#but even though today was bright with blue skies and not a cloud to be seen i was actually cheerful every time i looked outside!

[novelmonger]

Slowly coming to the realization that my mood is vastly improved when I'm able to keep the windows open for at least part of the day/night. It's finally gotten cool enough that I've been able to keep the windows open all night until 9 or 10 a.m. for the past couple days, and I just found myself so...cheerful. After weeks and weeks of oppressive heat and occasional rain that would just leave things muggy and miserable, this is so refreshing.

I'm sure it has something to do with how I grew up without AC, so except for in the winter, we had the windows open a lot. I basically grew up in a desert, so even at this time of year, we'd throw open the windows at night to let all the cool air in, then shut the place up during the day. Where I live now is a different situation - I'm sorry, I'm not going to not use AC when it's 105 degrees outside with 95% humidity. But I hadn't realized just how much something as simple as opening a window was affecting my mood.

I feel like a small part of me in the back of my head is just sitting quietly, watching the dappled sunlight under the trees and feeling the cool breeze in my hair - even while I'm concentrating on work or rushing around with various responsibilities.

Maybe that's the meaning of peace. Like how you can be joyful even when you're not happy, maybe this is what peace feels like in the midst of chaos.

[bluecapsicum]

Cold winter skies illustrations for my daily meteorological fiction project, Reports From Unknown Places About Indescribable Events (Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, archives on my website).

Keep reading for the companion texts.

December 31st: We report: sometimes, we think we know what to expect when it comes to the sky. We go a few days, maybe a couple of weeks without much happening, a rainbow perhaps, a contrail... We think we know the sky. It happens then, that the clouds twist and knit into impossibilities.

January 4th: We report: we went to the planetarium with our expert, once. We spent an hour watching as we got further, and further away from Earth, then the solar system, our galaxy, and then our galaxy group, until there was nowhere to go anymore. We got brought home, to our beating heart.

January 11th: We report: good morning, we would like to draw attention to a lovely and unexpected event occurring at this moment. Would you please look up to the clouds and notice how, though the sky is largely grey, the gulls flying overhead are tinted orange by the sunrise light? Thank you.

January 12th: We report: in the hollow of a valley, sleepy lightning bugs. There is grey little light dragging itself through the air like it does not want to be here, and we are cold with our hands in our pockets and our nose in our scarf and our ears exposed and bright red (nobody sees).

January 22nd: We report: we have missed a train today, but we can only hope that the train dearly missed us in return. We waited at the station for the next one for a long time, watched people get off and on different trains until it got too cold for us to wait outside. Wispy cirrus.

January 27th: We report on a winter morning: there was a robin and a few hares, blending in with the snowy grass. The snowflakes were heavy enough that we could hear them fall around us. We could smell the cold air until our nose started running. Grey sludge on the side of salted roads.

January 28th: We report: it is after nightfall, but there are still many sparrows chattering in the trees. The air is dank out here, and as we walk, we can feel condensation forming on our face, the white puffs of our breath dissolving into the night. Our expert walks a few steps behind us.

January 31st: We report sometime around sunrise (what sun, rising from where, one might ask on this cloudy morning). The light, weak and mournful, does not weigh enough to reach down the deep blue dark of the ocean. The sea, torn by the wind, is busy frothing and making everything capsize.

February 20th: We report: the barometer and the thermometer are both down. It rained a lot last night, and today, the waters are murky, agitated even through the advection fog. We cannot see the horizon. We picked up a nice, pearlescent seashell that glimmered in the sand amidst all the grey.

February 24th: We report: hares in the fields, then a partridge later. The mud is frozen, the clouds are thick. Not much wind. Some colza and daffodils blooming on the roadside. A little bit more of February, its low skies and its half-steps, the transitions in the light and the time.

[clamenstell]

Meant for two

one drop turns two, then three as little pitter patter of water droplets start to fall onto the earth as a hand raised out to feel the falling droplets.

"oh. rain."

gojo satoru was currently near the gates of jujutsu tech as he just returned from a mission assigned by his teacher, finishing it begrudgingly. he didn't realize the sky had turned dark as the gloomy clouds hid the bright blue skies.

it's okay, he had his infinity, the rain can't touch him and he won't get wet from it. very convenient if you ask him, though he has to focus and manually activate it, it's definitely a good use for small things like this. never needing an umbrella or having to rush to a nearby shelter, especially sharing an umbrella and getting your shoulder wet from the small space from the temporary shelter.

yeah, his infinity is definitely convenient.

"oh, satoru."

your voice snapped him out of his thought and he shifted his gaze to see you approaching him, grocery bags in one hand and an umbrella in the other.

"you arrived earlier than i thought. i was planning on meeting you by the gates after i dropped off some things since it's raining, but i guess you beat me to it huh." you laughed.

"missed me that much sweetheart?~" the corner of his lips quirked up as he gave you a teasing tone, you rolled your eyes.

"it's raining dummy, didn't want you to get soaked by the rain and get a cold obviously," you huffed. "seems like you got it covered though."

"of course, i'm the greatest after all~" he chuckled.

"of course, how could that slip my mind, even rain can't touch the great gojo satoru," you teased before sighing. "guess you don't need the umbrella then, how convenient. wish i don't have to worry about needing an umbrella when it rains. looks like we don't need to share the umbrella then," you chuckled but that line caused the cerulean-eyed teen to freeze. "let's go, satoru."

you turned to walk back to the dorms, expecting your companion to follow but suddenly he shoved to your side, ducking his head under the umbrella with you.

"w-what the?! satoru, what are you doing?" you stared at him wide-eyed as he stucked his tongue out.

"whoops, looks like my infinity stopped working, seems we gotta share the umbrella now sweetheart~" he wrapped his arm around your shoulder to bring you in closer, "don't want me getting soaked under the rain right?" you rolled your eyes.

"what happened to being so great that even the rain can't touch you?" you teased but he only chuckled and squeezed your shoulder.

"don't worry your pretty little head about it~" he hummed, taking a look at the bags in your hands. "what'chu buy anyways? any snacks for me?~" his hand reached for one to take a peak but you pull it away before he could.

"absolutely not, these are for suguru and shoko."

"aww what," he pouted, sticking his tongue as he makes a thumbs down at you, "booo.."

"oh? guess you don't want these pastries then? i'll give 'em to suguru and shoko too then," you raised the bags to reveal a pastry box stamped with the logo of a local bakery you both frequent to that went unnoticed by satoru and shrugged.

"wha-?! hey!" you snickered, "come one sweets, i've been gone all day working hard and this is the payment i get? cruel," he raised a hand to clutch his chest as he turned his head dramatically.

"i'm just joking satoru, of course these are for you. you did good today," you smiled softly at him as he turned his head back to you to basked in your praise, his arm still around your shoulder tightened a bit.

"let's go then! can't let these pastries lose their freshness now!" grabbing the bags to carry them for you, he dragged the both of you in a hurry to the student living quarters.

"i've just bought them, no need to rush," you giggled.

who needs infinity for small inconveniences like rain when he gets to be so close to you under an umbrella, sharing laughs and spending more time with you. he doesn't even mind that his shoulder is getting wet as long as you were warm and dry, under the temporary shelter with him, touching shoulders.

umbrellas were meant for two anyways.

[sunflowerharrington]

@steddiebang2024 project reveal!! This is not a drill!

I’m so so excited for this year’s Steddie Bang! I’ll be collabing with the amazing @mvnsvn6 for this project! Forget everything you know about Stranger Things and Saltburn and dive into this adventure with us. You can find the summary and a little excerpt will be under the cut.

Looking forward to posting this Fall :)

Summary:

Eddie Munson knows he won’t make any friends at Hawkins University. He knows it. He knows it… Until he crosses paths with Steve Harrington; a hunk who’s got it all: the looks, the ladies, the money, and a mansion way too big for an eccentric family of five and a butler. He’s got a mansion.

He’s got a mansion.

or, Eddie Munson is twenty years old and enrols at Hawkins University. He falls in love with a guy from university, falls out of love with the same guy, grows to resent him — even though some feelings still lie at the bottom of his heart — and the aftermath of it all.

Excerpt:

The sun shines bright, the grass is greener than ever and the skies are pure, perfect blue, with no clouds in sight. Shadows follow Eddie as he cycles along the road by the crystal-clear river, and he breathes in the fresh air. Today’s going to be a good day.

A buzzing atmosphere flutters around him like butterflies, but it’s pretty bittersweet. Why? Because some god-awful racket is disrupting the peace. It’s Steve, sitting on the verge up ahead, cursing under his breath as he kicks his bicycle. What ever could be the matter? Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?

Eddie smirks as he passes, but stopping to help might get him on a page in Steve’s good book. He breaks to a halt in front of Steve.

“Hey, what happened?” Eddie asks, as if he doesn’t already know the answer. It’s a flat tire and the chain is looser than it should be. Steve has the bike upside down, trying to fix it by staring at it, hoping it’ll do something. Spoiler alert: it won’t.

“I’ve got a flat tire.” Bingo. “Chain’s loose too.” Double bingo.

“That’s bad luck,” Eddie says, and for once, something truthful comes out of his mouth— Eddie stops. For once, uh… he says something useful? Maybe? Eddie rolls his eyes. He has to stop changing his story! He was doing so well.

“I’ve just been trying to fix it,” Steve says, looking down at his feet. “Of course it’s when I’m already ten minutes late for my tutorial.”

Ooh, a tutorial. Eddie rolls his eyes. So posh. Jesus H Christ.

“Where is it?” Eddie asks.

“Just off Cherry Lane.”

“Oh shit.” That is pretty far away. Poor boy’s gonna have to walk all the way there on his own like half the people in college, probably. Eddie scoffs, it’s nothing. A walk is nothing. A run? That’s hard sometimes. Walking’s easy, and a good time to have a cigarette. And it’s less dangerous, and a lot easier, to smoke while walking than riding a bike. The scar on Eddie’s right arm is proof of that.

“Yeah…” Steve trails off, pouting like a kicked puppy. Jesus Christ, and Eddie thought he himself was dramatic.

They both look at the bike at the same time. It’s pretty much a goner. There’s no way to fix it in time for Steve to get to his stupid fucking tutorial before it’s over.

