#our lady our saint our war criminal

[flhoarder]

They think Harry running the MC into a puddle is stupid but then the collective body of 41 did decide it was a great idea to do a horizontal cannonball into a massive stained glass wall of historical value to get into an abandoned old church 2 months ago

[missallanea-archive]

a not-so-brief, utterly useless guide to the muses on this blog:

UPDATED VERSION ( 08/10/23 )

AGNES DRACHINA REUBEN. first born daughter of the royal house of drachium. powerful sorceress who made a name for herself during the dragon campaign. a mischevious young woman with a penchant for drinking and getting into trouble.

BABYDOLL. institutionalized against her will. sweet girl but will not hesitate to end you if you're a creep. sincerely wishes to empower the other women around her. slowly losing herself to fantasy in order to escape from her unpleasant reality.

CARRIE WHITE. patron saint of the bullied. powerful telekinetic with religious trauma. generally a sweet kid, if not extremely shy and socially awkward. she honestly just needs a hug and a cheese sandwich.

CATIANA FREESPARK. swashbuckler rogue turned storm cleric. she's confused about how that happened too. died fairly recently, but she got better. will steal your shit. highkey feels like the divorce baby between procan and umberlee. 

CHROME DOKURO. a powerful illusionist currently in the employ of the vongola mafia family. occasionally shares her body with the criminal mukuro rokudo. learning to stand on her own two feet. a bit of a strange girl, but sweet and undyingly loyal.

FREYA. the once queen of asgard and leader of the valkyries. reclaimed her warrior spirit and found her wings. seeking to reunite and repair the realms following ragnarök. not a woman to scorn, or she will burn you to the ground and salt the earth behind her.

KAGAMI TSURUGI. a recent transplant to paris from japan. loves fencing and being right. she can be a bit cold upon first meeting but she's actually just very bad at making friends. if you take the time to get to know her, she is fiercely loyal and dedicated and will fight for you.

LIAN NICHANG. the white haired demoness. lives alone on a mountain. really only comes down to get rid of people who are harassing the village at the base of the mountain that leaves her the fuck alone. master swordsman. not actually a witch or a demon, no matter what people call her. 

LUNA. magical moon cat. has a crescent moon bald spot on her forehead. trying to keep the protectors of the universe on track but they're just teenage girls so it goes about as well as you would expect. really tired of being the voice of reason but this is what she signed up for. 

LUNASOL GALANODEL. honestly, the worst. burned down her abusive childhood home with her twin brother. basically sold her soul to the queen of air and darkness. pretends to be sweet but she is cruel and cold. typical elvish attitude toward other races, too. really, really likes flowers.

MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG. my god she is doing her best. normal girl turned superhero turned guardian of magical artifacts. just needs one day of peace ffs. currently going through a crisis due to teenage romance and also ptsd. always smells like fresh baked bread which is a plus. 

MAXIMILIAN CALYPSE. a small, stuttering lady of noble birth. married off to keep her father from having to go to war against dragons. considers herself to be useless and has a good deal of anxiety, but is generally one of the sweetest nobles you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. currently learning to use healing magic.

MIYU. vampire who tried to run from her destiny and made it worse. has to hunt down god-demons called shinma that she accidentally let escape. literally cannot die until she finishes her job, and she would very much like it to be over now. usually accompanied by her mask wearing servant, larva. she's cute and cruel in equal parts.

NATHALIE SANCOEUR. for fuck's sake she needs a vacation. and a raise. personal assistant to a supervillain. seriously questioning that relationship at this point. literally dying. trying to beat the current record holder for most akumatizations. she's pretty and could kick my ass. 

PERSEPHONE. our lady of the underground. literal goddess. known for bringing springtime and overseeing torture in the deepest depths of tartarus. the mom friend, she probably already loves you. does not put up with her husband’s bullshit. really loves her weird dog.

PIKE TRICKFOOT. gnome cleric of the everlight. she may be a holy woman but she has the spirit of a barbarian. will definitely try to drink you under the table. overestimates her own strength, but loves to surprise others when they doubt her. precious angel baby.

REINA "GLITCH" CROWNE. student at a prestigious art school with a focus on fashion design. acts like she's tough and untouchable, but she's actually just soft and trying to figure out who she is. loves meshing traditional fashion with digital media. known to the other students as "glitch" due to her first year freeze up.

RIZA HAWKEYE. military sharpshooter and right-hand-woman of the guy who wants to take over the military. likes like two people and her dog. usually smells like gun oil but it's not unpleasant. has no sense of self-preservation and will definitely die for the people she cares about. does not get paid enough. 

ROGUE. the poster child for "look don't touch." mutant and working on the proud part. literally too powerful for her own good. comes with the added bonus of her cajun husband who makes things explode by touching them. the og power couple. 

RYOKO HAKUBI. half alien, half goddess, all trouble. a literal science experiment. crash landed on earth 700-or-so years ago after a space battle with the guy she tried to steal a tree from. recently resurrected and free from the mind control that made her destroy 28 planets. she's doing her best okay? 

RYUKO MATOI. teenage girl who wants to fight. has a magical schoolgirl uniform powered by her blood. wields a giant scissor. could kick your ass, could kick my ass, could kick her own ass. secretly a softie. 

SADAKO YAMAMURA. a very, very angry ghost with the telepathic ability to project her thoughts onto physical media. the switch to the digital era has not slowed down her curse whatsoever but she misses VHS tapes. very wet. is honestly just a scared young woman who doesn't understand why bad things happened to her. will fucking kill you if given the chance. 

SIF. the unwaveringly loyal wife of thor, mother to magni, móði, and thrúd. trying desperately to hold what remains of her family together. can come across as somewhat cold. while not a warrior by any means, she will do anything to protect her children.

TABITHA DELAINE. monster hunter and general know-it-all. was part of a cult at one point but she doesn't want to talk about it. lowkey a witch but tries to use her magic sparingly. the biggest lesbian you will ever meet, next to her girlfriend van. lives in van's van. 

TIKKI. kwami of the miraculous of creation. has existed for as long as the universe has. sincerely loves humans and how wonderful they can be. helps to turn her current owner into the superhero known as ladybug.

VEX'AHLIA. ranger and rogue. sneaky and shooty. just trying not to die again, thank you very much. once stabbed a tree because it made moves on her. the champion of a god. will probably call you darling and wink at you. also, she has a bear named trinket and a husband with too many names for me to bother listing here.

[jaspers47]

I watched 154 movies in 2022

Five Stars

Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood (2022) Bergman Island (2021) Blonde Crazy (1931) Blow-Up (1966) Cryptozoo (2021) Decision to Leave (2022) Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) Glass Onion (2022) The Hunger (1983) It Came from Hollywood (1982) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022) Minari (2020) Mona Lisa (1986) Never Let Me Go (2010) Night on Earth (1991) Nope (2022) Pearl (2022) Tár (2022) Turning Red (2022) Wolfwalkers (2020) The Worst Person in the World (2021)

Four Stars

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021) The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) Black Swan (2010) Blackmail (1929) Bullet Train (2022) Captain Blood (1935) Christmas in Connecticut (1945) CODA (2021) Confess, Fletch (2022) Doctor Sleep (2019) Dune (2021) Encanto (2021) The Fabelmans (2022) The Firemen's Ball (1967) First Blood (1982) Five Came Back (1939) Flee (2021) Gentleman's Agreement (1947) Gilda (1946) The Gospel of Eureka (2018) Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) Harvey (1950) House/Hausu (1977) The Hustler (1961) Hustlers (2019) Kajillionaire (2020) The Killing (1956) Kimi (2022) Kiss of Death (1947) The Menu (2022) Moonwalker (1988) The Mouse That Roared (1959) My Dinner with Andre (1981) The Northman (2022) Parallel Mothers (2021) The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019) Predator (1987) Prey (2022) The Punk Singer (2013) Quatermass II/Enemy From Space (1957) Relaxer (2018) Saint Maud (2019) The Seven-Ups (1973) Thelma (2017) Watcher (2022) We're All Going to the World's Fair (2022) Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) X (2022)

Three and a Half Stars

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022) The Booksellers (2019) Blade II (2002) Gunpowder Milkshake (2021) Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul (2022) Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) My Name is Julia Ross (1945) Onibaba (1964) The Party (1968) Pygmalion (1938) The Quatermass Xperiment/The Creeping Unknown (1955) The Song Remains the Same (1976) Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) Wendell & Wild (2022) Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)

Three Stars

Amistad (1997) The Bank Dick (1940) The Batman (2022) Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022) Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) Cries and Whispers (1972) Crimes of the Future (2022) Drive My Car (2021) The Earrings of Madame de... (1953) Emily the Criminal (2022) The Funhouse (1981) Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) Inland Empire (2006) Jennifer's Body (2009) Jubilee (1978) Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) Life of Pi (2012) Linda Linda Linda (2005) Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) Lucy and Desi (2022) Nobody (2021) Opening Night (1977) Pretending I'm a Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story (2020) Repeat Performance (1947) See How They Run (2022) Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) Strawberry Mansion (2022) Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021) The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) A Woman is a Woman (1961) Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022) Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995) White Zombie (1932) WNUF Halloween Special (2013)

Two and a Half Stars

Babylon (2022) Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan (2020) Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2017) Thunderball (1965)

Two Stars

Doctor Mordrid (1992) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) Enchanted (2007) Hardcore Henry (2015) The House (2022) My Fair Lady (1964) My Name is Emily (2015) The Princess (2022) Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) Rosaline (2022) Strange World (2022) Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) Treasure of the Amazon (1985) Werewolves Within (2021) Willy's Wonderland (2021) Winnie the Pooh (2011)

One Star

Beyond Atlantis (1973) Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022) Chuck E. Cheese in the Galaxy 5000 (1999) The Crawling Hand (1963) Daddy-O (1958) Demon Squad (1999) Hello Again (1987) Indestructible Man (1956) Munchie (1992) Operation Kid Brother (1967) The Rebel Set (1959) Santo in the Treasure of Dracula (1969) Robot Jox 2: Robot Wars (1993) Shadow in the Cloud (2020) The She-Creature (1956)

[nijjhar]

John 12v24-26:- Jesus stresses that your tribal "Ego" needs to be buried... Building the Temple of God on Pure Solid Rock.Peter was assigned the duty to Feed sheep into the One Fold, Church of God headed by One Shepherd, a Person who has studied no theology at a University, a Child-Like person Christ Jesus, our Bridegroom. Thus, people give away all their worldly possessions, a Solid Rock devoted to worship God only with no side attraction for money, the sand as it was displayed by Ananias and Sapphira that were killed for blasphemy against the holy spirit, which is not forgivable. A typical example of the blasphemy is of Tony Blair and Bush that Chaudhry Saddam Hussein Khokhar Jatt had WMD, a white lie. Remember Hitler killed the Unfaithful to Abraham and Yahweh Jews outwardly of the physical self and not the spiritual inwardly that John, the Baptist turned them through the Baptism of water in the name of Abraham turning them the Salt of the earth whilst the Temple Priests were making Jews outwardly through circumcision, the tribal mark of Abraham to Isaac and his seed. No one else could be circumcised except the sons of Isaac by his “seed”. Such War Mongers and Criminals Tony Blair and Bush are not allowed into the Church of God built on the solid rock, the standard of which was established by Saint Peter. But soon after the death of Jesus and the Apostles, the Messianic Jews entered the Fold with the FORBIDDEN written Torah and established Schools similar to the Temple Priests, the Parable of the Wine-Press, the old Temple that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. So, these hireling Dog-Collared Priests with degrees in Theology are thieves of the order of Judas Iscariot fulfilling Matt 12v43-45 making the situation worse than before the arrival of Christ Jesus. The Catholic and Protestant sectarian riot is a typical example of the situation worse than before the arrival of Jesus. So, if you come across a Monk who does not handle money, pleased tell him about me. Handling money by working hard as demonstrated by Saint Paul is very good but its roots are bad and we shouldn’t allow this Mammon Tree to flourish. Always speak the Gospel Truth based upon logical reasoning but the once-born people stooges of their Churches would hate you as the Rabbi in Genersate told his stooges to lock those two Saints in the silence of the graveyard with heavy chains so that nobody would listen to them. That is why Jesus drowned 2000 swine in the sea and the Saying goes, “You do not throw Pearls before swine, they will turn around and kill you”. That was also the big reason why Jesus told his Labourers not to tell anyone that He is the Christ. Try this Gospel Truth. A Jew is one who is inwardly, spiritual and not outwardly, physical tribal person who was born and died but NOT A SINGLE JEW DIED DURING THE HOLOCAIST. Then, you will see how the people will jump at you but God is protecting you when you work for Him. This COE is a typical example of a House built on Sand and it cannot stand the test. In God, we exercise the Divine Love “Agape” in which we have no enemy or stranger as the Archbishop of the COE Dr Runcie tried to bless the Argentinian soldiers as well but Lady Margaret reminded him that he is working for the COE and not Argentine or the COE is not Universal as the Church of God headed by Christ Jesus is. So, the Salvation Army people are nearest to God whilst the COE nearest to Satan.

[6blackfilin9]

I love your Anko fanart! Tell me, what are your views/headcannons on Anko X Kazuku?

hThank you so much for the ask, finally I can answer it

here is my big thank you for the waitng

In a nutshell, the shipp was created by accident while me and my buddy were working on our first Naruto AU in 2019, where Kakuzu and Deidara survived their shitty plotholes end eventually ended up in Konoha

Yeah

so, the shipp’s birth date is july the 1, 2019

anything like classy, aristocracy kind of tension-filled passionate gothic romance with playful, psychological games & hurt/comfort vibes with slight scent of rivalry is KakuAnko

Basically, they are: a very, very old man with absolutely horrendous background who’s trying to finally have his mother*cking 10 or 30 years of peace, and a rather young lady with a rocky youth who’s being good & noble yet has very strong antihero tendencies

You know, I think they do have potential, since, in fact, they seem to be very similar, at the core

They are both very pragmatic realists, the people of logic and reason, yet if Kakuzu’s irritability doesn’t affect him a tiny bit due to his ideal self-control, Anko’s can lead her to quite bad places, sometimes. They put their interests in the first place, and even though she tries to attach them to Konoha’s, she still has ‘personal’ things (I’ll write ‘bout it lower*). Their mindsets are so complicatedly organized that, at some point & way, it prevents them from having many close people, and makes them very hard to see through and predict

Both of them are very flexible & adaptive, independent individuals with similar outlooks on plenty of things and high intellectual level. They clearly can find plenty of traits that they would highly respect and adore in each other

Here I will speak mostly for “why and how” kind of things, bc both of them are terribly tricky to accurately figure out. But there will be some headcanons too

So, there are still some odds about them, due to the strong difference in their occupation, like, in plenty of cases they are really tricky to be brought together, because:

- Of the job

In original, Anko is a Konoha’s special jounin, and she is very dedicated to serving the country. Independently of whether she likes her job or not (depends on the plot), she orienteers at the people, at society’s gain from her work. So, accordingly, in any other AU her job is somehow connected to civil service, whether it’s something police-like, connected to science, or something like CCG in Tokyo Ghoul

Kakuzu, on the other hand, is a hitman and a persona non grata in literally all the five big countries, Konoha too (which makes it barely possible to bring them together in the original universe without hard complications or heavy drama. But still possible). He orienteers on his own gain alone, but, depending on the job, it can include others’ gain, too.

