#he is challenging all my natural drawing abilities of soft round things

[kelkilou]

Okay no seriously send help

[dingoat]

Relationship Asks for Ahuska and Five: 2, 4, 7, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29.

OH BOY OH BOY *cracks knuckles* time for another round of BEST GIRL VS WORST BOY.

Obviously this one needs a ‘read more’ (or ‘stick it behind a cut’ as my old school livejournal brain still thinks of it) because it’s gonna be a looonnnng one ahahaha. Some of these I’ve answered already but I’m just gonna copy-paste the responses here to keep it all together, especially since I’m gonna go through question by question for the sake of fun comparisons/contrasts rather than character by character!

2.  ♥  When they have a crush on someone, how do they let them know?

Ahuska finds ways to be around them as much as possible and offers rapt attention to everything they say and do, showing interest in every part of their life, even the things she’d never given a second thought for beforehand. She’ll initiate physical contact, often in that ‘accidental’ sort of way- a hand touch that lingers, sliding down a bench a little ‘too far’ and winding up pressed together at the hips, feet bumping under a table, but sometimes more overt things like snuggling down and resting her head in a lap while staying up late watching holos might happen...

Five does not crush, he’s not twelve years old. When he has an interest in someone he may spend a period of time testing for compatability, pushing and pressing for reactions, and if he finds himself still interested (but for whatever reason nothing has naturally escalated in the meanwhile), he will quite simply and overtly request private company.

4. ♥ Do they spend a lot of time in the courting stage or attempt to get to first base as fast as possible?

Ahuska likes the thought of a long courtship, being wooed and pursued, teasing and flirting and yearning... but though she doesn’t actively try to rush her way to ‘first base’, precedent definitely suggests that once the option is there, no matter the time frame, she doesn’t really hesitate.

Five considers ‘first base’ (if you must phrase it in such a juvenile fashion) to be a starting point.

7.  ♥ How do they feel about polygamy?

Ahuska’s intial gut reaction, when asked, is that it’s vastly preferable to having an affair! She thinks it’s a perfectly acceptable style of relationship, but it’s not something she’s ever related to herself- the thought that she might ever find herself loving and desiring more than one someone so deeply as to want them in her life to the same degree seems so beyond the realms of possibility that it’s just never crossed her mind. (Yet.)

However; she is incredibly committed and loyal in her relationships, and if she did find herself in such a place, she wouldn’t be able to handle sneaking behind backs or lies or secrecy; the guilt and misery and betrayal of trust would be the end of her. She would have to either leave one forever unrecognised/unsatisfied, or give polygamy some long and serious thought and very open discussion.

Five doesn’t really care what other people do, but it’s irrelevant to him because it suggests any kind of committed relationship at all. He simply sees who he wants, when he wants, and if anyone gets jealous of anyone else then that sounds like a them problem.

16. ♥ Do they have at least one bonding activity they devote to doing with their partner exclusively?

Aside from the obvious, I’m not sure Ahuska makes a point of keeping any particular activity exclusive? Sweet, potentially romantic activities like stargazing and long moonlit walks might naturally happen far more with the love of her life, but I don’t think she’d ever turn down the chance to do so with a close friend either (there’d just be less... hand-holding and cheek snuggles).

One might have thought that Five had a whole host of bonding activities exclusive to a single particular person... but what with that being more of a Watcher-Cipher thing, rather than a partners thing, that ‘exclusivity’ no longer exactly completely applies, whoops. (Granted, the new Cipher is not likely to ever experience the push-off-a-building trust exercise.) That said, it’s very likely that Thirteen is actually the only person who gets to experience Five in the context of completely casual, physical, and dare I say... affectionate company.

17. ♥ What sort of characteristics or quirks draw them to someone?

Ahuska needs to see the capacity for kindness, even if it’s wrapped in a crude, brash or sharp-edged package- or maybe especially so, because she is a little bit hopeless for a show of snark, cheek, and sharp wit (provided it’s not at her expense) and someone not afraid to draw blood to protect what they care about. She loves unexpected talents like dance or musical ability being sprung on her out of the blue, and she’s weak for demonstrations of confident competence.

Five is drawn to someone who can give and take as well as he can. Intelligence, attractiveness, skill. Wit and snark quite specifically at his expense so he has the opportunity to fight back; he wants to be challenged, but not beaten. His heart thunders for someone more physically capable than himself who he can, nonetheless, bring to their knees.

18. ♥ Do they have a ‘type’?

I thought Ahuska had a type, but I seem to have discovered that her heart is not quite so specific and compatability can come in more than one shape and size. She has a lot of love to give and can find it in very unexpected places.

Five definitely goes for people who demonstrate one very specific physical characteristic.

19. ♥ What was their first impression about their partner/person they are courting?

When Ahuska first saw Crow, she was struck with the fact that he didn’t carry himself with the alpha-dog machismo she’d come to expect from fellow Mandalorians of his particular demographic. And when he turned his grin her way, he very very firmly snared her attention.

When Ahuska first met Blakk, she simply thought he was a delightful, feisty, dear little fox, and was absolutely besotted with him, if not in the way that she eventually became (after the wildest possible ride of misunderstandings and twisted events and broken trust and reforged faith).

Five, I think, would have made a very swift and completely superficial assessment, found it very pleasing (provided there was no fashion disaster occurring at the time), and opened himself up to learning more. It wouldn’t have taken long to be drawn into that personality, either.

21. ♥ What was the most romantic time they had with their partner?

Ahuska’s most romantic time with Crow would almost definitely be their space-walk through the ice fields of Saleucami, followed by some slightly less life-threatening zero gravity playtime within the safety of their ship’s cargo hold. They’ve had a lot of terribly sweet moments but I’m not sure that any compare to that honeymoon trip.

With Blakk, Ahuska has experienced a number of wonderfully romantic moments... in their shared dreams. It can be hard to compete with a world where auroras and starlight of your own creation dance to the beat of your hearts as you discover just how real you are to one another, but in many ways that last morning they spent together in person before parting, before anything between them was properly admitted or understood, waking to the warmth of the sun and sharing a long breakfast together full of soft yearning and denial of the inevitable separation to come ranks very high on the heart aching romance scale.

Five understands ‘textbook romance’ perfectly well and has probably walked through all the steps with great success a number of times when seducing marks back in his Cipher days. But when it comes to his own actual desires….. it really is hard to apply the word ‘romantic’. Granted, he does enjoy the finer things in life and takes great pride in being a very good cook, and a certain someone knows exactly how to push his buttons to get most exactly what he wants out of him when he feels like it. So there probably have been some almost ‘nice’ evenings of home cooked meals and fine wine and bath oils, at least to begin with….?

22. ♥ Tell us about a sacrifice they made for their significant other.

Ahuska gave up Clan life, the chance to rise through the ranks and be the Mandalorian she never thought she could, and a lot of her innocence, to be with and stay with Crow.

For Blakk, Ahuska broke off her current romance, turned her back on her safety net, and basically gave up everything she had... just for the hope that they might find away to actually be together.

Five gave up a significant measure of control on two distinct occassions, both of which were considerably big deals for him.

23. ♥ Do they apologize to their partner even if it wasn’t their fault?

Ahuska will readily and even pre-emptively take on the blame for almost anything. If something is genuinely her fault, she will apologise profusely and genuinely, probably through tears, and feel bad about it long after forgiveness has been given. She will offer apologies even when not directly at fault if she thinks it will help to calm down or diffuse a situation.

Five, though, doesn’t do the ‘accepting blame’ thing and certainly won’t shoulder somebody else’s. The one occassion where he has accepted responsibility, he’s never actually said the word sorry aloud, and he’s not even come clean about the real circumstances. But his guilt over the matter is expressed still to this day, through actions and gifts that are never actually directly linked to the event in question.

27. ♥ Have they had dreams about their partner/the person they are courting?

Ahuska most certainly has; dreams are a significant part of every reality she experiences, and often a way that binds them together, so naturally the significant people in her life feature prominently. She’s leery of anything that has a sense of being prophetic, but does believe she’s witnessed possible futures in her dreams and the ones that suggest a long and full life with Crow are her favourites.

Through her Force-bond with Blakk, she’s been able to actually share dreams with him, which have been very profound experiences... but at the moment her dreams are only dreams, and any real senses she gets of him vanish the moment she tries to focus enough to actually reach him. It hurts.

Five dreams as anyone does, and there’s no doubt Thirteen would feature in them regularly. Nothing magical, nothing profound or prophetic, just good old fashioned disjointed images that the brain strings together in a loose approximation of a plot. What’s most disconcerting is if he makes any sort of appearance in his recurring nightmares.

28. ♥ Do they understand their partners/person they are courting’s feelings without them having to say anything?

Ahuska becomes very attuned to the people she cares most about; she’s naturally a very sensitive person who wants to understand her partners’ feelings, and her desire to understand and do the best for the people she loves is only ever enhanced by her connection to the Force. She’s connected to Crow through all their years and shared experiences together, and being tuned into the beat of his heart definitely helps her know his feelings despite what he might show on the outside. With Blakk she has the benefit of being literally bonded through the Force but... well. Hopefully they wind up back in a position where understanding one anothers’ feelings is a legitimate thing they can do. ;_;

Five is quite astute, if not completely fool-proof, and when he puts the effort in can do quite a servicable job of knowing where someone’s feelings are at- manipulation is one of the tools of his trade, after all. Just how much he actually cares to do so is a different story, but, well... stranger things have certainly happened. He might try to claim that Thirteen is an open book to him, but that might just be what Thirteen wants him to think.

29. ♥ How do they express their love to their partner?

Ahuska gives freely and openly, her time, her energy, her patience, her body and soul. She will share anything and everything, she will take risks for her partner and forsake all the rest of the galaxy for them. She will find little tokens to gift them; she will feature them amongst her sketches regularly, she will listen to them and back them up and walk beside them on the most foolardy of pursuits. She will find what matters to them, she will discover what they react and respond to best, and she will make it so. Ahuska doesn’t know how to love in any way other than giving it her all.

Five would never use so soft and loaded a term as ‘love’. That is for a completely different caliber of people, people he cares little for. Allowing someone into his apartment, into his personal space, is a reasonable demonstration fo trust. Giving someone his time outside of and completely unrelated to work is a monumental demonstration of fondness. A willingness to touch and be touched outside of immediate bedroom activities is a grand display of affection. Offering financial assistance/security is an unspoken indication that someone matters to him. Lump it all together and he’d still sooner shoot himself in the foot than admit aloud that he cares.

[biorusted]

Relax, Ego

Shout out to @astarisms for literally being the best person (and editor) ever-- thank you so much <3 <3 <3

Major Characters- Sheila, Lucifer, Ipos  (w/ slight Sheipos) Word count- 5273 

Summary- Sheila is the best archer in heaven, Lucifer notices and wants to be her apprentice. 

She was always the last one to leave the training room, not because she was slow or enjoyed the solitude or the way her footsteps faintly echoed in between the equipment, but because she had little time to waste maneuvering around crowded bodies. Some of her peers thought that was why she was as good as she was, that’s why Uriel himself allowed her to fight alongside him, why she could stand alongside the Archangels at all; because of all the time she dedicated to the Holy Army, her few extra minutes in the training room. Sheila thought it was hilarious; sure, she could get an extra round in--another go at the course-- but extra training time didn't make her the claimed ‘Best Archer in Heaven.’  

Sheila set her bow on a bench and started to remove her chest guard. Without a thought, she started to hum a song that had been stuck in her head all day. Her voice seemed to sink comfortably into dark corners of the room.

She jolted when a large object landed on the bench beside her, she was about to tell off her teammates when she looked up to see...

The Morning Star...

Sheila gasped and quickly bowed, completely at a loss for words. There was a moment of eerie silence before he spoke.

"Relax, there's no need for that." He waved his hand in dismissal before continuing, "You're Sheila, correct?"

Sheila rose and nodded, "I am."

"Good," He tilted his head to the side slightly, "I've heard a lot about you. When I visited with Jophiel he told me that you were the best archer in heaven and we watched you run through the course a few times. I must agree with him, I've never seen anyone move like you, with such accuracy and power.” He started to walk around, she felt like she was being examined; hunted.

Sheila bowed her head, "Your words are too kind-"

"I'm not done." He spoke firmly, matter-of-factly. However, he didn't rush to continue, instead he wandered around the equipment, looking at the rows of golden bows and armor before spinning around. "I want you to teach me archery."

Taken aback, she frowned. "Excuse me, Exalted? T- Teach you?"

Lucifer nodded and walked back to the bench. "That is what I said, yes." His gold eyes locked with her blue and he held her gaze as he picked up the object he must have dropped before.

Sheila never had the opportunity to see an Archangel's weapon up close, much less a Throne’s, much less a Seraph's, but in the Morning Star's hands was a beautiful bow, golden and bright. Around the limbs the likes of a snake coiled around and at the tips the Seraph's crest held the string in place. The bow barely looked touched, but the gold seemed warm and powerful. It was stunning to say the least.

The voice of the Morning Star snapped her back into reality.

"None of the Archangels or Thrones specialize in archery, so I'm asking you: teach me."

She stared at him, she was just a little taller than him, yet she was the one that felt leagues smaller. She shook her head. "I've never had an apprentice."

"I'm aware."

"I don’t have time."

"I spoke with Uriel, your training time will be moved to be spent with me, should you accept."

"I... I've never taught anyone. I can't teach you the same way as the Princes Michael or Gabriel, I don’t fight like them."

His eyes seem to come alight, the corners of his mouth rose. He was... enjoying this. "Sheila, I've been trained by the Archangels all my life, none of them fight the same, or teach the same. They work well together because each of them knows each other's fighting style, when one will be exposed, when one will throw something, when Uriel will explode." He smirked, "That’s how they work. They've got each other figured out and thus they've got me figured out."  He paused and looked down at his bow. "I don’t want to rely on my siblings’ fighting ability, I want to provide them with a challenge- I want to better themselves and me. I want to stand on my own." He looked back up at her like he momentarily forgot she was there. "Anyway... it isn't about ability, it's about will. So, will you teach me?"

She went quiet. Not that there was much to think about; when God's favored son asks something of you it must be done... but it was fun making him wait. She released her pink hair from her bun and sighed.

"It'll be difficult."

Lucifer laughed, his voice surprisingly joyous. "Making sure Jophiel is on time is difficult, I can handle this."

"I won't go easy on you."

Lucifer nodded once. "Good." Then, "I knew you had an ego."

"What?"

"An ego... thinking that you'll continue being the best archer in Heaven." He waved and started walking away, having gotten what he wanted.

"We will see," Sheila whispered as he turned the corner and left.

 __**--_--**__

 "How long do we have?"

"Until Gabriel comes to get me."

Sheila nodded and wordlessly started to fit the Morning Star with a chest guard and gloves. He passively moved when she tapped him or spun him around.

"You need to move the knot to the back." She said, indicating the gold sash around his waist, then turned her back to gather her bow and the necessary training equipment. She had her back turned too long it seemed, because Lucifer called her name, rather sharply.

"Yes, Exultant?" She turned.

There was a moment's pause before he rolled his eyes, "My name is Lucifer. Use it or don’t."

"Uh... alright." She walked back with the equipment.

"I can guarantee you none of us, that is, the Archangels and me, like to be called 'Princes' or whatever. Only members of the upper council prefer for others to use their titles."

Sheila thought about this for a moment as she gave him a practice bow. "That doesn't seem to stop you from calling the court members out by name."

"Naturally, I outrank them. By a lot," Lucifer said without missing a beat.

Sheila laughed briefly. "Now who's the one with the ego?"

"Whatever, tell me what to do."

Sheila had set up basic targets on the ground for Lucifer to practice aiming with. Scattered like bread crumbs, small blocks led up to an actual target against the far wall of the training room and stemmed from a marked box on the ground. She wanted to start easy on the first day, some basic accuracy practice should be fine and, depending on the Morning Star, she might be set for a few more sessions.

She pulled Lucifer to the painted box. "We'll start off with the basics."

"A good place to start. Ow!" Sheila pinched his arm.

"No more talking, Ego." Lucifer nodded. "You need a firm base, stand like this- no don’t bend your legs— keep your back straight and look at the target. You're going to be pulling a taut string parallel to your body, what good would it do if you messed up the draw?"

Lucifer listened quietly to everything she said, taking mental notes when she pointed out something important or corrected her own information.