“I skipped last week to go- don’t tell anyone- but I went on a date with uh… Can't remember her name, sorry. Heather, or something. And I’m already in trouble with my parents for scratching some of the paint off it, so…”

Oh, poor, poor baby. Eddie internally rolls his eyes. Is Steve seriously trying to make Eddie feel sorry for him? Eddie’s pretty sure Steve’s parents could buy him a thousand bikes if he asked. But… He wants to get on Steve’s good side. He’s definitely popular around campus, and having that under his own belt could be good. Might get Eddie laid by a pretty girl if he’s lucky.

“Look, I’m not really going anywhere,” Eddie says, smiling at him. “Just taking these back to the library. So you can take my bike if you want?”

“No, no, no, I couldn’t. I mean, it looks like rain, I wouldn’t want to—”

Eddie can’t help but melt under Steve’s gaze, and that smile. Jesus H. Christ. “I’m not really going anywhere anyway. I can just get it back from you later. You’re in my college, so…” Perfect. He’ll get to see Steve again. One point for Munson.

“Am I?” Steve asks, keeping his gaze trained on Eddie.

Eddie sighs, his eyes downcast. “Yep.”

It’s a big college, sure, but how has Steve not seen him around before? Has he forgotten about their exchanged looks and smiles around campus whenever they cross paths? Does anything even really matter to him?

“That’s so kind, are you serious?” He asks, getting up from his spot by the tree. “That’s so kind, man. Are you sure? I mean, it’s a long walk back to college and I don’t want you to feel like you have to wheel it back.”

“You want me to take yours back?” Eddie asks. Oh what, so this douche thinks he can tell Eddie what to do now? He doesn’t even know Eddie’s name and he’s already giving him orders. Maybe it’s because Eddie looks easy to manipulate into doing whatever he wants.

But that’s what he wants Steve to think.

Eddie likes to think of himself as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. That’s the strategy in life that gets people everything they want. And what is it Eddie wants? More. More. And even more. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get that, and so far it’s taken him right to Steve Harrington by a tree just outside of Hawkins University.

It didn’t exactly take much for him to get accepted; a carefully curated persona full of smiles and the story about his upbringing. That, and all the little extras: no criminal record—that the police know of, he knows how to make people take the fall for him. Bless Gareth, Frankie and Jeff—no drugs in his system, and a willingness to go down on anyone in any room to keep up his good GPA score.

Bedroom eyes go a long way, and the lack of a gag reflex goes even further. He’s willing to become the local slut to get what he wants. He doesn’t even have to try hard. Eddie is a slut and he’s damn proud of it.

“Oh, no, no, no!” Steve starts. “I’m sorry, I just thought that since I have your bike, you’ll take mine?” Eddie’s works, Steve’s does not, it makes little to no sense.

“I mean, I can wheel it back to college for you, it’s not that far away,” Eddie proposes… to get on Steve’s good side, of course.

“Thank you.” Steve takes Eddie’s bike from him.

He must be so used to people bending over backwards to help him.

Steve grins. “Oh, thank you. Thank you… I’m sorry, I don’t know your name. I’m Steve,” he says with an apologetic look. Oh, but is it fake? Who knows? Everything is fake around here. And posh, rich boys like Steven Otis Harrington are no exception.

I already know your name. And you have no idea just how much I already know about you, Steve.

“Eddie. It’s Eddie.”

“Eddie. Eddie, I love you.” Eddie’s eyes widen as Steve grabs him by the shoulders, planting a kiss on the top of his helmet. Even though he doesn’t want to play it safe in college, he also doesn’t want to get a concussion. So the stupid helmet will have to stay on. “I love you, I love you. Seriously.”

“Like I said, no big deal.”

“Thank you so much, Eddie,” he says with a wide smile, hopping onto the bike, swinging his leg over to put one of his feet on the pedals. “So kind. You’re a fucking lifesaver, really. Thank you.”

Eddie scoffs. Yeah, sure. He’s so thankful for it. Sure. Eddie rolls his eyes when Steve isn’t looking, too focused on pedalling to look back.

“I’ll just leave yours in the bike shed, yeah?”

“Yeah, fine.” If Steve even so much as scratches the bike, it’s over for him. No more talking, no more looking… Eddie will just have to find a new friend, or else pretend to forgive him to stay on his good side.

“Thanks, Eddie!” He calls over his shoulder. “I love you!”

Wow. Does love even have any meaning to him? Does Steve even know what love is? Surely not if he’s telling a fucking stranger that he loves them.

Eddie watches Steve disappear around the corner, leaving him standing alone, holding the broken bike. This is so stupid. He’s gonna look like a fucking idiot walking a bike all the way back to campus. But who cares? It’s not like anyone’s even going to pay attention to some small-town boy anyway…

But Steve might.

He just might. Because that’s all Eddie’s ever wanted.

Attention.

And he’ll do pretty much anything to get it.

[etcetraetcetra]

•19.08.24• P-39/100•

Something about today is so dreamy and peaceful, I can’t help myself but drowse off a bit. Even though exams start from Monday, 2 days from today, the weather this morning is a bit too pleasant for me to concentrate. It’s like a dreamy summer morning with bright blue skies and soft white clouds, sound of birds chirping and the hustle bustle of everyday life. I just did some maths and am already feeling too lazy.

Things I plan to do today-

Solve Sets, Relations, and Functions from the book “Objective Mathematics”

Solve previous year Trigonometry question paper from other schools

Study Atomic Structure from NCERT

Solve q and a on Atomic Structure

[sakkiichi]

THAT JULY NINTH, THE BEAT OF YOUR HEART.

“And I hope the sun shines and it’s a beautiful day.”

Kaveh x gn! reader.

cw/genre: pure fluff, very soft birthday special for the sweet baby.

word count: 900 words.

Golden.

The color that first came to mind when you thought of him.

Bright, warm and exuding beauty and elegance, yet easily dimmed when clouds concealed the sun.

Golden.

The luxurious shade that seemed to cling to everything he touched, painting your darkest grey skies luminous shades of blue.

Golden.

The memory you want to gift him today, as the world dyes in the auburn shades of sundown.

Three knocks on his study’s door are met with the gentle lilt of the architect’s voice when he says: “come in.”

You push open the wooden door, peeking inside the warm lit room. The huge floor to ceiling windows outline the artist in an almost ethereal glowing halo, his form bent over the desk. Pencil in hand, new lines come to life when it glides along the paper, an enchanting mosaic of blacks and whites, sunlight and shadow.

You smile, he always seemed so confident when he was in his element.

“Working hard today too, I see.” You chuckle, leaning against the doorframe.

Your lover rises his gaze from his project, summer beams reflected in those ruby eyes of his.

“Ah, it’s you, my love.” Kaveh smiles, gently placing his pencil by the marked canvas he was working on. Standing up, he makes his way to where you are, strong gentle arms looping around your waist.

“You didn’t plan to spend all day cooped up in here, now, did you?” You tease, bopping his nose.

“I… uh…” Your boyfriend’s cheeks take on a rather peach-like hue, growing watercolors under molten sunsets.

You chuckle, he’s simply adorable.

“Caught you.” You tell him, your lips playfully curving upwards.

At your antics, Kaveh’s shoulders sag, a sigh escaping his lips in defeat.

“Fine… you got me alright.” He admits, bringing a hand to his temple. “But it’s just another day, right? What harm can be done in me just staying here?”

The gold was dimming. You can’t let it to, you can’t let him to.

“Kaveh, today’s not just any day.” You begin, one of your hands taking his, fingers lacing together, as you cradle his cheek with the other. “It’s your day. And the first of your special days we spend together, love.” You utter tenderly, softly caressing his cheek with your thumb.

“I know, but I don’t deserv-“

“Oh shush now.” You place your index on top of your lover’s rosy lips. “I won’t hear it. Today’s special, and I’d be very happy if you could celebrate with me… so, don’t leave me hanging?” You plead, both your hands taking his in your own now.

With gilded rays painting him in tones of summer, he sighs again.

“How am I supposed to say no to that face?” Kaveh smiles, true, even if a little melancholy.

As you gush over and run to hug him, a lovestruck expression draws in the architect’s face. He still doesn’t know what he did to deserve you, and, even if he still thinks you could do better (he knows you’d scold him if you could read his thoughts) he’ll hold tight onto you for as long as he can.

—

The early evening breeze is rose colored when it ruffles through his hair.

Kaveh leans his back against a sturdy tree trunk, his arms around you, steady heartbeat lulling you into a sweet daze as you rest your head on his chest.

Around you, a checkered light blue blanket lays, the wicker basket you used to carry your snacks now empty at your feet. You smile to yourself; your boyfriend was so cute when he blushed as you fed him fruit pies, and even more so when you kissed traces of powdered sugar off his lips.

None of them were as sweet as he is, though.

Overhead, saffron heavens blend into fuchsia, an horizon that seems so faraway and within reach at the same time, contoured in honey.

“Happy birthday, Kaveh.” You utter, turning around in his embrace. Your eyes lock with his, expression determined, the dimming rays of the setting sun at a standstill for a few seconds more. “I hope we get to celebrate every year, from now on, my love.” You breathe, your noses millimeters away.

And for the first time in his life, the light of Kshahrewar takes a chance for himself, his lips connecting with yours as the sky veils in shades not unlike padisarah blooms. His hands that have designed entire palaces create masterpieces over your skin when they hold onto your waist, waves of heated shivers coloring you in his vibrant adoration.

Your hands tangle in the aureate locks of his silky hair, your weight leaning against his torso, as you get lost in the myriad of radiant petals that flutter from Kaveh’s heart to yours with every touch.

Golden. The color you’d choose for him, undoubtedly.

What perhaps you didn’t know is that, to Kaveh, you shined gilded too.

No matter how blazing the sun outside, the famed architect would always find brightest rays to warm his soul when he was by your side.

You pull away, bodies still impossibly close, arms around each other.

Night has settled, except for the both of you, the world still aglow in an eternal sunset.

“I hope so too.” Are Kaveh’s first words after your lips part.

Perhaps for today, the universe had matched the master architect’s skills designing this idyllic moment for him.

Maybe some gold things did stay, after all.

[dasher85]

vanilla

featuring our Inexpressible duo

Kamisato Ayato x reader | y/n | you

A  short story 1.6K

Inspired by Vanilla Twilight - Owl City

[ Everyone thought he was trying to solve a difficult issue when he’s actually was just thinking about you ]

----------------------------

[ First week ]

The night sky was decorated with shining stars. Soft night breeze quietly blew past the curtains as it reached the person who sat opposite the opened window.