This detail makes him a saint once he holds supervising position in some company or any high position in the government (the better the working conditions of the staff now- the more money in the prospective), and the sheer nightmare once he has it on the opposite side of the law. Him as a mob boss is a complete different topic for discussion, but to get the point, in this case, the trouble isn’t him increasing the level of criminality (its rather vice-versa), but taking hold of too much control in the high and underground structures. Even as an ordinary hitman he’s rather tricky, since everything depends on the case

In most of the stories, they come to some sort of compromise, and how hard it is to reach it depends on how shitty his job is and how attached they are to each other at the moment

Like, in the above mentioned Shippuden AU and Harry Potter AU (which I also wrote with my buddy) everything went like clockwork, because there they are both more or less on this side of the law, in Tokyo Ghoul AU (which I also wrote with my buddy) it is a bit more complicated, with her being in-law and him being very much outlaw, in the Avatar AU (which I also figured out with my buddy, but we never happened to write it) it is also pretty smooth, with both of them being outlaws and then jumping out to the glory after all the shit is done, but in another Shippuden AU of mine, this all would be just a motherfucking bloody disaster

- Kakuzu is actually a hard nut to get attached to anyone

He lived too long to be truly afraid of anything, though. Its mostly because he doesn’t really need to get attached to or become close with someone to satisfy his need for communication. The man can get along with anyone once he wishes to, he can have countless acquaintances and plenty of buddies, but he doesn’t have many comrades and barely can call anyone a friend. Because he is used to lose everything and everyone he ever had or happened to have, because of his inhumanly lengthened lifespan.

It requires time for him to get used to the person, and then, eventually, in some cases, spend plenty of it to get attached

Plus, for him, due to his profession, each close connection is a really great responsibility for him. In most cases, he’d think twice of weather he is ready to take it or not

Though it of course has the personal factor, too

In Anko’s case, she has a grand privilege by being a very intelligent and keen woman, not just in cognitive plane, but in emotional, too. High emotional intellect is actually a rare trait, so she automatically stands out of the crowd for him. Even though it won’t guarantee his alliance, it will grant her his high respect and some sort of sympathy

- Kakuzu is, technically, an asshole

He does have his moral compass, which includes a great amount of common social morality, but he also has that “I am working” state

Even though Kakusu has a set of professional principles, and he still acts accordingly to what he thinks is right, one and the very same situation can be solved diametrically different once the context changes from working to casual and vice versa

This, and him being very independent and quite antisocial, makes the degree of assholeness depend on various factors

This can lead to major conflicts of interests, and if they are possible to have any compromise or not is strongly attached to the circumstances. After all, both are very, very prideful and dignified people

- In other words, the only major issue for them would be morality questions. It’s possible to make the case acceptable for Anko, since both of them ain’t truly squeaky clean, along with Kakuzu being willing enough to watch his borders

- She is provident and doesn’t really need a lot of money on a daily basis, which is much of a joy to him lol

- *they both seek for the stable ground, first of all

Taking in consideration the life conditions Kakuzu had in his youth (despite war state, he still stably had family, friends, grand respect from everyone, home, warmth and food) and how terribly he was torn out of his secured social environment, I believe what he seeks through all his bounty hunt and other money-connected manipulations is stability. Sustainability he had back then. The only way to have it in the conditions of our existent world order is to have money (and a very good mind and luck)

Anko has indeed much more altruistic motives, yet it’s still not that simple. It seems to be, on the first sight, yet considering the “Orochimaru related cases” and her very wayward behavior toward them, it’s clear she keeps her own motives and needs in mind oh so well. The service she has is very well payed, it allows her to do what she likes or believes is right, and to have the living conditions she finds comfortable. And only here, relying on the made sustainable basis, she does what she does

- Thus, they both illustrate the principle “first help yourself, next help the other” just right

- She knows she can keep an eye on him, yet it’s clear for her that her influence isn’t borderless, as well as telling him off some stuff is kind of a not wise thing to do. So in the majority of cases, she never interferes

- This is not common, yet he can actually change some plans if the situation is serious and the compromise can’t be found. He is that kind of person who works on a further prospective, and in this context, this would be the relationship with his loved one

- While Kakuzu is quite conflicted and has very reserved controversial persona, Anko is both controversial, conflicted, and sort of two-faced, on top of that

She is a very sincere, cheerful and humbly honest human being, yet she has some darker natural traits of her character that became rather strong with age and traumatic experience. Cunningness, guile, ways-depend-on-the-case and a bit of ruthlessness, that is. Moreover, she has some unsolved personal issues, which makes her even more twisted.

Like, remember the time when she confronted Orochimaru during the exam? And Kabuto, on the war? Getting rid of them is indeed beneficial for Konoha, but it’s clear that for her it is personal vendetta in the first place. She wouldn’t have tried to do this alone, otherwise, because these two are rather dangerous ones, to say the least.

She uses greater good to cover her real motives (even though it is not truly complete bullshit), and seems to have a terrible habit to keep silence about really important things, which makes her quite prone to lying, in some cases

And sometimes it very badly pisses Kakuzu off, since it makes her prone to doing useless but dangerous shit too

Yet this not any kind of separate hidden side, it is integrated into her personality, and coexists with her bright one. That’s where her violent humour comes from, for example.

But Kakuzu, on the other side, is completely monolith individual, yet sometimes his mindset can create contradictions when it comes to something important to him. but it's another topic

And seeing these layered constructions, and motives, they can pretty finely predict each other’s behavior. Not super-neatly, but they for sure see the basis. This is what helps Kakuzu to prevent Anko from doing some stupid shit, sometimes

- Anko has a role of an indicator for the people who don’t understand and see the changes in Kakuzu’s mood sometimes, since she usually reacts quite openly. Yet, when she has the same unreadable mask of cold, or one of guile, it’s a nightmare for them

- They prefer the non-verbal way to show their feelings, even though Anko is obviously the more chatty one

- They don’t say things such as “I love you”, or other sensual stuff like that really often, believing it to be some sort of cherished words that shall not be spelled mindlessly

- Anko isn’t majorly into PDA, but she fancies it much more than Kakuzu does. She has her whole moments of studying something with her hands, whether it’s a hand, scar or face. He’s more into passive display of affection, like wrapping an arm over her waist or leaning to her or something of this kind; they can allow themselves to (not sexually) kiss in public though

- She knows he doesn’t like to walk hand in hand due to considering it a youthful thing, so there are times when she intentionally walks holding on to his sleeve; generally they walk separately in order not to bother each other, but sometimes they walk arm in arm (like an old Victorian couple lol)

- Being older and wiser, Kakuzu eventually upholds some kind of mentoring position, yet he never considers himself any kind of a teacher or master to Anko, believing her to have a good head of her own. He is just insightful enough to break something through to her or give a word of advise

- This, combined with his highly powerful demeanor, also makes him have the leading position in their relationship

- Anko respects him much enough to fortify this, entrusting with plenty of life questions (like organizing the family budget), even though they make the majority of decisions together. Mostly because he is truly wise and highly experienced individual.

- This makes him one of the very few people Anko would actually listen to and take their opinion in consideration

- So basically they have equal relationship with some tendency to patriarchal order

- And it is, really, mostly economically-based disbalance, with him earning much more than she does

- Yet they never have any financial-based issues, since both of them keep in mind and respect the contributions of each

- There is major power play here, too. He has the absolute might, she has seduction. Anko loves how he makes her want to submit to him, let him have all the power, so she likes provoking him. And she knows he adores it, loves the subtle control she has over him

- They don’t have conflicts in their everyday life. Each knows how to avoid pissing one another off

- He cherishes her playful demeanor, her intellect. Combined with her cunningness, it allows her to rival him, in social sphere. The way she constructs her phrases, the way she speaks, mimics, moves, how bewitchingly it suits her feminine snaky features makes his blood boil and heart melt

- Both of them, actually, have rather specific kind of dry, dark humour. Kakuzu’s is very cynical, satirical, quite often menacing and subtly demeaning; Anko’s is very sarcastic and quite dirty, even gruesome and rather violent

- Sometimes they “fight” verbally as a form of a play. In some circumstances they may sound pretty vile, so some unobservant people mistake this for display of hate

- In general, Anko is the one to heat things up with her playful demeanor, which can include provocation and rivalry, and Kakuzu is the one to keep this energy in borders, accumulating it up to much more intense states

- They both put the comfort in the first place when it comes to household. Everything must be cozy, useful, silent and super clean

- Yet they are both very unpretentious and modest, really

- She absolutely adores when he is showing his serious, severe side, or powerful demeanor. She finds it incredibly suitable for him. She also likes how his real age is sliding out in this or that way. Like, even though he has rather young face (that of 37-40 y.o.), his eyes give away that he’ve seen oh so much more than it seems; the grumpy noises and grunts he makes, the lazy attitude in movements and the way how rapidly he finds a comfy pose once he has a chance to take a seat

- They are both rather patriotic, yet while in the most stories Anko’s feelings mostly lay towards the country she lives in, Kakuzu’s more often lay towards some places, so called small motherland.

- Kakuzu actually could be a source of deep, strong admiration and delight for her, despite all of his bullshit. The unbreakable will he has, mighty burning heart, all the wisdom, talents and mind. Being sent to fight god damn Hashirama, clearly a genius of his times, financial & management genius at the least. And, still, after all the hard times he’ve been through, he maintained the very strong sense of dignity and nobility, even though slightly twisted due to the profession and abnormal lifespan

- And the very same things can serve as the source for her chagrin: with all those traits, he could have been so much more rather than a criminal. With all the gifts he’ve got, he could have been of great use to society. He’s much easier about this, since his prospective is much wider and embraces decades (and in some universes even centuries) instead of months & years, and he knows that he’d be switching sides throughout his life, being on this and that side of the law, yet he still is a bit uncomfortable once it’s brought up

- They are deeply into science, which makes them atheists. He’s into medicine and human biology, she’s into chemistry and reptilian biology; both of them are nuts for physics, history and psychology

- They solve complicated physical and mathematical problems together time to time. She is the first one to have tea-breaks due to losing her temper over it, he tries to figure things out right until you can sense the smoke coming off his head

- Actually, they do have a stumbling stone aside from job & morality complications. And this is Anko’s attitude towards Orochimaru

What she does is basically ruins her life very-very slowly, maintaining the issues she has and planning to make him pay for all he’s done

Kakuzu knows exactly what is really going on with this attitude and why, but he can’t really do anything about it. Like, he knows he can’t make her change her mind or put something into her head

All he can do is really nothing but try to explain how those things are working, and even this option is basically a landmine field for him. At some level she does understand that he could probably be right, yet she just refuses to go back on her mind. And this is actually really dangerous, so at some moments they can fight quite badly about it

- He’s scared shitless to lose her, though; especially like that, even though he knows clearly that he will, anyway, sooner or later

- he knows that losing loved ones ends up with sheer disaster for him, yet he isn’t afraid to pay such a high price for those six, five or four decades of being with her. Because these decades are that of a paradise ones for him. Wife and family, as well as stable job, incomes and life conditions, are some sort of physical definitions of sustainability he craves. Especially family, yet it’s far ahead to plan

- The fact that he will have to bury her one day makes her rather depressed, as well as the knowledge that the only thing she can really do about it is to try to bring him as much happiness and comfort as possible before she dies

thank you, i'd say more, but it's too much already

[venomficprompts]

Part Two: Symbiotes and Spider-Man

So, for those of you who watched Venom 2018 and don’t know much about the comics, here’s the quick version of how Spider-Man accidentally introduced an alien species to Earth-616. We will be ignoring Deadpool and the much-maligned Cates run, for the sake of both brevity and sanity.

So, during the Secret Wars comic crossover in 1984, Peter Parker aka Spider-Man found himself on an alien planet in need of costume repairs. He found a machine that produced a black-and-white version of his suit.

It wasn’t until months later, back on Earth, Spidey realized that this self-repairing suit was in fact a sentient alien organism. In fact, it had been puppetting his body around to continue fighting crime while he slept, beating the crap out of even low-level criminals.

He went to Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic for help, but the symbiote broke out of containment and went after Spider-Man again. You see, the symbiote, in its alien way, loved Peter Parker and fighting crime with him. Spider-Man, however, was pretty disturbed to find out he’d had some obsessive space-monster clinging to his body.

To get rid of the symbiote, he went to the belltower of a church and let the intense sounds of the bell drive it off. Peter Parker left, assuming the alien was dead.

Becoming Venom

Here is where we meet Eddie Brock, divorced, suicidal, disgraced journalist. (I’ll do a whole post about Eddie’s life, don’t worry.)

Brock had gone to Our Lady of Saints church to pray for a reason to keep living. He’d written about a serial killer, the Sin Eater, but it turned out his source was making shit up; when Daredevil and Spider-Man caught the real killer, Brock had lost all his credibility and his life had spiraled downward. He’s been writing for trashy tabloids just to keep from being homeless.

He goes to the church, and the symbiote finds him. There’s immediate understanding.

You’ve been abandoned? I’ve been abandoned. Spider-Man ruined your life? He ruined mine too! You want revenge? I want revenge! You know his secret identity?!? I even know where he lives!

The symbiote had been too nervous to try to communicate directly with Peter Parker, but it had no problem with Eddie Brock. It didn’t just stick to his skin, but let his body shape-shift along with itself.

And together they named themselves Venom, seeing Spider-Man as a villain they had to protect the city from.

And Spider-Man would regret accidentally bringing an alien to Earth and then assuming he’d killed it. Not only did the alien spawn eight offspring (Carnage, Scream, Agony, Riot, Lasher, Phage, Mania, and Sleeper), its presence drew more of its kind to the planet as well.

The Venom symbiote didn’t always stay with Eddie Brock, because relationship issues are real, but they kept finding each other. Brock was the only one to have a romantic (and possibly sexual) relationship with his symbiote, and even had a full Mpreg storyline with Sleeper.

[josefavomjaaga]

Helfert, Joachim Murat, Chapter 7

Helfert adds a brief last chapter about what happened after Murat’s death; it is more of an epilogue, actually.