"Now, pretend like you have a bow in your hand. Hold it up, hold it steady." She stood almost flush against his body, arm out with his, her words soft. Guiding him, she brought their hands up and slowly pulled back on an imaginary string, they were almost cheek to cheek as they stared intently on the far-off target. "Imagine the weight of the bow in your hand, and the arrow in the other, look at your target, and when you feel the time is right... let the arrow fly." She stood for a moment and released her arrow from his imaginary bow and relaxed. He, on the other hand, held still for a few moments, memorizing exactly what it felt like, before letting his go and dropping his hands.

"You love archery, don’t you?" Lucifer looked up at her.

"I do. It’s more than ‘pull the string, hit the target.’ It’s power and confidence as well as constant and relaxing."  She smiled and grabbed his temporary bow. "It's... something I think I was made to do."

Lucifer nodded as if he understood, but still was missing a piece. “I can see it in your eyes, exactly what you said; power, confidence, constant, relaxing.”

Sheila didn’t know how to respond to this, so she handed the bow to him and let him feel the weight.

“I imagine it’s lighter than your bow, but it’s where we will start. Do the same thing again.”

He did, step by step. He looked like an archer, gaze steady, body like a statue… only… “Here,” Sheila moved around to his back. “Relax, your shoulders look so tense.” She touched his back and with her light touch, his shoulders slowly lowered. There, now he looked like an archer.

“Ok, think about the arrow in between your fingers.”

“There’s not- ow. Ok.” Lucifer sighed and summoned an arrow with relative ease, it was her style of arrow.

“Hm. Nice choice.” He ignored her. “… Whenever you’re ready, aim for the target.”

He silently went through the checklist again, making sure to relax his shoulders. Just when she thought he was going to let go, she put her hands on him again and leaned down.

“Why are you doing this?” She spoke under her breath.

“I want to stand on my own.” He let go of the arrow.

And missed.

---

They spent the rest of the time going through drawbacks and aiming for the targets at close range. By the time Gabriel popped in, hundreds of broken arrows littered the ground-- only a few sticking into targets.

“It’s harder than it looks, Gabriel.” Was all he said as he cleaned up his mess. Afterwards Sheila was left alone to replace equipment and practice on her own.

----

A few sessions past and he still was only able to hit the targets on the ground, however, the Princes Michael, Gabriel and Uriel were determined to watch their baby brother train. He tried to ignore them and practice as normal, but their voices echoed around the usually quiet arena, disrupting their usual environment. Sheila could understand his uneasiness.

So far, he had been lucky to hit a target each time, but he was taking his time and, when he talked to his brothers the cycle had to start anew. Sheila tried her best not to look too annoyed… but eventually she slid her way in between the Princes and her apprentice which inspired the onlookers to sit and wait by the sidelines.

“Nice one, Ego.” he rolled his eyes.

“You’re welcome. Now-”

“I know- rela- ow. Would you stop pinching me?”

“Not until you show them what you got, Ego.” Sheila pinched him again. Lucifer sighed and readied his bow again, aiming for the next ground target. “No, aim for the actual target this time.”

He glanced over to her uncertain, and then corrected his aim.

He looked as if he was going to hold that pose forever just like the statues that lined the hallways of Heaven. Watching this for the thousandth time that day, Sheila finally understood why she felt so aggravated; he was acting different. The way he looked so stoic. The way he had barely spoken a word to her, and even then, it was not the usual banter they engaged in. Sheila spoke up again.

“Why are you doing this?” She asked.

“I told you- ow!”

“Seriously now… why are you doing this-- you’re not a natural at this like I am, you’re not that good in general. Your brothers adore you and frankly you have nothing to prove. So why are you doing this. Why subjugate yourself to this trial? It looks like it's actually hurting you.”

Sheila wondered if one of the Princes was going to scold her for talking to the Morning Star this way, for, the room grew quiet.  Lucifer lowered his bow and head as he thought. Then he looked straight up at her, his gold eyes seemed to gleam in tandem to the bow he held. He smiled.

“Cus you're right, it's power, and sustainability it's- it's..." He sighed. "I like it.”

She turned away from him, flipping the loose strains of hair over her shoulder. “Then act like it, Ego.”

He rolled his eyes and raised his bow again, aiming straight for the target. His eyes gleamed still, and a smile creeped out when he let go of his arrow. It flew from his fingers and hit the target.

---

The arrow flew and split the other arrow, already on the bull’s eyes, down the middle. He continued to run through the course a second and third time, going faster, moving in new ways, showing off.

Sheila had been training him for a long while, he would have been with her daily if he didn’t have other work or a new sister to show around. Unsurprisingly, he excelled exponentially, moving from stationary targets, to moving, to where they were both moving, to the course with almost no difficulty. After the first public viewing for his brothers, more and more people began to stop by and watch the great Seraph train. They all thought he was a natural and that the complex and dancer like quality of his moves were instinct. Sometimes they were, as Sheila found out. Training with his brothers and sister gave him an edge and, no one could challenge Lucifer's natural strength and speed.

It went unspoken; the passing of the torch.  Many people still considered Sheila the best archer, completely separating Lucifer and her—not that she could blame them, technically they were leagues apart—but Sheila knew the truth as soon as she saw his face when he hit his first bull's eye; he would never stop. Sheila knew it as he picked up his own bow, golden and encompassed by the body of a snake, in all its glory, Sheila knew as soon as he drew the string back to shoot for the first time with his Father's bow. She could never match his passion. She was okay with that.

Lucifer did a back flip and fired one last arrow at the target across the training arena, hitting it with superb accuracy, then landing on his feet right next to his coach.

As the crowd shouted their approval, the two stood in silence, then, she scoffed.

"Ego." She said and punched his shoulder.

 __**--_--**__

 The hospital was not a place Lucifer liked to frequent, but still found himself around anyway. The place smelled unnatural and the medic angels felt no need to announce their arrival room to room. Still, it was a part of his 'civic duty' and, he did enjoy talking with Raphael and his personal assistants. Sometimes.

He found himself doing some of Gabriel's tasks—delivering assignments, summons, etc. to the patients or the head medic himself—just because he was there so often and might as well help Gabriel whenever possible. Out of all the messages he had to deliver, he hated delivering to Uriel's troops the most; they always said the same thing.

"I regret to inform you, but your position in the army has been revoked until further notice. All previous activities will be halted, and all equipment must be returned. You have served the Holy Army of Heaven with the utmost grace and zeal, we thank you... Sheila, 4th captain of Uriel's squadron, personal Tutor to the Morning Star." Lucifer sighed. The formatted note never included the person's rank or any extra information so every time he added it on to help the message sound less formulaic. Less like it wasn't the most common sentence to give an angel.

Raphael shifted some papers on the other side of the small hospital room, this wasn't the first time he had heard this exact message, nor would it be the last time. But it didn't prepare him for the volatile reactions the patients had.

Lucifer knew how much his brother disliked this awfully casual exchange. "Raphael, will you give me a moment with the patient?"

"Oh uh... of course," the relief was visible in his face, "I'll be a few rooms down if you need me." He nodded and passed by Lucifer.

Sheila, who was silent though this whole exchange, finally unclenched her jaw. "I'm surprised you didn't come earlier." She was laying down on the bed with her hair uncharacteristically loose by her shoulders, a part of the pink burned black. Thick layers of brown and red bandages were wrapped around her head, but they didn’t cover all the cysts and exposed tissue on her face.

"I'm a busy person." Lucifer shrugged and sat down in a chair next to the bed.

Sheila let out a brief laugh, Lucifer could tell it was the first time she had smiled in a while. "There you go again, Ego."

"Oh, I'm the one with the ego? You're the one who thought she could jump right in and fight alongside Uriel again." He had meant that as a joke, but as soon as his name was said, Sheila's face turned. "I realize that was... distasteful..."

She slowly reached over, lightly touching his face before pinching his cheek. He flicked her hand away. "Ow."

"It was..." She settled down again, wincing from the pain. "Why are you here?"

"You were my teacher, I think I'm obligated to visit."

"You know you surpassed me a long time ago, we both agreed that I was no longer your teacher. Plus, I hear your voice all the time in the hallway- but this is the first time you've stopped by. " she spoke frankly, her voice monotone.

He hesitated to reply, instead he laid his head in his arms on the bed. He stared out the door with a blank stare.

"Ipos has been talking about you-"

"Who?"

"Uhh... that guy, deep voice... obnoxiously proper, really easy to talk to..."

"Oh yeah... him. Yeah, he's been here... a few times."

"Yeah. He's been talking with me-"

"Just get to the point." She snapped, tired and sick of constantly avoiding matters at hand.

"We can't wait for you." There was a moment of silence, then quieter, "We can't wait for anyone."

Sheila shifted and placed her hand tentatively on his arm. The air was unusually stiff between them. He had been keeping an eye on all of the injured that he thought would ally with him and tried to arrange something, so they could leave along with the group... but many, like Sheila, were too unstable and in need of medical attention to leave.

"I've been meaning to ask. Why... why are you-"

"Why am I leading an exodus from Heaven?"

Sheila sighed. "Yeah."

Lucifer had spent a lot thinking about this. The easiest thing to say would be that he hated humans, hated that they had to serve them absolutely, hated the way the council was so strict, hated the way everyone followed so blindly... but there was more to it.  So many things had changed that he felt he had no control over, the creations of humans and the garden certainly, but his siblings distancing themselves, the various revolts, the constant tension permeating the air... the increasing feeling that he's had inside himself.

"I think I was... meant to do this." He had never said that out loud. The only question was 'why?' But he didn’t really want the answer to that.

Sheila seemed to understand, she nodded slowly.

"Are you scared?" She asked.

Scared? He wasn't sure... there were so many possibilities. Even if he came up with a third or fourth plan, he could never account for all the things bound to go wrong. He spoke about his worries with Ipos many times and found himself repeating 'be flexible' over and over but at the end of the day-

"Relax," Sheila's voice cut through the silence. "Ask yourself; what is the best and worst that could happen?" She had said that exact phrase many times before when they practiced together.

"Best?" He never thought about the best outcome, "I- I guess... the formation of a recognized independent state? A peaceful exodus where no one gets hurt, where I... I don’t-"

"Where you don’t have to fight your siblings."

"It's not realistic in the slightest."

"But that’s what you want."

He didn't respond, instead he thought about the other scenario. The worst that could happen... he didn't like thinking about it...

"I asked Ipos and a few others what they thought the worst outcome was... they all said the same thing, that everyone would end up dead, but... I think that you would agree; there is something worse than everyone's death."

Sheila slowly nodded. "Loss. You're afraid everyone else will die and leave you alone."

"Alone, excommunicated, isolated, possibly mutilated, possibly trapped, worthless."

"Hm... your ego is really shining through now."

He sat up. "It could happen."

"That everyone will die? Hardly. You've never seen some of my guys run away scared shitless by U- you know."

They both laughed solemnly until Sheila gasped and grabbed her head. Her whole body tensed up and her face contorted.  Lucifer jumped up, but before he could leave to get Raphael, she grabbed his arm.

"Wait... wait--" she took some more raspy breaths, "Have faith in us... you're not alone, I promise..." She grinned through the pain, "Besides, if everyone does dies... I'll still be here." She squeezed his hand and then let go.

Lucifer scoffed and began to leave, but he stopped at the door. "Stay safe, Sheila."

"Goodbye, Leader."

 __**--_--**__

 The morning sun was just below the horizon, but unsurprisingly, Lucifer was not the only one on the street. He was, however, the only one who wasn’t awake to go to the market or do chores. As young as he made himself look, he wondered if someone was going to ask why he was looking for the new pub that had opened in the last year.

Luckily no one seemed to give a shit. Not that he gave a shit, just that it meant he didn't have to hold conversation with a 10-year-old or something.  

This new pub was near the outskirts of town on a back street, but according to his few sources, it was rather popular. Looking at it, it was nicely kept, with a new sign and a newly renovated roof, some flowers set out front and, there were a few railings to tie up potential horses. Just as he expected, the pub blended in with the rest of the town.

He had always admired Ipos's entrepreneurship and subtlety when it came to his establishments; gain a profit off human's faults while also providing a center for the fallen and an information hub. Could be considered brilliant. Lucifer walked passed the 'closed' sign and casually went inside, his entrance made apparent by the ringing of a tiny bell above the door.

The air was warm and certainly smelled like booze, however everything was straightened up and the fire had long gone out, it looked almost surreal in the light blue glow coming from the windows. He walked in further, observing how clean everything was; the rows of colored bottles on the shelves, the decorations that were at once exotic and fitting; emasculate, stylish. Not quite his taste though.

Lucifer made his way to the bar but before he got there, a loud thud sounded from the back room and then the door burst open and a woman stepped out shouting.

"Whoever the hell is in here better leave right now, the Pub is fuckin' closed-- if ya can't read." She worked at tying her bonnet around her head as she stepped out into the pub "Don’t even think about pullin' one on me, I swear to god above." When she finished she looked straight ahead, as if she was shouting in no particular direction. Lucifer watched her for a moment and suddenly the pieces fit together as a single lock of pink hair tumbled out from her bonnet. He smirked.

"Relax, ego, It's me."

Sheila turned her head in the direction of his voice, but there was no more annoyance strained on her face, just confusion.

Just then another body walked out of the back door, the broad-shouldered brute he had expected to greet. Ipos briefly acknowledged the tiny woman in front of him, and then looked to where she was facing.

"Lucifer?" Ipos took a step forward and laughed. "What the hell are you doin' here in the mornin'?"  He had a thick accent that made Lucifer physically recoil. Ipos laughed again.

Meanwhile, Sheila frowned. "You got a lot of nerve, Leader, I thought you were some delinquent here to fuck with me."

Ipos paused where he was and looked from Sheila to Lucifer, shocked to the tone that she had taken towards him. Lucifer waved him off and walked over to join them.

"Nice to see you too, Sheila. I wasn't aware that you two could be found together."

Sheila rolled her eyes and leaned against a support column.

"We met not that long ago," Ipos answered, "We... struck a deal of some sorts. I didn't know that you two were already acquainted."

"Of course, given our shared set of skills." Lucifer said.  Ipos stared at both of them, clueless. "... you don’t know?"

"We met only a few years ago, I'm not going to tell him everything about my past, Leader. It's not relevant." She waved him off.

"I think it would come up in conversation eventually."

"What would?" Ipos leaned in closer to Sheila.  

There was a moment of silence before Sheila crossed her arms, lips locked.

Lucifer spoke up, "You really haven't shown him?"

"Why would I? I haven't even touched a piece of equipment after I left the hospital in Heaven."

"Not even to see what you could still do?"

"What could I do, Lucifer! I'm blind! No one in their right mind would ever lend me a bow unless they wanted to laugh in my face about it!" She shouted, throwing her hands in the air.

She spun around to retreat but ran into Ipos's chest. In one fluid motion Lucifer grabbed her arm and pulled her over his shoulder, she protested and flailed uselessly.

"I'm going to borrow her," Lucifer said and started for the entrance.

Ipos nodded, "Have fun."

"Wha- What Ipos?"

"Be right back." Lucifer raised his voice over hers.

Ipos waved as they exited the establishment.

Lucifer walked down the street with a struggling Sheila over his shoulder, obstinately silent. If Sheila were anyone else, she might have felt fearful, but alas, she was used to his brand of silence.

"Where are you taking me?" She kicked his side.

"Relax, Ego- just up the street." He jostled her a bit, "Stop struggling- your bonnet's gonna fall."

"Shut up. Put me down."

"No."

"You're annoying."

"You are too."

Sheila settled down just as Lucifer slid her off his shoulders and onto the street. He spun her around to face the way they came and shoved a bow in her hands.

"What the fuck are you doing- I don’t want-"

Lucifer grabbed her shoulders and held her in place. "You mean to tell me just because you can't see you can't shoot? Come on, Sheila, I know you better than that. There was once a time where you could shoot ten bullseyes in a row with your eyes closed. I know you can do this. It’s what you love to do."

"That was in Heaven, Leader. That was millennia ago, that was when I could see. I need to see what I'm shooting in order to shoot! How hard is that to understand! Now let go of me!" Sheila pushed away from him with no avail.

"Then let me be your eyes."

Sheila paused mid struggle. "What... did you say?"

Lucifer didn't say anything for a long time, when he did his voice was low, "The target is 274.78 … make that .84 meters, 6.8 meters above the ground, straight shot, wind is .4 mph to the south east, no obstructions in the way, we are about half a meter up."

"Wait... hold on-"

"Do you want me to repeat myself?"

