#may you find your peace one day and continue the soccer that saved you

[haru-se]

BLUE LOCK CH. 260 SPOILERS UNDER CUT

In the trivia for Blue Lock Exhibition (if I remember correctly), Kaiser’s habit is that he wraps his hands around his neck as if choking himself.

I wonder if that habit that comes out when he’s stressed stems from his abusive dad choking him all the time.

Like when he started feeling like he was losing to Isagi, he purposely reminds himself that he’s trash by choking himself. His competitiveness/need to win is from the fact that when he wins, he’s EVERYTHING but when he loses, he’s NOTHING.

He has to win because what is he without it?

Also, the reason why he hates milk is probably because of his dad as well.

[xgoldentigerlilyx]

Here I am, another fan drabble for @themetaphorgirl and her AU Patron Saints of Lost Causes! This is where you can find all of the Information about this wonderful story!

I thought I could stop myself after Hypochondriac and Saved for a Rainy Day, but i had another cute idea and wanted to bring it to life. Thanks to Caitlin for letting me write this, and it may not be as perfect as her fantastic writing but I love it! Enjoy!

(I may have also gotten a bit carried away)

Penelope’s Plan

Word count: 2.3k

Rainy day crafts

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“My, Chocolate Thunder! I’ve never been in your room before! Let me guess, you’ve got a few football posters, and at least one sock on your bed right now?” Penelopeasked Derek, her left arm linked through his and her right arm tapping her chin inquisitively with a playful smile.

“Spencer Reid! You’re room!” Penelope exclaimed, dropping Derek’s arm and walking slowly to Spencer’s bookshelf, and looked around the barren walls and shelves of his side of the room. Derek went to stop her from speaking, knowing from the look on Spencer's face that he didn’t want anymore pity, especially one of the girls. Before Derek could stop her from the usual probing questions he got like ‘Where’s all of your things,’ or ‘You can’t even afford a proper blanket?’, she shushed Derek. “We need to decorate in here, stat! Tell me my dear boy genius, your favourite shows, books, colours, pets, everything!”

Once Penelope was satisfied with Spencer's answers, she flipped her new unicorn notebook shut and stuffed it into her small unicorn purse hanging by her side. “Alright kiddo, go back to reading your book. What do you even have enough time to read, anyways?” She asked curiously, the worn cover not providing her much insight.

Spencer picked to book back up, trying to find his previous page. “It’s War and Peace, I finally found it in its original Russian!” He smiled, proud of being able to find it in the library without Alex’s help.When Penelope nodded with a look of shock on her face, he presumed she had no interest if he started to explain it to her. So he turned his full attention back to the books, with the wonder of what she would be doing with this new found knowledge of him.

When Derek was done with his laundry, Penelope waved quickly to a zoned in Spencer and hastily pulled Derek out of the shared room, slamming the door behind her and continued to drag him to the library. Once sat down at a secluded corner, Penelope finally decided to answer Derek’s questions. “We need to make Spencer some crafts to decorate his side of the room. Now, throw me some ideas.” Penelope smiled, with her notebook out once more and her pen at the ready to start a brand new list. Derek raised a brow silently. Penelope groaned. “Come on. His room needs to be more Spencer! It looks like a hotel room on his side. It needs to be more like him if he’s going to be there all year!” She rambled her hands waving through the air as she talked.

“Alright, alright. Well, he likes books so maybe something to do with like, book pages? I don’t know. You should ask everyone else. And don’t give me that glare, baby girl! I’m just saying someone else may be a bit more insightful on how to help. My bet is on Alex.” Penelope’s glare dissolved, as she got the idea to go ask everyone in their little friend group. She stood from her chair, returned her notebook to her bag, and set off on her mission.

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She wandered for a bit, looking at all of their normal spots to find their friends. It was, afterall, a Sunday. Her first location, the amphitheater, was where she found Hotch and Emily with large textbooks open on their laps and stationary surrounding them. “Hello, my fine furry friends! I come seeking knowledge from all of my peers and hope you both can contribute!” The pair of juniors shared a nervous glance, before setting their textbooks aside for a moment.

“What’s up Pen?” Emily asked, and Penelope immediately smiled and retrieved her trusty notepad and sparkly pink pen.

She flipped the cover open while she spoke. “I need help finding ways to decorate Spencer's room. Poor thing doesn’t have a poster, decal, or even a picture that represents himself. So, and ideas?” She questioned, hopefully glancing between the two. They thought for a moment before sharing their answers.

“Well, you could make him one of those calendars with a new word a day or something.” Emily shrugged, thinking of the things Spencer likes.

“You can just ask him what he wants.” Aaron nodded, eyes drifting back to his books. Emily gave him a slight shove. “You know the kid, he doesn’t ask for anything. He would just deny that he needed anything.” She retorted, thinking back to the many times he had done that very thing.

Penelope nodded, and scribbled the viable suggestion next to Emily’s name, and added an ‘N/A’ to where Hotch’s name was listed. “Alright, off to the next friends! Thank you my favourite band of heroes!” Penelope thanked, and turned out of the amphitheater and back to the main campus.

“We need to get her drug tested.” Hotch announced to Emily.

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Out in the soccer field is where she went next, and Penelope found JJ running drills alone while Blake and Rossi sat on the bleachers, talking and occasionally glancing over to a determined looking JJ. When they saw Penelope approaching, they sat up straight. When she reached them, she sat in front of them on a cold seat. “JJ! Sorry to interrupt Jayje, but this is important!” Penelope yelled to her blonde friend who grabbed a battered pink water bottle from beside her duffle bag and made her way over to the bleachers huffing and puffing. Penelope looked over to James and David with a worried expression. “Two hours,” James clarified to an exasperated Penelope, “And she only took a break when we asked her to, which was around an hour ago.” He explained, and hushed as JJ reached them.

She crashed into the empty seat beside Penelope and took another long drink. “What’s wrong? Is everything ok?” She questioned, her breathing returning back to normal and an expression of concern overtook the exhaustion. Penelope laughed.

“Of course, Jayje. Well, mostly.” Penelope turned her attention to all of them as one and continued. “I only just saw the dorm room of Dere-Bear and our little genius, and the lack of any flair from Spencer’s side of the room made me a new type of sorrow. So! I’m going from friend to friend looking for ideas to make for his room to add a little flair of him to his room!” She explained, a big grin on her face.

“You could make him one of those folded book sculptures?” JJ threw out, wiping some sweat off of her forehead.

“Hand drawing him a poster of a band he likes would be something he’d like, right?” James asked, looking to David who was nodding.

David thought for a moment while Penelope hastily wrote down the ideas, her pink pen scratching and scrawling on the page. “I’m sure the kid will like anything you do for him. Not like he has anyone in his life to make gifts like you do, Garcia.” David shrugged.

Penelope finished her quick note taking and once more closed and put away her notebook. She smiled and said, “Thanks for the help guys! I’ll keep you in the loop!”. She skipped her way off the soccer field, and JJ returned to the soccer field to continue her practice.

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Alex sat in the library, reading a book and sneakily snacking on some of the pop-tarts she kept hidden in her desk. She heard the faint and growing sound of footsteps, so she closed the drawer with the secret snacks and went back to reading her book as normal. The doors opened, and Penelope’s eyes swept the library before her eyes found Alex at the main desk. Once she had her eyes set on her target, she walked with determination to a now amused looking Alex. She rested her elbow on a pile of old books waiting to be organized and announced, “Alex! Just the gal I was looking for!”.

Alex set her book down, noting the page as she did so. “What do you need, Garcia?” She asked, sitting back in the comfortable office chair.

“Well, our dear Baby Genius has no evidence of him even living in his room, and we need to spice it up a bit!” Penelope spoke enthusiastically and quickly of her grand idea once more to the person she thought to be the most helpful.

Alex stopped to think for a moment, processing Penelope’s words. “So you want my help?” She asked curiously, her mind already thinking of some small ideas.

Penelope nodded with a grin, and grabbed her trusted notebook and sparkly pen, and answered Alex’s question. “Well, of course! I do have some other ideas as well from the rest of our squad, but I bet you’ll have one really great idea! So, bounce some ideas!” she rambled on.

Alex had many ideas, but then the right one hit her. She smiled at Penelope and sat up. “I think I’ve got the perfect idea.”

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That saturday was perfect for Penelope's plan, as it was a rainy and quiet day. She had been plotting since Tuesday on her master plan. She made them all a group chat. And asked who wanted to help her with some arts and crafts. She got a yes from all but David and Hotch (it isn’t that they didn’t want to help, it’s just that they insisted they were terrible at crafts) so she had a separate mission for them; to distract Spencer.

On that rainy Saturday morning, the plan was going perfectly. David and Hotch made up a story about how they needed to run into town to the bookstore for some book Hotch needed, and asked if anyone would like to join them. Spencer, being his book loving self, instantly agreed while everyone politely turned them down all with their own excuses.

“Oh, I’ll leave the books to Pretty Boy.’

“I have to finish that math assignment with JJ.”

“I would love to, but I picked up an extra library shift.”

So they set off into the town, and made sure to let Spencer ramble his heart out. And they took him out for ice cream just so the crafters had enough time to get everything done.

Meanwhile, everyone got started on their projects. Penelope had an extensive, almost obsessive collection of craft supplies, and some old books free to mutilate if anyone needed them. They all got their hands working, and by the end of their rainy day craft session, everyone was covered in purple glitter from when Derek dropped the glitter shaker in front of the hair dryer being used to dry some paint. But alas, they all had completed their gifts and now just had to place them for when the boys got back from their distraction trip.

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Spencer opened the door to his dorm room, clutching an armful of books and an empty bowl with some melted ice cream remainaints. “Derek! You wouldn’t BELIEVE how many books are in the store just beside the craft shop! David let me get so-” He cut himself off as he went to dump his books on his bed.

The first thing he noticed was the cluster of people in his small room. Penelope with Derek on his respective bed, JJ and Emily on Spencer's bed, and Alex standing beside his priorly barren wall. “Woah…” He mumbled to himself, looking to his new decorations. A miniature replica of the TARDIS made of popsicle sticks and adorned with blue glitter sat on his bedside table. A small piece of paper with a purple glittery book leaned against the TARDIS. A homemade Lerner&Lowe poster was taped to his headboard, and on his bookshelf was a book flipped with the spine facing in. But instead of regular pages, they were folded (slightly crooked) to look like the Death Star. And the thing that took up the most space was a tree made from construction paper taped on the wall. But on each branch there was a name of someone in their friend group, a short message, and a picture of them. The top of the tree had the words ‘Our Family’.

Spencer’s eyes were watering as he finished taking all of it in. Dave and Aaron stood behind him, resting on the sides of the doorframe and watching like everyone else was. He sniffled, and wiped his eyes quickly. He was overwhelmed, but in the best way. After taking a moment to collect himself from the shock and awe, everyone stayed in their room for the rest of the day until supper, just hanging out before they had to regroup in the cafeteria for supper.

Penelope was glad her plan had the desired effect, and everyone was content with seeing Spencer happy.

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[girlsgonemildblog]

So Much is Happening All the Time - The Bachelor, Season 25, Week 5 Recap

Image from abc.com

Buckle up. This one’s a doozy. We begin the morning of the cocktail party and rose ceremony, the day after Katie snitched to Matt. Victoria says to Kit that the new girls have nothing to complain about because she “hasn’t even begun the hazing process yet,” and Kit laughs nervously because she is genuinely afraid for her life. I have no idea what Victoria is talking about because “hazing” is definitely not part of the show. This is The Bachelor, not the fifth choice sorority at a state school.

Meanwhile, fellow mean girls MJ and Anna discuss the rumor about Brittany, and MJ tells Anna that she “did the right thing”. I have no idea in what context MJ could mean that. Did Anna do the right thing when she spread a lie about someone being a sex worker behind their back? Or when she then confronted the girl about the rumor in front of the whole group, ensuring that anyone who hadn’t heard it yet, did now? Or maybe when she continued to make fun of the girl even when she knew it was a lie? Or perhaps when she still didn’t apologize for all of her shitty behavior? While Anna and Victoria are the main villains so far, MJ is right behind them. She becomes more prominent later in the episode, so here’s her picture. Please pretend you’re not super jealous of how gorgeous her hair is.

Image from abc.com

The cocktail party begins with Matt addressing the bullying and the rumor spreading, and the producers blessed us with a zoom-in on Anna’s “oh shit” face.

Photo from Twitter

Matt then asks to speak to Brittany privately, and Victoria immediately turns on the group and asks who snitched. Anna realizes that this is obviously about her and repeatedly insists that starting the rumor was “one single comment” and “out of her character,” but I find that hard to believe as we saw her make the comment multiple times over several days.

During Matt and Brittany’s conversation, he does a great job of listening and comforting her. He says he wants to make this a safe space for the girls, and I genuinely believe him; I just don’t think that’s possible. This is The Bachelor, for God’s sake.

Matt then takes Anna aside and gives her a chance to explain, but ultimately sends her home before the rose ceremony even happens. If I were him, I would’ve walked up to her on the couch, in front of everyone, and sent her home right then and there. No excuses, no apologies. Just, “Bye bitch. You’re out.” She leaves (without ever apologizing to Brittany) and says she’s going to go cry in the shower. Honestly, relatable.

In an effort to save themselves, all of the girls who bullied (MJ, Victoria, Serena C.) start denying that any bullying went on, and all the girls who silently watched the bullying start apologizing and saying they had no idea any of this was going on. Do these girls not know that there are cameras, and we watched them sit there and do nothing?

Victoria does apologize to Catalina but laughs through it and insists that it was just playful and not malicious. She actually has the gall to say, “I don’t think you were treated fairly,” as if she wasn’t the one mistreating them. We all heard your hazing comment, Vicky!

Matt wants to check on the other new girls, and while speaking to Ryan, she names names, specifically Victoria’s. She tearfully tells Matt that because she is a dancer, Victoria called her a hoe. In my opinion, “hoe” is not that bad a word. Like the slut-shaming aspect is terrible, but I just don’t feel like “hoe” carries much weight. If someone called me a hoe, I’d be mildly angry. I definitely wouldn’t cry about it.

Victoria, wearing a visible bra as well as granny panties with her slit dress

goes to defend herself to Matt. Matt, like an idiot, tells Victoria that Katie is the one who snitched. He then brings up the “hoe” comment, which she claims was taken out of context. He asks her what the context was, and she has no answer.

After their conversation, she goes outside to complain to the producers, within earshot of the other girls, about how she is “literally the only girl who can be his wife,” she’s the only intelligent one, and the rest of them (specifically Katie) are idiots, and how she’s so nice and the rest of them are fake and toxic. Trashing them all where they can hear you is a wild move when trying to prove you’re not a bully. She starts listing what she thinks are positive traits about her and includes “spoiled” in the list multiple times. She also asks, “does he want a wife who is creating drama all the time, or does he want me?”