7. Murat's Heirs.

The Prince of Canosa was in Castrovillari on October 14 when news arrived from Pizzo that all was over, whereupon he changed his mind and returned to Naples. At court, too, the outcome was already known. On the evening of the 14th, the news was telegraphed to the king, who immediately went to Princess Partanna, where Count Mocenigo was visiting. Through the latter, who visited our envoy in his theatre box, Jablonovski heard about it the same evening. The next morning Circello issued a circular to the foreign legations with a brief announcement of the event, the details of which were not yet known. The news caused almost undivided consternation in these circles, but this did not prevent Ferdinand IV from holding a ball at his Favorita that same evening, as he regularly did every Sunday, and from discussing the catastrophe of Pizzo with the foreign diplomats to the cheerful sounds of music and lively dances. Truly, the peasant's son from Bastide-Fortunière had, when he was informed of the death of his mortal enemy Maria Karolina in the distant Hegendorf, shown more tact and royal decency than the purple-blooded Ferdinand at the news of his chivalrous adversary's sad end. On the 17th, Luigi de' Medici, in his capacity as temporary Minister of Police, gave a detailed report on the course of events of Murat's enterprise and on the reasons for the sentence passed against him, excerpts of which were reported to the public two days later in the government newspaper.

Around the same time, the king received an address of homage and devotion from the citizens and another from the cathedral chapter of Pizzo. They received everything they asked for and could only wish for. The town of Pizzo was given the title of "most faithful", its syndici, elected and deputies were awarded a golden medal - obverse: bust of Ferdinand, reverse: "Ob egregiam urbis Pitii fidelitatem; postridie nonas octobris MDCCCXV" - for ever. The municipality was granted freedom from all taxes and consumption duties for now and forever, its inhabitants were to be supplied with the salt they needed, and its unfinished cathedral was to be expanded at royal expense. Finally, it was decided to erect a monument at the place where Murat had been overcome and captured, which would bear witness to the event and the royal favours attached to it for posterity.

Ferdinand was not entirely without concern as to what friendly courts would say to his having taken such a decisive step without first consulting their representatives. The King and his First Minister thought they had all the more reason to be uneasy about this point, as both Jablonovski and Mocenigo made somewhat long faces, and thought their cabinets would not easily get over this disregard. The Russian envoy in particular, wherever the event was mentioned, spoke in such an intemperate manner that the King was seriously displeased. Only A'Court spoke in just the opposite sense: The case of Murat was so glaring that the proceedings of the court were completely justified; he was convinced that his cabinet would agree with him. Jablonovski, too, had to admit on the whole that Ferdinand could not have acted otherwise; that the armed invasion and the expressed intention of dethroning the king and revolutionising the country demanded strict and swift justice; he was convinced that if Ferdinand, in order to await the consent of the allied powers, had allowed his prisoner to be taken into the interior of the country, the Muratists would have mustered all their forces, would have set in motion all means to arouse an insurrection in their favour and, in any case, would have involved and exposed a multitude of persons, since, on the other hand, all further mischief was now prevented by the death of one man.... .. Nevertheless, Jablonovski, at least it seemed, was not sure how the Allies would judge the event, shrugged his shoulders at Circello, did not conceal his fears from the King that such a hasty procedure would be perceived as a lack of consideration for Ferdinand's high allies, and so on.

But the answer that arrived from Paris was quite different. It was more of a rebuke, with which the Prince-Chancellor instructed his Neapolitan envoy that he should not have become involved in this matter in the first place, but should have acted as an uninvolved observer. Attacked in His States," said the despatch dated November 4, "by a party leader whose royal dignity he had never recognised and who came bearing arms to incite his subjects to rebellion, to light the torch of civil war and to threaten the tranquillity of Italy, the King was allowed to consult no one but His and His country's interests, to which he would undoubtedly have done harm if he had first consulted with his allies as to the fate fully deserved by Murat, who, by the audacity of his punishable enterprise, had placed himself outside the law." The Austrian passport that Murat had in his hands did not therefore place him under Austrian protection; for the bearer had made a different, indeed criminal, use of it than that for which the document was intended. At the moment when he preferred to take a foolhardy risk, he had renounced the protection and the benefit which Austria had intended for him, etc. ... Since Metternich only formulated his decision after he had consulted the representatives of the allied powers in Paris, it was actually to be regarded as a statement by the latter and was addressed not only to Jablonovski but just as well to Mocenigo, and in general to all those who had made themselves important in this matter ...

Only now did King Ferdinand IV of Naples and Sicily, or as he soon called himself following the example of the Napoleonids, "Ferdinand I of Both Sicilies", sit firmly on his throne, unchallenged on all sides. His former adversary and tormentor of Palermo, Lord William Bentinck, did appear once more in his capital, but only to collect his lady, with whom he returned to Rome. The vexatious negotiation which had taken place between him and Earl Nugent in the last days of September had been badly noted by Bentinck's ministry. The machinations and quarrels, from which he had not wished to desist even then, when he no longer had a command or an office to interfere in the affairs of Italy, had caused his government more than one embarrassment, wherefore it now sent him the well-meant advice to depart without noise from a scene in which he had made so much talk of himself throughout a lustrum.

In no. 158 of the "Giornale delle Due Sicilie" of 23. November, two decrees were published, dated the 6th, signed by the King and countersigned by Tommaso di Somma: one to Alvaro Ruffo, who was awarded the title of Prince, a seat and a vote in the Council of State, the Grand Cross of the Order of Ferdinand and a pardon of 6000 ducats a year for his persevering loyalty to life, for his many services, but above all for bringing about the Austro-Napolitan alliance treaty, "diretto a discacciare l'usurpatore Murat"; the other to Serra-Capriola, who was likewise awarded the Grand Cross and an annual pension of 2000 ducats. The first letter, which was written in a particularly warm manner, was, as Jablonovski reported to Vienna, "largely edited by the king himself", just as Ferdinand in general, ever since Maria Karolina was not at his side, intervened more in business, had especially important coded dispatches from his envoys addressed directly to his person, etc. His ministers sometimes only learned the contents the next day, whereas the Princess of Partanna knew how to find out the secret before they did. As is well known, she had to promise her royal lover, before he took her to the altar, not to interfere in affairs of state; but our envoy doubted whether this relationship would last long; in time, he thought, she would gain it over the king and break the fetters he had put on her.

It remains to add a word about the fate of Joachim Murat's companions on his last journey; one of them, Domenico Franceschetti, has reported on it in detail.

After the ex-king had disappeared from the scene, Ferdinand granted his supporters mercy for justice. On 27 October, they were taken from their place of detention to the island of Ventotiene, where they were joined by a hundred other Muratists, the crew of two other barques, who had been carried by the storm to the coast of Calabria citeriore and captured by Ferdinand's troops. On 17 January 1816, after receiving complete amnesty from the King at the presentation of the Minister of War Saint-Clair, they left the small island and, after all sorts of unpleasant perils, arrived at Porto-Ferrajo and then on to Livorno, where they appealed to the Grand Duke of Tuscany for an asylum. Count Narbonne had assured them from Naples that his king would not be outdone in magnanimity by Ferdinand IV, whereupon they sailed for Corsica. Here the Marquis de la Rivière, who had already proved so spiteful against Murat in Toulon, intervened and now received his followers only to have them arrested and put in chains. Even their relatives, especially Franceschetti's family, where one suspected hidden treasures of the ex-king, were treated inhumanely, so that in some parts of the island ferment arose and even riots broke out, which were bloodily suppressed until Rivière was succeeded by the more conciliatory Gen.Lieut. Willot. Nevertheless, the Muratists were continually treated as prisoners, brought from Corsica to Marseilles and imprisoned in If Castle, where the officers in particular, eighteen in number, had to endure a very hard time. The soldiers, on the other hand, were released from their bonds at the beginning of June and assigned to different troop bodies.

In the first days of August, five of the officers, including Franceschetti, Natali and Ottaviani, were transported to the prison of Draguignan, in the Var department, where they were to answer to the Prévôt court, which declared itself to be without jurisdiction. After many representations, letters of justification, petitions for clemency, an order from the Minister of Police, Décazes, dated 6 January 1817, finally opened the doors of their dungeons, whereupon they received permission to return home on 16 February.

And what became of Captain Barbara, who rascally or cowardly abandoned his king and lord, to whom he owed everything he was and had, in the moment of need? Franceschetti no longer mentions him, and elsewhere I have found nothing about him.

[ebaeschnbliah]

CHANGING  OF  THE  GUARD

________________________________________________________________

A metaphorical reading of Sherlock BBC, The Sign of Three (and beyond)

The beginning of Sherlock BBC, The Sign of Three, really leaves no doubt what the theme of its story is about. When the eye of the camera zooms slowly in on Speedy’s and the famous black door with the number 221 in Baker Street, it seems to take it’s path right through a literal wood of pointy, black spears. Fences built of iron spears that guard the place..

It starts with a row of spears in the forground. When those get blurry, even more spears from midfield move into focus. Finally the camera reveals spears also in the background. That makes three levels of spears, one might say.

Three levels of spears stand like guardians in front of 221b Baker Street. Could those three levels symbolize the three stabbing victims of The Sign of Three? After all, each one of the three characters is depicted as guard, as protector ... and each one of them gets stabbed. 

TBC below the cut ...

Stephen Bainbridge 

He is a Private in the Household Guard of the Queen. The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. The current regiment is known as the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards … ’Every foot soldier bears the mark’  (Soo Lin, TBB). How surprising is it that the ‘East’ zooms in on Bainbridge before he gets stabbed by Jonathan Small? 

Also … the gesture of the woman is interesting. Two Vs make a W (or a M … depends on the turning). It also lets me think of Culverton Smith’s W-gesture in TLD, in the short clip with the man disguised as cock (x).

Modern Grenadier Guardsmen wear a cap badge of a "grenade fired proper" with seventeen flames (x). Foot soldiers linked to exploding grenades … what a lovely coincidence, especially regarding the ‘passions’ grenade from TFP. :)

When the changing of the guards takes place, Bainbridge is already wounded and slowly dying. He got stabbed before the changing.

The name Stephen is of Greek origin and means ‘crown’ and ‘that which surrounds’. Saint Stephen was stoned to death and is regarded as the very first Christian martyr. 

Another little detail caught my attention as well. Just a word used twice to describe a person. 

SHERLOCK: “Elite Guard.” JOHN: Forty enlisted men and officers. SHERLOCK: Why this particular Grenadier? Curious.

And in TRF Sherlock sais:

SHERLOCK: This little boy; this particular little boy ... who reads all of those spy books. What would he do? JOHN: He’d leave a sign?

Max Bruhl left a sign. Stephen Bainbridge wrote a note. Not much of a difference, I think.

Guardsmen   Max and Claudette

 James Sholto

He is a retired Major of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers and Captain John Watson’s old commanding officer. A decorated war hero but not to everyone. Something went wrong when he led a team of new recruits into battle. ‘They all died’ (just like AGRA). Major Sholto, badly wounded, was the only survivor. Press and families gave him hell. Deaththreats and hate almost turned him into a recluse, into a most unsociable man, who spends his retirement way out in the middle of nowhere.

I’m quite sure this has been mentioned before, the 5th Northumberland Regiment on Foot (’foot soldiers’ too) still uses their ancient badge … St George killing the dragon (x)   Every quiver of his beating heart

‘He destroyed us all’  …  somehow these words sound very similar to the one Sherlock uses in TFP, in a situation where he considers himself to be a soldier: ‘Five minutes. It took her just five minutes to do all of this to us. Well, not on my watch.’ 

As mentioned above, Mary’s dialogue in TST matches the description about the incident with Sholto’s recruits almost identically …  ‘something went wrong’/’but it went wrong’ … ‘I was the only one who made it our’/’they all died; he was the only survivor’. And Mary considered AGRA to be her family ... ‘we were family’. 

Major John Sholto is an original character from ACDs novel The Sign of Four. His sons are called Thaddeus and Bartholomew. The renaming of the Major’s first name - from John to James - must have been a deliberate choice. A choice which is reflected in the skip code of TEH ‘John or James Watson … saint or sinner ... James or John’, as well as in John Watson’s middle name … Hamish (Scottish for James).

Major Sholto’s room number is ‘two oh seven’. This reminds me of the ‘double oh seven’ codeword for the ‘flight of the dead’ in ASIB. Two and double …. both means 2. Sure, the number on the door reads 207 but then, it happens several times in this story, that things told and things shown are sometimes not quite the same or vis versa. 

When the wedding guests leave the church and the reception takes place, Sholto is already wounded and slowly dying. He has been stabbed before.

Sherlock investigates the cases of both guardians

Bainbridge’s note reaches him sometime during the wedding preparations. John and Sherlock arrive just in time to save Private Bainbridge’s life. The case though remains unsolved.

Without knowing it at the time, Sherlock investigates Sholto’s case during John’s stag night. They call the investigation of the ghost-man the ‘Mayfly Man’ case. It remains also unsolved.

Sherlock includes both unsolved cases into his best man speech at John’s wedding and here at last, all the puzzle pieces fall into place and Sherlock is able to solve both cases, which are closely related. As a consequence Major Sholto’s life can be saved as well. 

The person responsible for the attempts to kill Private Bainbridge and Major Sholto is:

Jonathan Small

‘Brilliant, ruthless, almost certainly a monomaniac - though, in fairness, his photographs are actually quite good’ … that’s how Sherlock describes the killer. Small’s motive is revenge. He is convinced that Major Sholto is responsible for the death of Small’s brother Peter, who had been among the killed recruits. It seems that Private Bainbridge merely had the misfortune and got randomly chosen for the rehearsal of Sholto’s murder. But ... why this particular 'foot soldier’? (I’ll come back to that question later)

Jonathan Small grins like Jim Moriarty and wears a checkered shirt like John. He is a brilliant, ruthless monomaniac and obviously also a womaniizer who has no problems to woo half a dozen women, almost at the same time, into telling him well-kept secrets. Basically … a perfect blend of Jim Moriarty and traditional John ‘three continents’ Watson. 

Like Major Sholto, Jonathan Small too is an original character from ACDs novel The Sign of Four. His name has not been changed. Only together with his female and not-canon counterpart Janine, Mary’s bridesmaid, who seems to be a lovely blend of Irene and Jim, the name chosen for the antagonist of this episode, appears to gain a special significance. 

Janine - deiminutive of Jeanne, female form of John … ‘little Johnny’

Jonathan - diminutives are Jon, Jonni ... though not related to ‘John’ regarding the meaning of the name, it can still be heard as … ‘little Jonny’  (’You can talk, Johnny-boy. Go ahead.‘ Jim, TGG)

None other than ‘little Jo(h)nny’ (the H makes the difference) is responsible for the almost murder of Private Bainbridge and Major Sholto, the first two stabbing victims of this episode. 

‘Little Johnny’ also happens to be another word for penis … the ‘meat dagger’.

Who’s the third ‘victim’ then?

