#best shiva tattoos

[darshilparmar]

Elevate your body art with the finest craftsmanship at Sam Tattoo India. Explore our gallery for the epitome of creativity in "best Shiva tattoos". Experience the divine essence through our expertly crafted designs.

[jennydcruz27]

Shiva Tattoos in Mumbai - Sam Tattoo India

Shiva tattoos are a specialty of the renowned Mumbai tattoo shop Sam Tattoo India. They use skilled tattoo artists who employ a range of methods, including traditional Indian art and black-and-grey realism, to create stunning Shiva tattoos that accurately capture this formidable deity.

[dishasavla1]

Shiva tattoos are a specialty of the renowned Mumbai tattoo shop Sam Tattoo India. They use skilled tattoo artists who employ a range of methods, including traditional Indian art and black-and-grey realism, to create stunning Shiva tattoos that accurately capture this formidable deity.

[savantmadhu]

What’s The Meaning Of Shiva Tattoos?

The well-known Mumbai tattoo parlor Sam Tattoo India is known for its Shiva tattoos. To produce gorgeous Shiva tattoos that perfectly depict this powerful deity, they work with talented tattoo artists who use a variety of techniques, including traditional Indian art and black-and-grey realism.

[pravindave2307]

Shiva tattoos are a specialty of the renowned Mumbai tattoo shop Sam Tattoo India. They use skilled tattoo artists who employ a range of methods, including traditional Indian art and black-and-grey realism, to create stunning Shiva tattoos that accurately capture this formidable deity.

[machotattoos]

We are thrilled to share this stunning tattoo of an Aghori, a Hindu sect that practices extreme rituals and worships Lord Shiva. This tattoo was created by our gifted artist Dino Singh, who is famous for his realistic and detailed portraits. The tattoo portrays a bearded man with long hair and a skull on his forehead, symbolizing the cycle of life and death. A snake is coiled around his neck, representing the power of Kundalini. The tattoo is black and white and covers the upper arm. It is a masterpiece of art and spirituality.

[broken-clover]

One (Semi-obscure) Fact About Every Guilty Gear Character

I like trivia. And I like Guilty Gear. Being a series that’s been around for the better part of two decades, it’s only natural there’s some details that are less known about. So I wanted to make a silly little compilation about that, inspired by ‘One Obscure Fact About Every Total Drama Character’ by voiceunderthecovers on Youtube. 

As the title suggests, I also specifically did my best to pull out facts that may be less known even to fans of the series, so ideally there’s no ‘Sol is based on Freddie Mercury’-tier stuff here. I tried to find something interesting for everyone!

Characters are listed in order of their first playable games

Missing Link

Sol Badguy- Sol was originally meant to be voiced by actor Koichi Yamadera rather than developer Daisuke Ishiwatari, but given the developer's budget at the time, he would have been too expensive to afford

Ky Kiske- While Ky has been consistently voiced by Takeshi Kusao for the entire series' run in Japanese, he has been given a different voice actor for every dubbed game for both the English and Korean versions. This means that Ky has had seven official voice actors in total, making him among the highest of the cast alongside Testament

May- May is one of only a few characters in the series to have a tattoo, and only one of two where it is not implied or indicated to be magical in some way, alongside Potemkin's barcode

Potemkin- Several of Potemkin's moves across games reference Hinduism. Strive's 'Garuda Impact' is named after a birdlike demigod that acts as a mount for Vishnu, while Xrd SIGN's 'Trishula' is named for a divine trident-like weapon wielded by the god Shiva

Chipp Zanuff- According to prototype and side materials, Chipp is 22 years old as of Missing Link.

Faust- Possibly to go along with his nature of being a doctor with the desire to treat anyone he comes across, Faust's blood type is O, the universal donor

Axl Low- Axl claims the specific date he desired to return to was May 14, 1998. This is the same date that Missing Link was released in Japan

Millia Rage- According to her Xrd SIGN story mode, Millia's favorite flower is the Easter Lily

Zato-1- Based on his abduction dialogue in Strive, Zato believes in aliens

Kliff Undersn- Despite being removed from the Wii version of XX Accent Core, along with Justice, both their names and endings remain in the game's code. They also both contain original art that had never been used up to that point

Testament- The twin demons that Testament summons in Strive are the same singular familiar they possessed in prior games, simply named ‘Succubus,’ possibly split into two entities similarly to Ramlethal's familiar Lucifero

Justice- In Missing Link, Justice was voiced by Arc System employee Takuya Morito, who also voiced Chipp

Baiken- Baiken was initially a difficult character to include in the series, as due to being an amputee, it brought up issues with compliance standards at the time

X

Anji Mito- one of his aliases, Hirasawa, was actually planned to be his name during the start of X's development

Venom- During the winpose where he spins his cue, it is able to interact with any remaining balls that are still set up nearby

Johnny- Johnny is implied to have a close history with Gig, the main antagonist of the DS spinoff game Guilty Gear Dust Strikers

Jam Kuradoberi- In Blazblue, Litchi Faye-Ling's theme 'Oriental Flower' is a remix of her X theme, 'Babel Nose'

Dizzy- In the Guilty Gear XX Burst Encyclopedia, full-bodied sketch concepts exist for her wing entities, Necro and Undine. It is unknown currently if the designs were ever meant to be implemented into the game or if they were simply unused concepts

XX

Bridget- Bridget’s usage of a yo-yo as a weapon was inspired by a world-class yo-yoer that Daisuke Ishiwatari knew during the development of XX

Slayer- In SIGN, Slayer is shown to be able to control his limbs even after being severed

Zappa- In his Accent Core character art, Zappa is drawn with six fingers on his right hand. This has never appeared before or since, and is likely just an error. However, in some circles, six fingered-hands are viewed as spiritually significant

I-no- Her main guitar weapon, 'Marlene,' closely resembles the real-life Starplayer TV model manufactured by German company Duesenberg. One of her design inspirations, Sheena Ringo, owned a similar guitar, which she referred to as 'Dietrich.' Collectively, both may be a reference to German actress Marlene Dietrich

Robo-Ky- In #Reload, Robo-Ky is unique in that he has two separate standard match themes, with a day version and a night version depending on what round is occurring

Overture

Sin Kiske- In all of his playable appearances, Sin has never been depicted wearing socks

Izuna- Despite often being assumed to be a kitsune due to his foxlike ears, it is implied through his story in the Overture Original Material Collection that Izuna is actually a tsukumogami made from a hairpin

Dr. Paradigm- Prior to Strive bringing back several actors from SIGN, Paradigm was the only character to have a consistent dub voice, retaining the same actor in SIGN that he did in Overture

Raven- The portraits used for his non-playable appearance in XX are traced from the illustrations used in the side novel Lightning the Argent

Xrd

Bedman- He shares his voice actor with the character Marth from the Fire Emblem series in both his original Japanese and English dub voices, Hikaru Midorikawa and Yuri Lowenthal respectively

Ramlethal Valentine- Ramlethal is the only Xrd Valentine to not be associated with a holiday

Elphelt Valentine- Elphelt is the only playable female character depicted wearing earrings. There are more playable men in Guilty Gear that wear them than women.

