#i love expanding on non traditional spots

[mushiewrites]

Breaking a Bad Habit

Oh my gosh jaw anon, this took forever but it’s finally here (not sure if you still are oop)! I have expanded on sapnap and his sensitive jaw. I love him and he is so giggly and small and cuddly and tklish and I want to squish him! Anyway, enjoy! (from this ask)

Sapnap has a bad habit of clenching his jaw. Dream finds a fun way to condition him to stop

(lee!Sapnap / ler!Dream : 1.5K words)

“You’re doing it again.” Dream sighed as he watched the brunette begin to move his jaw back and forth to loosen it up, producing a groan and an overexaggerated eye roll in response. It had been the fourth time tonight that he was reprimanded for his terrible habit. Sapnap tilted his head back slightly as he let his mouth fall open, bringing a hand up to massage either side of his jaw to try and soothe the dull ache that was beginning to form beneath his skin there. A second later he set his controller down on the table in front of him and brought his other hand up to his face, now rubbing circles on either side of his jaw with each hand.

“Okay, fuck off, I don’t care,” he spat out in annoyance. Dream scoffed at the response to his warning, almost offended for being sassed for caring. Sapnap turned his head in the direction of the disapproving sound, rolling his eyes once more as Dream just looked at him with his puppy dog eyes. “Shut up Dream, it’s fine.”

The blonde followed his movements as Sapnap gave one last rub to his jaw before leaning his elbows back against his knees, picking up the remote and unpausing his game to continue playing. Dream continued to watch him from the corner of his eye, not paying attention to the game anymore and instead focusing on the other boy's jaw.

Not even a minute later Sapnap was already back to clenching his jaw, completely unaware that he was doing it. Dream opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself, knowing that Sapnap wouldn’t listen to a word he said anyway. He sat back and let his mind wander, thinking about how he could really get this to sink into Sapnap’s mind. After a minute or so Dream had come up with the idea to poke at his jaw every time it clenched; it would be annoying enough to condition Sapnap to not clench his jaw anymore. And so he set his plan into motion.

Reaching forward slowly, Dream held out his pointer finger and got ready to poke Sapnap’s jaw. He was so focused on the game that he didn’t notice Dream’s hand inching closer and closer to him until it was too late. The finger touched down on his jaw, right on the top left side by his ear and poked twice.

The reaction was not anything Dream had expected it to be.

When he went over the possible outcomes of the poke, he thought of the different ways Sapnap could react to it. Dream could see a scenario where Sapnap slapped his hand away and cursed him off - he could definitely paint a vivid picture of that. He could see Sapnap completely ignore him but also fix his clenching, which he thought would probably be the best outcome.

What he didn’t expect was for Sapnap to squeal.

“N-noho!” the younger boy let out a tiny protest combined with a tiny giggle, immediately turning red at his own reaction. He turned back towards Dream with wide eyes, rubbing at the spot that the offending finger had poked. The way the blonde was smirking sent a chill down Sapnap’s spine, causing him to squirm slightly and drop eye contact out of embarrassment. He could feel the elder's burning stare, whose finger was still hovering in the air mere inches from his jaw.

“Sapnap,” he winced when he heard his name, hearing Dream inhale before he continued. “What was that? Do you have something to tell me?”

The smaller boy paused his game again, quickly putting the controller down and turning his whole body slightly in Dream’s direction. He had a hand out in front of him, the other still pressed against his jaw in an attempt to make the tingling go away. Dream noticed that his ears were slowly starting to match the color of his cheeks and couldn’t help the smirk that began to spread across his face. When Sapnap’s ears blushed, the blonde knew that he was flustered.

“N-No! What are you even talking about, shut up!” The defensive tone in his voice only further proved Dream’s theory that Sapnap was definitely flustered right now. He looked around the room, eyes darting from Dream’s hands to something else, and back to his hands - he didn’t want to be ambushed or taken by surprise if Dream attempted to wreck him.

The elder let out a giggle, light and squeaky as he rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness of Sapnap’s denial. Dream knew that reaction well. He could make the younger boy cackle in seconds, sometimes even beg in that amount of time, too. The familiarity of it all was making Dream giddy, his fingers already flinching against the thighs of his pants.

This movement caught Sapnap’s attention, causing him to let out a dramatic gasp as he jumped back on the couch, scooting back as far as he could. But all things come to an end, and unfortunately that included the length of their couch. His back hit the arm of the couch, stopping his escape temporarily and making him break into nervous chirps of laughter. Sapnap looked up briefly and squealed as he watched Dream slowly crawl towards him, a menacing grin stretching from ear to ear. He felt his stomach flip at the expression on the other man’s face, wasting precious seconds he could’ve used to plan a new escape route. Sapnap let out a shriek as Dream grabbed his ankle and pulled, causing him to slip down into his back against the cushions. He turned to try and crawl away but was stuck in place due to Dream holding him. Sapnap swallowed thickly, the realization setting in that it was indeed too late to try and get away.

“Nohoho Dream, fuhuck OFF!” A squawk of a laugh erupted as he ended his sentence, yanking his leg at the feeling of Dream quickly wiggling a finger over his socked foot. “NOHOHO d-dohon’t!”

Sapnap heard a quiet chuckle behind him before he felt Dream release his hold on his ankle, suddenly feeling his hands grabbing at his sides and lifting him up. He yelped at this, feeling flustered at how easy it was for Dream to move him around like that. But that thought quickly passed as a new fear unlocked itself - he was now trapped against Dream’s chest, his arms at his sides with no way to escape. Of course, this didn’t stop him from trying to struggle and squirm his way out of Dream’s firm grasp.

“I’m not even doing anything, you baby,” Sapnap wasn’t expecting Dream’s voice to be so close to his ear, shivering and bringing his shoulder up to try and block the tickly vibrations as he continued to speak. “But don’t worry! I’m about to.”

Another shriek tore from Sapnap’s throat, this time followed by raspy giggles. Dream had slotted his chin on Sapnap’s shoulder to keep him from bringing his shoulder up before rubbing his stubble under Sapnap’s ear. The younger’s laughter was slowly rising in pitch, reaching its peak at a shrill squeak that closely resembled a baby bird. But when Dream brought a hand up to trace along Sapnap’s jaw line, the small giggles now turned into boisterous laughter.

“God, Sapnap, how have I never found this before? This is like a gold mine! Look at you!” Dream was smiling through his words as he felt Sapnap start to squirm in his lap, his laughter rising and his ears turning bright red as the blonde teased him.

“Nahaha D-Dream! Plehehease it’s too muhuHUHCH! NOHOHO!” Sapnap cried out through his giggles as Dream pressed his lips below his ear and blew a huge raspberry while fluttered two fingers along his jawline. Dream made sure to shake his head as the raspberry was coming to an end to tickle Sapnap more, producing squeals through his laughter.

The elder smiled as he pulled his lips from Sapnap’s neck and sat back more, allowing the smaller boy’s shoulder to finally be released. Sapnap rubbed his shoulder against his ear, trying to calm the ticklish electricity that was still bursting under his skin. Dream removed his grip from around Sapnap, instead gently leaning him back and cuddling him with both arms lightly. He could feel the younger boy practically melt into him, watching as his eyelids closed almost immediately. Sap could feel the vibration from Dream’s giggle along his back before he began to speak.

“Remember this next time you’re about to clench your jaw, you little idiot.”

Sapnap felt a hand run through his hair, a tiny giggle passing through his lips as he drifted off to sleep in the warmth of Dream’s arms. He would certainly remember this next time.

And if he starts to clench his jaw on purpose to get tickles? Well, no one needs to know.

[hawkherps]

Sigma's new enclosure is finished!

well, mostly. I want to get another branch or tube or plant or something in that top right corner to fill in the empty space, assuming the monster dracaena doesn't realize it now has an extra foot of vertical space and decide to conquer it. i'll give it a month or two and see how the dracaena adapts before putting something above it. I also want to see how the new pothos grows in, and how the old philodendron adapts. i actually removed two vines from the philo and cut the remaining two down to size a bit since they took over whatever space the dracaena didn't in the old enclosure, so i'm confident the philodendron will help fill in some of the currently empty space even if the dracaena and pothos decide not to.

for the enclosure itself, it's a Leap Habitats 22"x17"x36" enclosure and hoo boy it has its pros and cons... mostly cons. i haven't seen many reviews for these enclosures that aren't from popular youtubers or reddit threads from over a year ago, so here's my opinions below:

i've moved several times so i greatly appreciate how light the enclosure is even fully planted, and being able to screw branches and tubes and other things into the walls instead of having to use spray foam (and then either silicone or the grout method) to mount them is really nice. both are pluses over the glass exoterra 18"x18"x24" Sig has called home since he was given to me. i loved that enclosure but after moving three times with it (once before i made it bioactive) i was not a fan of the weight.

this doesn't apply to me right now, but i do see it as a plus that they included the little spots in the corners of the top that you can pop out to easily install mister nozzles through. i don't know if these holes fit non-Leap misting systems without modification, but it's certainly simpler than some of the setups i've seen for getting misters installed in traditional enclosures like exoterras.

Sigma is... not a great hunter. his method of hunting black soldier flies, for example, is to slam his face as hard as possible into them. this is another big reason i wanted him out of the glass enclosure-- i'm genuinely worried about him injuring himself with the force at which i've watched him bounce his face off the walls and door of the exoterra enclosure. so the softer, less rigid walls and acrylic door are a plus for that alone.

now for the downsides...

i'm really not a huge fan of how flimsy the acrylic door is. if it was a liiiittle thicker i'd probably like it more. the very simple method for the door hinge also means that when open, the door is misaligned, so i have to remember to slightly lift it when i go to close it so it will fit back in its space and close properly. this could be related to the low quality control that i've heard other people report regarding Leap (and experienced myself further below)

the base also leaks. they do sell external water catch trays in case of leakage, but i feel like they should come with the trays instead of the tray being optional, since the design of these things is basically guaranteed to leak without modification.

i didn't encounter this myself because i'd already seen warnings about this and didn't bother trying, but silicone and expanding foam won't adhere to the sides without help. Leap recommends using wall anchors for the foam to hold onto, but there's no real solution for silicone. this is annoying, because being able to seal the damned thing with silicone would GREATLY help the above leaking problem because you could just silicone around the rivets and internal plastic liner so that the leaking wouldn't be an issue. sealants that do bond to polypropylene don't strike me as being safe for use inside a reptile enclosure, especially a bioactive one.

it was also a BITCH to put together. i sort of expected this because a couple reviews i read before buying stated that the quality control is not the best. Leap has several videos on their youtube showcasing how to assemble the enclosures straight out of the box, and the provided instructions in the box are simple enough to follow, but i had to make some minor modifications in order to get the enclosure together due to ill-fitting pieces (for example, the screen top, which also keeps the walls in shape, did not actually fit on top of the walls like it was supposed to and i had to pry some sections open wide enough to actually get the damned thing in place). the alignment pin that goes in the front right of the base also did not want to be flush with the base like it's supposed to be.

all that being said, right now i would still be willing to get another, smaller Leap enclosure in the future for my mourning geckos or another gecko species. whether i actually do get another of their enclosures will really depend on how this one for Sig holds up. the lightness and ease of customization were the entire reasons i ordered this enclosure instead of a similarly sized (24x"18"x36") glass one, so we'll eventually see if that's truly worth the troubleshooting and outright downsides to these enclosures or not.

[carrickbender]

Sonntag seiben

1. September in the PNW means harvesting and putting in things for the winter that give hope that, at some point, we will see the sun again and taste the sweet goodness of the gifts of nature. This year is special because another generation of our family gets to decide their fate as either pickers or non-pickers. I've always been a picker since I was probably a bit older than Henry; My grandmere and I would dutifully pick the tiny delicious huckleberries right on the border of Idaho and Montana, and one of our favourite patches was yards away from where one of her relatives surveyed in the state lines of Montana(plot twist: it's backwards). My mom, on the other hand, was born a non-picker who often loved finding a nice shady spot with a book. Thankfully, as she and I were both raised as only children, she has become a picker because berries won't pick themselves and blackberries are awful to pick. And Buggy was such a trooper: he started off picking berries but then he just wanted to eat berries even double fisting them. Tradition can be so delicious.

2. I finished my 2 weeks at Medline on Saturday, and they were absolutely good people for whom to work. And on Tuesday, I start with a municipal organization in emergency mitigation services, which should be a good job. Its a serious pay cut from Cosmo, but I cant wait any longer. And with graduation looming for me at CWU and my MBA application submitted, my options are expanding by the day. I refuse to be blind to the silver lining to my loss of my job at Cosmo, and I am open to the lessons that the universe is teaching me.

3. So for a long time I couldn't wrap my head around affirmations, but now that I'm doing them, I feel different. I think maybe, just maybe, the reset has begun and I'm looking at how I reclaim grace. To all who helped: much love.

4. To all of you who do online tutoring, what do you think of it? I have some expertise, and I think I could parlay it into a little more income and use it for the benefit of others. Thoughts?

5. We find out this week what sort of pre-k/transitional kindergarten programme Buggy will be in this fall. And, cool thing: H was also accepted into our local college and is going to be finishing her degree in Chemical dependency counseling. Her sobriety not withstanding, she is so smart and if she wouldn't have had her oldest son so young she could have done anything. She was studying to become a nurse when "life" and a few other things got in the way, and I think how much of a loss it was, truly. So having her go back to school is truly making sure the smartest person in this house gets to use that amazing brain for good of others and not just making good stuff like the boule in the picture.

6. Jimmy Buffet and Bill Richardson, on the same day? I got to meet Bill and hear him speak, and he was truly a champion for the forgotten and unjustly imprisoned. And Jimmy... I heard so many stories of him playing the Elbow room in Dutch Harbour and Tony's in Kodiak that, turns out were all true. While he might have been seen as a brand, some of his lyrics really hit my old broken down ass self pretty hard. And like his lyric said,

"I hope you're enjoying the scenery

I know that it's pretty up there

We can go hiking on Tuesday

With you I'd walk anywhere

California has worn me quite thin

I just can't wait to see you again"

Peace be with them...

7. The agates and the quartz glass are from a local beach, and 3 generations of hands have touched them. 3...Somewhere, my father figure is proud and glad it took(and that his great grandson loves rocks and getting dirty, just like him).

If you are still reading this, don't labour tomorrow. Rest. Relax. It's been a hard 9 months, and judging by our mountain ash bushes here, it's going to be a long miserable winter. Many blessings yall, and be kind to yourselves and take a moment. If my stubborn ass can finally say, and mean it, "I love the person I am becoming", you can too.

Much love!!!!

