#measuring progress

[mknewstime]

How to Improve Writing Skills for Free

How to Improve Writing Skills How to Improve Writing Skills: Unleashing the Power of Effective Communication How to Improve Writing Skills: Unleashing the Power of Effective Communication Introduction In a world driven by communication, mastering the art of writing is essential. This article explores the nuances of writing skills and delves into the significance of effective communication…

[genericpuff]

*banging on the door* PUFF? PUFF ARE YOU OKAY? 😥 you okay, sweetie?

[covid-safer-hotties]

Hi Nadi, I saw this video last night and thought it was good and that I would share it with you in case you haven't seen it. It's a little over 30min but well worth watching, for the first part alone, which talks bluntly about COVID, its political effects, and the policies briefly enacted in 2020. Also about the disturbingly strong eugenicist propaganda effort (which has by and large worked on the populace) to memory-hole the entire thing so far. And the consequences of falsely declaring the pandemic "over". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXrjlOE9e50

In case the link breaks somehow it's the video 'Somebody needs to do it' by Taylor Lorenz.

Hope you have a g'day :)

I relogged a post mentioning this the other day, but it's not a bad idea to push it again!

[sleepdepravity]

Talked about this with sister for a bit, I do wonder how people who first knew Uchikoshi through somnium files felt about nirvana initiative. My theory about Uchikoshi games is that, the first game of every series is always the most digestible one, and then he ramps up his bullshit for the next game (call it the Uchikoshi bullshit spike). To me, somnium files -> nirvana initiative has the steepest bullshit spike, and I’m curious about how those uninitiated with peak Uchikoshi bullshit received NI’s bullshit.

[thepseudowoodo]

I am THE WORST oh my goodness I forgot to post part 6 here jeeze after all the waffling about it and I put it up on AO3 but not here please forgive me, people who live on the internet.

Title: Measured With Blood

Rating: M for themes of canon-typical violence and sexual content

Summary: Hans reflects on his relationship with Henry and how it is viewed by the people around them.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

AO3

Part 6: Radzig

Hans didn’t mean to overhear. He’d gone looking for Henry after the disastrous lecture from Hanush, but when he’d found Henry dozing on the hill, he’d decided a nap sounded quite nice. But the sun was moving behind the tree, and Hans dearly wanted the warmth of the sun and the breeze coming from the south on his face. He settled for laying down a short distance away, sure he would hear Henry clanking around in his armor when he woke. 

Except it wasn’t Henry’s clanking that woke him, it was Radzig’s. It felt awkward to alert them to his presence, when the conversation seemed to be so heartfelt. Yet it felt so… wrong, somehow. Radzig was obviously trying, and so was Henry, but it was obvious they weren’t quite matching up. He listened to Radzig mention Henry’s parents, listened to Henry play it down, heard the depths of Henry’s voice when he finally returned the sword. 

Listened to Radzig compliment the workmanship and then finally offer it to Henry with that fated word… son. 

But it didn’t feel right, coming from him. Not after the way he’d flung Henry around from mission to mission, barely equipping him, barely training him, throwing Henry after every job and lead they needed taken care of. And Henry had stood up and accomplished it all, with astonishingly few complaints. Yet Radzig had never acknowledged it before, and it rankled Hans to the core of his being. 

He’d stewed on it all evening, quietly simmering under the surface of the first good meal and drink he’d had in months. So it was with a considerable lack of grace that Hans greeted Radzig when they met by chance on the field just outside the fort, where Hans had once again been taking in the relatively fresher air. 

“Good evening, Hans,” Radzig said, coming to a stop next to him, 

“Certainly better than the previous few,” Hans grumbled. The food was sitting rough in his stomach, and the nausea wasn’t contributing to his charitable feelings. 

“Better than most had been hoping for,” Radzig replied. Hans heard the gentle reprimand in the tone. He hated it. 

“Lucky for us Henry is such a competent bastard,” he said, putting a twist on the word that he felt would probably earn him a hearty – and well-deserved – punch. 

Surprisingly, Radzig merely slanted a look in his direction. “He’s come a long way in a short time,” he said finally. 

“Yes, and quite on his own, unfortunately.” The night air was settling his stomach finally, and Hans could feel his usual flippant disrespect returning to him. “I regret to inform you that I’m rather in his debt, as is half the population of the region.”

“What?”