Leo Whitefang- The PS3 console version of Xrd SIGN contains unused prototype art for an alternative version of Leo's character portrait

Jack-O Valentine- Similarly to Elphelt and Ramlethal, Jack-O is mechanically unusual as a character, in her case due to her servant-summoning mechanic. It is often believed that this is a reference to the tower-defense style gameplay of Overture, where the original Valentine appeared.

Kum Haehyun- Haehyun only speaks with her own voice during her outro animation. All of her other dialogue is spoken through her mech

Answer- Possibly as a way of properly proportioning the third lens of his glasses, Answer's model contains a second nose above the first. This was left in place and simply made invisible rather than be removed in the final version

STRIVE

Nagoriyuki- Though he was teased in the very first trailer for Guilty Gear Strive at EVO 2019, he remained unnamed for almost a year until his official trailer was released along with Leo’s in July 2020

Giovanna- Despite it being her debut game, across the entire script of Strive's story mode, Giovanna only has 22 lines of spoken dialogue, totaling 157 words overall. For reference, Sol speaks more than that during his first 10 lines

Goldlewis Dickinson- Along with Bridget, Delilah, and the Valentines, Goldlewis is one of the few characters who canonically has a sibling

Happy Chaos- In Baiken's Strive DLC trailer, an error occurs near the beginning where during a brief pan along the character's name, a trait consistent along all of the Seaon 1 DLC trailers, it erroneously reads as 'Happy Chaos' rather than 'Baiken.' It is unknown how this mistake occurred or made it to the final version, though it was fixed by the next installment, as Testament's trailer lacks this error

Delilah- Her English voice actor, Jessica DiCicco, voiced another adolescent telekinetic, Franke Athens, in the cult classic game Psychonauts

That Man- With his full name being given as Asuka R. Kreutz, he is one of only two characters to be given a middle initial, alongside Bedman

[geekedoutbunny]

Shiva x Reader Headcanon - Love is a process

MASTER LIST | NSFW CONTENT

Shiva, The Indian God, The Strongest God of India, The God of Destruction, and The God of Dance. He went by many titles, and he held them all with great pride, but the best title that he held, was The God of Many Lovers.

It was no secret that Shiva was a lover and that he loved having many wives, he adored his family and his friends. He was a fighter, but he was also a lover. He enjoyed dancing and making new friends. He loved it all so much, he was easily bored and was always off on a new adventure, but his newest and toughest adventure was yet to come.

It all starts with you, the deity of patients. You were humble and off on your own most of the time, it was rare when you came to a meeting, you were almost a legend, with how little you were seen. But you weren't, you were just very quiet. You didn't care too much for giant crowds and loud noises. You prefer the quietness of nature. You were usually around Buddha and Jesus, they were some of the more relaxed and peaceful gods in the lands of Valhalla, you enjoyed their company more than the others far, you didn't know of Shiva until the great meeting about humanity's fate.

Zeus, the leader of the gods, sat on his great throne of judgment, he held his gavel in his shaking hand, ready to cast judgment upon the human race. But, a lone Valkyrie stood, you personally didn't care too much for the human race, they were so loud and annoying, you voted for them to be killed off,

The sound of another god wanting the same caught your attention and you looked over at him. He was blue, with four arms, each having similar tattoos on them, they were dark blue, he had yellow tented eyes with orange pupils, around his head he had a yellow cloth wrapped around it. On his forehead was another eye, it was sideways and it was red and yellow with a black slit for the pupil.

He was wearing some yellow pants too, he was rather handsome. He was, however, very loud and too energetic for you and you didn't care too much for that. Once the meeting was over, you left, going to your lonesome, but you were stopped by the same blue handsome god.

"Hey, you're one of the deities that wander around here, right? I don't think I've ever seen such a beauty like yourself before." He said in a casual tone with a cocky smirk, you stared at him a moment longer, before you turned and continued on your way.

His smile dropped as he ran after you. "Hey, wait!!" He called after you, but you didn't look back, as you continue on your way. He huffed, but he followed you non the less. He spoke of himself and his life, but you didn't care too much, but you did listen to some of his words. Such as how he was The God of Destruction and that he was from India and that his name was Shiva. That was all you really cared about.

He followed you until you both entered a quiet area, he stopped in his strides, and he looked about in amazement at the place. "Wow, this place is beautiful... I didn't even know that Heaven even had a place like it." He said in a hushed voice, he was at a loss for words. You looked back at him and smiled. "This is the land of the celestials." You said. He looked around at the scenery. "It's beautiful here." He said. You smiled and walked over to your area he mindlessly followed you.

The place was like a beautiful and lushes jungle, the trees and the grass was so green and healthy, the flowers were from all over the earth, and they were just as big, the waters were crystal clear and it was so clean, the fishes and the animals were all so big and strong, even the fishes were too. In the waters, he could see almost every ocean combined into one, and every fish was swimming around in the waters.

The animals too were from all over the earth, they all lived in peace and harmony, there was no predator and prey, and they were all united as one. He followed you toward your area, which was under a pink willow tree, he observed the area. There were trees he never even heard of or seen before. They grew everything you could think of, from objects to snacks to food to vegetables and fruits. Even some of the trees were of colors he never saw before. He then watched as you made your way under the tree, the shading was perfect, and underneath you had a large pillow waiting for you.

It was surrounded by books, sleeping animals, and snacks. You got comfortable on your pillow, picked up a snack and you popped it into your mouth, you hummed happily at the taste and you picked up your book and began reading it. Shiva stared at you for a moment, before he decided to join you. He popped his own green pillow into existence next to yours, and he plopped down next to you. His upper arms were behind his back while his lower arms, and he laced his fingers together and rested them on his stomach.

He stared at the scenery, bewitched by its rare and unique beauty. You both sat in comfortable silence for a few hours, before he began talking. "My wives and son would love this place." He spoke quietly. You arched a brow at this, your eyes still tracing over the words in your book. "You have a family?" You asked him. He nodded. "Yeah, I may not seem like it, but I'm a family man and a ladies' man." He said with a devious smirk. You rolled your eyes at his words, but you smiled non the less.

"Are your wives also deities?" You asked him. He nodded his head once more. "Yup, they're all from India, and they're all so lovely too." He said in a fond voice, his eyes soft in the thought of his wives. You looked over at him, seeing his soft features, and you smiled at him. He seemed like a pompous ass who only liked to brag about himself when you first met him, but now that you're seeing him in a better light, he was actually a decent and honorable man.

You would say God, but Shiva was showing signs that he was more humanized than he let on.

