#made these awhile ago but i forgot to post them oops

[mary-kasexual]

he is most enjoyable

[the-savage-garden]

Nitpicking ACOWAR Ch 10 +11

I meant to post this awhile ago but I recently returned to the One Piece train that I forgot about this whole thing, oops. I finally figured out how to do the 'keep reading' thing though!

Chapter 10

-Somehow Brannagh is cradling Ianthe now?

-”I let my mask drop.” I hate the mask theme, just the way it’s thrown around bothers me.

-”...noting the flanking positions they were too casually establishing around me.” Now I’m confused about where Brannagh is supposed to be.

-[“What could be more important than assisting us? You are, after all, sworn to assist our king.” Time—biding their time until Tamlin returned from hunting with Jurian.] I hate how the book decided that Tamlin is with Hybern, it’s not built up to him being on their side at all. It’s written like it’s an assured thing now.

-Lucien notices things. What’s the point of this?

-“I am a free person, allowed to go where and when I will it.” “Are you?” Brannagh is asking a question I want to know. Like, is Feyre really free to do what she wants in this book series? Everyone tells her what to do all the time, even Rhys. The only thing Feyre has actually chosen is to go back to Spring and have her revenge on Tamlin (even though Tamlin legitimately thought she was in danger and it’s not been brought up even once).

-“Such careful plotting these weeks, such skilled maneuvering. You didn’t seem to worry that we’d be doing the same.” I was honestly really confused why Feyre was just ignoring the twins so much, her priorities made no sense to me.

-”They weren’t letting Lucien leave this clearing alive. Or at least with his mind intact.” Why do they care about Lucien? He hasn’t been against them, for all they know only Feyre sent the Bogge after them.

-”...understanding that there was no way they’d reveal this without knowing they’d get away with it.“ But everyone knows that Hybern is evil, how would anyone be surprised by this? Even Tamlin thinks they’re the bad guys! Do the twins not know? There has been no indication that anyone from Hybern is good.

-[“Take the Spring Court,” I said, and meant it. “It’s going to fall one way or another.” Lucien snarled. I ignored him.] Even Lucien here still cares for Spring.

-[“Oh, we intend to,” Brannagh said…] It was very clear that Hybern was going to take down Spring, I don’t know why the book doesn’t let Tamlin see it.

-”I thumbed free two of the Illyrian fighting knives.” Is this the only reason Feyre stole the weapons from Tamlin, to use them in this fight? Ugh.

-“Haven’t you wondered at the headaches? How things seem a little muffled on certain mental bonds?” This is the explanation? I thought it was because Feyre is still new to her powers, this is disappointing.

-”Crushed faebane stone, ground so fine you couldn’t see or scent or taste it in your food.” Can you even smell or taste faebane?

-“We’ve been daemati for a thousand years, girl,” Dagdan sneered. “But we didn’t even need to slip into her mind to get her to do our bidding. But you … what a valiant effort you put up, trying to shield them all from us.” The book makes this too convenient, Feyre knew they were daemati but was naive enough to believe they wouldn’t do anything against her? I know she’s young but seriously?

-”Dagdan’s mind speared for Lucien’s, a dark arrow shot between them.” Weird way to describe their magic, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to imagine with mind powers.

-“What apple,” I bit out. “The one you shoved down your throat an hour ago,” Brannagh said. “Grown and tended in the king’s personal garden, fed a steady diet of water laced with faebane. Enough to knock out your powers for a few days straight, no shackles required. And here you are, thinking no one had noticed you planned to vanish today.” She clicked her tongue again. “Our uncle would be most displeased if we allowed that to happen.” What did I just read? I hate how easy things are. Also, wait, an apple tree was given faebane and it somehow makes the apples have it too?

-”...but then I’d abandon Lucien to them if he somehow couldn’t manage to himself with the faebane in his system from the food at the camp—” What kind of leap in logic is this? All the food at camp was laced with faebane too? So wouldn’t Tamlin be under the effects of it too?

-”Leave him. I should and could leave him. “ Was this why their supposed friendship was brought up so much? To add drama to this moment?

“I made my choice.” ACOMAF made me hate the whole “my choice” thing and being reminded of it is giving me trauma.

-”And even a thousand years wasn’t enough for Dagdan to adequately prepare as I winnowed in front of him and struck.” Feyre went from being out of her depth to competent real fast.

-”I sliced through the front of his leather armor, not deep enough to kill, and as steel snagged on its plates…” Is it leather armor or not? Because plates refer to metal armor I’m pretty sure.

-”...months of Cassian’s brutal training clicked into place as I kept my feet under me.” This makes it obvious how inexperienced Feyre is but somehow she’s able to go toe-to-toe with a Hybern prince and commander? She also has faebane in her system, she should be struggling more in this fight.

-”I had the vague sense of Lucien gaping, even Brannagh taken aback by my show of skill against her brother.” I’m losing my mind.

-”Buying time. Wearing me down until my body fully absorbed that apple and its power rendered me nearly mortal.” Earlier when Feyre shielded Lucien she struggled but now the book is saying that she hasn’t fully absorbed the faebane? But they’ve been giving her faebane since their stay? Make up your mind.

-”Brannagh screamed as a wall of flame slammed into her.” Apparently Feyre did this and not Lucien?

-”Her focus wholly on me, on taking from me the beauty I’d burned from her…” Why is everything so focused on losing beauty? Someone’s vain…

-”Until Lucien’s sword refracted the light of the sun leaking through the canopy.” It’s day? This whole thing is happening in broad daylight? How has no one noticed this?

-”A tremor shuddered through the clearing—like some thread between the twins had been snipped as Brannagh’s dark head thudded onto the grass.” Wait, is this supposed to imply that the twins are soulmates? What the hell? I thought soulmates in this world are supposed to be making powerful offspring but if they’re related doesn’t that defeat the purpose?

-”I let him fall atop his sister, the thud of flesh on flesh the only sound.” Ew, why’d you put focus on that?

-”I merely looked at Ianthe, my power guttering, a hideous ache building in my gut, and made my last command, amending my earlier ones.” I forgot Ianthe was still here. Also faebane seems kind of useless since Feyre can still do this.

-“You tell them I killed them. In self-defense. After they hurt me so badly while you and Tamlin did nothing. Even when they torture you for the truth, you say that I fled after I killed them—to save this court from their horrors.” I want to keep this in mind for the future.

-Lucien says he wants to go with Feyre to the Night Court. But, like, the only reason he does is obviously because of Elain and not for any other reason.

-”I just gritted my teeth against the sharp pain in my abdomen…” Faebane apparently makes the abdomen hurt if it’s consumed.

-”Blood coated the inside of my mouth by the time we reached the foothills hours later. I was panting, my head throbbing, my stomach a twisting knot of aching.” The other effects of consuming faebane.

-“It’s—gone,” he said, gasping for breath. “My magic—not an ember. They must have dosed all of us today.” I’m still a little lost with what faebane does.

-”My power pulled away from me like a wave reeling back from the shore. Only there was no return. It just went farther and farther out into a sea of nothing.” Both Feyre and Lucien describe losing their magic differently.

-”I peered at the sun, now a hand’s width above the horizon…” I take it that it’s noon now then? Why mention hours but don’t say noon?

-”The caves—doors, they called them—in those hollows led to other pockets of Prythian. I’d taken one straight Under the Mountain… No door to the Night Court existed…” I guess this is to explain why that one led to UTM, I guess they’re magic “doors” to places?

-”And I would not risk my friends by bringing them here to retrieve me.” Even though you’ve killed the twins already? This is just an excuse to have Feyre and Lucien by themselves isn’t it?

-”A numbness had spread through me.” Is it the faebane or not feeling the mate bond? It’s not clear.

-“The Autumn Court portal is that way.” Now we’re calling them portals instead of doors?

-“I can’t go into Summer. They’ll kill me on sight.” I’d love to see the consequences of what Feyre did to Summer. Like, she only decided to steal from them because Rhys kept guiding her to make that choice instead of making friends with Summer.

-”We sealed off all the other entrances.” Why seal all the entrances up? And whose “we” in all this? I think it’s all the entrances to UTM but I thought there was only one?

-”A faint buzzing and ringing filled my ears. And I felt my magic vanish entirely.” Another symptom of faebane?

-”To the lands of the family who’d betrayed him as badly as this court had betrayed mine.” A single person (Ianthe) was the only one that betrayed you Feyre, everyone else didn’t do anything. Tamlin’s character was inconsistent and still is.