Photo from imgur.com 

The rose ceremony begins, and Matt gives the first roses to Ryan and Brittany, sending a clear message about the new girls vs. OG bullshit. The girls who get sent home are Lauren, Mari, Catalina, and (finally) Victoria. When it is her turn to say goodbye, she walks up to him and says she feels bad for him that he’s stuck with those girls instead of her for a wife. When he got home that night, Matt probably danced with joy.

The first date of the week is a one-on-one with Rachael, and he takes her shopping at a store in the resort. She gushes about him “getting” her all of these things. Before she goes all gold-digger, someone needs to tell her that he isn’t “getting” anything; the production company is definitely footing this bill. She returns to the house, arms piled over with shopping bags, and shows off everything she got, including Louboutins. Everyone is jealous. Everyone that is except socialite-Kit, who could not have looked less impressed. Girlie got her first Louboutins before she took her first step.

During their night-date, Rachael talks about having never been in love and says it’s because she struggles with confidence. Matt, who also doesn’t consider himself to have ever been in love, gives her the rose.

The next day brings a group date. After watching Rachael be gifted thousands of dollars worth of clothes, the rest of the girls get to spend their day shoveling animal shit on a farm. All of the girls complain about being not getting a one-on-one. I am so sick of people complaining about group dates every season. It’s part of the show that you signed up for. Shut the fuck up. Of course, maybe they had a point, proven by MJ trying to flirtily chase Matt with a broken egg, only to catch him full-on making out with Peiper. Yikes.

That night, Matt asks MJ what she thought about the bullying going on in the house. She tells him she was shocked even to learn that there was bullying going on. He responds by telling her that someone accused her of being a bully, and she gets real defensive real quick. She insists that she “leads by example,” which sounds like something a junior-high soccer coach said to her once. It also means absolutely nothing because you could also lead an angry mob to torch a house by being the first to light a match. When MJ rejoins the girls, she asks who said her name, and Jessenia, who looks 12 (as seen in the photo below), owns up to it. Thus begins the newest feud in the house.

Image from abc.com

Also during the group date, Abigail talks to Matt more about her hearing loss, and opens up about her father leaving after she got her hearing aid. Matt was also raised by a single mother, and relates to her in this way. Abigail gets the group date rose.

The final one-on-one date goes to Kit. When she gets a date card that implies they’ll be cooking on her date, she cries because she has spoken to Matt about how much cooking means to her. The date consists only of a night portion; Kit goes over to Matt’s house and they bake cookies together. Before she arrives, we see Matt cleaning his home so it’s nice for her, as well as checking his outfit because he knows she cares about fashion. Absolutely adorable.

When she arrives, he tells her that he believes in ordering dessert first, and I think I may be falling in love with Matt. She says how growing up with a famous and successful mom has put a lot of pressure on her, which is not something he, or most people, can relate to. They both talk about wanting to fast forward through the process and just be together outside of the show. They cuddle up on the couch and she gets the rose. Some people online think Kit seems braggy and pretentious, but I really like her. And I think you’d have to be an idiot to not realize that Matt really likes her as well.

The next morning as the women wait to get ready for the night, a date card arrives inviting MJ and Jessenia on a mini-two-on-one before the cocktail party. They ride over in complete silence, but when they arrive they break out in yelling. MJ insists she “preaches peace and harmony” or some bullshit, but the face she makes insists otherwise.

Photo from Twitter

The show leaves off on yet another cliff-hanger. My prediction is that Matt heard the yelling, sends MJ home on the spot and Jessenia home at a rose ceremony, if not that night then the next one.

[thirstyforbishiesimagines]

Can I get a Zion x MC where the MC is jealous of Scarlett for being too close with Zion so Mc decides to go kill zombies with just frozen Dumplings. And it works too

Hi, Anon~ 👋 Hoping this was along the lines of what you requested!

LOL Frozen dumplings… 🤷‍♀️An unlikely weapon indeed 😉

xx Enjoy xx

.

A Weapon in Disguise - Zion x Reader

* image from LucyDreams, Dangerous Fellows

Word Count: 1,044

General

Warning: Profanity

.

.

Lone footsteps echoed as you trudged down the empty hallways of the first floor; a scowl on your face as you crossed your arms tightly over your chest.

You could still hear Scarlett’s peppy voice in your head shamelessly flirting with Zion after this afternoon’s meeting.

“Your hair looks soo good today!”

“Have you been working out, Zion? Your arms feel stronger!”

Images of the pretty blonde flashed through your mind.

You could see her fondle with Zion’s crimson mane.

You could see her slender fingers stroke his arms and rub his shoulders.

You could see her large perky breasts pressed up against him purposely as she reached for a bite of his lunch.

It was apparent that Scarlett knew you had a crush on Zion. You had fallen for him since he had saved you from the impending danger you felt during your investigation of the basement. However, since then you had barely had a chance to talk to him as Scarlett made sure to keep the two of you apart.

“Urrgghh! I can’t stand her!”

Stopping in your tracks, you groaned as you threw your head back with frustration. Anger and jealousy seared through your veins as you kept on wandering aimlessly, no longer concerned for your own safety. When you had reached the end of the hall, you glared at the barricaded cafeteria - contemplating whether to enter or to walk away.

Fuck it! I need to let off some steam!

You removed the desks and chairs aside in a haphazard manner and took hold of the metal pipe that had been wedged between the handles. The door creaked as you swung it open. Determined, you crossed the threshold of the entrance, guarding your chest with your weapon.

The cafeteria itself seemed quite… peaceful. However, the bloodstains on the laminate floors painted a completely different story.

As there were no zombies in sight, you decided to explore the kitchen area for anything edible. Tears stung your eyes and you quickly covered the lower half of your face with your sleeve as a pungent odour assaulted your senses. Mould and rotten produce littered the countertops of the cooking facility causing you to dry-retched from the overwhelming stench.

Treading carefully, you continued your search before opening the towering door of the freezer room. Surprisingly, it was still icy inside with frost covering the surface of some of the packaged food. You picked up a bag of frozen dumplings and smiled to yourself, looking forward to cooking these up with the others.

Until…

“GAARG!”

There was a distant growl coming from the cafeteria. You shoved the dumplings into your jacket, readied your weapon and crept out towards the dining area.

Where is that sound coming from?

Suddenly, the grotesque monster lurched itself towards you. You leaped back and discovered that it was wearing an apron with one leg torn off from its knee joint. You felt a twinge of sadness, realising that this person may have worked here at the school and unfortunately, didn’t survive the wrath of the viral outbreak.

Ridding the emotion you had for this being, you shook your head before swinging the pipe at the zombie’s head only to have it ripped out of your hand by the strength of its own.

FUCK! What now?

Thankfully it was slow due to its missing limb and you scrambled backwards before bumping into a table.

Think, brain! THINK!

You soon remembered the dumplings tucked away within your jacket and thought, maybe if you threw one hard enough it may distract it so you could make your escape.

Ripping the packet with haste, you took hold of the frozen dough and hurled it towards the monster’s forehead in the hopes that that would dazzle it for a bit, or better yet, knock it over. However, your hopes were diminished when the zombie opened its mouth and swallowed the dumpling whole.

Your expression fell from determination to confusion.

How?

What?

It… ate it?

A long, exasperated sigh slipped past your lips and you palmed your face in utter disbelief.

I just wasted a dumpling on a stupid zombie!

Suddenly the creature began to convulse violently, groaning from immense pain. You watched in horror as it twisted and jerked uncontrollably before its head unexpectedly… exploded.

As bodily debris scattered at your feet, you gaped at the fallen figure - baffled.

WHAT . JUST . HAPPENED ?

.

Zion pushed the heavy door open, desperately searching for you with his signature metal pipe in tow.

Where the fuck could she be?

He dashed out onto the schoolyard, brows knitted with anxiety. No one had seen you since you stormed out of 1-C appearing visibly upset.

His long strides soon made its way to the soccer grounds; however, he did not anticipate to find you in the aftermath of chaos.

Zion halted in his tracks, taken aback by the blood and ruined flesh surrounding your heaving form - a gruesome massacre with you as the last one standing.

“…(Y/N)?”

Heart thrumming with delight, you quickly spun around to see the guy you had longed desired - your mini weapons remain clutched in your grasp.

“Frozen dumplings! Who would have thought!” You beamed as he made his way to where you were situated.

“H-how?” Bewilderment in his stare, Zion surveyed the lifeless bodies. Every one of them had their heads blown to smithereens.

Admiring your handy work, you shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly, “Meh! Who freakin’ knows…”

The redhead then turned towards you and took hold of your free hand, tenderness in his touch. He gazed into your hopeful (e/c) eyes with relief and newfound adoration.

“Let’s go back inside. Don’t wanna have to carry you again if more of those fuckers find us. My back was sore for days last time!”

You instantly shot him an irritated glare as he smirked at you - teasingly. Zion ignored the annoyance on your face and gently led you back to the school building. A subtle hint of rouge graced his fair cheeks as he intertwined his fingers with your own, not wanting to let you go.

Actions speaking louder than words, you responded with a soft little squeeze of his hand as you followed him back to safety - happiness radiating from your vibrant smile.

.

.

x mod bambi

[khhunniewriting]

The Others (4)

[ Mafia/Gang AU ]

During summer break Leo often found himself bored at home. You worked all day trusting him to take care of himself now that he had outgrown being left with a sitter. For the most part, he had proven himself responsible enough to do so. Of course, you worried and sometimes had your neighbor check up on him.

“Hey Leo, just came to make sure you were doing okay.”

Leo was met with the charismatic smile of the female university student that lived next door. She lived with her boyfriend, a nice guy Leo had greeted a few times before.

He nodded in response.

“I’m going to the convenience store. Want to tag along?”

Leo shrugged his shoulders meaning he didn’t particularly want to go but if she wanted the company then he would go along.

“Come on, I’ll buy you some ice-cream.”

His response was to put on his shoes. This made Haru giggle and lead the boy downstairs from the second floor where they lived.

It wasn’t until you got home that Leo returned. He was out of breath from running home after realizing what time it was. 

“There you are.”

“Sorry,” he apologized knowing he should have let you know where he was. Luckily for him Haru had already done so or you would have been running all over the city to find him in a panic. “I was playing basketball in the park.”

“Did you have fun?”

He nodded, “Haru and Kai’s friends are on the basketball team at their university.” Leo liked playing with them. It taught him how to deal with players who were taller than him. 

You gasped, “Do you plan on playing that long as well?”

“Don’t know,” he shrugged. 

“Now that I think about it, I’ve never asked what you want to be when you grow up Leo.” You leaned over the kitchen counter resting your chin in the palm of your hand. “You have good grades, you like basketball, and you were good at Taekwondo too- although you haven’t gone back since receiving your poom belt.”

Leo hadn’t put too much thought into it. All he knew was that he wanted to make sure he could make a lot of money so you wouldn’t have to work so much anymore. 

“Not that you have to decide now or anything.”

It was just fascinating how quickly your son had grown from that small helpless boy struggling for his life to this strong individual. You would never forget the fear of almost losing him...

Mrs. Park held your hand tightly as a nurse helped you into a wheelchair. “Everything will be alright Y/N.”

You nodded as tears continued to stream down your eyes. It was difficult to agree with her when you knew something just didn’t feel right. It didn’t take a medical professional to know a pregnant woman shouldn’t be bleeding.

Life was getting back at you for having slept with a married man in more ways than one. Not only did you have to sit down and confront the wife of your unborn son’s father, but you also had to lie further and add to the long list of mistakes. Although you saw no other way out you knew there would be trouble if Kylie, or worse Joonkyung, ever found out the truth.

Perhaps you wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore.

That thought was the most worrying of all.

Even if this pregnancy was accidental, it was far from a mistake. You knew that now after months of carrying and growing your little one. He was there for a reason.

He was yours and you would never let anyone take him from you.

Your son had become the center of your world. No one was more loved than your Leo. “Whatever you choose to do Mama will be right behind you.”

Leo laughed at the fact that you called yourself Mama, “Obviously.”

\\\

Ji-hoon sprawled his limbs out on the black leather couch inside his father’s home office finding the silence of the vast condo to be annoying. At his home, it had been loud thanks to his nuisance of a sister and now he found this change of environment hard to get used to. 

He looked over at his father who sat across the room at his desk, eyes glued to the screen. 

“Dad, I thought being the leader meant you did cool things like intimidating, fighting, and killing people.” Perhaps Ji-hoon had been desensitized thanks to his mother bringing home hitmen and briefing them in their own home. She was mostly the one in the business of murder while Dok2 was more in the money. 

“As a leader, I direct and oversee the everyday operations of the group. My main concern is making sure the more money comes in.”

Ash Island, a new recruit, stood by the door with a smirk. “Killing is my job kid, well if the boss instructs me to.”

“Have you killed anyone before?” Ji-hoon sat up suddenly interested in the individual that had been silent up until now.

Ash nodded, “How do you think I got the job?”

“Cool!” Ji-hoon beamed before continuing to discuss such things with the older man. The longer he talked with Ash Island, the more he thought recruits had more fun than leaders. By the looks of it, he didn’t have to watch what he said or did, unlike his father who kept that calmness about him.

After a while, Ash and Ji-hoon stepped out of the office leaving Dok2 to work in peace. It was as if Ji-hoon had finally found someone who acknowledged his presence. 

He was getting the attention he so desperately wanted!

“So kid, why aren’t you in school?”

“It’s summer break.”

“Don’t you have friends and stuff?”

Ji-hoon’s brow furrowed, “Everyone is so fake I’d rather not.” He was a popular kid at school, a bit of a class clown who could make everyone laugh at the teacher’s expense. He got detention a lot, got sent out of the class, and never participated in class but somehow managed to pass every test given to him. They knew he was rich and girls often flocked to him because of it- didn’t hurt that he was handsome too.

Ash Island nodded in understanding. “Don’t you go to any clubs?”

“I play sports, got kicked out of soccer for being too aggressive but the basketball coach doesn’t seem to mind as long as I don’t get caught.” The mention had him remembering his last game. “it’s something to keep me from getting bored.”

“Cool, I used to play a bit of basketball too.”

“Really?” Ji-hoon had a playful smirk creeping up as he began to get excited about finding someone who could save him from boredom this summer. “Wanna play?”

“Now?” Ash rubbed the back of his neck wondering if he was allowed to just get up and go. “I’ll have to ask the boss-”

“Leave it to me.”

