm an adult, and I'm too old to fangirl. Or, at least, I keep telling myself this.

Analyzing a Con-Lang because my nerd brain can't stop looking for patterns

Mandalorian actually HAS different words for the people, the planet, the ruler, and the language. Let me start with Manda, which is the collective soul (or the concept of) of the Mandalorian people. The people themselves are Mando'ade (Children of the Manda/ of Mandalore. Singular Mando'ad). The language is Mando'a (no clue why, language would be joha. Maybe Mando'joha was too long and it got shortened). The planet is Manda'yaim (yaim meaning home. Simple enough). The ruler is the Mand'alor (alor meaning, well, leader. Also simple).

Before long, my brain started making connections between some things. Simple things first - "Ke" or "K' " at the start of a sentence is always the imperative form of something ("Command form"). The words for "you", "I", and the third person pronoun. Then, between words, trying to fit new words with what I already know. Like [something] ad was most likely about people. I built myself bridges that are just theories - I am not a linguist in any fashion, and I'm just trying to make sense of what's there. Like mirsh meaning brain(cell), kot meaning strenght, and mirshko is courage - so, "brain-strength"?

And no, for all of you out there that are as nerdy as me, this is not a full language. There isn't a word for "call" or "get in contact with" I could find, for example. Some authors just wanted to add flair to their writing, so an incomplete thing is what we have. Even so, I am kind of hooked in the weirdest way. I play around, trying to make my own sentences and combined words. It's fun, and private, and nobody needs to know. Except for the two people I TTRPG with.

IDK any more where I wanted to go with this. There might be a part 2, someday. If anyone read this, I appreciate you. If anyone read this and had this weird kind of obsession happen to them as well, let's talk. It might just be the universe's weirdest midlife crisis.

[txmbstone]

Hi lovely!!

Will you write a head cannon about Curly Bill Johnny Ringo hurt the reader's feelings...🙏💕

Ooo we already starting this one out strong. I’m such a sucker for anything angst (just ask my cowriter on our other blog I’ve got emotional breakdowns to a science at this point) so this was such a fun one to do. This is going to be a female centered POV

Curly Bill Brocius

Since you’d met, he’d always claim you were the one for him. There wouldn’t have been any other

You always believed him. He always seemed so head-over-heels in love just seeing you walk up to his tent, compliment your every outfit no matter how dirty or torn it was, calling you his starlight every chance he could. Nothing you could have done would have turned him away

It seemed you both were in it for the long haul

Until you caught him in a brothel with another woman

She was everything you weren’t

Where your skin was calloused from years out on a ranch, she was smooth as butter. Where you were stout and toned, she was thin and delicate.

You heart sunk and shattered when he uttered your nickname to her

You couldn’t take it any more, turning on your heel and racing off into the night.

You couldn’t believe him. After everything you shared, all you’d done, every silly little fight and every dance he swept you up in was nothing but a lie. Every memory shared under the canopy of the stars, whispering futures of fortune and fame to the heavens, and he had thrown it all away

Johnny Ringo

Johnny was never an emotional man. So much more reserved compared to the loose cannons the Cowboys were infamous for. But not your Johnny. Never. Always the reserved man, the first to arrive and the first to leave. Never sticking around too long where he knows he wasn’t needed. It’s just how he was.

You loved him for it. Loved how he was the eye in the hurricane the Cowboys would bring through Tombstone. He was the roll of gentle thunder after a flash of lightning, the wind coaxing the beginning flames of a forest fire.

You only ever saw his resolve break when Billy died.

You try to lure him back to the tent, back to the comfort of your arms, and it’s a war to fight back the sinking in your heart when he shoves you away.

“Get off me. Can’t you see I don’t want you here?”

Fuck…that…

That hurt more than any bullet could

You don’t bother to shoot back a snarky reply — your heart and pride too wounded to even conjure up one — instead choosing to brush at dirt you know isn’t there on your coat and spin on your heel back to your tent.

You know he didn’t truly mean it. He never could. Not after he promised you the sun and stars. The heavens and the earth. But the anger, the hate, that flooded his features towards you was too much for your already fracturing heart to bear.

Wow this one feels like it kind of sucked. Writing has been hella difficult lately, so I’m sorry this isn’t as good as I could have made it to be. I am working on a few projects so hopefully those will redeem me

[ocelluicepler]

there's a second wind coming, as we lie here in our bed it rattles the bones of our fathers, carries whispers from the dead ‎ ‎ ‎ ︑︒⚬∙︓·⠄♅

. the archives are quiet.

✦ unofficial prodigy game ask blog ✦ run by @corrupted-icarus ✦ This blog centers around an AU and an academy student by the name of Kepler. One of the best students, but prefers to stay in the archives, where nobody can bother him or his studies... ✦ in character asks are welcome and encouraged!!

. tagging system. it's easy to get lost.

✦ kepler writes ◦ in character answers to questions

✦ kepler reblogging ◦ in character responses to posts; reblogs

✦ out of character ◦ posts from icarus, usually important because he commits to the bit

✦ roughhousing ◦ joke posts, exclusively semi-in character

✦ the notebook ◦ lore-heavy posts ✦ the medicine bag ◦ posts with trigger warnings or darker content.

. rules & dni. all good practitioners have them!

you will be blocked on sight if you refuse to comply with these guidelines.

✦ strictly sfw interactions ◦ regardless if you are a minor or not, keep the interactions with this blog clean and free of sexual content.