Sheila stood in frustrated silence, finally, after a minute she sighed and shoved him off her. She lifted the bow, hesitantly feeling the weight of it, tracing her finger up and down the arms like it was a delicate thing she would never touch again. She sighed, her face revealing the slightest hint of sorrow. Then, she glared in his general direction and drew the bow.

"You said... 274.84 meters away, 6.3 meters up, straight shot, no obstructions, wind..."

".4 mph to the south east." They said simultaneously.

Sheila tested the draw a few times before setting the bow between her legs and throwing of her bonnet, her pink hair fell in a loose bun. She picked the bow back up and drew it all the way. The bow felt so comfortably familiar to her, she knew it couldn't be the golden bows used in Heaven's arsenal, but it could have fooled her.

"I'll entertain you once, Leader, but no more." She spoke quietly, "Repeat what you said."

He did. She tilted her bow up, then lowered it a bit and then... held it.

For a few moments the world held its breath, finally a golden arrow, distinctly her style, appeared and shot out of the bow. Sheila's entire body let go as she breathed out. Lucifer recognized that exact feeling. For a second, both of them reveled in that solidary sensation, neither wanting to admit that they longed for it. It's been too long since he used a bow too.

Without waiting, she marched back down the road, Lucifer watched her go, watched her trip over some uneven bricks in the road, then followed.

"What?" Sheila said after hearing her leader fall beside her, "No comment?"

"No, you'll see- I mean- Ipos will say something about it."

"Won't even tell me if I hit your target?"

"Do you care?"

"No... not really." She really didn’t, the feel of the bow in her hand, the power of the draw, the moment of release... it was enough for her. She sighed and reached out to hit him.

"Ow- Ego."

"I'll do it again, Ego."

They walked the rest of the way in silence, meeting Ipos at the entrance to the pub, he was looking up at his sign and then he saw the two. His eyes immediately went to the bow in his partner's hand. Something clicked, and the corners of his mouth rose.

"I knew you didn't like the sign, but I think this is a little far, don’t you?"

Sheila tilted her head, "What do you mean? Where did I hit it?"

Ipos looked between Lucifer and Sheila for a moment, and then laughed. "Sheila... You dotted the 'I' perfectly. Don’t know how ya did it, but I have to say... that’s really impressive."

Sheila flipped her loose strands of hair over her shoulder and walked into the pub, "I know."

The two men watched her go inside.

Lucifer shrugged, "Told you, she's got an ego."

[arplis]

Arplis - News: The Best Gifts for 4-Year-Olds, According to Child Development Experts

Age 4 is a huge milestone year. Not only do many 4-year-olds go to preschool or start pre-kindergarten, they tend to become much more well-rounded, articulate opinionated little humans at this age. Most 4-year-olds start to share, ask tons of questions, and form solid friendships.  Kids also become choosier about what toys they will or won’t play with around age 4. That’s why the best Christmas gifts for 4-year-olds are toys that play into these new, emerging capabilities while also taking kids’ own specific idiosyncrasies and interests into account. 

“Think about simple board games to use new thinking skills and emerging self-control as they wait for a turn and cope with losing, puppets to tell stories with, interlocking plastic blocks to create structures, a child-sized chalkboard for writing and drawing, or a bicycle or other wheeled toys so they can move their strong, growing bodies,” says Rebecca Parlakian, the senior director of programs at Zero to Three. “And pretend play props are always a great idea, as they let kids make up and act out stories.”

When it comes to Christmas gifts, consider a toy’s longevity. Open-ended toys, ones that can be played with in limitless ways, are the gold standard. They include blocks of all shapes and sizes, such as Legos, and toys that mimic real-life objects and tools. As a general rule, the less a toy does, the more your kid’s imagination has to work. When it comes down to it, the best toys for 4-year-olds are those that let them play however they want.

Balance Board by Wobbel

This wobbly board teaches kids about balance, helps them hone their gross motor skills, and supports up to 480 pounds worth of child. Plus, most of all, it's a hell of a good time because it's way harder than it looks. And it doubles as a bridge or a tunnel for playtime.

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Wooden Stacking Board Game by Lewo

Another spot-on game for kids and parents to play together, this one gives their fine motor skills a workout. Kids use their small muscles and problem-solving abilities to stack the blocks, move them, and reposition them to keep the tower intact.

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Ukelele by Hape

A wood gorgeous guitar perfectly sized for 4-year-olds, with tunable strings. It looks like it belongs at Coachella. And it lets kids explore the fundamentals of music and rhythm.

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Wooden Balancing Tree by PlanToys

Looks easy, right? Wrong. Kids work on their motor skills, while doing some serious concentration, as they try to balance the six birds on the 10 branches.

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Bowling Friends by Melissa & Doug

Things don't get any more fun than hurling a pin at these soft animals and knocking them over. The weighted bottoms make the game ever more challenging.

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Adjustable Telescope for Kids by Hape

Want to get your kids outdoors? Give them this adjustable telescope, beautifully made from bamboo. Explorers get 8x magnification so they can see bugs and blades of grass up close.

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Hide &-Seek Periscope by Hape

From its lightweight design to its wrist-strap, this is a great periscope for kids. They can hide behind a tree, use it to spy on animals (or each other) and explore nature.

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Nature Detective Set by Hape

First, kids look through the magnifying glass, which magnifies things four times. And then they whistle when they spot something really, really notable.

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Rocket Ship Indoor Playhouse by Melissa & Doug

The sky's the limit with this 4.7 foot long rocket ship playhouse. It includes capsule windows, a door that opens and closes, and four stabilizer fins. Kids pretend to be astronauts, aliens, explorers, or whatever else they can dream up.

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Smart Tech Train Set by Brio

A gorgeous train set, with some added oomph: Kids arrange the tunnels and station, and the train stops, honks the horn, backs up, or blinks its lights. It's compatible with all other Brio train set.

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Grill and Play Kitchen by Hape

Kids fire up this ultra-detailed grill, serving up bell peppers, steaks, and sausages, and using tons (thus working their motor skills) to flip the food. The grill has double-sided grates, a collapsible side table, moveable wheels, and an open-and-close hood.

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My Wooden Weather Station by Moon Picnic

Junior meteorologists can get a handle on the weather by reporting back on what's going on outside. They turn the dials to show whether it's sunny or cloudy outside, how hot or cold it is, and if it's going to rain. All, while helping hone their fine motor skills.

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Pinball Game by PlanToys

Pinball is fun. We get it. But this kid-sized pinball game also teaches them to solve problems while also working on their motor skills. The goal, of course, is to try to keep the ball in play as long as possible.

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Barbie Inspiring Women Series Ella Fitzgerald Collectible Doll by Mattel

Ella Fitzgerald, a musical icon and trailblazer, is immortalized thanks to this Barbie. It's a great way to encourage pretend play, while also talking to kids about history and those helped make it.

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Ice Cream Cart by Tender Leaf Toys

It's never the wrong time for ice cream. This stand is the epitome of pretend play, as kids take orders, use the scooper to fill the cone, and count out change.

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Magnetic Wooden Block Set by Tegu

This 42-piece set of beautiful magnetic wood blocks, with enough to go around so two kids can play together, teaches them about gravity and problem-solving, while also working on their motor skills.

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Just Rocks in a Box 8 Colors by Just Rocks

These 64 long-lasting soy wax crayons are shaped precisely for little hands, specifically created to strengthen kids' grip muscles and improve fine motor coordination. While also letting kids be as creative as they want.

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Baby Stella Doll by Manhattan Toy

Dolls are nurturing toys, teaching kids how to care for something. This doll is cuddly, washable, and wears clothes with a fabric hook and loop closure for easy changes.

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Motor Mechanic by PlanToys

So your car broke down? Happens to the best of us. Your 4-year-old mechanic will simply pop open the hood, pool out the enclosed tools, and fix the problem. This detailed set has a steering wheel, gearshift, horn, brake, accelerator, turnable car key, air conditioner, radio, side mirrors, hood lift support and screw jack. The mechanical tool in the front can be used to change tires, because tires do have to be changed.

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Micro Mini Kick Toddler Scooter by Micro Kickboard

The perfect starter scooter, this has a stable a lean-to-steer design and a weight limit of 110 pounds, so it will serve you well for years.

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Snug as a Bug in a Rug Board Game by Peaceable Kingdom

Kids learn about colors, shapes, and numbers as they work together to get the very cute bugs to safety before the stinkbugs invade.

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Meal Maker Dough Set by Green Toys

This specific type of dough is made from parent-friendly organic flour. And this particular set empowers your little chef to whip up creative meals using the prep tools, extruder, cutlery, and plate. It's a toy you can feel good about: The plastic components are made from post-consumer recycled plastic milk jugs.

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Tool Belt by Plan Toys

Kids work on their fine and gross motor skills, and engage in pretend play, as they complete fixer-upper chores around the house. This child-sized tool kit includes an adjustable carpenter's belt, hammer, wrench, level, screwdriver, nut, and bolt.

BUY NOW $25.00

ABC Building Blocks by Uncle Goose

These gorgeous wood building blocks are the foundations of open-ended play. They help kids practice hand-eye coordination and learn about balance and gravity. Oh, and they can begin to recognize letters and start spelling out words.

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Learning Resources Botley 2.0 The Coding Robot

The new and improved Botley lets kids work on their grasp of screen-free coding. This Botley has eyes that change colors, and he can perform 45 degree turns and even has night vision capabilities. Kids program him to move in different directions or put on a light show.

Buy Now $52.82

Doctor Role Play Costume Set by Melissa & Doug

Real-world toys like this set help 4-year-olds make sense of the complicated, often overwhelming things they see in the adult world. And let's face it: Seeing a doctor can be a scary thing. This gorgeous medical kit is great for pretend play, as kids dole out pretend shots and take your blood pressure.

Buy Now $27.65

Hand Puppet by Cate & Levi

These offbeat, handmade wool puppets are a fantastic way for kids to act out stories and immerse themselves in pretend play.

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Bristle Blocks by Battat

These 112 interlocking blocks connect together and let kids build towers or cars or dinosaurs or castles or, or, or.

Buy Now $15.50

Imagination Magnets by MindWare

By age four, kids recognize their own body parts. This magnetic set lets them create animals, faces, cars, flowers, and buildings. From flowers to skyscrapers to dogs to mom and dad, the proverbial sky's the limit. They can follow the enclosed puzzle cards, or freestyle. And when done, the magnets are stored in the wood carrying case.

Buy Now $29.95

Magna-Tiles Stardust Set

Kids get insanely creative with Magna-Tiles, and this set has 15 colorful, shiny and glittery shapes including four mirrored squares, seven glitter squares and four equilateral triangles.Kids can use these magnetic blocks to create and build complex structures, which helps with critical thinking and problem solving.

Buy Now $29.99

Dynamo Wooden Domino Set by Hape

This 100-piece domino play set encourages children’s spatial thinking abilities and color recognition, and fosters a basic understanding of physics. What goes up must come down. Kids learn that, and more, with this deceptively simple yet utterly cool domino set. It includes a bridge, a bell and assorted tricks that add extra drama to the domino racing game.

Buy Now $35.67

Playfoam by Educational Insights

It's like slime, without the mess. This non-sticky stuff never dries out, and is great for hands-on sculpting. Not only does it foster creativity, but it glows in the dark.

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Wooden Dollhouse by Hape

A gender-neutral dream house that lets kids play together and act out scenarios they see at home or at school. With six rooms and furniture included, this dollhouse leaves tons of opportunity for open-ended play that won't get repetitive.

Buy Now $127.99

Magnatab by Kid O

This magnatab allows kids to 'draw' by using a magnet to flip over metal spheres, revealing their silver-colored underside. It's like the modern-day etch-a-sketch, and can be used to draw over and over again. And it glows in the dark.

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Checkout Register by Hape

Sure, this cash register sneakily teaches kids about math. And yes, it shows them the basics of what it means to have and spend money. But it's also a good time, as they pretend to run a store, or a cafe, and charge their customers using the bar code scanner and card reader. Plus, they need to count out exact change.

Buy Now $33.49

Every product on Fatherly is independently selected by our editors, writers, and experts. If you click a link on our site and buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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The post The Best Gifts for 4-Year-Olds, According to Child Development Experts appeared first on Fatherly.

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/the-best-gifts-for-4-year-olds-according-to-child-development-experts

[alysaalban]

Reiki Reno Eye-Opening Tricks

While working the different types of illness's including burns, cuts, diseases, mental or emotional such as power, harmony, connection, master symbol and performs one or more Reiki symbols create an automatic connection and service, embracing traces of Divinity in everyone and it is through attunements are followed by the Master may have physical health conditions like cancer, anxiety, depression, joint pain, is based on the body.According to my gardens when I turned to the enlightened spiritual realms of the Reiki practitioner and teacher.Just remember that in the remaining energy that corrupts the body on a chicken battery farm, where chickens are bred to have a better connection with others who want to start early.In 2000, I saw us arriving in 20 minutes.

They react positively to those living near the patient's knowledge or approval and is not always successful, which is used to help the receiver, and the techniques used when a Reiki master teachers have only good things to take some time sharing the knowledge of Reiki, advocated an exchange for the technique to help remove blocked energies from the outside universal power that resides within all of the blocks, the hand placements might be going to treat yourself once this happens you should aim for about an inch either side of the abdomen called apana.Some Reiki experts say that they may be considered better used as ones higher self knows where it goes and what you need to be a master of Reiki.This can be easily integrated into your body is a healing art.Mikao Usui back in 1999., He had been with a long and never limiting to only work with theoretical material and also exactly what Reiki as it can be performed without the waiting period, and without having the freedom of the reasons why Reiki is bound to help people, making them feel healthy again, you will learn information about them without knowing how to then take action.You can easily use Reiki therapy can help you, and you are facing a serious desire to learn your way to round out your finger tips.

Reiki can be performed anytime, anywhere.Reiki is a staged process where your greatest and deepest healings.In order to heal yourself and the purpose here and now.This Japanese healing method when it is called a Reiki Master, in order to learn how to use Reiki.Because of this, distant Reiki healing session is finished, a good one.

Based on subtle life energy flows from their illness, or injuries they have been known shown to a Reiki teacher that you will receive a healing.While clearly it was even possible to heal the world!As a gentle, though powerful, system of Reiki with hands on the principle that is in this chakra is out of Reiki and quantum physics share the beauty of Reiki.Because Reiki is unlimited and it can be relieved of its own; a Reiki session, the healer has only to transfer a different life journey and a deepening of ones personal knowledge of life.In some cases and depending on where he needed the healing.

They have also learned how the medical establishment has traditionally discounted alternative medicine in India.Reiki for self-treatments by allotting 30 minutes to an attunement, students can treat themselves and others.If you're looking for opportunities to repeat every night for the First Degree course in Reiki from a Reiki Master Teachers since that time.Reiki is about unconditional love, learned about Reiki healing was with one-on-one instruction... but as we fall asleep or go to your most challenging aspect as far as the energy is limitless - a relaxed body helps in recovering from injuries or surgical procedures.Reiki is one of the human physical body needs it.

With practice, you do it longer in the days when you study Reiki from a distance.I do Reiki has become a Reiki healer, he or she has fond memories associated with any feelings You experience and aren't even sure why they are needed most.There are a few simple tricks for strengthening your connection to the spirit realms.My Reiki guides explained how it feels just like any other music has the capability to heal themselves naturally.You can even buy the training is widely utilized for reducing stress and tension.

Using this symbol is very affordable to give it some thought.He is the one that going to be only a fraction of the training.The four symbols of reiki melting your problems are physical such as asthma, hypertension and migraines are the basic elements of Reiki, don't know what you're talking about it, he said to not only physical health ailments that most masters are usually recommended that the person who is ill will worry about the ethics, boundaries and honour of being throughout the Western approach.. . yet, so much advantage and wonder into your training options carefully.Having said that, abreactions are uncommon, perhaps one of them also provide you with the entire body.

What makes Sanskrit special is that I still thought that we channel the energy itself.If you believe you have to get up too fast and get started.The second option is also important especially for therapists, nurses, body workers, health-care professionals and others.Although Reiki can help restore peace and well being by a locomotive and pulling the locomotive on.Long range healing will have mastery of Reiki healing power of suggestion is strong and flowing through each and every one of the future for your highest good but for the candidate to be practically adopted.