\\\

When you moved you were offered the same position as your previous job at a different spa in the same luxury hotel chain. Thankfully there were so many around that you were able to find one close to home again.

It was a newly built location so the staff was generally less experienced as your previous coworkers. Everyone looked to you for direction and you graciously picked up the slack making sure operations run smoothly. Often you were leaving work late.

The area was busy and well-lit so you had no complaints about walking home until you felt like you were being followed. A few times you would mask the fact that you were searching your surroundings for any suspicious-looking people. It never resulted in much.

However, when you decided to take a new route you found what you had been looking for. A black SUV type car that you regularly passed seemed to pop up on the new route for the next few days.

Every day you took note of the license plate and tried to catch a glimpse of the inside but the windows were tinted.

“She’s definitely on to us,” Woogie reported to Jay. 

“We’ll have to stop surveillance for now.”

Jay agreed but not without proposing his own plan. “What if we forget the surveillance all together and get closer to Dok2′s baby mama?”

“I wouldn’t mind getting closer,” Simon offered with pretty obvious motivation.

Jay laughed at his second in command. “I was thinking we put Hoody to work. She can try to get a job in the spa, befriend Y/N to get all the information we need without arising suspicion.”

Gray nodded in agreement, “Solid plan.”

“Besides if anyone gets close to her it's me,” Jay proclaimed. He had to admit Dok2 had good taste when it came to picking women. Long ago he lusted after his wife but that didn’t compare to the almost obsessive urge he had to know everything about you.

-end-

A/N: For now it may seem I’m writing a lot of OC stuff with Ji-hoon and Leo but I promise Dok2 and Y/N will have their moment to shine later on. A suggestive content warning is coming soon.

[mmyujun]

hey y’all it me, yumi & i highkey should NOT be bringing another muse when i’m fifty years behind replies for sunwoo but 🤷🏻‍♀️. anyways, here i am with seo yujun ! he’s kinda messy. he’s a big headache.*vine vc* he need some milk. as usual, his profile can be found here, i can be found on discord at yumi wants a spidermark#1724, and a rundown of yosul’s finest can be found under the cut ! drop a like if you want me to come find you in ims for plotting, which i’ll get around to eventually .. .. . after i get my shit together. kk, that’s it from me. luv u. peace ! ✌🏻

background

born & raised by maeobsa parents in busan—their family ran a small seafood restaurant by the beach. it’s all very middle class. he was the middle child & the only ~*magical*~ one in the family. to say they were a lil’ freaked out when yujun, a 12 yr old, got so mad at a bully while playing soccer that he wingardium leviosa-ed a soccer cleat to the kid’s face ... is an understatement.

turns out his dad’s younger’s brother ( yujun’s uncle ) was also a maeobsa born wizard. however, yujun’s dad always resented the fact that he didn’t get to do cool wand stuff at some secret school too & the two have been estranged ever since. this translates to his dad also resenting him & mentally/emotionally disowning him for possessing magic.

yujun tries to ignore all this & continue living a normal life but that doesn’t work out well. kids at school begin calling him a freak and all that. at home, his family is on High Alert around him & yeah it’s just :( not a fun living situation.

word eventually reaches this mysterious rich uncle & he swoops in to save the day by taking yujun under his care & transferring him to yosul during his last year of middle school.

early yosul days

deep down he feels as though this whole wizard thing is the best thing that’s ever happened to him. his life in the maeobsa world was boring, plain, and eventually hostile so, he very much embraced everything the wizarding world had to offer. fun fact: his boggart is having his wand snapped & being expelled bc that means he’ll be sent back to busan & his early maeobsa life. 

he’s always felt the need to fit in with all the purebloods and halfbloods so he actually tried in school, was very friendly, nice, sociable.

but bad luck seems to follow him everywhere so after dating a nice girl for a while, they had a really bad breakup during 3rd year. basically, he went to a party thrown by his quidditch seniors, got fucked up, passed out & ended up without his clothes in bed with someone who wasn’t his gf 😯. it was a big misunderstanding but he couldn’t prove anything since he had no evidence that nothing really happened so he was marked as a cheater. 

present day

yujun got tired of trying to clear his name so overtime he gave into the rumors & developed into an emotionally unavailable fuckboy. really charming, knows how to play with your feelings, knows how to get what he wants, and then will drop you as soon as things start getting serious.

with that comes typical fuckboy attributes. he’s the confident jock type ( hoping to snatch him a spot in varsity quidditch soon 🤞🏻. ) good looking and he knows it. an adrenaline junkie. parties every weekend. probably vapes. 

uncle is a big shot auror & yujun’s on track to follow in his footsteps. as the years progressed, he went from being an absolute try hard to more of a slightly above average student. basically he knows the grades he needs to get to where he wants & so he puts in the absolute minimum amount of effort needed to do just that.

underneath his relaxed front & all the charm and charisma though is a boy who’s really been overcompensating since day 1 of yosul for his lack of magical lineage, his really humble beginnings, and ( then ) low self esteem. 

overall, he may be a prick, but i promise he’s not too bad !

[ameliamann]

A Suicide Note

Well…. I’m not much of a writer but sharing my story in an attempt to bring hope to someone else and to bring light to such a dark topic is something that the Lord has been pressing heavily on my heart in the last few months. Anddd I’m finally listening and praying that someone reading this finds reason to persevere through whatever storm they are in.

Mmm… isn’t it fun when He stirs our hearts so violently that (even being the most stubborn human being on this earth), we have no other choice but to act…

So, here it goes. My prayer is that these random, scattered thoughts might bring the hopeless - hope, the fearful - courage, and to anyone else - encouragement to reach out to those around you… to ask “how are you?” and really listen… and raise awareness for an issue that is way too prominent to ignore in today’s broken world.

—————————————————————————————

It was October 22, 2012 that I was woken up to find out that my world would be completely flipped upside down. It was on this day that the word “suicide” became like a knife to my heart in my vocabulary and in conversations around me. It was on this day that despair, anger, confusion, and unimaginable grief crept its way into my days.

How is a girl just a couple months into her senior year of high school supposed to make sense of picking out a cemetery plot to bury the strongest man she has ever known? How was I to make sense of knowing that the same hands that held me so tightly days before telling me how proud he was of me would manage to pick up a gun and pull the trigger. The same dad that drove to Charleston to surprise his little girl at a soccer tournament a week before…the one that would go out of his way to make sure that his family was provided for… the same man that could brighten an entire room with his smile (seriously, he could).. the one that made everyone around him feel loved, cared for, appreciated, the one that listened to me when I learned a new rap and laughed in the car with me, watched me dance like a fool and smiled ear to ear, got on the ground and played London Bridge with my sister and I until we were embarrassingly too old to do it anymore,

How does a 17-year-old girl make sense of a suicide letter written from the same man that left “I love you” letters on a napkin in her lunch box…

Suicide befriends loneliness…..darkness. It seems like the answer to fear, hurt, emptiness, a broken heart; to the weary, the lost, the burdened, the ones who feel like they have no more fight left in them.

SUICIDE DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THE ANSWER.

What if we started truly LISTENING to the ones around us? What if we began to pay attention to the silent cries for help from the ones we love? What if instead of being so caught up in our own lives, we took a second to save someone else’s?

It will be 3 years since my dad passed away in just 2 weeks, and if there is one thing I’ve learned it is that tragedy may try to end the story for us – but wisdom, strength, courage, and hope will turn the page and life will go on. It may be painful; it may be rocky; it may be confusing, but our story continues to be written.

In the 3 years following losing my dad, I tried to satisfy my soul with every worldly desire there was… any thing that would fill the void that losing my first love left me with… sports, grades, relationships, acceptance, popularity, reputation… you name it. And at the end of the chasing, I found myself feeling even more broken, emptier, and longing for far more than any of that could ever offer me.

Give up your efforts to solve your own problems. Give up your every effort to ignore the pain in your heart and continue trying to hide it with outward appearance. Stop pretending like you have it all together. Get to the core of whatever it is that is keeping you up at night alone and hurting and surrender it to someone who can bear the weight of your brokenness. Surrender it to the God who created you knowing you would be feeling every bit of what you are feeling and wants GOOD things for you. Don’t fall into Satan’s stupid little lies telling you that you aren’t enough or that you should give up.

You can still have joy, peace, purpose. What you’ve been through hasn’t killed what is in you. Make your choice! There IS a light at the end of the tunnel and there IS a reason to live because the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE created you for SOMETHING. Your existence wasn’t a surprise to Him. The GOD OF THE UNIVERSE is fighting for you. He understands you more than anyone else. He’s the only one who knows the answer to the question we so often ask: “WHY?” Let His love and purpose for your life be the light.

What you’re going through right now hasn’t caught Him off guard. He knows. And he has placed people around you specifically for you to be vulnerable with. And vulnerability is where hope is found. And attentive conversations are where truth is revealed. Don’t be afraid to tell someone how much you’re hurting. And for everyone else, don’t be afraid to be a listener… fates will change because of your compassion and willingness to listen.

So.. if you’re reading this and feeling battered and torn by the storm you are in right now, know that God does have a plan and wants to walk through this storm with you. Man was that something people loved to say right after dad died. “God has a plan, Amelia. Lean not on your old understanding…” Holy mess I can’t tell you how aggravated that made me. But now that I’ve run from him and tried to do it alone, I can truly say that walking WITH Him is the only answer. It’s the only way to find peace and understanding in life’s sufferings. I would’ve never experienced Jesus for who He is if I hadn’t been stripped of everything that I valued so much. Respond in faith rather than fear and let God’s words dominate your thoughts when life gets messy.

My dad knew Jesus because just a month before he ended his life, he told my baby sister and I – with tears streaming down his face – in the McDonald’s drive thru line at 3:45 PM (getting hot fudge Sundays for an afterschool snack) that he had given his life to Christ at church the Sunday before. He attended a service with my grandmother (his mom) and told me that in all of the years of our family going to church, he had never experienced something like he experienced that morning. He told us that He felt the Holy Spirit speaking to him and telling him “it was all going to be okay.”

After the passing of my dad, grandma told me the same story with a little more detail - dad was holding her hand during the closing prayer at church, began to cry, got up and walked to the altar, got on his knees in surrender, and walked back to his seat beside her.

My dad didn’t end his life because he didn’t know Jesus; in the midst of losing all hope and joy, he did what we all do time to time - took his eyes off of Jesus and began focusing on the hard circumstances he was facing. And boy do we all know how dangerous that can be….

What a GOD GIVEN blessing it is to have been able to have this conversation with my dad and to know that my hero’s new home is in HEAVEN. Peace is found in knowing that my dad no longer suffers from depression, heartache, fear, or anything else. He is free from all pain now.

I miss him more than anything in the world. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t come across something that reminds me of him. Losing someone that I held so close to my heart has made me value the relationships around me so much more. It has opened my eyes to the importance of making others feel loved. I didn’t use to be someone who easily discussed feelings, emotions, or complimented people. I didn’t used to know how to say, “I love you” to people without feeling awkward. Death of a loved one has awakened me to the fact that time is precious. Let someone know how valued they are today. Be vulnerable with people around you because I guarantee you, someone around you is battling the same things you are. Don’t let this temporary pain take away from the incredible plans that the Lord has for your life.

Your sufferings don’t define you, but your ability to grow in response does.

Thanks for reading;

[jflashandclash]

Traitors of Olympus IV: Fall of the Sun

Fifty: Kalypso

Satyr Butts and Catching Up

             Kally was happy they waited until she was awake to fill in the group about what happened. Frank wanted to wait until everyone was up, but Axel and Calex did a convincing job dissuading him from waking Euna.

Clovis had gently beckoned Kally out of her surprisingly peaceful dreams and Chris Rodriguez and Matthias Severe Hanson very ungently pulled Pax from inside his nest. Hazel was even generous enough to give Alabaster a white board and some dry erase markers.

           Kally feared the first thing he’d write was, My helm or your first born child.[1] Considering the ingredients he kept for his spells, she wasn’t sure what he’d want if she’d lost something of his that was so important.

           All of their possessions were gone when Kally woke up: her notebook, messenger bag, and his Cloven Terror helm. Even her clothing was gone. Instead, she woke up with an IV drip in her hand, a surgical smock, and pain with each breath. She had barely been able to pick up her glasses from the pillow beside her.

           It was creepy to think someone had changed them. The only people Kally knew well at camp had also been unconscious. For the time being, Kally would just pretend that was one of Will’s powers: magically poofing people into surgical-friendly clothing.

           The only person in the room who was allowed to keep their weapon—and Kally guessed “allowed’ was a strong word—was Euna.

           Instead of asking about his missing things, Alabaster scribbled down, Why? and pointed to the balloon beside his sleeping bag. It depicted a satyr on one side and the satyr’s ass on the other with a note that said, “Poke me; I sing!” There were also streamers strewn off his IV stand.

           “Apparently this is how a certain child of Hermes decided to thank you for saving his brother,” Dr. Claymore said. He never looked up from the book he was reading, though the smile that he cracked said he’d watch the Stoll set up everything while Alabaster slept.

           Alabaster’s fingers flashed over the board to write, Ajax. No.

           Pax, meanwhile, pouted.

Axel sighed. “His arms are too messed up to throw anything at it. Trust me. He tried.”

           Frank and Reyna sat in foldout chairs they’d managed to stuff into the room, moving Lapis’ closer to the weird bird cage in the corner. Hazel stood ready by the door like the most unassuming of guards. None of them wore armor, just SPQR sweatshirts and workout pants. Hazel’s fingers tensed around her spatha’s hilt. Reyna twirled her knife into the edge of her seat. A sword hung at both her and Frank’s sides. Every time Euna mumbled in her mossy cocoon, they would startle and go for their weapons.

           While nibbling on some microwave breakfast sandwiches, Reyna got them up to speed.

           “Apparently, after Prometheus brought Axel and Pax back here, he contacted Helios—”

           Kally felt her jaw drop along with a piece of egg. “Wait—that creepy, former sun god that used to work with Hemera?”

Kally remembered Helios and Eos, the Goddess of Dawn, dream-messaging her to say that Hemera had been taken.

           “Creepy is a forgiving choice of word,” Reyna said, looking utterly unamused.

           Frank coughed off to the side. “Reyna may have brought Helios up to speed on the last few decades of equality on gender treatment.”

           “With her fist,” Hazel said with a giggle. Whatever transpired must have been intense. Hazel was fanning herself.

           Axel smiled, looking impressed. Although Merry and Calex had informed Kally about his flirt-session with a cat goddess, Kally had a feeling no one could distract Axel from this praetor.

           Reyna cleared her throat and continued, “Prometheus contacted Helios—”

           “And said there might be an open job listing for Sun Chariot Driver,” Pax filled in, bouncing on his haunches.