✦ swearing is allowed. ✦ no spam ◦ do not flood the ask or submissions with repetitive, spammy posts. ✦ no bigotry ◦ this goes without saying; do not be ableist, homophobic, xenophobic, transphobic, racist, antisemitic, etc.

✦ DNI ◦ pedos/map/nomap, nazis, terf/radfem, pro-ana, trollers

. TRIGGER WARNINGS

✦ reaccuring themes within this blog are:

✦ gifted kid burnout & academic abuse

✦ mild medical horror

✦ eye imagery

. blog founded 9/14/2023 ◦ last updated 9/14/2023

may your wounds heal up cleanly. it's the least we deserve. <o>

[orange-orchard-system]

hey don't feel pressured to give any advice to this if it makes yall uncomfortable but I need a place to put this and I don't want to put it on our main blog because we're out as a system there.

I'm beginning to think my headmates might just be a delusion. I fully believe I'm a system and can't shake the belief that I am even though more and more evidence is coming up that I might not be. I've realised that any time I "switch" I consciously choose to act like a headmate, instead of it being an uncontrollable thing. I have no 'core' sense of self due to NPD which makes it really easy to pick up and drop different traits, but I'm never not *me*.

I do dissociate quite badly and have memory issues. and I might have mistaken my ability to act like different people for headmates. which might be why I think I have DID

I don't know. I'm scared of backlash if it turns out what I thought was a system was in fact a delusion. I've made several plural friends through here and I've contributed to the plural community and people have even come to me for plural related advice. will it all have been a lie?

also do yall know any psychotic systems that I might be able to talk to about this?

I don't know of any others, but we're a psychotic system and willing to listen!

This sounds like a delicate situation. I'm going to treat it as if you're questioning being a system, and aren't sure either way, and will provide suggestions to support either direction. I'll do my best to stay objective but gentle, but this response will discuss delusions, dissociation, the boundaries between them, and how those boundaries can blur, so be mindful of how you're feeling when reading. Got that?

(also, this response got, uh, long. More under the cut.)

You do bring up good points about how you may not be a system. The switching one in particular is unlike how most switches work, as most switches are uncontrolled to a degree, and don't involve a choice to start acting a certain way. And you wouldn't be the first to have some overlap with the plural community due to a personality disorder – just look at how BPD and DID often have parallels drawn in papers on diagnosing one or the other, or even just parallels noted within the communities!

However, what you're describing also sounds similar to median, OSDD-1a, and monoconscious systems, who also often feel like themselves no matter who they switch to. This can also affect how switching feels, which for these systems, can be more like putting on a hat than losing control of themselves and becoming someone different. Do median + OSDD-1A + monoconscious experiences perfectly explain this feeling of "I'm just acting like another headmate and not actually switching"? No, but I recommend you look into them to see if you do or don't feel like they explain why you don't feel like you fit the conventional mold of systems, which is often centered around multiple DID systems. This should give you better insight into whether it's a delusion or not.

You know, I often hear the opposite of what you've next described – people often say they mistook their DID for simply being able to act differently when they need/want to! But in all seriousness, I understand the concern. If it's the plurality part that's bothering you, why not take a closer look at your memory problems and dissociation? You may want to identify possible other sources for these things, and look into how others describe their own experiences with them. Don't take others' experiences as gospel you have to match – just use it as a reference for comparing and contrasting your own memory issues and dissociation. I mentioned OSDD-1A before, so I mainly recommend looking into those experiences, but be sure to branch out to outside CDDs and look into other disorders. Perhaps other personality and dissociative disorders would be a good place to start?

Moving on, I don't think everything you've done as part of the plural community would be a lie, even if it turns out to be a delusion. It sounds like you've helped out people with your advice, and enjoyed the friendships you've made, which sound like positive things overall. Even if you're wrong about being a system, you're not wrong about having added some good into the world through your kindness and helpfulness, and it's not like you were intentionally misleading and tricking people – your concern now shows that you don't want that! While there may be backlash, that kind of backlash tends to come from people who aren't so nice in general anyway, so I don't think you should give their words much weight. A conditional sort of acceptance based on never being wrong about a personal part of one's identity that's really tricky to identify? Who wants that? It's a ridiculous standard to hold anyone to.

At the end of the day, I think what matters most is if considering yourself plural helps you. Taking the idea that it's a delusion – is it harming you? Is it causing you to act in ways that are negatively affecting you? If so, it may be time to consider how to bring yourself out of it, or how to better manage it as a delusion. However, if it's a delusion that doesn't negatively affect you, or at least doesn't negatively affect you that much... is continuing to identify as plural truly such a bad thing?

I'm not suggesting you encourage a delusion, of course (especially in this context, where you're distressed over the possibility of it), but if the plural framework helps you, then using it as a way to manage this possible delusion doesn't seem like too bad of an idea, as long as you adapt the parts that aren't accurate, and are careful with how you use it. I've known people whose best way of managing delusions was going along with them, only combating them if they started hurting or negatively affecting them – just kinda keeping an eye on them like a new owner would a puppy, you know? People tend to think of any presence of delusion as a bad thing, but sometimes they're just a part of someone's life. Of course, if this doesn't fit your experience, you do not at all need to continue considering yourself plural after coming to the (hypothetical, possible) conclusion that you're experiencing a delusion. It's just worth considering, but if you do consider it, please go to others who discuss their delusions like this or in similar ways to this, as our delusions are only ever negative and we do not and can not speak on how this works, only that we know of others who have made it work. Also, this post may help give more context on why I suggest this approach.