Mary Elizabeth Morstan

She is a character full of surprises who starts as a simple nurse who marries John Watson in TSOT. Among Sherlock’s deduction-word-cloud in TEH the term ‘guardian’ can be found and only one episode after the ‘wedding’, Sherlock outs her as facade … his very own facade, because the Empty Houses in Leinster Gardens, on whose front walls Mary’s face is projected, are Sherlock’s property. 

Mary Elizabeth Morstan isn’t her real name either. It’s the name of a stillborn child from a gravestone in Chiswick Cementry. This connects her character to the other stillborn child of this story ... Rachel Wilson, the pink lady’s daughter from ASIP. The initials A.G.R.A. stand for Mary’s true name, she tells later … but soon this turns out to be incorrect as well. A.G.R.A. was a group of four undercover agents who worked for the British Government. Prior to her ‘retirement’ Mary had been a member of that group. Sherlock describes her as ‘super-agent with a terrifying skill set’. Based on the current status, her two first names are Rosamund Mary … the family name is still unknown (if there even is one). 

Why should Mary be the third stabbing victim?

Readers of my theories will probably know that I’m playing for a long time now with a mind palace scenario which stretches from the beginning, most likely in PILOT (or even before) to the end of S4 (x). Back then I wondered ...

Is it really so farfetched to consider the possibility that Sherlock tries to deduce and solve the mysteries and problems of his own live - and his falling in love with John - at first in his mind? Before he comes out?

Over decades - since ACD - the story of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson has been told by the famous 'unreliable narrator’. Could it be that this time - with Sherlock BBC - the world will get the true story? Finally told by Sherlock himself? By looking right into his heart and mind and soul? By showing how his brilliant mind works? How his heart and soul expand and grow?

Would TPTB do such a thing? Stay in Sherlock’s mind over the span of multiple episodes? Follow his train of thought … show his evolution … in such a way? I don’t know. But it sounds thrilling to me. (Nov 2016)

Based on those early ideas I gradually came to the conclusion that Sherlock BBC tells the story of how Sherlock Holmes deduced his own persona. He does this the same way he investigates his criminal cases … by setting up scenarios in his mind and repeating those until he has found the correct solution (The Stage is set). Investigating his own case - the pink one - in such a way, would mean that all the characters which appear on Sherlock’s ‘mind stage’ represent different aspects of himself. Some of them may be based on real life persons, most of them are probably entirely created by Sherlock’s imagination. I like to compaire this process to a ‘mind journey’ or to a long (dramatic) dialogue, Sherlock holds with himself. This propably doesn’t happen during a dream or in a state of coma, as I thought back in 2016. A lot of time and thinking has gone by since then. Nowadays I presume that a conscious thinking process would fit better with the literal character Sherlock Holmes, whose deductions are always built on facts, science, reason and logic. It would be rather OOC that a man like Holmes would base an important, life changing decision on anything else than his razor sharp mind. Anyway, it’s just one of many theories.

Mary now … ever since I noticed the lot of similarities this character shares with Sherlock (x) my view on her started to change considerably. To me she isn’t the woman anymore who comes between Sherlock and John but instead the facade Sherlock Holmes created and married to his traditional, eternal friendship with John Watson for the sole purpose, to hide his romantic feelings and his sexual desire for the friend behind this protective wall. Mary is Sherlock’s facade, his guardian, his firewall … because:

John can’t ever know that I lied to him. It would break him and I would lose him forever – and I will never let that happen. Please … understand. There is nothing in this world that I would not do to stop that happening.

In my opinion, these are Sherlock’s own words and they express his fear of what might happen to the uinque friendship he shares with John, if the friend ever discovers the true nature of his feelings for him. Sherlock would do anything to stop that happening, even if this means that he has to incarcerate his emotions inside a high-security facility, behind elephant glass and chain his sexuality with iron bonds to a wall in a padded cell, like a hound from hell.  

The ‘meat dagger’ incident

Sherlock tells the wedding guests - Major Sholto sits among them - about the unsolved Bainbridge case and asks if any of them has got a theory how that guard might have been stabbed. What kind of murderer can walk through walls, which weapon can vanish? Molly’s fiancé Tom (both characters are mirrors for John and Sherlock) assumes it could be a case of ‘attempted suicice by meat dagger’ ... something that would have been self administered. 

A lot has been written since then about the ‘meat dagger’ as a metaphor for 'penis’ …. for ‘little Johnny’.  :)

Sherlock sees only one feature of interest in the whole case … while he tried to solve the mystery, the eternal friend saved the life of the guard. And just the same happens a little while later with Major Sholto, the other guardian. It turns out that both men - both guardians - have been stabbed by the same killer … Jonathan Small … little Jonny, the meat dagger ....

There’s only one other character in this episode who has been stabbed unknowingly as well. That’s Mary. And in her case it’s indeed … ‘stabbed by meat dagger’ because Sherlock deduces her pregnancy by the end of the episode. Or expressed in computer language:  the firewall has been penetrated by the virus.

The ‘father’ might be John or David, Mary’s ex. It doesn’t matter if one views the story metaphorically where all characters represent aspects of Sherlock himself. Going by his looks, David is clearly a mirror for John, while his history regarding the constant online observation of Mary, connects him to Mycroft, the brain. David seems to be a ‘blended’ mirror like Jonathan Small (John/Jim) or Janine (Irene/Jim). A mirror who represents the ongoing interest of the brain in the feelings hidden behind the facade. 

When Sherlock marries John and Mary, he puts a guardian in front of his true feelings for the friend. He tries to ‘downgrade’ those feelings. And yet, Sherlock allows three ‘social ancounters a year’ but ‘always in John’s - the traditional friendship’s presence’. That sounds very much like the ‘calculated risk’ Mycroft takes with Eurus. Both ‘brothers’ seem to be ‘love-addicts’ in need of a fix, once in a while … when the burden of ‘holding oneself to a higher standard’, of ‘keeping oneself right’ gets too heavy … or too boring. In that case it could propably happen that one takes the frustration out on the wall … then the wall has it coming …  :)

The moment of revelation

When Sherlock is blinded by the flashlight of ‘little Jo(h)nni’s’ camera, he suddenly realizes that the cases of Bainbridge and Sholto are connected. That the stabber has to be the same person. It’s the moment when the first domino piece falls and knocks over the next, and the next, and the next …. leading to a chain reaction of revelations at the end of which Sherlock knows without any doubt that his new facade had been penetrated again … this time though by a ‘kill shot’. He’d been hit by AMO (the perfect ammonition), fired by the crack shot that is his eternal friend. The seed of love has been laid without Sherlock noticing the ‘chink in his armour’ through which Cupid’s arrow hit home. Now love has taken root behind his facade and is growing. 

The name chosen for that love is Rosamund - Rose of the world, as the dialogue in TST confirms. There’s a real rose of that name - Rosa Mundi - an old rose depicted in a work of Sandro Botticelli “Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child”. This rose is also known by the synonym ‘rosa versicolor’ - which means ‘rose of many or changing colours ... iridiscent’.

The word iridescence is derived in part from the Greek word ἶρις îris , meaning rainbow, It is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. (X)

Sherlock - the ‘virgin’ he is called in ASIB by Jim and Irene - announces the pregnancy of Mary (I still wonder if this means that he is the 'Gabriel’ of A.G.R.A. - the angel who announces virgin Mary’s pregnancy). And during the stag night, John is labeled with ‘Madonna’. Another name for Virgin Mary. This turns the eternal friend also into the ‘virgin’, just like Sherlock and Mary. Another ‘sign of three’ one could say. 

Three virgins - three novices - who will now start a new journey on a way they have never travelled before. Sherlock will finally encounter romantic love and accept it ‘it is what it is’, the facade will ‘get retired in a pretty permanent sort of way’ as the brain blatantly puts it in TST and the traditional ‘eternal’ friendship will have to change into a romantic-sexuell relationship. A morphing together of friendship and sex - John and James - would be a quite logical consequence, I guess.

In TST the little baby is christened with the name Rosamund, a name that can be traced back to ‘rainbow’ … Rosie for short.  And rosy=pink!

‘Oh, what a night! ... I was never gonna be the same … I felt a rush like a rollin' ball of thunder spinnin' my head around n' takin' my body under’ 

No wonder this song has been chosen by the creators to accompany this scene. Overwhelmed by emotions - surprise, confusion, amazement, shock, joy, panic, uncertainty, concern, fear - Sherlock isn’t able anymore to carry on with this ‘wedding’ .... with this renewed ‘changing of the guard’. He walks away alone into the night. The case is solved. Sherlock is aware of what happened. Now he has to deal with the consequences. Should he really replace his guardian again or should he finally stop pretending, stop lying, drop the facade and confess his deepest secret?

Because if you tell them and they decide they’d rather not know, you can’t take it back. You can’t unsay it. Once you’ve opened your heart, you can’t close it again.

This confrontation, Sherlock fights with himself, becomes the centrepiece of the following episode (HLV) where Sherlock is completely torn into. One half of his being, still protected by the facade, is at war with the ... ‘other one’, the slowly increasing emotional side of him. But somewhere deep inside his mind he probably knows already that this is a war ‘he must lose’. And so Sherlock has to go deeper ...

TAB doesn’t only take Sherlock back to his literal roots. In this episode Sherlock investigates again two of the main threads of the story and ties them together through the ‘bride’ … FALL and HOUND. Mary, the facade, feels already ‘left behind’ and John, who represents Sherlock’s now fully acknowledged, tender feelings, directed at his friend ... ‘does grow up so fast’. The episode ends with Sherlock, who throws himself into a torrent of water=emotions and follows Jim Moriarty, Mr Sex, down the Reichenbach Fall … right into the emotional rollercoaster that is Series Four. 

Like the investigation in TAB, this series runs backwards as well. TST repeats the events of S2 and S3 while TLD zooms in on S1. I persume this happens because Sherlock applies an ability he describes to Dr. Watson as ... ‘reasoning backwards’:

“In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backwards. That is a very useful accomplishment, and a very easy one, but people do not practise it much. In the every-day affairs of life it is more useful to reason forwards, and so the other comes to be neglected. There are fifty who can reason synthetically for one who can reason analytically…Let me see if I can make it clearer. Most people, if you describe a train of events to them, will tell you what the result would be. They can put those events together in their minds, and argue from them that something will come to pass. There are few people, however, who, if you told them a result, would be able to evolve from their own inner consciousness what the steps were which led up to that result. This power is what I mean when I talk of reasoning backwards, or analytically.”  (ACD  A Study in Scarlet, Conclusion) 

There’s one important change though, which will alter everything. Sherlock now adds baby Rosie, the pink seed of love, the AMO-factor, to his equation. As a consequence his mask, his facade - that what ‘thatched’ and guarded him - crumbles and falls. And Sherlock accepts the change … It is what it is. 

Then, in TFP, the third episode of S4, Sherlock puts the results of his deductions under the sharp lens of his emotional core, for the ultimate experiment … the final distillation … to produce at last a clear solution. Still missing is the chemical reaction that should follow the application of that solution, one might say. :)

Back to the three ‘guardians’

My husband is three people

During the wedding preparations, John tries to interst Sherlock for this curious case. John says the sentence ‘my husband is three people’ twice, interupted only by this short dialogue:

SHERLOCK: Major James Sholto. Who he? MARY: Oh, John’s old commanding officer. 

Taking John’s words ‘my husband is three people’ literally, then he is talking about his own husband … which will soon be Mary. Husband, not wife, because Mary represents an aspect of Sherlock, his facade, his cover ... his ‘thatch’. As mentioned above, when Sherlock marries John to Mary, he puts a guardian in front of his true feelings for the friend … one could also say …. he places a commander at their/his side. And this is exactly what Mary does in later episodes. She decides who mowes the lawn, chooses the name of the baby and that it is her to take John home and not vis versa. 

Husbands can be equated with facades, with commanders, with guards. All of them serve as protectors and defenders of Sherlock’s true feelings for the friend. 

Who could have been the first ‘husband’ … the first facade, the first guardian?

Neither of us were the first

This is what Mary tells Sherlock, while John welcomes his ‘privious’ commander. Is she really talking about sexuell experiences of her brand-new husband with another man, just to taunt Sherlock? Viewing the Mary-character as an aspect of Sherlock himself and not as a real wife that comes between two men, I heavily doubt this. Applying a metaphorical reading to the story, wouldn’t it be much more likely that this conversation is about their - Mary’s and Sholto’s - assigned profession. Neither of us were the first … guardian.

Mary is the husband to be, the most recently chosen facade, John’s new commanding officer, an undercover agent of the government.

Major James Sholto is John’s old commanding officer, Sherlock’s previous facade, which turned out to be not strong enough. 

The only other guard in this story is Stephen Bainbridge, Private in the Household Guard of the Queen. The foot soldier named after Saint Stephen, the first martyrer. 

And isn’t there somthing strikingly similar regarding those three guards as well as a noticeable increase in drama and strength, which so often happens when sequences are repeated on Sherlock’s mind stage?

Private Bainbridge guards the Queens Palace. The ‘East’ zoomes in on him, then he get’s stabbed by ‘little Jonny’ - the meat dagger - without noticing it. A changing of the guard takes place. Bainbridge almost dies beneath a shower of water.

Major Sholto guards the Queens country. He fights on a battlefield in the East beneath a burning hot sun. Something goes wrong and all the recruits under his command die. Badly wounded himself, Sholto has to leave the service and change into retirement. He gets stabbed by ‘little Jonny’ - the meat dagger - and almost dies.

Mary secretly works for Mycroft, the government, the ‘queen’ -  as an undercover ‘super-agent with a terrifying skill set’. Her last operation took place in the East. Something went wrong and a lot of people died. It first looked as if Mary had been the only surviver (like Sholto). She marries ‘Johnny-boy’ Watson, gets stabbed by his meat dagger, becomes pregnant and …. dies not long after ‘PINK-RAINBOW-ROSIES’ birth.

The Sign of Three is about the ‘changing of the guard’. It takes place inside Sherlock’s head. But the marriage of John and Mary, that Sherlock arranges so heartbreakingly beautiful (and so strikingly yellow), turns out to be utterly pointless. Because the bride, the husband, the new commander, the facade is already pregnant ... had been stabbed before the wedding ... before the changing of the guard. 

The Yellow Face connection

This isn’t new. It has been discussed before in this interesting meta  About Yellow Face  by @darlingtonsubstitution  (sadly the part below the cut is gone) from 2017. As mentioned in the comments there, the creators of Sherlock BBC once refered to their favourite ACD stories. Yellow Face was among them but ... they wouldn’t be able to adapt it, because of the sensitive content, they said. This isn’t quite true though, it seems. On the contrary, the colour yellow features most prominently in Sherlock BBC … and not just the colour itself. 

It starts with Sherlock’s and John’s first date at Angelo’s. The whole scene is drenched in yellow. PILOT even more than ASIP.