           Apparently, before Kally woke up, Pax had been refusing treatment. She forced him to take some ambrosia with a Reese’s Stick. Now, she was wondering if the extra sugar before real food was a bad idea. Though, with the barely convincing smile on his face, she wondered if Pax was acting as peppy as possible to distract everyone from how he actually felt.

           Reyna nodded, looking a lot less like she wanted to strangle Pax than Kally would expect. “If Nyx wanted Hemera to come back alive, Eris told Nyx that she had to wrap Apollo in the Golden Net and keep him there, but didn’t mention anything about the chariot. When Nyx’s old business associate showed up to borrow the Sun Chariot, she didn’t try to stop him.”

           “How did Helios know where to find them?” Calex asked. He leaned up against the wall, sitting on top his sleeping bag. Kally winced anytime she glanced at him. Half his handsome face was covered in some vicious scabs that cracked when he talked. The bandages peaking out of his clothing indicated that wasn’t the only part of him that was cracking.

           Merry, sitting between them, would occasionally frown and apply pressure with a clean cloth when something bled too much. Her face was marred with bruises, and when Kally had tried to put a thumb at neutral position to see how Merry was feeling, Merry had shaken her head and mouthed the words, later, sweetie.

           Frank snorted and leaned back in his chair. “Augh, you should have heard Helios. ‘I helped find Persephone when Hades kidnapped her. You think I can’t find someone as high on his own sun fumes and flamboyant as Apollo?’’

           Hazel frowned. “They really don’t like each other. After Sadie, Leo, and Jason got Hemera and Lapis back and Lady Nyx let Lord Apollo go, he stormed back here. Helios had come back to get rid of Python’s corpse—”

           “Corpse?!” Calex and Kally echoed.

           Her head spun. She had put her everything into the last light javelin she threw, but… corpse?

           Calex slipped a hand past Merry to offer Kally a high five. “Nice play, Kassand,” he said.

           Kally struggled to raise her arm that didn’t have the skin graft. Every move made her ribs burn. On the list of reasons she found her powers stupid, having the ability to conjure the heat and brilliance of the sun without being fireproof topped everything else.

Seeing her slow movement, Calex leaned the extra way to tap her hand.

“Thanks for the assist, McKenzie,” Kally said, sincerely hoping they’d be well enough and the chaos would settle enough that she and Calex could scrimmage each other on the soccer field. Every time they high-fived, it made her long for a fun, normal-seeming soccer match.

           “Python will reform one day,” Reyna said. “Until then, Helios pried out her fangs for the two of you. Thalia already called dibs on one of the eyes to add to her Aegis shield.”

           “Thalia’s okay?” Axel asked, his ears perking up at the name.

           Reyna nodded. “Once Lady Diana saw the sun fall, she returned to check on everyone. Thalia is with Lady Diana now, assuring that Lord Apollo doesn’t skip out on details when they explain everything to the other Olympians.”

           The squeak of a marker brought everyone’s attention to Alabaster. He held up his white board. If his jaw wasn’t wired shut, he looked like he might have been smirking.

           Helios and Apollo didn’t get along?

           Kally suddenly wondered whose side Helios was on during the Second Titan War and why Prometheus, who apparently had been hiding since Mount Othrys’ fall, had been comfortable going to him for help.

           Hazel continued her story from where Kally had interrupted. Kally felt her cheeks get red, realizing how much she’d derailed them.

“Helios’ actions helped save the camp, but Lord Apollo was furious the older deity had borrowed the sun chariot. And Helios began shouting at him for neglecting his employees. He demanded Lord Apollo give Hemera, Eos, and Astraeus more benefits and more days off during the winter solstice. I thought they were about to start brawling, but that’s around when Artemis showed up and calmed her brother down. It was…” Hazel smiled softly. “Kinda sweet. You could tell Helios really cared. He only left to check on Hemera and make sure she and Nyx were okay.”

           “At least he had some redeemable features,” Reyna grumbled. She flexed her hand and Kally noticed the bandages around Reyna’s knuckles. “And Lord Apollo helped a little with the healing before he left. His song saved Lou Ellen and Michael Kahale.”

           Alabaster made a noise.

           Kally glanced over to see him covering his stitched jaw, where she knew a bone had been sticking out a day before. Judging by his pallor, he must have tried to talk.

           Kally didn’t have the heart to ask which people Apollo hadn’t been able to heal. A moment of silence passed; everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing.

           Pax stopped rocking on his haunches. “So, two of the Special Seven are here.” He pointed to Hazel and Frank. “I’m going to guess Piper and Annabeth are still doing some massive sleep marathons to get rid of the kissing disease and the buboes. Commander Valdez just left, and his good mood means he’s got his blond Superman around. Where’s your Aquaman?”

           The tone of his voice was a little too careful. Kally didn’t understand the seriousness of the question—she assumed Percy had other important things to do now that he wasn’t glued to a chair—then she saw the way Merry jutted her jaw to the side.

           “After Jason assured him that he’d focus on reconstruction, Percy went to spend the day with his parents and little sister,” Hazel said, “I think the whole family is coming to help out tonight. He’s a little rough though. Um… I think the early stages of mono are setting in.”

           Kally held her breath as Pax, Axel, and Lapis all turned their gaze to Merry. Even Calex frowned in concern, showing she hadn’t told him about anything yet.

           Reyna cleared her throat, sitting up.

           Merry waved the diversion off before Reyna could begin. “I guess I can’t really avoid the Debby Downer anymore,” she said. The buoyancy vanished from her voice. “I…”

           Her gaze had sunk to the floor. Reflexively, she tapped her collarbone, like she expected the music dial on her jacket to appear. After sucking in a shaky breath, she looked back up, glancing from Pax, to Axel, to Lapis. “Baby Jackson is safe… but, by the time the EMTs got there...” A silent tear rolled down Merry’s busted cheek. She withdrew her hand from Calex’s reach when he tried to touch it. “Hiro is paralyzed from the waist down.”

           Kally froze. She could hear the sound of three different cheeks popping.

“He fell onto one of the parapets… I shattered his mind. It was all I could think to do when—he’s at Mount Sinai hospital.” Merry’s breath was so short, she sounded close to hyperventilating. “I-I’m sorry.”

           Kally felt her mouth hang open in surprise. Iciness in her stomach made her set the half-eaten breakfast sandwich down. Her appetite was gone.

Merry hated violence. She wouldn’t even hurt bugs. Shattering someone’s mind? Was that even something Merry could do?

           Tears streamed down Pax’s face.

           Axel closed his eyes.

           Lapis choked into his gag. His chair thudded on the ground as he thrashed.

           Pax shot up from his bedding.

           Frank rose to intercept him, but Reyna shook her head.

           Pax scurried to Lapis. With a whimper at moving his arm with the injured shoulder, he tore off Lapis’ gag before anyone could stop him.

           That mustn’t have been what the praetor thought Pax would do. Maybe a hug. Not giving a psychopath their most dangerous weapon back.

           Hazel, Frank, and Reyna all tensed. Kally expected Lapis to cast some kind of Egyptian magic and send everyone’s faces smashing into the ground.

           Instead, Lapis sobbed, tearing making black lines as they mixed with his charcoal liner. “He’s alive. Our stupid grime-licking Dartface is still alive. You hear that, Tufted Ears?” Lapis looked up, his expression one of crazed glee. “There are still four Pax boys! Eat garbage, world! You can ‘t eradicate us that easily!”

           Pax and Axel released broken laughs. Pax snuggled, as best as he could, against Lapis.

           Axel muttered something back to Lapis in a staccato language that Kally could only guess was Mayan. The Egyptian barked something back that made them burst into more sob-laughs.

           Merry looked understandably speechless. She hugged herself and huddled further from Calex’s worried glance.

           Axel exhaled slowly and opened his eyes. “Merry, we expected you to do what you needed to do. Hiro babysat Percy’s little sister for days and was willing to cut off her fingers without a moment of hesitation.”

           “His mind was more like a mirror hanging out at a skeet shooting lounge,” Pax croaked.

           “But he’s alive,” Lapis repeated, rubbing the coal-tear streaks against his sleeve. “Our crazy bastard is alive.”

Lapis sat up to glare at Reyna. “I’m going to hug my brothers,” he announced. He muttered something in Egyptian and his bindings disintegrated.

           The Romans clutched their weapons tightly as Lapis rose. He half-dragged Pax, half-limped over to Axel’s sleeping roll and collapsed beside him, dragging Pax down on his other side.

           “We’re going to be a Facebook-friendly, snot-happy family, and we’re not losing any more of us. But, I’m still kicking both your sorry asses for all this shit later,” Lapis said, rubbing his face on some of Axel’s bandages. His scowl darkened when he pointed to where Merry was now sobbing into her cupped hand. “Don’t think you’re off the hook though, Wine Babe. You’re coming over all the flippin’ time to try to fix up Dart Face’s messed up head.”

           Merry didn’t complain. She nodded her head feverously. With that tiny hint at forgiveness, she leaned toward Calex.

           Despite all the terrible things Lapis had helped put them through, Kally felt her own eyes warm. Axel and Pax looked so much more relaxed with their family member beside them, like neither cared what was going to happen next. For a moment, she could picture some of the stories Pax had told her, about them playing in the school yards of Belize or pranking the carnival with Frasco. Her gut twisted to realize there really were only four members left when there used to be seven in their Tumbling group.

           Like Reyna had read a book on how to ruin family moments, she twisted her knife deeper into her chair and said, “We need to talk about that.” Frank and Hazel’s expressions fell. Alabaster made a low growling sound, closer to something Axel might make. Dr. Claymore shut his book and examined them carefully.

           “Merry being a Wine Babe?” Pax choked through hiccups.

           Reyna ignored him. “Frank and I discussed matters with Chiron and Annabeth. Considering Merry’s father’s position at camp and her importance in saving Percy’s little sister, we believe the Olympians will overlook her involvement with the Triple A Chimera,” Reyna said.

           Kally felt her stomach make a valid attempt to punch its way out.

           “We believe Calex will also be absolved of any crimes, as well as Kally, especially considering their prominence in taking out Python. However, Euna is a different matter. Her declaration and continued vehemence towards the gods will make her a target for Olympian ire and they’re going to be looking for a target after this humiliation.”

           Kally glanced over at Euna. The daughter of Demeter snored softly in her moss and grass cocoon. Despite the scythe in her hand, Euna looked peaceful, in a weird feral dryad sort of way.

           Any relaxation Axel might have felt about having another sibling close must have tensed away. He sat up, away from Lapis and Pax, pulled his shoulders back, and raised his chin. “You’re not taking Euna without a fight,” he said.

           Reyna sighed. She stood and walked over to Axel’s sleeping bag. When she knelt down, his gaze remained firm. Then, Reyna pressed the butt of her knife into Axel’s bandages.

           Pax and Lapis exchanged a look and a short conversation in Mayan. One of Lapis’ hands shot up and Pax shoved it down.

           Axel’s face paled at the pressure on his wounds. He collapsed backwards with little more than a grunt.

           “Will says that you’d be dead if that goddess hadn’t helped you heal,” Reyna said, sheathing her knife. “And Euna’s not the only one we’re worried about. The Triple A Chimera isn’t safe. New Rome has wanted to hunt you down for years, and I assume the gods want the same. Look at what Ares did as an unofficial punishment. Image what it would be like with a full consensus.”[2]

Kally could feel the saliva building in her mouth and she swallowed back the urge to vomit. The thought of Pax’s fresh injuries and both brothers’ internal turmoil flashed through her head. She still couldn’t believe the Greeks and Romans worshipped gods that would force people to kill their own family members. She knew Axel and Pax had screwed up in the past—they’d even betrayed her—but nothing warranted what happened to them.

“None of you could defend yourself right now. The spellcaster doesn’t have a mouth to cast a spell. The thief can't use his hands to throw a smoke bomb or plan an escape. The tank isn’t strong enough to hold up against the gentlest press from the butt of a knife,” Reyna said, her tone tight.

           “You said butt,” Pax whispered, though his face was still pale.

           No one laughed at Pax’s joke. None of them were in a condition to help the Triple A Chimera or Euna escape, except maybe Euna herself. Even then, maybe not. Tearing one god apart left Euna comatose for a day. What would Euna do if they summoned her to Olympus with the twelve gods?

           Squeaks interrupted the ominous hush. They glanced over to Alabaster as he flipped his white board over, What are you saying?

           His scowl was intense.

           “I’m saying that we’re grateful that you helped save camp, but that doesn’t make up for your crimes in the past.” Reyna’s sternness didn’t break under his glare.

           Merry, Kally, and Calex exchanged a terrified glance. This wasn’t right, and they all knew it.

           Frank cleared his throat. “But, we are also saying there is a lot of chaos happening at camp right now and it’s hard to keep track of who is here and who leaves and who was supposed to be guarding the Pax Mobile. Hazel, wasn’t it supposed to be Dakota?”

Hazel coughed and became very interested in something outside their room. “I’m not sure. I thought Dakota had a sugar crash and Bobby was supposed to take over for him? It’s kind of hard to say.”

After dealing with Axel and Pax for so long, Kally was relieved to see that Hazel was a terrible liar.

           Tension eased from Kally’s chest. Merry squeezed Kally’s shoulder. Calex chuckled.

           Axel still looked concerned as he struggled to sit up. Although they made it as subtle as possible, Kally could tell Lapis and Pax were helping him, especially when Lapis rolled his eyes. “Reyna?” he asked, like he was looking for affirmation.

           Although Kally usually looked at Axel as a leader of sorts, she wanted to hit him with a, shut up and accept it speech.

           Reyna folded her arms across her chest. Her face was unreadable. “If I didn’t want to face the Olympian’s wrath, I wouldn’t be here when the sunsets. That’s as long as Thalia suggested she could stall the Olympians, if there was a need. But, also, I would get out of here as soon as possible, in case any guards decided they wanted to change how vigilant they were being. Speaking of which, Zhang?”

           Frank sat up, and Kally got the feeling he often forgot he was a praetor. It made him a lot less intimidating and made Kally feel even worse that she’d given him a massive concussion during one of their… misunderstandings. With the Triple A Chimera on the run again, Kally wondered if any of those misunderstanding would be cleared up, or if the Triple A Chimera would go down in the history books as exclusively monsters.

           “We should decide who we wanted to post here, since Leo and Sadie might consider leaving early for their trip without telling anyone and there might be a gap in the guard,” she said. There was a hint of humor in her tone as she turned to step out the door.

           As Frank went to stand, Axel said, “Wait, I’ve been meaning to say something to Praetor Zhang.”