On another topic, the thing with dissociation is that it's very related to things like delusions and hallucinations. Internal communication is called auditory hallucinations. The way people describe derealization can match up nearly identically to people with delusions of the world not being real. So finding out whether someone is a system or experiencing a delusion of being a system... is not something that can be done easily (and certainly not over an ask on Tumblr. As much as I'd like to give you an answer either way, the best I can do is offer what I know about related experiences I've seen and had, which I hope I've done to the best of my ability). But my point is that a third option to consider is that you may be standing at the intersection of plurality and psychosis. It's happened before – hell, one of our own delusions functions similarly enough to the rest of our plurality that we've had difficulty establishing whether it was a delusion of identity or just another headmate (which is another reason why we suggest using a plural framework to manage this possible delusion – it may help you make sense of whatever's going on in your head via comparison, even if it's not a perfect descriptor, the way that comparing our delusion to a headmate helped us understand it better). So maybe the answer is "both" or "more so this thing but also partly that" or "it's this but really similar to that" for you, too.

Whatever the answer is, I hope you're able to find it. Good luck, anon!!

[lesbiansanemi]

Caught up on jjk. opened the jjk tag. saw the first post was a straight x reader post. IMMEDIATELY closed it and opened your blog instead. o7.

I'm so glad to be a safe haven from the hellscape that is tags. I hope you enjoyed your scrolling o7

Nah, x reader shit is a literal fucking inescapable plague and it's so fucking infuriating, I can't lie

Like, I truly have no issue with x reader stuff in general. Like the actual fics and art, of course. I have no interest in it, but other people like making and reading it, so good for them! Like, glad you're having fun

The broad community around it is fucking insufferable though and they make me kinda fucking hate anything associated with x reader stuff in general, to the point that I literally block anyone who posts/reblogs it on sight.

They are so fucking inconsiderate of everyone other than themselves in fandom spaces and ignore so many of the social niceties pretty much all other communities use to make fandom a habitable space for everyone en masse. The way they flood and abuse tagging systems is so fucking infuriating. Like, using the jjk fandom as an example (as its x reader community is one of the worst I've seen in this regard, though kny isn't much better), you shouldn't be fucking tagging your x reader smut shots with every goddamn character in the series. You want to write something of getting dicked down by Gojo? Sure, put it in the general jjk tag as well as Gojo's tag. That's valid and fair. Why tf are you tagging Maki? Or Yuuji? Or literally every other character in the series? Why are you tagging unrelated ships? It's so unnecessary and rude and self centered.

I also hate that the vast majority of them won't tag their stuff with a general x reader tag that's easy to blacklist. If I want to avoid their posts in totality, I'd have to blacklist "gojo x reader" "satoru gojo x reader" "gojo x fem reader" "gojo x gender neutral reader" "gojo x you" etc etc you get the point.... but for every fucking character in the series. Why not just add literally one general "x reader" tag that would mean people like me could easily avoid your stuff and we can both blissfully enjoy our lives? Tagging isn't just for getting exposure, it's for allowing people to avoid your work as well. That's more than half the courtesy of it

But no.... they want to shove their shit into as many people's faces as possible because they think that will get them more exposure, not just piss people off and make tags uninhabitable for literally anyone who isn't interested in it

They also have a tendency to not put their graphic, explicit porn under read mores, which is also just basic decency. Never mind that I then have to scroll through all 4K words of your OOC daddy kink nanami porn, but I had to see it when I didn't consent to it, potentially in public. Thanks for that! Also especially dumb when you put MDNI on it and then... just post it openly without even a single click to keep it off the screen. Great job! Not that MDNI always keeps minors out (obviously) but it's a useless shiny sticker when you then post the porn just out in the fucking open, not even offering one fucking click for people to consent to seeing it

I've also noticed they tend to use uncredited art in their stuff super fucking often? And no "art not mine" doesn't fucking count as credit.

Idk, I just truly have no fucking respect for the x reader community at this point considering their blatant lack of respect and courtesy for literally every other fandom subculture.

Sure, they get some hate for being "cringe" or whatever (which I admit isn't fair. I def don't get the appeal, but I don't think anyone should be getting meanly ridiculed for it, you know?) but I wish they would realize that the fucking disdain they get from the rest of the fandom is for these reasons.... Not necessarily the self shipping or even the blatant mischaracterization for wish fulfillment purposes

Idk, sorry for the rant, but the x reader crowd fucking infuriates me. Like I said, I block them all on sight (probably have upwards of 1-2K blogs blocked at this point because of it), and have blacklisted as many tags for it as I can.... and while how often I see it has definitely gone down and makes tags slightly more bearable... it's still, fucking somehow, like 50 fucking percent of them

But anyways, back to the main point! I'm glad I could curate a jjk tag that is more enjoyable and to your tastes! I know I very much like having one I can scroll through that's art and meta, rather than.... that

[karmabcmb]

Guidelines

Hello there! Here we are again, because I love this muse and refuse to let him be ruined. A bit of craziness made me leave, three times, and it's not going to happen again. I've decided to tweak the rules a little bit, reword things a little and whatnot, so I'll apologize now if things sound harsh, but...well, that's a small apology, because apparently harsh is what I need to do. So, here goes:

This is an independent blog. I like to avoid any sort of fandom drama, and even though I know the inFamous crowd is relatively small nowadays, I'm still going to say I'm not directly affiliated with them.