A secret code of ancient cyphers, sprayed in yellow paint, leads to the Yellow Dragon Circus. 

Golden cats and big ‘yellow’ felines - lions - roam the story. 

Yellow is the colour of the smiley face on the wall of the 221b living room. 

There’s an assassin who carries a yellow ladder and a yellow tool case with a gun in it. 

A bright yellow mask has been placed inside a box, alongside a train, a phone, nicotin patches and a note. 

The main colour of the wedding ... bright yellow. It’s the wedding that leads Sherlock to the revelation ... to his love deduction. 

A canary trainer, a trainer of yellow birds, turns out to be the killer. 

Norbury, the case of the Yellow Face from canon, plays a vital role in TST 

The finish of a race is marked with a bright yellow band that floats slowly to the ground while a ‘confessing’ serial killer, who is a mirror for John, passes as winner, signaling a W with his fingers, while the fingers from the ‘East’,, next to Private Bainbridge, signal a double V.

Yellow is the colour of the sun, of fire, flames and explosions.

Yellowbeard ….

But one of the most important links to Yellow Face is the following one:

JOHN: Mary, I may not be a very good man, but I think I’m a bit better than you give me credit for, most of the time. (Sherlock BBC, TST) 'I am not a very good man, Effie, but I think that I am a better one than you have given me credit for being.'  (Grant Munro, The Adventure of the Yellow Face)

This piece of dialogue connects John to Grant Munro, the husband of Effie, the woman who hides her secret child from a previous marriage behind a yellow mask. She doesn’t do it out of some dark or sinister motive as Sherlock Holmes is convinced at first. Her former marriage had been legal and she'd loved her late husband dearly. Lucy, her little girl, can truly be called a child of love. But Effie fears to reveal Lucy, because the girl is ‘different' and the mother is anxious to lose the man she loves now, because of this. She is torn into between the love for her child and the love for her husband.

She (Effie) drew a large silver locket from her bosom. 'You have never seen this open.'

'I understood that it did not open.'

She touched a spring, and the front hinged back. There was a portrait within of a man, strikingly handsome and intelligent, but bearing unmistakable signs upon his features of his African descent.  (ACD, The Yellow Face)

ACDs Yellow Face is a case without crime, without any devious betrayal. Instead, it’s about love and the fear to lose  love, because at that time in ACDs story, it’s about a love not accepted by many. 

'That is John Hebron, of Atlanta,' said the Lady (Effie), 'and a nobler man never walked the earth. I cut myself off from my race in order to wed him; but never once while he lived did I for one instant regret it. It was our misfortune that our only child took after his people rather than mine.   (ACD, The Yellow Face)

In ACDs Yellow Face, the ‘first husband’ is of ‘African descent’ … just like Private Bainbridge, who is the ‘first guardian’ - the first of the three ‘identical husbands’ - in Sherlock BBC, The Sign of Three. He is the one who represents Sherlock’s earliest facade … the guardian of the Queen’s Palace.

Just like @darlingtonsubstitution presumed more than two years ago, I’m now more convinced than ever, that Moffat and Gatiss did adapt ACDs Yellow Face and they not only included it in Sherlock BBC, they made it into the main theme of their story (beside ‘hound’, ‘fall’ and ‘scarlet/pink’). In their version though, the focus shifts from ‘unacceptable’ skin-colour to ‘unacceptable’ sexuality. 

Sherlock BBCs baby ... Rosie ... Sherlock’s baby ... represents love. And this love is pink and has been given a name that can be traced back to ‘Rainbow’. The Sign of Three tells the story of the ‘changing of the guards’ and how Sherlock finally discovers the AMO-factor that will alter his life completely.

When I discoverd Sherlock BBC for the first time (back in 2011) I was thrilled by that fascinating crime drama and its two charismatic leads. Now, after 13 episodes, it has grown into so much more than just an excellent crime drama among others. The way I read it, Sherlock BBC is a wonderful and stunning story about equality. Inside Sherlock’s mind, the great detective doesn’t only solve the greatest secret of his life. No, the actors Sherlock chooses to represent the different aspects of his persona, are as diverse as the colours of the rainbow. They are old and young, male and female, beautiful and ugly, strong and weak, rich and poor. Neither gender, sexuality nor the shade of skin colour or from which corner on this planet someone comes, is of any importance. Anyone can be a part of this Sherlock Holmes. That’s what makes this adaptation so absolutely unique to me. Sherlock himself becomes the rainbow of his own story. 

Thanks for reading to anyone who is still there. :))))  I leave you to your own deductions. And thanks @callie-ariane​ for your invaluable scripts.

December, 2019

________________________________________________________________

Episode spanning metaphorical reading of Sherlock BBC: 

From PILOT to TGG  ….      About the meaning of S1 

From ASIB to TEH  ….  The big question - what is the meaning of Reichenbach

[madamebaggio]

THE FLEET IS COMPLETE!

As I’ve said, now we have our 50 ships and there won’t be any new ships, but still many more adventures.

Our complete list is:

Robb Stark (Game of Thrones) X Arthur Pendragon (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword) 

Tauriel (The Hobbit) x Valkyrie (MCU)

Napoleon Solo (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) X Miriam “Midge” Maisel (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)

Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) X Diana Prince (Wonder Woman)

Vortigern Pendragon (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword) x Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones)

Erik Lehnsherr (X-Men: First Class) X Susan Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia)

James T. Kirk (Star Trek) X Rey (Star Wars)

Klaus Mikaelson (The Originals) x Kisa | Santanico Pandemonium (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series)

Daisy “Quake” Johnson (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) X Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Kingsman)

Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl) X Stiles Stilinski (Teen Wolf)

Beverly Marsh (It) x Eleven | Jane Hopper (Stranger Things)

Matt Murdock (Daredevil) X Selina Kyle (Catwoman)

Lydia Martin (Teen Wolf) X Bucky Barnes (MCU)

Natasha Romanoff (MCU) X John Wick (John Wick)

Darcy Lewis (MCU) x Derek Hale (Teen Wolf)

Joseph Dredd (Dredd) x Octavia Blake (The 100)

Maria Hill (MCU) x Merlin (Kingsman)

Thranduil (The Hobbit) X Loki Odinson (MCU)

Steve Rogers (MCU) x Mera (DCU)

Dean Winchester (Supernatural) x Wynonna Earp (Wynonna Earp)

Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones) x Clarke Griffin (The 100)

Ravenna (Snow White and the Huntsman) X Morgana (Merlin)

Murphy and Connor MacManus (The Boondock Saints) x Anna Poliatova (Anna)

Frank Martin (The Transporter) x Lorraine Broughton (Atomic Blonde)

Baby Doll (Sucker Punch) x Priest (Priest) 

Gretel (Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters) X Prince Nuada (Hellboy: The Golden Army)

Margaery Tyrell (Game of Thrones) X Roan (The 100)

Maleficent (Maleficent) X Jareth (The Labyrinth)

Dutch (Killjoys) x Leonard McCoy (Star Trek)

Sam Winchester (Supernatural) X Felicity Smoak (Arrow)

Diana Bishop (A Discovery of Witches) x John Constantine (Constantine)

Queen Freya (The Huntsman: Winter’s Wars) x Conan (Conan The Barbarian)

Roxy Morton (Kingsman) x Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons (Agents of the S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Faramir (The Lord of the Rings) x Jon Snow (Game of Thrones)

Lucian (Underworld)  x Tamara (Conan The Barbarian)

Snake Eyes (G.I. Joe) x Katia Von Dees (Hitman Agent 47)

Rosa Diaz (Brooklyn 99) x Kate Kane (Batwoman)

Darth Maul (Star Wars) x Lady Jaye (G.I. Joe)

Hattie Shaw (Hobbs & Shaw) x Jane Kano (Charlie’s Angels)

Face (The A-Team) x Han Cho Bai (Red 2)

Jacob Hood (Eleventh Hour) X Santiago “Pope” Garcia (Triple Frontier)

Selene (Underworld) x Mina Harker (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)

47 (Hitman) x Elena (Charlie’s Angels)

Dagonet (King Arthur) x Brienne of Tarth (Game of Thrones)

Borra (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) x Catia (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword)

Diaval (Maleficent) x Yennefer (The Witcher)

Sabina Wilson (Charlie’s Angels) x Daphne Kluger (Ocean’s Eight)

Lady Sif (MCU) x Sara (The Huntsman) 

Chris Argent (Teen Wolf) x Madison Maxwell (Dollface)

Frank Castle (The Punisher) x Grace (Ready or Not)

For the end of this month we’ll have the Alternate April, which means all these lovely ships in AU situations.

I’ll follow the list below:

Actor AU

Alien AU

Android AU

Angel/Demon AU

Apocalypse AU

Arranged Marriage AU

Artist AU

Art Student AU

Assassin AU

Athlete AU

Author AU

Babysitter AU

Bakery AU

Ballet AU

Band AU

Bartender/Bar AU

Beach AU

Bodyguard AU

Book Store AU

Bounty Hunter AU

Celebrity AU

CEO/Boss AU

Chef AU

Clothing Shop AU

Club AU

Coffee Shop AU

College AU

Coworker AU

Criminal AU

Cyborg AU

Dancer AU

Detective AU

Doctor AU

Enemies AU

Fake Dating/Engagement/Marriage AU

Fire Fighter AU

Gang AU

Haunted House AU

Hero/Villain AU

High School AU

Hogwarts AU

Hospital AU

Jedi AU

Lawyer AU

Library AU

Mafia AU

Magic AU

Mechanic AU

Medieval AU

Mermaid AU

Military AU

Model AU

Modern AU

Musician AU

Neighbor AU

Ninja AU

Office AU

Officer (Police) AU

O/B/A AU

Paranormal Investigator AU

Pirate AU

Road Trip AU

Room Mate AU

Rival AU

Royalty AU

Scientist AU

Soulmate AU

Space AU

Spy AU

Star Trek AU

Street Racing AU

Stripper AU

Student AU

Tattoo Shop AU

Teacher AU

Thief AU

Undercover Cop AU

Vacation AU

Vampire/Vampire Hunter AU

Veterinarian AU

Wedding Planner AU

Werewolf AU

Wild West AU

Witch AU

Wizard AU

Now... If you want to choose a AU for your favorite ship, let me know the name of the ship and the AU here in the comments.

Be daring, choose something completely out of the ordinary for the ships.

I’ll see you at the end of the month.

[nijjhar]

House is built on Rock is Mammon=Free as Saint Paul whilst on Sand Mammo. House is built on Rock is Mammon=Free as Saint Paul whilst on Sand Mammon infested COE. Salvation Army is nearest to God. https://youtu.be/mrlLQ0SIZfA Holy Gospel of our Supernatural Father Elohim, Allah, Parbrahm, etc., delivered by the First Anointed Christ, which in Punjabi we call Satguru Jesus of the highest living God Elohim that dwells within His Temple of God created by the demiurge Potter, the Lord of the Nature Yahweh, Brahma, Khudah, etc., the Greatest Artist of all and it is called Harmandir or “Emmanuel” according to Christ Rajinder. Building the Temple of God on Pure Solid Rock. Peter was assigned the duty to Feed sheep into the One Fold, the Church of God headed by One Shepherd, a Person who has studied no theology at a University, a Child-Like person Christ Jesus, our Bridegroom. Thus, people give away all their worldly possessions, a Solid Rock devoted to worshipping God only with no side attraction for money, the sand as it was displayed by Ananias and Sapphira that were killed for blasphemy against the holy spirit, which is not forgivable. A typical example of blasphemy is of Tony Blair and Bush that Chaudhry Saddam Hussein Khokhar Jatt had WMD, a white lie. Remember Hitler killed the Unfaithful to Abraham and Yahweh Jews outwardly of the physical self and not the spiritual inwardly that John, the Baptist turned them through the Baptism of water in the name of Abraham turning them the Salt of the earth whilst the Temple Priests were making Jews outwardly through circumcision, the tribal mark of Abraham to Isaac and his seed. No one else could be circumcised except the sons of Isaac by his “seed”. Such War Mongers and Criminals Tony Blair and Bush are not allowed into the Church of God built on solid rock, the standard of which was established by Saint Peter. But soon after the death of Jesus and the Apostles, the Messianic Jews entered the Fold with the FORBIDDEN written Torah and established Schools similar to the Temple Priests, the Parable of the Wine-Press, the old Temple that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. So, these hireling Dog-Collared Priests with degrees in Theology are thieves of the order of Judas Iscariot fulfilling Matt 12v43-45 making the situation worse than before the arrival of Christ Jesus. The Catholic and Protestant sectarian riot is a typical example of a situation worse than before the arrival of Jesus. So, if you come across a Monk who does not handle money, please tell him about me. Handling money by working hard as demonstrated by Saint Paul is very good but its roots are bad and we shouldn’t allow this Mammon Tree to flourish. Always speak the Gospel Truth based upon logical reasoning but the once-born people stooges of their Churches would hate you as the Rabbi in Genersate told his stooges to lock those two Saints in the silence of the graveyard with heavy chains so that nobody would listen to them. That is why Jesus drowned 2000 swine in the sea and the Saying goes, “You do not throw Pearls before swine, They will turn around and kill you”. That was also the big reason why Jesus told his Labourers not to tell anyone that He is Christ. Try this Gospel Truth. A Jew is one who is inward, spiritual and not outwardly, the physical tribal person who was born and died but NOT A SINGLE JEW DIED DURING THE HOLOCAIST. Then, you will see how the people will jump at you but God is protecting you when you work for Him. This COE is a typical example of a House built on Sand and it cannot stand the test. In God, we exercise the Divine Love “Agape” in which we have no enemy or stranger as the Archbishop of the COE Dr Runcie tried to bless the Argentinian soldiers as well but Lady Margaret reminded him that he is working for the COE and not Argentine or the COE is not Universal as the Church of God headed by Christ Jesus is. So, the Salvation Army people are nearest to God whilst the COE is nearest to Satan. RACIST COE PROMOTES RACIAL DISCRIMINATION/HATRED WHILST SALVATION ARMY DIVINE UNCONDITIONAL AGAPE. https://youtu.be/eyus1hFMr2s HOW THE DIRTY-HEARTED BRITISH IGNITED THE SECTARIAN CIVIL WAR IN INDIA? The British left India in 1947 but with a very dirty conscience. We Indians of the farming marshal tribes Jatt, Gujjar, Pathan, Arian, Saini, etc., the once-born simpletons served the British faithfully and made them win the two world wars but they colluded with the twice-born shrewd people of business tribes and hypocritically divided our Jatt tribal homeland, Punjab plunging us into the sectarian civil war that could have been avoided. This is how they ignited this civil war:- My ebook by Kindle. ASIN: B01AVLC9WO Full description:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/Rest.htm Any helper to finish my Books:- ONE GOD ONE FAITH:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/bookfin.pdf and in Punjabi KAKHH OHLAE LAKHH:-  www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/pdbook.pdf John's baptism:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/johnsig.pdf Trinity:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/trinity.pdf ..