The person has been staring out towards the northern sky ever since his work has long been done for today. As tired as he was, he was feeling sleepless.

One particular bright star has caught his attention away from the letter that he wasn't able to finish since yesterday. He wondered if it was necessary to send the letter knowing that it hasn't even been a week.

'I wish you were here' and yet he couldn't help but write those words.

[ Second week ]

He purposefully opened the window while he did his reports just to see the colors change. The sun slowly sets until the skies become a hue of blue before completely becoming dark. By that time only then he managed to compile all the reports into an envelope. He finally could clear his table and kept the books in a neat stack.

"I'll visit her-" His joyful voice quiets down when he remembers that he wasn't able to even if he wanted to do so. Ayato unconsciously glanced at his own hands and felt even more gloomier.

[ Third week ]

Ayato has just returned to the estate after two days worth of hard work and sleepless nights. Instead of having a proper rest, he quietly sat by the front porch all alone. He poured a cup of warm green tea but didn't actually feel any better even though he finally could take a break from his endless schedule. 

Only when his thoughts were thinking about you, a small smile slowly appeared on his lips. Perhaps even the thought of you was enough to take him away from all the stressful days.

[ Fourth week ]

The Commissioner wasn't necessarily needed to be at Ritou with his retainers when it comes to just decorating the streets for the upcoming events but he would be casually checking in their work progress almost everyday. It was rather unusual even for them but nothing could be said when it's literally the Commissioner. Who could complain against him? 

Needless to say, he would be seated at one of the benches as he wrote down quick drafts for his reports.

"Good day, Ayato. I'll head home…"

His violet eyes lit up even before he looked away from the papers. Feeling a little surprised but slowly his gaze softens.

"...now. Remember to get proper rest later when you're off work."

He stood up, took hold of the bag you were holding before intertwining his hand with yours. The arc on his lips stays permanent as an immense feeling of joy erupted inside his heart. As if the grey clouds that endlessly rains on him have now vanished becoming rainbows and sunshine. 

"I was just waiting for your return Y/n." 

His voice was soft like the morning breeze as he called your name. His loving gaze conveying all of his emotions, effortlessly reaching your unprepared heart. 

"... this is so embarrassing"

Ayato let out a chuckle, secretly loving your every little reaction. He wasn't trying to tease you in any way nor does he plan to put you under emotional pressure, however it does bring him the pleasure to see how these little gestures affected your ever so calm emotions. 

"On the contrary, I feel so at ease"

His violet eyes search yours as he brings his face closer. It was as if he hadn't met you in a long while. Listening to your little sigh as you try to escape away from him actually entertains his heart so much that he couldn't help but want you even more.

"Oh please… are you not letting me head home now?"

He never told you how much he admired the way you always understood his busy schedule, you never complained and always accepted the nature of it all. However there are times when he's not busy and yet you still expect him to be on schedule. At times you prefer to spend your time all by yourself even after he explained that he finally has the time to spend with you.

"Would you mind accepting a guest?"

But it's too late now, he couldn't possibly dislike you for just being yourself because he knew you'd still welcome him all the same.

"... you better be glad for being the Commissioner otherwise I'll lock the doors"

Of course talking with a noble lady has its ups and downs for sure and yet he couldn't complain about either. He wondered sometimes how you can be exceptionally polite to everyone but especially harsh with him?

"I couldn't feel any better to be the Commissioner. I might as well request for a piece of cookie"

After the both of you arrived at your residence, without actually asking he was given a bowl of warm meal. That's just another reason why he's smitten all over you. The way he could feel the warmth and efforts granted by you was nothing but loveable.

He knew you were tired after returning from the long journey from another nation and yet he's here seemingly troubling you with such trivial matters. Ayato does feel bad whenever this happens, although he appreciates your every effort he still didn't want to trouble you.

"Y/n… go get some rest. I'll take care of cleaning the dishes"

"I'll handle it"

"Please let me…"

"Fine, alright"

Only if he insisted will you finally let him. Nonetheless he finds it adorable that you'd be unwilling to trouble him with anything either.

After clearing the kitchen spotless, he finally made his way towards your bedroom. He didn't forget to give three light knocks and only slide the door open after hearing your voice.

"You're not going back to the estate yet?" 

"I'll wait until you're fully rest"

"Can't I return to the estate tomorrow?"

"I don't want to be alone sleeping at the main room"

Yes, he didn't complain much and gave you much freedom but when it comes to this matter Ayato still wants to remind you that he needs you to accompany him and be there at the estate.

"...but you're usually busy. It's always me who ends up sleeping in the main room alone. I'd rather sleep in this room because it's cosy" 

He worriedly frowns, only to acknowledge your real thoughts behind it all. This was the first time he ever listened to you mentioning how his busy schedule affects you in such a way.

"You never told me about that"

He gloomily spoke as he approached your side.

"Well, it's not like it's a big issue. I've got my own work to do and I'm busy too sometimes. Perhaps I'm still not used to main room either so I don't-"

"I'm sorry…"

He knew you were always considerate to the point of letting little hurtful things slide off so easily. The way he expects you to accompany him when he himself couldn't properly be there was just asking too much.

"It's alright. I'm not upset at all."

Seeing the genuine smile formed on your lips only made him disappointed in himself even more. He should've made you feel more at home when you're at the estate. 

"Besides, I don't really like to be reminded in my mind that there are a lot of people at one place. You know… the servants, the workers, and everyone. I need a place where it's just me alone. But just like right now, having only you to accompany me feels quite comfortable"

He helplessly sighed with a smile. It seems he shouldn't be worried about anything after all. He should've known… his lover isn't someone whom he ever expected to be.

"I'll make sure to return home as well."

He whispered before lying next to you. He truly misses this feeling whenever he gets to stay close with you, seeing your face up close and capturing your ethereal beauty within his view.  Ayato gently took hold of your hand before placing your palm on one side of his cheeks.

He loves it whenever you quietly let him inched ever so closer towards you. As if the distance between him and you weren't already close enough.

"How am I supposed to rest if you're this close?"

There. Right about now, he knew you couldn't handle the level of intimacy anymore. But if he were to add just a little bit more… just with the right amount, he's sure he won't be in trouble.

Not too much though otherwise he'll get the silent treatment for a whole week. Not that he ever crossed the boundary but he can pretty much guess such outcome. 

"Should I give you a kiss or a quick kiss?" 

He's the current head of Yashiro commission after all… how else could he be in that position if not for his overly shrewd self. Ayato would occasionally do just the same even towards you just so he could get these types of requests.

"There's no option in that."

He let out a chuckle secretly already predicting your next move. If he guessed it right, he'll get exactly what he wants but if not well… all he can do is pester you all day.

"We can demonstrate the difference-"

The words haven't been fully said by him and he has already made you abruptly cling to his body. Now he can't even see your face but both of your hands were wrapped securely around him.

A joyous smile spreads across his face. This was exactly what he wanted. He could've just asked for a hug instead but he knew you wouldn't do it just the same. After all, he only needed all the warmth from you.

He's sure someday you'll eventually actually accept these requests he asks for but admittingly he still feels very much loved.

"My lovely wife, I missed you so dearly"

-------------------------------

A/N: I was listening to the song and couldn’t help but think about them. 

Shader: MMDGenshin Shader

[portfolio-of-dreams]

your love is scaring me | gojo satoru x gn! reader

warnings: angsty. brief mention of a death, depression/anxiety, a lil suggestive.

w/c: 2.04k

a/n: my submission for @suyacho & @pcwer “the NBHD collab” ! I chose the song “scary love” (obviously for my angst era). I haven’t written in a while, pls be gentle. also unedited and not beta read.

Gray. It’s such a bland color; You’ve never been a fan of it. The deep dismality of it- rain clouds, pavement, the clandestine serenity. All things you remember all too well from that day. The day that brought the loss of someone so important to the both of you. And here you are today, standing on browning grass and weeds in an unmarked landscape surrounded by stories that ended too soon. Rain and storms aren’t to be romanticized. Black skies, luminescent lightning drilling, stabbing its way between the grief of the clouds and the universe falls heavy against your shoulders. And he’s here too.

Eyes covered by black rimmed sunglasses, shielded from the world and mistreatments he knows all too well. A bright blue that were ocean-strong, swimming with warm sun-lit currents. Passion transforms through the slate outer rings swooped by arcs of teal, infinite hues illuminated by new light. But behind those eyes lies secrets too strong to read, an icy fire that ravaged through your veins everytime he looked at you. But today was different, as teardrops from the sky soaked through your worn umbrella, you stole a glance through your peripherals- platinum hair stuck to his forehead and those eyes you’ve come to know were not the same. They were transformed fathoms deep in cesspools of inky blue. You couldn’t stand to see him this way and when you gradually slipped your hand into his he flinched away from the contact.

“Satoru, we should go. You’ll catch a cold if you stay in the rain any longer.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets, still fixated on the expanse of the ground before him. A slight shake of his head had water sprinkling around you, slipping down his cheek like a tear though he showed no signs of crying. You took a small step closer and it was like the eggshell of the space between you cracked, shredding the grass and plants apart as he drifted further and further away from you.

“You go, I’ll get a cab or something. Don’t worry about me,” though the slight crack in his already raspy voice had you biting your lip in anxiety.

Of course you were going to worry, you loved him. Seeing him standing there like nothing was bothering him but the whole world broke against his edges in a fleeting minute. You wanted to reach out to him, say something to him but the words fought to come to life against your iron tongue. A blank sigh wafted from between your lips as you turned on your heels- there was no sense in arguing the issue with him.

“I’ll see you at home then, don’t be out too late. And Satoru?” - you peered from over your shoulder back towards him - “I love you.” And you walked off without a response, you had a deep feeling he wouldn’t repeat the words to you but still you spoke them, and you persisted. He needed to know that you were there for him and respected and cherished him, even if he couldn’t see it through grief bound eyes.