-”I gave him another nod. I’d slid into their minds before we’d left, making sure this door would be left open.” Feyre’s lucky that Hybern didn’t find this the perfect opportunity to use this against you. Where even is the King in all this?

-”...whether it was better to claim the Spring Court for ourselves, or to let it fall to our enemies.” What the hell? Feyre, you can’t just claim Spring like that, that’s not how it works.

-”But it could not remain neutral—a barrier between our forces in the North and the humans in the South. It would have been easy to call in Rhys and Cassian, to have the latter bring in an Illyrian legion to claim the territory when it was weakest after my own maneuverings. Depending on how much mobility Cassian had retained—if he was still healing.” Now it’s just getting worse. Feyre is completely ignoring the whole High Lord thing. Also why hasn’t this happened in the past if Feyre finds it so “easy”?

-”Yet then we’d hold one territory—with five other courts between us. Sympathy might have swayed for the Spring Court; others might have joined Hybern against us, considering our conquest here proof of our wickedness. But if Spring fell to Hybern … We could rally the other courts to us. Charge as one from the North, drawing Hybern in close.” This whole thing, what the hell?

-[“You were right,” Lucien declared at last. “That girl I knew did die Under the Mountain.” I wasn’t sure if it was an insult. But I nodded all the same. “At least we can agree on that.” I stepped into the awaiting cold and dark.] I blame Rhys.

-”And in the distance, so faint I thought I might have imagined it, a beast’s roar cleaved the land.” I’m still confused by Tamlin.

Chapter 11

-Feyre describes the Autumn Court.

-Autumn didn’t post sentries at the “door” and Feyre can’t use her magic to search for Fae.

-”...the risk of revealing our scheming to find me.” So it’s “our scheme” now? Was Feyre actually doing things on her own or not?

-”But my magic was still and frozen. A crutch I’d become too reliant upon.” Since when has Feyre been that reliant on magic? She only recently started using it. Like, if this was the thought process of someone that used magic for years I wouldn’t think much of this but it’s not, it’s for someone that’s quite green. Not to say that Feyre can’t hold her own, I just expect her to be more inexperienced in the story.

-Mentions of time passing to night, I think.

-”...I knew only our need for stealth kept his simmering questions at bay.” Why do they need to sneak through a forest? Other than mentioning no sentries, what’s the point of this?

-They go into another cave, with a makeshift camp there already.

-”...three bedrolls and old blankets…” Why three?

-Lucien mentions he used to stay in this cave before he left Autumn.

-Lucien and Feyre talk.

-”...My friend at the Dawn Court has the same power—her light is identical…” I thought it was the Dawn High Lord’s power (who’s male)?

-“I didn’t tell him for two reasons. One, it felt like kicking a male already down. I couldn’t take that hope away from him.” I rolled my eyes. “Two,” he snapped, “I knew if I was correct and called you on it, you’d find a way to make sure I never saw her.” So… Lucien still cares about Tamlin? Also, the soulmate thing gets brought up again, that seems to be his only motivation now.

-“And that’s why you’re here. Not because it’s right and he’s always been wrong, but just so you can get what you think you’re owed.” Feyre gets mad at Lucien for not being angry at Tamlin. I also hate this whole bullshit about ownership being thrown around in this story, it became a thing in the 2nd book too.

-Lucien still thinks the Night Court are enemies.

-Feyre gets mad at Lucien for not believing her that Elain is safe, which yeah, they’re sisters, shouldn’t he understand that?

-Lucien questions if Feyre wanted to spare him from her path of destruction because of what it would do to Elain. They sure are friends, huh?

-Lucien continues to question Feyre, asks her if she wanted to kill Tamlin, yada yada.

-Feyre gets tired of debating with Lucien over her choices and tells him to drop it. It makes me wonder if this is to say Feyre regrets her actions now, or SJM doesn’t feel like going deeper into Feyre’s feelings on this whole thing.

-[“My father will hunt you for taking his power if he finds out,” he said into the frigid dark. “And kill you for learning how to wield it.” “He can get in line,” was all I said.] Giving me deja vu again.

-The next morning Feyre and Lucien argue on where to go next. Feyre wants to go north right through where, I guess the direction of Autumn's capital is, but Lucien wants to go either east where the Summer border is or west but Feyre thinks that route will take too long for some reason. Feyre for some reason thinks she can go through Autumn unseen, this is a dumb plan, west should’ve been the better option.

-Feyre dumps her food out because she thinks it’s laced with faebane.

-Feyre gawks at Autumn and admires Lucien, they go fishing. I still don’t know why they’re still being sneaky in the middle of nowhere though.

-They hiked for 5 days, somehow during the 3rd day they went through the Autumn’s capital without any incident.

-Apparently Autumn’s place is called the Forest House. I guess this is the reason why we're here, so SJM can explain the “worldbuilding” of Autumn. Anyway, the House is large and covered in moss.

-Somehow with all this time that’s passed they’re still affected by the faebane. I guess faebane can also affect mate bonds too.

-”...an apple tree, laden with fat, succulent fruit.” I know fat can be used as a synonym for large but this is a weird way to use it.

-”...the bees gorging themselves on fallen apples.” Bees don’t eat like that?

-”After what the Hybern royals had done, I should have sworn off apples forever, but hunger had always blurred lines for me. “ This doesn’t come up much with Feyre’s character but I like the idea of Feyre forgetting herself when she’s hungry.

-“We’ll have to stay out of sight. My father doesn’t pay well for his crops, and the land-workers will earn any extra coin they can.” Beron’s an idiot then, unless he’s getting other food from trade, he should only be reliant on food from local farmers. I’m not an expert on this though.

-”I was able to study for longer than my father allowed my brothers before shoving them out the door to rule over some territory within our lands…” Keeping note of this.

-“I’d say that sounds more High-Lord-like than the life of an idle, unwanted son.” I don’t even know what the High Lords do for this to make sense.

-“Would you want it—your father’s crown?” I thought magic chooses the High Lord, how would someone even be able to get it any other way?

-”...I’d gain a crown—only to rule over a crafty, two-faced people.” This contradicts what was stated earlier, of Lucien learning about his people, at least that’s what I think.

-“But you never answered my question—about why the people here would sell you out.”  Why is there no question mark in this?

-So, the people blame Lucien for not protecting Jesminda from being killed by his family, and when Lucien fled to their houses they gave him back up to his family. What?

-”...right into the steep foothills that leaped into gray, snowcapped mountains that marked the start of the shared range with the Winter Court.” Shouldn’t that be leapt? Or am I crazy for that?

-”If we could get over the border in a day or two…” They hiked through Autumn for like 5 days, how would they be able to go through Winter that fast?

-“How are you not winded,” he panted, hauling himself onto the flat top… “I trained.” Missing question mark. Also I know Feyre trained and all but she shouldn’t have that good of stamina already.

-”My nails barked…” This is the weirdest writing quirk SJM has.

-Lucien added, “You had my back —with them, with Ianthe. Thank you.” Feyre almost cries from this and I find that funny since she was going to leave him behind.

-Feyre manages to fall asleep this time, she goes into Lucien’s mind while she’s sleeping.

-”I had never known how young, how human I looked when I slept. My braid was a rope over my shoulder, my mouth slightly parted, my face haggard with days of little rest and food.” Why this? What’s the point?

-Lucien and Feyre get ambushed by Lucien’s brothers.

[etraytin]

Quarantine, Day 64

Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when it's Quarantine Day 64? 

It's May 14, for those of us who are still having a hard time keeping track of the days, which means we  are very close to halfway through yet another month. Since April ended sometime in the late Pleistocene Epoch, this is a pretty solid accomplishment, go us! It also marks two weeks of being here in North Carolina instead of home in Virginia. My balcony plants are either super dead or forming their own jungle ecology by now, no middle ground. I'm not even going to contemplate what the milk is doing, because it was already not new before I forgot to throw it away on May 1. Oops. 