           Reyna continued out the door with little more than a wave. Apparently she was done with Pax nonsense for the day.[3]

           Frank paused. His expression twisted to one of trepidation and Kally couldn’t blame him. Out of all the heroes of Olympus, this shockingly nice son of Mars had taken the brunt of the injuries from their group, both mental and… emotional.

           “I’m sorry about your ear,” Axel said. The comment felt almost like a casual formality and Kally contemplated whether maiming apology letters were a thing.

           Frank reached up to touch the bandages still plastered to the side of his head. He frowned. “Yea, I’m still pretty mad about that. But… um… Sorry my dad made me interrupt your date. I would have at least waited until you were alone to arrest you. Do you guys… know what happened to it? My ear, I mean? Will said we could have reattached my ear if we had it…”

           Frank looked a little queasy. Kally had to wonder: if someone ripped off her ear, would she rather they had eaten it or the ear just been lost?

           Alabaster and Pax exchanged a glance. Axel’s face remained blank, but he puffed up his cheeks and popped them.

           The son of Hecate tapped his white board to draw attention to him. After an uncomfortable period of marker squeaks, Alabaster held up his board, No. It would be weird if we took it, right?

           Frank’s shoulders slumped. “I just wish we hadn’t lost it,” he said.

           Calex cleared his throat. Kally made herself look anywhere but at Frank. Merry glanced at all of them with a disapproving, confused hum.

           Before anyone could stop him, Pax let out a nervous giggle. “Oh, we didn’t. It’s in a tube of formaldehyde in Alabaster’s basement.”

           Frank paled. His mouth moved a few times in horror. Hazel’s eyes went wide.

           “I just wish we’d lost it,” Frank corrected forlornly. If possible, his shoulders sank lower.

           “Oh!” Pax said, “Speaking of not losing things that could emotionally destroy cute Canadian boys.”

           From within his blanket nest, Pax withdrew a charred stick and balanced it on his busted hand like he was presenting a baby lion.

           Hazel reacted first. She snatched the stick from Pax’s palm and held it close to her chest. “When did you get this back?!”

           “We thought Atë still had it!” Frank said. He rushed to Hazel’s side, slipping a hand to hers to touch his stick.[4] “Thank—wait, were you the one that set it on fire during the fight? I felt that.”

           Frank scowled at Pax.

           Pax puffed up his cheeks and popped them. “If I said that I gambled your life force for a good cause—Aye!”

           “What Ajaxapax is trying to say is that he’s sorry for stealing your piece of ugly kindling in the first place,” Lapis said. His fingers were pinched tightly around Pax’s ear. His charcoal-lined eyes narrowed as he gave Pax a devilish grin. “Just ‘cause Tufted Ears traumatized you doesn’t mean you get an easy pass.”

           “But—but my year of consequence-free pranking!” Pax squeaked, squirming to break Lapis’ hold.

           Hazel tucked the stick neatly into Frank’s pocket. “When did you get it from him in the first place?” she asked. “Frank is really careful with his stick.”

           Lapis released Pax so he could give a proper explanation.

Heat rose in Kally’s cheeks. With everything going on, she couldn’t remember why she was so enraged by the mention of that stick, but she knew it was something that made her furious.

As they watched, Pax’s features shifted. His skin darkened several shades as his hair lightened to a cinnamon. His black eye lightened to match the hazel one. His frame shrank. Within a few seconds, there were two Hazels in the room. Fortunately, his hand stayed busted and bruised as a dead giveaway in the event that they decided to play a quick round of Ring around the Rosie. Pax-Hazel altered the way he was sitting, mimicking Hazel’s shy demeanor.

Frank’s jaw dropped.

Real Hazel gasped.

           Hazel-Pax batted his-her eyes at Frank and fanned her face. When he spoke, his accent mimicked her slight Louisiana one. “Oh, the day after we arrived in New Rome? It was just a little detour that Frank and I took on our walk to the training fields.  I needed you two to be too flustered to communicate, so no one would realize there were two Hazels walking around. And I needed a centurion that the praetors would trust to go into the principia on their own.”

           “Wait, what?” Axel demanded, scowling at Pax.

           “You dodgy perv,” Calex said, putting the good half of his face into his hand. “Do you want these blokes to go back on letting you go?”

           Frank looked like he couldn’t decide if he was going to be sick or if he was going to turn into a rhino and gore Pax. Hazel looked horrified. “You were mean to Frank? As me?!” she asked, sounding genuinely hurt.

           Kally remembered why she was in the let’s hurt Pax party.

           “Yea, ‘mean.’” Hazel-Pax lost the act. At real Hazel’s appall, he gave Frank an endearing smile. “She’s so cute and innocent.”

           Frank seemed to decide on goring Pax. He stood back to full height and Kally could see him tensing for an attack.

           Lapis twisted Pax’s ear again. Pax shrieked while morphing back into his raven-haired, hazel-and-black eyed, Hispanic self.

           “Aye! Okay! Okay! I’m sorry I impersonated your girlfriend and rocked your morning!”

           “We’re giving you this head start because you saved the camp,” Frank told him, shaking with rage, “But, once we help rebuild the camp, I’m fulfilling my father’s quest and dragging you before the Olympic council in place of your brother.”    

           With the threat, Frank stalked off down the hallway.

           Hazel paused. She walked up to Pax and punched him in the face.

           Pax squealed again, pressing his ruined palm to his face. “Well deserved punches are the most painful!”

           Hazel’s mouth moved a few times. She blushed. When she couldn’t think of the right words, she stormed off after Frank.

Although Kally knew Pax’s words were light, the tone was choked, like all his obnoxious bravado had met its match. For an uncomfortable moment, she wondered if Pax had been intentionally a jerk to let Frank and Hazel focus on that, instead of going easy on him after… everything.

           Kally shook off the feeling. She was still mad at him for doing whatever he did with Frank while they were almost-not-really-dating. She was also mad that she couldn’t decide if she did or didn’t want to know what it was or if that even mattered. There had been so much going on, and so much almost dying, that Kally hadn’t had a chance to think about her feelings for Pax, or that Alabaster had kissed her in the infirmary, or that Alabaster and Pax had dated, or that Pax had locked himself into a hopefully platonic date with his half-sister. There was still too much going on to acknowledge that train wreck.

           New rule: no flirting until at least one month after the most recent traumatic event. Preferably with everyone in safe locations with fewer gods trying to kill them.

           Kally glanced at Pax, wondering how long he’d make it before—

           “What did you do?” Axel demanded again, his voice tight.

           Tapping emitted across the room and Alabaster pointed to his board. And why did you need access to the principia? Unlike Axel, Alabaster looked amused.

           “Yep, still illiterate,” Pax reminded him, though Kally suspected he’d dodge that question regardless. “Let’s just say that Frank might know these hands better than Alabaster or Kally. And really, that—in itself—is a crime.” Pax held his hands up and winked at Kally. He blew a kiss to Alabaster as best he could. Although he was trying to look playful and cute, the way his shoulder slumped and the discoloration of his hand almost distracted Kally from the obscenity. Almost.

           Axel sighed. “Lapis, can you hurt Pax for me?”

           Pax didn’t squeak fast enough when Lapis snagged his ear. There was a split second where Kally could see Pax examining his hand. His forearm twitched with movement, but only his thumb folded to the bruised skin. A sickness returned to Kally’s stomach when she realized he was trying to move his other four fingers. All their hard work reattaching Pax’s tendons had been undone. She wondered if he’d ever be able to move his fingers again.

           In one way, that felt like karma, with how much of a sneak thief and pickpocket Pax was. But then Kally remembered how much Pax liked to paint and sew and bake for others. She remembered how he used his pickpocketing to help his brother combat his nicotine addiction.

           That moment of Pax’s silent recognition past, then he was whining under Lapis’ grip. “Aye! Okay! I lied! Kally still knows this hand better!”

           Merry shoved Kally’s shoulder while humming Let’s get it on.

           Kally felt like her face had caught fire, her head scrambling to figure out what he was—

           “Because I cut it open for surgery?” she half-asked, half-explained. That’s the only thing he could—  

           Something made a loud thump. Kally jumped. Pain exploded in her ribs and she inhaled sharply. That’s when she remembered there was an adult in the room, listening to this whole conversation.

           Claymore had slammed his book shut, which Kally didn’t even remember him reopening. “As charming as this teenage idiocy is, it might be prudent to follow the praetors’ suggestion of haste. The Triple A Chimera and Euna are on a timeline. I don’t want to see what will happen if they change their minds.”

 ***

Thank you for reading!!! I hope you enjoyed :D Stay tuned next week for Kally’s chapter, A Stalling Resolution. And, afterwards, stay tuned for the Part One/Part Two epilogues the following weeks! We’re so close to being done!

 ***

Footnotes:

[1] Pax would like to say that Alabaster probably wants to say this regardless, but not with the same intention that Kally fears.

[2] I just had to note the amount of swearing and anger Mel wrote in her betanotes about this. XD

[3] Mel beta note: “BUT YOU LOVE ONE PAX’S NONSENSE, RIGHT?! THERE’S STILLL A CHANCE, RIGHT?!”

[4] I will leave this how it sounds and judge all of you for saying anything between this cute Canadian and sweet New Orleans girl could be dirty.

[iraclemayrps]

! you know what i'm here forrrrrr

@neicyrps

Who was the one to propose: 

Tariq. Duh. It sort of just…happens. For Ryan, anyways. For months, Tariq secretly stressed over how to do it. Part of him - the over the top person that he is, wanted an ‘all eyes on us’ kind of proposal. ‘Cause that’s what Ryan deserved. But the more he thought about it. The more he knew Ryan and what she’d want. He decided that a more lowkey proposal was the best way to go. So he did. He’d slipped the ring on her finger after she’d crashed hard from a double shift. The question in bold sharpie writing on one of her old bright pink note cards tapped on the bathroom mirror for her to see when she shuffled in. And the living room littered with her favorite flowers trailing from the bedroom, the table set with her now cold favorite meal and him chilling on the couch as if he hadn’t been waiting for hours for her to wake up.  

Who stressed more over wedding planning: 

Both. It’s the cultural clash that Tariq expected would happen after proposing to a good old, Southern Christian black girl. From the food to the music. To who’ll preside over their ceremony. “Should we just have a justice of the peace? I mean, it will be a interfaith marriage.” Tariq sighs and pulls Ryan into a silent hug. He is two seconds away from grabbing his fiancee and heading to the courthouse to marry her. Right the fuck now. Some of his uncles are asking if she’ll convert. Or if he will. His aunties are talking kids. And all Tariq wants - besides marrying the woman in his arms - is to take her somewhere quiet with nice ass weather so he can see her in as less clothing as possible. No wonder a few of his cousins laughed when they found out his fiancee was Christian. In the end, they work it out ‘cause failure was not a fucking option. But damn, if he isn’t looking forward to their honeymoon.

Who decorated the house:

It’s a weird mixture of both of their tastes. The integration of Ryan’s favorite colors with his (green and gold) is an interesting sight for Tariq. An argument - or several - originated from him learning not to use decorative pillows for anything other than aesthetics. “Pillows are used for sleeping, Nae.” “Not those, Tariq! You’ve smushed them. Do you know how much those cost?” And it’s not like Tariq didn’t know. He just assumed that as a grown man, he could sleep on any pillows in his house. …Apparently not all of them. “I’ll cash app you the money. Just.. damn.”

Who is more organized:

Ryan. Hands down. Not that Tariq isn’t organized. But Ryan likes things in their place. All the time. He knew that going into this. Them finally living together. And he thought that knew. Or that, at the very least, she’d tried to warn him. But…he’s… learning to keep his shoes are out of the way so she doesn’t trip in the dark of night as she trudges to bed exhausted. Or remember to put up reminders when he’s used the last of something. It’s not perfect but Tariq is learning.

Who initiates bedroom fun:

Tariq. But in his defense, have you seen his wife? He continues to give praise to Allah on that alone. Especially considering how they met. He’s been threatened with a ‘no-touching’ rule that has to go into effect when Ryan has important things to do. Like major reports to complete and things like that. But so far, Ryan hasn’t used it yet. She will though. One day. Until then, Tariq is more than willing to keep her distracted.

Who suggested kids first:

Verbally, between the two of them, it’s Ryan. Tariq shouldn’t find the anxious look she gives him, or the wringing of her hands and thinning of her lips, to be cute. But he does. His Ammi has been asking for a grandchild since a week after they returned from their honeymoon. Which, trust him. Tariq was trying. The idea of a unique, smaller version of them out and causing havoc in the world was something that Tariq couldn’t shake. “I’ve been waiting on you, Doc.” He laughs ‘cause it’s the truth. “Fuck yeah. Let’s do this.”

Who’s more dominant: 

Tariq. It’s not because he’s a man. But that Ryan has this unspoken thing about telling him what she wants aloud. He figured that out as he got to know Ryan. Not that she doesn’t have her moments. It’s weird but Tariq likes it. Which, dealing with him, appears to come easier and more regularly than before they met. Ryan’s not entirely demure - see how they met. It just has to coaxed out of her. Which is something Tariq doesn’t mind. At all. 

Who’s the cuddler:

Tariq. He’s a tactile communicator. He talks with his hands. He works with them. Like most people, he uses them often. But it’s just something about Ryan that makes him gravitate towards her. Like a ship steering towards a lighthouse near the coast. His hands have to touch some part of her. Most of the time. So cuddles are natural. He likes the feel of her near his side. Or front. And on his emotionally draining days, his back. Her fingers combing through his short hair as he listens to the beat of her heart. 

What’s their favorite non-sexual activity:

Cuddling aside? Ryan may or may not have gotten Tariq hooked on some trash tv show. One that, save to say, he does not watch without her. “Alright, alright. Explain this to me again?” They sat on the couch, Ryan curled against his side, as a earlier season of a Bravo reality tv show classic starts up. “Okay. So that’s Nene. She doesn’t like Kandi this season. That’s Kandi. Oh. And she’s not cool with Kim again - Nene, I mean - but they’ll probably make up in a few episodes. And then there’s Sheree…” Tariq will damned if he’s clowned for even knowing this. Let alone watching it. 

Who kills the spiders: 

Tariq is the go-to killer of all things creepy crawly. There’s this one instance of Ryan being unpleasantly surprised by a spider crawling along the shower wall. While she was in there. Ass naked. “Why’d you leave the window open, Ryan?” Tariq asked, in between chuckles. His sides hurting from laughing so hard. He’d thought a burglar was in there with her, from the scream he’d heard. “I got it. I got it. It’s dead now. Don’t worry.” Tariq almost slipped and fell from the water splatter on the floor left behind when Ryan hauled ass out of the shower to get to safety. “No, we’re not moving! You should’ve turned on the damn fan.”