[allsassnoclass]

astronomy in reverse

Pairing: Roy English/Calum Hood Rating: T for language Word Count: 2016 Read on AO3

Summary: Roy and Calum go stargazing

Calum has learned more about the night sky in the past year than he has in his entire life leading up to that point.  He attributes nearly all of his new knowledge to increased time with Roy.  When the world stopped turning, Calum was suddenly confined to the house rather than a tour bus, for better or for worse.  To an extent he’s glad: Roy and Duke are home, which is a pretty big silver lining.  While he’s missed making music with the band and hearing venues erupt with fans screaming their lyrics and even the constant feeling of miles and miles of road disappearing under his feet, long walks with Duke and long nights spent wrapped up in his boyfriend have more than made up for it.

His favorite nights involve gazing at the sky while Roy talks about astrology or astronomy or cosmology or philosophy or spirituality or anything he fancies.  One thing that Calum loves about Roy is that he’s always coming up with new, interesting ideas about the world.  The first night they spent alone together in Bali was an exploration in thought that he could never have anticipated but was enraptured by nonetheless.  He doesn’t remember the specifics of what they talked about, but he remembers that he fell in love a little, and even though both of them have different thoughts now, that initial spark has never gone away.

“It’s going to be a clear night,” Roy says while they’re eating leftovers for dinner on the couch, Calum keeping a careful eye on Duke so he doesn’t lunge for his plate.

“Yeah?” he asks.  Roy clicks his tongue at Duke and offers him a potato chip, allowing Calum to relax and take a bite of his own food.

“Mars should be visible,” Roy says.  Calum watches fondly as he scratches Duke behind the ears.  The sun hasn’t set yet, and the natural light highlights his face in a warm glow.  Roy is always sunny, even in the dead of winter or in the middle of a rainstorm, like he’s somehow able to trap rays within his skin so he can shine in every context.  Looking at him grinning down at Duke now, Calum feels lucky that the universe aligned to bring them all together.

“Do you want to go out for it?” he asks.  Their backyard is far enough from the heart of the city that they can see the North Star most nights, but Roy has found a place a reasonable drive away that lets them put together more constellations.

Roy smiles at him in response, giving Duke an opening to lunge for more chips.  Dinner dissolves into a battle to corral an unruly dog acting more like a puppy than an old man for once in his life, but Calum doesn’t mind as long as he can hear Roy’s loud laugh and keep seeing him shine.

-/-

They head out once they clean up the mess in the living room.  The sun is beginning to set, painting the sky in pastels and lengthening all of the shadows in corners of the city.  Their destination is a hill in the middle of a park, a frequently visited little haven, but Calum is happy to see that they’re the only people there tonight.  They park the car and Calum grabs a blanket kept in back.  It’s a nice evening: cool but not cold, skies clear with an occasional gentle breeze.  Crickets and the rare bird call tickle his ears as Roy grabs his hand as they walk, tilting his head up to look at the moon, a bright spot half-full even while the last of the sun’s rays illuminate the sky.  He doesn’t let go when they reach the peak of the hill, leaving Calum to try to spread the blanket on the grass one-handed.  It doesn’t work, and Roy laughs at him before taking pity and helping.

“It’ll be more helpful if you’d let go,” Calum says as they tug on different corners and try to lay the blanket down in sync.

“It’s important to challenge yourself.”

“Fuck off,” Calum laughs as Roy pulls him down onto the blanket next to him, holding their hands safely in his lap.  Calum turns his gaze to the sky, quickly landing on the moon again.  He lays down and settles in, pulling Roy down with him by their joined hands so he can talk to him easier while they wait for all of the stars to come out.

“Do you think aliens exist?” Roy asks after they’ve laid in quiet for a few minutes tracing the craters of the moon with their eyes.

“Yes,” Calum says automatically.  He glances at Roy, harder to see now that the sun has fully set, but the upward angle of his lips is still visible.

“Why?”

“The universe is fucking huge,” Calum says.  “There’s no way that there isn’t other life out there.  It might not be recognizable to us, but I don’t think our little world is that unique.  We just haven’t expanded our search enough.”

“If it’s not recognizable to us, is it still life, or is it something else?” Roy asks.  Calum hums.

“I guess it depends.  If we can’t recognize it as life then we probably wouldn’t consider it alive as a society, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t.”

Roy smiles wider, the way he does when Calum has a thought he particularly likes.

“Scientists talk about life-cycles of stars from birth to death despite not considering them living organisms like us, but I think that’s because subconsciously we know that we’re all the same.  We’re all connected.  Just because stars don’t breathe doesn’t mean they can’t be alive.”

“So the stars are aliens?” Calum asks, finding Polaris above them.

“Maybe none of us are aliens,” Roy says.  “‘Alien’ implies ‘other,’ and there is no other.  All of our differences are arbitrary, but at the core everything comes from the same place.  Scientists said we’re made of the same things as stars.  We’re part of the same universe and the same collective unconscious.  Why shouldn’t that extend to the other creations we share the universe with?”

Calum hums.  He gazes at the stars and tries to imagine them as alive.

“What about our phones and guitars and stuff?” he asks.  “There are non-living things in the world.  Where do you draw the line?”

Calum can feel Roy shrug next to him.

“Somewhere between stars and guitars,” he says.  “Maybe stars are part of a bigger life.  The Creator’s synapses.”

“And us?”

“His favorite creations.  You are, at least.  He definitely should be proud of what he did there.”

Calum glances at him.

“Are you trying to use God to flirt with me?”

Roy smiles, still bright in the dark.

“Just telling the truth.  Well, as much of the truth as we can be certain of.”

“It’s called the truth because we’re certain of it.  Everything else is called a mystery.”

Roy shakes his head.  “You can figure out mysteries without having a definite truth.  What I thought was a definite truth before could be something different now.”

Calum considers.

“And if I said that grass is green?”

“Fuck off,” Roy laughs.  “I’m talking about bigger things.  Truths of the universe in philosophy or religion.  Things where truth is dependent on belief rather than something provable.”

“Alright, alright,” Calum concedes.  “I get what you’re saying.”  Roy squeezes his hand.  Calum squeezes back, a silent transaction that makes him smile.

“Look,” Roy says after a moment, pointing with their joined hands up at the sky.  “Boötes.  Did you know that ancient cultures had different names for this constellation, but lots of stories for it call him a herdsman of some sort?  More evidence of the collective consciousness and human unity.”

Calum hums, because he has heard that before.  Boötes is Roy’s favorite constellation because he likes saying the name. Calum’s favorite is one that they made up when they were out in the desert celebrating Ashton’s album release. It’s hard to see this close to the city, and it’s probably only really visible in the fall anyway, but it making it was one of his favorite memories from the fall, both of them sitting in the same lounge chair and gazing up at a sky more luminous than this one, picking out different shapes and forming outrageous stories behind them.

They do a lot of storytelling in their house.  Songwriting is its own form of storytelling, of course, but they also do more traditional sorts, recounting things from their day or sitting together entertaining each other with their imaginations.  It’s an exercise in creativity, stretching different muscles that songwriting doesn’t always hit or that Calum doesn’t think to use in everyday life, and he feels like he’s better for it.  If nothing else, it’s saved him from boredom in quarantine and has kept him from traveling in circles in his head.

“Hey,” Roy says, “what do you think happens when we die?”

Calum could never be bored with Roy around.

They spend more time discussing various questions and secrets in hushed voices under the cover of the sky, staring at the specks of stars far above them.  Roy points out which speck should be Mars once he’s fairly certain he doesn’t have it wrong, raising their joined hands to the sky for Calum to follow, and Calum uses sightlines as an excuse to shift closer.

Roy knows that it’s bullshit, but Calum gets a kiss for his troubles.

They trade a few more words back and forth before fading into silence.  Calum stares at the sky and listens to Roy’s gentle breathing next to him and the crickets hidden somewhere in the grass.  He takes his own deep breath of the crisp night air, as fresh and clear as it gets near LA, and feels any lingering tension from the day leave his body.  Out here, cuddled up to the man he loves and watching glittering pieces of celestial gas that might have burnt out already, it’s hard to feel like any of the things that typically bother him matter.  There’s something to be said about contextualizing his problems against the entire universe, and there’s something to be said about doing that while trying to unwrap the universe with Roy.

When they delve into these sorts of talks, Calum always walks away with a worse understanding of the universe and a much better understanding of Roy.

Maybe that’s the point.  Maybe humans aren’t meant to reveal the secrets of the universe, but rather to reveal their own secrets to each other.  Calum knows the way that Roy thinks now.  He knows why he loves the stories he does and how he views himself in relation to the rest of humanity.  He understands Roy’s compassion and his love for the world they’re in.  He knows who Roy is, and he knows a little more every time Roy asks him about things that Calum can only guess at.

He’s never felt like he knows anyone quite like he knows Roy.  It’s more than the fact that they’re roommates and Calum knows what brand of toothpaste he uses and how he takes his coffee.  It’s like Roy is a distant star, and Calum keeps twisting his telescope further into focus, and he knows that it goes the same way.  Roy knows how he likes his eggs and which bass is his favorite, but he also knows the inner workings of Calum’s thoughts.  He knows the way their hands fit perfectly together and when they have to let go to avoid them getting uncomfortably sweaty.

He glances at him, profile barely discernible in the dark.

“Hey,” he says quietly.  Roy’s head tips towards him, breaking his staring contest with the sky.  “I love you.  I’m glad the universe let me know you.”

Roy doesn’t say anything, just brings Calum’s hand to his lips and kisses it, and they go back to watching the sky together, existing in a tiny pocket of space carved just for them and the stars.

[untamedunrestrained]

The Untamed and Mo Dao Zu Shi

These past eight days have been surreal.

I have drowned so fully in this story that it feels like I am just surfacing.

On Valentine’s Day, fandom on tumblr reblogged this fanart of WangXian by qulfeeh and I was intrigued. The reblog was tagged with two important key words ‘Wangxian’ and ‘The Untamed’. In the brush of a few keystrokes I came across the Wikipedia page for a show known as the Untamed that was available on Netflix. The thing that stood out was that it was based on a BL novel and that both the very male protagonists were described as each other’s soulmates and somehow that was enough. So, I opened Netflix and after like a second of hesitation I started watching the show and I didn’t stop. I started at eight in the evening and I watched nine episodes in a row which basically meant I was up till five in the morning. What followed seems like a record for me. I finished all fifty episodes of the Untamed in under seventy-two hours.

I put hardly five minutes of thought into my decision to watch this story and ended up dedicating the past eight days straight. The first three days to the live action drama and the past five to reading the novel.

If it isn’t obvious this story is that good.

The Untamed

The Untamed is a first for me on so many levels. I have never watched a Chinese show before ever and that seemed extremely significant to me because China is actually a neighbouring country yet as far as my mind is concerned it might as well be on another planet. Which seems particularly odd considering shows from English speaking countries like the UK and the US are a staple for me which makes these countries feel so much closer though they are geographically on the other side of the planet. Of course, a major factor is the language barrier but another is the political scenario between our two countries and amazingly this show made me realise how much of an impact perceiving different cultures can have on your perception of their people. It has literally opened up a whole new world for me that I have just realised I have never taken the moment to discover. Well, considering this is me we are talking about, how appropriate, that it would be a drama based on a BL novel that unlocked this whole new world for me.

I have tried reading a Danmei novel before which was awful and it completely turned me off the genre but it did have a side effect of educating we about elements of a wuxia novel which made this xianxia world seem a little familiar but even if it hadn’t, I would have still been hooked.

It didn’t take long for The Untamed to find a new fan and I have been obsessing over it ever since.

The Untamed is an amazing drama which revolves around the love Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian have for each other and the plot is so intriguing that you wouldn’t be able to stop even if you tried (I didn’t because that thought didn’t even manage to enter my mind).

It’s a love story and that is undisputable for me, they don’t say it, it isn’t mentioned but there is this palpable force influencing events and you know they love each other. I have somehow really disregarded how much a show can show you stuff without ever explicitly stating it but The Untamed set me straight in that regard. I doubt anyone who watches the show would mistake it for anything but the love story it is.

Wei WuXian was an instant hit for me. He is a lovable, gregarious character always up to mischief but is someone who always wants to be on the side of justice and I have a weak spot for characters with a hard on for justice. He is just such a lively character who keeps smiling all the time that it’s just hard not to fall for him in minutes. His antics and his demeanour are so charming that you’re hooked. He would have easily been my most favourite character in any other drama that doesn’t have a Lan WangJi.

Lan WangJi is an amazing character. In a world, which has become increasing about everyone voicing their opinions (like I’m doing at present) it is hard to believe that people like Lan WangJi exist. People who are quiet, who don’t speak unless absolutely necessary. He is literally the embodiment of tranquillity and more important he is Wei WuXian’s hero. Like literally he protects him like he’s protecting his life which on second thought he definitely is.

I literally had second-hand embarrassment from how obviously romantic these two are.

Hands down the best thing I have watched in 2020 by far! The characters are amazing, the plot is intricate and it is so, so interesting. I watched almost fourty hours of this series non-stop and I don’t remember a single point where I felt like the story became boring for a second which now that I think about it is, is… astonishing. How can such a large drama be so engrossing? This isn’t binge-worthy there is literally no other way to watch the show!!!

Mo Dao Zu Shi

But after coming down from the high of the first seventy-two hours of being submerged in this world, I was reluctant to leave this world so much so that I didn’t even contemplate it. I had a wide variety of media to choose from. The story is based on a web series by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu that was made into a manhua, followed by an donghua, followed by an audio drama followed by The Untamed. It must speak to the universality of the story that the people are willing to read the same story in so many different formats, I know I’m not done.

But, high up on my list was the source material, one of the articles described the show as being extremely faithful to the novel, which made me want to jump on that wagon posthaste, and I agree whole-heartedly. I read the translation by Exiled Rebels Scanlations and what struck me was how the show and the novel were tonally the same. I had switched mediums but it didn’t feel like a different story or like I was reading different characters which is shocking because that’s literally how good the show was at translating words into video.

Differences

One of the startling things about the book is that it really ties up the plot neatly. There are tons of plot points that aren’t as completely resolved on the show as they are on the novel which I only ever realised after reading the novel. A lot of this had to do with how certain details of the plot are different. A classic example that the reason behind the scars on Lan Zhan’s back is different in the two. In the novel, LWJ whisks WWX away from the Nightless City after he massacres and pretty much beats-to-a-pulp the entire alliance of sects. LWJ then has to tend to WWX so they remain in hiding for three days. When cultivators from the GusuLan Sect finally discover the two, LWJ has to defeat all of them to keep WWX safe and that’s why he is given one whipping for every cultivator he defeated. Of course, since WWX dies on the battlefield in the show this couldn’t be the reason behind the scars so they have LWJ defend Burial Mounds which wasn’t all that fruitful considereing the LanlingJin Clan does end up with a lot of WWX’s artifacts, there was no point in defending Burial Mounds as he couldn’t have kept it up in the long run but him going to Burial Mounds after the massacre at Nightless City is important to ensure they story can credibly reveal Lan ShiZui to be A-Yuan. So, yeah differences, the show focuses on the Wen Clan and the Yin Iron while the novel doesn’t have the Yin Iron at all and focuses on Jin GuangYao. But, despite the differences the story still feels coherent between the two mediums mainly because the relationship between LWJ and WWX that is at the core of both remains central to the plot at all times.