One of my followers sent me a message today to say they liked my quarantine journal, which is very nice to hear! I have been journaling for an audience off and on since I started my Livejournal in 2001 (I am oooooooold), but Tumblr is not necessarily a natural home for diary blogging. Still, a lot of my internet friends live her, and it's comfortable, and at this point journaling is pretty much the only way I can make sense of what's happening from day to day and week to week. I wrote a few things down during the first couple weeks of quarantine, but it barely seemed real for awhile. My daily journaling began around Day 28 because I had a night where I could no longer smell or taste anything, and it turned out to be allergies but it scared the hell out of me. It suddenly occurred to me that not only would journaling be something interesting to look back on, but it might be a vital part of contact tracing for someone like me whose appointment calendar is written on her hand as often as not. I have not needed to use it for that, thankfully, but I have gotten to tell a lot of stories and work through a lot of stuff in my own brain. If it has entertained anyone else or made anyone else feel less alone, that's even better. 

Today was another tiring one. I spent a lot of time trying to learn a bunch of stuff about Medicare on the fly, plus line up consultations with an elder law attorney for my mother in law and fill out the questionnaires we need to have done in advance. Answering those questions is long and tedious, and it often involves unpleasant truths like spelling out every medical problem either of them have, and every potential financial liability. I got six pages into the thirteen page form and called it a day, because even getting that far had involved about two hours of research and signing up for various government and insurance web portals to dig up information. Blech. It's like registering for the bar exam all over again but with less questions on moral turpitude and more disclosures about gifts to grandchildren. (And I shouldn't complain, the bar exam application was closer to 40 pages.) 

Things with my mother in law did go better today. I feel like I complain about her all the time on here and it's not really fair because she's a great person and I love her a lot. If I didn't, I wouldn't get so upset if she's not taking care of herself! She and the kiddo had a good time today playing games and reading books, and she was able to get in for a very important medical procedure that she had skipped last month because she had nobody to drive her. Today she got that procedure and as a bonus it meant keeping her leg propped up for hours, so overall it was great and there were no new falls. We also had to sit for quite awhile to do the questionnaire stuff, so that was one side benefit of me banging my head against the metaphorical wall for a few hours. Now that she's sleeping and eating more, she just has a lot more energy, and that's a good and bad thing when she's supposed to take it easy. 

Dinner was good today too, my husband decided to make a picnic for the balcony and did up roasted breaded chicken, biscuits with hot honey butter, and spicy potato-bean hash. It sound weird, but it was all very tasty, and the weather today was amazing. It's been very cold all week, but now it really feels springy and perfect. The table umbrella was not working, but I managed to jury-rig it with a bungee cord. Now it won't close but it stays open quite nicely, which beats the opposite. I'm also trying to drink more water, because the air here is super dry and I'm eating a lot of salty food, but results are mixed so far. I need at least another couple cups before bed. 

Had another post-bedtime conversation with the kiddo just a few minutes ago, one of the hardest ones yet. He was very sad because he said things are not getting any better, only worse. After teasing that out for a couple of minutes, we dug down to him being very sad about the fact that his Papa is sick and not getting any better, and that he wants to visit him, but it's also horrible because Papa not only doesn't remember their previous visits from day to day, he doesn't always remember the kiddo right away at this point. And fuck, I didn't know what to say at all to that. He cried, and I cried right along with him, and told him that he was right, it's horrible and unfair that this should happen to anybody, but especially to Papa, who has always been so clever and had such good stories. In a lot of our bedtime conversations I can remind him of good things that are happening or things to look forward to, but there is no reason to assume that anything is going to get better in this situation, and every reason to believe that they will be worse soon. 

In this case, I figured it was best just to level with him, even though he's only ten. I told him that I remembered having to do this with my grandmother, and that was terrible and sad, and it felt like losing her in tiny pieces. It hurts, and it will hurt to lose Papa, and it's okay if he needs to cry or needs to not go on a visit or needs to talk about it with me or Daddy. But I also told him that I believe that my grandma is in heaven now, and that she doesn't forget anymore, and she's not hurting or confused, and that one day we are going to have so much to talk about, and that helps me to feel better. And I reminded him that for Papa, every moment with him is important because every moment he is living in is the one he remembers best. So when seeing the kiddo makes him happy, he is very, very happy and he doesn't remember feeling sad or scared or angry, even if he was just yelling a minute ago. We can still give Papa lots of good moments, because we love him. 

After that, we had to go fix ourselves up because we were both extremely snotty and gross, which gave us the opportunity to make stupid jokes about whether we should waste the extremely valuable toilet paper and whether a Kleenex over one's face counts as appropriate masking. There is definitely something to be said for the period of cathartic humor after a difficult talk. To further that, we went and had some cocoa even though it was already after ten, and I let him have marshmallows and whipped cream. Carbs and sugar, hell yes! It's good for what ails you. Then we watched Micarah Tewers again because silly seamstresses is what makes us both happy these days, and by then he was feeling okay to go to bed again. 

He's sleeping now, and I think he's doing all right. He said he likes talking to me like this, and I'm glad. I like talking to him too, though it is a continuing revelation to me the kind of complex inner life he has going on. I mean of course I understand that he is a real person, but internalizing the fact that he has somehow gone from being the extremely demanding wet bag of flour I brought home from the hospital ten years ago to a full-fledged self-determining individual whose thoughts and insights amaze and baffle me is an ongoing process. (He was an extremely cute bag of flour, don't get me wrong, but I swear to god, raising kids is sometimes like suddenly realizing your adorable baby kitten now has opinions on politics and wants you to defend your positions on moral virtue.)

Anyway, it's time for me to get to bed as well, because the only Walmart pickup slot I could get on Monday was for Friday at 7am. At least they're unlikely to be running behind during the first slot of the day, I guess? It's funny because I also made a Walmart pickup order for when I get back to Virginia, and they were offering me same day pickup. It seems like they may be a little bit more back to normal than we are here. I may have to check and see if they have toilet paper and yeast and everything. That would be awesome. 

[bumblebeerror]

Debunking Anti-Gay Bible Verses

Hey! Awhile ago I said I’d make a post abt the various anti-gay bible verses that are commonly used to tell gay people that being gay is supposedly bad. Sorry it took so long for me to get this written, I had some personal stuff come up and then forgot oops. But! Here it is!

Essentially what I’ll do in this post is go through each of the verses that I know of, explain homophobe’s reasoning for using it, and debunk that because literally all of them are incorrect or can’t be trusted enough to condemn millions of people into hating themselves forever. 

I’d also like to say that I got this information from attending a huge queer conference last year, where one of the sessions I went to was about this, so I’m basically just passing on the information that person gave me. That person is a Christian themself, and if I’m remembering correctly graduated seminary and was at the time they gave this presentation working towards a PhD. They also did extensive research in preparation of this, and in the looking I’ve done since then it all checks out.

Genesis 1:27: ‘male and female He created them’. 

So this verse comes in the very beginning of the Bible during the creation story where the Christian god is making the whole world. He makes humans, and this verse explains that He made them male and female. It makes sense that this verse would most often be used for transphobic reasons.

So what makes this one misused? 

#1. Fast-forward to the New Testament, specifically Galatians. Galatians 3:28 is the verse that gives some dichotomies. “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” That particular verse in itself basically says that it doesn’t matter, you’re still a Child of God. Even putting that verse in context (I went back to Galatians 3:23), it details that Christians used to be locked into the law, forced to follow it or they wouldn’t have salvation, but that once Jesus came, all of those previous laws didn’t matter. It basically says that God doesn’t give a single potato chip what gender you are, if you accept Christ that’s all you gotta do, and you’re good.

#2. This comes from the procreation argument. If you read more of Genesis, it shows that in this story, God made two of everything (similar to the Ark story). It would make sense that, at first, the job of humans and animals was to populate the Earth! If two parts need to interact in order to make more of the population, then only having two parts makes sense. For a long time, that made sense, but as most of us know now, the Earth is vastly overpopulated (and has been.) Cis, straight people have existed and will continue to exist for as long as gay people have, and they make babies super easily. With how populated the Earth is, there’s no need for more babies to be actively made and force people to go against who they are. No more babies are needed, and so that argument doesn’t make sense. It’s outdated and old-fashioned. 

Genesis 19: Sodom & Gomorrah (rape mention in this section)

This is easily the most common passage used to defend homophobia. The essence of the story is that these cities were cities that God saw sin a lot and He was tired of it. He sent Lot, one of his dudes, to basically tell them that they needed to knock it off. They didn’t. A few nights later, some angels showed up at Lot’s house and spent the night. Sometime in the night, the men of the town surrounded the house and insisted they wanted to have sex with the angels. Lot said no, but offered up his daughters instead. Then God destroyed the city.