After that, Shiva came by every day, he always came alone, and he'd relax with you for hours, you'll both engage in a light conversation, every now and then, Shiva's energetic side would come out, and he's have you dance with him, you'd always decline him, but his energy was so joyous and contagious that it'll make you get up and dance with him. You had great fun with him.

He eventually started to bring his wives with him, one by one, and you got to meet his wives. Parvati, Durga, and Kali. Parvati was the sweetest of the three, she was quiet and sweet, and you liked her the most. Durga was the most aggressive of the wives, she was rowdy and was quick to fight, but she was also more civil than her husband, you eventually learned to like her. Kali was a wild lady, she was hyper and mischievous yet she was sweet, she was a bittersweet pill.

He eventually brought his son, Ganesha, who was surprisingly a little pink elephant. You looked at his son, and then towards his wife, and lastly toward him... where the hell did the elephant come from? You silently pondered, but he noticed your expression and he waved you off. "Don't ask about it, it's weird." He said and you took him at his word. The more he visited with his family, the more you felt at ease and comfortable with them, and you quickly felt like you were one of them.

They treated you like family, they sang songs with you, they danced with you, and they shared their food and stories with you. You never felt so welcome. But you were a slow mover, you were the deity of patients after all, and you stuck to your own beliefs too. You slowly opened up to them, but it was so slow till it almost looked like you were distinct from them. Shiva would try to rush you into joining them, but you'd always decline, making him frustrated.

But you'd just smile at his childish behaviors. As time went on, he began learning how to approach you, it was hard for him, but he eventually got it, along with his wives and his son. Within 50 years, he had finally learned how to deal with you, and he felt proud of himself, but he popped you a question that you knew was coming up.

"Y/n, will you marry me?" He asked, you looked up from your book, and over at him. You then shook your head, and he gawked at you. "HUH!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'NO'"!? He shouted in disbelief, you smiled at him. "I just don't feel like settling down yet, you're a sweet man Shiva, and your wives are very lovely, and Ganesha is very sweet, but I'm not ready yet, wait a little longer?" You explained and finished with a question as you cupped his cheek.

He pouted at your words, He placed one of his upper hands on your hand that was on his cheek, while the opposite lower hand was placed on your waist. "But, Y/n, It's been 50 years, surely that's more than enough time for you to make up your mind!! I've been so patient with you, I did everything you needed from me, so why?" He asked you, the hurt in his eyes shined brightly, and you couldn't help but see the human in them. Shiva was a unique case to you, he was born a god, yet he was the most human out of all the gods.

"I'm well aware, Shiva, but just give me time, after all, Love is a process." You said, as your thumb caressed his cheek, and he leaned into it. After that, Shiva didn't ask you anymore, but he treated you like you were already his. He was trying to be patient and he was doing so very well, he would come by once a week, keeping balance among all his spouses, he was quite the master at it. He was still his energetic self, but he learned to be more quieter and relaxed around you.

Another 50 years have passed, and you still weren't ready to marry yet, but Shiva didn't ask this time, he didn't want to rush you, because he was understanding that for you, love was in patients. Another 50 years went by, and this time, he asked you. "Y/n, will you do me the honor, of marrying me?" He asked you, he was resting on your pillow, he's taken to cuddling with you, wrapping one of his lower arms around your waist while his upper two rested under his head.

You were once again reading your book, you closed the book, and you looked over at him. "Yes, Shiva, I'll marry you." You said in a soft voice. His eyes widen, and they shined like a baby who was tasting sugar for the first time. He then jumped up and he wrapped you in his arms as he celebrated. 'WHOO HOOO!!!! I'M GONNA GET MARRIED!!!" He shouted into the air, you cringed at his loudness, but you hugged him back either way just last tightly.

He laughed a joyous laugh, and you smiled, your head tucked into his chest. He was so happy he jumped up with you, asking you to dance with him in celebration, you laughed and you joined him, dancing to the sound of the wind that rustled the vegetation around you both, congratulating you on your union.

MASTER LIST | NSFW CONTENT

[mermaidsirennikita]

I totally agree with everything you said about noncon/dubcon books. In general, when an author decides to change an already published book, the new edition should come out as "author's preferred text" or something similar. It's totally fine for an author to do that but not to make the original book disappear. It would be a great loss to lose the original texts, especially when it comes to old books, because of what you said: they reflect historical circumstances that can't be denied. Even with the best of intentions, it would be just another form of censorship. It is not healthy, or helpful, to pretend that uncomfortable and harmful things do not exist. In the broader sense, books with uncomfortable and painful subjects can help process trauma and also can help others to better understand or gain perspective on difficult situations. That is not to mention that in the case of romance, it should be a safe space to explore all kinds of feelings and desires. The key here is that, as readers, it is the easiest thing in the world to just stop reading when something is not our cup of tea.

Exactly.

And the thing is, I see two separate issues here, tbh. Because I see a lot of... white feminist takes... in romancelandia conflating consent issues in old romance novels with racism in old romane novels. And while these are both serious issues that need to be discussed, I don't think they should ever be considered equivalent. Because they aren't. Misogyny and racism (and queerphobia, which is less discussed re: issues in older books, but is certainly present) can certainly overlap, but while every woman can experience misogyny, not every woman can experience racism. And women who have experienced misogyny can be racist and benefit from racist, misogynistic society, right?

Plus, I mean—I think there's been a huge push in romance to address misogyny and consent issues over the last decade or so. There has been... less of a push to address racism. There's a really popular dark/mafia romance writer who gets recommended ALLLLLLLL the time despite it being a very well known fact in romance circles that she said some incredibly racist shit during the BLM protests, and therefore, we can assume, is hugely racist. (Danielle Lori. It's Danielle Lori. You're welcome.) With the rate at which she's recommended, I highly doubt everyone who's recommending her just... doesn't know. Everyone acted shocked and appalled when Tillie Cole published her KKK romance, but y'all, she's still publishing away! She's got her readers! We let that slide under the rug.

And there's the more casual racism in trad, too. Evie Dunmore's A Rogue of One's Own is a super popular tradpub title. Not only does the hero have a bastardized Shiva tattoo as a plot point (because he's... really into... Indian culture... I guess?)... he's also a bi man victimized by a dangerous gay villain. So, casual racism and casual homophobia in a book tradpubbed in 2020.

Sooo... while I think misogyny, consent issues, homophobia, and racism are all linked to different factors in the history of romance (though they do overlap in some books) I feel that it's pretty obvious that readers who enjoy the fantasy presented in a bodice ripper dubcon book (or a dark romance dubcon book published in 2024) are not coming from the same space as someone who'd read that KKK romance and think there's nothing amiss at all.

However, I feel it's so important to keep both content that I think is pretty harmless—I just don't think a book like A Hunger Like No Other, in which the consent is Bad, is going to reinforce a misogynistic society on a wide scale... I think it's there to accommodate a pretty common rape fantasy, and dude, rape fantasies are common and we should probs come to terms with how they can be and how people who have them can be feminists lmao—and content that I think is HARMFUL.