I don't do OOC drama. If you're the type to start it, or enjoy being involved in it, good for you but please keep it away from me.

If you don't like something I'm doing, the unfollow button exists. The block feature exists. Use them. If it's something I can work on, by all means, I am willing to talk about it like adults, but otherwise? Move along.

On the subject of fandoms: I do not care which you're in, or whether I know a single thing about it. I am very open to crossovers and absolutely adore writing the most unlikely of meetings, or creating verses and exploring different aspects of my muse when he's centered in another universe, and so forth. Please, come at me!

The same goes for OCs. I don't expect OCs to be perfectly polished and whatever. A lot of aspects can show and solidify as they interact with other characters and situations, and I am all about being part of that. So, yeah, OCs? Bring 'em here, let me love them.

Shipping: As much as I want to, I'm not going to say that I won't ship on this blog. Things happen, muses mesh - I'm not going to shoot it down if the chemistry is there and everyone is on board. Just know I'm...a little gun shy, so to speak, about shipping this muse, so it might take me a bit to really get behind it. Once I do, though, god help you. I will bombard you with random crap about our ship until you're absolutely sick of me.

Please do not force ships. That is all.

Replies may be slow. I work a lot, but I'll always try to pop on at least once a day. Whether I just lurk, send memes, or actually write, though... it'll vary by day. Patience is appreciated.

Minor godmodding is okay. Things like, assuming my muse passed yours something when prompted in a thread is generally okay. If I had a different plan, I'll definitely let you know but for the most part, it's cool. Anything more than that, and it'll be a problem

I will not write with anyone under 18. I myself am 21+ and it weirds me out, so for my own comfort, I prefer not to write with minors. Also, I am not going to shy away from subjects that may venture into 'adults only' territory - I'm not against smut, if things work out for it, down for violence and foul language, dark themes, and so on - so that's yet another reason I say 18+. Do not lie about your age. If I find out you have, I will block you, no questions asked.

I read everyone's rules and about pages, if they're available. Common courtesy, as far as I'm concerned, so I always make a point to do so.

Mutuals are welcome to my Discord, Telegram, Steam, etc., If they would like. Just hit me up and I'll be happy to give you my handle. Let me know who you are, though, if you add me, just so I don't have to play 'creep or not creep'.

I'm not gonna make you send in a password or anything to interact with me. Instead, I'm gonna do a little thing: if you're feeling up to it, throw a word at me in an ask, and I will write a little starter for our muses based around that word. Not a requirement, but hey, we're all here to write together, right? Let's kick it off right away!

And that should do it! Thanks for taking a second to read through these, and I look forward to writing with you all!

[nellynee]

Trollstopia Blindblogging: episode 8b: Mouth Guitar

(this lovely hiatus was brought to us by a truly charming bout of muscular COVID and a slamming hard 4 season binge of the criminally underrated Lego Nexo Knights but I’m back on my bullshit don’t worry)

Took a small break and came back on a Banger of an episode. Really the Rock and Classical Trolls are a huge hoot together so far and I can’t wait for an encore. Inoffensive. The characters were really fun and some of my faves. not sure ow I feel about Blaze yet, we shall see. Purely instrumental song but it kinda Busted Ass and Rocked Hard. A really good, entertaining, solid 4 our of 5

This is one of those episode that exploded my dash way back when so I’m, hoping that means its a good one but yes it’s at least surface level spoiled in that I know that Minuet and a Rock Troll named Blaze but my knowledge ends there. You have no idea how tempting it is when your sick to just binge what you want but I wanna blind blog this damn it and I shall

I think might actually be the first time ever we’ve seen a Troll practice. ok no that's a lie the very first movie “Move You’re Hair” was a dress rehearsal but that’s not the point. The point is, for a species who’s entire various cultures are centered around singing or dancing there’s shockingly little practice going on. Of which I would  be perfectly willing to listen to some kind of magic or instinctual explanation but we don’t get that either. All to say I spend waaaaaaay to much time making schedules for the average trolls to try and determine how much of their time is taken up with practice, and how necessary it is, You’ll be happy to know that answer basically boils down to “depends on the troll in question”

“Music to my eyes” is so terribly charmingly delightful

 It’s not a proper Trolls freakout if they don’t present a common and very lighthearted turn of phrase as srs business

On the one hand, a Troll choosing to imitate an instrument instead of playing or singing is pretty interesting in terms of my headcanons, placing Troll's genders (in terms of self expression and societal rolls) as a triangular spectrum of instrumental, vocal, and physicals performance (dance). So instantly in that context, my brain is telling me that Blaze either identifies as either a vocal or instrumental Troll, and might have a genetic inclination or natural talent towards the opposite, and this is his happy medium. I find this infinitely interesting. On the other hand, my second hand embarrassment is flaring and I have to go lay face down in a pillow for 20 minutes. 

Why is him never stopping a problem? There should be music going on somewhere at all times in theory. Realistically, this shouldn’t be an issue, you just wander in and out of whatever performances and parties are to be had at the time at whim. But it is a TV show I guess

OMG I keep forgetting that the Candy Stripe Troll has a big ol ice cream top for hair

Did this asshole just interrupt someone else’s performance? Like... I feel so offended for Minuet 

Holy shit CREEK!

holy shit Val knows who Creek is?