This one is misused because:

#1. There are multiple sins mentioned, even excluding the potential of being gay as a sin. The people of Sodom were previously sinning- what they were doing isn’t mentioned, and they wanted to rape the angels. That’s obviously not cool. And then Lot contributes to the evil there by offering his daughters instead! The people of the city wanted to rape the angels, but then Lot also contributed to the wrongdoing by allowing them to rape his daughters.

#2. What happens after this passage? Lot’s about to die with no son, so his daughters have sex with him and bear children. Pretty sure that’s not exactly… kosher either.

#3. These towns are mentioned later, in the New Testament, and the main sin that’s talked about in that context is their inhospitality. (Matthew 10:15, also read for context, Luke 10:12, also read for context). 

So, this passage can’t be used because multiple sins are mentioned, and even the ones mentioned later, in the New Testament have nothing to do with being queer.

Leviticus 18:22 

This is the verse that says 'do not lie with a man as with a woman.’

What’s wrong with this one? Also a lot of things.

#1. Look at this verse in context with Jewish Law at the time. The laws there state that it is illegal to lie in bed with another man’s wife. 

#2. Could be a mistranslation! Keep in mind that the Hebrew spoken and written at the time of recording these laws and stories is no longer spoken- we don’t know what words meant colloquially, and we only have the context of the pieces at the time. This particular passage could be talking instead about pedophilia- 'a man shall not lie with a boy’. If you go back to the Hebrew, the two words used for 'man’ in this verse are different, and potentially have different meanings.

#3. The sex they’re talking about here is also not in the context of a loving or consenting relationship between two adults.

#4. It’s talking about sex as worship of other gods, and the Christian God is obvs not okay with His followers worshiping other gods. I don’t have legible notes from the speaker on this, but if I’m remembering correctly they said that there were temples for Baal where people would have sex with the priests? 

#5. Yeah, remember the Galatians passage mentioned earlier about Jesus coming and making previous laws not matter? (Galatians 3:23). That applies here. It’s the same reason Christians don’t bat an eye at moving a chair on the Sabbath or wearing clothes made out of multiple fabrics.

So, clearly, this passage has so many potential flaws as ammo for homophobes that it can’t be trusted.

Romans 1:26-27

In this particular passage, the people of this city were having all sorts of sex with all sorts of people and not caring who, basically. The verses mentioned state that 'men committed shameful acts with other men’ and so on. 

So what’s wrong here? 

#1. Taken out of context! If you look earlier in the passage, it shows that the people had already abandoned God- they no longer worshiped or honored Him, so He took His protection away from that area of their lives. 

#2. Probably more about overflow of lust rather than just about having sex in general. The passage states that they were having sex pretty much constantly, with people who were married, and without any sort of protection. STDs probably ran rampant in this town because of this, and it’s the overflow that was likely the problem.

#3. This passage mentions that they were doing things that were 'unnatural’. Since we’ve established that gay people DO exist and ARE born that way (aka you don’t choose who you’re attracted to/fall in love with or lack thereof), it’s more likely that unnatural in this context means that straight people were doing gay things and gay people were doing straight things, which would have been against their nature.

#4. And, this passage again doesn’t mention queer people in loving and consensual relationships. It’s about the people of this town getting punished for other sins, and then committing more sins.

So, there’s a lot going on there, too.

1 Corinthians 6:9

“nor men who practice homosexuality”

There’s one big reason why this passage can’t be trusted. Why? It’s almost certainly a mistranslation. Recall that Ancient Greek is a dead language and we have no way to know how it was used colloquially. The greek word that we’ve translated as 'homosexuality’ literally translates as 'soft.’ Historically, that verse has been translated many different ways- unfaithful, immoral, masturbation, and now homosexuality. This particular translation also first popped up in the King James Bible. Think about or look into the history there and it’ll become clear that translating it as homosexual was politically motivated. And that’s fishy at best. So we can’t really trust that this verse was properly translated- all we know for sure is that it means 'soft’. Could mean soft of character, for all we know. Too vague to definitely condemn millions of people though!

1 Timothy 8-11.

This one talks about who the law is made for. It’s inaccurate to use it against gay people for the same reason as the last one- the word is likely mistranslated. It’s the same Greek word as the previously mentioned one, literally meaning 'soft’, with no good context for the translation of 'homosexuality’. 

Also!

Don’t forget that Jesus never said anything about being gay being wrong. And he hung out with 'sinners’ all the time and loved them regardless. So like, live your truth friend, and don’t let shitty people make you hate yourself because of unfounded beliefs.

-Rowan. (@ragtag-rowan)

[snaurus]

UPDATE: Prescription (1/2)

Pairings: None Ratings: T  Categories: Angst/Friendship/Humor Warnings: Blood, Illness, Violence

Maybe getting sick was just the thing Noctis needed.

I’m doing something a little different this time around. Since this story turned into an absolute beast and spanned over twenty pages, I split it in half to make it a tad easier for @glyphenthusiast to edit. That said, I want to archive it when it’s completed, so until then I’ll be posting the parts here on my writing blog and posting the finished version on my AO3 account later! Lucky for my Tumblr followers, right?

Also, sick!Noct anon from awhile ago, if you’re still following this blog here’s that story I was foreshadowing for you! Although, this fic turned into an excuse to write my chocobo!headcanons for the bros and to explore certain aspects of Noctis’ character that weren’t really touched on in the game. Still, I hope this will appease the whump lovers in each of us. :’)

"Do you see anything?" Noctis shouted. He'd cupped both hands around his mouth so Prompto could hear him better. His friend was balanced on top of Ignis' shoulders, who in turn stood on Gladiolus' shoulders. The three of them had formed a human ladder to reach a potential opening in the cave ceiling, after Noctis failed to warp onto the too soft roof.

"I can't tell; there's no sunlight!" Prompto yelled back.

"We've been here for going on thirty-seven hours. No doubt it's merely nighttime," Ignis said. He gripped Prompto by his calves when the other man almost overbalanced them by standing on his tippy-toes to better access the ceiling. "Keep checking!"

"Wait. I feel a breeze! And it smells like…pine trees? I think I've found us an exit!" There were the sounds of shuffling, and then clods of mud toppled down as Prompto presumably dug a bigger hole.

Gladiolus sputtered as some of the dirt ended up on his face. "Hey! Next time warn a guy."

"Oh, right. Look out below," Prompto said, seconds after he knocked another large portion of the roof loose. Gladiolus stumbled as he tried to avoid the clutter raining down on him, which caused Ignis to grunt and attempt to offset the movement. "Gladio, could you not?"

"Could you not mess around up there?" he snapped in return. "What are you even doing?"

"Almost…got it…ahah!" Prompto must have grabbed onto something because his feet left Ignis' shoulders completely. His boots wriggled and then disappeared into the ceiling. More debris fell before a tree root poked out of the opening.

Ignis motioned Noctis to climb up, but Gladiolus shook his head. "Specs, you next. Scope out the other side and then I'll boost him up after you."

For once there wasn't an argument; the prospect of the unknown had Ignis convinced. He waved his hands around until he caught the root on the third pass and pulled himself through. They waited until the advisor's faint affirmative carried down to them.

Gladiolus clasped both hands together and bent at the knees. "Alley-oop, Noct. Just like we've practiced."

Noctis planted his foot in the center of the other man's palms and rested a hand on his broad shoulder. With all his strength, Gladiolus tossed him upwards, with Noctis also pushing off to gain a little more air. He latched onto the lead with one hand, dangling precariously. He was able to take hold with his other hand at the last minute. It was difficult to shimmy the rest of the way, but just when Noctis thought he was losing his grip again he crawled inside the muddy tunnel. Two sets of hands took him by the wrists and tugged him the rest of the way out.

With their combined efforts, they ripped the root off the tree and lowered it far enough for Gladiolus to grab on his own. At one point Noctis worried Gladiolus may become stuck, but after several heave-hos and a threat from the man himself, he popped free.

"Do you guys know what this means? We're finally liberated!" Prompto cheered, once the group was all gathered together. He dramatically fell to his knees. "I never thought we'd escape that soggy dungeon! Just look at these bushes, and flowers, and…nature! I could kiss it and the sky for being so dry— Ack!"

Just as Prompto was about to finish singing praises, a raindrop decided to fall into his eye. He brought a hand up a little too hard to blot his face and smacked himself in the nose by mistake.

"Tch. Yeah, real 'dry'," Gladiolus deadpanned. He tugged the sullied neckline of his tank top up to wipe off his face, although it was pointless with the incoming storm. Nevermind he smeared the dirt worse, rather than removed any.