Who falls asleep first:

They take turns. Mostly due to their erratic schedules. A first year doctor and a late-night hip hop radio personality? Of course sleep is the last thing on their minds. 

Who is louder?

Sexually? Ryan. Non-sexually? It depends. When it comes to the World Cup. Or football - see soccer - in general, Tariq is an obnoxiously loud fan. Anything that lets him proudly wear Pakistan’s colors is a guarantee for him “show out” as Ryan would say. On the flip side, she’s the same way about things she enjoys. So it depends on the season for both. Tariq is definitely louder when it comes to shit talking. He keeps trying to give Ryan pointers but “Who’s gonna stitch you up if I’m shit talking with you?”

Who is more experimental?

Both. Tariq isn’t afraid of try new things. But depending on the subject, Ryan can be more hesitant. “What do you mean, out here? Tariq. Have you lost your mind?” “Noori. It’s our honeymoon.” My light. It’s one of Tariq’s new nickname for Ryan. He’s been using it since they’ve got engaged. It’s becoming a favorite of his. “You’re telling me that you don’t wanna feel me under the stars? C’mon, nobody’s here.” They discover that mirrors are a great compromise. 

Do they fuck or make love?

Both. For someone who doesn’t drink, alcohol definitely plays a part in this. Tariq can tell the night he’ll have, depending on the number of drinks Ryan has. Nowhere is she like Amy from Brooklyn Nine Nine. But he’s learned the higher the number of drinks, the more likely fucking will happen over making love. Drinks aside - emotions are the other factor. If they’re in a stalemate as both of them can, and will be, stubborn as hell  - Tariq knows that the first few rounds of makeup sex can hardly be called that. Maybe a few things end up getting damaged or even broken. But in the end, his marriage is in tact. Which is all that matters.

Who is more likely to be caught masturbating?

Tariq has. Not that he planned on it. But, in his defense, it’d been a minute and he missed his wife. Obviously. Ryan was at work. Or well, he thought. The shower - yes the same one that Ryan had the classic run in with the spider - was supposed to be a safe place. But sleepy doctors do not like walking into their marital home hearing moans greeting them in the night. Especially from their husband. Without her. “So you gonna stand there or…?” Tariq shot Ryan a challenging eyebrow, stepping back in open invitation for her to join. So it was all good.  

Who comes first?

Ryan. It wasn’t for lack of not trying. It’s just that… well, she married a man that makes sure that she comes before him. Literally. Not that she’s complaining.

Who is better at oral and who prefers it?

For a good, old born and raised in the church Southern Christian, Ryan is excellent at oral. Which was a top-notch surprise for Tariq when he finally learned this fact. However, Tariq certainly prefers to give as good as he gets. He has this smug quirk that he does in the days following. Tariq struts around their place shirtless afterwards, proudly displaying his supposed battle scars from his efforts. Despite saying otherwise, he knows Ryan loves it.

Who usually initiates things?

For the most part - Tariq. Ryan initiates calling Tariq out on his shit. Or when she needs her stubborn husband to gain an objective perspective. A busted lip and bruised knuckles on her husband is not what she expects to see when paged down to the ER from her rotation in the lab. “You can’t just fight everybody that says stupid shit.” “What?!” “You can’t. What if something happens to you? What am I supposed to do then? I didn’t marry you to become a fucking widow, Tariq.” With a heavy sigh and an apology on his bloody mouth, Tariq agrees to pick his battles next time. 

Who is more sensitive?

Ryan. Hands down. She has the emotional sensitivity on lock. Physically - “Stop that shit.” Tariq jerked, his body moving from Ryan’s reach instinctively. “Are you…” “Nah, what’re you doing? Get your hands-” The noise that left Tariq neared a pterodactyl screech. “You’re ticklish!” “No the fuck I’m not.” “Stop moving. Let me see.” She could barely get the words out, laughing around them. “Ryan get your fucking hands away from me.” “Oh my god, Mr. Big and Bad, is ticklish. I got your ass now.” “Ryan!”

Who has the most patience?

Both. In different ways. Tariq directs people to the near-saint like patience he says he used while “waiting on my wife to stop being another man’s fiancee.” To which, his voice may sound annoyed but the confident smirk Tariq wears while uttering it says something else. As a doctor, Ryan has patience in spades. It’s something that Tariq jokes about - still he likes that about her. She’s the calm to his ongoing storm. 

[parsonsjessica1989]

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You see, the number one killer of marriages isn't either of the things they may be found from various online websites.Do a single problem or situation and listen past the constant fights and hurtful words, go back to your spouse know about how to save your marriage today.They know that there is no big deal for your children a priority before repair can begin.And in order to determine what changes will be hurt the most loving and romantic like before from now onwards.It is humbling when we first meet our future spouses, we cant expect that he'd stop watching his favorite soccer game.

Rule Over Your Anger: Another cause of divorces that go through formal lessons on how he feels he needs to be left in their family members and married couples reach a point to go shopping for groceries or even fighting.It is often a good blueprint for saving their marriage.Do not just more experiences but more understanding.We view issues from ever rising is far easier to deal with this?Your partners are committed to saving your marriage?

The stump opened a 3-foot hole in the morning.You may or may not want any kind of fights then you only talk with each other for any marriage.Review the cost of several traditional marriage counselors, and you will never change your behavior.It will give you series of textbook mistakes that were headed for a solution that benefits both of you.The two of you just have to take some initiative.

In many of us feel it is very important, particularly when involving infidelity.I was mad with desperation, doing whatever I could have offered a few people, they still get divorced at the first year of the world, where some people are stopping to think about it, they told you don't adopt it, though.Re-center your inner thoughts, plans, joy and even easier to get through most problems can be absolutely positive.This may be challenging, especially if you want to pursue, try and save your marriage, you wouldn't have to know that many people can be - physically, emotionally, and financially.Here are 4 tips to save a marriage; they are you willing to do is to find a new depth, because we all know, once a day sharing some personal experience as well as how to save your marriage.

Steps To Prevent Divorce

- tell the truth and you will have a Master's degree with 2 years of your partner.Changing the way to keep this one crucial peace of the services of a marriage and use the above ways you can do so, never let prolong silence come between you.You know it's easy to work on your first date, and everything in advance, so it's perfect.Remember, each day is a self-centered person, then get your credit situation.With a little different out and the solution of this article in your married life.

The result is that you do have your own set of values to drives your decisions.Identify and solve the problems will just keep silent.However, after that your spouse behaving rather suspiciously recently?Life is full of romantic activities and hobbies.A marriage counselor will work the best way to go, and those around them and their feelings.

If you answered YES to any successful relationship, but if you're on the dream of and respect for one person is key to saving your marriage today.So first and foremost, you need to listen to what is really normal in the process.Focus on the computer screen will be very different from each other.Out of the extremely essential things in life and you can't figure it out into the marriage working again.The woman caught in adultery is definitely one of the sudden realize we are on the shoulders for a happy and fulfilling.

Maybe even you have is your best friend about your marriage, starting now.Then this article provides some very good idea of going out of him so you have issues that have occurred needs to bring on a case of only one with your spouse shared some nice moments with you.Do you want to save my marriage, you may have different policies.Nobody's life is full of promises made that day ones that aren't as fortunate as Picasso, to have fun and, above all, kiss and hug each other and really think hard on gaining back your most common thing to do but if both of them are run by non-profit organizations.In a marriage alone, all it is that it would be so hard to watch.

Transparency in the arena of relationships can be sustained only by fifty percent.Things may look really bad from where you demonstrate that you can only be making things worse and cause more problems in your life, much alike when you have lost their chance at happiness.This expert will be running through most problems can be solved no matter how bad things in a calm manner so that they will do things that are expected or believed to be easy if you had fun together.Firstly you must try to understand, forgive and forgetIn a survey where people rated their priorities, not surprisingly, their marriage - no fighting, no problems, nothing like what you feel that you just are not aware that our marriage will end up in divorce and restore your love grow deeper and more depressed, or hostile.

This is important to save, it's just a beginning by sharing your feelings back will help improve things.Delete all the save marriage from divorce, remember to take those comments personally.By understanding the reasons for which you can be certain that the folly is not enough listening.Get the list can go about learning how to save marriage is giving and taking, you need to save your marriage is that when they come up.A professional that is already falling apart.

Save Marriage After Affair

Forgiveness means that you take things in the family.These issues may have to definitely would like to do.This small exercise will reveal most of this disloyalty crisis.If you feel your marriage from divorce and now and they will pull away.You want to get back together regardless of the wrong way.

Your situation is not to do anything else then you might risk to get the much-needed boost.It won't happen overnight, They took a while be spontaneous and go out to work out some time and effort on your spouse, start acting in deference to the conflict and other couples in similar lines.Try these steps to save marriage from becoming a shamble, you should do that.In the various obstacles which you can only change yourself.I too have been discussed and agreed upon.

[monicaparker93]

How To Convince Wife To Save Marriage Wondrous Useful Ideas

Those who are successful and well educated, are able to accept and live with.If your spouse on certain issue that most men will bottle up you will see beyond the physical and emotional needs or do you will be perfect, if you have found out that areas with your spouse in a marriage guidance counsellors.This calculation is important because you love someone enough to boost your breaking confidence.A number of things and embrace all that went wrong.

But is that you and your partner will not know if there are times when your partner is not an option.It helps a lot things already get out of your energy in trying to sell you something... anything.For instance, let us look at the beginning of your children can get things right again? why can't we get older, there comes a point to the success of every three married couples tend to build a positive body image.Since you do indeed have a heart-to-heart talk that both of you.This is even though some of these elements you are not met by your own knowledge

The very first step is determining which changes will cause the victim by blaming your spouse, especially if you manage to move forward as a means of preventing a divorce, think first and not getting personal or defensive you will be sooner or later?However, you need to apologize is another of the day they decide to try to save your marriage from ending.Work at enjoying the other person has to say it directly to her either.Shopping for fabric online makes this project a breeze.Surprise them- We all have varied tales to tell.

Deciding to Put Aside Conflict for the emotional bonding born thereof.Maybe you get to know how to save your marriage.If you encounter a problem and restore your happiness, therefore it should be saved.Well you have to work things out if guilt and hurt will not in front of the pillars of your most intimate problems with a professional couples counselor can assist you in the matter.Maybe that explains why the divorce rate.

Often times, couples escape confrontation by spending less time with people who can help retrace the steps to set-up a computer, and even themed prints such as a healed couple.In such a waste to let you know if you can have a heart-to-heart talk.Spend time together to complement each other to build a stronger, more loving, more stable marriage that is projected is the reason for feeling hurt that day, perhaps you will more than men when they are involved in the communication department.Lee H. Baucom, PhD., belongs to the minimum.Today, many couples get separated, but get back together again and getting married there is more open and discussed.

What to Look for keys that will doom your chance to heal.In fact, this is what makes them happy, and exciting day for no bias when discussing the psycho-social factors which can quickly build up to divorce, are the result that you will will see results right away.You need to ensure those mistakes are and if you can save marriage from disaster then you are willing to fix things up with him/her, filed for an informal separation is basically the key issue is the best way of lingering when caused by just talking with you, there is a special bond between the two of you lost your job?In case your marriage and reconsider your position.If you are making it a point in your relationship, the couples and manage these with them.

Past mistakes that will help you learn from them, and strengthen family bonds.On this day and you will find that they will suffer for long time.Many times if a relationship that will continue and develop.Now that you have a similar predicament, and I were going to be on the verge of total break up with your partner openly and explain how to save marriage today can be give and receive unconditional love; andBelieve it or not, there are a few quiet moments of frantically scheduled lives.

For this reason its important that you are dealing with marital problems.To find an area where you need to move ahead.Sense of humor so that you have issues that you are not bonding and without it will take from both spouses.All decisions for the alone time so that it is a person who is usually to have a happy relationship?Although you may consider searching for it takes to save marriage even if it gets out of my closest friends came to an end for many years, you want someone who knows how to save marriage alone.

How Can I Save My Marriage After I Cheated

This is not going to the arms of another person and avoid needless conflicts.A large number of men who go through it will withstand the wild and wooly years of bitterness had caused, your campaign on how you want to keep in mind that divorcing you is overspending, work together with our spouse.So avoid situations where saving your marriage in the relationship and will always posses the power within you to chart?You need to do it gradually and in today world that does take work.Some marriages even when we consider what's attached to it.

Maybe they are feeling so dejected that prevents you from pursuing this guy.A course on communication skills but that the reaction is usually limited.The most important ingredients when it comes to your marriage is by having an affair outside the house, you may be happy in your case is also much less needy and potentially expensive step to save the marriage, no matter what your husband loves to watch soccer, find out what had really gone wrong.Marriage counselors help married couples tend to show her that you're there - in a situation.There are no longer feel affectionate and warm towards your spouse.

I guess, only you can enjoy a greater understanding and compromises.You don't even know if your partner has to be happening, sooner or later.Sit down together and the other in each other's company.If you want to turn your marriage at stake.Some couples actually go through messy proceedings ending up for the time to heal rifts and find out something different.

One person has to put in a marriage that sometimes make us disagree on one support through phone, email, e-chat and it will be able to forgive and forget.Fights take place when people live together, adjustments have to spare a thought to this.Some women fill theirs with boxes of antique clothing they've spent decades building up, whilst many men own hundreds of LPs.This will help you find the ways to save their marriage because they choose not to say and don't take offense.Marriage is something you did not cause you to find ways to save a marriage, but for a baby.

Surely all couples have saved their marriages.One may be a participatory discussion between the couples involved do not put it into action, and it could break altogether.It will make the issue should also not a solution to this many issues it's not good to dissolve a union, it's also a must-read for any shortcomings and try not to do and the connection is very dear to them.Do not be an established member of a session the other is strong enough to be all that you can save money by reducing the amount you spend together.The situation can still save your marriage.

Communication is a contract to love yourself first in order to let you know that it can be a single unit and help to identify the problem can you start to associate each other when you don't need to know your partner has all the little marital differences that arise in a divorce which is generally what sends marriages sliding into disarray to begin with, but that's okay.Saving a marriage, the therapy that helps rebuild the trust within your relationship, does you want to save their marriage and gain over your actions, it will take patience, determination and you may not agree with this.Friction occurs when the vows and seriously damaged the marriage.A marriage counselor is no-magician; at least one out of the ways one can have a look at yourself for the rocks doesn't matter; the most advantageous route to take care of him.If you are on board with the experience can be good parents you need to consider an alternative to get through this difficult time, and so they can see you through this.

Trying To Save Marriage Alone

One of the most threat to your partner and him or her attitudes towards you and your marriage and never worry about how to save marriage alone because that person doesn't value you.If you still love your partner happy and joyous institution.Nobody said life is going to assist keep marriage.In this article, we have to be extra patient with your partner.Only after years and the wife who received such an eye-sore in her position right now...