It’s fuckin Creeeeeeek

I’m not a particular fan of his but that shocked the ever loving shit out of me

I had to watch it like, twice to make sure I didn’t imagine it but that little thing where he took off his shades and there were shades underneath is like a B tier joke at best but something about the little noise it made when he did it and how massive they are and how quick it was set me off

He- he di- he did it again it’s so fast and- he put them back on and they are all layered up and crooked. I keep having to stop and giggle that’s so ridiculous

You don’t get that boastful and accomplished without some sort of praise fetish that bitch took one look at the disappointed crowd and was like “NVM lets rock to the death then”

I bet the look he just gave her was a ship launcher he either respects her, is amused, DTF, or some combination of the above

“Saturday night, you vs me, moutho-a-moutho” is probably his go to pickup line. Nasty

Prepare to be, ABLAZED

forgive me for the theory crafting live, but given what Val says about it being passion over technique, it being a weird mash of ability expression, how Val also appears to know how in a way that shows they just assume she did... it would be interesting to place mouth guitar or mouth instruments in general as like, Baby’s first Rock Music in the Rock Tribe, a stepping stone to figuring self identity that Rock Troll’s carry through life. Not a whole lot to back it but not anything to say nay either. Gotta think on this more...

What the fuck is happening to Minuet’s mouth? Who is animating this horror?

Ok but this is precious though

I know the lesson of the day is probably “Minuet’s way is wrong for Rock and she needs to learn to let go” And I like the idea of Troll’s exploring parts of themselves not available in their own village (IE Minuet is from the Classical tribe and excels there where technique and precision are particularly deified but she fails and is a poor performer in Tribes that value other aspects. And now she has a chance to explore those aspects and what measures success in them outside of her Tribe) but on the other hand my little precise steps and instruction baby obviously processes and finds success in her learning process and not all kids learn the same. It would be nice if she could be successful with Mouth guitar in her own fashion but I doubt it.

Honestly I wish the show put as much into the value of music to Funk as they do Rock. I bet Minuet would be horrified by Syncopation. 

Put. The Bagpipes. Down. god I love Val

I’m sorry, but this is very distracting. I don’t know what it is but whatever is happening with Minuet’s glitter animation makes it look like she’s profusely sweating milk. Like my brain is hiccupping and it’s dripping down her face. Don’t know what’s up with that but it needs to stop before Minuet becomes a sweaty bitch in my brain.

By Be-Troll-Ven’s Bassoon!

He smashed it like it was a real guitar!

HOW

I’m as appropriately horrified by the prospect as Minuet appears to be

But Vaaaaaaal what if technique is her passion????

Virtue-o-so-talented have I mentioned I love the turn of phrases in this show?

I do wanna appreciate that Minute has not once second guessed the imaginary guitar or rolled her eyes or called it dumb took it 100% seriously

Also appreciating that even Creek can’t stand himself

Aaaaaaaw her guitar is so cute. 

But really This is so cute and creatively done I really love this. The sick guitar riff that sounds like an actual guitar as she mouths it is really fun I really like this.

“I say you already used that pun. You’re getting Blaze-y” Oh fucking SNAP sister!

Ok teh composition of this is really slammin I can dig this.

Cooper

THE FUCKIN GLASSES

INSHREDABLE!

Why do I get the impression he actually crashed a funeral?

Ok this remix of Livin in Harmony is a bop too

[moonlightretriever]

how horny are you outside of this blog, in real life? because i'm a very sexual being jamrs, and if i ever put a ring on your finger and live with you i can only hope you're okay with that. there'd be no pants inside our walls, i'd need easy access to your holes at all times, ready to take my cock on a whim, no matter what you're doing. id even greet you by violently grabbing your tdick to watch your knees buckle and hear you moan before i kiss you on your forehead. when i invite my friends over who know i'm like this, i wouldn't hold back for thier sakes. i'd have you there, on my lap, hand over your mouth, being used like a fidget toy i can emptymy balls into. hell, depending on the friends, i might drug you up and pass you around.

please please please…. i like to think i’m pretty sexual outside of this blog!! i don’t… have sex actively RIGHT NOW, but… if i could i would… u/////u but i don’t see any problem with you using me like that!! <333 i wanna wear a big sweater with no pants hehehe..

i.. have never been fucked by more than one person at a time before, though… i really like the idea of being the center of attention i’m not gonna lie-

[cbdhemp-live]

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Also read our quality blogs, CBD Local SEO

[ypacademy]

YP Academy: Marching Towards Excellence as the Best Defence Academy in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Welcome to the world of YP Academy, a beacon of excellence and the epitome of dedication in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Our academy stands tall as the best defence training institute in the Pink City, equipping aspirants with the skills and knowledge required to excel in the armed forces. With a commitment to nurturing leaders of tomorrow, YP Academy has been a catalyst in transforming dreams into reality. In this blog, we will explore why YP Academy has emerged as the top choice for defence aspirants in Jaipur and how it has set itself apart in the realm of defence training.

Distinctive Training Methodologyl̥ YP Academy takes pride in its unique and dynamic training methodology that distinguishes it from other defence academies in Jaipur. Our approach is centered around nurturing individual talents, instilling discipline, and fostering a spirit of camaraderie among our students. The focus on individual growth allows us to identify and strengthen each aspirant's strengths while working on their weaknesses.

The faculty at YP Academy comprises seasoned professionals, retired armed forces personnel, and subject matter experts, who bring their invaluable experience to the classroom. The comprehensive curriculum, coupled with practical hands-on training, ensures that students are well-versed in all aspects of defence, be it physical fitness, tactical strategies, or problem-solving skills.