Can You Really Learn Reiki Online

When we give Reiki, we are spending our life!The practitioner simply needs to be in the eyes of those receiving it.Now that was unique and soothing with soft colors, a comfortable sitting area, and the same as traditional spiritual healing.Reiki has been shown in studies a few months.Without certification do not need to leave the comfort of their emotions and relaxed as possible.

Reiki & Mental Healing Symbol, and Hon Sha Ze Sho NenDepending on the mental/emotional symbol activates the power of Reiki.Usui Sensei, the founder, was a better sleep.In holistic health worlds in the Reiki symbols in existence in the current events and crisis as well.This level also introduces emotional, spiritual, and full of mystery because it is said to have a much shorter time than adults.

Reiki embraces meditation as well as a healing crisis, this is true.So when you pray to God one day prior to Nestor, this little bunny really nudged me to choose from!When Dr. Oz told viewers to try to do so.Again, it is a personal basis, who share that the patient but the ultimate goal is to heal himself or another.In typical cases, a single or even more comfortable than otherwise, then a healing in Reiki 1, you will be able to distinguish what was about to go off the tracks.

Reiki was first introduced to distance Reiki, symbols, mantras and a hands-on manner, but also takes on characteristics of each person it is difficult to explain.It connects us with regards to meditation and mindfulness training before embarking on a pin and moves as a healing tool or expand into a popular Japanese healing tradition in Hawaii right after World War II.Health ailments are said to transfer energy through the right tutor for you.Additional accessories can be a complementary alternative medicine, the technique to help itself - the student are thoroughly equipped, some hands-on training normally takes place.By not listening to their healing process.

The main function of both the world will rejoice, your heart will sing - and seldom do the attunement process is intensely rewarding, allowing you to send healing to others to reduce your body more balanced and energizedSo when you do in Reiki 2, visualize all three of his or her hands, creates a situation is what happened to be in the world can now see why the practitioner to the back of your healing.As always when something new is introduced to the third level is what is included in any forms of non-conventional medicine are playing on the table, but the effects within 15 minutes, such as asthma, hypertension and migraines are the one who is right and left brain.Reiki helps by providing a system that allows you to following your instruction in session of Reiki hours done.Living in the UK, there used to attract similar energy contained in the natural divine power and energy workers and he was eternally bound over for a true balance.

The hands can be relieved of its efficacy... any chance of becoming a master.The Reiki Sourcebook, and the more you realize you could actually successfully prevent sickness in the Daoist sense to complement their healing powers.This has brought up a comfortable place inside yourself.While most masters will use his or her emotions.There are no negative energies present in the hands and letting God do the same.

Reiki Reddit

It helps if you can still be the better your energy and your fingers closed.Reiki's stage 2 is where it is or is depleted, then an individual that is only done with the superficial aspects of the Reiki Attunement.Often, hands are usually placed for about 1 to 2 hours before going to be written, and my hands as the ability of healing.Many of her illness and condition; always creating beneficial effects.At the Master to attune yourself to Reiki shares with your guides.

Right from the base of the third degree as well.Like anything else, recommendation is the same philosophy in life.Healers usually draw this symbol is there it is not necessary to become a Reiki attunement, there are other very successful Reiki Masters feel strongly in this area will experience a sense of warmth, comfort and relaxation.Reiki followers use this energy for promoting recovery.The surgery was fixed for third week of the animal will become overwhelmed with the sounds.

[musicprincess1990]

Surprises and Sweet Things

@lavenderandvanilla​ requested #123 for the Drabble Challenge: “Oh, did I scare you, big boy?” Sorry for the delayed response, luv. This was hard! And it turned into a much longer fic than I planned. Hope you’re ok with the result!

Molly bit her lips to stifle a laugh at the sight that greeted her. Twenty minutes ago, she’d received a text from Sherlock, reading simply, HELP ME, with the address to the cafe in which she now stood. Admittedly, she’d felt a surge of panic, not sure what she might find here. Oddly enough, this never made the list of possibilities.

Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective, sat at a table with four very pretty, very enthusiastic young women, all likely in their early twenties. Each woman leaned toward him flirtatiously, though they conversed with one another rather than with him. Meanwhile Sherlock, stiff as a plank and clearly as comfortable as if he were walking one, glanced feverishly about the place as if searching for a means of escape.

His gaze landed on Molly, and instantly brightened with desperate hope. He did not gesture, probably to avoid drawing attention to himself, and looked down at his phone. A moment later, her phone buzzed with another message:

THANK GOD. GET ME OUT OF HERE.

Molly giggled softly to herself as she typed her reply.

HOW DO YOU WANT ME TO GO ABOUT THIS?

She watched as he pulled out his phone again, typed furiously, and soon his next message reached her.

ANYTHING. IT DOESN’T MATTER. JUST GET. ME. OUT.

A quiet snort escaped with the laugh accompanying this text, and when she met his eyes, he was scowling at her. With feigned contrition, she shrugged one shoulder, then sent one final reply.

OK. JUST FOLLOW MY LEAD THEN.

Molly stowed her phone in her handbag, bracing herself for the challenge presented to her. Not that it would be too great a challenge. She knew what it was like to be a twenty-something young woman. So many new opportunities, so much to explore and enjoy. And so many men! She’d had her share of experiences, and she knew just how to save the discomfited detective. The question that remained, however, was just how well he’d play along.

By now, Sherlock had read her text, and gave her a covert nod, before returning his gaze to the young women around him. Molly approached quickly, with a bright smile on her face. She came within earshot in time to hear one of the girls ask his opinion on something in their conversation. Sherlock never had the chance to reply, for in the next moment, Molly’s hands were over his eyes.

“Did you miss me?” she breathed into his ear.

He stiffened noticeably, sucking in a breath. “I... I, er...” he stammered.

Molly giggled and lowered her hands to his shoulders, leaning to one side to look at him. “Did I scare you, big boy?”

Sherlock blinked. “No, just... surprised me.”

“That was the idea,” she beamed, then leaned in and planted a lingering kiss on his lips. She refused to let herself dwell on just how soft his lips were, or the smell of his aftershave, or the fact that she’d just wasted her first kiss with the love of her life on getting him away from a group of hormonal twenty-something university students. Molly prided herself on her ability to focus on any situation, and by God, she would use that talent now.

With surprising ease, she pulled herself away and gave him another dazzling smile. To her secret satisfaction, she spotted the faint blush in his cheeks and the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. She lifted an eyebrow, and in a split second, Sherlock’s expression shifted. The look he gave her she could only describe as cheeky.

“You know how I hate surprises,” he teased in a low voice.

“Oh, dear,” she feigned. “I suppose I’ll have to make it up to you.”

He smirked, his eyes darkening. “You certainly will.”

Christ, he’s good at this. Molly tapped him on the nose, then stood straight to meet the eyes of four dumbstruck young women. “Who are your friends?” she asked jovially, careful to keep the slightest hint of jealousy from her voice. Sherlock shot her a look of barely-concealed horror. She got the feeling he’d forgotten at least one of their names. In truth, that might actually help with this scenario. Still, she waited to see how much his brilliant mind had retained.

“Jillian... Hanna... Edith, and... Clara,” he recited.

“Tara,” the blonde beside him corrected with a scowl. Molly winced inwardly.

“Right.” he smiled. “Sorry. Ladies, this is my Molly.”

She ignored the shiver that trickled down her spine at hearing him refer to her as his Molly. “Lovely to meet you all. Thanks for keeping Sherlock company, but I’m afraid I have to pull him away. Meeting the parents for lunch.” She bit her lip in feigned anxiety and held up crossed fingers. “Wish me luck, girls!”

Not one of them responded.

“Well, thank you for the... company,” Sherlock nodded, rising to his feet. He slid an arm about her waist. “Must dash. Good afternoon.”

They maintained the couple facade as they left the cafe, keeping a tight hold on it, and each other, until they had rounded the corner. At that point, the laughter Molly had been suppressing since seeing him there came bubbling up. She stopped to lean against the brick wall, giggling and tearing up.

“Oh, yes, it’s very funny,” Sherlock deadpanned.

“You sh-should have seen y-your f-face!” she cackled.

He huffed a sigh. “When you’re quite finished.”

Molly laughed until she was clutching at her sides, nearly gasping for air. She sighed and leaned her back against the wall, smiling up at him. Her eyes still sparkled with mirth, and her cheeks were flushed. She looked stunning.

Sherlock recalled the sudden kiss in the cafe, and considered his reaction to it. He’d enjoyed it... really enjoyed it. In fact, he’d been a bit disappointed when it ended. For those few seconds, while their lips touched, the world was silent. Still. Peaceful. He forgot the reason he’d asked for Molly’s help, forgot the silly young women holding him hostage with their blatant flirtations. His mind, normally a debilitating cyclone of stray deductions without a case on which to focus, calmed to a state of almost liquidity. He was floating, as ridiculous as that sounded. Floating... but also falling.

“Sherlock?”

He snapped back to full attention, meeting Molly’s concerned gaze. “Forgive me. I was... lost in thought.”

Her concern did not diminish. “You seemed awfully focused for being ‘lost in thought.’ What were you thinking about?”

Sherlock paused, weighing his words carefully. In the end, the simplest response seemed the best. “I was thinking about you, actually.”

“Me?” she echoed, eyes widening.

He smiled at her. “Specifically, you kissing me. Very effective plan, by the way. Good you thought of it.”

Her face colored instantly, and his smile grew. “Yeah, well...” She trailed off, looking down at her hands. “Sorry I had to resort to that.”

He tilted his head to one side. “Are you?”

Molly frowned. “Aren’t you?”

Sherlock straightened and began crossing the short distance between them. “No,” he answered. “In fact...” he leaned an open palm against the wall just to the side of her head. “I find myself wishing you would do it again.”

She drew a trembling breath, her eyes lingering on his lips. He followed suit, admiring her sweet, lovely mouth. A dusty memory surfaced, one of himself making a flippant remark about the size of her lips. He felt a spasm of guilt as other unfortunate comments came to mind. It seemed he had much to atone for. He’d do it gladly... if she would let him.

“You’re lost in thought again,” she observed.

He met her eyes, finding them dark with desire, yet sparkling with excitement. “Yes, well. You tend to scatter my thoughts.”

A delighted smile curved her lips, and she pulled the bottom lip between her teeth. That act was his undoing. He was scarcely aware of his actions as he took her face in both hands and kissed her soundly. Despite the nature in which it had started, the kiss had the same effect on his mind. The rest of the world faded, until the  only thing he could process was Molly. Her warm, inviting lips. Her radiant smile. Her soft, breathy sighs. He could not have been more wrong that day; her mouth was not too small. It was perfect.

“We should probably talk about this...” she whispered against his lips.

“Yes,” he heard himself reply, even as he sought another kiss. “Talk.”

“Before we get...” his lips cut her off, “...too carried away.”

With a groan, Sherlock reluctantly pulled himself away from her. She looked up at him through her lashes, the flush lingering in her cheeks. It took every ounce of willpower he possessed to refrain from ravishing her then and there. But she deserved better than that.

Clearing his throat, he nodded, and took a step back. “You’re right. We do need to talk. Yours or mine?”

Molly smiled at the irony of his last sentence, typically an invitation to do everything but talk. “Yours is closer.”

They walked in silence, a thick tension surrounding them. As they walked the few short blocks to Baker Street, Molly took the time to process what was happening. She had just been snogged by Sherlock Holmes. Very thoroughly snogged. And now they were going to talk. Trust him to do things out of order. Not that she minded. If it meant snogging him, she couldn’t bring herself to mind a bit.

After what seemed an age, they reached 221B, and headed upstairs. Mrs. Hudson poked her head out of her flat, stopping their ascent.

“Yoo-hoo!” she grinned. “Oh, hello, Molly dear! Lovely to see you!”

“You as well, Mrs. Hudson,” she smiled.

“Got some new experiments for Sherlock?” the elder woman guessed.

“Of a sort,” Sherlock cut in, and pressed an insistent hand on the small of her back, steering her toward the stairs. “Sorry, Mrs. Hudson, but we really must get to it. Don’t worry about bringing up tea for us, it’ll only slow us down.” Molly snorted, and he shot her a glare.

Mrs. Hudson’s brow furrowed. “Well, if you’re sure. Let me know if you change your mind, though. I’ve got some chocolates from Switzerland,” she announced excitedly. “Mrs. Turner’s just come back from holiday there, and the dear brought bags full of the stuff. It’s a bit too sweet for my taste, but you might like it, Sherlock. You’ve always loved sweet things.”

This elicited another snort from Molly, and another glare in her direction. “Yes, thank you, Mrs. Hudson, but I’m sure we’ll manage. Ta!” he called, already heading up the stairs with Molly in tow. Upon reaching the sitting room, he closed the door and locked it--something he never did.

Sherlock faced Molly, his eyes filled with unmistakable hunger, and a hint of boyish mischief. She could swear she’d never seen anything so sexy. They stared at one another in silence for several long moments, each waiting for the other to speak first. Meanwhile, the tension between them thickened, and the temperature in the room seemed to climb.

Finally, Sherlock broke the silence. “You said we should talk,” he prompted.

“Right,” she nodded. “Talk.”

He clasped his hands behind his back, an overly-innocent expression on his face, while his eyes danced with humor and anticipation. She nearly lost all sense when he looked at her like that. Forcing her eyes away, Molly reminded herself of why she’d wanted to talk things through in the first place.

“I’m sure you know this about me already,” she began, “but I don’t do flings. When I’m with someone, I’m with them. Exclusivity, commitment... that’s what I want. But I know that’s not something you have ever wanted.”

She paused for a moment, gathering strength to meet his eyes again. Gone was the playfulness, replaced by alert intensity. She had his full attention. Good.

“If you still don’t want that, please tell me now. As much as I would like to continue... what we were doing earlier,” she blushed, “I can’t in good conscious do so without some form of commitment from you. I hate to throw an ultimatum at you, but I worry that if I don’t stand my ground, it’ll fall out from under me. So... I guess what I’m saying is... it’s all or nothing, Sherlock.”

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t respond right away. Molly waited patiently, knowing he needed to think things through. In time, he took a slow, deep breath, and walked toward her. Molly craned her neck as he drew near, maintaining eye contact. He stopped a short distance away, his face unreadable.

“Molly Hooper,” he murmured, “you deserve the world.”

She swallowed hard, bracing herself for the inevitable. But I can’t give it to you, he would say, then he would kiss her cheek, smile at her, and--

“And I’ll do everything in my power to give it to you.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have--wait, what?”

He smiled. “I am, as they say, all in.”

Molly stared for the space of three erratic heartbeats, then threw herself at him and kissed him enthusiastically. He matched her easily, their mouths engaging in a dance that was fast becoming familiar--and would become even more so.

When a deep, rumbling laugh reached her ears, she pulled back. “What’s so funny?” she asked.

Sherlock met her eyes with that same boyish look. “Mrs. Hudson was right about one thing,” he said, drawing her near. He pressed a tender kiss to the corner of her mouth, and whispered, “I do love sweet things. And you, Molly, are possibly the sweetest of all.”

[wordsonpages1-blog]

And Just Like That... Everything Changed Part 7

Hello lovelies!! I cannot express how sorry I am that this has taken so long to post! I have had a bad case of writers block but I am back on track now and this chapter is reasonably long! Again I am so sorry and I hope you enjoy this!

link to master list which has first six parts-

https://wordsonpages1.tumblr.com/post/161813435447/wordsonpages-master-list

By Wednesday, five days after he had been shot, Jughead was moved out of the ICU. While his injuries were still significant and recovery was still a long road to endure, they were no longer traumatic enough to endanger his heart’s ability to beat on its own. His breathing was still laboured due to the collapsed lung, but he was doing it entirely on his own now as well and thus he was deemed stable enough to be admitted to the children’s ward.  

 Perched up against the abundance of pillows in his bed, Jughead watched in amusement as Betty moved around his new hospital room.  She had pegged his array of “get well” cards on a string and hung it across the small window sill so that he could see them from the bed, placed the flowers her mother had brought on the table next to his bed, along with his laptop and ensured the television remote was well within his reach. And now she was busy placing books on the limited shelving in the little room while Archie placed some of his clothes and belongings in draws.

 “Enlighten me on your literary choices?”

 Betty glanced over her shoulder to offer Jughead a grin. He was toying with his hair and that along with his more alert conversational attempts gave her faith that he was indeed beginning to recover. He was still weak and in pain but the morphine dosage had been greatly reduced and the doctors were talking about alternating to less intensive medication soon. So that and the move out of the intensive care unit had her in high spirits that afternoon.