Because yeah dude. I think it's pretty fucked that A Rogue of One's Own is what it is. But I don't want it to be erased 50 years from now. I don't really want people to not know that Kleypas originally played into some pretty racist tropes with Hello Stranger. Not only because I want those authors to just have to own that shit... and for readers who enjoy them to have to reconcile with that... But because it's just like. Literally a record of the time in which it was published. Not the time in which it was set, because historical fiction never truly reflects the setting. The time in which it was published.

And there's a difference between why we're keeping that shit and why we're keeping that noncon/dubcon (though again, it can overlap). Good people aren't seeking out racist romance novels, applauding the antisemitism in a Heyer book, etc.

But it's like... to me... I would no sooner remove that content from a romance novel than I would watch a cut of Breakfast at Tiffany's without that horrible Mickey Rooney yellowface character.

I mean.... I grew up loving that movie. And when I became aware of what that was, I had to question some shit. I should have to question that shit. I should have to think about why anyone thought that was okay. Why people STILL think it's okay.

It seems small, but it MATTERS. These little bits and pieces of erasure add up.

And like... yeah. People may not give authors like Kleypas, who I imagine did not think herself a racist when she wrote the Hello Stranger shit, and who did seem to hold herself accountable and apologize, room. They may just go "fuck that racist" and dismiss her. And that's... just how it goes. They're allowed to do that. If you're South Asian and read that or hear about it and go "never reading her again"... I mean, your word is pretty much the final word there. She can't expect you to accept her apology.

I just also think it's really important that this information is available and that the text is availale so that people can make a choice, too. There are authors I read who have written books I wouldn't recommend. I've read them. I've gone "Man, this book is good otherwise, but this part is really not good" and I don't recommend them and I keep them in the back of my mind if I read more. We need to be able to make informed decisions, if we choose, about who we support. People can learn, but like... we shouldn't pretend there wasn't a time when they were fucked.

So. Yeah. A lot of things happening, some of which are harder to talk about than others. What frustrates me is that I think romance has a lot of convos about sexism and misogyny (and the should) but not as many about racism and queerphobia. And tbh, I think that means we miss the harder convos a lot of the time.

(Wonder why that is.)

[iamthespineofmybook]

Inspired by some posts I saw on @anneapocalypse's blog (I hope you don't mind my tagging you):

Myriam Sangvitrail

B A S I C S

Name: Myriam Sanvitrail

Nicknames: Myr, Captain

Age: 22 (Doesn’t know the exact number, though, only knowing that she was found with amnesia in her late teens in the aftermath of the Calamity)

Nameday: Third day of the third Umbral Moon (day she was adopted).

Race: Au Ra, Xaela

Gender: Demigirl, she/they

Orientation: Lesbian

Profession: Aside from Adventurer, she honestly loves cooking and alchemy, and could easily see herself opening a shop or restaurant somewhere once her wanderlust settles down.

P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

Hair: Auburn with slight red highlights at the end, kept in a ponytail.

Eyes: Bright yellow with black around the irises.

Skin: Extremely pale and covered in dark blue scales

Tattoos/scars: Her main scar is one that rests under her hair, and is surmised to be from the source of her amnesia.

F A M I L Y

Parents: Adopted by Osene and Draceone Sangvitrail, birth parents unknown

Siblings: none

Grandparents: never met

In-laws and Other: none

Pets: Used to care for a street cat until it didn’t come back.

S K I L L S

Abilities: After gaining skill with a lance and then becoming a Dragoon, Myriam found that she could mold the light in her self to form a weapon, which would let them throw as many lances as they wanted. After some losses that weighed heavily upon them, they also found a skill at molding the darkness as well, learning to hone it under the tutelage of the one calling themself Frey. Wielding light and dark in equal measure, Myriam is a skilled frontline fighter, and would best be described as a “dodge tank” if such a thing were actually a thing in FFXIV.

Hobbies: In addition to learning every form of gathering and crafting so that they can make and maintain all her own gear, Myriam honestly loves dancing and music, and will take any opportunity to do a quick step dance or one of the Manderville dances she learned from Hildibrand. She takes particular pride in making food and potions for people, thanks to their memories of hunger as the Calamity-induced winter caused problems for their adopted hometown’s farms.

T R A I T S

Most Positive Trait: Generally friendly with everyone, willing to learn all sorts of new things, generous with her time, and does not stand for injustice

Most Negative Trait: Angers easily, even if she tries to hide it. Also tends to get attached to pretty girls quickly, which always results in at least a little heartbreak. She’s also a ridiculous romantic, seeing romances in places they probably don’t exist, such as secretly hoping that General Raubhan and Nanamo are together.

L I K E S

Colors: Loves dark colours, especially deep reds.

Smells: A well cooked meal will always cheer her up, but her favourite scent is actually that of the Dravanian Lily.

Textures: Even though they acknowledge that their bed while she still lived with her adopted parents wasn’t the best, they have fond memories of the slightly scratchy covers, especially when their scales would itch and fingernails couldn’t do the job.

Drinks: They never liked the taste of alcohol, but found a drink made in honour of their friend (and crush) Ysayle, the “Drink of Shiva,” particularly amazing. (Actual drink from a FFXIV-themed restaurant in Akihabara, [Passion Fruit Collagen + Chardonnay Concentrate + Water + Blue Curacao (float)])

O T H E R D E T A I L S

Smokes: Never

Drinks: Non-alcohol only, if they can help it

Drugs: Only medicinal, and generally only what she’s made herself

Mount Issuance: As she greatly admires Midgardsormr, she likes to fly around on the back of his medium-sized simulacrum, but when flight isn’t an option, they default to their chocobo Chobi or the fascinating vehicle Cid made based on an extra-planar wanderer’s main mode of transport.

Been Arrested: Aside from the debacle of the Bloody Banquet, she did nearly get arrested back when she lived with her adopted family, thanks to their draconic features as an Au Ra causing some friction.

[anchanted-one]

Ten Facts about Vajra Devarath

Sorry it's been such a long time, but I completely forgot about this. I thought I'd finally do @swtorpadawan 's prompt.

This is Vajra Devarath, the main character in my fanfic reboot. Apologies--my drawing is still not as good as it used to be.

Homeworld and Species

Vajra is an original species, called Raudra, from Raudraksha. They're based very loosely on Shiva, one of the chief deities of Hindu mythology.

Their world was discovered by a Sith who crash landed there, and remains a secret to most of the galaxy as they have tremendous Dark Side potential. The Raudra have four arms and three dark eyes. They wear white tattoos on their bodies. Beyond this, they can regenerate non-critical injuries over the course of months, and have a high tolerance to all foreign substances (including alcohol and kolto). They have a weak connection to the Force which grows astronomically if they're furious--which is something the Jedi fear. It's for this reason that the Jedi and the Republic got the world's location to remain secret.