You drove through the winding downtown streets, windshield wipers set to a quicker pace as the rain picked up. You blinked back tears you knew would eventually stream down the apple of your cheeks. Your vision blurred as you clicked on your blinker to turn left into your apartment complex and into an empty space to park. You stumble out, water dripping around your face and staining your shoulders briefly before the security of a rusted umbrella propels open above you. The wire framing is bent on a few steel ribs so it doesn’t open fully, nor correctly. But it still works for what it's meant to do. It's funny that way- the comparison of your life to this worn umbrella. The outer canopy only has minor wear but the framework, the inside that’s hidden, is barely holding together. Silver duct tape wraps around a few of the steel spokes, mending areas that started to pull and break apart. Sometimes you felt as though you had a string of tape wrapped around your limbs to hold you together, but you didn’t need it all that much now, he did. You couldn’t be glue but you could try to be tape.

Your feet walked you up the stairs to the third floor apartment though your mind was elsewhere, hazy with memories that sputtered to the forefront of your mind. You shook out your umbrella at the door and wiped your shoes on the mat before turning the key in the bronze lock and heading inside. You took your time winding down; taking a shower, putting on comfortable clothing, and making a small cup of coffee as you sat down in the paisley print loveseat by the window. It wasn’t the prettiest item and didn’t match the theme of the apartment but it was yours. Satoru bought all the pieces in the space, and it was aesthetically pleasing and felt luxurious- black, white, gray color themes and leather couches littered atop geometric patterned throw rugs. But this chair was yours, and it made you feel at home rather than just your boyfriend's place that the two of you share.

You sipped the hot liquid, letting it stream down your throat and warm you from the inside out. Raindrops slipped down the glass of the window and seeped into the small weathered corners of the pane, creating a small puddle that reflected the light of the desk lamp on your left. Your mind once again wanders to better memories than this. Melancholy swipes at your feet like a soft wave at first, but ends up crashing over you like a tidal wave hurling you under the surface. It stains your teeth and tongue like a blue candy. It tastes you with the tip of its tongue before swallowing you whole, only to spit you back out. Greedy, wanting hands grab at your flesh; clutching onto your chest with wine-dark scratches. Melancholy- this deep unwavering sadness- spindles into your bloodstream and creates space for itself, and it never leaves quietly.

Hours have passed, the ticking of the clock on the wall grows obnoxiously loud as you stare at the door- waiting for the handle to turn, a knock to be heard, for a breath to seep through the red-painted wood. You’re subconsciously picking at your nails, the cuticles now red and some bleeding before you finally see movement. You shoot up in your chair, knocking the coffee cup to the ground, its porcelain pieces shatter against the dark wood flooring. He stumbles inside, soft water droplets roll off the ends of his hair and crash down on the welcome mat. The smell of whisky and redbull assault your senses as soon as he enters; the worry on your face doesn’t waver. And he looks at you with those solemn blue eyes again that tear into your space- hurtling through your boundaries like a missile. It’s cold in his heart nowadays; Ice shielding over the most vulnerable spots and taking solace in his veins, turning his red to blues. He’s lost so many people causing his walls to be built in cement and iron.

“Oh, you’re still awake. I thought you'd be asleep” his words slur together as he turns his view away from you.

“Of course I’m still up, I’ve been worried about you- it's 3 o'clock in the morning, Satoru.” He looks back at you as you speak, a sigh leaving his parted lips as they quiver slightly.

“I- I don't think I can do this anymore, y/n…” He stutters on the words but they are spoken clearly as he sobers up on the sentence.

You scrunch your eyebrows in confusion, not quite understanding the words that fall from his tongue. A reply forms in your mind but it can’t get past the knot in your throat as you try to speak, eyes watering in the corners and along the lash line. You knew Gojo had never had a relationship like the one you were giving him. You were patient and understanding, though you did bicker from time to time but that was normal as you tried to navigate through this life and his grief that weighed down on his shoulders.

“This love you have for me- it’s scaring me. I can’t keep up anymore.” His words are more forceful now, spilling out like magma from an erupting volcano and burning the tips of your fingers that reach out to him.

“You can’t keep running from things that scare you. I knew what I was getting myself into when we started this. I knew loving you would be like walking through a minefield in the morning and I’m lucky to be a deadman walking for you.” You spoke precisely and effortlessly but your tone had a softness that you could almost feel the cold breath of his ice melting, sending shivers up the ladder of your spine.

The way you looked at him, breathing constellations through bouts of consolidated prayers and determination in your eyes. You looked at him like you would hold him until your palms burned and ached from the fire that was his skin. At that moment, he thought for a second, how beautiful it is to find a person that loves you without asking for anything. He needed you with your saccharine words and evergreen whispers of touch that bloom his pressed, dead flowers. And he breaks. Falling to his knees as sobs wreck through his chest, held back tears finally falling and finding solace on your shoulder when you dive into the trenches of his unrestrained emotions.

“You can’t push me away with half-assed threats that you only speak in the darkness and under barrel aged liquors. I’m right here for you- as I was before, as I will be again. I love you.”

“I need you.” His whispers in desperation through staggered breaths against the valley of your neck and you shiver.

You pull away, placing gentle hands on either cheek of his, universes radiating and warming through your fingertips as you look into his sorrowful blue eyes. Six; through all 6 of those god-like eyes he couldn’t see how much he meant to you and the love that you had for him. If falling in love with Satoru Gojo was a sin then you wanted no place in heaven. The room falls away from you, the sound of the pouring rain muffled through the way your lips fit so unbearingly effortless against his. It’s like second nature; muscle memory as they melt and tangle against one another. Tongue sweeping along the insides of your cheeks, however smoothly, like a soft tango with no music to hold tempo. It's fervent, fiery but sad and the tears keep falling down his cheeks staining your own skin. You can taste the remnants of the golden liquor pouring into your mouth like cascading sunshine in a small room. But you don’t care, you never did. Not when he speaks so desperately, the tenor of his voice collapsing against the strings of your heart and playing a melody of want, of need.

And you love him.

His calloused hands find the underside of your thighs through bent knees and lift you to find comfort in between dryer warmed sheets of the king sized bed. The dim streetlights and incoherent rumbling of scattered cars are left in the background as hands pull and prod against clothing. The lights off, leaving insecurities in the brightness of incandescent lamps that tend to flicker after being on for too long. There’s an unraveling feeling as the built up pressures between the two of you fall to pieces and puddles against the butterfly wing caresses and warmth of your flesh colliding. And somewhere against the feeble light of the early dawn you fall asleep in eachothers arms, bodies fitting like a gemstone in a cavern; perfectly and not to be disturbed. In that special peace that only the early sky can bring he whispers back-

“I love you.”

And if you had less than a minute to live, you would kiss him. That is, perhaps, the scariest thing about love.

[aethelflaedladyofmercia]

New Good Omens WIP...?

Been playing with some ideas for a season 2-based fic. It's a bit rambly at the moment, repeats itself in a couple of lines, and seems to be launching itself towards a 100k plot despite the fact that I specifically told it to stay short, but there we are. Mostly it's a way for me to work out some character and plot ideas just to see where they go and what I feel like writing about.

Related note: I adore Muriel...

Anyway, if anyone's interested, here's my second scene, which has Muriel coming back from a visit to Heaven and visiting Maggie. If there's interest, I can post the fic once I've got a few chapters done and gotten some editing in.

(Spoilers ahead)

--

Muriel took a deep breath as they stepped out of the transporter, stretching their arms and really letting the feel of Earth soak into them.

It was a lovely day.

Every day was lovely, they found. Bright beautiful blue skies, or big puffy clouds, or rainstorms! All that noise, pattering and tapping and booming, it was almost as good as music. Maybe even better, they thought loyally, since music was made by humans and a storm was made by God. If nothing else, God had kept all the best instruments for Herself.

Then again, there was that one piece of music with the cannons in it. So perhaps it was a tie after all.

In any case, there was no storm today. The air was crisp and cold, especially when the wind whipped around the corner, and all the humans looked so delightfully cozy in their fuzzy sweaters and puffy coats, bundled up for warmth. Muriel miracled up a scarf to help themself blend in, something brightly colored. Humans love bright colors, though Muriel was still getting the hang of them.

Colors, that was another thing about Earth, the lovely colors, almost enough to make an angel’s eyes ache after too long in Heaven. Perhaps that was why Aziraphale was looking so pale lately. Muriel only got to see him every few months, and each time there was less pink in his cheeks, less sparkle in his eyes.

It was sad, really; he’d always seemed so brilliant alongside the other angels. It was clear the new duties weighed heavily on him, but Aziraphale insisted that was a good thing, that leadership wasn’t something an angel could wear lightly, even if all the other Archangels seemed to.

It was all confusing and a bit mysterious to Muriel. Still, the few minutes of conversation they’d shared had perked him up a bit, and Muriel was happy to have helped, even a little.

They tried to do the same now, spreading a bit of cheer as they walked down the streets of Soho. Muriel mingled with the humans in the crowds outside the shops and pubs, bumping the occasional shoulder, exchanging the traditional greetings of “Hello” and “Alright, mate?” and “Oi, watch where you’re walking, you bloody wanker.”

That, Muriel decided, was their favorite thing about Earth. All the humans going about their days, talking and laughing and arguing, holding hands, opening doors for each other, coming out of the shops with their bags full of treasures. Muriel could spend hours sitting in a cafe or restaurant with an untouched beverage, just watching them all. Lost in the spectacle of countless human lives. Each one a book in their own right, a complicated story, but taken as a whole, they were a… a…

What did one call a whole lot of books? A shop, probably, but Muriel didn’t think that was quite right. They’d have to write it down on their list of questions to ask the humans when they had a chance. Not today, though; they had another, far more important mission to take care of, given to them by the Supreme Archangel himself.

“Allo, allo, allo,” Muriel called brightly, opening the door to the record shop. It was, as always, wonderfully cozy inside, not quite so dimly lit as the bookshop but equally crowded with material objects. The records were more neatly arranged than Aziraphale’s books, but no less loved, and they filled the Little Back Room with a warm, peaceful sort of joy.

“Muriel! How lovely to see you. Are you here for Mr Fell’s order?” Maggie came around the counter, her face lit up with a brilliant smile. She’d been smiling quite a lot the last few weeks, though Muriel hadn’t worked out why yet.

Human moods were such a mystery. They’d have to see if Nina had any ideas; Maggie had been visiting the coffee shop more often lately. Or maybe that was a clue? Had Nina finally bought a record player, perhaps? Muriel was sure they’d overheard some kind of discussion about that.