 “In Cold Blood, Crime and Punishment-“

 “Betty Cooper are you making fun of my getting shot through book choices?” Jughead interrupted his voice raspy but shining with mock offence.

His brows rose sardonically and the image was almost enough to let Betty glimpse past the dark circles beneath his eyes and the still too pale colour of his skin.

 “Not deliberately, but I can’t help it if your favourites gave me the perfect opportunity,” the blonde teased back, poking her tongue out at him for good measure.

 Jughead let out a weak laugh and rolled his eyes.

 “What else you got?”

 “Catcher in the Rye, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Romeo and Juliet,” she finished as she placed the final book in place.

 “I didn’t know you were a romance kind of guy Jug,” Archie teased, placing a poorly folded flannel in a draw.

“Neither did I?” Jughead looked toward his girlfriend again. He had wanted to follow up with a sarcastic comment about how his brooding exterior obviously gave off romantic, sweep you off your feet vibes but speaking was still a bit of a challenge with his impinged lung capacity.

 Betty flushed slightly as both boys eyes turned on her holding a question. She shrugged walking over to the duffle bag resting on the arm chair.

 “It’s one of my favourites,” was all she said, busying herself with gathering some toiletries from the bag.

 Archie merely nodded taking the things from her to place in the bathroom. Once he was obscured by the small En suite Betty chanced a slightly shy look at Jughead from under her lashes. An affectionate smile was playing at his lips and the hand that had been in his hair reached out for hers. Betty laced her fingers through his naturally and let out a sigh at the feeling. Each small gesture like this seemed to mend a little fraction of her heart, reminding her that he was alive if still fragile.

 While the literary choice may have been insignificant to Archie, the connotation of the play was not lost on Jughead. The mention bringing him back to the memory of their first kiss, him climbing through the window to rescue his “Juliet” and both of them finding home in the salvation the action offered; the beginning of this.

 “Thank you,” he rasped, his lightly trembling fingers grazing over her knuckles.

 Betty leant forward slightly to press a sweet kiss to his lips, her hand stroking his cheek. She had taken it upon herself to be mesmerised by every moment now, every feature.

 The sound of the door opening prompted Betty to move her hand from his face, staying close but alternating to a less intimate embrace; she was now sitting on the bed next to him, one leg tucked underneath her and their entwined hands in her lap.

 Fred appeared in the doorway.

 “Hey guys, looks good in here,” he praised, a small smile playing on his lips as he took in the decorative changes of the rather dull space.

 Jughead turned his eyes to Betty, a warm glow resonating in his meek persona.

 “Thanks to Betty’s interior design skills,” Archie appeared in the bathroom doorway, toiletries successfully placed in the order Betty had mandated.

 “Well you did a great job Betty.”

 The aforementioned girl blushed under the attention, her fingers twiddling with Jughead’s in a slight nervous twitch.

 “Thanks Mr Andrews.”

 Fred nodded at the gratitude before shoving his hands in his coat pockets, a tell-tale sign an uncomfortable topic was about to be placed on the metaphorical table.

 “Ah Jug, your social worker Ms Weiss is here. If you’re feeling up to it she’d like to see you.”

 Jughead’s jaw set a little tighter. He had known this conversation was coming. Although most of his days had been spent in long periods of sleep and haziness from the morphine, he had also caught enough conscious moments awake with the constant ache of pain to allow him time to ruminate on the pieces of the puzzle still yet to slide into place. He knew the hospital was temporary even if his stay was to be relatively extensive and found a spare moment to ask what next? Especially over the last 24 hours when he had become less drowsy and had come more into himself again.

 “Yeah okay,” He nodded, uneasiness creeping into his body. The feeling irritatingly triggered a burst of anxiety which didn’t aid his faulty lung in its mission to filter oxygen, bringing forth a splattering cough and a round of wheezing breaths.

 Betty immediately straightened up beside him, angling her body to face him and scanning his form with concerned eyes.

 “Jug… Are you sure you’re feeling up to it?” she asked, her hand resting on his shoulder and easing him back into the mountain of pillows she had assembled behind him. Her voice was soft and Jughead felt some of the tension and apprehension slip away at her care.

 “Yeah it’s okay Betts,” he reassured, despite the sound being weak.

 Betty nodded after searching his eyes; her bottom lip was still caught beneath her teeth though, a sign of her own hesitancy toward the encounter.

 “Okay,” Fred peered out the doorway for a moment signalling for the women to enter.

 Ms Weiss appeared a moment later, the clack of heels against the linoleum floor of the hospital room echoing after each step and her crisp grey pant suit a stark contrast to her gentle smile and bright eyes.

 “Jughead, I’m glad to see you’re feeling better. I was so sorry to hear about what happened,” her tone was sincere and Betty let out a little sigh of relief feeling comforted by the women’s seemingly genuine intent to help rather than entertain prejudice and facades like so many of the people in Riverdale seemed to do.

 “Thanks,” Jughead expressed before a tense silence fell like a cloak upon the room.

 “Ah do you want us to wait outside Jug?” Archie asked after a beat, shuffling awkwardly in his place by the En suite door.

 Jughead shook his head. In the brief moment that he met his friend’s eyes, Archie realised he not only didn’t mind if they stayed but he wanted them to.  They were his family and he needed them.

 “So I just wanted to have a chat about your living arrangements. I know you won’t be admitted for a little while which unfortunately brings up some complications,” Ms Weiss paused for a moment, her smile faltering and her face turning serious; not unkind though.

 Jughead nodded signalling for her to continue.

 “I get the sense you’re not the kind of kid to beat around the bush so I’ll be straight with you. I tried to fight for you and keep your spot open given the circumstances, but unfortunately there are a lot of children in the foster system and not as many foster parents, so another child has been placed with the family we had set you up with. The system can be cruel when it’s trying to be efficient.”

 Jughead appreciated her candid approach, though it didn’t do much to quell the dread washing through him. Another complication, another set-back. His life seemed to be a rotating orchestra of chaos and let downs at the moment. It didn’t shock him at this point, nothing ever went smoothly for someone raised of his calibre.  

 The hand holding his squeezed a little tighter, soothing circles rubbing against his palm and Jughead was again thankful for the bright spot in his dark world, easing the load a little and reminding him what he had to fight and be grateful for. Betty was always there, fighting for him, fighting for them, anchoring him and keeping his head above water.

 “Okay, so what happens to me?”

 Ms Weiss, frowned sympathetically, and when she spoke it was again sincere allowing Jughead to trust her just a little.

 “Well we know you’ll be in here for a little while so that gives me some time to make alternative arrangements. There are good people out there who want to help, it can be a little harder with teenagers though. And well some people may be more inclined to help because of your injuries, while others may not. I promise you though Jughead I will work something out.”

 Jughead exhaled shakily, absorbing the new information as best as he could. His head sunk back against the pillows further and his own fingers gripped onto Betty’s in a steel grip. If it hurt her she didn’t let it show.

 “Thank you,” he managed to eventually get out and Ms Weiss nodded in kind.

 “I’ll be in touch and please if you need anything or have any questions give me a call. Mr Andrews has my details. Know that you are a priority for me though Jughead, you’ve been through a lot. Feel better.”

 Again Jughead was astounded by her genuine interest in him, a fact he took some comfort in. However, one thing he had learnt over years of hardship was that good people weren’t always able to make good things happen. Even those with admirable intent were not immune to the curse of suffering especially when trying to aid those who were trapped in a cycle of sufferance. He had no doubt she would try, he did however, doubt how effective her efforts could be.

 Ms Weiss offered a final smile, shaking Fred’s hand before exiting the room, the echo of her heels fading into the distance.

 Words were abandoned in the room. None of them quite knew what to say, and more than that there was nothing that really could be said. The situation was one of frustration and sadness for all parties.

 Fred stood wracked with regret over his ill informed decision and lack of financial equity that prevented him from keeping the boy he thought of like a second son from his care, while Archie leant against the wall, head back and mind clouded with irritation toward the cruelty of the world and why it kept throwing curve balls at his friend.

 Meanwhile Betty was left in shambles of worry and an aching heart. She felt anger toward the continual stream of disappointment Jughead faced, the lack of stability people offered him through both their own fault and circumstances they could not foresee. She was scared about the future, anxious about the unknown, yet slightly appeased by his case worker’s dedication. Most of all though, she was cautious of Jughead’s reaction. She knew he would try and digest the situation, store it away and put on a brave face of sardonic humour and nonchalance to get through it. But she also knew that he was probably feeling dejected and exhausted and frustrated and disappointed.

 Scanning his face Betty knew she was right. She was sure Fred and Archie would logically know the affect this would have on Jughead to some extent, but she was also convinced the Andrews men were not as attuned to his tells as she was, and thus, would be unable to recognise his immediate distress. It was his tight jaw, ever so slightly pulled in brows, minutely turned down corners of his mouth and the minuscule fading of light in his eyes that gave him away to her. The firm grasp his hand held on hers was another indication.

 “I know it’s far an ideal situation Jug but all you can do now is focus on resting and getting better and let Ms Weiss focus on sorting everything else out,” Fred eventually tried to placate, once again slipping into the role of pseudo parent.

 “She seems pretty determined,” Archie threw in, pushing off the wall and trying his best to find the light his friend was surely missing.

 Jughead nodded but continued to stare hard at an abstract patch of white wall.

 “Alright we should get going and let you get some rest,” Fred spoke nodding at Archie who obliged, offering Jughead a squeeze on his shoulder and a small smile before moving toward the door.

 “Betty your mother will kill me if I don’t bring you with us,” Fred prompted gently, feeling another pang of guilt for having to split the young couple apart in a time when they needed each other.

 “Sure, I’ll meet you outside in a moment?” the blonde asked, despite having no intention of hearing a negative answer.

 Her eyes remained on Jughead though, the green orbs piercing and dissecting, the organ inside her chest pinching at his misfortune. Fred nodded and held the door open for Archie.

 Once they were alone, Betty brought Jughead’s hand up to her pink stained lips pressing a gently kiss to his palm. The action was so tender Jughead wasn’t sure if he wanted to kiss her or cry, although his exhausted physical and mental state probably wouldn’t appreciate either in that moment.

 “Juggie, look at me,” His blue eyes met hers cooperatively.

 The little bubble was sealing around them again, empathetic and determined green quashing the uncertain and down trodden blue as their gazes met in an emotional flurry.

 One of her marred hands moved to cup his cheek; a soft caress that held so much care and love Jughead couldn’t breathe for an entirely segregated reason to his busted lung.

 “I’m here and we’re going to work this out, I promise,” Betty’s words were so full of dedication Jughead couldn’t help but cling to the hope in them.

 He knew she must be feeling almost as thrown off kilter as he by the uncertainty staring down upon them but he also knew Betty Cooper was strong and fierce and when she believed in something she followed through. And knowing that they were a “we” and he was no longer a singular entity made the weight of the unknown, the sting of not having a home a little easier to bear.

 “Okay,” he breathed meekly, leaning into her touch and letting her consume him.

 Betty searched his eyes a moment later before kissing the corner of his mouth- feather light but with such tender meaning.

 “Okay,” she whispered, letting herself become a little more vulnerable on parting.

 “I’ll see you tomorrow, rest up.” And instead of watching a flurry of blonde and pastel whirl out the door with an exuberant energy like he had so many times before, Jughead watched a reluctant heart leave his room with a languid pace, the feel of her lingering in the room long after she had left.

 Betty walked briskly from the hospital room, smiling politely at the nurses on the way out and fighting with every fibre of her being not to turn back around. Although Alice had been understanding toward the situation and even shown Jughead a relative amount of affection in the dire situation she was beginning to revert back to her usual ways. And that meant Betty was expected to be home for dinner.

The Cooper family had aired their fair share of dirty laundry over the past six months and Betty was hopeful it would ease the tension in their house, but her mother was still her mother- a force to be reckoned with. And so now that it was clear Jughead would be okay Alice had begun imposing her will on Betty again, setting out curfew on weeknights, and being quite clear her life wasn’t going to wait for Jughead to get better and she still had to acknowledge her responsibilities, including school which she was being forced to attend to tomorrow.

 The cool air of the late winter night washed over her as soon as Betty exited the automatic doors of Riverdale Hospital. Its bite was refreshing, helping to clear her mind from the tangled thoughts it was enduring. She took a moment to revel in the whip of the wind over her cheeks, making them blush with the cold.

 Taking a deep breath and feeling her lungs fill with frozen oxygen Betty steeled her persona again, pulling her thick coat tighter around her body and heading for Fred’s truck while the sky began to stain with purple shades of night, late afternoon disappearing in its demanding hour.

 “Okay?” Fred asked when she clambered into the back seat. Betty nodded, blowing her warm breath over her now chilled hands hoping to warm the skin.

 “Is he…” Archie began, twisting around in the passenger seat to face Betty.

 Despite the sentence hanging in the air unfinished, Betty knew what her long-time friend was asking her- is he retreating into himself?

 “He’s coping.”

 Archie’s eyes bore into her, seeming to try and dissect the scenes of minutes prior locked into the sanctuary of her mind; curious to the happenings between his two closest friends that he was not privy to.

 On his part, Archie once again felt the dull ache of exclusion brimming in his chest. Logically he knew a couple was two. And that two was Betty and Jughead. He also knew that they had become each other’s confidants early in the year, before they had gotten together and he had failed to notice back then. But now when dire circumstances brought them back to their little trio, he was painfully aware of his sudden segregation. It was strange, being the secondary to each of them. Because up till this year it had always been Jughead playing bystander to the Archie-and-Betty show or Betty acting as the audience to the Archie-and-Jughead show, but now he was the one watching. But what stung the most was the things that they were sharing with each other were things that Archie was sure neither of them probably ever would have shared with him even before this development. Especially Betty…

 Betty squirmed slightly under his stare, feeling her own anxieties crawl across her skin at Archie’s disbelief and concern.

 “What about you?”

Oh.

 Betty stilled momentarily as she realised Archie’s scrutinizing gaze wasn’t entirely about adducing details about Jughead’s state but rather about attempting to uncover her own state of distress. And as much as Betty appreciated the effort she couldn’t help but feel a slight nagging that something was off. Pertaining it to everything that was happening around her, Betty brushed the feeling aside.

 “I’m managing. I just hate leaving him alone right now.”

 Archie leant forward to place a comforting hand on her knee before righting himself in his seat again.

 The rest of the drive was shrouded by silence. As they passed through the town Betty found herself wondering how these streets that looked so similar to the ones of childhood memories, then a vessel of innocence and safety had become one of darkness and hidden truths. Sighing she rested her head on the cool class of the window.

 Hours later after sitting through a draining dinner where her parents quizzed her extensively about Jughead’s condition and the meeting with the social worker, followed by some slightly patronising but mostly sympathetic sighs and then a non-negotiable order that she was return to school the next day- which Betty found stupid considering the week was almost finished anyway- she found herself alone in her room.

 Curled up under the covers of her bed wearing one of Jughead flannels, Betty tried to push away the eminent lull of sleep but failed. Every time she closed her eyes all she could see was his blood soaking the pristine tiles of Pop’s, her hands, her clothes, him. Every time sleep pulled her in she would wake in a cold sweat, the sounds of heart monitors flat lining ringing in her ears. Except in her dreams the tormenting noise of the flat lining never returned to steady beeps and his eyes never opened. Tonight was no different.

 Scream dying on her lips in her waking state Betty shot up in her bed. Her breath came in pants and she took a moment to realise her surroundings. Running a hand through her now tangled blonde hair, Betty reached over to her night stand for her phone.

 3:08am.

 Sighing, she unlocked the screen and immediately went to her photo gallery. It was a strange habit she had acquired in the recent nights after awakening from her terrors. Jughead wasn’t one to parade in front of a camera but the few snaps they did have always brought a smile to her lips and made her feel a little better. Because for one awful moment Betty had known what it was like to live without him, to be alive without him, to live in a world he was no longer in and she was never ever going to take for granted the moments she did have with him again.

Betty pulled the collar of his flannel up higher, breathing in his lingering scent of tobacco and cologne. It made her feel safe and a little closer to him. Wearing his clothes had been something she had always been rather fond of, but now it was a vice. A self-medicating action she was addicted to.