2. Special abilities

Vajra has two main abilities in the Force. The first is a gift of Sight. He is able to see Shatterpoints, a gift that Mace Windu also had. He can see the interconnectedness of causality, of the many events and people rubbing against each other to create critical junctures. He can also see weaknesses in enemy formations and stances.

His second gift is his ability to listen to Lightsaber crystals. This isn't a special ability like the last one, since every Jedi can hear these crystals (Sith can, with some minor perspective changes). In his case, it's just cranked up to twenty. His chief way of communing with the Force is through his Lightsaber crystals, which is why he loves Lightsaber practice very much, even treating it as sacred.

3. Skills

Vajra's main skill is combat mastery, especially Lightsaber forms. He learned to love the lightsaber crystals' songs right at the beginning, and decided to master Lightsaber combat in order to fully appreciate these songs. To him, practicing the Forms is akin to a dance, a very holy dance at that. He dedicated much of his time to becoming the very best there is. He has even learned to strike at Shatterpoints in a person's defenses, or to watch his own flaws.

Besides this, Vajra grew up on a farm world. He learned how engines work, and became fairly good at fixing the more common, civilian machines at a young age. He repaired T7-01 several times when he was damaged, and repaired tank and speeder engines quite regularly.

He's also learned the art of hunting from his tribe, so he's good at stealth in the field.

4. Weaknesses

Hailing from a cold, mountainous world, Vajra is weak against heat. Even the factories of Balmorra sapped him of energy and water very quickly. Spending less than a day out in Tatooine was almost enough to kill him.

He's also quite weak in the Force, quite below average in power and reach. He can't affect matter at ranges greater than 10 meters (30 feet or so).

He has a predisposition to self-blame.

But his biggest weakness for his young adult life is his crippling depression born from the traumas of having killed so many people, and having watched Uphrades die.

5. Close friends

Vajra's closest friend is Jasme Shan, Theron's twin sister. She helped him cope with the trauma of having killed hundreds of Flesh Raiders (whom I renamed 'Khrayii' in my story) and the two quickly adopted each other.

He's also close to Kira Carsen and her fiancé, Seraphim Abbot. He and Bengel Morr also bond during his recovery period.

6. Age

Vajra was 14 at the start of the prologue, which lasted about a year in my story. He was 16 when he defeated Angral, and 20 when he slew Vitiate.

7. His worst moments

He was deeply disturbed by having to watch (and Feel) Uphrades die. This caused him to try and run away after the battle, and live in self-imposed exile. He devolved over the next few months, and attempted suicide.

An arguably worse period for him was his tenure as the Emperor's demon. Unlike the other Jedi, he was never fully under the Emperor's control. He lost all reason and became a dangerous lunatic. As Warpath, he killed tens of thousands of Imperial and Republic soldiers, Jedi and Sith. And many civilians. To the point that both sides briefly called a truce in order to deal with him.

His rampage ended only when he stumbled upon Jasme, who was a captive in the Empire at this time. He pieced his fractured mind back together rather than kill her, but remained maimed by what he'd done for years afterwards.

8. His relationship with Lana

I won't lie, any main character of mine is going to end up with Lana. Most of you who've followed me know about this.

But in my story, he met her much earlier, back when she was Cipher Nine (under a different name and face). She was the one who saved him when he attempted suicide, and he paid her back when he found her on Quesh. She was dying, her brain losing integrity due to the Castellan restraints, when he nursed her back to health using the most expensive medicine he had onboard his ship. He also helped her find and synthesize the IX serum.

While he didn't find out that Lana was Nine until after Rishi, he still felt something familiar about her, enough to drop his guard around her right from the start. The two were dating within a week of Manaan, and teamed up when the group went underground and split into pairs.

The two forged a Force Bond, and loved each other above all else. To the point they might abandon the galaxy to save each other.

9. After the Alliance

Vajra sets himself up like a Shogun. He uses the Eternal Fleet and Gravestone, along with his reputation among the galaxy, to subtly demand that all sides stop fighting, and let him lead them into an era of healing. He places a few restrictions on the galaxy, but gives everyone enough resources to rebuild and live happy lives. But he is not without his opposition. He faces several rebellions and threats after beating Vitiate for good, and he only gets weaker as time passes due to the incurable side-effects of carbonite poisoning.

He has two children with Lana--Nakul and Harini--and a shared apprentice--Kriina.

He retires after about twenty years as a Commander and gives Kriina the reins. He outlives all of his loved ones and suppresses the Gravestone (which in my story is the prison for an Abeloth-like entity) by semi-fusing with it.

He is put down/freed by Anakin Skywalker or Vader, who is able to banish the Gravestone entity. It's possible that Lana (or her ghost) leads Anakin there, right after the Mortis arc.

10. Extra trivia.

When one of his kind has a third eye that turns white, his people hail them as Avatars of their god. This was Vajra too, and many saw him as a chosen one. Especially since he didn't die right after. But Vajra figured out later in life that the white eye has a more mundane cause: blindness. It lost its light after beholding the Lightning attack his tribe elder used to kill the Sith who attacked their tribe.

So he's not a true chosen one, but he chooses paths that lead him to saving billions of lives.

[dishasavla1]

Best Shiva Tattoos in Mumbai - Sam Tattoo India

The renowned tattoo parlour Sam Tattoo India in Mumbai specialises in shiva tattoos. They engage talented tattoo artists to produce gorgeous Shiva tattoos that perfectly depict this powerful deity. These artists use a variety of techniques, including traditional Indian art and black-and-grey realism.

[promptisgiftexchange]

Here is the wrap-up of our seventh week of posting for the Promptis Gift Exchange. Individual works are listed below.

The entire collection can be found here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Promptis_Gift_Exchange_2023/works

Please be sure to give our creators some love on Ao3!  

Weekly Wrap-up #7

Title: You and I Kaleide-(Fic)

Gift For: KatrinaEagle

Rated: Teen (please mind the tags on Ao3)

Summary: Prompto is a clone. Every single part of him is a copy of someone else, from his face to his organs to his personality and what food he likes, probably.

Prompto sees in black and white. That’s normal for someone of his age, because statistically, most people don’t meet their soulmate until at least their twenties, and he’s only nineteen. But Prompto is pretty sure that he’ll never see in colour, because he’ll never have a soulmate. His logic is this: if he is a copy of someone else, then unless that person’s soulmate has a copy, how can he possibly have a soulmate himself? The original soulmate belongs to whoever the original of Prompto is.

The original of Prompto is Verstael Besithia. Whatever soulmate he has - Prompto thinks it might be that demented red-haired guy who got dug out of the ground like a fucking vampire - Prompto does not want them.