State-of-the-Art Infrastructure

YP Academy understands the significance of a conducive learning environment and thus boasts state-of-the-art infrastructure. Our spacious classrooms, well-equipped libraries, and modern training facilities provide students with the perfect atmosphere to focus on their studies and physical training. We believe that creating an inspiring environment is crucial in shaping the future of our aspirants and keeping them motivated throughout their journey.

Personalized Attention and Mentorship At YP Academy, we value the aspirations and dreams of each student, and to ensure their success, we provide personalized attention and mentorship. Our faculty is committed to guiding and supporting students throughout their preparation, addressing their doubts, and motivating them to stay dedicated to their goals. This personalized approach helps in building confidence and self-belief in our cadets.

Impeccable Track Record of Success YP Academy's success stories speak volumes about its effectiveness in training future defence personnel. Over the years, our alumni have made us proud by achieving commendable positions in various defence services. Our consistently high selection rate in prestigious defence exams is a testament to the dedication and quality of training offered at YP Academy.

Holistic Development and Focus on Character Building At YP Academy, we believe that being a true defence personnel goes beyond mere physical and intellectual prowess. Character building and imbibing the core values of integrity, discipline, and leadership are equally essential. Our holistic approach ensures that students not only excel academically but also evolve as responsible and compassionate individuals.

Collaborative Learning Environment

YP Academy fosters a collaborative learning environment, where students from diverse backgrounds come together to share their experiences and knowledge. This synergy enhances the overall learning experience and encourages teamwork—a crucial aspect in the armed forces. Our students develop lifelong friendships and networks that often prove invaluable during their service.

YP Academy has truly earned its title as the best defence academy in Jaipur, Rajasthan. With its distinctive training methodology, modern infrastructure, personalized attention, and focus on character building, YP Academy prepares defence aspirants to face the challenges that lie ahead with confidence and competence. As the legacy of success continues to grow, we invite all young men and women with the dream of serving the nation to embark on their journey with YP Academy and become part of the esteemed armed forces family. Join us, and together, let's make a difference on the frontline of bravery and honor.

[doingthedirtydishes]

Living out a dream during the Covid-19 pandemic: Becoming poor and homeless in Colombia in a wheelchair.

In man’s search for meaning in life, a never-ending process of trials and tribulations, all without logical reason or rational explanation, whilst most live in the mind instead of in the heart, often it is a confusing mess, sometimes disastrous – where experience and growth trump all else, but one where happiness, a byproduct of the process, is the intended goal – with all of life’s lessons serving a greater purpose. The question of how to achieve this endmost goal through the phenomenal mystery of life begets humanity.

Society has replaced the hero’s journey, the person who faces his demons head-on, inevitably navigating through the labyrinth of darkness to find light, with stars in tabloid news, resulting in worship of the rich and famous. Modern society has never been as plentiful in wealth and choices as any time in history, yet we are more unhappy and unfulfilled as ever. Why? We have been taught that he with the biggest house, most impressive title and amount of toys wins. However, the answers lie within, not without.

Over twenty years ago, after leaving a successful career in corporate America, I decided to embark on an odyssey, the inner quest – replete with immense meaning and ambitious purpose – and so I looked into my heart and decided to follow where it directed me. It took me all over the world, from London to Tel Aviv to Hong Kong to Buenos Aires, all the while filling my soul with lessons that would in time mold me into who I was meant to be – the meaning of why I was on this magma filled rock hurling through space.

All that invaluable world experience gave me a unique perspective in which to give back to the world one day – but yet to no avail. At the age of thirty-seven I figured I had a few answers, the sum total of all those parts of my journey up till that point. It was not until a life changing event occurred, after waking up in a hospital trauma center with a priest by my side, that I knew I had no genuine answers, that a more imaginative approach had to be found – all so that I may heal and find light, love and happiness.

After a night out in Philadelphia celebrating the success of a new business venture, I awoke a full quadriplegic. Waking up paralyzed from your neck down is one way to gain new perspective in life, but not one I would recommend. Over the next ten years, with grueling physical therapy and countless insurmountable obstacles, by peering into my heart, making others the focus of my healing, writing a book and creating two blogs, mentoring and helping others in limitless ways, I found resolve, healing.

It was those years of never-ending hardship and healing that led me to my real purpose in life: to guide others on their journey, to help others in finding light through their darkness. Or, simply put: to assist others dismount their story horse, to look into their heart to discover their truth – which is exactly what eventually led to me to Colombia. It is a project that encompasses all the infinite lessons and experience of my life, fully preparing me for this new venture, specifically suited to someone with my detailed past.

Following a talk with an old college roommate, an idea being kicked around for two years, finally took form: a TV show to assist the masses. Steven Quigley Wheels Up was born. A spiritual travel show where I traverse the world conversing with others about their daily struggles, their desire to find new meaning and purpose in life, what led to their breakthrough, and the results – serving as a psychological mirror for the viewers at home. Soon after hearing my story a director and producer signed onto the project.

Life is a best learned through our peers – what we see in others we see in ourselves. It is only by hearing their stories and truth that we fully come to understand how to overcome our own battles. By learning that we all share the same life experiences, no matter the culture or country, we can relate to ourselves and one another in deeper ways. Through a travel show steeped in psychology we hope to utilize others’ examples in order to assist the viewers in their own personal journey for inner healing and happiness.