"Betrayer," Prompto seethed. He shook a fist at the clouds and it poured harder on him. "Aw, man."

Noctis laughed at his friend's antics. Maybe he did so too hard since the tail end of his chuckle turned into coughing. No one else seemed to take notice except Ignis, whose head inclined in Noctis' direction. He asked, "Noct, are you all right?"

"M'fine," he said quickly. Noctis walked over to Prompto and grabbed him by the angry-fist to pull him to his feet. "Come on, let's return to camp."

"Where even is camp? After those creeps—"

"Goblins," Ignis corrected.

"After those assholes caused that rockslide and blocked us in I've been turned around." Sensing Ignis’ confusion, Prompto pointed to a yellow mystery patch on his cheek and said, "Look it, I swear one of'em spit on me, okay? So I'm not calling them by their proper name for as long as I hold a grudge, which is forever. From now on they are anything except Goblins to me."

"You just said their name," Gladiolus indicated.

"No, I said their names are 'anything except Goblins'—"

Noctis sighed and said, "This is stupid" and reached inside his pants pocket for the chocobo whistle. They'd been stuck searching that ancestral tomb lead (which they could now confirm was false) for less than the five allotted days they'd rented birds from Wiz. Their rides should be roving somewhere waiting for them.

After one use of the whistle, a white blur dropped from a stony ridge and landed heavily at Noctis' back. His chocobo kicked up twigs and leaves as she flapped her wings. She squawked impatiently, so Noctis gave her a big hug and several deep neck rubs in apology.

"Sorry for keeping you, Bon Bon," he said. He'd tested a lot of other nicknames, but she'd refused to respond to anything else but the candy he'd offered her on the sly the first time they met. And ever since he greeted her with the gesture, the bird seemed to expect a hug every time, like it was her just reward. The one instance Noctis forgot, she pecked him on top of his head and taken a couple hairs as payment.

Ignis' chocobo arrived right after, only second to Noctis' own ride in speed. The pastel blue fowl was exceptionally limber and would make a large profit in racing competitions, if Ignis were ever so inclined as to participate regularly. For now, he tended to limit his sessions to scouting ahead during excursions and not much else.

Last were Prompto's and Gladiolus' chocobos. Both were temperamental beasts, which might be why they were a suited mated pair. Gladiolus' more so than Prompto's, although the bodyguard had a ritual to settle matters.

He took the bird by the reins now and looked him dead in one eye, asking, "We gonna have a problem this time or what?" Gladiolus waited for the chocobo to blink, once, and then nodded. He gave the crown of feathers a quick ruffle. "Attaboy."

As they mounted their rides, Prompto cooed and pet his bird's front. "You coming along, girl? You coming along? Yeah, I can tell—" He stumbled as her wings flapped in his face. "Sorry, sorry! I forgot how sensitive you are on the chest, sorry. You're still beautiful and precious and I love you. Hey Gladio, do you think the chicks will look like Silky? If they do, I hope they're just as bright a yellow as she is."

Gladiolus hummed. "Maybe. Nothing wrong with another red Drumstick, though."

Prompto made a face as he settled onto the saddle and ushered his chocobo along, keeping pace with Bon Bon’s idle gait. "Well if they do, then they're definitely not sharing his namesake! Why couldn't you stick with something like…Vlad the Impaler or William the Conqueror?"

"Where do you come up with this stuff? William? Nobody has a name like that."

"I'm an expert, okay? I put effort and consideration into them. See, I've already got Silky's and Drumstick's baby names picked out. A girl should be Meryl and a boy should be Irons; they're foolproof and the same ones I'm gonna use when I have kids," he boasted.

"You're naming your offspring after chocobos?" Gladiolus asked incredulously.

"What? No! My future children are inspiring the present— It doesn't matter," Prompto said, sulking. "If you're so smart, then what have you decided for yours? Come on, out with it! I bet a stud like you has the next generation of Amicitia's all figured out."

Gladiolus snorted. "Not me. I'll be awhile yet, although the way my sister tells it she's got that all covered. Iris is convinced she won't stop until she has a starter set."

Noctis and Ignis hadn't been involved with the exchange, but they joined Prompto in giving him peculiar looks. They knew the other man's disposition on having children until the future of Lucis was settled, but this tidbit was new. Gladiolus shrugged. "My mother's side of the family is predisposed to having one after the other. My uncle had a boy and a girl, too."

"Huh. What about you, Noct?" The prince tensed at Prompto's question, trying not to appear alarmed at the change of focus in the conversation. He stayed quiet, as if he hadn't heard the inquiry, but his friend was persistent. The gunner sidled his chocobo closer and elbowed Noctis in the arm. "Noooct? You still plan to marry Lady Lunafreya, right? I'm sure you must be set to have tons of heirs."

"Perish the thought," Ignis jested in his place. "It is said the child reflects the parent, magnified. I'm not certain the world is ready for all that increased mischief."

"Whatever," he mumbled, torn on the matter. Noctis was relieved not to talk about his future, especially in terms of matrimony and the responsibilities therein, but he could have done without the teasing. "Sometimes kids are the opposite. Maybe yours will be way more rebellious than you, ya know."

"All the more reason for me to adopt," Ignis said matter-of-factly. It was his turn to earn a couple surprised stares. The scrutiny must have gotten to him because Ignis turned in his saddle to catch their ogling. "Surely it does not seem so farfetched? The war has made no shortages of orphans. It would be a privilege to take in one or more such children and provide them a stable upbringing."

In a softened tone, Prompto is surprisingly the first to say, "That'd be really super awesome of you to do."

"Someday, yes, I suppose it would be 'really super awesome'," Ignis said. Despite the straight-laced way he repeated Prompto’s words, the edges of his smile were apparent.

Talk thankfully shifted to more idle subjects, allowing Noctis to fade into the background. The longer they traveled the wetter and colder he became, which lessened his willingness to want to participate in conversation. Soon he was soaked through, his uniform giving up the ghost after almost two days of abuse. Noctis' shaking would have loosened his grasp of the reins were it not for the fact his fingers had frozen in place.

It was also fortunate that Gladiolus was an expert trekker. During the downpour, it became impossible to see the lingering smoke trails from the campfire, but the guardsman's sense of direction was impeccable no matter the conditions. Eventually the telltale glow of the Oracle's wards shined through a thicket of trees.

The rain gave way to drizzle as they ascended the outcropping where the group made their campsite, then tapered off completely. Everything was still soaked. They'd left the chairs out, never intending to be gone this long. The weather report hadn't predicted a storm when they headed toward the supposed royal crypt.

While Noctis dismounted, a wave of dizziness struck him and he leaned into his chocobo for support. He'd assumed the exertion from the trip through the dungeon was temporary, but it'd been wishful thinking. Noctis startled as a gloved hand took the reins from his slackening grip.

The prince pushed away from Bon Bon to see Ignis standing there. His own blue chocobo hovered behind him, its reins in Ignis' other hand. Noctis stared his advisor in the eye, keeping his expression as neutral as possible.

"Go get changed, if you'd like. I can take care of Bon Bon in your stead," Ignis offered.

Gladiolus had no qualms stripping right there, and while he had the right idea, Noctis was less of an exhibitionist. He accepted Ignis' proposal, but opted to duck inside the tent to retrieve a new set of clothes. Noctis found the least offensive smelling towel shoved into a corner and used that to rub off the sweat and grime. He still felt grungy afterwards, however, it was too chilly to risk washing off in a nearby lake. He'd have to settle for the haphazard wipe down until they were ready to resume their journey and find a motel or caravan with a shower.

Noctis searched his duffel bag and wore whatever he found first. There was no reason for being fashionable. A pair of jeans, long-sleeve shirt, and pillow vest were thrown over a fresh set of undergarments. He'd worn the different attire earlier in the week, but they were an improvement compared to the alternative.

"You almost done?" Prompto asked. His shadow shown through the material of the tent.

Noctis rumbled his assent and crawled out to give his friend a turn. In the time he'd been inside, Ignis had dressed down. He'd stripped his jacket to reveal his arms in a gray undershirt. He was hard at work stewing something in a cast iron pot over the portable grill. Noctis left him to it.

By the campfire, Gladiolus had settled in while just wearing his boxers. He was talking into his cell phone. Now that they were outside with a reliable signal and at the safety of camp, it sounded like he was updating his sibling on their return status. Noctis joined him by the warm fire, sidestepping Drumstick and Silky. They had cuddled together behind Gladiolus' folding chair, the red chocobo preening the crest feathers on top of his mate's head.