(In which Shiva and Ifrit tell Ramuh about Prompto and Noctis's love story in order to convince him to help them bring Noctis back to life.)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46928113/chapters/118213087

Title: Pulchritude-(Fic)

Gift For: GingerEl

Rated: Teen (please mind the tags on Ao3)

Summary: Pulchritude. Noun.

Beauty.

Prompto has a favourite client. A man so beautiful that his heart flutters every time that he enters the tattoo parlour. So how did the pair of them end up pretending to be boyfriends at Prompto's family reunion?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/47352595/chapters/119318806

Title: Ruby-(Fic)

Gift For: everylemon

Rated: Teen (please mind the tags on Ao3)

Summary: Maybe they don’t really have the time to be taking on a hunt like this when old Cid could be done fixing up the boat any day now. It isn’t even an official mark, meaning there’s no reward. Only, when Prompto caught Noct’s gaze lingering on the string of the hunter who requested this of them, which dangled several inches off the ground, fraying at the end, he knew they would be taking this job regardless of what’s in it for them.

Or:

Noctis gets kidnapped by a daemon. Time for the rest of the gang to figure out how to get the upper hand.

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Promptis_Gift_Exchange_2023/works/47351779

Title: to break so easily-(Fic)

Gift For: Mementomoryo

Rated: Teen (please mind the tags on Ao3)

Summary: There were many things Noctis loved about Prompto.

He loved the blond’s laugh, bright, bubbly giggles that filled the room with the most pleasant of sounds. He loved his best friend’s drive and determination, the can-do attitude that came across as condescending or stubborn to those who didn’t understand his years of borderline isolation and forced independence. He absolutely adored his eyes, blue with violet undertones that left him completely breathless when the light hit them just right.

Noctis had been caught by the blond completely, hook line and sinker, and could go on for eternity and a day about his affections for his friend (a particular form of torture he has discovered to be effective as an Ignis deterrent) but that didn’t stop him from having moments like this.

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Promptis_Gift_Exchange_2023/works/47394340

Title: Longest Longing Ranch-(Fic)

Gift For: moonwaif

Rated: Teen (please mind the tags on Ao3)

Summary: Noctis Lucis Caelum owns the Caelum ranch, home to the greatest chocobos to ever been bred. One day when preparing for the wedding of his two best workers, Noctis finds himself face to face with a trespasser. A trespasser just trying to find a place to belong.

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Promptis_Gift_Exchange_2023/works/47424196

Title: It’s just one cat Prompto, how much work could it be?-(Art)

Gift For: prompurii

Rated: General Audiences (please mind the tags on Ao3)

Summary: The amount of cats that can be fit into one apartment is finite. The amount of cats it takes to fill your boyfriend’s soul is not. Thank goodness Prompto’s love for his boyfriend is also infinite.

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Promptis_Gift_Exchange_2023/works/47428099

[heartsbreaking-migrated]

inspired by @fyrewalks here's a lil hc post about gracie's jewishness

gracie has a dainty silver star of david necklace (like this one) she wears almost all the time. the only exceptions are generally sports related. she takes it off for gymnastics practice, competitions and when she's surfing. otherwise, it's always on.

she was six when her elder sister died, and while she remembers having shiva explained to her, the spiritual meaning didn't entirely register for her until she was older. she remembers the relatives making sure she was alright, and always being with someone even if it wasn't her parents or her brother. it's a confusing memory for her as an adult because of how deeply the absence of her sister impacted her, but how much she remembers enjoying the attention of her extended family.

her bat mitzvah theme was candy store/valentine's day themed. gracie's birthday being in early february meant they had plenty of pink heart decorations and candy at their disposal for the party.

she and her family kept kosher growing up, however after gracie developed an eating disorder later in high school going into college, she had to form newer habits once she started recovery. this included being less strict about keeping kosher in order to avoid falling into old habits. she does still keep kosher during important holidays and when she goes back to see her family, but it's much easier to be mindful of her relationship with food and her culture when it's only for a short time and usually other people around her are doing it with her.

when gracie went to college, she made a small group of jewish friends to celebrate holidays and attend synagogue with. while some of them have moved out of california since they graduated, the few that stayed in california often meet up and keep the tradition going at least once a year. gracie attends the same temple as one of her friends who also stayed local, and when they go, they often go together.

gracie does have a tattoo, and because it's on her ribcage it's covered up for the most part. she's genuinely not sure if her parents know or not. she does want more tattoos, but if it truly upset anyone, she wouldn't do it.

as mentioned in oliver's post, she gave bob a floral mezuzah when he left for flight school. she has a similar one on her apartment door.

lil mun note: i'm not jewish/nor am i religious in any way. i've done my best to research or ask my jewish friends things stuff i don't know how to google, but if i get anything wrong it's 100% not my intent to fuck it up.

[lewding-paradise]

Parvati can't stop cheating on Shiva when Arjuna's walking around showing off his BBC all the time, can she?

"Black cock is the best~. Sorry to my husband, but Arjuna knows how to treat a girl with this huge throbbing alpha black BBC dick~." Parvati is drooling while she apologized to the husband who isn't here. How could she care about Shiva when Arjuna is packing such a huge fucking BBC that makes Parvati drool like a whore whenever she sees him?

"Arjuna~ please fuck me again today just like always~." She goes from drooling over his dick to dropping her phat goddess ass on his lap and grinding and shaking it on his huge hulking black bitch breaking dick like shaking her booty for him is the only thing that matters. He grabs her by her wobbly pale fuckflanks and shoves his black cock inside her to start making the thicc pale bitch squeal like a whore while cheating on her husband with Arjuna's superior black cock.

"Fuck me~! Please, black me with this huge BBC more, I'm your little snowbunny bitch~!" Parvati cums and moans and cums even more while Arjuna fucks her hard and makes her fall in love again with his huge fucking BBC black cock.

Parvati exists to get blacked by huge black dicks like Arjuna's and she drools like a heart eyed whore while he slams her phat wobbly booty and makes it quake while fucking her hard and letting her know she belongs to black dick. Shiva has nothing on black cock Parvati will never want him again. She's even gonna get a queen of spades tattoo just to show off to Arjuna and get fucked and blacked even harder.

[the--morning--room]

RESURGAM (Arthur Harrow x F!Reader) Chapter 8: Your station is in my heart

"'I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh—it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal—as we are!" -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15

AO3

As you may be aware, reader, in the tradition of human storytelling, warnings often come in threes. And too often, these warnings fall on deaf ears until it is too late. Consider, for example, the tragic case of one of my own former avatars. He was one of my best avatars—I daresay my favorite avatar of them all—until the fateful day of his defeat. The warnings he received could not have been clearer, in my opinion: First, an uncharacteristically spooked horse weeping tears of blood, then a cup of wine similarly turned to blood, and finally, the sight of a woman washing his own armor of its blood and saying to herself "I am washing the armor of Cúchulainn, who is to die today." Cúchulainn ignored all three warnings, and went on to meet death later that day. I grieve for him still, reader.