The plot of the novel though is extremely intricate and the author does an amazing job of deconstructing it which makes it easier to understand what’s happening while the show in hindsight does get away with sweeping up certain loose ends.

Of course, the kisses and the sex are gone but I will gladly take that cliff scene in exchange. I was actually shocked that the novel actually doesn’t dwell on WWX’s first death at all. Like, we don’t even know how exactly he died in the novel and this was hsocking given how pivotal that cliff scene is in the show.

Characters

Surprisingly though a lot of the roles of side characters were expanded for the show, the novel seems to have delivered a better understanding of these characters. The biggest example for me being Jiang Yanli.

She has an elaborately expanded role in the show which does highlight how deep her bind with her brothers particularly WWX is but somehow she seems like a timid character among a bunch of very strong characters. What the novel does is that it gives you a very realistic picture of her, she might not seem like a significant influence on the story but her impact is far-reaching. The novel doesn’t showcase much of her character but the scenes that feature her in the book are some of the most poignant ones and incidentally those are the same ones that stand out in the show. I feel like novel did a better job of showing off her strength. While, in the show I couldn’t look beneath her timid demeanour the novel manages to showcase the strength of her love. She cares deeply and loves deeply and the novel manages to show you the courage it takes to love someone so deeply. I definitely admire her character more and in fact I’m kind of in awe that someone who appears so traditional was so awesome. It felt easy to dismiss her character but reading the author’s words made me realise that I would be very, very wrong in doing so.

Wei WuXian might be the luckiest guy in the world to have a shijie like her followed by a husband like LWJ who both seem very determined to spoil the hell out of him. I might be experiencing some jealousy right now.

The author somehow manages to imbue her characters with qualities that makes them real and unique. Like WWX forgetting everybody’s face which is a real world problem that I have never seen anybody suffer from in a novel but just the fact that WWX doesn’t immediately bring his old hang-ups in his subsequent meetings with side characters didn’t only have hilarious consequences but made everything that much more intriguing and credible.

This author also does an amazing job of flipping characters. There are very few villains who are black and white in this story. WWX himself is a character caught in the gray of it all, universally reviled for standing up for the right reasons. This is a theme throughout the show and the novel where bad characters might be good and good might be bad but the author endeavours to show us all sides to a character. While this most definitely applies to Jin GuangYao, I’m surprised with how it resonates with Xue Yang who’s relationship with Xiao Xinchen can only be characterized with the words “It’s Complicated”. I don’t actually know what to think of these two Xiao Xingchen was definitely betrayed but can we ignore the fact that he found himself a companion in Xue Yang his sworn enemy and Xue Yang’s feelings for Xiao Xingchen are enough to drive me crazy. This guy has no idea how frustrating he is, that piece of candy clenched in his fist will drive me crazy for the rest of my life. The entire Yi City Arc is a big mess of grey there are no whites and blacks and the show underscores that with this quote –

Once upon a time, there was a little child who liked sweets very much. But because he had no parents nor money, he could never have such things. So he’d been dreaming if only someone could give him a candy every day.

Don’t even get me started on the music that plays in the background when this quote is being narrated.

There are just so many amazing things about the show and the novel. I mean the show might have actually worked harder to make things more romantic and one scene that I’m surprised isn’t from the book is the lantern scene with both of them making pledges like that particular scene neatly underlined who WWX is and would become. The hand-fastening scene is also not from the book but then there are other scenes and other delights to be found in the novels.

This story is definitely worth reading and watching for years to come. If anyone has any apprehensions about the novel I will be glad to clarify but the everything about “The Untamed” and “Mo Dao Zu Shi” stand in the same breath.

[fatehbaz]

Do you have any good posts about gardening?

Hey. Sorry, in advance, since this post is a bit long. Looks like this will be a “regional ecology and geography of food plants, gardening, and folk knowledge” and “the role of gardens in ecological imperialism” masterpost resource.

I know very little about the actual practice of gardening. I’m horrible source of info on gardening. I also know little about chemistry, soil science, and the more “technical” aspects of plant life. I’m more into historical ecology, the history of human/cultural relationships with plants, and the geography and distribution of plants, animals, and ecoregions. But I know there are some good people on this site with great knowledge about gardening, foodsheds, and native plants. I am very impressed and humbled by these people, and I would recommend people like caecilian-caesura (soil, gardening, growing things); cedar-glade (restoration, prairie, oak savanna, the Ohio River Valley/Great Lakes); spatheandspadix (great knowledge of plant life, regional and technical ecology, Great Lakes, Appalachia); radicalgardener (food, gardening, Alaska); pacificnorthwestdoodles (gardening and food in the Pacific Northwest). And there are several more people on this site who I could recommend for info on Texas and Florida. (You know who you are, I think (?). Hope you know I respect you). Send another anon or message if you want their names. (And I’m sorry if any of you are uncomfortable with me publicizing or mentioning you here. Please let me know and I’ll remove your name, no problem at all.)

I know this is almost completely unrelated to what you asked, and this isn’t what you were looking for, but I hope it might be interesting for some people? For sheer fun and convenience, I figured I’d compile a list of posts about (1) regional ecology involving gardening, food, and traditional environmental knowledge of plants/food. And (2) the use of gardens, botany, and plants generally in imperialism.

(One of my interests is in regional geography/ecology, especially involving temperate rainforest; prairies and oak savannas; the Pacific Northwest; so-called Canada; the Rockies; the northern Great Plains; and the Great Lakes. And another of my interests is the historical ecology of empires and colonization, and the role of plants and soil in imperialism. So, I’ve separated the list into those 2 categories. The reason I chose to include ecological imperialism here is because Euro-American gardens and farms have played such a central role in extinction, dispossession, initial waves of European colonization, and continued degradation now, as with non-native earthworms.)

Regional ecology and geography involving gardening, food, folk knowledge, and traditional ecological knowledge of plants and plant harvest for food:

- Masterpost about Palouse prairie native grassland: Native and endemic plants. Indigenous history of ecoregion and traditional plant use. The giant native earthworm. Some maps. (Very unique and endangered prairie ecoregion in the inland Pacific Northwest, one of the only sizable grasslands west of the Rockies. Ecologists estimate that only 0.1% of native prairie remains in the Palouse, the rest lost to agriculture over the past 120 years.)

- Masterpost of worm invasion in the Great Lakes region, Canada, and the Midwest: Lots of info about non-native earthworms in hardwoods forests; the transition zone between Great Plains and eastern deciduous forests; Ojibwe/Anishinaabe land; and the boreal-temperate transition zone of the Great Lakes. Info on how worms threaten mycorrhizal fungal networks; understory plants; soil integrity; sugar maples; and traditional maple harvest.

- “Sometimes ... plants that are aesthetically pleasing ... are worse.” Karuk prescribed burning. Traditional food harvest. Agroforestry in Klamath Mountains. Geography of oak woodlands in the PNW. And how California’s settler institutions messed up soil and forest health with bad management by prioritizing pretty conifers instead of cultivating oak woodlands.

- “Coyote’s biota”: Comcaac (Seri) and O’Odaham food, plant knowledge, and the ascribing of special names to native plants and Euro-American plants to distinguish between types of food.

- Gardens, plant-human relationships, and the sophisticated seasonal planting schedules of Makushi people (northern Amazonia).

- Horticulture, deliberate promotion of fungus-plant symbiosis, gardening of Matsigenka people (Madre de Dios watershed, Amazonia).

- Easy-to-access compilation of audio recordings and oral histories of bioregional foodsheds, from 13 Native food autonomy advocates. (New England maple syrup. New Mexico. Louisiana’s Gulf Coast. Abalone/acorns in California. Salmon in PNW, etc.)

- Swamp rattlesnakes, bogs, endangered flooded prairie of Ontario, Great Lakes, Midwest. Geography of massassauga distribution and disappearance of flooded remnant prairie. (Love that pygmy rattlesnakes live on the boreal fringe on Manitoulin Island, the shores of Georgian Bay, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.)

- Endangered endemic frogs and oak woodlands/prairies of the Pacific Northwest: Maps and info on the Oregon spotted frog and disappearance of dryland oak woodland/savanna/prairie in the coastal PNW. (Most of the dryland prairie of the PNW, and the frog habitat specifically, has been lost to agriculture and/or urban development.)

- Respecting plants, wetlands, native foods, and Indigenous history of Chicago area

- Recognizing the centuries/millennia of Native role in cultivating grasslands and resilient foodsheds of coastal California (specifically, Quiroste and Amah Mutsun environmental management techniques in the Bay Area). Also includes info on how California institutions are incorporating Native leadership/management in formal policy.

- Potentially the worst and most annoying post I’ve ever made. A post about snakes, remnant prairies, and forests in the northern Great Plains. Pothole prairies, riparian cottonwood corridors, aspen parkland, and a special snake species in the northern Great Plains. Short and incomplete version: [X]. Longer and more annoying version with answers, more maps, discussion of prairie, Black Hills, Colorado aspen, forest types in the Midwest: [X].

- Indigenous agroforestry in Amazonia, underappreciated designing and planning of forest structure.

- “Forage wars” between Native food harvesters and California legal institutions: Abalone, native foodsheds, and food harvesting in Pomo, Yurok, Coast Yuki, and other Klamath Mountains and coastal Northern California communities.

- Settler agriculture in Canadian prairies and the normalization of standards of agriculture and meteorology in late 19th and early 20th centuries. (Some discussion of effects of unsustainable agriculture on local soil/plant death.)

- New worms in Alaska: Recent news of the discovery (2018 - 2020) of Alaska’s first known native earthworm, near Fairbanks, around the same time that ecologists announce escalation in non-native earthworm invasion of Alaskan and boreal forest environments for the first time. (The non-native earthworms threatening Alaskan/boreal environments were apparently introduced in gardens and at fishing sites.)

- Worm invasion in Alaska: Presentation on where non-native earthworms have expanded their range in Alaska, and how they alter the soil. (From 2019.)

- Worm Disk Horse, responses to worm questions. (Some references to gardening and native/regional foodsheds.)

- Oak savanna, endemic reptiles, sudden oak death outbreak in Oregon and Northern California. Contains a bunch of maps.

- Biodiversity, key species, native plants in native prairie and shortgrass prairies of northern Great Plains

- Endangered and endemic butterflies of oak woodlands/prairies of the Pacific Northwest.

- Uncanny legless lizard creature, landscapes recovering from non-native plant agriculture, and remnant prairie of the Midwest and Great Lakes.

- Palouse prairie and recent news of the survival of the giant Palouse earthworm: Potentially temperate North America’s largest native earthworm, which relies on native prairie.

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

Role of gardens, botany, plants, and Euro-American gardening in ecological imperialism:

- The grand tale of breadfruit domestication, the mutiny on the Bounty, and plantation owners plotting with Kew Gardens to domesticate crops to undermine slave gardens in the Caribbean. (Also includes comments on the under-reported central role of media/PR manipulation and slavery in the “mutiny on the Bounty” story.)

- Wild rice (the imperial plot to domesticate wild rice), “cottage colonialism” in Canada, imaginative control, the power of names and naming plants. (Covers 1880s to Present.)

- How the gardens, horticulture, and food markets of slaves and the poor/dispossessed in the Caribbean allowed autonomous food networks to exist and undermine plantation owners and imperial interests. (Late 1700s, early 1800s.)

- Anna Boswell’s discussion of endemic longfin eels of Aotearoa as example of the problem with making “land-water” distinctions in Euro-American agriculture and land management

- Grasses, seed merchants, and “the Empire’s dairy farm” in Aotearoa. (European agriculture in late 19th and early 20th centuries.)

- The role of grasslands, deforestation, and English grasses in ecological imperialism in Aotearoa, early 20th century.

- European botanic gardens in 18th-/19th-century Mexico and Central America as a tool of imperialism and knowledge systematization. (“Botany began as atechnoscope – a way to visualize at-a-distance – but, at the end of the eighteenth century, it was already a  teletechnique – a way to act at-a-distance.”)

- Pineapple, breadfruit, and plantations “doing the work of Empire” in Hawaii.

- Carl Linnaeus, botanists’ racism against India and Latin America, and the use of botanic gardens to acquire knowledge as an exercise of “soft empire.”

- Kew Gardens plotting to take Native strains of wild rice and domesticate them for cheap and profitable consumption in other imperial British colonies.

- Calcutta Botanic Gardens abduction and use of Chinese slaves; Kew Gardens (successfully) plotting to steal cinchona from people of Bolivia to service their staff in India; botanic gardens’ role in large-scale dispossession to create plantations in Assam and Ooty (1790s - 1870s).

- Dandelions, other non-native plants, and settler gardens changing soil of the Canadian Arctic. (Late 1800s and early 1900s.)

-  Mapuche cultural legacy, Valdivian temperate rainforest, and European plots to dismantle the rainforest to create “Swiss or German pastoral   farm landscape” in Chile.

---

Sorry. In retrospect, it looks like worms and amphibians are a little over-represented here.

[continuo-docs]

Music reviews by Laurent Fairon, September 2020

Glands Of External Secretion –  Do Not Disturb (July 2020) Christina Vantzou – Multi Natural (July 2020) Mouchoir Étanche – Kommuniqué Zéro (July 2020) Mark Leckey – In This Lingering Twilight Sparkle (August 2020) Lucrecia Dalt – No era sólida (September 2020) Staraya Derevnya – Inwards Opened the Floor (September 2020) .   .   .   .   .   .   .

Glands Of External Secretion –  Do Not Disturb (Butte County Free Music Society) https://glandsofexternalsecretion.bandcamp.com/album/do-not-disturb The music on Do Not Disturb is made of stuttering interview excerpts, media audio detritus, spoken word, musique concrète, non-descript electronic sounds and loops, plus backward playing guitar or what sounds like studio outtakes. Californian duo of Barbara Manning and Seymour Glass (Bananafish magazine founder), Glands Of External Secretion build their tracks from bits and pieces of found sounds, without progression nor development but with frequent U-turns and aimless sound collages. The collage for them is not so much an avantgarde artistic gesture, as a means to make sense of sound scraps and aural leftovers. They're carving a freedom niche for themselves where they can progress inside a track with a frolic of their own but no apparent logic. Part of the pleasure derived from listening to Do Not Disturb is to experience this freedom other bands usually deny themselves. Glands Of External Secretion are part of this US libertarian tradition including Los Angeles Free Music Society or early Idea Fire Company, the duo of Scott Foust and Karla Borecky.