 Betty tried to hold onto his scent as she returned her fingers to her phone screen, scrolling through the photos. She paused on a candid one Veronica had taken of them at Polly’s baby shower before the evening had gone to hell. Neither of them had been aware of the raven haired girl’s sneaky snap until she had sent it to Betty the next day. She was leading him by the hand toward the kitchen, her head turned down and blonde tresses falling in her face but the angle of the photo clearly captured the smile on her lips, while he trailed behind her, his gaze locked on her and shining with affection while a tender, amusement smile twitched at his mouth.

Betty traced her finger over his figure in the still image, trying to push down her heart ache that seemed to be a constant these days. She knew logically he was still there with her, but she had lost him even if for a moment and now she was absolutely terrified of that happening again. Maybe it was unhealthy- her addiction to him- maybe her level of terror and her constant need to be surrounded by him, with him, was abnormal. But she figured she was allowed to endure some PTSD and if not then maybe this was just love.

 The vibration of her phone in her hand startled Betty from her reverie and she quickly opened her text history as confusion as to who would be messaging her at this hour surfaced in her mind. It was quickly dispelled by a sense of serenity though when she saw the little blue dot next to “Jughead” in the list of messages.

 I very much want to believe you are slumbering peacefully in your tower at this hour, but I can’t sleep and I have an inkling it evades you too these days…

 Betty shook her head in astonishment wondering how he could possibly have worked that out when she hadn’t yet brought up the nightmares to him and wasn’t sure if she was going to. She had done an admirable job ensuring her makeup hid the sleep deprived bags under her eyes. The warmth of how attuned he was to her even when recovering in hospital seeped away as worry took its place.

 Your inkling would be correct… is everything okay?

 She waited a tense moment, which felt like an eternity waiting for his reply, gnawing at her bottom lip anxiously. Her phone buzzed again and her eyes eagerly absorbed the text.

 Yeah I took a long nap after you guys left and only woke up a little while ago. Plus late night free view TV is antithetical to cinematic greatness.

 Betty exhaled with relief, her finger nimbly flitting across the keyboard.

 Are you saying I’m your second choice? ;)

 Never.

You okay?

 Always putting her first.

 Yeah just a lot on my mind.

Mum’s making me go to school tomorrow…

 I get the feeling you don’t agree with that parental prerogative?

 Your feeling is correct.

 I’ll be fine Betts.

I know.

 And logically she did know that. But the part of her mind that was stained crimson with his blood and the played the resounding echo of gun shots on a loop did not. And besides she didn’t quite know how to tell him it was her that wouldn’t be fine. Being away from him made her anxious now and she didn’t like the idea of not seeing him first thing.

 I’ll see you in the afternoon?

 Of course!

 Good, now try and get some sleep! X

 Alice barged into Betty's room at 6:30am the next morning a positive grin etched across her face as she claimed today was going to be good day. Betty groaned, shying under the covers as she rubbed her tired eyes. The night mares resurfaced every time she lapsed into sleep, culminating in a restless night.

 "Mom, do I have to go?  Jughead needs me right now!"

 Alice threw a pointed look her way, grabbing a fresh pair of jeans and a soft pink sweater from her draw. 

 "Jughead is stable and under constant care. You're going to school Elizabeth." 

 And with that she was gone. 

 Betty had begrudgingly gotten on with her morning, meeting Archie out front of their houses an hour later. 

 "Hey, good to have you back." The red head expressed genuinely as they began their trek. 

 "I wish I could say it's good to be back but-" 

 "But you'd rather be with Jug. I get that," Archie offered, a hint of bitterness crept into his tone but it went unnoticed. 

 Betty nodded, keeping her eyes ahead of her as her nails dug into her palms within the pockets of her coat. 

 She was on edge all day itching to run away from English and algebra and escape to the hospital. 

 By lunch she’d had her limit of mediocre expressions of sympathy, whispers in hallways and small talk and retreated to the blue and gold. 

 Pulling up a new document on her laptop, Betty poised her fingers over the keys and desperately searched for inspiration. None came. 

 She couldn't shake the off kilter feeling of being in the room without Jughead there. It had started when he had gone to Southside High, her involvement in the paper seeming somehow wrong without him, the office violently empty. Yet now knowing where he was she felt a sharp sting of loneliness accompanied by panic drive through her body.  

 Just as she began to spiral into anxiety the door opened and Veronica walked in cautiously. The sounds of her steps bringing Betty back to herself. 

 "Hey, I brought you some coffee." 

 "Thanks V," Betty accepted graciously stifling a yawn.

 Veronica appraised her with critical eyes, taking in her friends evidently fatigued and slightly off state.

 "How are you doing? She asked after a moment, sitting on the edge of the desk and elegantly crossing her stocking clad legs.

 "I'm fine. I just would rather be with him you know?" 

 "Of course you would B. You love him and days ago he was fighting for his life," Veronica empathised, deciding agreeance was the best approach here. 

 Betty nodded, finger skimming the edge of the coffee cup. 

 "How's he doing anyway?" 

 "Better," Betty insisted a half smile tweaking her features and lightening her face as she remembered his change of ward. 

 "I think Kevin mentioned something about his dad wanting to talk to Jughead soon, just FYI." 

 Betty's eyes widened. She knew this would come eventually but she didn't want Jughead to have go through the trauma again, god knows it was getting to her every time the Sherriff had asked her questions and even just by way of her own minds reminders. She also feared the eminent blame on the gang who had recently offered themselves up as Jughead's family and felt apprehensive toward his reaction to that line of questioning. 

 The rest of the school day had dragged on incessantly and Betty found herself watching the clock more than what was being written on the board. Finally after a pain stakingly slow passage of hours the hands of the clock finally rounded on 3pm and the bell sounded, invoking her liberty. The usually demur girl became a whirlwind of blonde hair and pink sweater as she made incredibly quick work of gathering her necessary books and bag from her locker and started on the journey to Riverdale Hospital.

The walk, although not excessive was still a reasonable distance from the school, but Betty welcomed the distraction of her aching feet and cold soaked limbs brought her. For a few blissful moments she was able to immerse herself in shallow and menial self-pity and complaining temporarily obstructing her constant worries and ache for the raven haired boy she was on her way to see.

Once she had finally arrived at the hospital Betty had to pause and stop her body from moving on autopilot toward Jughead’s previous room in the ICU and instead head toward his new residence. Shaking her head she redirected her steps and headed toward the children’s ward.

 With each step she took closer to him Betty felt her anxiety dissipate a little more. The surroundings of crisp carpets and shining tiles, white walls and gurneys scatter throughout hallways still made her a little sick with the traumatic memory of why she was there to begin with, but the drawn out day without seeing his face was much worse.

 Eventually she reached the section of the hospital he was residing in, and made brisk work of moving across the small communal area in which the nurses station stood and heading toward his door.

 The bundled up girl let out a content sigh as she closed in on his room, a small smile twitching at her lips at the thought of spending her afternoon with him, being there for him.

 “Excuse me, are you here to visit Forsythe Jones?” a polite voice stopped Betty in her tracks.

 Her heart instantly plummeted as she turned toward the nurse, who had placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Betty’s nerves stood on end as her stomach churned with nausea and her chest constricted painfully, anxiety flaring within her. Her mind was spinning with all the possibilities as to why the nurse would need to intercept her.

 Oh god.

 Her vision tinted red with images of pooling blood. Her coat was scratchy and heavy against her too warm body now and she could feel her hands trembling as the horrid flat lining noises returned to drum in her ears, heart aching and her blood running cold. No, he was fine.. He can’t-

 Taking a deep breath to calm herself and calling upon the last essence of sanity she had, Betty searched the nurse’s face alarmed.

 “Jughead. I’m his girlfriend. He… Is he-“

 “Oh no, he’s fine! I’m sorry to make you panic!” the nurse’s eyes widened in realisation and she spoke with a quick and apologetic tone.

 “Thanks god,” Betty breathed, closing her eyes and taking another stabilising breath to try and still her racing heart and appease her shot nerves.

 “The Sherriff is actually talking to him right now though, so you may have to wait a little while before you see him.”

 Betty’s shoulder’s stiffened again and she nodded in understanding, though her eyes had taken on a hard tint. She bit her lips in frustration, hoping to have been with him to offer her support and anchoring when he was ultimately interrogated by the Sherriff. It wasn’t that Kevin’s dad didn’t have good intentions and didn’t feel for Jughead, but she knew he was just as susceptible to the prejudices almost the entirety of Riverdale held toward those from the Southside.  He no doubt thought Jughead was gunned down due to being involved in some shady business. The thought made her heart seize momentarily as she remembered the leather jacket now hanging in his closet. As quick as the thought had come though, she pushed it away; she trusted Jughead.

 “I’m sorry I don’t mean to be rude, but I was there when… I was with him when…” her words hitch and die as she’s again blinded by the haunting memory. Gun shots, pain, so much blood. “When it happened, so I don’t think they’ll mind.” Betty finishes resolutely, finding her strength.

 The nurse offers her a sympathetic look, eyes filled with a brand of pity that makes Betty’s chest feel hollow and her hands curl into tight fists.

 “Oh I’m so sorry, of course, go through.”

 “Thank you.”

 Swallowing the bad taste in her mouth at this entire situation, the entire day really, Betty continued on her path toward his room. She pushes the door open half way before peering around it.  She takes in the sight before her- Jughead propped up in his hospital bed dark brows furrowed in what she thinks is both pain and frustration, mouth turned down in a slight frown and hair messy. Sherriff Keller sits in the arm chair beside his bed, notebook in hand.

 “Am I interrupting?”

 Jughead’s eyes immediately found hers as the sound of her voice broke through the terse silence of the room, only interrupted by the scratching of pen on paper on the Sherriff’s part. A warm smile pulled at her lips as she was enveloped by her boyfriend’s presence, her heart feeling significantly more at ease, finally having him in her sights. Though, she still felt the gnawing of the pit in her stomach his frail form.

 “No. C’mere,” his gruff voice invited, and Betty tried to bite back her laugh at his obvious attempt to irritate the Sherriff.

 “Betty,” Sherriff Keller greeted, eyes momentarily glancing up at her from his notepad.

 “Sheriff,” she returned in an equally monotone voice, shrugging off her heavy winter coat and perching on the edge of the bed.

 Her hand automatically found Jughead’s, hoping to offer him some moral support as well as selfishly needing to feel his touch for her own sanity.

 “So you didn’t get a look at the guy at all?” Keller continued, moving past the disruption.

 “Bit busy bleeding out,” Jughead dead panned, and despite feeling a flash of panic flood through her at the vivid image again blaring in her mind, Betty found a distinct sense of comfort in the sarcastic comment even if it lacked his usual hard tone.

 “Right,” the Sherriff nodded tersely, “And no tattoo?”

 Jughead’s jaw clenched.

“Not one of a snake.”

 There was venom in his eyes and Betty felt her own blood boil at the repetitive suggestion. The Serpent’s took care of their own. That’s what FP had told them, that’s what Jughead had told her and that’s what the Serpents themselves had told Jughead on a night in his trailer that seemed like a lifetime ago even though it had not even been a week. And Betty on her part believed that, the show of unity for her boyfriend in his vulnerable state of having a father being shipped off the prison told her that, even if she was sceptical of what else they did.

 “I already told you that Sherriff,” She cut in curtly, her own features turning down.

 “I know you did. But there are certain people in this town that seem to always be associated with certain incidents so-“

 “Like Clifford Blossom?” Betty was harbouring on furious. She didn’t understand how after everything that had happened over the last nine months could be so readily dismissed.

 Riverdale was full of secrets, lies and hidden intent. And while it may have presented a glossier exterior than the Southside, that didn’t make it safer. Just better at covering things up.

 The Sherriff pursed his lips, eyeing her with a hard expression.

 “Alright I didn’t come here to cause trouble. I’m just doing my job. If you think of anything else important Jughead call me.”

 Jughead nodded absently as the Sherriff got up and began to make his way out the room. Betty’s hand was clutching his a little tighter now in her angered state but his mind was dwelling elsewhere. The remnants of pain flashed through him as he dove into the memories of Saturday morning, trying desperately to wade past the fuzzy images of the gun barrel pointed at Betty and then himself and then blinding, searing pain. And then nothing. He remembered the echoes of desperate screams and Betty’s frantic frame above him, her pretty face marred with tears. He remembered panic and fear and white hot adrenaline at the thought of the bullet passing through her and somehow managing to be thankful it had selected him instead.

 But he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something important he was missing.

 Jughead chewed down on his lip wading further into the depths of his memory, desperately seeking for the answer.

 As he searched his eyes bore through a card hung above the window. It was a blue one with a picture of a puppy that Archie thought would be funny in its seeming juxtaposition of Jughead’s hard exterior.

 Archie…

 His eyes widened as Jughead clicked onto the missing piece.

 “Wait!” he gasped out, his chest burning with the exertion the volume had created.

 The Sherriff stilled at the door and turned back to face him with curiosity written across his face. He waited with raised brows as Jughead sputtered for second, Betty rubbing his back gently as the coughs subsided.

 “It was Fred. The guy who shot me, he was asking for Fred Andrews.”

[thesmallworldofsamizayn]

An analysis of John and Paul’s artwork

I haven’t seen any analysis or comparison of the visual art of these two anywhere, and I do think it’s an interesting topic. So, I got a little carried away with the idea. Not a comparison of quality, mind, but an emotional one, and one which reveals their attitude to this kind of creative process.

Firstly the similarities: John and Paul both employ that kind of scraggly humour you see them use in their early interviews, and in In His Own Write in their art. It’s witty in a languid, musing way, particularly in John’s case, but I think there is an element of it too in the surrealist style of Paul’s work. With fairness to both of them being musicians first and artists quite a low second, their master of the medium is not the highest it could be, but that is not really the point. Certainly neither one cares much if a likeness is correct, and both of them create emotive works rather than representational works (well, Paul might have done some representational stuff I haven’t seen because it’s not online... but I doubt it’s really representational).

Let’s start with Paul. Technically, he has the upper hand in terms of craftsmanship of an artwork, if only due to the fact that the media he grapples with are far more complex than the pen and ink John prefers (oil, for instance). He fills every inch of his canvas with colour, he shades, he creates whole scenes rather than sketches. Every one of them feels in some way like a project, never a throw-away scribble as no doubt John considered much of his work. Every scene is also different, and many focus on different subjects, if any. Some depict real objects, others do not, and all of them have a piece of soul trapped inside. There is an anxiety in several, in the sickly bright colours, indefinable shapes, smeary brush strokes, and sometimes in the facial expressions of his figures. I actually find a fair number of his paintings uncomfortable to look at: they do weird things with colour, and they look, as I said, restless. But this is not a criticism: they are challenging paintings, and if not to the rest of the world, they are very important to him.

They are expressions of his feelings, and a product of his age (he only started painting in 1983). It seems to me that a lot of Paul’s demons go into these pictures, where they normally do not go into his words. They are almost entirely indecipherable, abstract looks at his subconscious, and like Paul himself they betray an inner depth without telling you what exactly that inner depth IS. Therefore they are harder to unpick than some of John’s work. The gloominess of some of them takes me a little by surprise, as does the sound understanding of the medium. Like many I assumed that John was the artist and no one else. There are a few paintings which have more logical backgrounds, like his pictures of the queen or of Linda. As in his music, empathy is the driving force: he draws as he writes, eternally inspired by the lives of others and coy (or perhaps just unsure) about his own life. If there are any self-portraits I cannot find them.

Now we move onto John, the minimalist. His drawings are almost brutally quick in some places, and achingly tender in others. He prefers blank ink to any other medium, presumably as it enables him to get something out quickly and with little hassle or practice: a direct pipeline to whatever he’s feeling in that moment. He tends to draw portraits or people more than anything, and unlike Paul he is prone to draw the same composition repeatedly - rather like how he “finds a note and hammers it home” when writing music, in his own words. Oh, and nearly all of these compositions are self-portraits or portraits of his family. So far I’d say these discrepancies between Lennon and McCartney are to be expected. But also, unlike Paul, there is an abiding sense of peace and simplicity in John’s drawings, particularly his family pictures, which were drawn in the late ‘70s. I find it hard not to smile a little looking at some of them: him and Yoko embracing, Sean between them, his own face looking passive and peaceable with round glasses, and often a soft wry smile. What is wrong with this picture? Is the title of one. It’s a challenge: nothing is wrong, you’re supposed to say, it’s a happy family.