In May of 2020, expecting to move to Amsterdam to film the TV pilot, with the impetus of an international pandemic underway, thinking there was no reason to store my belongings, I decided to give them all away to the poor and homeless. Soon after in June, I left to NYC to see friends before flying to Europe. Little did I know what my future held and what my recent actions would mean to my life in due time. My profound journey into the heart to live out a dream project would be severely tested.

After being denied entry to board my plane at an empty Newark, NJ airport, resolute on making it to Europe, I moved into a hotel in Queens, NYC in order to await new entry rules into Europe. After three weeks at an expensive airport hotel, with funds dwindling while awaiting an update, I purchased a new ticket to Europe; once again I was unable to board the flight. That is when a good friend from Maine decided one morning to drive down to NYC to jettison me to Portland until the storm passed over.

Unable to find a suitable place to live, and after nine months living in a hotel in Maine – with nowhere in the world to move, as international travel was all but closed due to Covid-19 restrictions – eventually it appeared some countries would soon open. During this period I settled in to experience my first “Maine winter” while exploring moving to twelve different countries, but all were closed. The next part of my journey would bring me to Miami, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, back to Miami, and then finally to Colombia.

Tests completed, flight reserved, it was time to find a place to live in Cartagena. A good friend from Bogota, with local connections through family and friends, was determined to help me secure a new home in my adopted country. Prior to my arrival in Colombia, over six weeks many people helped me to find the right living match. With a stroke of luck, ten days before my departure, with thirty units already disqualified, she secured me a flat in the one of the hottest neighborhoods in Cartagena, Boca Grande.

Once landing in Cartagena and checking into a hotel for two weeks, while the lady we negotiated a deal with was away in Miami getting her vaccination, I relaxed and waited to sign the final contract. But soon that all changed as it became clear she was untrustworthy. From Bogota, of the newly minted nouveau riche class in Colombia, a result of recent expansive economic growth, she had zero commitment to a schedule or to her word. She paid almost no regard or respect to her renters, especially those in need.

Little did I realize how prescient a harbinger she would serve when attempting any successful real estate transactions in Colombia. Her behavior was egregious; her example did not set the bar too high. At this point, with no contract or apartment to rent on the horizon, I extended my stay at the hotel for another two weeks. With unexpected costs adding up (again), friends immediately went back to the drawing board, this time expanding their search to include other neighborhoods and possible living options.

One natural impediment to wheelchairs in South America kept repeating itself – small doorway widths. The main entrances are wide enough, as are many other doorways in homes, but bathroom doorways here are notoriously small, depriving access to the toilet and shower. Otherwise, when contractors are not cutting costs or because they are older buildings, limited consideration is paid to accessibility. Until recently many developing countries had no laws on the books requiring building codes for accessibility. 

Two days before my hotel reservation was to expire it looked like as if we had found the perfect location, building and apartment. It was in the neighborhood I wished to live, with restaurants, shops, cafes, supermarkets and a pharmacy all within close distance. It also had a steep ramp, albeit suicidal – requiring assistance, and two balconies, including one with a view of the ocean and the other with a nice vista of the bay. Once all measurements were verified, I scheduled an appointment to meet the realtor.

The next day the realtor came to the hotel to take receipt of my deposit. All was set, I would move there in 48 hours. A good friend from Venezuela volunteered to help me with the move. Friday arrived and early that morning we got into two taxis with luggage in tow and drove to the building. Two hours later all my belongings were on the ninth floor, awaiting the contract and final payment. As soon I got things settled I headed to the back balcony. That is when I realized the bathroom entrance looked a bit tight.

Immediately I tried entering the bathroom and was unable to enter. The manager soon arrived and attempted to increase the doorway width. Now just barely able to squeeze into the bathroom, I was unable to access the shower. The manager’s response was for me to use a plastic bucket to shower on the balcony. Unwilling in the face of evidence on text between the realtor and my friend, with agreed measurements, he refused to refund my money. He placed the key on the kitchen table and departed.

Wow – what a precarious situation: to either live in an apartment where I could barely access the toilet, and certainly not the shower, or face becoming a vagrant on the streets of Cartagena in a wheelchair.  To return to the hotel would have caused me to incur paying the highest daily rate. It was decided my friend and I would spend the night there and figure it out in the morning. Morning arrived and I was able to get a good daily price again at the hotel. Later I reported the transaction as fraud and was refunded.

Back at the hotel for a third extension the staff was beginning to think I may end up living there. Shortly after it was decided I would leave Colombia, returning to Europe. Holland recently opened their borders again to American travelers – and within two hours I had a reservation on KLM to Amsterdam. It was then that a good friend from another more relaxed city further up the Caribbean coast convinced me to give her country a second chance. Five days later I arrived at my new home: Barranquilla AKA Qiami.

Once there, after checking into another hotel, I immediately began looking for a new apartment. An exhaustive search resulted in no other possible options, until a friend at the hotel told me of a unit for rent in the private residences on the top floors of my building. That evening I met the owner, and after three hours of talking we came to a rental agreement. I was in heaven – a dream come true. Until the day before I was supposed to move in, a text arrived from the owner cancelling the deal at the 11th hour.

This meant I had to extend my stay in yet another hotel for an extended period of time, at full cost. It did not take long for the bill to add up to over two thousand USD, leaving me in a tough position continually paying such excessive living expenses. It was only a matter of ten days before I would be totally out of money. Until this point it was expected my monthly rent would only be a third of my hotel cost, but that was not my reality. My reality was I was about to be broke and on the streets in a second world country.