The Thorn, as you know, had so far received two warnings against involving herself emotionally with Arthur Harrow: One from Bobbi Kennedy, and the other from Steven Grant. The third was given to her on the morning after Wendy Spector's shiva. The Thorn woke up in her childhood bedroom to the sight of her mother sitting on the carpeted floor, surrounded by the scattered entrails of the Thorn's suitcase.

"I know you only came homoe to try and see Marc," the Mother said by way of explanation, "so I figured after the shiva you'd want to fly back to London as soon as possible. I went ahead and packed for you. You're welcome."

This, reader, was a lie. The Mother had been going through the Thorn's suitcase out of pure nosiness.

The Thorn knew this. "Thanks." However, she was a strong believer in Picking Her Battles.

"I don't recognize this." The Mother held up Harrow's shirt. "It's not exactly your size. Not really your style, either. I would have guessed it was a nightshirt, but you're in your pajamas right now, so that can't be it.

Horror seized the Thorn. It was wrong, seeing the Mother hold that shirt. Unnatural. A sacrilege.

"Do girls in London usually carry men's ratty old shirts around with them? Is that one of those weird British trends I wouldn't understand?"

The threat of bile stung at the bottom of the Thorn's throat.

"You know, come to think of it, here's something interesting: After we got home yesterday and you were acting all loopy and ignoring me, I googled your tattoo. 'Symbol of scales with crocodile heads,' something like that. It took a while to find anything helpful about it; I ended up in some pretty dark alleyways of the internet, but eventually I found a well-hidden website about a group of people who worship some Egyptian crocodile demon. I remembered you saying you were studying modern-day worshippers of the Egyptian gods, and that you were going to London to do some on-site research, so I kept reading. And you know what? There was a picture on the front page of that website, of a man with a tattoo just like yours, wearing a shirt just like this one."

The Thorn considered plucking her eyes from her head and hiding them in her closed fists, so that she wouldn't have to look at the Mother.

"Just tell it to me straight," said the Mother. "Are you fucking this cult leader?"

"No!"

"But you want to."

"No."

"Why else would you sleep with his shirt?"

"It's none of your business."

"How old is this guy anyway? He looks at least fifty."

"Mom, I'm not going to talk with you about this."

"This is a new low for you, you know that? Pining after a man old enough to be your father, that's such a cliché, honey. I'd like to say I'm disappointed in you, but that would imply I had expected better."

The Thorn imagined holding her eyeballs, one in each hand, slick and slimy and delicate.

"When you told me you were going to grad school, I thought you were finally getting your shit together. I was actually proud of you for once. But it seems you've taken this great opportunity for real success, and turned it into just another embarrassing failure."

The eyeballs would roll back and forth of their own volition, and the motion would create a slight buzzing sensation on her hands.

The Mother sat on the edge of the bed, suddenly confidential. "Is this about your father? Some Freudian thing, you know? Trying to 'replace' him with this cult guy so you can feel loved?"

"What?"

"Do you have one of those 'Electric' complexes? Because that would certainly explain why you hate me so much."

"I don't hate you. I never hated you. All I ever did was try my best to make you love me, and the more I tried to, the more you told me I was the spawn of Satan and would never amount to anything. I can't remember the last time you said something nice about me. You don't even hug me. It's clear that you're the one who hates me, Mom, and I just want to know why."

The Mother responded with an icy stare, then applauded slowly, each clap of her hands ringing with venomous sarcasm.

"Are you going to answer my question?"

She stopped clapping. "Being a single mother is hard, you know," she said. "Have you ever stopped to think about what getting pregnant with you did to my life? My career was ruined, I went into all kinds of debt, your father walked out on me, and you know what? If you had been a different kind of kid, I might be able to say it was all worth it. But I can't say that, because you were a fucking nightmare. Even before you were born, you used to kick me so hard that the doctor made a dumb joke about my baby being a Rockette. Easy for her to laugh about it, she wasn't forced to raise you for the next eighteen years.

"Would it have hurt you to at least try being a normal, happy little girl? You seemed so miserable all the time. All you did for fun was read about mythology and watch that stupid 'Tomb Buster' movie over and over, and when you weren't doing that you were moping around feeling sorry for yourself. God forbid we go and, I dunno, get manicures together like a normal mother and daughter. God forbid you crack a smile sometimes. But I guess I'm the bad guy here, right? I'm the villain because I wasn't a perfect mother. You know what? You try it. You try raising a kid like you, see how you feel about me then."

There was a time, not long before this, when the Thorn would simply have nodded and accepted the Mother's words. However, that was before she had found the community hall covered in blood and seen a woman die at her feet. It was before she knelt beside Marc in the street and watched him suffer as old wounds in his heart reopened and bled out in the form of Steven Grant. She had been useless in those moments, a mere witness to pain she could neither prevent nor understand.

But she hadn't always been useless, had she? She'd saved someone's life—nervously, clumsily, but still. "Don't think I've forgotten," Harrow had said. "I owe you my life. I had a feeling I wouldn't regret welcoming you here." And when he read her scales: "You have nothing to hide. Ammit sees only goodness, in your past as well as your future."

"Do you think I wanted to mope around and be miserable?" the Thorn said. "Did you ever stop to think there might be a reason I acted like that? You made me miserable. You made me hate myself for no good reason, just because I wasn't the picture-perfect daughter you wanted. And I wanted to be that perfect daughter. You just never gave me a chance. I think you wanted to resent me for some reason—maybe because my dad left you, maybe because I ruined your career, I don't know and I don't really care. I'm done caring about this—about you. I think I've given you more than enough chances to change, and it's clear you're not going to, so that's it. I don't want you to be in my life anymore."

The Mother's face was no longer ice, but blank. "Is that all?"

"Yes."

"You do know I'm the only family you have, don't you? Cut me off, and you don't have anyone else."

"I have the closest thing to a family now that I've ever had."

"What, that cult?" the Mother scoffed. "That's what you think a family is?" She got up, shaking her head, and went to the door. "You're a lost cause."

She paused and turned around, leaning on the doorframe with her arms crossed. "You say I've never said anything nice to you? Well, savor this then, because I'm about to say something nice to you now, something I wish my mother had said to me before it was too late. You can mess around with—sorry, research—this cult as much as you want, I couldn't care less about that. You can lust after their leader as much as you want—

"Mom!"

"Oh, please. Don't you dare try and deny it. Anyway, I can't stop you sleeping with his shirt. I can't stop you sleeping with him, for that matter. What I can do is warn you. Don't trust him. Don't believe a single word that comes out of his mouth. Even if it's what you want to hear."

"You don't even know him."

"I don't need to. I've known men like him, and trust me, all they do is lie and cheat and manipulate. They trick you into believing they care about you, then you trust them with your secrets and they turn around and use those secrets to stab you in the back."