“That’s right! He told me it should be ready.”

“Well, you’re just in time. They got here just a few hours ago.” Maggie pulled out a box of records and started flipping through them. “Did he give you his next order?”

“No. Nothing this time.” Muriel rocked on their feet, looking around at the album covers decorating the walls, each one its own confusing riot of colors and symbols, totally unrelated to the kind of music it contained.

That was another of the things they were enjoying. Music. A special sort of human language, closer to Enochian—the natural language of angels—yet also entirely different, filled with strange rhythms and far too few actual words. Much harder to decipher than books, but the challenge was really quite thrilling.

“Well, ah, let him know that if I hear from him in the next week or two, I can get one more order in before the holiday rush.”

“I will if I get the chance, but I don’t think it matters. He’s going to be quite busy now.”

“Oh… Oh, is he?” Maggie paused, a few records in her hands, lips pursed. “Only he’s busy all the time now, and… oh, I don’t know. It just isn’t very like him, is it?”

“Isn’t it?” Muriel furrowed their brow. “He always seemed busy when I saw him before. Oh! Is this one of those words that means different things? See, when I say it,” they smiled, pointing to themself, “I mean, he’s always rushing about and doing things with his hands, and thinking… all kinds of thoughts! I don’t think I’ve ever thought half as much as he does. Is that not like him?”

“I… I don’t know, I suppose it is.” Maggie shifted the records in her hands, as if hoping the words she was looking for were written on them. “But I mean… Well, he’s always listened to the same music as long as I’ve known him, as long as I can remember, really, and some of these are… just so very different. I thought it might be… I don’t know, a mistake, or…”

“Oh! Don’t worry, I still have the list.” Muriel patted their pockets and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. Real paper—on one of their first visits to Heaven after being put in charge of the shop, they’d brought Aziraphale a notebook and one of the pens off his desk. That had really cheered him up. He liked to send Muriel notes, fun greetings and instructions on things to do about the shop, and he always seemed to write with a little extra flourish when he used that pen.

The note still carried a glimmer of Heaven, but Maggie didn’t seem to notice. She flipped it open and carefully looked through the pile of records. “Yes, there it is. Made in Heaven. But still… odd of him to ask for the modern stuff.”

“Oh, that’s because it isn’t for him.” Muriel watched as the records were slid into a bag and eagerly took it. “There aren’t any record players where he is. But I told him I was curious about other musics, and he’s been giving me different kinds to listen to. He calls them homework,” they added, handing over some of the papers humans used for trading, “which means I’m supposed to play a different one in the shop every night. There’s a schedule and everything.”

“Ah. I see.” Maggie put a hand on her hip. “You know, I wasn’t aware he knew anything existed other than obscure classical composers and wordy show tunes.”

“Oh, no, Aziraphale knows just about everything,” Muriel said, wondering what a show tune was. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew more musics than you did.”

“I’m sure.” She looked down with a funny smile at the trading papers. “Oh, look, he’s overpaid again. That’s not like him, either—I can’t take a hundred pounds for this!”

“Ah-ah-ah!” Wagging their finger, Muriel dug into their pocket again. “Aziraphale agreed on those records for this amount. He’d be very upset if we couldn’t reach an agreement.”

“Muriel, I’m not trying to haggle—”

“But I insist! I’m willing to go as high as… one hundred fifty!” They proudly handed over more folded paper. Haggling was another human activity Muriel enjoyed. Quite the opposite of selling books, which mostly involved discouraging potential thieves, but they were getting very good at this, too.

“Mmmm.” Maggie bit her lip. “You know this is another hundred, right?”

“You drive a hard bargain. Two hundred, then!”

“No—I—”  She burst out laughing, pressing a hand to her face. “Alright, yes, two hundred. We have a deal.”

“Yay!” Muriel clutched their bag excitedly. They always won at haggling.

“Definitely yay. Um. Why don’t you pick out a few more records to take back, since you haggled so well?”

“Oh, no, I can’t. Aziraphale gave me a schedule, and I need to listen to all of these, starting tonight. It’s my homework.” That was practically an assignment, and from the Supreme Archangel himself! Muriel was determined not to fail in their duty.

“Well… yes, but at one record a night, this won’t last you very long. And if Mr Fell is too busy to give you any more homework, maybe I can give you some? Since I know almost as much about music as he does.”

“Oh, yes! That’s a wonderful idea, I…” They lowered their voice, slightly nervous about the audacious request. “He said you might… have some… bebop?”

Once again, Maggie laughed. Muriel wasn’t sure why, but it was a delightful sound. “You really are something, aren’t you? Not sure about bebop, but I bet we can find something you like. Come on…”

[merryfortune]

heaven sent saviour

Written for Femslash February 2024 and the Sweetheart Bingo from @sweetspicybingo

Day 11. Sky | Fuck Me

Title: heaven sent saviour

Ship: not applicable | Aoi/Kyoko

Word Count: 2,345

Universe: Vrains - Canon Compliant

Rating: T

Tags: Post-Canon, Age Difference, Inappropriate Crushes, Unrequited Attraction

   The last thing she saw was a beautiful sky.

   Bright, endless, and blue. Baira was happy to have been blessed that the last thing she ever saw - and would ever see - was the azure sky which was ever so free. Streaked with white clouds and swirling Data Storms, cut up by a silver outline of the city skyline: the Link VRAINS was beautiful when it was enjoyed in its truest form.

   As a digital video game.

   One that she was not ever meant to log out of but she did.

   Baira became Doctor Kyoko Taki once more and she was arrested. Her location had been tipped off in advance. By Playmaker and his faction, of course. Less pity given to her - an adult, a torturer, a terrorist - than to her leader.

   The skies in the real world paled in comparison to what the Link VRAINS could conjure. Kyoko decided that quite quickly when she became discontent with the fact that she was still alive and ergo, so was their mission. The sky burned in ugly oranges that evening of the arrest and looked even worse through the slats of grey prison bars.

   Though she was thrust back into freedom soon enough. It was forcibly pried open by her cohort. The upper echelon was all that remained and quite frankly, all that needed to remain. 

   So, she put herself back to work again. A lieutenant, a hacker, anything to support the inglorious ambitions of the Kogami patrilineal line. Though this time, she wasn’t on the frontline anymore. 

   A shame.

   She had enjoyed her duel against Blue Angel tremendously but as far as first and only hurrahs went, that was a damn good one.

   Kyoko wanted to be caught. Deep down, she didn’t want to struggle with the burden that she had created for herself by going deeper and deeper into the descent of depravity that Dr. Kogami had called the marching forward of progress. She wasn’t even sure if she had even wanted to be freed from prison but until the time her crime had been dealt with internally, she didn’t want to see the sky from behind prison bars. She had wanted the impending doom of the Hanoi Tower to purify her and her sins in the wake of its detonation but that bomb never went off rendering their efforts fruitless.

   But that duel had been a good one from a standpoint of skill and technicality.

   To have a celebrity Duelist like Blue Angel on the ropes was a good feeling. To feel her struggling in her snare and then fighting back to win, to see her produce results from a miracle, Kyoko relished the reviewing of her own duel. She wanted to get better, too, you know but she was perfectly content with being Blue Angel’s stepping stone.

   Though too bad she had to crash into a certain tree right after.. But she learned from that, too, Spectre was just a crueller teacher than her. No need to wonder where he had learned that, though, truly a case of the student becoming the master in that regard.

   Blue Angel- no, Blue Maiden’s struggle against the insurmountable odds of the have’s and have not’s was also quite admirable, Kyoko found from afar as she monitored the duels from the safety net of the Hanoi’s yacht. Whilst the Leader and Second-in-Command fought, a duality of fate was yielded and Zaizen Aoi was not among the chosen. The victors.

   But she tried.

   She chased after identity, after mentors, after the truth. The little girl who was a girl no more. She would become an adult woman one day. She was going to be strong one day but that day was not today.

   Against Bohman, Blue Maiden had tried so hard from what Kyoko observed. She truly was just like the Water Ignis’ Origin in that regard. It was just a shame that Sugisaki Miyu had succeeded - she won her bread crusts in a duel more often than not - and Blue Maiden was felled by the Light Ignis’ creation.

   But her quiet, blue-coloured strength, Kyoko would do well to commend Aoi for her effort.

   Though these were opinions Kyoko thought she would never get to air. That she thought Blue Maiden was an admirable compatriot in her cause: her allyship to the Ignis and Playmaker’s faction but one whose ideals were in vain. The Ignis were vanquished in the end.

   Even if their creators never turned out to be their destructors like they lusted for.

   It was a shame their end was not really their end. Even when it seemed to be but the Ignis-Origin bond was a peculiar thing. A sixth sense as it were, Spectre could provide evidence of that. Just as he had sensed the Ignis’ death, his inevitable resurrection was also something he twigged upon. It was as though he could smell Earth like a bloodhound, even through the veil of death.

   Revolver had a sixth sense, also, for Playmaker’s movements as his were driven by a single-minded obsession for resurrecting his Ignis.

   “What now?” Kyoko asked. “What of our penance?”

   The answer was obvious.

   If the Ignis could not be killed, then they would be allowed to live. Perhaps this time, if they tried more softly and out of love rather than violence, peace could be established.

   They were no longer in that man’s shadow. They would have to deal with his legacy. Archive it, curate it, but they did not necessarily have to kill it. Not when it was apparent their foe would stop at nothing to prevent them from laying a hand on their targets.

   (To say nothing of the budding sympathies on their own side from a certain previous subject of their experiment…)

   So, they could instead, protect it. Them . This Ignis.

   Though that would require some truces and peace treaties. 

   Thus bringing Baira in front of someone she thought she would never see again: Blue Maiden.

   They had met briefly again, with Aoi inhabiting her Blue Maiden persona, prior to them being soundly thrashed by Ai but they had barely had the chance to say hello. Let alone a chat. But their light and idle conversation, waiting for some sign of the Water Ignis’ return, brought them closer.

   Too close, actually.

   For Baira anyway.

   Blue Maiden had her at an arm’s length. Why waste time resting on one’s laurels in victory, as close as it had been, when she could agonise and dissect where she had gone wrong in a humiliating defeat? Baira had been just that. A stepping stone. But Blue Angel had been much more to Baira than that.