Someone had draped a towel over his seat, similarly to Gladiolus', so he flopped into his own chair. He slumped to access the device in the deep recesses of his pants pocket. He'd transferred all his personal effects after he'd switched clothes. There were no messages, so while Noctis waited for dinner he played some games on his phone.

Noctis didn't realize how drowsy he was until a couple insistent prods from Bon Bon's beak roused him. He turned and she was just there, when a moment ago he could have sworn she was wandering the region below. She tended to scour their resting places, like a protective mother guarding her nest, but she was more demanding of his attention today.

He gave his chocobo some extra loving strokes to her neck in hopes of appeasing her. She lowered her giant head, it taking up most of his torso, and gave Noctis a mouthful of feathers with her forced closeness.

"What is with you?" he asked, more bemused than anything else. His throat felt prickly, but he laughed at Bon Bon's behavior.

"Chocobos have an innate ability to sense certain changes in their masters. They're akin to some pets, in that respect," Ignis said. He'd come up behind him, carrying plastic mugs with thick handles. One he passed to Gladiolus. The other he held with both hands, cupping the container until Noctis could accept the meal.

Noctis clenched his jaw tight, not wanting to give his advisor an opening to comment further on his condition. Ignis was just worrying worse than usual. There was nothing going on.

A handful of gysahl greens materialized in Noctis' fingers, summoned from the armiger. He tossed them off the side of the campsite to distract Bon Bon. She chirped loudly, her tail quivering, and chased after the treat.

Ignis took the opportunity to hand him his food – some kind of warm, broth-y soup. Mixed in were a few chunks of carrots and celery. He set the mug in his lap and ate without a word, concentrating on picking around the vegetables. The vitamins were in the liquid, anyway, so no need to eat the mushy, nasty parts. It soothed his throat going down.

Bon Bon returned. Her feathers were puffed up, giving Noctis the impression she may be a tad peeved at his trickery. She hunkered down and leaned heavily against his chair; her much larger body threatened to topple him over. She kweh-ed incessantly. In apology, Noctis fed her his extra carrots and stroked her with an absent free hand.

"D'aw! Isn't that adorable?" Prompto said with sugary sweetness. After exiting the tent, he'd decided to shoot some pictures of Silky. He was documenting her progress when he noticed the prince with Bon Bon. Noctis flipped him off before Prompto could take a photo, ruining the shot he tried to take. "Hey! That's not very cute."

"I'm going to bed," Noctis announced. He was already full, despite the small amount he'd managed to eat. The remainder of his meal went to his chocobo.

He returned to the tent, ignoring everyone's stares. He shut the flap in their faces. With no one there as a witness, Noctis let the exhaustion take over. He collapsed on his front, toeing off his shoes, and wasn't awake long enough to do much else. The next morning came and went. Noctis knew this because he noticed when Prompto clambered awake, and his friend was always the last to get up after Gladiolus and Ignis. He turned over and lazed in his sleeping bag. Eventually, a coughing fit demanded his attention more. After hacking into a fist for five minutes, there was no way Noctis was comfortable enough to return to sleep.

He reluctantly went outside and hissed as the sun blinded him. Noctis hadn't expected the sun to be so high in the sky; it was much later in the day then even he was usually permitted to sleep in. He raised a hand to shield his eyes, then decided better of it. There was a beat up old hat stuffed in his luggage that Navyth had gifted him after his first successful catch at Neeglyss Pond, and Noctis hunted for it now. Setting the headgear in place, he attempted to leave the tent again.

It was stifling and humid outside, when yesterday it was freezing. The effort to remove his extra layers of clothes was more than Noctis was willing to expel. He left them as-is.

Gladiolus was the sole person in sight, along with three of the four chocobos. Drumstick and Silky were still nestled together behind his chair. As soon as Noctis made a reappearance, Bon Bon waddled back from the edge of the woods.

He mumbled a "good morning" and crumpled into a chair. The walk from the tent to the campfire couldn't have been more than a couple steps, but Noctis felt like he'd run a marathon. His body ached everywhere.

"Good afternoon," Gladiolus stated. He was honing a sword and didn't look up from the task. At least he’d opted to wear some pants today.

Noctis scowled and closed his eyes. "Where's Prompto and Iggy?"

"Ignis wanted to scavenge for some herbs, since you're sick and all. Prompto went with to expedite the gathering process," he informed him. The offhand way he said it grated on Noctis' last nerve, but that explained why Gladiolus was here. Even if it was for a stupid reason.

"I'm not sick," Noctis grouched. His throat betrayed him then, his voice cracking on the last word. It stung to talk. A cooler was by his feet and he reached inside for a bottle of water. Noctis was just parched from oversleeping or he hadn't hydrated himself enough during the previous trip. Whatever. He was fine.

Just then, the rest of their group happened to return. They'd doubled up on Ignis' chocobo, his advisor behind the reins. He slowed their ride to a stop. Noctis rounded on him before Ignis even stepped foot on the ground. "Did you tell them I was sick?"

Ignis came up short, maybe at the sharp tone or at the accusation. Prompto leaned around him and answered, instead. "Huh, you're sick? I mean, I kind of figured, since you were boiling hot all night. And you're sort of pale…"

"No. I'm not," he snapped.

Gladiolus said, "Get off'em. I determined that you're unwell on my own."

"I said I'm not sick!"

That's when Noctis passed out. The sounds of Bon Bon squawking in distress followed him into darkness. There was a faint beeping sound. It was enough that Noctis couldn't ignore the disturbance. His eyelids clenched tighter together against the intrusion. He rolled over and hid under the covers more to try and block out the electronic noises.

The sounds cutoff, to be replaced with the rustling of bed sheets. "Noct? Psst, Noct!"

He buried deeper into the blankets, but the person was adamant.

"Hey, you awake?"

"No," Noctis mumbled.

"Dude!" It had to be Prompto making that racket. Nobody else was this excitable. Noctis frowned and refused to budge. He hoped his friend would take the hint and leave him alone, but a hand on his shoulder gave his body a couple shakes. He asked, "How're you feeling?"

"Tired," he stressed, wanting to spur him into silence.

"You passed out! How can you still be tired?"

That didn't seem right. Noctis remembered… Well. Musing on it, he didn't recollect much of anything. Had he already woken up? He vaguely recalled that he might have met up with Gladiolus, but afterwards was such a hazy blur.

"I don't…" Noctis tried to sit up, but his arms shook too much as he pushed himself upright. Prompto hurried to steady him, both palms flat on his back. If it were anyone else Noctis would have brushed off the contact, the area being sensitive, but the sensation of comfort broke through his revere.

In a somber tone, Prompto said, "Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Take it easy."

"What happened?" He dropped to an elbow and watched Prompto over his shoulder, the blanket covering the lower portion of his face.

"I'm not really sure? This morning Ignis randomly wanted to go plant picking, and when we got back you weren't talking sense. Then you collapsed."

Some of what Prompto recited came back to him in stages. Noctis ducked his head in shame as he recalled the way he lashed out at Gladiolus and the allegations he flung at Ignis. To Prompto, who'd sparingly been exposed to Noctis at his lowest, the severe lapse in his mood would appear confusing.

"You had us all kinds of worried," Prompto said, almost hushed. It garnered Noctis' attention, regardless. He adjusted his shoulders in nervous habit, and his friend removed his hands like he was burned. Noctis couldn't have felt guiltier.

"This just happens sometimes. It's no big deal."

"Um, this never happened when we were in school! I'd remember if you passed out in the middle of math class. The only time you were gone was when your dad summoned you to the Citadel for those top secret—" Prompto's expression went blank. The gunner was so expressive, animated even when idle, so he knew Prompto was serious when he went still in contemplation.

"You weren't in council meetings all those times you had to skip school, were you?" he asked directly.

The words wouldn't form; all he could do was nod in confirmation. His friend moved beside him, and in a panic Noctis scrambled to halt Prompto from leaving. His worrying was unfounded. Prompto was reaching out to him again. Noctis met him halfway, his fingertips catching on the other man's bracelets. He was relieved Prompto wasn't angry enough to flounce off, but Noctis wanted to make sure he didn't.