Hans blinked wide eyes at the man, a patently false show of surprise. “Oh, I suppose you wouldn’t know, what with not being around for most of his adventures. Yes, he’s made himself quite the local hero. People greet him by name in most towns. Do you know, they all seem to think he’s a knight?” 

Hans let the question hang for a second, staring pointedly at Radzig, who was looking up into the sky with studied patience. 

“It’s a mistake I’d dearly like to correct,” Hans said finally, turning his gaze back towards the still-smoldering town. The bodies had mostly been taken away by now, but he could still see some soldiers, looting and carrying in the distance. “I wonder how he’d like to be Sir Henry, Knight of Rattay and Pirkstein.”

Radzig disguised his sudden inhale by making it larger and turning it into a sigh. “If it came from you,” he sighed again, “he’d probably accept in a heartbeat.”

“Yes, well, I don’t see anyone else lining up to recognize him properly. I suppose I’ll have to do it.”

“I’d advise you to be careful about that.”

This brought Hans up short. “Why?”

Radzig turned, examining the field around them casually before letting his eyes come to rest on Hans. “Because Henry may be serving you for now, but he does so at my behest. Don’t give him something you’d be loath to lose.”

It was a caution and a reprimand for his attitude, but Hans felt it like the threat of a knife at his throat. Yet he still couldn’t bring himself to listen to the sense. It was too late for that anyway, Henry already had his heart. Anything else Hans could possibly give would be worthless in comparison. It was the most steady rage he’d ever experienced: his heart pounding in his ears like a war drum, his blood thrumming through his veins like soldiers on a quick march. He didn’t have his sword, but he always carried a knife these days. He could have it out and in- No. That wasn’t just foolish, it was suicidal. But the echo of the marching beat was still in his mind as Hans said, “I’m not sure what you think will happen if you recall Henry, and I have no idea what he will do, but I can tell you now it would kill him.”

Radzig’s eyes blazed with anger, powerful and sudden, but it was gone just as quickly. But like lightning presages a storm, Hans could see the churning rage sitting just behind the calm facade of Radzig’s impassive face. “Are you suggesting he wouldn’t obey my orders?”

“Not at all,” Hans said, meeting the stare with all the intensity he could muster. The soldiers were marching again, and he could feel them chanting in time under his skin, he is mine he is mine he is mine. “I think he would obey any order you gave him. I think your mistake was letting him serve someone who understood and appreciated his value as a man, not as a tool.”

“Do you think I do not value my son?”

“No, Sir Radzig,” Hans turned toward the gate, where the sounds of late-night revelry were still drifting out. “No, I think you do value your son. The problem is that I don’t think you value Henry.”

He had taken a few steps away when Radzig called to him. “Hans, I know you think you can protect him, and maybe you can to an extent. But Hanush won’t be put off. Can you protect Henry from heartbreak?”

Hans had to remember how to breathe. Every inch of his body was rallying for war, crying out to fight this interloper, to remove the threat. He trembled with the truth of Radzig’s unstated accusation. “No, Sir Radzig, I can’t.”

“Then why do you try to hold him?”

Hans turned stiffly, all his muscles clenched tight against the urge to charge forward and strangle the man dangling the future before him like a hangman’s noose. And he knew Henry would be unable to save him this time as well. “Because neither can you.” 

Hans stalked back up to the keep, his entire body shaking with tension. Henry found him in the outer bailey, his face red with celebration and maybe remnants from the day’s battle that hadn’t been washed off in a trough. “Hans! There you are. Is everything all right?”

It was stupid, but his body was screaming for it. It was perhaps the stupidest thing he’d done yet but Hans grabbed Henry’s hand and dragged him past the gate, into the shadows around the side of the burnt-out stables. “Hans? What’s wr-mm!”

The kiss was fierce and hard and almost enough. Henry’s arms came immediately to rest around Hans’ waist, and his mouth opened pliantly under Hans’ assault. They broke apart only to take gasping breaths, and Hans leaned his head forward until he had buried his face in Henry’s neck. 

“You’re mine,” he murmured, nipping at the skin there, letting his hands slide down and then up again until they were under the hem of his shirt and grabbing for skin. “Mine, Henry.”

Henry was breathing heavily, his back against the charred wall as Hans ran a series of tiny kisses up and down the column of his neck. “Hans, what- ah- what has gotten into you?”