[armageddon-generation]

The Big Moffat Rewrite: Series 7

Following on from my Series 5 and my Series 6 rewrites

XMAS SPECIAL The Snowmen

The Bells of Saint John

The Rings of Akhaten

Cold War

A Town Called Mercy

The Slow Invasion

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

Asylum of the Cybermen

Nightmare in Silver

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

Hide

Supremacy of the Daleks

Extermination of the Daleks

The Name of the Doctor

The Snowmen

·         11 is still a recluse in Victorian London, but because in my Series 6 he left the Ponds instead of losing them, it’s because he’s convinced he’ll screw up if he travels again. After wiping himself from history he’s lying low, not helping because he’s convinced he’ll make things worse

·         (also he’s totally wallowing in self-pity because of his self-imposed exile from the Ponds)

·         Clara re-convinces him he can make positive change, drags him out of his self-absorption, shows him something new

 CLARA’s CHARACTER

·         Clara gets all of series 7. Moffat originally wanted The Time of the Doctor to be a whole series, so we can fit some of that stuff about the Silence and Trenzalore in here.

·         GIVE CLARA A FUCKING ARC – the Doctor takes an ordinary girl who he thinks is special, and accidentally makes her special

·         Most people seem to prefer Victorian! Clara to her in S7B anyway, so she becomes that flirty, authoritative character by the finale

·         The pieces were already there – her being scared in Cold War compared to her taking charge in Nightmare in Silver, but make it explicit – the Doctor realises he is changing Clara and turning her into the person he met in Victorian London and the Cyberman Asylum

·         This sets up her arcs and relationship with 12 – he brings out the liar in her, forces her to become cold and calculating. This is now already happening with 11

The Rings of Akhaten

·         Introduce Trisha Lem, the head of the Church of the Silence, here. The best part of this episode is The Speech, but we could easily say that the Silence is presiding over the Long Song ceremony to appease the Old God, taking the place of those creatures hunting the little girl. 

·         (I imagine the Church pre-Trenzalore as a kind of Shadow Proclamation for religion - presiding over and safeguarding the religious traditions of species across the universe)

·         This way Trisha and the Silence’s role as confessionals doesn’t come out of nowhere in The Time of the Doctor

·         11 and Trisha’s relationship being so flirty confuses me - as the head of the Church, 11 must associate her with all the pain the Silence caused River and the Ponds. Instead, he acts really flirty but Clara notices he’s faking it – a reflection of their own relationship?

·         Trisha doesn’t understand why 11 is being elusive.

A Town Called Mercy

·         Use this story’s framework – a Western where 11 is forced to protect war criminal – and insert River

·         Partly bc River and Clara interacting seems super interesting

·         River is angry at 11 for ‘replacing’ the Ponds. I also think she’d be competitive with Clara? As she’s scattered all over the Doctor’s timestream, Clara is the only person who really could compete with her

·         As an archaeologist expert on the Doctor River knows about Clara, but can’t tell 11 exactly what she is

·         Also 11 agreeing with River’s more violent methodology is really interesting and shows how they can feed into each other’s dark sides – think River’s line from The Angels Take Manhattan – “One psychopath per TARDIS, don’t you think?”

The Slow Invasion

·         A version of The Power of Three told from the perspective of the Alice character who replaced Craig in S5/6. 11 pops in and out of her life with different versions of Clara

·         It’s revealed that 11 has tried to travel with different versions of Clara before, tracking her down all across the universe, but she always, always dies. Our Clara doesn’t know.

·         Alice is deeply critical of what 11 is doing. She acts almost as his therapist; he comes over for tea and talks to her about what’s going on.

·         Instead of the cubes being alien exterminators, this is a plot buy the Great Intelligence (series 7′s big bad) inspired by the Skith from DWM comic The First and Superman villain Brainiac – i.e. the Intelligence is collecting all information it can about a thing, and then destroys it to stop that knowledge becoming commonplace and therefore losing its value. Specifically, the Intelligence is also investigating Clara (because she keeps appearing across its timeline). The Intelligence’s fascination is a dark parallel to 11’s

·         Alice asks 11 what happened to the Ponds, and he reveals they still think he’s dead. Alice tells 11 to go see them (the ending scenes of The Doctor, the Widow and The Wardrobe). She also tells him to start treating Clara like a real person, not a human question mark

·         11 takes Clara to meet them. River is also there, having dinner. The episode closes with them reconnecting

Pond Life

·         After The Slow Invasion launch this minisode series about life post-11, with River barging in instead of the Doctor

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

·         Tie the TARDIS disliking Clara into the series arc – it’s because the TARDIS knows Clara is an anomaly scattered through the Doctor’s timestream. Have a scene in Journey To the Centre of the TARDIS where 11 argues with the TARDIS about it – “Do you know what she is? You do, don’t you? I miss the time when you could talk and just tell me.”

·         The TARDIS went to the end of the universe to throw Jack Harkness off, and 11 abandoned Future!Amy in The Girl Who Waited because the TARDIS hates paradoxes – this is the same kind of thing, just make it clear by the finale (Clara even jumps into the time stream INSIDE the TARDIS)

·         Clara remembers the events of the episode so she can be be active in the investigation of who she is, (also fixing how the episode undoes the three brothers’ arcs, but still insists they grew as people at the end)

          This represents 11 opening up to her and trusting her more

Asylum of the Daleks (retitled Asylum of the Cybermen)

         Roll Nightmare in Silver and Asylum into a 2-parter, because the best part of Nightmare is Mister Clever. Both episodes even have the same ‘someone’s about to destroy the planet’ ticking time bomb.

         The army fighting the Cybermen kidnap 11 to get him to destroy the Asylum with a bunch of expendable grunts they can afford to lose to a suicide mission.·         Clara meeting/interacting with another version of herself is really interesting, so we keep converted Oswin saving them·

         Changing it to Asylum of the Cybermen makes more sense thematically

        All those people, including Oswin, being converted – the Asylum’s security system is its conversion machinery – attackers become part of the security system. Instead of a nano-cloud, use the tiny upgraded Cybermats·

         It would also be scarier (a haunted hospital a la World Enough and Time- botched cybermen > insane Daleks) and would add an interesting layer to Cyberman lore instead of making the Daleks look weak. It can also use old models to explain the Cybermen’s multiple backstories, touched on in The Doctor Falls (”everywhere there’s people, there’s cybermen,” 12 says)·

         The ‘subtracting love’ thing makes more sense with cybermen too – instead of Amy and Rory, focus on Clara holding onto her connection with 11 – emphasising their genuine, emotion-based bond over ‘flirty quirky plot device’·

         This renewed focus on the Cybermen is good because the last full-on Cyberman story was in Series 2 (in The Next Doctor they’re just kind of in the background), and Moffat is much better at writing the body-horror of the Cybermen than he is writing the Daleks.

Nightmare in Silver

·         11 deliberately lets himself be ‘infected’ by the asylum’s nanocloud and begins conversion in attempt to save the converted Oswin’s mind.

·         Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the origin of Handles, the Cyberman head from The Time of The Doctor: the remains of Oswin’s cyber-converted mind downloaded into a head.

·         11 uses Mr Clever to get information about her - i.e. that she just appeared one day as a fully-formed person without any family. This sets up the other Claras being time remnants. 

·         It also lets Mr Clever play more psychological games with 11 and Clara – Mr Clever reveals 11 is scared of Clara, putting more strain on Clara having to hold on to her emotional attatchments

·         The Cybermen are actively trying to get out. This way we dig into their primary drive – survival at all costs,

·         What happens when a Cyberman’s emotional inhibitor is broken, but they don’t die? Driven insane and desperate, and fiercely intelligent.

·         I like the idea of the Cybermen like the Xenomorph in Alien; blending in with thoier broken down, mechanical environment, plugging into it and using to separate and play games with the soldiers.

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

·         Replace The Crimson Horror with a version of Dinosaurs on a Spaceship with the Paternoster Gang replacing Brian, the Ponds, Nefertiti and that hunter bloke

·         I just really need to see Vastra interacting with her culture OK? Seeing her be taken back to her childhood, opening up to Jenny about it. Her anger, realising what the villain Solomon has done to her people. Use this conflict to call back to and explain how she met the Doctor, how he stopped her slaughtering humans before.

·         Clara and 11 go to the Paternoster Gang for help investigating her other selves

·         Clara researches and finds her past selves, not only in Victorian London but also throughout the 60s and 70s, when she’s helping the past Doctors – finding this research is how the kids find out she’s a time traveller

·         This is how THE DOCTOR REALISES HE’S SEEN HER MANY TIMES BEFORE, setting up The Name of the Doctor’s out-of-nowhere, un-guessable resolution.

·         Dark!11 again. Matt saoid they would’ve explored a ‘meaneer’ version if he’d stayed on for series 8. Clara is the perfect way to bring that out as they lie and manipulate each other for their own ends.

DALEK CIVIL WAR STORY

·         Progenitor Daleks vs the regular Time War model. Display how the Progenitor Daleks are different - each of them having a different weapon/role etc. The crux of the story is that the Progenitor Daleks are better at fighting the Doctor and come close to killing him, but the other Daleks value their ‘purity’ and survival more

·         Maximum Dark!11

The Name of the Doctor

·         When 11 rescues Clara she is changed – she retains bits and pieces of her time remnants’ experiences, it’s at once traumatising and exhilarating

The Time of the Doctor

·         Whereas The End of Time felt stretched-out (135 minutes) this felt really rushed. Make it 2 parts.

·         We see the set-up of Trenzalore and the Church of Silence in the first.

·         The second part is the long siege of Trenzalore – we need to see 11 age fighting these monsters, taking his turn being left behind, the tragedy of him slowly losing his memory, focusing on his character

·         We can also flesh out the citizens of Trenzalore and Christmas so their safety is important to us

·         Let’s see Madame Kovarian and her splinter cell break off from the main Church of Silence and leave to try and kill the Doctor – make her a supporting character

·         Then have Trisha Lem explicitly talk to the Doctor about how Kovarian blowing up the TARDIS caused the cracks in the universe in the first place, allowing the Time Lords to get their message out. Instead of a montage, have this be the moment that unites the Doctor and the Silence – they are both fighting to make up for their mistakes and the problems they caused

·         We see the many races surrounding Trenzalore form the alliance from The Pandorica Opens

[suplex51]

Return To Form

This spot wasn’t much for the history books, or your “Must-See Sights” brochures. It wasn’t a shithole, or anything; It was a well-kept, wooden-walled village — like the kind you’d see in Hong Kong, only more Japanese-flavored  — located within the Red Light District of Cotes Ward. Just a little very far off the beaten path, that was all.

Oh, and it was also rumored to be home field for a community of whitebread mafia. They, themselves, were rumored to have permanently ( slash not-so-peacefully ) evicted the fort’s former citizens, not to mention rumored to be currently causing problems for several local businesses — local businesses rumored to be under the protection of the Third Street Saints, incidentally. Harassment, sabotage, kidnappings, the works. Plenty of those rumors floating around, though they were certainly coherent enough to be truths.

And they all ended tonight.

A promising testing ground for his uncapped powers, coupled with a chance to do good… this was The Spot. This was the target. This was the stage, and Travis Touchdown was ready to play. 

_________

Two mooks. Two nondescript men, unimportant enough for our narrative to go and label them “A” and “B.” A and B, were standing outside The Spot’s main entrance, standing guard while casually chatting it up with assault rifles in hand.

“So, uh… what’s the catch, this time?”

“Really, man? We’ve been out here since half past forever ago, and /now/ you ask that?”

“Yeah. Because I wasn’t curious about it ‘til now. Because I wasn’t bored enough to care ‘til now.”

“Coulda asked about my day, but— ugh, fine. It’s a dame in charge of this little sake joint. Cute place, cuter owner. The ‘fuckable grandma’ type, y’know?”

“Eww.”

“No accounting for taste… Anywho, it’s a shame what’s gonna have to happen. But that’s what you get for paying off the Saints instead of us.”

“...”

“... seriously, though. Just wait ‘til Johnny comes riding back with her in tow. This broad aged like-”

Headlights cut through the fog, cutting off B’s defense of GMILFs with the telltale roar of a souped-up motorbike engine.

“Thank god, finally,” A groaned, already stepping to the roadside. B, however, was slightly more… hesitant.

“ ‘A’...?”

“I swear, if you’re fixating on old lady titty again—”

“I DON’T THINK THAT’S JOHNNY—”

I mean… It was technically Johnny. In a way. A very demented way, that I’m sure B wasn’t referring to at all, but I’ll go ahead and point out anyways. It was Johnny’s severed head, launched through the air like a fastball, embedding itself into A’s skull like cannon fire going through wood.

Gross.

B barely got a second to process this before the headlights became blinding, and that bike closed in... _________

Cut to the interior. The wretched hive of scum and villainy. People, both old and older, moving around corridor after corridor, eating, drinking, hustling and bustling- you get the picture. I’m done setting up.

The front doors blew off their hinges, a shower of splinters and gore, courtesy of B’s broken body and the vehicular-manslaughterer that’d ran him over; The most ridiculous motorbike you’d likely ever see. And it kept going, right down main street, flattening anyone else who didn’t get the hell out of dodge before it finally came to a stop.

There was a moment of stunned silence from one and all.

Footsteps hit the ground just outside. It served as a signal for the entire gang to stop gawking and start pointing weapons at the man approaching from behind the billowing fog. Guns opened fire, shooting first and asking questions never. A curved beam of light — a green saber — lit up in the man’s hand.

Travis eagerly got to work. 

Running out like a rocket, the otaku assassin lunged into the first wave of baddies, deflecting bullets like a well-trained Jedi and faster than the eye could track. Bada bing, bada boom, a group of seven fell to bloodless pieces — the Tsubaki beam katana’s heat had instantly cauterized any fatal wound.

Travis stood still for a moment. The casino slots — forced visual imagery — activated in his head, started rolling. Every life taken added up to another imaginary coin insertion. Seven lives, seven rolls. Nothing lined up quite right, yet, but that was okay.

More people were coming. More chances.

Quick reminder that this is, in fact, our hero, even if some perspectives beg otherwise.

Travis kept moving, veering to the right, starting his path down the narrow maze of streets and corridors. War cries sounded off all around. Criminals and scum were spilling out from buildings and alleys — like ants defending their nest — unsheathing swords, loading guns, etc., etc.

It was all pointless.

Travis. Wrecked. Shop. Up and down, all over town.

He danced around sword strikes and bullet volleys. Leapt from wall to wall, flipping, somersaulting and buzzsaw-ing through a row of mooks. Bisected a man at the waist, grabbed his upper half, spun around and clubbed another dude to death with it. Turned a woman’s tommy gun spray against her comrades, through skilled swordplay and just spitting in the face of physics. Powerbombed her into paste. Even kicked a gangster to the ground and used him as a bloody skateboard.