Christina Vantzou – Multi Natural (Edições CN) https://edicoescn.bandcamp.com/album/multi-natural Full disclosure: I have a soft spot for psychoacoustic sounds – give me howling wolves, children at play, female laughing or sea surf and I'm carried far away from the contingencies of ordinary life. So I might be partial to Christina Vantzou's new album, which has plenty of that. Multi Natural is a collection of remarkably evocative aural miniatures built with the simplest of means – natural found sounds, lonely acoustic instrument or spoken word, associated with basic, reverb-coated synth pads. These are elusive tracks coming out of a haze as inchoate thoughts just before waking up, exploring the liminal state between dream and real life, like Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon movie. Akin to lucid dreaming, the music invites free associations in the mind of the listener as does psychoanalysis or Surrealism. This kind of effect couldn't be achieved with mere ambient music, which tends to focus the mind of the listener on (pretty much) nothing. It requires a talented composer to come up with an aural equivalent of a Dream Machine – just spinning around and creating images in your head. That's what Multi Natural does for me.

Mouchoir Étanche – Kommuniqué Zéro (Dekorder) https://blacktocomm.bandcamp.com/album/kommuniqu-z-ro Mouchoir Étanche [waterproof handkerchief] is a side project of Hamburg-based, German composer Marc Richter, better known as Black To Comm and Jemh Circs. As Black To Comm he released 2 superb albums on Thrill Jockey in 2019. This one-sided 12inch record has one 11mn-track which style is actually typical of previous Black To Comm's loop-based music. In Kommuniqué Zéro, samples of orchestral classical music are looped and left to accumulate over a slow, pulsating rhythm to create a fascinating repetitive, gloomy atmosphere, complete with operatic vocals and spoken word. The entire track can be considered both an homage to, and an update on, Holger Czukay's legendary Boat Woman Song, recorded in Köln in 1968.

Mark Leckey – In This Lingering Twilight Sparkle (Boomkat Editions) https://boomkat.com/products/in-this-lingering-twilight-sparkle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsFqzj45Llo There's nothing like collage music done right – unrelated sounds bursting out of your speakers at strange angles, inexplicable transitions, sounds jumping from place to place yet not really progressing... what's not to love in this cornucopia? British composer Mark Leckey does it brilliantly on this 32mn album. Using amateur-ish music excerpts, found sounds, street recordings, internet aural detritus, as well as great found vocals by actors, children, video game soundtracks and the likes, all exploited with appropriate sound processing and dramaturgy. There's no irony or mass media criticism in there, just a feast of sounds collected from various sources. The human voice is omnipresent throughout, confering the album a very moving, gripping atmosphere, unusual in collage music.

Lucrecia Dalt – No era sólida (RVNG) https://lucreciadalt.bandcamp.com/album/no-era-s-lida This album represents a kind of departure for Lucrecia Dalt. Gone are the niceties of Anticlines, her previous acclaimed album – gone the sexy voice, the sweet synth sequences and reassuring song form. As far as I'm aware of, No era sólida is her darkest effort to date and her most experimental release, likely to sound rather impenetrable to many. Mostly composed of short, skeletal tracks, the album actually plays like one long suite with seamless transitions and great cohesion throughout. The music is build on simple synth sequences and carefully crafted sound textures with that Lucrecia's sound signature: synth sounds with unstable pitch, like a detuned computer left to rot on loop mode. Except for the concluding track, the music is wordless, but occasional, processed vocal samples emerge here and there. Other than that, this is rather abstract music – no melody, no rhythm, no lyrics. Yet the album is also a reacquaintance with her native tongue for Lucrecia – she once told me she was at odds with Spanish language these days, but here track titles are in Castillan and the last track is a long spoken word piece in that language, delivered over a mesmerizing hushed voice loop. The next moment it is gone, and you're left at a sensory threshold between hypnagogia and bewilderment, with no solid ground beneath your feet – No era sólida, indeed.

Staraya Derevnya – Inwards Opened the Floor (self release) https://starayaderevnya.bandcamp.com/album/inwards-opened-the-floor-2 British-Israeli collective led by Gosha Hniu recorded in both countries with local musicians, some from Russian origin. Staraya Derevnya are allegedly around since 1994, but it's the first time I come across their music. Songs are build on collective live jams performed on traditional instruments like dulcimer, double bass, kazoo, synth or sampler, with homemade percussion, toys and found objects. These are then reworked and expanded in studio to create intense Surrealist excursions propelled by weird arrangements. Occasional vocals by Hniu include lyrics in Russian from the poetry of Arthur Molev, but most of the time consist of spoken word, wordless chanting, shouts or invented language. Staraya Derevnya inhabit a territory between 1980s post-punk and Rock in Opposition, with echoes of Red Balune, UR Kaos, Psi Vojaci, SRP, Metabolists or Zamla Mammaz Manna. Great album.

[kent-ridge]

Is Japanese internet slang full of fish? - My washed-up linguistic theory.

A couple of weeks ago I was looking at a glossary of Final Fantasy 14 Japanese internet slang a friend had sent me, and I was struck by an idea: Japanese has a really wide lexicon of fish and fishing related words. Does Japanese internet slang also have more fish related words than English internet slang does? The idea made me laugh, and that was enough to want to try to pursue it. 

The Japanese lexicon does, in fact, have a very extensive vocabulary related to fish and fishing. Masayoshi Shibatani (1990) wrote, ‘The vocabulary of a language reflects the cultural and socio-economic concerns of its speakers, and the Japanese lexicon is no exception to this truism.’ He explains that fishing was one of the primary socio-economic activities in traditional Japanese society, and therefore the native Japanese vocabulary has a great number of words and expressions relating to fish. Of course, we have a fairly wide fishing vocabulary in English as well, but Japanese goes into further detail. Shibatani gives examples of 9 different Japanese words for a fish that we would refer to simply as ‘yellowtail’ in all cases in English - in Japanese there are different words for it depending on its size.

Another wonderful piece of evidence of the abundance of fish words in Japanese is a 1940s ‘Glossary of Japanese Fisheries Terms’ that I found on the American National Marine Fisheries Service Scientific Publications Office website. In March 1947, J. A. Krug, Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior and Albert M. Day, Director of the Fish and Wildlife service, published a leaflet titled, ‘Glossary of Japanese Fisheries Terms.’ It is a dictionary of fishing terms and names of fish, including both Japanese to English and English to Japanese translations. 

The introduction reads, ‘Fish and fishing play such an important role in Japanese life that an extensive and complicated fisheries vocabulary has evolved. Each of the hundreds of kinds of fish, shellfish, and seaweed has several vernacular names, the wide assortment of prepared seafood adds many more words; and the variety of fishing gear has a large specialized nomenclature.’ Clearly, the vocabulary related to fishing in Japan was so specific that it didn’t do well enough simply to translate it to the closest English word - a specialised glossary was needed so that American fishermen could understand precisely what the Japanese fishermen were referring to. (If you, like me, are quite enamoured by historical, niche glossaries or dictionaries, you can read the Glossary of Japanese Fisheries Terms here.)

With this evidence that Japanese does have more words to do with fish and fishing than English does, I wondered if perhaps the extensive fish-related lexicon in Japanese affected the creation of slang terms, particularly internet slang terms. While there is no definitive corpus or complete dictionary of Japanese internet slang, several fish-related phrases came to mind. For example, 雑魚 zako, literally meaning ‘small fish’ is a commonly used phrase in casual Japanese which means ‘a wimp’ or an ‘unimportant person.’ This is also used in MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, e.g. Final Fantasy 14) lingo to mean ‘low-level NPC (Non Player Character) enemies.’ Of course, we have the word ‘small fry’ in English which has essentially the same meaning of ‘unimportant person’, but we do not use it in the same context in online gaming. (I have been informed that in English we might call these weak enemies ‘trash mob’ or ‘slimes’ - a reference to the slime blob enemies in the game Dragon Quest.) I also recalled that 鯖 saba - ‘mackerel’ is slang for the word ‘server’ - a lovely wordplay on the loanword sābā.

I then asked on twitter if anyone could help me to come up with some more Japanese fish-related internet words. I had a few interesting replies, suggesting 釣り tsuri (fishing) which means ‘trolling’, accompanied with 釣り師 tsurishi (angler) for ‘troll’, and エサ esa (bait) and 釣り針 tsuribari (fishhook) , which both refer to the content used by a troll to entice other users into replying angrily. Although we might also call this practice ‘baiting’ in English, and we of course have the famous term ‘clickbait’ for baiting people into clicking a link, the metaphor is further expanded upon in Japanese internet language. When a troll gets the responses they were hoping for, other net users may say something like ‘大漁だな’ tairyou da na - ‘That’s a big haul.’ 

I was also told about ウェブ魚拓 webu gyotaku (web fish printing), which is a method of preserving the content of a website in a snapshot, like the service Wayback Machine. Gyotaku is the traditional Japanese practice of dipping a fish in ink to create a print, which could record a fisherman's catch they are particularly proud of, or simply make a nice picture of a fish. (Incidentally, the web address for the website where one can access webu gyotaku is ‘megalodon.jp.')

This is not an incredibly extensive list, but I was pleasantly surprised with the number of responses I received. I also tried to come up with a list of fish-related English internet terms, but all I could think of was ‘phishing’, ‘clickbait’, and ‘catfish.’ None of these are slang as such, but created terms for phenomena that only happen online. (They respectively mean, ‘sending scam emails’, ‘using sensationalised or misleading content to entice users to click on something’, and ‘pretending to be someone else on online dating sites.’) I suppose at a stretch I could actually include ‘the net’ into my list of fishing-related internet vocabulary.

I don’t, however, think that this is enough evidence to suggest that Japanese internet slang does indeed have a larger proportion of fish or fishing-related terms than internet slang in other languages. Furthermore, even if it did, it does not necessarily prove that it is because of the wide fish lexicon that Japanese has in general.

I think my next step would have to be to explore whether other aspects of the Japanese lexicon are reflected in the creation of internet slang terms. Shibatani also mentions that Japanese has an abundance of words to do with nature, but not many body part words. (Even a novice Japanese learner will have noticed that ‘foot’ and ‘leg’ are both expressed with one word, 足 ashi, and that both ‘smile’ and ‘laugh’ are expressed with the verb 笑う warau.) 

The problem is, it is fairly difficult to linguistically analyse ‘Japanese internet slang’ as a concept, and to compare it to ‘English internet slang.’ There is no official online corpus of internet slang in English or Japanese, and it changes every day as new slang terms are created and older terms fall out of practice. The only way I can see to continue this research is to compile my own lists, either from spotting slang terms ‘in the wild’ online, or asking strangers on twitter to come up with any terms they can think of. 

Even if I could prove that the tendencies of the Japanese vocabulary are reflected in its internet slang, what would this actually demonstrate? That, somehow, the balance of this lexicon is engrained in Japanese minds and so it affects the creation of new slang terms and wordplay? Or just that there are a lot of fish words so people create fish-related associations? 

What kind of words are there more of in English than in other languages? Have we English-speakers developed a tendency to create internet slang based on… growing wheat… or… brewing… or whatever is that was traditionally engrained into English society, and therefore probably English vocabulary? Somehow, I don’t think so.

So, I was unable to come to a satisfying conclusion about my theory of fish-heavy Japanese internet slang. But I don’t think it was a complete waste of my time. It was my first foray into researching something just because I was curious and felt like it, and even though it didn’t lead me to any groundbreaking discoveries about the creation of new slang terms in Japanese, I had a lot of fun. It sparked some interesting conversations with friends and twitter strangers, and I got to read a 1940s fish dictionary. Some pretty good mental stimulation for a Wednesday afternoon in lockdown.

[quadraphonictypewriter]

Sunday Romance, week 20!

I saw this week’s prompt and it brought dialogue to my mind that I decided to expand on. The prompt from @sunday-romance was “fix you” which I have decided to explore through my wip, Rushing Whispers.

I am going to tag @ritchieblackless so she sees this :):)

Word count: 1,254

*brief mention of nudity but no description, and nothing further.

FYI this includes spoilers for Rushing Whispers, but honestly, it’s not a huge shock so go nuts

INFO: This is written from Lee’s POV, some time in July 1974, as Amoeba nears the end of yet another tour.

   “I’m going to head into the shower,” Liliane told me in a quiet voice, closing the bathroom door behind her without another word. 

   I sat down in one of the armchairs and picked up a magazine from the table. Luckily there wasn’t an album review in sight, but the upcoming winter’s fashion trends were of no interest to me. Regardless, I kept my eyes on the page I’d turned to, if only to distract part of myself.

   We’d been touring for the better part of eighteen months, first to promote our last studio album and now to follow the recent live record with a solid amount of performances, and it had undoubtedly worn us down. We were in another hotel in another city, and I’d be hard pressed to tell you which one.

   It bothered me that I couldn’t quite place what was upsetting her. Liliane had been with me all year, despite my insistence that she shouldn’t feel bad if she chose to stay in Scotland, and I’d love her no less for it. She and Emily had spent a good portion of last year in Scotland, while Amoeba were trucked off from one city to the next seemingly non-stop.

   Maybe it was something to do with Emily’s announcement, I wondered. Earlier we’d all gone out to a restaurant for supper, and Emily walked in with a bow around her waist. ‘I’m pregnant,’ she’d told us, her words spaced with giggles and excitement. Apparently she’d known for more than a week, and I supposed it irked Liliane to have been kept in the dark about it. 

   I still had my eyes on the magazine page when Liliane came back into the room. The towel she’d dried off with was wrapped around her, which struck me as odd— she’d stopped being shy about being nude in front of me long ago. 

   “Enjoy the shower?” I asked, lifting my gaze towards her. 

   Liliane slipped on a pair of underwear and nodded. “It was nice,” was all she replied. She let the towel fall to the ground, but quickly covered up with a nightshirt. 

   It made me feel sick to see her so upset and not even know if I could help her; so I put the magazine down and walked over, desperate to comfort her. “Will you tell me what’s bothering you?” I whispered. 

  Liliane frowned but looked as if she would speak, though she just huffed in frustration. 

  I put out my hand and she took it, so I pulled her into a hug. “You won’t sleep a wink if you don’t say something,” I reminded her in a soft tone. “I know you won’t.” 

  “I know,” she grumbled, her head resting on my chest.

  “I’d like you to tell me, but I won’t make you.” I kissed her hair, the sweet smell of her shampoo filling my nose. “We can go to bed if you’d like. Just wake me when you want to talk,” I added with a quiet chuckle. 

  Liliane lifted her head and smiled, though it was only a slight curve of her lips. “I can do that.”