"Ever since—" the Marilith attack, but he couldn't put a name to his childhood misery, even after the creature's demise at his hands. The monster haunted his nightmares for years and would continue to haunt him for the near future. "—my accident as a kid, the doctors said my immune system was weakened."

Saying 'weakened' made his stomach churn worse. Admitting that to anyone, most of all Prompto, hurt worse than the illness wracking his body. He owed it to his friend, though. Noctis had kept this hidden from him long enough.

"Back then, I'd get sick all the time. It was like I had no natural defenses left in me. We tried everything: gut therapy, boosters, remedies. Shit like that."

"When you were in Tenebrea?" Prompto asked. He whispered, as if afraid Noctis would stop if he interrupted.

"Luna's mom… Her magic was all that helped," Noctis confirmed. At least, until the queen couldn't anymore. Her treatments ended with the invasion of Niflheim. That was another painful reminder, one which he wasn't equipped to delve into, even with Prompto.

"As I got older I didn't get sick as often, but when I did… It was better if the public didn't know." Better if his best and only friend outside the palace didn't know how pathetic he was, but what Noctis actually confessed was, "That's what my dad and his staff concluded, anyway. It'd be risky if anyone found out how easy a target I was during those times."

"I'm sorry," he said, surprising the prince. Prompto shifted on his knees, but kept his hand firmly in place, under Noctis'. "That totally sucks. It must have been miserable and lonely for you. I know you said it was dangerous to tell me, but I am sorry that I didn’t do more for you."

"No, I should have told you," Noctis said in his own apologetic way.

"Nah, no biggie. I'll just have to make up for all the lost opportunities!" Prompto pulled away, but only enough to lie against the prince's side. He stayed on top of the layers of blankets and sleeping bags, but shared Noctis' pillow. Noctis should have protested – he was feverish and resembled a swamp. Nevermind Prompto could catch his illness, too, by such close proximity.

Instead, Noctis transferred onto his opposite side and watched as Prompto resumed playing games on his phone. It'd been what was generating the strange noises earlier. He watched for awhile, offering idle commentary in the forms of suggestions or jibes. He felt fatigued from his prior confession, however, and without his noticing he dozed off.

[broadwaybitchhhh]

2016 year in review post:

january: spend a short time with alex before i fly to england and cry a lot and miss him the whole time. london was dope though. we got tea and i went on cool walks and went to dover and canterbury which was cool cause i later spend 4 months reading the canterbury tales. i kinda hated my whole program though so i was mean and grouchy to everyone. oops. sorry guys. 

february: went to brighton which was really cold but kinda cool day trip. bennett visited, alex had flowers delivered to my flat in london which was really cute of him cause p sure i didnt get him anything (see: i suck), ummm more just exploring london, went to paris with craig and jack and lesley and andrea and that was a lot of fun. ate duck confit which was the best thing ive ever eaten in my life. also available in sandwich form in borough market in london, but much better cooked fresh in paris. ugh. no one does food better than the french. they’re so good at it. love france. 

march: edinburgh!! scotland was dope. would def go back, only really spent a day there. and then alex came!!!!! that was super fun. ugh i love him. that was so fun. and then we went to amsterdam which was amazing. would totally go back. and then alex left and i was sad. but then caroline came!!!! and we had so much fun omg. great time. march was definitely the best month of the year. or june. but well get there.

april: went to barcelona with craig and his friends which was wild. loved barcelona. i actually drank for once and we explored so much and ate great food and had a great time. great trip. would love to go back to spain. everyone else in our program left, i went to the harry potter studios which was super cool, got way too high for 4/20 (surprise), went to a party at the kate spade opening store in london, hung out with natalie lots.

may: my parents came!! which was both fun and annoying. we went to fancy tea and harrods and the winston churchill war rooms and i tried to show them around but my mom was not a fan of public transit. then we went to greece. which they were expecting to be super warm but as i learned quickly in my semester europe is really cold always. but greece was great. santorini is beautiful and mykonos was beautiful but i never made it to athens so i guess i’ll just have to go back :/ also mom forgot her passport expired so that was wild. then they left and i had one day to get ready for natalie’s and my next trip to salzburg, vienna, and prague. salzburg was beautiful, but very quaint and nothing to do for more than a day other than sound of music shit. cute though. nice mountains. vienna was dumb. prague was pretty cool but then i accidentally ate this thing covered in walnuts which im deathly allergic to so i was dying in a bathroom for  awhile before natalie convinced me to use my epipen and then we struggled to get the restaurant lady to understand the word ambulance but eventually they came and i got to go for my first ambulance ride!!! to the prague hospital!!! which was weirdly empty and kinda like a horror movie.... but yeah that was really bad but i got some funny snapchats from it. at this point i am exhausted of traveling and really just want to go home but i cant. at some point i forget when i buy an earlier flight home so i can surprise alex. then me and natalie go to italy which was wild. the trip to positano (while a beautiful town) took like 12 hours and we were miserable the first day but then it got much better. beautiful place. beaches were rocks though. transit is not good in italy. then we went to pompeii which was fuckin weird and we went to rome which was cool, i was mostly just chillen since ive already done the touristy shit there. natalie made a nice italian boyfriend. food was good. then we went back to london and i sneakily packed my things....

june: surprise alex by coming home a week early which was fun. very happy to be back in america. got dunkin, a pedicure, hung out on the beach with my mom and caroline, snuggled mr sam who was a little mad at me for leaving for so long, totally surprised alex. june was a good month. my mom threw me a surprise party which was fun (too bad i found about it lol sorry mom). good good month.

july: birthday! good weekend. then alexs birthday! we went to ocean city md which was fun. i visited turk in nashville which was fun. hung out on the beach a lot. having a beach house is nice.

august: mostly just chill at the beach the whole time. alex and i went to new york which was fun. more beach. cried a whole lot when i had to leave. summer was so much fun. living in new jersey is fun cause im so much closer to caroline now. love her. got my iud!!!! great decision. oh man thats one of the best decisions i have ever made with my life. great choice.

september: start tutoring at the writing center which has been a good, interesting experience. lots of snuggles. went to great falls which was fun but not much of a hike. started exercising again. 

october: great brunch with carl phil andy and alex. wedding. i forced alex to date me a year ago.

november: election is super fucking depressing. thanksgiving. but then alex gets chance the pupper!!! which was a great decision. he’s so cute and such a good boy and i love him soooo much. we snuggled all morning today. and new years day. he’s pretty snuggly. not as snuggly as mr sam. but he’s a good boy.

december: somehow manage to get straight A’s for the first time in my life, go to new york with linda and mom which is fun, hang with carl, we got some great sushi the other night i got 4 rolls for $12 which was exciting. now she’s leaving for italy tomorrow (today) and another year is upon us. nye was boring i got too high and just wanted to sleep. sry guys. maybe next year. christmas was good though.

favorites of 2016:

-london, paris, amsterdam, spain, greece.... europe.

-duck confit

-spotify

-alex

-caroline

- new roomies are cool

-sam

-my fam

-chance the pupper

-my grades

-i feel blessed

people who i will not be talking to in 2017:

-people who add negativity to my life

-people who say you’re friends and then never talk to you again (cough bitch ass roommates)

[willows-horde]

Was planning on posting this one sooner but I forgot I had to be somewhere... oops. This chapter brings in fantasy elements. Rise of the Ishigaki Clan - chapter 3

word count: 2132

Kanetsugu warily opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling of the shrine he was taking refuge in. Turning his head, he expected to see Kai sitting next to him; but no one was there. He shut his eyes and wished he had been stronger. Maybe then he could've protected her. He hadn't wanted to abandon them. The last thing about the battle he could remember clearly was Kai shouting at him to get out of there as she was being held down. Sakon had told him to leave as well. He told him he'd help Kai and they'd follow after him. But that was the last time he'd seen them.

“Otso, he's awake.” He looked at the doorway and saw the shrine maiden who he had met when he arrived. “Thank goodness you're awake. We were worried you weren't going to make it.” She told him as she sat down by his bed.

“How long have I been asleep?” Kanetsugu asked her. Another young woman entered the room.

“It has been four days.” spoke the young woman by his bed side. “You were in such horrible condition. What happened to you to end up like this?”

“Itoko, now isn't the time to be asking that.” Itoko bowed her head and apologized. “My name is Otso Ono; and this is Itoko Ikeda. We brought you inside after you collapsed.”

“I am Kanetsugu Naoe. Thank you for helping me.”