All that… through only a portion of the base.

It was over-the-top violence, committed against evil ad nauseam. Slots rolled, rolled and kept rolling. Travis felt the adrenaline, the testosterone. The sheer thrill of battlefield dominance overflowed in him, aroused him, empowered him! As good and heroic as he’d arguably grown, in the heat of the moment, this M-rated action still felt right to him.

Suddenly, it happened. It finally happened— well, multiple things. 

The Tsubaki’s battery depleted. The surviving criminals brought out the big guns — RPGs. Travis found himself cornered and surrounded. But most importantly, the reason why that smile of his grew so sadistically triumphant? Those slots had lined up at last.

Seven. Seven. Seven.

“My lucky number…”

The rocketeers paid no heed to Travis’s muttering. And they didn’t try to understand what he said next. Instead, much like the beginning of this massacre, they shot first, asked questions never.

Their final mistake. 

“Strawberry On The Shortcake.”  ____________

The Spot was carved apart in a single instant.

It had fallen victim to a 12-foot, crimson lightsaber. Victim to a boner-powered, time-stopping assassin, who was soon trying his best to dig his motorbike out from under the rubble. He'd eventually tell Victor how it all went down, but for now? It was time for Travis to go home feeling like he’d done some good…

In his own, not-so-good kind of way.

[boneandfur]

Restless Farewell [N*FW][1/3]

Summary: Veronique goes to The City That Never Sleeps to recruit a thief, instead she meets a man with whom she can be ordinary with for just one night. But is he really who he seems? // Pairing: Niles Edison (Thief) x THM F!MC // Rating: EXPLICIT 18+ LEMON. By clicking on "read more", you are verifying that you are old enough to be reading this fic. // Words: 2935 // Notes: this is the precursor to the sneak peek I posted. It is canon-divergent in some places, although it sticks to the canon story-line as much as possible The first fic in this series takes place in NYC, the night before MC and Rye meet with Niles Edison aka Eddie Quick in Washington Square Park. I HC the MC to be in their 30s and Edison to be late 40s. It’s full of angst and smut. If you like those two things, proceed! Lyrics are from the song Restless Farewell by Bob Dylan.

Chapter One

New York City is full of ghosts. 

The first time Veronique, once known as Alaïs Dègas Lionheart, came to the City That Never Sleeps, she was just five years old. She dreams of it, sometimes: Times Square in winter, ice skates and hot chocolate, her mother dripping with rubies and diamonds, a sheik's ransom. The Nutcracker Ballet, sugar plums and chocolate mice, her father carrying her on his shoulders to the castle in Central Park, a fairy tale of turrets and stained glass windows.  

And there are other memories too, darker ones, the kind a child doesn't understand, the kind an adult pushes away. Suitcases of gold bouillon, walking in on her father throwing handfuls of cash in the air as her mother lies on the bed, her mother's bruised eyes and bloody mouth. I walked into a door, ma petit. It was very silly of me. 

Yes, the city is full of ghosts tonight. 

Veronique walks down the city streets without really looking around, yet somehow her feet seem to know where they are going. She passes Times Square in a blur of color and light, Chinatown, with joss paper in the shop windows, botanicas in the Bronx full of colored saint's candles and Santa Muerte, until she is somewhere near Central Park, standing on the path to the castle.

The leaves whisper in the night, their music borne by the wind. Shhh, shhh. She can hear the song in her head that her father used to whistle as he counted stacks of cash, his blazing head bent in concentration. 

"Oh, all the money that in my whole life I did spend / Be it mine right or wrongfully / I let it slip gladly to friends / To tie up the time most forcefully..." 

"Daddy?" Veronique whispers, and only the leaves whisper back. Shhh, shhhh. 

She forgets she is a criminal mastermind, she forgets she is a thief. She forgets about heists in Monaco, and men with cold, flat eyes who stare at you as they kiss the mouths of their guns. She forgets about Rye, the man she loves like a brother, sleeping like a blameless man back at the hotel before their flight in the morning. There is only Alaïs, the Little Robber Princess, and a man's scratchy voice, singing a poet's song. 

"But the bottles are done / We've killed each one / And the table's full and overflowed / And the corner sign / Says it's closing time / So I'll bid farewell and be down the road... "

In the lamplight, the hair is fox-red, and Veronique runs. The man continues down the path, still singing softly. Her hand skims his shoulder, and he turns around. "Daddy?" But it is a stranger's face, craggy and rough and wrong, one eye sewn shut, the other blue as river glass. There is something cunning and strangely hungry in the man's eyes, under the lamplight they flicker for a moment, and Veronique realizes how far she is from the crowds, unable to disappear in plain sight. 

Veronique spins on her heel, and runs. Down the path, into the dark forest ramble, branches scraping her arms. She comes out on a well-lit path of cobblestones, with no sign of the man behind her. Despite her sigh of relief, she stills. She can feel someone, watching her from the dark. Waiting. A beat, and Veronique spins around, whipping her fists up, but the inky shadows remain still, seething with the secrets of the night. 

•••

Three city blocks later, she hasn't lost her tail. She wonders, for a moment, if it's one of the Rooks following her, but brushes the thought away almost as instantly as it comes. They wouldn't be so amateur. 

"Lionheart." That name, the name no one living should know. 

Veronique bolts down the nearest alleyway, and bursts out the other side, her lungs burning, just in time to see a black Lincoln with its lights turned off pull up to the curb. The window rolls down, and the long muzzle of a Berretta points straight at her. 

Time stills, and her mind goes blank. Lionheart. The last time she saw the two of them, it was snowing in the mountains, the sky a dusky purple from the ambient glow of the city. Her father had promised her a golden nightingale that would sing down the moon, and when her mother's lips brushed across her forehead, the little robber princess pretended to be fast asleep. 

"Get back!" Someone yanks Veronique by the wrist right back into the alleyway, hands braced on the brick wall over her head, body pressed up against hers, shielding her from harm. She is afraid to breathe, and all she can feel is his heart thundering against hers, under the cover of darkness. The Barretta aims, and fires, and Veronique bites back a scream as the bullet's impact rains down red brick dust on the pair of them. He grabs her hand, and whispers hoarsely, "Now!" 

Veronique doesn't look back, or up at the man pulling her through the shadows, until they are back in the well-lit streets of Times Square. She is shivering, she cannot seem to stop. Lionheart. That name. How could someone know it, after all these long lonely years? 

"Alright, luv?" The man turns around, looking down at her, and drops her hand in surprise. "Bloody hell, you're not who -- " he corrects himself "-- you're not what I was expecting." 

But who did you expect? Veronique finds herself staring up into the face of a handsome, distinguished older man with dark brown hair gone nearly gray and a trim beard, wearing a brown trench coat and a long dark red scarf. He whips off his glasses, rubbing them with his sleeve, and shoots her a charming smile. His eyes are malachite green behind his glasses, like the pendant she wears around her neck. 

There is something dangerous about this man, she thinks -- Something that could make or break an ordinary woman. He holds out his hand to shake. 

"The name's Eddie." 

She pushes a swath of golden hair behind one ear, and smiles. "Hey." 

•••

"You look as though you could use a proper drink. I know I could." Eddie shakes his head in disbelief. "You almost gave me a heart attack back there. Christ! I thought --" but he bites back whatever it is he was about to say. 

She's still shaking from adrenaline, her skin buzzing, and she realizes they are so close that they could touch, if they wanted. She wants him to touch her, she realizes. To just feel like an ordinary woman for one night, instead of one who can make or break a man. But she doesn't move away. "A drink sounds fantastic. I'm --" Alaïs. It's on the tip of her tongue, and she wonders, for a brief, unguarded moment, what it would be like to be herself with a stranger, just for one night. "Alaïs." 

He raises his brows, giving her an obvious once-over, eyes lingering in appreciation on her legs and breasts. "That's a lovely name -- Alaïs. She was the mistress of Henry the Second." He clears his throat, the distance between them fixed, neither making any move to go off and search for the promised drinks. And then his lips are on hers, the sound of the city falling away in his searing kiss. Her heart rate speeds up, adrenaline pumping through her veins as the kiss deepens, his tongue hot in her mouth as his hands encircle her hips, pulling her flush up against his broad chest. 

When they pull apart, Eddie smiles down at her, so softly that Veronique feels her insides fall apart. "How about that drink, then? I know a place..." 

•••

The hotel bar is well-appointed, with dark, heavy pre-war furnishings, a relic of a time gone by. They sit at the bar, their knees not quite touching, the air between them heady, thick with desire. Eddie levels a wink at her, and catches the eye of the bartender. 

"What'll you have?" Carter, his name tag reads, gold leaf on black plastic. He's blonde, good looking in that slick, clean cut way, and his smile is practiced, white and fake. 

"I'll take an Old Fashioned. And for the lady, a gin and tonic, I think. Make sure it's top shelf, proper gin, none of that shoddy Bombay." Eddie pushes a strand of hair behind her ear, dark green gaze locked on hers for a moment. "Did I get it right, then?" 

Veronique drops her eyes, then looks up at him from under her lashes. "Make it a gin fizzy." 

Eddie hums in approval. "A bird of refined tastes, you are." 

"Citrus Pay, sir, if you'd like to open a tab?" Carter returns with the drinks, bringing out a tablet, and Eddie recoils, a look of disgust crossing his features. 

"I don't go in for none of that bloody newfangled garbage. Cold hard cash, that's what we paid with back in my --" 

Carter rolls his eyes. "Very well, sir. Some of our older guests prefer to pay the old fashioned way, if that's what you prefer." He slides the Old Fashioned towards Eddie, mouth trembling as he tries to hide his amusement. "And for the lady, a Tanqueray gin fizzy, garnished with a fair-trade organic lime wedge, raw unrefined pink turbindo sugar on the rim, hand ground and imported from --" 

Eddie rolls his eyes. "You're not on the pull, mate, you're just serving the lady a drink. No need to slather it on." 

Carter rolls his eyes. "Very well, sir. Signal me if you need another, Old Fashioned." 

Veronique plucks at Eddie's sleeve before he can give the bartender a piece of his mind. She nods to a low-lit booth with a chessboard. "Care to place a wager?" 

Eddie's eyes light up in appreciation at the swing in her hips as she brushes past him, his eyes raking her up and down. "As long as it doesn't involve any of that bloody modern claptrap, I'm all in, luv." 

•••

"Lady's choice." Eddie sets up the board so fast that her head spins. His knees brush hers under the table, and her pulse speeds up erratically, craving each seemingly innocuous touch. "Black or white?" 

His hand lifts the hem of her skirt, caressing her just above the knee. Not so innocent after all. "Black." 

He raises a brow, sipping his drink thoughtfully. "A lady who likes to live dangerously, I see." Surveying the chess board, he moves a white pawn two spaces. "And I suppose this wager of yours is dangerous too?" 

Veronique takes a slow sip of her gin fizzy, seductively licking the foam off her lips, and watches as his pupils enlarge. "You'll have to play the game to find out." 

Eddie inhales sharply as she scoots to the very edge of the seat, parting her legs and moving his hand further up her thigh. "Oh, I intend to." His eyes are locked on hers as she mirrors his move, pawn before the king going two spaces forward. He moves another pawn two spaces forward. "So what brings you to New York, Alaïs -- business or pleasure?" His hand slides up her thigh. 

Alaïs. The name gives her heart a funny little twist, and she realizes she hasn't heard it spoken aloud by another person for almost thirty years. "I could ask you the same thing." Veronique plays with the malachite pendant around her neck, drawing his eyes to her cleavage. "But tonight... It's pleasure." 

Eddie is fighting back a smile. "Are all American birds these days as cheeky as you?" 

Veronique leans forward, long blonde hair brushing the chessboard, and asks in a husky whisper, "And just how long has it been since you've been in New York City?" 

He leans forward, their faces mere inches apart, his lips brushing against her ear, the sound of his English accent making her throb between the legs, like the beat of her heart, aching, wanting. "Too goddamned long enough." 

She turns her cheek, and his lips ghost across hers, the sensation of his stubble on her flesh causing her to inhale sharply, a tiny, yearning moan escaping her. "Eddie." 

He leans back, but his gaze never leaves hers. "You're not bloody cheeky, luv, you're downright dangerous." 

That I am. She thinks of the malachite pendant around her neck, sharpened to a point. 

All thieves live by a code of honor, my little robber princess, her father's voice whispers down the years. Never kill a man just to kill him, for it will always come back to haunt you. But if you need a friend, this stone is your best bet. Lick it and stick it, it'll work like a charm. Keep it close, and it may save your life. But I hope to hell that day never comes. 

Instead of answering, Veronique pulls Eddie's hand right to the apex of her thighs, hot and slick, craving his touch; and with her other hand, makes a move on the board, leaving her queen open. 

His fingers brush the thin strip of fabric, feeling how wet she is. He growls, his voice dark and rough. "What's the wager? We never said."

"That we both win tonight." She slides backwards in the booth, away from his hand, her heart hammering like mad. She must be crazy, she must be foolish, but she doesn't care, she wants -- "Eddie." 

"Right, then." He drains his drink and then throws some cash on the table, holding out a hand. "Shall we?" 

•••

They've barely stepped into the elevator when Eddie spins her around, pressing her up against the wall in a hard kiss. His hands glide up her thighs, cupping her ass, and she rocks against him, moaning as his fingers skim over the damp fabric of her underwear with the lightest pressure, teasing her clit. 

Eddie grunts as Veronique bites his shoulder, and all of a sudden the elevator dings. They break apart, disheveled and erect in all the wrong places. Eddie adjusts his trousers as a dark-haired man with an arrogant look steps into the elevator, followed by a pixie-haired blonde girl who looks as though she's smelled something bad. 

"The ground floor, bellhop," the dark haired man says to Eddie with a peevish air, and turns to the girl. "I didn't know the Waldorf-Astoria was hiring riff-raff these days. I'll have to have a talk with the owner." 

"Oh, Uncle Antoine, don't be such a snob," the girl says. "Like... Oh. Em. Gee!"

"This is your stop, mate," Eddie says with a grimace, slamming the emergency stop button. "'Fraid the elevator's closed for maintenance." He shoulder checks Antoine on his way out, and pushes him and his niece from the elevator into the hall, the pair of them spluttering with indignation. "Stairs are that way, guv." 

"I'm leaving a one star review on Yel--" Antoine is cut off as the elevator door slides shut, and Eddie turns back to Veronique, a smug grin on his face. "Now, where were we?" 

She can't be sure, but when she's sure, she's sure. Eddie has just picked both their pockets. A dangerous man, indeed. 