   She had been an angel, after all. Absolving her of her sins. Even for a little while. A fitting defeat for someone who would slowly kill by placing her victims in a deepest sleep with a virus. One she had even been infected with herself so she knew the horror well.

   Yet there were no hard feelings it seemed as Blue Maiden was from what Baira could surmise, her usual self.

   They were waiting for word from on high. Baira, orders from her Leader and fellow Lieutenants and Blue Maiden from Playmaker and his eye in the sky. The silence was comfortable. 

   Until it wasn’t.

   “In hindsight,” Blue Maiden announced out of nowhere as she scanned their surroundings, pretending to look for something she hadn’t already noticed, “I enjoyed our duel.”

   “Me too.” Baira chuckled.

   “It was good for me, I think.” Blue Maiden said. “Helped me grow as a Duellist.”

   “I’m glad.” Baira said.

   The observation was not new to her but she let Blue Maiden enjoy the feeling of thinking it was. 

   “I got catharsis. Defeating the person who put all those people in that coma. The one that I had been a guinea pig for.” Blue Maiden said. “I got to prove to my brother that I’m not some little girl anymore.”

   Baira’s lips quirked with amusement. That caused her to reinforce her guard. She had no idea. No idea at all.

   “It wasn’t enough though. I was still young and dumb and arrogant but I got better. Even if it was for only a minute. I still got to play the hero and save so many lives. I helped. I… I don’t think I helped enough and I still don’t. Maybe I’ll always be insatiable that way but I’m sick of being powerless.” Blue Maiden continued.

   “Understandable.” Baira murmured.

   “One day, I want to duel again and I’m going to win in a landslide.” Blue Maiden said and she glanced at Baira.

   Their eyes met and Baira was overwhelmed by the way Blue Maiden radiated her seriousness. The blue of her eyes was fierce. Competitive. She folded her arms.

   “You better be ready for it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we’re on the same side now. Despite everything, or maybe in spite of everything but I want to do it. I want to end the suffering of my friend and you are the most potent symbol of it.” Blue Maiden said, her tone of voice turned ice cold.

   Yet it got Baira so hot underneath her collar.

   It was uncomfortable and yet exhilarating.

   Baira’s stomach knotted. It was all so… romantic. The skylines, her tone of voice, her feelings. Completely and one-sidedly romantic as Blue Maiden spoke lightly, off her sleeve, all her words and revelations coming from mere seconds ago but Baira had already done the detailed autopsy months ago.

   She knew she had a crush on the… younger woman. If she could dare call an underaged girl a ‘woman’ at all. 

   Call it another ethics violation, call it what you will, Baira was well aware of her feelings. Maybe if she was lucky she could call it a fleeting fancy, she hadn’t thought about it months since the duel but the way her heart pounded, she knew it was something a little bit more permanent than a whim. 

   Maybe it was an extent of her circumstances. Some, such as the media or the law, would call it a cult. She would call it a family. For years now, Kyoko was hierarchically submissive to two teenagers after all. Misguided neurons firing on what was and was not normal. That was just the topsy-turvy world that Kyoko belonged to.

   But the way she had enjoyed their duel, what she felt about it and what she had gained from it, it was utterly cathartic for Baira. How was she not meant to fall in love with the heaven sent saviour?

   Zaizen Aoi was entirely oblivious and Baira hoped to keep it that way. So she resolved to keep quiet and stony faced. She wouldn’t give a reaction but the way Blue Maiden looked at her, she wanted something.

   Anything.

   She started to stall for words and gestures when Baira didn’t give her that satisfaction. Not knowing that it was for her own good that she didn’t get that bone.

   So she waited.

   And she waited.

  The only reply either of them got, actually, was to cease the search for today. It was apparent by now that it had been a false reading.

   But even after that. Blue Maiden was hopeful but that hope never paid off as Baira chewed her bottom lip in defiance and so, Blue Maiden never got the satisfaction of the beat, of Baira accepting her writ of challenge.

   That silence from before began to creep into the corners of the internal monologues of the other. Not even it privy to what either one of them was thinking. Though the assumption of guilt did fester, but that was Baira’s assumption, after all. Thus silence, in contrast to the vastness around them, enclosed in them. A silence that wasn’t comfortable nor was it palpable yet Blue Maiden returned to something closer to her bubbly Blue Angel persona once more.

   “So yeah, that’s my spiel.” Blue Maiden said. She kind of danced on the spot, it was hard for Baira to describe as she only watched from the corner of her eye, how Blue Maiden shifted her weight and stretched. It was rhythmic and purposeful if a little awkward, trying to wordlessly clear to the air after her vent. At the end of it, Blue Maiden flashed her a smile and added, “Thank you for listening.”

   “You're welcome.” Baira replied as emotionlessly as she could.

   She felt the same way.

   But she could never let Blue Maiden know. 

   That would cause an issue. Though, the way her heart seized with yearning that felt like thorns in flesh, it was already an issue.

   “That’s my shift done, I look forward to the continued support from the Hanoi now that we are no longer enemies.” Blue Maiden teased.

   “As do I.” Baira said. “Perhaps the initial intention of the Ignis can be salvaged after all.”

   “Perhaps.” Blue Maiden said.

   She didn’t say anything more. Clever girl. She truly had learned some humility and wisdom through her losses. Baira felt a waft of being impressed.

   “See you later, I’m logging out now.” Blue Maiden said.

   “Tata, sweetheart.” Baira couldn’t help herself but the pet name felt bittersweet in her mouth ever so inappropriate.

   Blue Maiden nodded and stepped forward. Her body hit the sunlight perfectly, sunlight bent around her and darkened her silhouette whilst blinding Baira to the actuality of her form. She became haloed, in a way, and part of the ever expanding landscape of the Link VRAINS’ azure and taro-coloured hinterlands.

   There was a flash of data - silver and blue - and she was gone, leaving Baira all alone with the sight of the beautiful, blue sky expanding out in front of her, all Baira could say to herself was…

   "Fuck me." Her voice was breathless as she contended with the turmoil.

   She was so screwed. Fuck her life, honestly, she deserved it. Another victim to destiny who doled out the have’s and have-not’s but she couldn’t not call it penance when her feelings were for an angel and one interested in avenging at that.

[leonbloder]

Reflecting The Light

The sun is out today, and the morning clouds have all been chased away, leaving behind the uninterrupted cerulean blue of a bright Spring sky.  

I just got back from a trip to Costco and to the H-E-B.  For the uninitiated, H-E-B is only the best grocery chain in TX or anywhere.  I have to say Publix in Florida is pretty close, but I digress.

Walking from my car to the stores, I noticed something interesting: people were smiling at one another more than usual.  

I soon found myself grinning back at everyone else, wondering if they were more captivated by my smile or that I was wearing a shirt that read, "Normal People Scare Me."

I decided my smile grabbed them first, and then my shirt made them want to hang out with me. It is the kind of shirt that makes friends, I must say. I wore it once in Las Vegas, and I made all kinds of friends.  

Come to think of it, most of the people who wanted to hang out with me in Vegas were either trying to get me to eat at one of several off-Strip buffets or to see a magic show in some obscure hotel.  

At any rate, there was lots of smiling in and out of the stores I visited today.  As I loaded my groceries into my Jeep, I thought about why everyone was in such a good mood, and I decided that it had everything to do with the sunshine and the perfect 72-degree temperature outside.  

While here in Central Texas, we don't have the kind of interminably grey winter skies that our friends Up North do, it has been a long, cold, greyish few months.

The light of Spring can change many things, though, and the mood of people doing their business on this fine day was definitely one of them.  In fact, the good mood was pretty darned infectious.  You couldn't help but smile in the midst of it.

In fact, I was reminded of this great quote that I read recently from one of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott:

The thing about light is that it really isn't yours; it's what you gather and shine back.  And it gets more power from reflectiveness; if you sit still and take it in, it fills your cup, and then you can give it off yourself.

The way that the light was reflected by all of the people I was encountering who were feeling its warmth and beauty was a reminder of how true it is that light gains in power from being reflected.  

In the same way, when we reflect the light of Christ to the world around us, that light has the power to change the way we interact with others and with all of Creation.  It changes us, softens us, and makes us more open to how the light of Christ still shines even when the world might seem grey and foreboding.  

So, reflect the light today and every day.  Let the world know you've been transformed by your encounter with Christ.  Let it fill you up, and then give it off in abundance.  

May it be so.  And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.  

[bluecapsicum]

Cold winter skies illustrations for my daily meteorological fiction project, Reports From Unknown Places About Undescribable Events (Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon).

Keep reading for captions.

December 24th - We report: once again, we find ourselves under a murmuration as we walk past a field. We can hear trills and whistles coming from this massive bird cloud waltzing in the winter sky. We think there might be a few hundred of them, all moving together. We stay there for a long time.

January 10th - We report: the sky so dark and low this way, and the horizon so far, the trees bare and tiny in the distance; we wonder whether there might be space enough between the sky and the earth for us to walk. As it is, our face is up in the sky and our feet are down in the frozen earth.

January 13th - We report about this time, late in the afternoon when the humidity starts to saturate the atmosphere. Even through the dense clouds, there are faint hints of sunset colours amidst the grey. Blackbirds and sparrows are getting busy while we wait for the rain.

January 18th - We report Jupiter and Saturn at nightfall today; we expect Venus to follow shortly after, although the sky might be overcast by then. It is still too bright for us to be able to see stars, but we know that the Aquarius constellation is right there, rising over the horizon.

January 21st - We report: a morning removed from the world, fog and frost making even time move sluggishly. Every blade of grass looks brittle, and we wonder if they would snap off immediately, should we touch them. We cannot locate the sun, though we know where it should be.

January 25th - We report: the frothing winter sea during high tides; any colder and it would freeze solid, it would seem. There is an icy blue in the waves that unrelentingly crash against the rocky shore. The day stretches under an opaque sky that remains the same throughout.

January 30th - We report that we lost a glove on this snowy path, and we tried to walk back in our earlier steps. It was easy at first, but the snow and the night kept falling steadily; the footsteps disappeared. When we finally came home, though, our expert told us that they had picked it up.

February 13th - We report a very rare and complex halo display: a 20° halo, a parhelic circle with parhelia, a sun pillar leading up to an upper tangent arc and a parry arc, a 46° halo, and a circumzenithal arc. Very complex indeed, many arcs for a single sun. It is absolutely freezing outside.