Otso offered him a smile. “Now you should rest. It will take time for your injuries to heal. We will return later to see how you are doing and bring you something to eat.” Kanetsugu gave a nod. Otso stood, followed by Itoko, and headed for the door.

“...Has anyone else arrived here?” Kanetsugu asked before they left.

Otso paused. She looked back at him. “No. I'm sorry but no else has been here for a while.”

“I see...” Otso was quiet for a moment before she told him that she would let him know if that would change; then reminded him to get some rest. “Thank you.” She smiled before she left his room closing the door behind her.

“Otso, I'm worried,” Itoko spoke up after they were a distance from Kanetsugu's room. “He was in a battle. What if the rumors are true? What will we do if they come here?”

Otso was quiet for a moment. “If they are true and the Ishigaki have invaded this far, then there is no doubt that they will come this way. There is no way to know for sure if they will come here, but,” she stopped walking and turned to Itoko, “if they do come please do not try to fight them.” Itoko nodded. Otso smiled. “Now then, we have quite a bit to do before we can prepare dinner for our guest.”

~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~

His eyes opened only to come face to face with a young girl. She quickly backed away from him looking a little scared. Confused, he sat up and looked over at her. The young girl suddenly started crying and ran from the room calling for her mom. ... Was he seeing things or did that little girl have translucent wings on her back? Looking around the room brought on more questions. Where was he? How did he get here? Mitsunari got off the bed and stretched his stiff muscles. He noticed his head gear had been removed and placed on a small table with a change of clothing. He'll concern himself with that later, he thought, as he headed for the door. Pushing aside the cloth covering the doorway, he stepped outside... and stopped dead in his tracks.

Around him were many tree-houses. Most of them were connected by wooden walkways which is what Mitsunari was currently standing on. The trees looked huge. They were at least three times the size of a normal tree. And, when he looked over the edge of the walkway, the distance to the ground was too far to even guess. How did he get here he wondered as he took a step farther back away from the edge. “Heeey!” Mitsunari looked over. A girl was running towards him waving. Wait, she looked familiar, aside from the translucent wings. “You didn't change into the clothes I left for you. That's kinda rude. I mean, you've been wearing that for almost three weeks.”

“I was unconscious for three weeks?” He shook his head. “How is that possible..?”

“Um... they told me it was necessary.” Then to change the subject she said, “Oh! While we're here I'm Aki, but I guess you can still call me 'Kunoichi'.”

Wait. Now he remembered where he'd seen her. She was one of... “Is Yukimura here as well?”

Aki looked away and her wings drooped slightly. “Yeah. He's not doing good though. The healers are with him.” Her wings lifted back up a bit. “But.. but don't worry! They're the best healers here, so, he should be okay,” she said cheerfully. Though Mitsunari noticed that the way she said that it was like she was trying to convince herself as well as him. Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood she said, “Go change clothes, Mitsunari.”

“I don't think...”

She hopped around him and gave a little nudge towards the building he had just exited. “You've been wearing these stinky clothes for awhile,” she told him while waving a hand in front of her nose. “You gotta wear something else.”

“Fine,” he told her impatiently as he stepped back inside. Unfolding the clothes, he inspected them. “Kunoichi,” he pulled the cloth aside so he was standing in the doorway. Holding onto the clothing in the other hand he asked, “Are these womens' clothes?”

“Well...” she bit her lip, as she tried not to laugh at his irritation. “It's only temporary.” Now Mitsunari really did look annoyed. Aki quickly spoke up again. “My father wouldn't let me use any of his clothes so I asked my friend for a favor and she finally agreed to stitch up the back.” She spun around to show him the back of her shirt. Her wings fluttered slightly as she did so. Mitsunari was a bit startled for a moment with her wings. So he wasn't imaging it. “I promise I'll get you something else later.” He sighed heavily.

“Tomorrow.” He told her as he stepped back into the room. “I want to wear clothes meant for men by then.”

“Roger that.” There was a silence between the two as Mitsunari changed his clothes. Aki smiled lightly as she rocked herself by shifting from the balls of her feet to her heals and back again.

“...Kunoichi?”

“What's up?” she asked as she brought her hands behind her back to make the rocking more fluid.

Mitsunari was quiet for a moment trying to determine which question he should ask first. “Will I be able to see Yukimura?”

Aki stopped rocking herself. “No.” Her arms drifted to her sides. “They don't want anyone to see him. Not until the healers are done, anyway.” She looked down at her feet.

They were quiet for a minute before Mitsunari moved on to his next question. “Where are we? I can't say I've ever seen any place like this.”

Aki looked up to the doorway. “This is my home. We're fairies, but I guess that's obvious. And, um.. we had to use magic to get you and Yukimura here.”

... Mitsunari pushed the cloth aside and stepped out. “I wasn't aware there...”

“Cute!” Aki said as she clapped her hands together.

“Focus.”

Aki giggled then grinned. “Fairies don't want to be known about. See, they don't really like humans and...”

“Aki, you don't have to tell him our whole history.”

“Hey, Yumi.” Yumi was hovering in the air a few feet away from them. She glanced at Mitsunari, then gave a 'hmph' before she darted off. “Yumi!”

Mitsunari crossed his arms and looked elsewhere. “I assume she doesn't like me.” It didn't bother him, he was just stating a fact.

“It's not your fault,” Aki told him as she turned back to him. Mitsunari just shrugged it off. He didn't care if he was liked here. His biggest concern was if Yukimura was alright. If what he was told is true then it had been three weeks. Mitsunari was pulled from his train of thought when Aki spoke up. “You want me to show you around?”

He glanced over at her. “Alright.” Maybe turning his attention some where else might help get his mind off of the things that worried him. But then he took note of the width of the walkway and wondered if getting his mind focused on something else was going to be worth it.

~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~

“Nagamasa, you can't!” Oichi cried out as she grabbed hold of his arm.

“Oichi, please. I need to start training.” He couldn't bring himself to look at her. He'd feel guilty if he saw the look on her face.

“But it's only been two weeks since you woke. You need to rest.”

He looked over at her and once their eyes met, guilt overshadowed his need to train. His want was still there, but he didn't want to upset Oichi. “Alright. I will wait.” Nagamasa could see the relieve flow over her features. She released his arm and he, to the best of his ability, gave her a hug.

Mitsuhide had waited to enter the room when he over-heard their exchange. Oichi had reprimanded him when she had caught him training about a week ago. And now Nagamasa says that he wants to start. Mitsuhide can't blame Oichi for being worried. Actually, he could understand it perfectly. Because he knew, even when she lectured him, that it was too early for either one of them to start up training with the injuries they had. Even so...

Nagamasa and Oichi broke their hug as they heard Mitsuhide enter the room. “It seems we are running low on supplies,” he told them. “Since it's still early in the day, I plan on taking a trip to town to restock.”

“I can go,” Oichi spoke up. “I don't want you to upset your injury.”

“No need for you to worry. I'll be careful,” Mitsuhide told her.

“No, no,” she said as she knelt down to pick up a bundle of cloth that was neatly folded. “I have a few things I need to do.” She turned around to face them. “So you two should stay here and rest,” she told them with a smile as she headed for the door.

Mitsuhide and Nagamasa followed Oichi outside to see her off. Nagamasa watched as she left. She had gone to town once that he was aware of and that made him a bit unease. According to Mitsuhide, they were in Mino which was currently under control by Ryu-ki Ishigaki. He had no idea how safe it was for her to travel alone. ... “Mitsuhide, could...” he started as he turned to face the other man, only to find that he wasn't there.

“Nagamasa.” Nagamasa turned around and was startled to find a wooden sword being thrown at him. He barely caught it in time. Where did he get wooden swords? “I understand that it's only been two weeks since you woke up; but since we are currently behind enemy territory, I suggest we start training your left arm,”Mitsuhide commented motioning towards the arm in question.

Nagamasa, on the other hand, hesitated. He couldn't deny that he wanted to train. It's just that he had promised Oichi that he wouldn't. Oichi... He wouldn't be able to protect her like this. She would be forced to look out for him if they were in battle. That's not what he wanted. He looked down at the sword in his hand. If he wanted to protect her he would need to train. Tightening his grip on the wooden sword he looked up at Mitsuhide. “I agree.”

“Then we will work on the basics.”

“I already know the basics,” Nagamasa stated.

“With your right hand,” Mitsuhide countered. “Left-handed swordsmanship is a bit different; more so if you are accustomed to using your right hand.”

“I suppose you're right. I will start with the basics then.”