“I don’t know,” Hans replied, dragging his nails gently down Henry’s back as he came in for another kiss. For uncountable ages, all he could hear was the thrumming of his heart, a different beat now with Henry in his arms, and the wet sounds of their kissing. “I don’t know,” Hans gasped as they broke apart again, “but I won’t let you go.”

Henry groaned and pulled him in again, shifting until their bodies were aligned and they could rut against each other. “I don’t recall asking you to.”

Hans laughed breathily, his hands scrabbling at the front of Henry’s braies until he got them loose. He came in for another hard kiss to muffle their mutual groans. Henry had been working equally diligently at Hans’ clothing and now they had each other in hand. 

“I was afraid I’d be too late,” Henry gasped into the space between them, his hand rough and tight on Hans. “I was afraid we’d get here and you’d be- be-”

Hans silenced him with a kiss, trying to match his own shaking movements to Henry’s. It didn’t matter much, they were both climaxing jerkily into each other’s hands in an embarrassingly short time. Hans wanted to make a joke about it but he couldn’t bring himself to. Instead, he planted lazy kisses on Henry’s unprotesting mouth. “But I’m not. We’re not. We’re here. You’re here, you’re mine.”

“You have me,” Henry murmured, helping Hans to tuck himself away as they both reluctantly parted. “I’m yours, Hans. And you’re mine.”

“Yes.”

[thebirdandhersong]

???? something something deep discomfort with body image is it generational?????????

[obae-me]

Some of you are going back and liking really old stuff. Stuff so old I forgot I wrote them! Help! I'm embarrassed! Some of those are so bad!

I say cringe is dead, and then still most of my stuff makes me want to shrivel into a raisin.

[pianokantzart]

I’m still not nearly as physically strong as I’d like to be

BUT

Chopping the butternut squash is way easier this year than it was last year 👍

[cecoeur]

Post qualifying radio and car exit 😉 | 2024 F1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna

[kostusha]

NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO YOU CAN ROTATE YOUR BLORBOS AT THE SPEED OF MACH 2 IN YOUR HEAD

(prev works under cut)

[mcnuggyy]

Yikes California 😬

[neroniiii]

Honestly the Sojo/Hiruhiko comparisons (in regards to how they serve the story) aren't too unwarranted because when I think about it Hiruhiko is just Sojo if he had decided to actually consider the kind of person Kunishige was instead of sticking to his own headcanons based on information about 4 degrees separated from reality. They both idolize their respective Rokuhira as a paragon for the beliefs they already stake the entirety of their identities on. Sojo is characterized by a mindset that he consciously keeps rigid even at the cost of his own interests, but he also introduces a new perspective on Kunishige's actions that help paint a larger story for Chihiro to explore. Hiruhiko meanwhile starts off as explicitly extremely sheltered from the world around him, and as such has a large part of his character revolving around the idea of gaining new perspectives and expanding his ideas on how people exist in the world. And while Kunishige being dead makes grounding Sojo's interpretation of him extremely difficult at best, Chihiro is still alive and well which gives Hiruhiko no choice but to acknowledge it when Chihiro defies his expectations- even when it's in a way he isn't able to understand.

That tweet about Hiruhiko having no beliefs to drive his kills comes to mind. Sojo places a lot of importance on the idea of commitment to a path you've chosen, and to do that he had to maintain commitment to the Kunishige he'd built up inside his head, because accepting that there was another side to Rokuhira- one that involved raising a child who'd dedicate himself to protecting the weak- something significant in how Sojo approaches his craft might've wavered, and he's very resolute in not letting that happen. Hiruhiko doesn't have those kinds of stakes regarding his self image. As I've said before he's pretty aimless thanks to how he was raised, and that involves not having the kind of principles that allowed for the kind of biases that drove how Sojo approached knowing about Kunishige. These things he's lacking in makes it easier for him to accept that Chihiro is as much a Sasuke as he is a monster, which gives him the kind of understanding on Chihiro's character that Sojo never could let himself have for Kunishige.

[aq2003]

it IS weird that the general consensus on twelve is that peter capaldi is an excellent actor but his episodes are bad (esp in comparison to the general consensus on series 5 being that it's some of the best the show gets) bc i am overall really enjoying series 8, a lot more than the last 3

[thevioletcaptain]

[autistic-shaiapouf]

Gabby update, I did not find a single silver fabric I liked so I made a very bold holographic choice instead

[nordfjording]

Finally found the button that makes in-activity distance show as km and not in miles. So I will never accidentally run 4,89km ever again.