"Are you sure that's not your 'daddy issues' talking?" asked the Thorn, the words like venom in her mouth.

If only the Mother had loved her daughter more, or at least tried to. If only she'd nurtured her in childhood and respected her in adulthood, then maybe the Thorn would have heeded this warning. Maybe she would have at least considered the Mother's words before returning to London.

But instead, she kept her promise to Harrow and arrived back to the commune less than three days after her departure. Harrow, however, was not there to greet her. Instead, she was met by Billy Fitzgerald and his obnoxious small airplane, and carted off without warning or explanation to a chalky green-and-white nowhere of a village in (she would find out later) Northern Ireland. I have fond memories of Ireland, reader, and of Ulster County in particular; its only great flaw is that it plays host to a branch of the Followers of Ammit.

It was early morning when she found him. The air was heavy with life, and the rusty red of Harrow's clothing stood out like a splash of blood against the lightening horizon. They were just outside the village, and he was standing with his back to her, resting against his cane. He could have been a statue, but for the silver crown of hair blowing softly behind him.

She approached carefully, her shoes brushing whispers over the tall grass.

"You came back to me," Harrow said, turning to face her with a smile, "like the good little lamb you are."

"I'm not a lamb," she replied, aching for his touch. He supplied it, folding her into his arms and placing a kiss on her cheek. She had never wanted him more, and she hated herself for what she knew she must say to him, what she had come here to say. "We're close to releasing Ammit, aren't we?"

A horrible smile cut across Harrow's face. "I believe we are, yes. The scarab is in our possession, and our contingent in Cairo is prepared to assist us when we arrive."

She reluctantly pulled away from him. "I promised to help you find Ammit, so I will. But I never promised you anything after that, so once we've released her I'm leaving the community." The moment the words left her mouth, she longed to take them back.

He didn't look surprised or hurt, as she'd feared and hoped he would. Instead, he simply nodded and said, "I've been thinking along the same lines. Once Ammit is resurrected, I intend to stay by her side as long as she permits. My duty to her will be the sole focus of my life. You, on the other hand, have a long and illustrious career ahead of you, which shouldn't be hindered by even the noblest of causes. As hard as it will be to say goodbye to you, my dear little friend, it's for the best.

"This village houses a branch of our community. They can offer you everything we have in London—albeit with a much lovelier view. You will stay here and finish your research, and I will follow my goddess, and we will forget each other."

"I'll never forget you," she said in a broken voice.

"It feels that way now," he said. "I understand. I must confess, I feel an affinity to you that is unmatched by any of my hundreds of wonderful disciples around the world. With you, I feel the closest thing to joy I've ever known in my life. In an ideal world, I would keep you close to me and never let that connection between us break. But this is not an ideal world, which is exactly why we need Ammit. And besides," he stroked her cheek, which shuddered under his touch and erupted in silent tears, "this is what you said you wanted, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you crying?"

"Because I'll miss you!" The dam broke, and she was consumed by sobs. "You're the most incredible person I've ever met. You treat me with respect, you support my career, you tell me I'm a good person. You're my family. I don't want to leave you, it's the last thing I want, but I have to, okay?"

"Why?"

"Because it's all an illusion. That's what you do, isn't it? You take lonely, pathetic people like me, and you manipulate them into thinking you care for them. I can't be just another disciple to you. I can't let you use me as a pawn anymore, not even for Ammit. I'm worth more than that, Arthur. And you know what? According to Ammit's own criteria, my scales balance and yours don't. So that means you should be the one begging me to stay with you! You'd be lucky to have me around forever, don't forget that."

Harrow was smiling. "Well said, my love," he told her, and in one sweeping gesture he took her in his arms and claimed her lips with his own. Reader, you should be grateful that you were not there to see it. No one makes romantic passion look grotesque and repulsive quite like Arthur Harrow. The Thorn, however, had her eyes closed and was therefore ignorant of the intensely unsettling look of manic rapture on Harrow's face. All she knew in that moment was a complete and perfect bliss—and yet, less than a second later she found herself breaking away from him and staggering backward.

"What was that?" she cried in a panic. "Why did you do that?"

"Lamb," Harrow said quickly, stretching out a hand, "sweetheart, come here."

"You said you wanted me gone, you were sending me away, and then—"

"It was unforgivable of me. I apologize. Now please, come and let me hold you. I won't kiss you again—not yet—just let me hold you. It's cold; I'll keep you warm. Come to me."

"I can't."

"Then just listen." He knelt before her.

"Please, don't," she whimpered as a fresh cascade of tears fell from her eyes.

"Why not?" Harrow pleaded, taking her hand in both of his, caressing it, kissing her fingers, laying his cheek against it and closing his eyes in reverence.

"You already have a goddess to worship."

"The woman I worship is here. She is more precious than any goddess, for she is the best of humanity. She is beauty and goodness incarnate, and I offer myself to her knowing I am unworthy of her love."

"'Offer' yourself? Do you mean…"

"I am asking you to marry me. Please, my darling, my treasure, please say yes."

His words rung in her ears. I am asking you to marry me. It was too perfect to be real.

"Do you love me?" The question escaped her lips.

"I love you, I adore you, and I vow to protect, cherish, nurture and honor you, sweet lamb, my precious jewel, to the end of my life—and beyond even that."

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Everything I have ever told you before today has been true. Why would this be any different?" Arthur Harrow, master of the loophole—now, there's something about him that even I can begrudgingly admire.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Harrow asked.

She shook her head. A knife was twisting and untwisting itself in the depths of her stomach. "I want to. You have no idea how much I want to."

"Then say yes. Say you'll be my wife, and let me prove to you how much I adore you."

"Why me, though? I'm nothing special. I don't have anything to offer you."

"You have yourself, and your love. Those are the only things I need from you."

She tried to think. There was no other answer but yes, right? She loved him. He was all she ever thought about, night and day. If she were to picture a perfect life for herself, a "happily ever after" if you will, it could only exist with him beside her.

"Stand up," she said. "I don't like you kneeling like that."

He stood, retrieving his cane from the grass and clutching it with a strange—nervous?—grip.

"Okay," said the Thorn. "I'll marry you."

Rapture blossomed across his face. "Oh, my love," he growled, taking her in his arms again. He pressed his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes. "You will marry me?"

"Yes," she breathed.

"Say my name."

"Arthur, I will marry you."

"Do you love me?"

"I love you, Arthur."

They kissed. Now she felt joy in its purest form. She let herself give in to his body, tasting his lips, his jaw, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder to inhale the scent of his neck—no longer just his shirt, but him.

"Are you happy, my love?" Harrow asked her.

"Yes," she whispered, nuzzling his shoulder. And she was happy, reader, though she couldn't ignore the faint metallic chill of the crocodile's head held against the small of her back.