...

  It had been more than an hour since we’d gotten under the sheets and closed the light, but Liliane was still far from sleep. My body had relaxed enough that I had twice drifted towards sleep, but both times I’d been brought back to wakefulness by Liliane shifting position. 

  Her breathing was deep and steady, though my own breath caught in my throat when she put her hand in mine. I rubbed the back of her hand with my thumb, and she squeezed my hand. 

  “I love you, Flower Face,” I murmured. 

 Liliane let out a short chuckle. “That’s such a silly name,” she scoffed in amusement. 

  “It’s not. Not when I mean it so lovingly.” 

  “I love you too.” 

  I smiled, though neither of us could see anything. 

  “It’s something I already knew,” Liliane confessed after a few minutes of silence. “But it slapped me in the face today.” 

  “What did?” 

  “Realization,” she mumbled. “Disappointment, too. I thought I’d already accepted it, but I guess I didn’t. It hurts more, this time.” 

  “What is it?” I repeated, my concern evident.  

  Liliane sighed. When she answered me, her voice was thick with sadness. “I can’t have children, Lee. I’m not able to get pregnant.” 

  Every odd thing I’d noticed since this evening’s announcement suddenly made sense. “Emily’s news hit a tender spot,” I spoke quietly. 

  “I’m happy for her, and for Cameron,” she urged. “I really am. But I can’t help being sad for me, and for you.” Her voice was only a whisper. 

  “Why would you be sad for me?” I still held her hand, and rubbed her arm reassuringly. 

  Liliane sniffled, and though I wanted to turn on the lamp and show her the emotions I knew were clear on my features, I also knew it was easier for her to tell me this in the dark. 

  “I don’t… I thought, maybe, one day you’d like to have a kid. But I can’t give you that.” 

  Her last words were uttered through tears, and I pulled her closer to me. “That doesn’t matter, Liliane. Not to me,” I assured her. “I wouldn’t care if you were missing a kidney or you’d lost an earlobe in an accident, and this is no different.” 

  “It is.” 

  “No,” I countered firmly. “If this was the ace up your sleeve to get rid of me, it’s not working,” I added in an attempt to lighten the conversation. “I’m still going to marry you, and I’m still going to love you as much as I always have.” 

  “You’re going to marry me?” Liliane repeated, seemingly surprised. “Open the light.” 

  I leaned over and clicked the lamp switch, then turned to her with a shy grin. “Of course. I wanted a better reveal, maybe a few candles or something,” I admitted to her. “But if you’ll have me, Liliane, of course I will.” 

  The smile that appeared on her face was a stark contrast to the redness around her eyes and the tears on her cheeks, but I revelled in the joy I’d just given her. Even if I’d messed up a traditional proposal, at least she knew I’d always want her as my own. 

  She kissed me, pressing her lips against my own for a moment that was much too brief. “That’s good to know,” she murmured, the smile lingering on her face.

  I brushed a strand of hair out of her face and gazed at her amusedly. “Were you worried about it?” 

  “I’d certainly asked myself questions,” she told me before pausing. “But I’ve seen you make faces at babies and turn to mush over them, so… I worried.” 

  I shook my head. “That I’d want you and children, or not at all? Has your brain gone to jelly? Come here.” 

  Liliane scooted closer to me and laid her head on my chest. “You’re really good to me,” she whispered. “You’re a good man, Lee.” 

  “And all the better for loving you,” I replied, reaching my arm towards the bedside table to turn off the lamp. I felt her exhale deeply, and smiled to myself. “Get some sleep, Liliane. We’ve got a box of condoms to burn in the morning.” 

  Her laugh rang out, and was so joyful that I couldn’t help but laugh as well. If I could hear her laughter every day, I told myself, I’d give up everything else in a heartbeat. 

[hazelspacecadet]

She Ra - a full analysis

WARNING - THIS ANALYSIS CONTAINS MAAAAAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRETY OF SHE RA!! 

“You look out for me, and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other”

She Ra is a show about two people torn apart. It’s important to recognise that this multifaceted masterpiece centres entirely on the Catradora dynamic; Noelle herself has expressed that the show was always about those two, and in a broader sense much of the wider world in the She Ra universe can be seen as a complex manifestation of Adora and Catra’s ever changing bond. Adora is not a hero in the traditional sense, as everything about her character is designed to subvert and deconstruct expectations of the hero’s journey. She is a powerful, strong and determined fighter with healing powers, a morally stubborn and highly empathetic person raised in a genocidal regime, and she runs away from the only home and only exponent of love she has ever known because her internal moral compass is just so intense it overrides the truest bond she will ever feel, at least until external factors allow for reconciliation. 

But what defines, at a thematic level, the human interactions in She Ra is a cycle of abuse that begins with oppressive control - Horde Prime. He punishes the imperfections in Hordak to the extent that Hordak feels compelled to lash out, to prove himself powerful by any means. Horde Prime is an interesting villain because his rhetoric centres not around darkness, but light and purity. This is not only a more subversive type of manipulative language than is often seen by cartoon villains, but it clearly establishes Horde Prime as being a fundamental representation of abuse and its tendency to beat away at character traits deemed weak, anomalous, or more importantly unable to be controlled. Horde Prime needs control; he needs subservience and pure, untouched power, which is why he forms his empire around a hive mind. Hordak of course breaks the hive mind itself, but abuse is a parasitic thing, and controls Hordak’s deplorable actions on Etheria right from his first introduction, talking directly to Catra. But the cycle does not stop at Hordak; his monstrous coping methods cause subtler damage by affecting Shadow Weaver. She is an interesting character because unlike Hordak, she was shown to have independent agency in her harmful actions before finding her way to the Horde, but it is clear that the intense sensation of being cast out, before the Horde rescued her only to thrust her into a cycle of rage and exploitation, leads to the final stage of this particular cycle: Adora, and more importantly Catra.

The show makes it abundantly clear that Catra gets the short straw in interactions with Shadow Weaver; and not only that, but it is shown that Catra’s narrative of Adora being a neglectful, selfish pretend-hero is one instilled not by Adora, but Shadow Weaver and her often-times violent favouritism. Adora isn’t selfish or neglectful - her strong moral compass certainly isn’t perfect, and letting go of complete undirected empathy is something she learns in the conversation with Mara in season 5 (“you are worth more than what you can give to other people”) - but those traits are at odds to how Adora is presented, and in particular how her relationship with Catra is presented. Shadow Weaver neglects Catra, and does it to such an extent that Catra is forced into a mindset of breaking her bond with Adora over an injustice that was never her friend’s fault. Shadow Weaver’s manipulation is so powerful, it makes Catra believe that Adora’s protection, her deep-seated love, is malignant. That is abuse: it turns love into hate and protection into violence. 

In this cycle, this systematic abuse from Prime to Hordak to Shadow Weaver to Catra, there are two anomalies. They have to be anomalous, uncontrollable, natural, because this cycle begins with oppressive control, and therefore only two variables can violate that base injustice - love, and imperfection. From a meta-narrative sense, She Ra is a unique beast because characters do not simply have flaws for the sake of flaws, but those flaws are the direct reason for the eventual collapse of the show’s main antagonism. What breaks Prime is a kiss, and a mad scientist. The kiss is Adora and Catra displaying a desire for closeness that represents years of struggle against systematic abuse, abuse that has deliberately forced love to become hate, and that only when the cycle reaches its peak and the initial abuser makes a final bid for absolute control, can the true reconciliation begin. The mad scientist is of course Entrapta, whose powerful adoration of imperfection ultimately destroys Prime, or at least his preferred vessel. Abuse of the kind shown in She Ra cannot exist when people find beauty and joy in the things it seeks to eliminate, and Entrapta is exactly the anomaly needed to help break the cycle. Returning to the core of those two lovers, Catra finds her want for Adora, and it is reciprocated because the underlying love was always there, but the intent, the desire for closeness only became apparent when years of unnecessary hurt had been recognised and their true cause exposed: not each other, but the cycle.

Of course, abuse in the She Ra universe is only actively broken by one thing: love. I touched on this theme earlier when discussing abuse as the two are somewhat intertwined but love, in platonic and romantic forms, is so crucial to the functioning of She Ra’s characters and their motivations. Catra and Adora have always loved each other (they only express this at the climax because they must fight through abuse to find a shared desire), and this love is shown right from both the start of the show, and the first time we see them interact chronologically - in Promise. What’s interesting is we never know how they meet, or what they say to each other first, but instead the earliest canonical Catradora interaction is the promise itself: a dedication so strong it defines Catra’s actions years later on an alien ship as she saves a person she does not even claim to like. The show puts Catra and Adora’s love first, as that is the establishment of their truly meaningful connection, with other flashbacks and all of season 5 expanding upon that bond. We know that love breaks abuse because Horde Prime is abuse and he is defeated by a kiss, but what does that imply? 

The kiss, and therefore the confirmation of She Ra’s central love, carries with it a moral lesson, a message, that hurt and abuse can be overcome through the mutual reconciliation that comes with unconditional love. In the show, all kinds of love shown to be beneficial and non-toxic are unconditional: Catra can only want Adora when she accepts that Adora will always be morally upstanding and stubbornly empathetic, and Adora can only want Catra when she accepts that Catra defaults to self-hatred and pushing away, and only when both of these conditions are made meaningless by the force of attraction and belonging known as love, can the kiss be shown and the abuse broken. 

Love is not just shown between that central relationship, but throughout She Ra and its characters. Glimmer is a flawed and sometimes maligned character, but her importance to the show and its progression cannot be overstated, especially in season 5. On the ship in episodes 1 and 2, Catra needed something to hold onto. Torn from her home, powerless and very clearly unable to manipulate and fight Horde Prime like she could with Hordak, Catra’s only option became Glimmer. Their bond forms quickly and shakily, but what is so crucial about their interactions is that in order to reconcile with Adora, Catra needed to see someone like Glimmer, who had both made huge mistakes and at one point believed her own mistakes to be the right decision, completely and unconditionally forgive Adora and desire to be home with her. They share love for Adora, different kinds of love, but a strong connection and belonging that in the case of the open and empathetic Glimmer is very obvious. It’s also no accident that later on, during interactions in the expanded Best Friend Squad, Catra takes several social cues from Glimmer first, with Adora a trusted support. Catra is always going to care about Adora more than anything, but it takes the model example of Glimmer to show her how. 

But Adora is not just the subject of Catra’s attractions. As the main character, the dual figure around which the show is built both emotionally and plot-wise, she has a striking amount of agency, but also experiences a corruption of her truest desires at the hands of abuse. The abuse of Adora is subversive and difficult to spot, but it all comes down the pedestal that Shadow Weaver built for her, as well as her own innate morals and how those two factors, in Adora’s mind, prevented her from loving and caring for Catra in the right way. Throughout the show, Adora treats her own need to help others and her desire to be with the people she loves as mutually exclusive; even when Bow and Glimmer remind her that she is not alone, Adora has a penchant for going it alone, believing herself to be this chosen hero who must rescue the people of Etheria without reconciling with herself and her closest friends. In fact, the part of Adora that pushes people away in the name of heroism is not actually her, but instead the cycle of abuse exploiting her moral compass to fulfill corrupt desires that are not and never could be her own. Even the purported good guys do it, the First Ones making Adora believe that her path, her destiny, is to be a weapon. She fights this at the climax of season 4, but never comes to terms with it mentally until the conversation with Mara. And after it has all become hopeless, lost and Etheria is destined to burn away, Catra flips the script. Adora’s truest desire was Catra, but the abuse was too ingrained, the hurt too deep, for these desires to become reality, to be found within themselves. Only when Adora knows her blind heroism has lost, and therefore all to be lost, can Catra, whose arc has now culminated, save the universe. They both found not only their own destiny, but learnt to accept the intertwining of their lives as something that can be a force for good, a force for love. 

So to conclude, She Ra is not just about being torn apart, but in the end is about two girls fighting abuse as they learn to love each other, and eventually watching the patterns of abuse fade away as they express pure, unconditional love through a kiss that changes everything. 

“Don’t you get it? I love you. I always have.”

[fafulous]

Life in Wakanda with Bucky Barnes would include:

First Time:

You knew Bucky as a mere acquaintance. But beyond that, the endless stories that you heard from Steve made you eager to meet the man.

Bucky had no idea who you were since you were a new recruit to the Avengers.

Just like Bucky, you decided to move to Wakanda upon T’challa and Steve’s persuasion after the mindnumbing mission you had gone with the both of them.

Shuri was kind enough to show you where you were going to live which was near to Bucky house as well.

After Shuri left, you changed into the traditional Wakandan clothes and stepped out of your hut, only to meet the gaze of THE James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes.

And damn did he freeze like a deer in headlights when he saw you

You instantly tensed up the minute he began to walk away from you because damn did he look a greek god.

But you didn’t know that the reason Bucky went away from you was that he had no idea how to interact with such an attractive dame.

Bucky and you would always run into each other unintentionally, or that’s what either of you assumed

But finally got the guts to talk to you upon Shuri’s persuasion

and he did that thing again:

He froze and stuttered.

“He froze like a deer in headlights, our very own white wolf, just like you brother”

“Oh Shuri you have no idea how it feels”

Realizing his starting problem you helped him out

“You’re James aren’t you?”

“Wh-what, how do you know me?”

“Our very own star-spangled boy of course, who else?”

Friendship:

Ever since then for the next couple of days, Bucky would talk to you standing by the lake. For a minimum of five minutes.

Because let's face it, he was scared.

Scared of doing something he's never done before: getting to know an exquisite woman like you.

And the best part was you didn't mind the short-lived meetings every day

As long as you saw him

Until one-day he gathered up the courage to expand this small, budding friendship:

"Would you like to meet my goats?"

"Sure!"

And he went on and on, introducing all of his seven goats patiently to you. The ways his eyes lit up every time he told their names gave you happy jitters in your heart. It was too difficult to stop blushing.

"This one is Steve because this was my first goat ever"

"And this one is Sam because, you know, he's a jerk...but I love him."

And at one point few of the goats, especially the ones named Natasha and Scott kept scuttling around you which made you coo and play with them even more.

Which also made Bucky fall harder for you even more

"So James-"

"Bucky"

"What?"

"Call me Bucky, doll."

Attraction:

Safe to say at least, Bucky no longer ensured that the meetings would last more than five minutes.

They'd last for the whole day.

Bucky wanted to take you to the Wakandan Market since you were always pampered by Shuri to ensure you were supplied with whatever that was needed.

Your breath completely stopped when you saw Bucky.

Geared up in the Red Wakandan robe along with the scarf that covered his left arm fashionably.

With that goddamn rough stubble and his man bun.

How did he do it?? With? One? Arm?