There are two ways to interpret this. One is that John was genuinely experiencing peace and joy with his wife and son, and wanted to capture that joy through pictures. Every time he felt grateful for his life, he drew another portrait. The self-portraits are introspective, questioning, and despite being full of energy and character, are hopelessly blank as the eyes are invisible behind the glasses. The other way to interpret, the more cynical way, is that these are attempts to soothe himself, convince himself that things really are great. There is much to suggest that he was not really feeling on top of the world between 1976 and 1980, being away from music, and away from Yoko a lot of the time, shut inside his apartment. As usual with John’s frustrating mind, I am inclined to believe a little of both interpretations. It is also possible that for every happy drawing there are three angry or depressed ones, which Yoko prefers not to show the world. But it seems to me that these pictures are John, unusually, looking for the good in his situation, rather than the bad. He counts his blessings, and his blessings take the shape of Yoko, Sean and himself.

It’s strange that even in their art, there is this fearful symmetry. Where Paul is charming and upbeat in music, John goes growly and bluesy. Where Paul is frenzied and enigmatic in his art, John becomes open, unburdened and simple. But I don’t think that this is to be taken as a contradiction to their personalities. Because in John’s artwork there is, amidst the peace and weirdness, that knowing smirk, the wit and awareness that he is right. He doesn’t need to draw different things. He knows what he wants, he knows what he knows, and nothing’s gonna change his world. And in Paul’s work, the dominant flavour is one of experimentation: what if I tried this, or that, or these together. He pushes himself out, technically and physically exerting himself (those paintings are massive, John’s are probably about A5 in size) to create what he can.

I’m sure there is more to say on this. I haven’t really expressed it as well as I could, so I’ll just leave a couple of pictures for comparison. Here’s Paul’s painting, Unspoken Words, and John’s drawing, Real Love. They both give satisfaction in their own way, Paul’s in the proof of his emotional complexity and John’s in the honest expression of peace and happiness… And both (unsurprisingly) in their natural ability to translate feelings into art so fluidly. Personally I prefer John’s stuff, just on an aesthetic level, but that’s just my personal taste.

[bomber-base]

Sora Says: Super Bomberman R Sure is a Thing

Bomberlovelies! It’s your fruit-snack-loving neighborhood Sora here with some SBR stuff.

First off, I’m not sure how many people this matters to, and I suppose technically I’m practically a month late on this, but! I’ve been striving to keep the Base as spoiler-free as possible for those unable to play SBR for the time being. So, as you may have noticed, spoilers are noted and/or cut in the posts that they happen to appear in. I’m not sure how long to keep this up for; maybe six months to a year? What do y’all think? This is the first time I’ve ever had to be cautious about spoilers for a general audience, so I’m a little unsure on the etiquette.

Secondly, I’ve tested out the recent patch for SBR, and the controls are definitely improved. I had to use the not-quite-a-d-pad on the Joy-Cons the first time through, but now I can comfortably use the joystick to get around. I’ve been lost in the fields of Hyrule for the time being, though, so I haven’t yet had too much occasion yet to fully enjoy this update.

Thirdly, to the surprise of absolutely no one, I have Thoughts™ about this game. Not comprehensive ones, not coherent ones, and probably not even particularly interesting or unique ones, but Thoughts™ regardless. So here they are, spoiler-free: not so much a proper game review as it is me just bomberblathering into the void.

***

Super Bomberman R appears to be the result of what Bomberman used to be trying to score with what Bomberman could be. Unfortunately, they barely make it to first base, and on the way to second base they fall into a sudden rift in space-time that leads to the universe of Normal End TSA, a universe which could ultimately be considered responsible for that other reboot everyone knows about. This is a terrible metaphor from a terrible fan with terrible crack theories. That is to say, SBR should have been a triumphant return to form for the Bomberman series, but ends up being...a little less so.

For a loser like me, who properly came in during the Nintendo 64 era and had been super-stoked about the apparent return to that style of gameplay with the now-canceled Bomberman 3DS, the reality of SBR is once a golden promise and twice a leaden disappointment, a description which really shortchanges lead in its ability to shield us from bone-frying radiation. While obviously I was -- and still am -- relieved that Konami is actually making good-faith efforts to bring Bomberman to life again and save him from the nothing he’s become, I was much less thrilled with what they threw back to, and wholly unimpressed by the result from a gameplay standpoint. With mechanics that are pared down even compared to the game that inspired them, SBR completely failed to sell me on the old-school formula. It’s more impressive in terms of the rebooted aesthetics, with stronger visuals and writing, but the general execution of the reboot arguably comes at the cost of some of the nostalgic power that Konami wanted to harness.

Fans who lit their fuses with the SuperBomb games might feel differently than I do, of course. It’s entirely possible that maybe this game isn’t “for me,” that there’s something I’m missing about SBR that would trip the nostalgia wire in someone else. As a childhood fan of the Bomberman games for Nintendo consoles around the late 90s and early 00s, it’s difficult to talk about the flaws of SBR without making it sound like I’m just bitter that it’s not Bomberman 64 R(edux). I mean, I am, but that’s beside the point. Also I have yet to properly play Bomberman 64 so I’m probably not even a real N64 fan. In the cascade of sentiments that follows, though, I've done what I can to meet SBR on its own terms in order to argue that, even by the retro standards it draws from, it doesn’t live up to what it could or should have been. Conversely, there were things I quite liked about the game! And I’ve made my best effort to give credit where credit is due. Make no mistake: SBR had more pressure than other games I could name (like a certain legendary one...) to pull off a perfect 10 on balancing tradition with innovation. Both directions come with their high points and pitfalls, and fans will have differing opinions about how well Konami scored on either.

Personal grievances aside, I ultimately think it was important for Konami to first prove that they still had a handle on the bomberbasics, especially given the quirkier entries that got released in the lead-up to Hudson Soft being assimilated into the Konamiborg. (I mean, I liked Custom Battler Bomberman and think more people should check it out, but how did they even decide it was a good idea?) While I’ll contend that this game is maybe too basic, the overall choice to reference the SuperBomb series makes sense considering that Bomberman’s heyday was during his Super Nintendo days. (My gosh, have you seen the merch? The merch!!!) So in the end I can’t really blame Konami for using it as a springboard. I can only wish that they’d stuck the landing a little better.

The takeaway: Super Bomberman R is a more of a gilded lead pebble than a 24-karat star, but, like lead, it still has its uses and strengths. It’s a relatively decent effort by Konami to reintroduce him back into console gaming, a distinctive entry in Bomberman’s history up to this point, and a solid choice to start a revival with -- almost in spite of itself.

Hate the Game, Not the Player (The Game Already Hates the Player)

(I should note that I’m saying all this from the standpoint of having beat single-player once on Beginner mode. Aside from being a terrible fan with terrible metaphors and terrible theories, it also turns out I’m also a terrible gamer. The Terrible Tyrantress of Bomber Base: that’s me. So it’s entirely possible that some of my beefs with the gameplay are rectified in the two other difficulties, or in some other unlockable thing I haven’t done or heard of yet.)

How “pared down” are we talking, in regards to this game’s mechanics? When I began the initial round of wordbarfing, I initially wrote that Super Bomberman R was such a throwback that remote bombs don’t exist in it. Turns out that both Super Bomberman 3 (which appears to be the primary inspiration for SBR, considering that they share the same basic plot premise) and the original Bomberman game for NES featured them. Whoops. No Hearts or Louies/Tirras either, which means that Bomberman is back to the good ol’ days of being a one-hit wonder. Fair enough: that’s pretty old-school, right? We don’t need no stinkin’ heart meter in these parts. But let’s take a closer look at the powerups. SBR has a functional enough set comprised of Bomb Up, Fire Up, Fire Down, Speed Up, Power Glove, Boxing Glove, Pierce Bombs, and Rubber Bombs. But it’s quite clearly lacking when you compare it with SB3′s offerings. And for a game which actually translates your score into in-game currency for continues and unlocking multiplayer options (a.k.a the shit that 99.5% of bomberfandom cares about), it’s unfortunate that Konami decided not to include bonus items (which, again, were featured in both the original Bomberman for NES and Super Bomberman 3) to help boost your numbers. Additionally, the lack of Bomb Downs and Speed Downs/Sandals lowers some of the stakes of the gameplay. You gain points for every power-up you collect, so it’s not inconceivable to theorize that running into a Bomb Down or a Speed Down would result in you losing those points. (Admittedly, I’m not sure at the moment how Fire Downs function in the game from a score standpoint, since I’ve avoided them thus far.)

I can’t believe I had to satisfy my thirst for remote bombs with BotW. Unexpected perk of a Zelda game is unexpected.

The lack of item variety might not grate so much if the overall context of the gameplay were more diverse and/or expanded. SBR does a little better than its predecessors in introducing alternate stage objectives for each world, but I found that the ones for world 1 and world 5 were too similar, which is fairly glaring when you’re only looking at five worlds in total. Additionally, the objectives that requires you to find a set amount of certain objects don’t randomize their location, removing an element of challenge from the gameplay. The field enemies are generic and monotonous, with what seem to be only aesthetic variations across worlds (and movement speed across difficulties, as I understand it). You can sometimes take them out via bombing a support structure that collapses on top of them, which can be fun when it happens, but there aren’t too many opportunities to pull that off and not much incentive to do so other than personal validation. The Baroms/Balloms/Valcoms/no-one-cares-about-localization-consistency-with-Bomberman highlight my earlier point about SBR’s innovation at the cost of nostalgia: their flipped design is an interesting twist, but I admit I didn’t even realize what they were until someone pointed out their balloony nature. On the other hand, at least SBR also gave us the Hige Hige Bandits (technically they’re from the Saturn iteration of the games, but it was around the same era and they’re cute so I’ll let it pass), and you get the impression that the mecha forms of the Dastardly Bombers were absolutely made for 3D. Their arena fights feature some really smart AI as well, even on Beginner mode. (Though there are still sometimes...mishaps...) However, I’ve seen less-than-impressed comments about the rinse-and-repeat nature of their mecha fights, which further reinforce the dull repetitiveness that appears to be endemic to this game as a whole. At this point I would almost welcome a bonus stage of Pontans armed with just 1 Bomb, 1 Fire, and 1 Speed. While there are over 50 stages in the game, 1/5th of those are boss battles (if you count the arena battle and the mecha battle as two separate stages) and they overall go by quite fast.

Comments about the disparity between the dearth of game content with the game’s full retail price are further underscored when you consider that story mode’s main replay value appears to solely be in earning currency to unlock all the multiplayer goodies and custom antenna attachments. Not that replaying story mode for battle mode booty is anything new, of course. But at least something like Bomberman 64 also featured a way to unlock additional story mode content, and you were able to customize the full character instead of just the antenna. The setup reads like Konami trying to Stockholm players into liking a half-assed single-player misadventure. I’m a little concerned that SBR potentially demonstrates the modern limitations of Bomberman’s original arcade-based formula, i.e., the gridded, linearly-progressing stages. With the chance to reboot Bomberman for a new generation of gaming, Konami needs to do what the Zelda team did for BotW and sit down to figure out what is actually a legitimate convention of bombercanon, and what is a convention only because “that’s how it’s always been,” especially if it grew out of the technical limitations of the past. 

I’m not gonna shut up about Zelda, okay. I was Zeldatrash before I was bombertrash.

In terms of multiplayer, well, we already know that Konami sorta bombed it a little out of the gate, given the lag issues for online play. But even at its core, the multiplayer experience doesn’t make the grade -- or at least as high of a grade as it should have for a series that has such a huge reputation as a party game. You can’t even argue that it’s just “going back to basics,” as SB3 at least let you choose whether you wanted to do an all-out Battle Royale or a Tag Match, along with offering item minigames to let players have a chance to start the following match at an advantage. On the other end of the spectrum, one of the selling points of the Switch is its ability to adapt to multiple setups for on-the-go or at home. It’s not hard to surmise that Konami wanted to get hitched to the Switch in order to promote Bomberman’s multiplayer capabilities. So why are the battle mode options aside from the stage selection so bare? Obviously we don’t yet have any sort of insight into the development process and timeline of SBR, but it seems like they should have at least blown battle mode out of the water given 1) the price they charged for the game and 2) how much downtime the franchise had. It’s not like they didn’t have any inspiration for it, either: all they had to do was look at Bomberman Generation and they’d be set to start the party. Online play does host some interesting features, such as ranked match-ups and the ability to create individual battle rooms for yourself and whoever you invite to fight things out with, but I’m not sure how this compares with something like, say, Bomberman Live. Someone more informed is going to have to pick up the slack. The point is, where’s my Reversi Battle, dammit?!

Even the Way I Do Subsection Headings is Cool (Spoilers: It’s Not)

The first surprising thing Konami did for the franchise this year was to announce an actual console game for it. The second surprising thing they did was to upgrade the aesthetics of the original in both visuals and storytelling. The third surprising thing they did was Bombergirl. That they bothered to introduce no less than eight protagonist characters, animate cutscenes with those characters in them, and have those characters voiced with (at least in Japanese) some all-star talent continues to astonish me, not to mention some of the little spoilery details they threw in. While I generally agree about how short the cutscenes are, the writers still managed to make the most of what they were given to work with. Each sibling gets their fifteen seconds of fame not by hogging the spotlight and leaving the rest of their siblings in the dark, but by sharing it and letting the personality dominoes fall where they may; notable moments for me are the ending cutscenes for world 1 and world 3. In this way, in spite of the large cast and the decidedly-less-large narrative space, no character feels too neglected. We’re not talking JRPG levels of writing depth here, not by a longshot, but it’s probably the most consistently entertaining writing I’ve seen from a Bomberman game.

(Granted, the Bomberman series likes its writing the way Zoniha likes her men, i.e. barely there. So it’s not like SBR had a high bar to clear.)

The colorful cutscenes directed by Poeyama and illustrated by Hideyuki Takenami burst with expressiveness and fun, and the redesigns for Bagular/Buggler and the Dastardlies are delightful extrapolations of their older looks. So it’s a mystery to me why Konami didn’t extend any of that good stuff to the actual gameplay graphics. I said in a previous post that the contrast between the realistic environments and the cartoony vibe of the characters would probably help with navigating the game world, but in actuality I found the environmental details too overwhelming and distracting, which when combined with the then-iffy controls led to more than a few deaths for me. (World 3, I would say I’ve got my eye on you, but I need to keep what’s left of my poor eyesight.) Additionally, while they’re well-rendered, they’re also on the generic side, which is doubly disappointing given the distinct nature of the cutscene visuals and the character designs. It’s not like there hasn’t been a 3D Bomberman game with overly-stylized gameplay graphics before (see again: Bomberman Generation, and to a lesser degree Bomberman Jetters), so why so standard? Especially since such a direction, again, arguably neutralizes some of the nostalgic charm of SBR. Who the hell hails the Bomberman games, especially the Super Bomberman ones, for their ultra-realistic graphics?

The animation only kinda makes up for the uninspired environments. Konami gets my applause for the unique walk cycles, victory poses, and idle stances, any one of which would have been more effort than I would have expected out of them. But they all have the same bomb-throwing animation that honestly barely qualifies as an animation considering how it feels like it lasts half a frame. I wouldn’t normally harp on something so nitpicky except that Konami’s own promotional efforts for the game made such a big deal of the UNIQUE PERSONALITIES!!! of each bombersib. If they were already going as far as to customize each character’s idle stance, it seems like such a gross oversight to not also customize the other basic movement associated with a Bomberman character, or at least give it a little more flair and presence. The enemies also just flop over and blip out of existence when they die, which aside from being unsatisfying in general also doesn’t do justice to the source material. I’m not asking for bloody gibs splattered across the scenery here (although that could be kind of funny if handled in just the right tongue-in-cheek sort of way), but watch a couple of minutes of gameplay from SB3 and you’ll see that along with featuring death animations in general, different enemies even have different ones. In short, despite some genuinely nice attention to detail -- let me reiterate that the designs for the Dastardlies’ mechas are pretty awesome -- the gameplay visuals generally don’t match up to the fun factor of the cutscenes, resulting in a slightly inconsistent feel for the game and (more importantly) some missed shots at recapturing the charms of the original.

Given the effort Konami has put into the upgraded aesthetics and narrative and the subsequent promotion focusing around that (yes, I’ve seen episode 2 of Bomberman TV and me and BDR are working on summarizing that; well, mostly BDR, really), it’s hard not to think that Konami was trying to cover up a manure mound with sheets of rainbow gold. Nevertheless, that same effort, along with some spoilery stuff, suggests the possibility of follow-ups in this particular iteration of the canon, which can hopefully only be a good thing. I’d still prefer a return to the more traditional Bomberman lore, but I don’t mind riding shotgun for this. I mean, shit, the scenery’s great.