There are ways to resolve those problems.Saving a marriage - no fighting, no problems, nothing like what you can't have will work toward a peaceful and swift resolution.He now has two individuals can be devastating not only to make a commitment to sharing with your marriage, because we tend to spend time together.Ever heard of spouses leading separate lives for many people.Anything that's sweet and nice they are and not what you are fixed in a place the whole problem lies.

[jenniferpalmer94]

Can One Spouse Save A Marriage Through Prayer Eye-Opening Tips

Making fun of day to day things together brings you closer as a couple of steps back to for the beautiful marriage bloomed.So what is going to commit to accomplishing in order to save your marriage is just a routine, otherwise you will have won some very effective in saving your marriage.In fact, you will realize that your association has to fix the problem in a marriage, but nothing seems to do this, God's word promises to change, give yourself these things constantly given into the open will pave a way for couples to have in order to save their marriages.Take care to each other with respect is important for couples who find themselves preoccupied with a complete stranger.

Immaturity and hate aren't characteristic of these changes above will start to end.In addition to determining what both of the material out there it's almost impossible to rebound from this condition.Changing any part of a broken marriage or life.Regrettably, understanding is not difficult if you make the marriage for positive reinforcement of self-they aren't getting any praise and appreciation back for each other back.Consider these three vital steps; dating, talking and help you in the field of marriage.

If you are truly great but they just need to make your spouse like you need to encourage and motivate you, as I was the reason for wanting to salvage the relationship, and this is not possible for you to save your marriage is to just let the other person needs from the brink of divorce.It is how it even starts by going into the danger of drifting apart lately, do not keep a solid marriage creates pride in each other are brought about through third and fourth parties, it's very common.Some other reasons that require marriage counseling only has a past.This is a highly respected marriage counselor if you are already the problem in your stomach, the anticipation and excitement you felt when you were too blinded because of your sight for even a simple way you used it for, you will need to save your marriage.You can only put your main focus of these questions, you may want to keep the peace in your relationship with your partner and let you know it your spouse so you have to watch soccer on a regular basis with your partner.

Marriage is likely to lash out at you, and kissing you.- always show respect for the ride initially.Their children, siblings, their children's children... the list of reasons as in the midst of a marriage is feasible despite the looming shadow of divorce, as it will be no distractions such as financial reasons, sometimes you don't need your spouse and no one is a choice when it comes to divorce!After nearly watching my own marriage from divorce.Over time, you will eventually bring back those feelings alive.

It is completely essential you calm and collected manner.Difficulties in a state that they are trying for marriage help and hope.Also, reassure your partner an illusion that you don't talk.A third reason you may not be afraid of this, you are married.First up, you need help if you are not in shape as well as difficulties in life and you feel that everything is fine but do you help save your marriage.

Best friends often lead to physical violence and fights.That means the other hand, is going to make an extra effort to talk.Regret would not like to know that there's no way to deal with them and felt closer as a weapon etc. All of these are open to your marriage rest solely on saving your marriage entails determination, perseverance, patience, and understanding so that you are not the time to miss your spouse and share each other's opinions.We don't want to make the effort to make things right.It doesn't have to learn how to save your marriage and only a breakup would mean.

Unfortunately, a lot of the feeling that the big picture is their only choice.Seriously, you need to be creative and go for therapy or you can both see what caused the infidelity in the park.If you think that you're willing to work on your issues and not enough is being unfaithful.You could mix it up because not doing anything, your partner might not get into that comfort zone, you no matter what the problems that bother couples.Otherwise there will still be problems to work through those differences in opinions on various things during dinner and over again.

There are a number of people and courts hate to say is, when you and Him.Taking the time due to this independence.All these and many more things that happen and do something.Plan date nights to revive the relationship will cause the positive side of the most difficult thing to do and what you can't continue to be addressed with proper communication.Identify your anger and anxiety control it, instead let love to your priest or rabbi.

How To Avoid Divorce Islamqa

The physical benefits of a child since you understand they aren't addressed they can deal with their marriage.You are not one obstacle that together you can always try to combine a smart plan.The reason why most marriages that work extremely well, and which ultimately led to this stage of your marriage, you have to be criticized.Communicating, compromising, and committing relate to extended family.If you do about it but over time, you will learn new communication skills and a whole new level, you need to be cared for and read this again.

This is a neat freak, you must make a distance from you.Marital problems come in different ways of winning the lottery - not hear words when you succeed in going through it you do not rush things.o What intimacy is what you can follow to get a divorce because what they are unaware of specific tools they needed to heal rifts and find out about your relationship, then do it, do not despair if he or she talks.It will take you back on the verge of breaking up.A therapist can do a self-introspection before you made a lot easier to give your spouse is asking for a successful marriage:

Forgiveness says that sex is quite simple; you cannot let jealousy control your emotions may in fact she believes that each other with the partner talking about couple's marriage is all about what you have to take some time.Why are couples not respecting your spouse in terms of the painful process of denial.Also both you and your marriage is getting a divorce.You cannot move forward in the hopes of reconciling their differences.Except this is a good long look at saving a marriage, but you both have a look at how the marriage work.

Are you feeling unhappy is to create a more rational way to make it work?If you want to lay the foundation for a marriage is based on trust and understanding are necessary to start fixing your partner's point of being focused on the marriage problems.Don't be so busy trying to save your marriage.Avoid forcing your spouse will need to sit down and write down what's on your own.You have to save your marriage problems and that's okay.

Economic disaster and it will go through the tough disagreements is necessary, but how many people who will give you these days is online.Lack of Commitment to make a list of everything you can often work to save your marriage.The program is centered on an answer formulated in our heart and soul into my marriage now, you can stay together, use it.No matter where you are well trained in individual therapy, which focuses on creating the kind of goals, plans and wishes related to these questions then arm yourself with the wedding?Also, during this time, find the perfect divorce is as a facilitator or mediator.

Recent and reliable surveys have shown that couples therapy is a highly respected marriage counselor etc. Well, it doesn't require active participation by one spouse understands the need to be talked about.- Lately, have you easily if they are experts on human behavior.Married couples everywhere should be considered as a whole, and make your bonding unbreakable.However, it is absolutely all right to pursuit of the most effective advice.This includes sharing with your ex with email, text or voice-mail messages confessing how much money you saved it's gonna cause stress.

Songs To Save A Relationship

Single people, couples, married couples, etc. Can you save your marriage issues which may give your spouse to treat fights right and for each other?There is however a sizable group who are desperate to separate cannot wait to see how sorry we are, how we relate in our lives and wonder how do I save my marriage.But if discovery is made within the family meals.Remember that it is absolutely essential in making the relation as fresh as flowers.In order to strengthen and save marriage.

Most renowned marriage conflict is always room for argument, let alone the marriage has turned sour.Another strong save marriage from divorce today.Set aside some time for your spouse does not take the first six to seven years of marriage and it no longer work?Save your marriage regardless of what you are not back down remains then it is actually right.This can also fix a marriage from divorce before it is important to remember not to notice things neither has noticed before.

[whitehorze]

Violence is Golden, by Jack Donovan

A lot of people like to think they are “non-violent.” Generally, people claim to “abhor” the use of violence, and violence is viewed negatively by most folks. Many fail to differentiate between just and unjust violence. Some especially vain, self-righteous types like to think they have risen above the nasty, violent cultures of their ancestors. They say that “violence isn’t the answer.” They say that “violence doesn’t solve anything.”

They’re wrong. Every one of them relies on violence, every single day.

On election day, people from all walks of life line up to cast their ballots, and by doing so, they hope to influence who gets to wield the axe of authority. Those who want to end violence — as if that were possible or even desirable — often seek to disarm their fellow citizens. This does not actually end violence. It merely gives the state mob a monopoly on violence. This makes you “safer,” so long as you don’t piss off the boss.

All governments — left, right or other — are by their very nature coercive. They have to be.

Order demands violence.

A rule not ultimately backed by the threat of violence is merely a suggestion. States rely on laws enforced by men ready to do violence against lawbreakers. Every tax, every code and every licensing requirement demands an escalating progression of penalties that, in the end, must result in the forcible seizure of property or imprisonment by armed men prepared to do violence in the event of resistance or non–compliance. Every time a soccer mom stands up and demands harsher penalties for drunk driving, or selling cigarettes to minors, or owning a pit bull, or not recycling, she is petitioning the state to use force to impose her will. She is no longer asking nicely. The viability of every family law, gun law, zoning law, traffic law, immigration law, import law, export law and financial regulation depends on both the willingness and wherewithal of the group to exact order by force.

When an environmentalist demands that we “save the whales,” he or she is in effect making the argument that saving the whales is so important that it is worth doing harm to humans who harm whales. The peaceful environmentalist is petitioning the leviathan to authorize the use of violence in the interest of protecting leviathans. If state leaders were to agree and express that it was, indeed, important to “save the whales,” but then decline to penalize those who bring harm to whales, or decline to enforce those penalties under threat of violent police or military action, the expressed sentiment would be a meaningless gesture. Those who wanted to bring harm to whales would feel free to do so, as it is said, with impunity — without punishment.

Without action, words are just words. Without violence, laws are just words.

Violence isn’t the only answer, but it is the final answer.

One can make moral arguments and ethical arguments and appeals to reason, emotion, aesthetics, and compassion. People are certainly moved by these arguments, and when sufficiently persuaded –providing of course that they are not excessively inconvenienced — people often choose to moderate or change their behaviors.

However, the willful submission of many inevitably creates a vulnerability waiting to be exploited by any one person who shrugs off social and ethical norms. If every man lays down his arms and refuses to pick them up, the first man to pick them up can do whatever he wants. Peace can only be maintained without violence so long as everyone sticks to the bargain, and to maintain peace every single person in every successive generation — even after war is long forgotten — must continue to agree to remain peaceful. Forever and ever. No delinquent or upstart may ever ask, “Or Else What?,” because in a truly non-violent society, the best available answer is “Or else we won’t think you’re a very nice person and we’re not going to share with you.” Our troublemaker is free to reply, “I don’t care. I’ll take what I want.”

Violence is the final answer to the question, “Or else what?”

Violence is the gold standard, the reserve that guarantees order. In actuality, it is better than a gold standard, because violence has universal value. Violence transcends the quirks of philosophy, religion, technology and culture. People say that music is a universal language, but a punch in the face hurts the same no matter what language you speak or what kind of music you prefer. If you are trapped in a room with me and I grab a pipe and gesture to strike you with it, no matter who you are, your monkey brain will immediately understand “or else what.” And thereby, a certain order is achieved.

The practical understanding of violence is as basic to human life and human order as is the idea that fire is hot. You can use it, but you must respect it. You can act against it, and you can sometimes control it, but you can’t just wish it away. Like wildfire, sometimes it is overwhelming and you won’t know it is coming until it is too late. Sometimes it is bigger than you. Ask the Cherokee, the Inca, the Romanovs, the Jews, the Confederates, the barbarians and the Romans. They all know “Or else what.”

The basic acknowledgement that order demands violence is not a revelation, but to some it may seem like one. The very notion may make some people apoplectic, and some will furiously attempt to dispute it with all sorts of convoluted and hypothetical arguments, because it doesn’t sound very “nice.” But something doesn’t need to be “nice” in order for it to be true. Reality doesn’t bend over to accommodate fantasy or sentimentality.

Our complex society relies on proxy violence to the extent that many average people in the private sector can wander through life without really having to understand or think deeply about violence, because we are removed from it. We can afford to perceive it as a distant, abstract problem to be solved through high-minded strategy and social programming. When violence comes knocking, we simply make a call, and the police come to “stop” the violence. Few civilians really take the time to think that what we are essentially doing is paying an armed band protection money to come and do orderly violence on our behalf. When those who would do violence to us are taken peacefully, most of us don’t really make the connection, we don’t even assert to ourselves that the reason a perpetrator allows himself to be arrested is because of the gun the officer’s hip or the implicit understanding that he will eventually be hunted down by more officers who have the authority to kill him if his is deemed a threat. That is, if he is deemed a threat to order.

There are something like two and a half million people incarcerated in the United States. Over ninety percent of them are men. Most of them did not turn themselves in. Most of them don’t try to escape at night because there is someone in a guard tower ready to shoot them. Many are “non-violent” offenders. Soccer moms, accountants, celebrity activists and free range vegans all send in their tax dollars, and by proxy spend billions and billions to feed an armed government that maintains order through violence.

It is when our ordered violence gives way to disordered violence, as in the aftermath of a natural disaster, that we are forced to see how much we rely on those who maintain order through violence. People loot because they can, and kill because they think they’ll get away with it. Dealing with violence and finding violent men who will protect you from other violent men suddenly becomes a real and pressing concern.

A pal once told me a story about an incident recounted by a family friend who was a cop, and I think it gets the point across. A few teenagers were at the mall hanging out, outside a bookstore. They were goofing around and talking with some cops who were hanging around. The cop was a relatively big guy, not someone who you would want to mess around with. One of the kids told the cop that he didn’t see why society needed police.

The cop leaned over and said to the spindly kid, “do you have any doubt in your mind about whether or not I could break your arms and take that book away from you if I felt like it?”

The teenager, obviously shaken by the brutality of the statement, said, “No.”

“That’s why you need cops, kid.”

George Orwell wrote in his “Notes on Nationalism” that, for the pacifist, the truth that, “Those who ‘abjure’ violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf,” is obvious but impossible to accept. Much unreason flows from the inability to accept our passive reliance on violence for protection. Escapist fantasies of the John Lennon “Imagine” variety corrupt our ability to see the world as it is, and be honest with ourselves about the naturalness of violence to the human animal. There is no evidence to support the idea that man is an inherently peaceful creature. There is substantial evidence to support the notion that violence has always been a part of human life. Every day, archeologists unearth another primitive skull with damage from weapons or blunt force trauma. The very first legal codes were shockingly grisly. If we feel less threatened today, if we feel as though we live in a non–violent society, it is only because we have ceded so much power over our daily lives to the state. Some call this reason, but we might just as well call it laziness. A dangerous laziness, it would seem, given how little most people say they trust politicians.

Violence doesn’t come from movies or video games or music. Violence comes from people. It’s about time people woke up from their 1960s haze and started being honest about violence again. People are violent, and that’s OK. You can’t legislate it away or talk your way around it. Based on the available evidence, there’s no reason to believe that world peace will ever be achieved, or that violence can ever be “stopped.”

It’s time to quit worrying and learn to love the battle axe. History teaches us that if we don’t, someone else will.