February 22nd - We report: in the car, on a parking lot, facing the ocean. The rain is hitting the windscreen hard, in waves. It is an old car; the wind shakes it and whistles through the small cracks where the doors do not close very well. We watch raindrops run down the windows at an angle.

March 14th - We report: it has not stopped being cold here. We walk in the footsteps of someone who was here earlier this morning. It has snowed a little bit again since, and some of the tracks have been filled in. We are following a line of pollarded trees that creak in the cool wind.

[secretsofblackthornhall]

Emma To Bruce

Dear Bruce,

I woke up this morning to find it was an improbably beautiful day with bright blue skies and those cute little white scudding clouds. “All right,” I thought. “There is no way I am spending this gorgeous day in wonderful London inside this falling-down house, scrubbing the floors and brooding about ghosts. The question: how to convince Julian that we should go out and have fun?”

I marched upstairs and found Julian drinking coffee in the kitchen. I said, “Jules. You know that thing you want me to do, that I’ve been refusing to do? If you come out and have a good time with me today in London, I’ll do it.”

A big grin spread over his face. He said, “OKAY!” In fact, he said it as he was already running out the door. I had to get him to come back for a jacket.

Bruce, we had an absolutely great time in London. We took a boat ride down the Thames. We went to a costume shop. We saw the Tower and went to Fortnum and Mason’s and had tea. Julian ate all my cucumber sandwiches because I hate them. We went on the London Eye, which is like a more spectacular version of the Ferris wheel on the Santa Monica Pier. Demons did not attack this time, and Julian booked a whole pod so that we could snuggle and cuddle.

In the middle of the snuggling and cuddling, Julian stopped and stared into my eyes with an intense look. I could tell he had something to ask me, and for a moment I thought—well, it doesn’t matter what I thought.

“Emma,” he said, “what would you think about moving to London with me?”

I said, “What do you mean? We’re already here.”

He explained that he was thinking, if we got Blackthorn Hall all fixed up, we could live in it until Dru or Ty or Tavvy (or all three of them) grow up and want to move there. He explained that Helen and Aline were doing a great job running the LA Institute and that they don’t really need us. Besides, they’re thinking of starting a family soon so maybe they don’t want so many people running around the Institute. I said, “But I thought you liked Los Angeles, and practically everyone we know is there.” He pointed out that that wasn’t totally true. In London, we’d be closer to Ty, and pretty much the same distance from the east coast, where Dru is, and of course Mark and Cristina are in New York half the time, too. I think he could tell that I wasn’t sure what to say, because he added, “It’s really about us having a home, one that we make together. Being grown up, and having a grown up kind of life.”

I joked around, saying we were still pretty young, and he said, “I know that most people who get together when they’re teenagers break up. They get older and they change. I just want us to go through the important things together, so we change together. Does that make sense?”

I told him it did though I was pretty freaked out he even mentioned BREAKING UP as a concept. So I kissed him, which distracted us both, and when our pod came to a stop on the ground everyone cheered and whistled. The English are more lustful than I had previously suspected.

I was exhausted by the time we got home and discovered that our ghost friend had been active in our absence. In the dust on the dining room floor were written the words

FIND THE DEVIL TAVERN

Now what on earth does that mean? Though honestly, we were both kind of pleased to see the message. At least it’s a clue so that we can begin to unravel the mystery of our ghost and his silver band.

PS Bruce, I know you’re dying to find out what it was that Julian wanted me to let him do that I have been refusing to do. Remember when I said we went to a costume shop? Well, apparently Dru made Julian watch The Hunger Games with her the last time we were home, and he really really wanted to paint me like this.

The things we do for love.

—Emma

[spidernerdsblog]

Hey Rai,

I watched Aashiqui 2 today and saw the standing under the jacket in rain scene. Could you possibly write something about doing the same with tom. Even if it's a paragraph. Pleaseee 💞💞

I never happened to watch the movie even though I'm still obsessed with the songs. Hope you like this.

Pairing : Tom Holland x Reader

London weather is quite unpredictable one moment it’s bright and sunny with clear blue skies and the next moment it’s all wet and raining. You and Tom had gone to the nearby park for a stroll when suddenly clouds gathered from nowhere as water drizzled down from the skies.

“Ah bollocks. Let’s go love before we get all soggy.” he grabs your hand to run and take cover from the sudden downpour but you pull him back. He turns to look at you with confusion.

“Kiss me?” you blurt out.

“What?” He says slightly taken aback with your very unusual request.

“I know it’s kinda cheesy but I always wanted to kiss in the rain.” you admit glancing down at your feet with a shy smile on your lips.

A bright smile spreads across his face as he steps closer to you. “Well what kind of boyfriend would I be if I can’t make this little wish of my girl come true?”

His hand reaches out to cup your face as he stares into your eyes with such love and adoration it makes your heart flutter. Slowly he closes in the gap pressing his lips softly on to yours. It’s slow, sweet and tender. His hands fall to your waist, pulling you impossibly close wrapping you with the warmth of his body like a blanket.

The rain picks up soaking your hair but you could care less as you close your eyes and get lost in this magical moment. Your hands slide up to wrap around his neck as your wet mouths slide against each other. His tongue seeks yours and you open up to him. A few moments pass as you kiss unable to get enough of each other and when you finally break apart you are completely drenched from head to toe as you press your foreheads against each other smiling with content.

“I love you.” he murmurs breathlessly.

“I love you too.” you say it back equally breathless.

Lacing your hands together you begin to walk out of the park silently, your mind still reeling with the heated kiss you had minutes ago it might be the best kiss of your life. It seems like a fever dream, a warmth settling in the pit of your stomach when you hear Tom say.

“So anything else you fancy to try, darling? Maybe in the bedroom perhaps.” he winks flashing you a cheeky grin.

“Oh I’ve lots of things in my mind.” you smirk mischievously.

..................................................................................

[nasa]

Amazing Earth: Satellite Images from 2020

In the vastness of the universe, the life-bringing beauty of our home planet shines bright. During this tumultuous year, our satellites captured some pockets of peace, while documenting data and striking visuals of unprecedented natural disasters. As 2020 comes to a close, we’re diving into some of the devastation, wonders, and anomalies this year had to offer. 

NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites and instruments on the International Space Station unravel the complexities of the blue marble from a cosmic vantage point. These robotic scientists orbit our globe constantly, monitoring and notating changes, providing crucial information to researchers here on the ground. 

Take a glance at 2020 through the lens of NASA satellites:

 A Delta Oasis in Southeastern Kazakhstan

Seen from space, the icy Ili River Delta contrasts sharply with the beige expansive deserts of southeastern Kazakhstan.

When the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired this natural-color image on March 7, 2020, the delta was just starting to shake off the chill of winter. While many of the delta’s lakes and ponds were still frozen, the ice on Lake Balkhash was breaking up, revealing swirls of sediment and the shallow, sandy bed of the western part of the lake.

The expansive delta and estuary is an oasis for life year round. Hundreds of plant and animal species call it home, including dozens that are threatened or endangered. 

Fires and Smoke Engulf Southeastern Australia

A record-setting and deadly fire season marred the beginning of the year in Australia. Residents of the southeastern part of the country told news media about daytime seeming to turn to night, as thick smoke filled the skies and intense fires drove people from their homes. 

This natural-color image of Southeastern Australia was acquired on January 4, 2020, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. The smoke has a tan color, while clouds are bright white. It is likely that some of the white patches above the smoke are pyrocumulonimbus clouds—clouds created by the convection and heat rising from a fire.

Nighttime Images Capture Change in China

A team of scientists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and Universities Space Research Association (USRA) detected signs of the shutdown of business and transportation around Hubei province in central China. As reported by the U.S. State Department, Chinese authorities suspended air, road, and rail travel in the area and placed restrictions on other activities in late January 2020 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the region.

A research team analyzed images of Earth at night to decipher patterns of energy use, transportation, migration, and other economic and social activities. Data for the images were acquired with the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA–NASA Suomi NPP satellite (launched in 2011) and processed by GSFC and USRA scientists. VIIRS has a low-light sensor—the day/night band—that measures light emissions and reflections. This capability has made it possible to distinguish the intensity, types, and sources of lights and to observe how they change.

The Parched Paraná River

Though a seemingly serene oasis from above, there is more to this scene than meets the eye. On July 3, 2020, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured this false-color image of the river near Rosario, a key port city in Argentina. The combination of shortwave infrared and visible light makes it easier to distinguish between land and water. A prolonged period of unusually warm weather and drought in southern Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina dropped the Paraná River to its lowest water levels in decades. The parched river basin has hampered shipping and contributed to an increase in fire activity in the delta and floodplain.

The drought has affected the region since early 2020, and low water levels have grounded several ships, and many vessels have had to reduce their cargo in order to navigate the river. With Rosario serving as the distribution hub for much of Argentina’s soy and other farm exports, low water levels have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for the grain sector, according to news reports.

Historic Fires Devastate the U.S. Pacific Coast

Climate and fire scientists have long anticipated that fires in the U.S. West would grow larger, more intense, and more dangerous. But even the most experienced among them have been at a loss for words in describing the scope and intensity of the fires burning in West Coast states during September 2020.

Lightning initially triggered many of the fires, but it was unusual and extreme meteorological conditions that turned some of them into the worst conflagrations in the region in decades. 

Throughout the outbreak, sensors like the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) on the NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite collected daily images showing expansive, thick plumes of aerosol particles blowing throughout the U.S. West on a scale that satellites and scientists rarely see. 

This image shows North America on September 9th, 2020, as a frontal boundary moved into the Great Basin and produced very high downslope winds along the mountains of Washington, Oregon, and California. The winds whipped up the fires, while a pyrocumulus cloud from the Bear fire in California injected smoke high into the atmosphere. The sum of these events was an extremely thick blanket of smoke along the West Coast.

The Sandy Great Bahama Bank

Though the bright blues of island waters are appreciated by many from a sea-level view, their true beauty is revealed when photographed from space. The underwater masterpiece photographed above is composed of sand dunes off the coast of the Bahamas. 