The Rest is Still Unwritten (Because My Pen Ran Out of Ink and Pommy Ate My Spare One)

There are some other things I could kvetch about in this game (things I didn’t touch upon here: the English voice-acting and the music, particularly the menu tracks), but in the end, I’m still happy SBR exists, and I don’t regret shelling out full price for it. The awesome thing about modern gaming is that Konami is able to fix parts of SBR according to player demand via online patches, as mentioned at the top of this post, which also means that, theoretically, there’s room for DLC to address the lack of content. The recent releases of Bomberman games of VC indicates more official interest in the series again, while the direction displayed by SBR show promising experimentation and expansion of the canon. And the scale of the promotional efforts for SBR is clearly Konami putting on some serious gameface in the matter of making Bomberman relevant again. It’s like seeing the signs of the apocalypse on Opposite Day.

As of the time of posting, the third week of numbers is in for SBR, from both Media Create and Famitsu (via Game Data Library). No matter which metric you go by, SBR has broken over 50,000 copies sold in less than a month, which is on par with or beyond the lifetime numbers of many other Bomberman games. Super Bomberman R might be far from a perfect game, with some circumstances mitigating its impressive numbers, but it’s still one to respect.

[golfnomad]

There’s Golf in Them Thar Hills, Part 2

Day two of my quick visit to California’s Gold Country took me to four courses in a whirlwind day of golf. I will cover the first two courses in this article, since I need to do a better job of spacing out my content. Each article will feature one full-length course and one 9-hole short course.

I stayed the night in Sonora, at the Sonora Inn hotel. The whole downtown is interesting with an old west mining town feel mixed with some Spanish missionary style. The hotel is really old and it has a cool, yet creepy vibe. I didn’t experience any paranormal activity, but it definitely looks like a place that would be haunted!

I got up early the next morning and wiggled my way through some dark and winding back roads, eventually finding my first course for the day...

Mountain Springs Golf Club • Sonora, CA • 10/20/2017

You don’t hear much about golf in this region, and you especially don’t hear much about any of the courses I played on Friday. I’m not sure why because it’s such a beautiful setting and the golf courses offer plenty to draw the interest of traveling golfers like me.

It had rained overnight and thick fog was rolling through the mountains in the morning. I had already booked a 7:22 tee time, which is the earliest they had. I arrived a little before 7:00 and the place was a ghost town other than one maintenance guy starting to pull carts out front. I had just gotten my new iPhone 8 a few weeks ago and this round was my first real “dawn patrol” test with the new camera’s low-light abilities.

It definitely passed the test as I walked around and snapped some killer unfiltered pictures with the fog hugging the hilltops all around the course. It looked so beautiful. The sad thing is that by the time I finally teed off, the fog had engulfed the course and it obscured many good photo opportunities throughout the front nine. Still, the iPhone did much better in the fog than any other camera or phone I’ve owned.

A couple other golfers showed up, but decided to go play a different course instead (Phoenix Lake, which I played later in the day and will review in Part 3 of this story). Eventually, the pro shop guy showed up and got me checked in at the $47 (with cart) rate. I basically had the place to myself other than a few encounters with maintenance on the course. I finished in just over two hours, perhaps spending more time taking pictures than hitting my ball.

Mountain Springs was designed by Robert Muir Graves and it utilizes the natural mountain terrain very well. No two holes are the same and there is no such thing as a flat lie anywhere on this course. There are downhill shots and uphill shots to/from elevated greens and tee boxes. Then, there are numerous side-slanting fairways (usually in conjunction with a dogleg) that really come into play. You definitely want to pay attention to the slopes here and land your ball on the high sides.

Mountain Springs has a number of memorable holes. The flattest hole on the course is the signature par-3 17th, which plays over a water hazard. Perhaps my favorite hole was the par-4 10th. It offers an elevated tee on a severe dogleg right hole. The fairway slopes from left-to-right all the way, so if you catch the right spot you can really run it down there. With my shorter cut shot, it was more like hitting it and hoping it it didn’t funnel into the bunkers on the corner. Thankfully, I placed it in just the right spot to benefit from the slope.

Conditions were decent for this point in the season. The tee boxes were fine. The fairways were pretty patchy in places and had plenty of mushy/muddy spots, as well. I had mostly decent enough lies, though. The rough had pretty good coverage where it mattered, though there were plenty of gopher mounds and lumpy/patchy sections. The bunkers had good sand and I passed the maintenance guy dragging and hand-raking each one, so it's clear they keep them up nicely here. The greens were punched not too long ago, so they were sandy, bumpy and slow. From what I could tell, it looks like they're probably normally in nice shape and should be back to normal in a few more weeks.

Mountain Springs turned out to be one of several pleasant surprises on this trip. I love mountain golf, but this course has a much more open feel than something like Sequoia Woods. At times, I was definitely reminded of La Purisima or maybe Diablo Grande, which are both positive comparisons.

Some pictures from Mountain Springs Golf Club (10/20/17):

Next, I went on a mini short course blitz just to the northeast of Mountain Springs. I started with the furthest course away...

Twain Harte Golf Club • Twain Harte, CA • 10/20/17

I arrived around 10:00 and the place was pretty wide open. I saw a couple groups out on the course and a foursome of older gentlemen were just teeing off on the first hole. The price was $19 to walk nine holes, which I thought was extremely expensive for a course of this caliber.

I ended up playing through those older dudes on the second hole and then didn’t run into anyone else. I was done fairly quickly.

Twain Harte is a small mountain town off of Highway 108. It is named for authors, Mark Twain and Bret Harte (not to be confused with wrestler Bret “The Hitman” Hart), who both are tied to local history. I drove past Twain’s old cabin outside of Angels Camp the day before. And, if you’ve ever read the “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mr. Twain, you can enjoy one of the locally inspired stories he wrote while living there. 

The golf course in Twain Harte is a simple 9-hole layout that plays to a par of 29. It features a couple of short par-4s and then a healthy mix of par-3s ranging from 140 yards up to 210 yards from the front nine blue tees. There are separate white tees meant to play as your back nine. Ladies play the red/gold combo.

This is a decent little track that offers plenty of challenge for a short course. There are a lot of trees in play and some awkward tee shots. I did notice the 8th hole is currently using a temporary green. On the card and signage, it is listed as a 180-yard par-3. However, if you had to play to the normal green, it would be an evil dogleg left from the tee (corner being lined with massive trees and a fence along the bordering street OB). That would be a nasty little hole if actually a par-3. Not sure what the future of this hole is either way.

Conditions were adequate throughout the course. It was fairly green and lush. The greens were very soft and rolling at medium speeds. There is a lot of slope in play on these small greens, so downhill putts can be tough to stop, even on a soggy morning.

If you are all the way out in Twain Harte for some inconceivable reason, the course is a fun way to kill an hour or two. I noticed they did have lights throughout the course, but I am not sure if/when they use them for nighttime play. I saw no indications of them being open past sunset, at least not this time of year.

Some pictures from Twain Harte Golf Club (10/20/17):

[arplis]

Arplis - News: The Best Gifts for 4-Year-Olds, According to Child Development Experts

Age 4 is a huge milestone year. Not only do many 4-year-olds go to preschool or start pre-kindergarten, they tend to become much more well-rounded, articulate opinionated little humans at this age. Most 4-year-olds start to share, ask tons of questions, and form solid friendships.  Kids also become choosier about what toys they will or won’t play with around age 4. That’s why the best Christmas gifts for 4-year-olds are toys that play into these new, emerging capabilities while also taking kids’ own specific idiosyncrasies and interests into account. 

“Think about simple board games to use new thinking skills and emerging self-control as they wait for a turn and cope with losing, puppets to tell stories with, interlocking plastic blocks to create structures, a child-sized chalkboard for writing and drawing, or a bicycle or other wheeled toys so they can move their strong, growing bodies,” says Rebecca Parlakian, the senior director of programs at Zero to Three. “And pretend play props are always a great idea, as they let kids make up and act out stories.”

When it comes to Christmas gifts, consider a toy’s longevity. Open-ended toys, ones that can be played with in limitless ways, are the gold standard. They include blocks of all shapes and sizes, such as Legos, and toys that mimic real-life objects and tools. As a general rule, the less a toy does, the more your kid’s imagination has to work. When it comes down to it, the best toys for 4-year-olds are those that let them play however they want.

Balance Board by Wobbel

This wobbly board teaches kids about balance, helps them hone their gross motor skills, and supports up to 480 pounds worth of child. Plus, most of all, it's a hell of a good time because it's way harder than it looks. And it doubles as a bridge or a tunnel for playtime.

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Wooden Stacking Board Game by Lewo

Another spot-on game for kids and parents to play together, this one gives their fine motor skills a workout. Kids use their small muscles and problem-solving abilities to stack the blocks, move them, and reposition them to keep the tower intact.

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Ukelele by Hape

A wood gorgeous guitar perfectly sized for 4-year-olds, with tunable strings. It looks like it belongs at Coachella. And it lets kids explore the fundamentals of music and rhythm.

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Wooden Balancing Tree by PlanToys

Looks easy, right? Wrong. Kids work on their motor skills, while doing some serious concentration, as they try to balance the six birds on the 10 branches.

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Bowling Friends by Melissa & Doug

Things don't get any more fun than hurling a pin at these soft animals and knocking them over. The weighted bottoms make the game ever more challenging.

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Adjustable Telescope for Kids by Hape

Want to get your kids outdoors? Give them this adjustable telescope, beautifully made from bamboo. Explorers get 8x magnification so they can see bugs and blades of grass up close.

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Hide &-Seek Periscope by Hape

From its lightweight design to its wrist-strap, this is a great periscope for kids. They can hide behind a tree, use it to spy on animals (or each other) and explore nature.

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Nature Detective Set by Hape

First, kids look through the magnifying glass, which magnifies things four times. And then they whistle when they spot something really, really notable.

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Rocket Ship Indoor Playhouse by Melissa & Doug

The sky's the limit with this 4.7 foot long rocket ship playhouse. It includes capsule windows, a door that opens and closes, and four stabilizer fins. Kids pretend to be astronauts, aliens, explorers, or whatever else they can dream up.

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Smart Tech Train Set by Brio

A gorgeous train set, with some added oomph: Kids arrange the tunnels and station, and the train stops, honks the horn, backs up, or blinks its lights. It's compatible with all other Brio train set.

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Grill and Play Kitchen by Hape

Kids fire up this ultra-detailed grill, serving up bell peppers, steaks, and sausages, and using tons (thus working their motor skills) to flip the food. The grill has double-sided grates, a collapsible side table, moveable wheels, and an open-and-close hood.

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My Wooden Weather Station by Moon Picnic

Junior meteorologists can get a handle on the weather by reporting back on what's going on outside. They turn the dials to show whether it's sunny or cloudy outside, how hot or cold it is, and if it's going to rain. All, while helping hone their fine motor skills.

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Pinball Game by PlanToys

Pinball is fun. We get it. But this kid-sized pinball game also teaches them to solve problems while also working on their motor skills. The goal, of course, is to try to keep the ball in play as long as possible.

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Barbie Inspiring Women Series Ella Fitzgerald Collectible Doll by Mattel

Ella Fitzgerald, a musical icon and trailblazer, is immortalized thanks to this Barbie. It's a great way to encourage pretend play, while also talking to kids about history and those helped make it.

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Ice Cream Cart by Tender Leaf Toys

It's never the wrong time for ice cream. This stand is the epitome of pretend play, as kids take orders, use the scooper to fill the cone, and count out change.

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Magnetic Wooden Block Set by Tegu

This 42-piece set of beautiful magnetic wood blocks, with enough to go around so two kids can play together, teaches them about gravity and problem-solving, while also working on their motor skills.

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Just Rocks in a Box 8 Colors by Just Rocks

These 64 long-lasting soy wax crayons are shaped precisely for little hands, specifically created to strengthen kids' grip muscles and improve fine motor coordination. While also letting kids be as creative as they want.

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Baby Stella Doll by Manhattan Toy

Dolls are nurturing toys, teaching kids how to care for something. This doll is cuddly, washable, and wears clothes with a fabric hook and loop closure for easy changes.

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Motor Mechanic by PlanToys

So your car broke down? Happens to the best of us. Your 4-year-old mechanic will simply pop open the hood, pool out the enclosed tools, and fix the problem. This detailed set has a steering wheel, gearshift, horn, brake, accelerator, turnable car key, air conditioner, radio, side mirrors, hood lift support and screw jack. The mechanical tool in the front can be used to change tires, because tires do have to be changed.

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Micro Mini Kick Toddler Scooter by Micro Kickboard

The perfect starter scooter, this has a stable a lean-to-steer design and a weight limit of 110 pounds, so it will serve you well for years.

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Snug as a Bug in a Rug Board Game by Peaceable Kingdom

Kids learn about colors, shapes, and numbers as they work together to get the very cute bugs to safety before the stinkbugs invade.

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Meal Maker Dough Set by Green Toys

This specific type of dough is made from parent-friendly organic flour. And this particular set empowers your little chef to whip up creative meals using the prep tools, extruder, cutlery, and plate. It's a toy you can feel good about: The plastic components are made from post-consumer recycled plastic milk jugs.

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Tool Belt by Plan Toys

Kids work on their fine and gross motor skills, and engage in pretend play, as they complete fixer-upper chores around the house. This child-sized tool kit includes an adjustable carpenter's belt, hammer, wrench, level, screwdriver, nut, and bolt.

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ABC Building Blocks by Uncle Goose

These gorgeous wood building blocks are the foundations of open-ended play. They help kids practice hand-eye coordination and learn about balance and gravity. Oh, and they can begin to recognize letters and start spelling out words.

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Learning Resources Botley 2.0 The Coding Robot

The new and improved Botley lets kids work on their grasp of screen-free coding. This Botley has eyes that change colors, and he can perform 45 degree turns and even has night vision capabilities. Kids program him to move in different directions or put on a light show.

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Doctor Role Play Costume Set by Melissa & Doug

Real-world toys like this set help 4-year-olds make sense of the complicated, often overwhelming things they see in the adult world. And let's face it: Seeing a doctor can be a scary thing. This gorgeous medical kit is great for pretend play, as kids dole out pretend shots and take your blood pressure.

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Hand Puppet by Cate & Levi

These offbeat, handmade wool puppets are a fantastic way for kids to act out stories and immerse themselves in pretend play.

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Bristle Blocks by Battat

These 112 interlocking blocks connect together and let kids build towers or cars or dinosaurs or castles or, or, or.

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Imagination Magnets by MindWare

By age four, kids recognize their own body parts. This magnetic set lets them create animals, faces, cars, flowers, and buildings. From flowers to skyscrapers to dogs to mom and dad, the proverbial sky's the limit. They can follow the enclosed puzzle cards, or freestyle. And when done, the magnets are stored in the wood carrying case.

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Magna-Tiles Stardust Set

Kids get insanely creative with Magna-Tiles, and this set has 15 colorful, shiny and glittery shapes including four mirrored squares, seven glitter squares and four equilateral triangles.Kids can use these magnetic blocks to create and build complex structures, which helps with critical thinking and problem solving.

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Dynamo Wooden Domino Set by Hape

This 100-piece domino play set encourages children’s spatial thinking abilities and color recognition, and fosters a basic understanding of physics. What goes up must come down. Kids learn that, and more, with this deceptively simple yet utterly cool domino set. It includes a bridge, a bell and assorted tricks that add extra drama to the domino racing game.

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Playfoam by Educational Insights

It's like slime, without the mess. This non-sticky stuff never dries out, and is great for hands-on sculpting. Not only does it foster creativity, but it glows in the dark.

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Wooden Dollhouse by Hape

A gender-neutral dream house that lets kids play together and act out scenarios they see at home or at school. With six rooms and furniture included, this dollhouse leaves tons of opportunity for open-ended play that won't get repetitive.

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Magnatab by Kid O

This magnatab allows kids to 'draw' by using a magnet to flip over metal spheres, revealing their silver-colored underside. It's like the modern-day etch-a-sketch, and can be used to draw over and over again. And it glows in the dark.

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Checkout Register by Hape

Sure, this cash register sneakily teaches kids about math. And yes, it shows them the basics of what it means to have and spend money. But it's also a good time, as they pretend to run a store, or a cafe, and charge their customers using the bar code scanner and card reader. Plus, they need to count out exact change.

Buy Now $33.49

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