All you could think of was how you wanted to stroke your fingers along the strands of his gorgeous hair and how his beard would feel on your-

"Shall we?" He asked by extending

Now it was your turn to freeze like a deer in headlights.

"Y-yes"

In the market, you ran around like a child seeing a supermarket for the first time. So many artisans selling so many things. Your eyes lit up at every shop amidst the busy crowd.

But Bucky didn't mind the crowd, all of his attention was on you. The way your hair moved and the way your eyes lit up whenever you saw something that interested you extremely.

He even noticed how she completely wrapped arms around his right arm, gripping it harder whenever she was excited.

And he loved it. Made him proud rather

But at one point she rushed off without warning him, which made him worry intensely.

Only to return with a handful of plums.

"I overheard you reprimanding Sam yesterday of how he ate all your plums."

He doesn't know how to respond and unfortunately ends up staring. Again.

"Bucky.exe has stopped working brother."

"Oh leave the man alone Shuri"

You would pop into his hut sometimes, helping him with some daily chores

It felt so domestic and pure, one could get used to this he wondered.

The first move:

In the evening, you and bucky decided to have a bonfire set up

With enough fruits and food, both of you began indulging in stories of the past, showing each other how vulnerable you can become

While Bucky spoke about his literal fall and HYDRA, you spoke about the abusive mission that you had to endure with Steve and T’challa.

“Nothing can ever hurt you now Doll, you’re here with me now”

“And I, with you Bucky”

And involuntarily both of you pulled in together...for a hug.

Your sensations went wild when he buried his nose between your hair and neck, which made you stroke his wavy hair.

After some time, you realized his breathing became uniform and you decided to lean down.

The white wolf has gone to sleep 

The next day, bucky woke up entangled between your arms on the grass.

The Bonfire ceased and the sun was up

You looked so peaceful.

He slowly removed his right arm underneath your body, only to move the strands of hair blocking your face.

She's too serene

Too beautiful

Too good for you Bucky.

He knew it right then and there as the first set of the sun's rays fell on the both of them.

She is the one.

Waking up the next day and not finding him next to you made you a tad bit sad, especially since you couldn't spot him the whole day.

The WHOLE DAY.

It was extremely disheartening, maybe thinking something went extremely wrong last night after the beautiful moment you both shared

Until you finally found him babbling to all of his goats at night

And he stopped the minute he saw you

And the conversation became too angsty, asking him where he was the whole day

and damn Bucky was shit scared since you looked so regal and scary under the moonlight.

And in the slip of his tongue:

“I don’t have to always tell you my whereabouts Y/N”

That stung your soul like a wasp

“Did anything mean to you yesterday?”

He panicked like a lost child, seeing tears streaming down your cheek.

And came over to you, tugging you closer, his right arm wiping away those tears

“Everything, doll. Every single minute meant more to me than you think”

Both of your gazes are on each other's lips

And you’re too eager to make the first move

And you do.

It wasn’t needy as you thought it was, but soo passionate

And gosh Bucky could taste the strawberry off your lips, and he wanted to bite those lips of yours

Only to be interrupted by the bleating of his goats, followed by the incessant giggles of you both

“Such a romantic first kiss Bucky”

“Tell me about it”

The fluff domestic life:

You couldn’t believe that both of you were actually a thing

Bucky quickly explained that the only reason that he avoided you that day was that he was nervous and felt he was out of your league.

“That’s so stupid Barnes. Stop thinking like your goats”

“Hey, not a word about my goats!”

T’challa and Shuri were so happy for the both of you were together now

And even helped to move into a slightly bigger house for the both of you

and Bucky’s goats

“Doll, they’re ours now”

Both of you shared a bed, although Bucky was skeptical, especially because of his non-existent arm.

But you reassured him that didn’t matter. Always. 

Mornings became lazier, both of you always entangled in each other's arms

“Good morning sleeping beauty”

And Bucky’s hoarse morning voice was a godsend gift

And if you didn’t nudge, he will pepper your face and neck with soft kisses, especially your sweet spot

and eventually, you’d give in sleepily, with a sloppy morning makeout session between the sheets

both of you would cook together although most of the time you ended up learning from him because clearly, he knew way better than you did

and breakfast, lunch, and dinner went by talking and getting to know each other more and more

Bucky would also teach you how to take care of his goats

"Steve and Scott are fine with anything but do not feed Natasha carrots for God's sake"

And you just thought they were goats.

They’re family.

Bucky also flexed his muscles literally and would show how he could do one hand pushups.

And you would definitely take the opportunity to slide underneath his glorious torso because he would peck on your lips every time he came down

and your giggles would drive him crazy

Comforting each other’s nightmares and bad days

And whenever he would get phantom pain on his left arm, you’d massage it and coo sweet sweet words to relax him

“You’re going to be okay bucky, I promise”

Later in the evenings, Bucky would sometimes sit outside to watch the sunset

While you took the opportunity to french braid his hair and putting flowers wherever you could

“I could get used to this doll. Do this every day?”

"I'll think about it"

Followed by Bucky chasing you around until you submit to him

And you eventually do and fortunately get tickled to death

(Things gonna get NSFW kids bye bye chilren)

Sex was never brought up by Bucky though he did want to. He was just a bit hesitant due to his physicality.

But you on the other hand never saw it as a disability

You wanted Bucky. Wanted him so bad.

Like whats not there to want? Great body, soft hair, a really cute ass.

There would be times when the sexual tension was so bad, you both had to leave the room. But alas, it was solved.

It was when you went by the lake surrounded by thick trees, you saw Bucky. An ethereal Bucky.

He was sitting on one of the branches, his legs spread in naked glory, his Blue Wakandan robe conveniently covering his manhood. 

Those thighs could kill you

The glorious ends of his hair were dripping with water onto his bare torso. He probably took a dip in the lake

You getting turned on was an understatement because he looked like a fucking god

You whispered his name involuntarily and your brain was clouded with so much lust you had no idea what you were doing.

Bucky, on the other hand, was in the lake a few minutes back because he was hot and bothered thinking about you, and unfortunately had to take care of himself. 

Especially because you decided to wear your cute black tank top and shorts with a messy bun, teasing him every time you took a step.

He froze, again of all the times to freeze as he saw you coming towards him, her eyes clearly showcasing one emotion.

You looked up to him, your hands roaming his wet torso and you swore bucky choked.

“Doll you’re so good to me. Are- are you sure?”

“I want you so bad baby. So so bad.”

And all you had to do was jump onto his waist, and wrap your arms around his neck.

Both of you made love to each other for the first time near the lake and it was so hot (figuratively obv ;)

Bucky’s beard burn throughout your body

and he loved to hear those pretty lil moans of yours, making him hard instantly

and he was vocal too, and boy did it make you flip

especially when he whispered hoarsely into your ears

“beautiful girl”

“you feel so good doll”

“Harder baby” you’d moan 

and you both came screaming from your highs together. And ever since then, he’d try something every day

But he’s extremely vanilla

and has come to the conclusion that he loves loud sex

because why not.

Both of you would go down on each other whenever you both were stressed

He’d ask you every time if whatever he was doing okay and you didn’t mind.

Because you love this man too much.

Trailing your body down with sloppy kisses was his favorite. 

And you? You loved biting him.

You loved his thighs. And riding him every time was your kink.

“You’re a fucking goddess, doll”

And he could never decide if he was a boobs or an ass person

“Its hard baby. You do have great assets”

“I know it's hard” you’d wink

His after sex care was spot on and you ended up cuddling him as always.

Angry sex happened like one time

Because you forgot to mention to Bucky that you were to spend the day with T’challa

some pieces of furniture broke but it was alright

But it ended up with both of you saying those three words for the first time to each other

“I can’t stay mad at you. I love you too much Y/N”

“Oh Bucky I love you too”

And you knew life in Wakanda couldn’t get better

--

Tag: @padmaaavati @marauderette130 @dendrite-lover (ILY frens)

Posted on 18th June, 2019

[shy-magpie]

RQG 155

Wherein there are unexpected visitors. Live blog under the cut

Pre episode babbling:  there really wasn't any way quarantine was going to last as long as the dungeon crawl, and (for all I joked about it) I really am satisfied with what we got. That was a lot of backstory and character moments in a short amount of time. Now we have a kobold, a mysterious attack on the inn, and an episode title referencing dragons? Nice consolation for them almost certainly being forced out of the basement or having plot come to them. Please be Skraak? Please be Skraak either trying to rescue them or at least be here as an ally? Oh well time to hit play: Weird energy? That’s promising Inevitable locked in a Cel(l) joke Zolf needs to be nicer about the Kobolds Alex needs tell us if this is Skraak or not before Hamid gets the blame Skraak(?) Just unlocked the trap door Nice outfit Alex, is it our Skraak? It seems to be Zolf wants Skraak to join them in quarantine. Cel doesn't see why to bother when Skraak's been in contact with hundreds of Kobolds Skraak gestures for them to leave and Zolf is going to be force the issue. This will go over well. Beats his defense by 1 Hamid is trying to play peacemaker again. Really Zolf? Couldn't have calmly refused to leave and explained through the door? I know you are under stress but you are low charisma, not stupid. Love you Cel, Skraak has been speaking to varying degrees since "My Liege" Hamid tries to explain, Zolf speaks over him to say they didn't explain because they forgot. Hamid apologizes to Skraak. Skraak starts to leave. Azu backs Zolf in preventing him from leaving. Skraak is subdued by Zolf & Azu Skraak is locked in with Hamid? No Zolf has some limits thank goodness. He did call Skraak one of them.  Bound but not gagged as Hamid apologizes. Skraak points out that he just has to wait for the rest (of his team?) Skraak "monitor"ed them!?! Holy... I was merely comparing the situations, did he actually scry and see them held by a human in a small space underground beneath a trap door disguised by a table? If he thinks Wilde is their Shoin then how many pieces is he going to be in when Zolf gets out? Kobold lore please! Hierarchy is important and it was "considered a good idea to keep track of the saviors". Skraak is sarcastic in his tone when he uses the term and it sounds like at least Hamid & Azu object the instant they hear it, possibly others. Cel makes a pitch for quarantining the whole inn. Wilde is in the cupboard Zolf asks about the kobold numbers and makes some unnecessary remarks about the village & Jasper in particular being lost as he writes off Japan. Zolf is far too relatable for some who needs to stand the flame down before someone takes it personal. Deciding you've already doomed yourself along with everything you care about is a crappy way to avoid panic in the face of uncertainty. Cel tries to call him on it, he switches to "everyone else is infected and it will be our job to fight them". Scary thing is, while in the long term it would be a suicide mission, with their combined abilities they could make a serious dent in the numbers. Hope they are aware of the Hiroshima comparison if this is leading to calling for a air strike on Japan. They explain what little they know to Skraak who insists none of the Kobolds were sick but may not understand the symptoms. Possible kobold immunity? Gonna be annoyed if something Shoin did protected them. Skraak seems to be saying that no new people were exposed since his party of 7 followed the route of the party. Zolf wants to send them back under Skraak's guard to prevent any more coming for them. And they're back. Cel points out its better Skraak came since the kobolds didn't know to implement quarantine. They go upstairs. They form a phalanx and draw spear against the party when they don't see either Hamid or Skraak. Alex & Ben are doing the "these lines are already written we have but to speak them" routine while Bryn points out Alex doesn't get to sound like that when he's the one doing it. Very Hamid, if you know how this is going to play out and don't like it, just make another choice. Initiative and a lot of dice. Grapple rules. Not clear where Cel is/if they got grappled but it sounds like Zolf did and is throwing them off so he can check on the inn keeper. Hamid runs upstairs and every one of them kneels like Skraak did at their first meeting. Helen & Bryn both sound distressed. Should have cleaned up that unreadable little ficlet I made of Hamid going bad because he didn't know how to handle Kobold worship and accidentally took over Japan because he thought autonomy meant respecting their decision to look to him as their leader. The innkeeper is bound but fine. Zolf unties him and looks for Wilde. "Wilde is also bound and... Has a look best described as "the bleep? "" Zolf is a stress cooker and Barnes updates Hamid is flustered and embarrassed which buys him some small grace from Skraak who explains Hamid is "the biggest dragon here" Cel: Also you could introduce the concept of democracy. Eh skip em straight to anarcho communism if you ask me. Group decision meetings rather than just vote for the head dragon Hamid tries to side step a bit by suggesting they explain the situation and asks for their names. Hope Alex thought to name all seven before the cast does.  Siggif the kobold might be pushing it. "Hamid the polite tyrant"-Lydia Break Alex skips them to "a large dinner" cooked by Zolf who got a nat 20 on how good it is. Cel speaks draconic. Neither Zolf nor Azu can make out the difference in their names. Because Alex is like that: didn't want to come up with 7 names, did want to block anyone else naming them. Bryn however has all 6 names and is going to give Azu & Zolf their translations. They aren't interested in the rest of the party and "insist on maintaining a guard phalanx around Hamid at all times". Helen points out this is Bryn's fault. Yeah he's been playing with Alex long enough to know "King of the Kobolds" would come back to bite him. Hamid should be embarrassed. Hamid is sat at the head of the table by the Kobolds. Skraak: it'll pass eventually Zolf: good Aw Cel asks about traditional kobold food and Skraak has to struggle to remember. (Cel seems disappointed meal worm burgers would be poisonous to non kobolds) Zolf is a grumpy boy Long story short it seems to be a controlled risk: no contact off the island; no reason to believe the kobolds are infected Kobolds might be immune Oh screw Shoin (sent waves of Kobolds as dungeon monsters) Zolf doesn't think that the level of contact the Kobolds had with infected adventurers without being infected is proof since they don't know how the infection is passed or activated. Hamid says they shouldn't rely on it but its reason to hope. Zolf needs to remember that team moral is a thing and quit taking things from Hamid especially in a way that could piss off their new housemates. Thank you Azu! Hamid is not stupid! You can say there is reason for hope and still be careful Hamid calls him on jumping down his throat at the slightest provocation, reminds him they talked about this and that trying to stay positive is not a crime. God it's weird relating to both sides of this argument. My bias is towards Hamid as being right, but Zolf is so relatable. You have any idea how hard it can be not to snap at some of these kids they are setting themselves up for heart break when they talk about school in the fall or hug piles at cons? Thank you Cel Zolf is going to leave and sit on the coast behind the inn because he considers the quarantine broken not expanded. Backing out of an unproductive conversation, especially one were others have pointed out you are being harmful is valid, giving into "burn it all" moods is not. Hamid moves to stop him because he gets that the inn is now their cell Wilde calls him back and says he was building to them talking to the borb. So there is a reason he's the boss. Zolf declares he wants some time not thinking about this, which is what he should have done several paragraphs ago. Ffs this can not be the first time he's had it strike hot/destructive instead of cold/immobilizing; it sucks but you don't let yourself make any permanent decisions, stay away from the breakables and try not to talk to much, it passes. Cel suggests he go to one of the upstairs rooms instead, he accepts the redirect with ill grace but does accept it. Barnes has pointed out that locking everyone in a small box makes things worse not better before. Aw did Alex not like the fandom begging for the platonic version of the lock em in a closet until they sort out their feelings trope? Azu: I thought we could make friends Cel: he seems quite opposed to that Azu: I feel like he'd be a really good friend but not very friendly if you know what I mean Cel:we I know he hasn't been at all friendly Azu: you're friendly! Cel: well thank you, I do try Azu: I think you are my friend Cel: I am so honored! Thank you so much Azu! That's delightful Carter declares Cel the only friendly one because he is grumpy about Azu stepping on him, stopping him from breaking quarantine, and drank all the good stuff. Barnes suggests they start fresh in the morning. Skraak explains the kobolds are expecting Hamid to step into Shoin's role as tyrant just one they like. Skraak: even if they know you're not a tyrant, neither they nor me will be abandoning you because that's how Kobolds work. Good Hamid is taking this seriously Oh no pressure Skraak The most chill inn keeper in the world Skip to lunch time Zolf is still making himself scarce, which is not the worst way to handle it  dawning on you THAT YOU TRIED TO DESTROY A RELATIONSHIP YOU VALUE BECAUSE YOU WERE IN A MOOD Bryn makes the "he's secretly infected" joke. Bryn spotted the veins in discord avatar thing and Alex sounds so pleased Wilde is fine, stop asking Oh really we needed that insight in how Wilde thinks Brorb on the table Cel asks for a list of stuff to make into a Brorb access device. Between their bags of holding they have enough stuff for them to make do. Azu seeks out Zolf while Hamid & the Kobolds help Cel. No strike that she waits until someone needs to grab him for the Brorb interview. Alex! Ending on Azu finding Zolf staring out the window.