The Great Bahama Bank was dry land during past ice ages, but it slowly submerged as sea levels rose. Today, the bank is covered by water, though it can be as shallow as two meters (seven feet) deep in places. The wave-shaped ripples in the image are sand on the seafloor. The curves follow the slopes of the dunes, which were likely shaped by a fairly strong current near the sea bottom. Sand and seagrass are present in different quantities and depths, giving the image it’s striking range of blues and greens.

This image was captured on February 15th, 2020, by Landsat 8, whose predecessor, Landsat 7, was the first land-use satellite to take images over coastal waters and the open ocean. Today, many satellites and research programs map and monitor coral reef systems, and marine scientists have a consistent way to observe where the reefs are and how they are faring. 

Painting Pennsylvania Hills

Along with the plentiful harvest of crops in North America, one of the gifts of Autumn is the gorgeous palette of colors created by the chemical transition and fall of leaves from deciduous trees. 

The folded mountains of central Pennsylvania were past peak leaf-peeping season but still colorful when the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite passed over on November 9, 2020. The natural-color image above shows the hilly region around State College, Pennsylvania overlaid on a digital elevation model to highlight the topography of the area.

The region of rolling hills and valleys is part of a geologic formation known as the Valley and Ridge Province that stretches from New York to Alabama. These prominent folds of rock were mostly raised up during several plate tectonic collisions and mountain-building episodes in the Ordovician Period and later in the creation of Pangea—when what is now North America was connected with Africa in a supercontinent. Those events created the long chain of the Appalachians, one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. 

A Dangerous Storm in the Night

Ominous and looming, a powerful storm hovered off the US coastline illuminated against the dark night hues. 

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on NOAA-20 acquired this image of Hurricane Laura at 2:20 a.m. Central Daylight Time on August 26, 2020. Clouds are shown in infrared using brightness temperature data, which is useful for distinguishing cooler cloud structures from the warmer surface below. That data is overlaid on composite imagery of city lights from NASA’s Black Marble dataset.

Hurricane Laura was among the ten strongest hurricanes to ever make landfall in the United States. Forecasters had warned of a potentially devastating storm surge up to 20 feet along the coast, and the channel might have funneled that water far inland. It did not. The outcome was also a testament to strong forecasting and communication by the National Hurricane Center and local emergency management authorities in preparing the public for the hazards.

A Windbreak Grid in Hokkaido

From above, the Konsen Plateau in eastern Hokkaido offers a remarkable sight: a massive grid that spreads across the rural landscape like a checkerboard, visible even under a blanket of snow. Photographed by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, this man-made design is not only aesthetically pleasing, it’s also an agricultural insulator. 

The strips are forested windbreaks—180-meter (590-foot) wide rows of coniferous trees that help shelter grasslands and animals from Hokkaido’s sometimes harsh weather. In addition to blocking winds and blowing snow during frigid, foggy winters, they help prevent winds from scattering soil and manure during the warmer months in this major dairy farming region of Japan. 

Shadows from a Solar Eclipse

Formidable, rare, and awe-inspiring — the first and only total solar eclipse of 2020 occurred on December 14, with the path of totality stretching from the equatorial Pacific to the South Atlantic and passing through southern Argentina and Chile as shown in the lower half of the image above. The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) on Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 16 (GOES-16) captured these images of the Moon’s shadow crossing the face of Earth. 

The “path of totality” (umbral path) for the eclipse was roughly 90 kilometers (60 miles) wide and passed across South America from Saavedra, Chile, to Salina del Eje, Argentina. While a total eclipse of the Sun occurs roughly every 18 months, seeing one from any particular location on Earth is rare. On average, a solar eclipse passes over the same parcel of land roughly every 375 years. The next total solar eclipse will occur on December 4, 2021 over Antarctica, and its next appearance over North America is projected for April 8, 2024.

For additional information and a look at more images like these visit NASA’s Earth Observatory.  

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

[sukirichi]

Hi BUB CONGRATS ON 500! 💗 it’s okay if you don’t accept but ingredient 55 reincarnation au + sugar 7 forbidden relationship (or unrequited love?) for Sukuna 🥺 I basically just want a part 2 of Home from War 😫 A snack (drabble) is fine I’ll pick up any crumbs you leave me 🤧 Maybe Sukuna’s thought process after he finds out reader was telling the truth but it was too late, or his thought process when he sees her for the first time and she’s getting closer with Megumi. Oooorrr what happens after the ending of Home from War. If you don’t do continuations that’s alright thank you!

CHOU BUB THANKS SO MUCH 🥺💗💗 and here it is, the ending of home from war, the part two people have been asking for! it’s pretty angsty tho and i may or may not have been hurt while writing this, but i hope you like it anyway!

home from war: the ending | part one

how do you comfort your lover when he cannot find his way home back from the war?

meal order: 55 (reincarnation au) + 7 (forbidden relationship) no longer included + unrequited love + home from war inspired read here: home from war: the ending

song i listened to while writing: lay me down by sam smith (yes i was looking for PAIN)

warnings: murder, character death, angst, regrets, overall a big sad, unedited as always

The sky mourned your death; dark clouds forming overhead as Sukuna watched his servants pile dirt over your body. Your lifeless eyes stared back into nothingness, the gaping hole in your chest prominent. As his last bit of respect for his fallen comrade, he’d ordered his servants to dress you in the finest white robes to replace your bloodstained clothes.

His lover stood beside him; small hands clutched around his bicep while she weeped.

He couldn’t understand why she cried, why she grieved your death. Did his lover not care that this female curse had tried to kill her and their baby just moments ago, cruel and heartless as she was?

Of course she didn’t. His lover was kind, and he didn’t stop her as the feeble human fell down to her knees, fists bundled up around her robes until your body was completely buried underneath the underneath.

They stayed there for what seemed like an eternity until his lover had grown completely tired, body dehydrated from all the crying. She couldn’t cry anymore and her clothes were stained with dirt. Sukuna sighed, his gaze pointed away from the single lily flower that laid above your corpse, reaching over to his lover to pull her arm.

“My love,” he called out, “Come on. Let’s go home. It’s getting dark.”

“No, you don’t get it,” his lover pushed him away, eyes blurred with tears and lips terribly chapped. “She was your friend, Sukuna, you couldn’t kill her just like that!”

“You’re the one who doesn’t get it. She tried to kill you and our baby!”

“Because the child is a monster!” his lover screamed back, pounding her small fists on his chest. It barely grazed him from his looming size, but something about the desperation in his lover’s voice had the words hitting straight through his heart, her gaze piercing. “Because it’s your child and you’re a monster – she was kind to you, she loved you and fought with you, you shouldn’t have killed—”

Sukuna’s arms withdrew his sword before he could realize what he was doing. The sounds of gurgling brought him back to reality, the curse stepping backward as his lover fell down on both knees, hands wrapped around her neck.

Blood dripped from the clean slice he’d made. She choked on her own blood, the liquid black and cursed – you were right. His lover did carry the curse of Death.

Sukuna stood frozen in his spot as his lover fell limp on the ground, the tips of her fingers pointed in your burial’s direction. The dark liquid oozed and poured out of her fragile body, the blood seeping into the ground until the lily turned black.

They all died. The Curse of Death had been exorcised before it fully formed, and he watched as the flower withered, crumpling down itself before the petals fell.

“Hey, Sukuna.”

“Hmm?” he looked up from cleaning his blade, scarlet eyes narrowed at the way you bounced from the corner. It was unusual for you to be this bubbly; not that he minded, though he’d never admit it out loud. Seeing you smile only happened once in a blue moon, thus catching the King of Curses off guard when your entire face lit up, eyes crinkled into half-moons at your enthusiasm.

Your laughter painted the walls of his dark, lonely temple a thousand colours. He barely got to move, much less respond, before you placed a flower crown on his head.

“Don’t you look charming.”

“Tch,” he held back a growl, the tips of his ears flushing red because how dare you defile him like this. The only reason he hadn’t killed you right there and then was because you were the so-called Queen of Curses, adorning your own handmade flower crown, only yours were a lot more colourful and his full of plain blue ones. It was his way of accepting you as his equal, though this didn’t dissipate the irritation that bloomed in his chest. “Get this vile thing off me.”

“It’s a crown I made for us, though,” you pouted, and you looked so terrifyingly adorable for a malicious and bloodthirsty Curse that even Sukuna was stunned. “See, we even match. It’s going to wither soon so let’s just enjoy it for now – while it’s still fresh and living.”

“Death means nothing to us,” he reminded you, “We don’t really die. We were never really living in the first place. Even if our bodies did decompose or wither, we’d still manifest into something else sooner or later.”

You smiled at his words, your cheek turned to him while you looked up at the bright sky. Just like your smiles and laughter, being able to see a clear sky with the blueness calming you both down was rare up far here from your temple. Due to both of your cursed presences looming over the mountain, the skies were always dark, terrifying, and cold.

But not today – not when you were basking in this thing you called “life” and Sukuna’s heart began to beat for the first time in a thousand years.

“I know it’s stupid of me to even think this is a life when I was never really alive in the first place,” you faced him again, the smile never leaving your lips. In that moment, the sun shone down on you, the colour of the flowers like a wonderful spectrum of nature’s wonder reflected back in your eyes. “But it changed when I met you. You’re right that we’re not really living, but you gave me a second chance at life, so I’ll be loyal to you. I’ll be by your side no matter what. Until I theoretically die, I choose to ‘live this life’ with you, Sukuna. I’ll always be here.”

Sukuna blinked back wordlessly, the grip on his sword faltering. He was at a loss of words, unable to process the meaning behind your words.

Understanding him better than anyone, sometimes even better than himself, you chuckled as you stood up, patting his shoulder in the process. “No need to say anything else, King. Those are just my thoughts. But I hope that if I don’t get to be with you in this life anymore, then let’s meet in the next.”

You sounded so sure back then that Sukuna had unknowingly kept your words in his heart as a vow, blindly searching for your soul – anything to have you back by his side again – because there were still some things he needed to say, some things he had to do, and all he ever wanted was to tell you that he understood your words now.

He too, found the meaning of life with you, although he realized it too late, and the realization drowned him when you were no longer there for him.

But he’ll find you – he’ll always find you.

After all, was it not your promise? Was it not your wish to meet him in the next life? When the war is over and the skies have cleared, when he could hear the steady stream of the river and the sounds of birds chirping along with your golden laughter that brightened up the darkness of his soul and his temple – would you still be able to comfort him once he’d come home from war?