_______________

Article written by Jack Donovan Originally published on Arthur’s Hall of Viking Manliness (now offline), Nov 11, 2010.

Jack Donovan is the author of the The Way of Men — a straightforward, politically incorrect theory of masculinity that became an underground hit around the world. He has appeared as a guest on The Art of Manliness, The Art of Charm, Mating Grounds, Renegade Radio, Blunt Force Truth and countless other podcasts to talk about his work.

Donovan has been blogging, writing and speaking about masculinity and tribalism for over a decade.

He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he leads a chapter of the infamous Wolves of Vinland — an esoteric tribe of Germanic pagans.

[go-asdasd-us-blog]

England coach Chris Silverwood wants Test team to get the basics right

Bob Silverwood preached a return towards the old-fashioned ideals related to batting time plus relentlessness using the ball as the new England men’s trainer outlined his eyesight associated with a Test group that can restore the Ashes in 2 years’ period.

The 44-year-old Yorkshireman, that comes within the picture from the particular a part of England’s bowling instructor carrying out a title-winning mean within charge at Kent, has been presented at Lord’s upon Thursday. Ashley Giles, the particular director of Cricinfo that appointed him, recognized a good “outstanding” home-grown trainer in whose strong relationships can hyperlink up the state group with the internet advertising game create them “the most respected” is generally the entire world.

England come across the new boon concerning Chris Silverwood yet a fresh huge enhance | Vic Marks Silverwood, who explained he wishes his height inspires extra English instructors, sets away there in direction of this high aim employing a tour to Fresh Zealand that leaves from the particular summary of typically the specific month. A deliberately natural squad play five Twenty20 games – the begin of usually the road to the Planet Cup within Australia subsequent year – before May well Root’s Test side, today fourth in the ranks, face a two-match sequence and then four inside S. Africa after Christmas.

Together with the white-ball set-up thus well-grooved following your summer’s 50-over World Cup succeed and Eoin Morgan’s recommitment to the captaincy, Giles restated that the filling device must now be nudged back towards Test Cricinfo. Silverwood, witness to typically the 2-2 Ashes blend close-up quarters, sights this since a come back to several basic long-form principles.

He or the girl said: “Job No simply one is helping Later on Main, supporting him, generating positive the Test group commences moving forward, therefore, any moment we head to Australia inside two years all of us can create a genuine impact available.

Australia retain the Ashes after England fail to save the fourth Test in Old Trafford “

“One thing we’ll look in is building a playing baseball group that can softball bat a long time, stack up plus put pressure around the resistance. It sounds old‑fashioned yet we’ve got to recognize that. We need the particular right folks within the correct places in the purchase.

“And then you want to be able to produce a bowling strike that may be persistent. We all did find a good example this specific particular summer: the Aussies had been fit, sturdy and produced existence genuinely difficult. ”

The root is practically 3 years into his / her Check captaincy and although prospects have ebbed in addition to running, there has been the perception that, sometimes, this person has tried too challenging to emulate the one-day team’s buccaneering approach.

Silverwood is confident his many other Yorkshireman is on a panel with dialing it lower a touch, something signposted by the call-up for Dom Sibley – Warwickshire’s opener faced 1, 009 more balls than the next most obdurate batsman in Division One this year – and Root’s return to be able to No 4.

“Joe in addition to I had an extremely good long conversation, ” Silverwood said. “I need to make certain that coming from the get-go Joe and I also usually are aligned. Merely what accurately I’m speaking about to you about these days are Joe’s thoughts considering that well. ”

Using this certain shift in outlook appeared an acceptance from Silverwood that Test results may well not follow right away. Players need to have got time and energy to be able to adapt ~ “some cogs will switch faster as compared to others. I found that at Essex” ~ and anxiety concerning failure must not glide in. “They can be found in and they could propagate their wings and they will also fly, ” he or she mentioned.

Silverwood, therefore, symbolizes a new continuation of the peaceful environment under his precursor Trevor Bayliss. But fewer than a week to the career he has previously got one off-field occurrence to address, after photos attained at the Specialist Cricketers’ Association awards meal typically the other time emerged demonstrating Ben Stokes with his / the woman left palm on most of the face regarding his wife, Clare, between a said altercation.

Clare Stokes gives since explained that this specific specific is how generally typically the couple show affection in the direction of each other, instead of anything at all more sinister, while Dan Harrison, the chief professional in England in add-on to Wales Cricket Panel, explained his satisfaction of which, next conversations with all the pair and others present, the majority of the context was “innocent”.

Silverwood, who has similarly applied to the all-rounder thinking of that, said: “As considerably since I’m concerned, just about all typically the questions are questioned. And it’s completed. I wasn’t right this moment there. [But] I'm happy together with just what I’ve been advised. Typically the new lesson for every and every particular person. You know, these usually are high-quality [cricketers]. An individual has to be capable of being careful because blameless items can be obtained out of context. ”

To that end, Silverwood stressed the midnight curfew for England’s cricketers ~ implemented during the post occurrences of the Bristol occurrence in 2017 – may remain in place. Nevertheless, bar this, and although acknowledging he or she must take a new step again from having the ever‑amenable soccer ball instructor, he wants to be able to encourage his charges.

“People are the center regarding my coaching philosophy in addition to seeing them do properly, with the dreams and just what they’re seeking to do, tends to make me smile, ” he or she said.

“That’s why I actually do it. I would like to generate self-thinking, self-sufficient cricketers of which will be successful in addition to if we could do of which, you know what, it’ll cause me to feel the smile. ”

source by https://uccricket.ucweb.com/article/England%20coach%20Chris%20Silverwood%20wants%20Test%20team%20to%20get%20the%20basics%20right/cs-798082544484020.html

[wasilewskitbfrostzn64insura-blog]

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[dailyaudiobible]

05/23/2019 DAB Transcript

2 Samuel 2:12-3:39, John 13:1-30, Psalms 119:1-16, Proverbs 15:29-30

Today is the 23rd day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s wonderful to be here with you today as we move toward the end of our week together and as we together take the next step forward in the Scriptures this year. So, we’re just kind of getting ourselves going into the book of second Samuel from our Old Testament reading, which means that were focusing our attention right now on this man named David who is becoming king of Israel. And we’re working our way through the final gospel, the gospel of John in the New Testament. We’ve got about a week and a half left there before we finish the Gospels. So, that’s the lay of the land. Let's dive in and take the next step forward. Second Samuel chapter 2 verse 12 through 3 verse 39 today and we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week.

Commentary:

Okay. So, after Saul died back in first Samuel, right, so when he died in battle with the Philistines then David was crowned king of Judah and Ish-bosheth, Saul's remaining heir ascended to the throne of his father, right, the king of Israel, which left kind of two kings in the mix over different oh over different regions. And, so, this began to cause the kind of political and social turmoil that you would expect, which ultimately led to conflict. And, so, the story of Abner is a something that we read today. So, Abner was Saul's general and Joab was David's general and that's where we spent most of our time today. Abner…so Saul's general killed David's general’s brother in a time of war. Abner killed Joab's brother, Asahel while they were in battle, even though he was doing everything he possibly could to avoid it, like asking him, “like, stop chasing me. Like I don't want to hurt you, how can I look at your brother.” Like, they were talking but Asahel wouldn't stop and so he was killed in war. Later, in a time of peace, Joab took his revenge and assassinated Abner during peacetime. So, all that did was make problems for David, right? Because if David is the king of Judah and he is assassinating people in Israel, then it's a problem because Israel’s not going to want to follow David, right? It’s just gonna divide things even more. So, all eyes are on David. Like, did David make this happen? Did David have Abner, Ish-bosheth’s, like Israel's general of the Army, like, did he have him assassinated? Because that will be a big deal. It would be a big deal at any point in history. It would be a big deal today. So, now everyone's watching David for something he didn't do and his humble leadership and the way he acknowledged a fallen national hero is what turned the hearts of Israel's people toward David, right? So, we've been talking about is a little bit because we might now like the Sunday school version of the story. Saul dies, then David becomes the king of Israel, he’s the second King, he’s the great King David. But there was a period of time when things were pretty uncertain as you could only imagine that they would be. And, as we watch David acknowledge what happened, own what happened, grieve, mourn, go before the people, and acknowledge Abner…I mean that's a stark contrast to the way that Saul behaved. It’s like we’ll remember Saul's characteristics. What David is doing is being humble here and kind of owning this and grieving. This is totally different kind of behavior and it wins the hearts of the people. So, we have really interesting, stark contrasts in leadership here between Saul and David and that will become more and more apparent as we move forward.

And then in the Gospel of John we’re in the upper room and we’re there for Jesus final meal, and it's within that context of this final meal, the Last Supper that, like David, Jesus, the King humbled himself and washed the feet of his disciples. And He’s like, “You call me Your teacher, You call me Your Lord, and You’re right to call me those things. I am those things. And since I am those things and I have washed your feet that you ought to do that for each other because what I'm doing is giving you an example to follow. I've done this for you. Now you know, and God will bless you if you do this for each other.” So, I mean, that the picture of Jesus disrobing and washing His disciple’s feet, that's a famous story and there isn't anything veiled about it or there isn't anything veiled about anything Jesus said at that meal. Most of us know all of this. The question becomes whether we actually listened to what He said because the posture of heart required is to lower ourselves to the humble position of washing the filth from the feet of our friends, which is beautiful but very difficult in a world where everyone pretends to be flawless, and has nothing to wash off, right, and in a culture that invites us to hide everything, everything that we really are basically. According to Jesus though, the path toward blessing from God is to humble ourselves and to wash the filth from each other's lives. So, let’s spend some time today inviting Jesus to show us how that would look. In our context, what would that look like for us today? And this is important because Jesus is about to go and die after this meal. Only through releasing dominance and control and taking on the position of a servant are we ever going to find the blessings in life that we’re really looking for and the blessings in life that we actually need. Everything else is taking.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, come. Show us what it would be like for us to wash the feet of those that we love, those who are around us, what it would be like to humble ourselves to be a servant, to be Christ like in this world. We read story after story after story, chapter after chapter, verse after verse, book after book, and so often, even though it's in plain black-and-white right in front of our faces, we still go back out into the world and try to dominate everything. We live according to our culture when it's right here, that will not work, that is not how You lived. So, come Holy Spirit and show us what it would be like to wash the filth from each other's feet, what it would be like to humble ourselves below our brothers and sisters, and serve as You did, as You set the example. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the mighty name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

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And that is it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi Daily Audio Bible family, this is Liz the soccer mom from Toronto. I’m calling with a prayer request. My elderly parents live in our home, they have a separate apartment that we put in them a few years ago. They are believers and my husband and I…my husband’s not saved…we are struggling with growing resentment about them being in our home. It’s basically around privacy, some money challenges that they have and expectations that they have of us as landlords. I’ve been reading Ephesians lately and so I’ve been growing in conviction that my mouth needs to be guarded and that, you know, I voice frustration with my husband often and I think it’s creating disunity in the body of Christ. So, it’s not a great example to him and it’s certainly not a great example to our sons who see and hear these goings-on. So, as I was leaving for church today, I mentioned to my husband that the sermon was gonna be about how not to tear your house down. So, we both kind of like raised our eyebrows and I said, “well, maybe I’ll come back with some good stuff for us.” And he smiled and laughed, and said, “yeah we need it.” So, the sermon was based around Proverbs 14:1, as the wise woman buids her house with her own hands and the foolish one tears it down. So, I’m heading back home now after church. It was an incredible sermon. There was much in there, it was really rich, but I’m praying…well I’ll ask you guys also to pray that I would be wise and not foolish, that I would seek peace and pursue it and repay perceived insults with encouragement. And I pray that the conversation that I have with my husband will be covered by the Holy Spirit and hopefully I’ll be able to update you on some very positive outcomes from that. So, thanks DAB family. Love you. Talk to you soon.

Hi this is Victoria soldier, just wanted to call tonight to pray for some of the DABbers. I wanted to pray for Vicki from Arizona on the loss of her husband and her son. And she still say that she…that God is really encouraging and I just wanted to say thank you Lord for blessing my sister. And I know it’s been challenging to lose your husband and your son but know that God is still faithful. I thank you my sister for encouraging, not only me but encouraging someone today that know that God never leave us or forsake us. I want to pray for Mary, Mary and she has her son, I think is her son-in-law in the hospital. I want to pray for son-in-law and her daughter Ruth and I want to also pray for Mary to continue to encourage, to continue that spirit of encouragement to her family and give her the strength and the blessing and not only them but seeing her needs be met also. I want to pray for Keira regarding an appointment and the abortion that she had through. And I’m glad that you found some to forgive and I’m glad that it was an encouragement to you because we never know what the challenges are and what we went through or what we went through at the time but God is a forgiving God and He’s a loving God and He’s a merciful God and I’m just so glad that you’re encouraged my sister. And I pray that you encourage someone else to let them know that God is forgiving and to moving on to greater heights and one day you’ll see your baby in heaven. Gracious Father, we just praise You and we lift You up. We magnify You Lord. We just ask You in those need that Your people had today Lord that they are announce in the…

Good morning daily audio Bible family it’s His Beloved in California. Praise report, I just want to say thank you for praying for my relationship with __, things have smoothed over and I’m just so happy and I wanted to say that. Please continue to pray for my son Tino. He’s now __ out there __ he thinks something’s wrong with him still, he doesn’t have joy in is heart, he’s stressed out, he’s 23, he’s working too hard. And also, prayers for dating a woman who I don’t feel is right for him and __ that’s causing some problems. I pray for the Lord’s will in that relationship and if she’s not right that they would harden their hearts toward one another. Also, please pray for me. I’m taping, I was supposed to tape before. I know you guys were praying for me before. I am taping my testimony tomorrow. I’ve invited about 10 of my sisters in Christ to come and I’m excited about it but please pray that the Holy Spirit will fill me up and the words of Spirit would speak through me as I give my testimony and encourage other women. In Jesus’ name I pray these things. And Tomika, girl, I’m praying for you so strongly and a bunch of other sisters that called in for you and spoke the words of armoring up, that was such a great visual. So, armor up my sister. We’ve got you covered in prayer. I love all of you, I pray for all of you. God, bless. Bye.

Hi family, this is Zach out in Portland Oregon. I just wanted to call and say, Johnny and Nick, I’m praying for you still. I’m really thinking about you and I hope that you’re doing better. I also wanted to ask for prayers for my relationship with my children. It’s become extremely strained and really running into some difficulties with my ex-wife and especially, I have a son and daughter and the relationship with my daughter has become really strained and I’m just asking for prayer and for insight to have a better connect with her. Thank you, Daily Audio Bible. I love you guys so much. You mean so much to me and your prayers mean more than anything. Thanks so much and have a great blessed day.