[claudeng80]

fanfic authors tag game

I was tagged by @bubblesthemonsterartist

AO3 name: Eclectic80

Fandom(s): Akagami no Shirayukihime (plus some Girl Genius and one Warehouse 13/Agents of Shield crossover)

Number of fics: 78 on ao3, one non-overlapping one on FFN, and a handful of odds and ends only on Tumblr

1. Fic you spent the most time on: for actual writing time, as a single fic and not an extended series of vignettes, The Last Princess of Tanbarun. For time between starting and finishing, either Absence Makes the Heart or Yours, Truly

2. Fic you spent the least time on: Probably Lessons in Self Defense. It was an idea I’d been sitting on for a while and just came flying out.

3. Longest fic: The Last Princess of Tanbarun, with 59,175 words

4. Shortest fic: Aides, with 291 words

5. Most hits: Alternate Kisses, my collection of obiyuki one-shots (and occasionally two-shots), with 2807

6. Most kudos: Alternate Kisses, with 229

7. Most comment threads: The Snowdrop, with 63. (Thanks @rebeccaravenroth, because the answer probably would have been Alternate Kisses earlier today)

8. Fave fic you wrote: I love all my AUs when I’m not feeling so guilty for spending so much time and effort on way-out AUs, but right now I’m still most proud of A Lover in the Guard.

9. Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: I would love to 1) fix the verb tenses in the Regency AU (every segment is consistent but it switches between chapters) and 2) fix some historical issues in Akagami on the Bayou but neither of those is really worth the effort it would take

10. Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning: I’m poking away at a bunch of my 200-follower prompts at once. Here’s a very early draft beginning of one.

The barracks weren’t haunted. Hisame Lugis knew haunted, and the white block building where four bomber crews slept was not it.

Haunted meant inexplicable cold spots in warm rooms. It meant ghostly reflections in mirrors and creepy noises in the attic. The house he’d grown up in was two hundred years old, old enough to show up in the tourist guides. It had an elegant Italianate facade, but the bones were pre-Revolutionary. Quite literally, if the family legend of Loyalists massacred on their front step and buried secretly in the garden had any truth to it.

So whatever was bothering the others couldn’t be ghosts.

Tagging: @realtacuardach, @puffdragongirl, @traditional-with-a-twist

[helloalexalexa]

Emily Alexa Acosta Prof. Halbert Barton

P1: Silent Infiltration

There is a silent war that was initiated in the 1960s in the Catholic Church that is very little known about by a majority of its members, but which camp you fall under is of eternal importance. The bulk of the 1 billion in the church are unfortunately cafeteria catholics who don’t even realize that their guidance is tugged at by Trads and Modernists. Both silently have severe disdain for the other and secretly believe that the other group is ruining the church.

In the 60s the pope held what is known as the second Vatican council or Vatican II. This council was going to revolutionize the church by bringing in an emphasis on having the laity participate in church more and not have so much reliance on just priests and nuns to be the leaders of the faith. It’s the obsession of both Trads and Modernists to this day. The council ended up barely changing anything, it mainly accomplished only making how the church was run dictated in very vague rubrics and guidelines. That’s how the modernists silently infiltrated. Being that there was no longer language upheld by the Vatican as to what is allowed or rejected explicitly, modernists found wiggle room to add new things to parishes and the mass that have changed how the church looks to unrecognizable levels. It was a slow internal disfiguring of the church, done little by little through things like “voting in suggestions” on small things that simply built up for over 50 years.

Modernists are easily spotted if they call themselves “charismatics”, but trads just know them as Susan from the Parish Council. Their number one focus is voting in as many light shows, dancing and guitars to catholic mass to make it feel like the laity are included more. The Susans from the parish council are typically seen as from the boomer generation. They can range from active senior citizens that like running groups at the church to even priests, bishops or the pope. They love going up to priests and ask them things like why they wouldn’t want to be in a suit and tie instead of “those out dated weird clothes that only the mentally disturbed wear.” They also love voting themselves in to take over roles only the priest does, like touching the eucharist or reading aloud from the bible during mass. All in the name of “bigger participation”. No more emphasis on teaching theology to the faithful. What is important to them is that a person FEELS loved, and they accomplish this in only singing and dancing in front of the altar or organizing pot luck parties. Traditions of the old church are boring and don’t connect with the youth and poses a threat to a dying church that is too outdated to attract newcomers in their minds. Trads to them are also the meanest believers by their bold talk and closed mindedness. They point to Trads as the reason why the church doesn’t “catch up” to the world by adopting what is currently popular.

Trads spot each other a mile away. With their personal Latin missals in hand, men in suits and extremely modestly dressed women in their veils, they tend to run in groups and follow their favorite Father YoungTrad. They all learn latin and reject any liturgy that dates after 1962 and only attend Latin Mass. When they happily meet each other one of the first things they do is greet each other with a banter of wits. Who can out “trad” the other? It’s mainly done to gauge just how devout to the cause they are, and then to know how safely intense they can go into conversation about the faith. It starts off light mocking all things Novus Ordo. For something to be described as novus ordo is strictly an insult. The most extreme belief Trads can say to one another is proclaiming the age old motto “Salus extra ecclesiam non est”. The stereotype for trads is that they are majorly in their 20s to 30s and also range from laity to priests, bishops and the pope. These are self taught faithful that hold to the doctrines and dogmas of the church and fight all things “new” from being introduced to the church. They are almost obsessed with philosophy and theology and know their church history straight from original texts and sources. They have a fire that everything modern is ruining the faith because it abandons the beauty of the intelligence of Catholic theology for fleeting emotions.

Realizing a modern or traditional parish is as obvious as the building they’re in. Trad parishes indulge in the beauty of gothic style architecture and intricate design. Every detail of the church naturally leads the eye to flow upwards to face the one and only cross present at the front of the church all the way up to the ceilings that depict heaven. Even the altar is facing away from the congregation so that the priest can stand at the front facing God along with the crowd to offer their prayers on their behalf. His back is to the congregation because no one should be looking at him. Every eye looks at what’s most important which is either the Cross or an image of God. Every corner has a saint or an angel smiling back at you, whether in stain glass, statue or painting. To its best ability it reminds the faithful of the reality of the infinite spiritual beings that are always present with them. Trad-popular architecture is hard to distinguish from architecture that designed medieval or renaissance era churches.

In contrast, churches produced by modernist inspirations are hard to argue are churches at all. They’re more so large lecture halls whose design flow lead the eye to focus on the pulpit in which some person is going to speak from. They celebrate almost a cooking show styled “show and tell” performance mass on a table. Walls are bare and usually white or beige in the name of “humility” but that intention is drowned out by the concerts and light shows that frequent their masses. Almost nothing is around to bring to mind a single thought of heaven. They can actually go unattended because the faithful don’t even realize its a church to attend since its so easy to miss their single minimalistic cross that’s the only “holy” indicator in sight.

But silently modern churches close down and traditionalist churches keep rebuilding to expand. Too bad the bulk do not know of the riches of the faith since the modernists successfully infiltrated our catechism curriculum and stripped the altars of relics, statutes and art to make room to guitar equipment and flat beige walls. Cafeteria Catholics have no idea of the teachings of the church because modernists have voted out teachings that do not focus on how “Jesus loves everyone no matter what.” Us trads find ourselves in an engulfing sea of the Nones. But silently we’re infiltrating back. Slowly we are finding ourselves to be the only ones left that uphold the importance of faith discipline. The Boomer Susans are slowly aging out of any capacity to be present in church and seminaries are finding that only trads sign into their programs. Trads are the only ones left keeping up tithes and the only ones left signing up to catechize because we’re the only ones that even know the basics of the faith anymore. We’re careful to not be too open about being trad. If identified many priests and fellow believers know of our burning desire to undo everything from Vatican II and try to suppress our participation. But I am hopeful that the progress of the trad movement is getting our church back to where it produced the amazing saints that have changed world history and are celebrated globally to this day.

Glossary

-Cafeteria Catholics: People that identify as catholic but only like to pick and choose what they personally like that the faith teaches and rejects everything else taught. The notion is that they’re in a lunchroom choosing what to eat from the menu options.

-Trads: The slang name of people who are traditionalists in their view of the faith. They take every doctrine from the beginning of church history as fact that cannot be changed. Alternative slang term for them is RadTrad which is short for Radical Traditionalist emphasizing the extremity of their beliefs.

-Modernists: Believers that want to “modernize” the church to better reflect “world wisdom” and take away any supernatural aspects of the faith and make it more of a metaphorical mindset.

-Laity: Any Catholic that is not apart of a religious order. A catholic that is not a priest, nun, brother or deacon.

-Susan From The Parish Council: A meme character created by trads personifying the majority of the type of person a modernist tends to be. Susan is literally a grandmother that is a part of the parish council that is out of touch with what children/youth like and keeps trying to attract them with felt banners and finger paints but produces only cheesy results. Usually only their grandchildren are seen forced into their church activities and are never older than 7 in the memes. They always turn hostile to trads and exert their parish council authority to suppress tradition.

-Boomers: People born roughly in the mid 1900s (~1945/~1965)

-Latin Missals: A missal in general is essentially a “how to” instructional book on celebrating a mass. It contains the liturgy (explained further down in the glossary), prayers and readings needed for mass. Latin missals specifically give the “how to” hand guide to celebrating mass in the form before Vatican II introduced an “updated modern” version of the mass handbook.

-Father YoungTrad: Another meme character devised by trads to personify the type of person traditionalists tend to be. In stark contrast to Susan, Father YoungTrad is a fit and young priest that is extremely orthodox in his leadership and mainly only celebrates Latin mass. His parish is thriving with young people and young families that are well informed of the faith.

-Latin Mass: The name of the rite of the mass celebrated before the changes of Vatican II. Entire mass is celebrated in the official language of the church which is latin. The order of the mass that was the only way the mass was celebrated for about 1,500 years.

-Liturgy: The specific laws/rubrics on how a mass is celebrated.

-Novus Ordo: Latin for “the new order”. It is the name of the new rite of the mass that Vatican II came up with. In social circles it is used as an adjective to identify any aspect of the church/mass/or faith teaching that is not traditional and just a new invention after the 60s that have no actual church history basis.

-“Salus extra ecclesiam non est”: Latin for “there is no salvation outside of the church” and has been a slogan in catholicism since the 3rd century to signify that the catholic church is the only one true church. It is extreme because it declares that other religions including other christian denominations are not the church of the one true God. Trads say it to reinvigorate themselves to the importance of the duty they have to convert as many as they can.

-Nones: A new term coined by well known Bishop Robert Barren to identify the growing number of people that check off the “none” option whenever surveyed to identify which religion they practice or identify as.

-Seminary: The institution that men attend to become priests. “Priest school” where their graduation is actually their ordination to the priesthood. Lasts about eight years to obtain bachelors and masters degrees and includes apprenticeship at different parishes.  

-Tithes: The practice of the laity to give ten percent of their salary to the church/provide support, whether financial, goods or talents.

[askiisoft]

FAN ART FRIDAY: ALL THE WARRIORS, Part 2

And to think I was planning to fit all of the OCs into one week...yeah, not happening. With 50+ entries and counting, I’ll be lucky to fit them all into four parts.

Welcome back to Part 2 of “All The Warriors”, a multi-week showcase of the Katana ZERO community’s awesome fan characters! The volume of submissions for this event has been mind-blowing, to the point where I’ve had to create a dedicated Excel spreadsheet to keep track of them all. If you haven’t submitted your character yet, there’s still one week left! If you have, rest assured that it’ll will be included eventually, so please be patient! 

For those who missed it, don’t forget to check out Part 1 of this series.

[WARNING: The work herein is based on fan creations, and should not be considered canon.]

Alpha 13, “Believer” by @DokusatsuMurXer

What is the loneliest number? ‘One’, you say? Nope, it’s 13...Alpha 13, that is.

Being one of the first Alpha-series NULL, it’s likely that Thirteen joined purely out of adoration for the illusive “Great Scientist”—a noble cause compared to the violent psychosis that defined the later Gamma-series NULL. While it’s clear he’s taken lives in service of his one-sided infatuation, it’s hard not to see him as another victim, still pining for his senpai’s attention even after everyone’s graduated and moved away years ago. Why do we always love the one who will hurt us the most? 

According to @DokusatsuMurXer’s, the drunken swirls in his Post-war portrait are hiding something much steamier. I can only imagine.

Please, senpai. By @DokusatsuMurXer

—

Beta 6, “Blade” by @Khwany_kawawii

In the Third District, there’s only two ways to get what you need: by coercion, or by force. Beta 6 opts for both, and seems to have a reputation on par with The Dragon amongst hapless goons. Ironically, it seems amnesiac NULL like Blade or Zero are the ones who kept going on killing sprees after the war, instead of throwing in with criminal syndicates or settling into an ordinary day job.