After careful consideration and conversing with close friends, it was decided I had to swallow my pride and ask others for assistance through public online donations. Otherwise, in the near future, I would have ended up living in the barrios in Colombia in a wheelchair. Since this had happened to me already twice in my life, first after my accident when I lost everything, and second when I could not enter Europe, I could not think of a less desirable place for such an event. A serious crisis was in the making.

A fundraiser was started and within a few weeks friends, through endless love and support, stepped up with legions of contributions. The support I received from the Hilton where I was staying was a Godsend. Christine, the manager, then Paola, the acting manager while Christine was on a leave of absence, along all with all the staff they supervise, were spectacular – both were essential in helping allow me to find a way to remain at my newfound home in Barranquilla. They allowed me to live on credit while I got it all figured out, whilst reducing my daily rate to a livable monthly fee – a true blessing from the heavens.

As life is one big mystical journey filled with otherwise impregnable hurdles, I am grateful for all the aforementioned – amalgamating me into who I am today. It is all a part of the magic of the spiritual trail. However difficult seeing a path forward, I had to remember it would all work out fine in the end. Iron sharpens iron. And although unknown at that time, as nothing worthy in life comes without sacrifice, I had to remind myself that it is all for a greater purpose to benefit myself and others in the near future.

When I set out on my quest to delve deep into the unplumbed frightening expanses of my heart, I had no idea where it would lead me. It has led me all over the world; and eventually to the vision of creating a TV show to help others find healing in life. There were inexhaustible barriers all along the way to derail me from my intention. Certainly I look forward to the day I can look back on all this with a smile. In the interim, I continue to follow the path of my heart, the hero’s journey, the fated work of life, my dream.

Travel Blog: Click here.

Spiritual Blog: Click here.

Book: Unbreakable Mind. (Print, Kindle, Audio)

Doing The Dirty Dishes Podcast: Watch or listen to episodes and subscribe: Spotify, Apple Podcast, Buzzsprout.  Also available on Google Podcast, iHeart, Tunein, Amazon Alexa and Stitcher. 

Doing The Dirty Dishes YouTube channel – watch and subscribe.

Social Media links: Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin.

Travel Blog links: Covid-19 stranded in NYC JFK and Maine – also travel stories on Ireland, Spain, Sweden,  Belgium, Iceland, Colombia (Espanol version), Amsterdam, Germany, New Hampshire, TN and NYC.

Personal Website link where you can also find my book, photos of my travels and updates on current projects.  

Thank you for your love and support.

[packernet]

New Post has been published on https://www.packernet.com/blog/2022/12/20/two-rookies-have-been-packers-best-players-this-year/

Two rookies have been Packers best players this year

To say that this Green Bay Packers season has been a disappointment would be an understatement. Also, to say that it was a surprise would be a lie, considering how poorly they handled things in the off-season.

Losing Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling was a major blow for the team. They were also some glaring holes in the offensive line, so it wasn’t all that shocking to see a frustrated Aaron Rodgers struggling to hit his unproven wideout corps in stride. You can check out the latest odds for the Packers right now and how sportsbooks predict the future of the team.

The Packers did make some interesting picks in the NFL Draft to try and fill in for their gone stars. But Christian Watson, the second-round pick who seemed poised to be their go-to guy, looked more like a bust than a potential star. That’s until he finally turned the corner, as he’s now been the best player on the team by a wide margin.

The Rookie Is Overcoming The Early Struggles

It took him multiple injuries, some head-scratching drops, and 10 weeks, but Christian Watson finally arrived. He now has eight touchdowns in the past four weeks, becoming the first Packers rookie WR to log multiple touchdown receptions in back-to-back weeks since the great Max McGee in 1954.

“I’d say here and there, but it’s a quick bounce back,” Watson said after his career breakout game. “Obviously, got a lot of guys rallying around me, a lot of guys building that confidence back up in me. It just comes down to a lot of self-talk, too, just leaning back on my preparation, leaning back on my work and just know that drops are going to happen, bad plays are going to happen. You’ve just got to make the most of the next opportunity.”

Aaron Rodgers said he was proud of him for not letting the drops and miscues get the best of his game. He added that all he needed to ‘exorcise those energetic demons’ was to get that first TD reception once and for all:

“We had a lot of plays designed for him, so I don’t think there was any other option,” the QB said. “I think that (first touchdown) probably on the atomic level shifted a lot of different things for him, exorcising some energetic demons. I’m proud of him. He made some plays.”

A New Dynamic Duo In Lambeau

Before Watson’s breakout, fellow rookie Romeo Doubs was stealing all the headlines in Lambeau Field. However, they haven’t been able to be at their best together, as Doubs has been out with an injury. Now, they’re finally expected to be both at full strength, which is obviously great news for Matt LaFleur:

“Man, I think it’ll be huge,” Watson said. “We have a lot of guys in our receiver room who have the capabilities and the talent to be out there and make plays. So, obviously the more the merrier. Obviously having seen Doubs’ success early in the season, I’m going to be happy when he’s back out there.”

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it, man,” Doubs said of teaming up with Watson.  “Christian has been balling. I can’t wait to be out there with him because we’ve been looking forward to that opportunity. I can’t wait to see it happen.”

All things considered, the Packers are far from contenders right now, even with Rodgers behind center. But if their two young studs can hit their stride and build some rapport and prove their worth in this league, then this might not be a full waste of a season as most analysts thought it’d be.