Her giant curtain of hair, while a bit ridiculous-looking standing still, would certainly add a sense of dynamism as she flipped and pirouetted in midair, tossing knives left and right. Also, knives.

“With no drugs, I will die. But with the drugs...I am the Killing Angel.” By @Khwany_kawawii

—

Ema by @Khwany_kawawii

Well, would you look at that. Not only is Ema our first non-NULL OC, but also the first...*drum roll*...Cromag! That’s right—as a child, Ema barely survived a NULL attack that killed her family, and she’s dedicated her life to finding whoever was responsible ever since. 

The concept of a private eye in Katana ZERO’s neo-noir metropolis, especially one who suffers from such intense trauma and racial discrimination, has fantastic plot potential. What if she finds the NULL who orphaned her, but they don’t remember it? What if they have to team up? I can’t help but wonder how long an average woman (bionic arm aside) could survive in this dark underbelly of drugged-up super-soldiers...

—

Gamma 4 by @camellia_066

Not every hero dies on a battlefield.

Being a commander means taking responsibility for those under your command. For some that extends beyond wartime, and especially so after the one-way process of becoming NULL; while an Alpha could skip doses of Chronos with nothing more than a nosebleed, a Gamma might require twice the dosage just to stay lucid. 

Maybe the weight of New Mecca’s defeat was too much for him to bear. Maybe he knew that a cure for Chronos was a pipedream. But it was better to die for the slim chance of salvation than witness his former comrades slaughter one another for just another dose. 

—

Gamma 12 by @wqwrppwu

So this is who’s been stealing my Uber Eats.

The idea of a Gamma-level NULL—especially one as devious-looking as Gamma 12—working as a pizza guy is hilarious to me. I have a soft spot for features like thin noses, wild eyes, and razor teeth that just scream “bad guy, stay away”. Most other NULL would just kill the cashier and take what they want, but Twelve uses his powers to steal booze and cigarettes and get away with it, every time. 

It makes sense that he’d be best friends with Alpha 25, “Pomidor” (see Part 1)  thanks to their mutual eccentricity and love of mayhem. 

Camaraderie at work. By @wqwrppwu

—

Gamma 5 by twink-182

Beta 6 had better be a wizard to claim the nickname “Blade”, given how many Gamma-level knife experts roam the city’s underbelly. Once part of Fifteen’s circle of former NULL, Gamma 5 evidently saw the writing on the wall and decided to leave before his comrade’s vendetta drew him deeper into danger. Otherwise, who knows, we might have had a quick, teleporting knife-thrower heckling us throughout the Headhunter boss fight...yeah, maybe it’s for the best that he’s M.I.A.

I’m guessing the photo and red string is just another point on Fifteen’s byzantine conspiracy board; I hope we get to see the whole thing one day.

—

Alpha 4 by @kym0433

As with any conflict, the end of Cromag War produced massive windfalls for organized crime in terms of illegal weapons, war drugs, and super-soldiers thirsty for Chronos. Luckily for Alpha 4, the Chinese had carved out their own niche in New Mecca’s Chinatown, and they offered him a steady supply of "ke le nuo si”, as they called it, plus a cushy job as a bodyguard; after all, who would dare to start trouble on their turf? Who, but a certain samurai who walked up to the roulette table one day...

While Ted might not be the strongest NULL, he leads the pack in terms of fashion. No musty olive fatigues for this killer—whether it’s a traditional patterned chengshan or tasseled shawl, Ted makes it look awesome. No one would even suspect he’s hiding weapons under there! 

By @kym0433

—

Beta 24, “Cecil” by @Tacoyaki86

Contrary to popular belief, the inability to feel pain is not a superpower, especially when paired with a military specialization as hazardous as demolitions and bomb disposal. Imagine not realizing your hands got blown off until you reached for a sip of coffee. That, and you’d be stone deaf from constant close-range explosions and minigun fire.

Knowing that, I can understand Beta 24′s desire to spend a quiet veterancy at a manga café, where the otaku don’t want to chat anyway and the biggest risks are coffee burns and paper cuts. 

Also, is that chevron on his beret the same as Headhunter’s? That must indicate rank, or possibly explosives experts. Given Headhunter’s propensity for sticky mines and suicide vests, I’d believe it.

“Detonation successful!” By @Tacoyaki86

—

Gamma 767, “Retana” by @TailWood

Given how many NULL prefer close-range weapons like knives, swords, and bludgeons, having to fire artillery from kilometers away must seem like a crushing indignity for a Gamma like 767: slowing time just means it takes longer for his rockets to hit their targets, and he can’t even collect any trophies to show off to the guys at the bar once they’re off-duty! But hey, someone’s got to do it; I don’t think even the sharpest steel would do much against a tank...

By @TailWood

—

Gamma 9, “Nara” by @couriervictor

Sadism and sharp objects don’t pair well together. It was never explained why Headhunter chose to wear her old uniform everywhere, but in Gamma 9′s case it’s pretty clear: he’s an elite, and he wants you to know it. Lack of physical strength doesn’t matter, since everyone in Katana ZERO died in one hit anyway, and his affinity for throwing knives reminds me of Biker’s levels from Hotline Miami. More knives.

—

Alpha 35, “Sako” by @matsumatsu_kou

For a Gamma NULL, overcoming a debilitating wound is as simple as using their powers to ‘reset’ and try again until they can win the battle without a single scratch. Sadly, that wasn’t an option for their lesser Alpha brethren, as evidenced by Alpha 35. 

There have been known cases of NULL choosing to retain scars and other superficial injuries as badges of honor, but if there’s a reason why Sako chooses to fight with a blind eye and busted arm, it’s beyond me. However, if Proto-15 is anything to go by, battle damage is a huge plus for you ferals out there, and it gives him an extra place to store those KNIVES. *snickt*

By @matsumatsu_kou

—

Beta 74 by @cheezysucks

“Take everything from a man but his weapon, and do not judge him thereafter.”

Even in the far-flung future of New Mecca, it seems PTSD still haunts soldiers returning from conflict, even those as exceptional as NULL—if a near-death experience is harrowing, imagine the trauma of countless actual deaths, each instance being dragged backwards in time to start over.

Still, as far as ex-NULL go, Beta 74 chose as honest a job as his ilk can manage, given their stigma abroad. And oh, wow, is he wearing a pair of those funky four-eyed night-vision goggles? Look them up, they’re real, and just as absurd-looking.

—

Gamma 5, “Heatseeker” by 6at

Pour one out for another fallen warrior, Gamma 5 (yes, I know there was already a Gamma 5 earlier, won’t be the last time this happens). Five seems more like a tactical fire commander than your average NULL, with actual combat armor and a bubble helmet seemingly inspired by early concept versions of Headhunter’s gear, replete with a digitized HUD; pretty slick-looking, I must say.

Knowing how far far New Mecca went to cover up the NULL program, I’m surprised they let Five live as long as they did, though his hermetic lifestyle likely made him a minimal risk. I’m guessing he was terminated around the same time the government halted the production of Chronos. Coincidence? 

Seems like ‘Heatseeker’ attracted a bit too much heat, heh heh.

—

And that was Part 2 of our Katana ZERO OC event. Is your finger tired from scrolling yet? Not as much as mine...

Click here to read ‘Part 3: Was Going To Be The Finale But I’m Drowning’. Thanks immensely to every single artist who’s submitted their characters and expanded the world of Katana ZERO just a bit more!

By @wqwrppwu

[historymortician97]

Green House Bistro (Legitimate Review)

Inexperienced residence bistro – an organic café in the heart of nature! The nearer we consume to nature, the higher and healthier we can be. In case you fancy the vegetables; whether or not it is the natural surroundings decked up with vegetation or farm to table clean, neighborhood and organic food, the green residence bistro by means of jehan numa retreat in bhopal will be your next meals habitat. Green residence bistro assessment

Green residence bistro review

opened just these days, the café gives a completely homey and countryside vibe via its jungle-like environment and sluggish food philosophy. Located at one of the most top class places in bhopal, throughout a lake, subsequent to a countrywide park, it's miles one of the most idyllic nature cafes i have come across so far. Encouraged analyzing for you! Cold spanish latte coffee by using di bella

coffee, brunch, and more at coffee through di bella the nerdy indian cafe exteriors the nerdy indian café – for the bibliophile in you! Sev puri ram shyam chaatwala ram & shyam chaatwala evaluate: mumbai chaat! The structure – a natural agreement

as the name shows, the café is built precisely like a green house; a metal structure made with obvious walls and roof wherein vegetation are grown. The green right here signifies not most effective the plants but also their natural herbs and veggies sourced from their own vegetable lawn proper across the café. Inexperienced residence bistro outdoor 2

the complete body is in sunglasses of black while the flooring is executed with traditional pink bricks as utilized in rural housing. Area is thinking about all sorts of plant life, in various sizes and colors that breathe existence into the café. You may also spot a few lovely plant installations that raise the natural experience of the vicinity. Green residence bistro indoor 2

the shape is designed as such to throw in lots of natural light and sparkling air for the vegetation to grow and so that it will inhale herbal goodness. And while it turns darkish, the atmosphere is lit with fairy bulbs striking from the roof that upload a mild warm temperature to the location. As you're taking your satisfied vicinity in the bistro, you may get a little peek in their in-residence farm and inn unfold throughout acres. The atmosphere is so quiet and serene that you could even meditate till your food arrives. Green residence bistro out of doors 1 even though there may be sufficient seating internal, the café barely expands outdoors to convey you lots towards nature. It’s almost like consuming at a farm. Consequently, if you want to enjoy maximum greenery with an open sky, please be seated outdoors.

The menu – organic nearby and clean

the inexperienced residence bistro absolutely promotes evidently grown meals and also desires to inspire the slow meals philosophy. What exactly is sluggish meals? In layman language, sluggish meals is just the opposite of fast food; some thing that takes time to prepare, is eaten sparkling and completely, is domestically sourced and seasonal. With the short-meals revolution throughout the globe, our traditional meals, recipes, and tastes are being forgotten. Whilst one eats sluggish meals, they may be added to the actual taste of the meals and its culinary traditions due to the fact it is so organic, sparkling, and local. The idea is to have feelings for our meals and cost our health above the entirety else. The cooks at inexperienced residence bistro aid the gradual meals philosophy and price the journey of meals – how the meals is cultivated, produced and fed on, that is visible in all their in-house preparations and the house-grown clean micro herbs and leafy vegetables. Their recipes had been cataloged to rediscover the traditional food with a modern-day-day twist, and tips vegan gluten-free, sugar-unfastened and non-dairy food and beverages that may be customized as in step with your preference.

Inexperienced house bistro vegetable lawn

for, eg. You'll discover quinoa integrated of their salads that is a gluten-free pseudo-cereal and a high fiber historic grain that originated in the south american mountains nearly 5,000 years in the past.  

“green house bistro is all about farm to fork concept, and we're happy to be the pioneers of green ingesting in the metropolis. We emphasize on natural meals and serve what is grown beside the desk. Our personnel arrives early inside the morning and handpicks clean herbs and leafy vegetables from the lawn each day. The bistro is pretty new, and we are hopeful that the human beings of bhopal will gradually take delivery of the idea of natural and sluggish food.”

their menu is also designed to encourage eco-gastronomy and strongly advocates the relationship between the plate and the planet; the reality that how our meals affects our health and the surroundings. What to devour at inexperienced house bistro? They have got a specifically curated menu for connoisseur breakfast and all day eating. Their in-residence specialties include a completely unique black burger for which they use black buttered buns organized freshly of their very own bakehouse. Black burger buns green residence bistro

they serve healthier versions of your all-time continental favorites consisting of oven baked pizza (attempt wild mushroom pizza), burger (try vegetables and oats and black bean and mushroom burger) and sandwiches (attempt vegetarian cubanos and toasted mexican sandwich). They've amazingly sparkling salads with plenty of blended veggies and homegrown herbs (strive home made sprouts, roasted pear and gorgonzola salad). If you are on a cheat day, do try their truffle oil and parmesan fries. Pizza inexperienced house bistro

if you want indian food, then they have multigrain versions of dosa (try pessarattu moong dal dosa) and kathi rolls (attempt paneer kathi roll). In addition they have an exciting variety of soups served as soup of the day – potato leek, pear & saffron velouté, corn chowder soup, veg clean soup, tomato basil are some to name. They serve a stimulating type of popular international desserts together with baked philadelphia cheese cake, pavlova with fruit compote, baked alaska and the most unique being signature c8 that is their signature style layered cake with factors of chocolate and fudge sauce. What to drink at inexperienced residence bistro? Inexperienced residence bistro herbal tea collection 1 you'll be spoiled for choices seeing their beverage menu. They've a wholesome assortment bloodless-pressed juices (strive fountain of teens and sparkling inexperienced) and smoothies (strive the healer) and vegan and non-dairy milkshakes (attempt almond avocado – keto shake) and hot coffee. What to drink in green residence bistro

in case you experience tea, they have ayurveda inspired herbal tea collection inclusive of chamomile, lemon grass, and moroccan mint, brewed sparkling and served infused in a pot. You could also try ordinary coolers which includes retreat lemonade crafted from freshly hand-picked lemongrass from their farm or have a hundred% pure coconut water. The body of workers – continually at your carrier team inexperienced house bistro with head chef debayan chakrovorty

the most comforting fragment of the inexperienced house bistro is their expert body of workers and the hospitality crew who're devoted to offer you peaceful dining revel in. The staff isn't only polite but also very informed about their menu and the kind of food this is served. They preserve taking immediately feedback as your food is served so you eat in your satisfaction and don’t complain later. Inexperienced residence bistro studies interviews

even as i was doing my research interviews and content material amassing at the café, mr. Chandrakant and mr. Afsar made sure that i am getting all of the data i need for my weblog. They helped me set up matters i required for the snap shots and the aesthetics. I am thankful for their cooperation. How approximately a inexperienced date? Well, within the organic international, nothing says date more than a nature-stimulated meal fenced by way of plenty of lovely flowers and cascading creepers, festooned via fairy lighting, all enclosed internal a comfortable and romantic inexperienced house bistro. So in case you love the whole lot, natural, clean, and local, ditch all your plans and arrive here with your loved ones. Common value – inr one thousand (meal for two)

observe: you can marvel who closes a café at 9 pm due to the fact humans in india don’t generally end consuming dinners that soon. They near in advance than the ordinary cafes because of hygiene motives because the bistro is packed with flowers and is surrounded through a large farm that could virtually appeal to quite a few bugs for your meals. So because it gets too dark past nine, the kitchen is closed. The chef recommends the other restaurants at jehan numa retreat if you need past due dinners. Also, there's no signage but that announces inexperienced residence bistro. As you input jehan numa retreat, drive gradual and simply look for a timber signboard that announces “organic, nearby, clean, open” in your left. That’s exactly the place you're looking for.