"Right... here." She tugs on his hand, and notices that there's a slight indent on one of his fingers, where a ring used to be. He can't be married, she frets in her head. But she can't be bothered to worry about it for long, because when Eddie kisses her, firmer than the first time, it feels more meaningful, more right. Like calls to like. It only makes sense that it would take a thief to make her come tonight. 

Eddie's mouth on hers is hot, her nipples are aching for his touch and as he begins rolling one nipple between his fingers, her brain short-circuits and goes blank. There is only this -- his slow, measured kiss, stretching out the pleasurable sensations happening elsewhere in her body. There's the way he tastes, like brandy and citron, and the sound of his deep growl as his hand slides between her legs again. 

It takes her nearly a full minute to realize she's no longer wearing underwear. He must have stolen them. A rush of heat throbs between her thighs, and the sound of his fingers slipping in and out of her slick, wet folds causes the coil of heat to tighten inside of her, harder and harder, biting her bottom lip as his mouth moves down her neck, sucking and nibbling a path to her nipples. The door starts to open, and Eddie slams on the floor button with his free hand. 

"I can't tell you how goddamned beautiful you are," he whispers into her ear. "Because words can't express it." 

Veronique is panting now, unable to catch her breath, and when he swirls his fingers rapidly over her clit, she comes hard and fierce, right then and there. 

"Eddie! Oh, fuck!" Veronique's hips buck uncontrollably, riding the intense wave of her orgasm. He sucks one nipple into his mouth and she screams his name, her legs nearly giving way as she collapses against him, his mouth claiming hers in a hard, possessive kiss. 

"Let's get you to bed, luv." Eddie strokes her cheek with the back of his hand. "Because I plan to shag you until you can't walk for a week." 

"Hurry," she moans.

She's never seen a man slam the elevator buttons so fast in her life. 

•••

Tag list will be in comments section since they seem to only work half the time.

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 20 February – Blessed Stanislawa/Julia Rodzinska OP (1899-1945) Martyr – Dominican Sister, known as the “Mother of Orphans” and the “Apostle of the Rosary”, Apostle of Charity, Teacher, Catechist, also known as Sister Maria Julia, Mother Maria Julia, prisoner P40992.

Blessed Sister Julia Stanisława was born on 16 March 1899 in Nawojowa, a town near Nowy Sącz.   She was baptised and given the names, Stanisława Marta Józefa.   Her father was an organist.   He also worked in a savings bank and in the District Office.   There were four other children in the family.   When Stanisława was 8 years old, her mother died and two years later, her father.   After her parents’ death, the Dominican Sisters from a nearby convent run by Sr Stanisława Lenart took care of her.   There, she finished school and then she started her studies in the Teachers’ College which she was unable to complete because she began her religious formation in Wielowieś.   On 3 August 1917 she assumed the habit together with a new name – Maria Julia.   On 4 September 1918 she continued her studies in the Holy Family Teachers’ College in Kraków, from which she graduated in May 1919.

After having completed her studies, Sister Julia Rodzińska began to work as a teacher, mainly among orphaned children.   She made her monastic vows on 5 August 1924.   She then continued her education and in 1925-1926 she completed an Advanced Teachers’ Course and at the age of 27 she was named the director of the State Primary School of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius.   Sr Julia was not strong physically, suffering from a very serious stomach disorder, which meant she had to undergo a difficult operation in 1937.

After the Soviet army occupied Vilnius, the situation of the Dominican Sisters was put into jeopardy.   In September 1940, the sisters who worked as teachers were dismissed from work.   At first, they tried to work as technical personnel but finally in 1941 the Home for Orphans was removed from their authority and placed under that of Lithuanian authorities and Sister Julia left the Home forever.   The schooling work done by the Dominican Sisters since 1922 was terminated.

The Dominicans did not leave Vilnius.   Together with Sister Julia, they stayed on Parkowa Street and in the convent of the Nuns of Visitation on Rossa Street.   In these conditions, Sister Julia continued to teach in secret, also during the German occupation, until she was arrested in 1943.

On 12 July 1943, Sister Julia was arrested by the Gestapo on a charge of political activity and collaboration with the Polish partisans.   She was imprisoned in Vilnius and for almost a year she was kept in an isolation cell.   Then she was transported to the disciplinary camp but soon, she was evacuated together with other prisoners to Stutthof concentration camp.   She arrived there on 9 July 1944 and was given number 40992. Together with a group of women from the Vilnius intelligence, she was assigned to block no 27 in the “Jewish Camp”.   The conditions were indescribable.   Filth, vermin, overcrowding in the barracks (three or four women slept on one bed on a three-storey bunk bed), low-calorie food rations given out in extreme conditions, unbearable physical work, limited access to water, lack of hygienic products, necessity to satisfy one’s bodily needs in public – these are only some of the elements of the indirect extermination used in the camp.   An additional torment, was the inhumane treatment carried out by the prisoners who were assigned as ‘wardens’ – mainly German criminals and SS men.

In these conditions sister Julia did not lose her hope for survival.   She shared her hope and spiritual strength with other prisoners.   In the camp it had a special meaning because the inhumane treatment distorted the prisoners’ minds and changed the moral norms of many of them.   In the barrack, where mostly Jews lived, Sister Julia organised and led the prayers.   She also constantly reminded the prisoners about the religious values.   Religious observances were strictly prohibited and punished in the camp. Therefore this was one of the forms of moral resistance of the prisoners to what was happening in the camp.   Sister Julia was never guided by nationality or religion in her way of helping others.   She was kind to all the needful.   She was known as the one who consoled and encouraged all the adrift and miserable.   She knew that one prisoners, whose wife was living in the “Jewish Camp”, was about to commit suicide.   She sent him notes until he assured her that he wouldn’t take his life.   According to the testimony of this prisoner, he survived the camp thanks to Sister Julia, who awaken his hope for survival and overcame the fear of the life in the camp.

In November 1944 a typhus epidemic devastated the camp.   The illness spread mainly among the prisoners in the Jewish part of the camp.   The authorities of KL Stutthof isolated the “Jewish Camp” from the rest of the compound and left the women without any help.   Risking her own life, Sister Julia Rodzińska undertook the task of helping the Jews from block XXX, who were dying alone.   When the majority avoided this “death block” fearing the infection, Sister Julia took a decision that meant the acceptance of death among those who she helped.   She organised water to drink, dressings and medicines that where available in the camp.   She served the needful even when she got infected with typhus and was suffering from serious illness.

The Dominican Sister, Julia Rodzińska, died on 20 February 1945 in block no 27.   Her body was burnt on a pyre.   An amazing testimony about the heroic conduct and the martyr’s death of Sr Julia has been written and declared by Eva Hoff, a prisoner of KL Stutthof, a German Jewess, who survived the marine evacuation and after the war settled in Sweden.   There, she gave an oral and written account of the life and the circumstances of the death of Sr Julia in KL Stutthof.   The account has been confirmed by other prisoners of KL Stutthof and Father Franciszek Grucza who heard Sr Julia’s confessions and gave her Communion.

A Shrine where Sr Julia’s body was burnt

On the 13 June 1999, during his pilgrimage to Poland, the Holy Father John Paul II beatified 108 martyrs of World War II.   Sister Julia Rodzińska, the Dominican nun, was among them.

On 12 June 2006 the Primary School in Nawojowa has been named after blessed Sister Julia Rodzińska.

(via Saint of the Day - 20 February - Blessed Julia Rodzinska OP (1899-1945) Martyr)

[fyrapartnersearch]

run to me, lover.

★　hi and welcome to my search! i’m saint/jude/thad/whatever variant of saint judas thaddaeus you wish to come up with. i’m lonely, i have cravings, and i’m looking for partners. specifically i’m looking for original roleplays and original characters in fandom settings. 　　A B O U T　! ★　female or neutral pronouns (she/her/they/them) ★　old enough to know better (20s) ★　existing alternately between this dimension and the next, but often in EST ★　lawful neutral with aspirations of chaotic neutral ★　breaker of chains, mother of cats 　　R E A D　M E　! ★　basically looking for active partners for casual word count rp’s and high emotional investment in characters and pairings. i roleplay over email and gdocs. i generally prefer to use discord for ooc chat/plot only, but if email and gdocs don’t work for you i will use it for posting as well. ★　i write multiple genders and prefer playing multiple characters (mains and otherwise) within a single rp. talk to me about your pairing and doubling prefs. i’m looking to play a lady in a m/f pair and happy to do whatever pairing my partner wants to double as. ★　 talk to me about faceclaims (real life only; i’ll probably use whoever you want if you’re someone who likes specific fc’s), playlists, aesthetics, headcanons, hypothetical scenarios, etc. i love nothing more than getting super invested in characters, couples, settings, and so on. ★　since i’m an adult i expect that the people i roleplay with will also be adults (over 18 and preferably over 20). while i’m fine with mature themes, please, please do not solicit me for pwp or roleplays in which the main conceit is kink-fulfilment. i’m more of a ftb person anyway because i’m old and tired and the thrill of trying to describe someone’s ding-dong has largely worn off for me. all main characters will be over 18 (most of my oc’s are in their late 20s or in their 30s, and no, i don’t do major age gaps). let me know if you have limits, triggers, squicks, or anything you would like to avoid in the roleplay or ooc. 　　O R I G I N A L S　! ★　detective/police drama: i’ve been on a big big detective show/true crime kick lately. and by lately i mean for my whole life. give me your grizzled, beaten-down detectives and police chiefs, your femme fatales, your wide-eyed rookies, your nosy journalists, your internal corruption, and your most aesthetic settings. wanna head to the cliffs of dorset like in broadchurch? let’s go. wanna head down to the deep south like true detective? i’m on it. wanna go somewhere new and weird? pack your bags, we’re headin’ out. for reasons i’m specifically craving something weird and grim set in iceland or scotland. have i been to either of those places? no. but the heart wants what it wants and my heart wants missing persons cases set in beautiful but challenging landscapes. ★　victorian paranormal/occult detectives: does what it says on the tin! basically like sherlock holmes but there’s ghosts and summonings. not super into vampires and werewolves, but i can be reasoned with. ★　i dunno how to describe this one aside from something along the lines of brideshead revisited? a bunch of attractive young people spending a summer at some beautiful country estate in the 1910s-50s, being privileged hedonists and adding a homoerotic flair to everything they do.  ★　i’m also happy to talk about less conceptualised shit. general interests include troubled relationships in interesting settings with melancholy soundtracks. i prefer settings that aren’t quite modern (ie. 1990s and before). i’m not interested in stuff like high school/college/apartment/neighbourhood/etc., however. ★　i’m always 100% down for a good historical roleplay. give me a nice medieval war of succession, some grey, barren, windswept brontëan landscapes, a pristine austenian parlour or the glitz and fast cars of fitzgerald’s 20s and the smoke and sparkle of the golden age of film and i’ll be a very happy gal. 　　F A N D O M S　! ★　ok here’s the thing. there are a few fandoms i’d be happy to play in, but i’m not super keen on playing canons at the moment or canon/oc. more interested in just using the setting/universe for our oc’s. however, if there is a canon in one of these fandoms you are dying for, i will almost certainly be happy to oblige. ★　marvel cinematic universe: i’m interested in exploring the post-snap/decimation era. obviously the avengers are a little shorthanded and with all that chaos it’s prime time™ for criminal activity. some new vigilantes fighting some new villains in this setting would be pretty sick. equally happy to go down less grim plot avenues. ★　fallout: pretty self-explanatory? just throw our oc’s into the wasteland of our choosing. i’m most familiar with new vegas and 4, but i’m acquainted with the capital wasteland and appalachia. i’d be down to use a setting that hasn’t been featured in the main series (fallout alaska fallout alaska fallout alaska). ★　spider-man: into the spider-verse: more spiderpersons. ★　pacific rim: kind of interested in playing around with the first-gen jaegers and rangers? like, pre-pacrim 1. everything is experimental, the world still hasn’t come to terms with the kaiju attacks, and rangers are dropping like flies. i haven’t seen the second movie but i’d be down to do something set after the first one, too. ★　mass effect: listen. all i want in this world is to throw together a motley crew of alliance and non-alliance, multi-species personnel doing random, non-shepard related missions during the reaper war. getting up to stupid shit and kicking ass, you know? something during the first contact war would be cool, too.  ★　dragon age: basically the same idea as mass effect except a crew of inquisition and non-inquisition, multi-species personnel doing random, non-inquisitor related missions during the events of inquisition OR non-hero of ferelden-related wardens doing warden shit literally anywhere, anytime, any day of the week. if you can’t tell, i fucking love wardens. 　　C O N T A C T　! ★　if you’ve gotten this far and think we can work something out, hit me up. send an email to ghvstbaby (at) gmail (dot) com. from there i can give you my discord tag, should you want it. please tell me a little about yourself and what you want to roleplay when you message me. emails that just say “are you still looking for partners?” or “hey i’m interested in rp” tend to get put in the trash.

[ashe-xiv]

She collapsed onto the bed, exhausted from the whirlwind stretch of suns that had occurred since being told of Valera’s existence; her mind reflexively turned to the Garlean measurement of megasecond, her better self debated between terming it as a sennight, as it had only been just over eleven days since.

There was so much that had occurred, she had little idea where to begin with writing it down. Perhaps it would be best to speak of the more important issues, than try to sort through everything as one long chain of events.

No longer the outlier amongst the books that surrounded her, for much of them were also old Dalmascan tomes, Ashla takes out the old, leatherbound tome from its hiding place in her pocket.

With a sigh, she tries to decide between the draining process of writing by hand, or the draining process of simply reconstructing the aether of the pages so that the ink merely appeared.

Her mind flickering back to earlier, what Leo had said to her, she sighs and pulls out the wrapped piece of graphite, beginning to write upon the page instead - a slight curse at the Dalmascan hero muttered as she begins.

It has been a very hectic sennight, with something happening nearly every eve and sun since joining Krystallos. Some were merely holiday festivities, while others were more intense.

The day after I had joined, one of the other members were attacked by a member of the Crimson Lord’s criminal syndicate; she slayed him upon the stairs, even as others stole away a false artefact. It was a pity such occurred, as just before discovering this, Valera, Lady U’faeylyn, and I had met a merchant-trader who specialised in wine - one who was willing to chase after Dalmascan wine.

To alleviate the stress of the woman who was attacked, and had to kill the man, I extended an offer of my abilities to clean up the mess, so to speak. I have never broken down so much aether, without using it in another form in that instant; I did not have to wonder overly long as what to do for it, as the auricite pendant designed as the Serpentarius decided to solve the problem for me - the aether found its way into the stone, nearly knocking me over.

The next night, a new hire whom I knew to be a bartender, but also is a chirurgeon and magitek specialist. He lamented after all had gone to bed that there was no body to inspect for clues...and in an effort to gain more information on our targets, I willingly reformed the body from the stored aether. Once he finished studying the body, I again dismantled it into aether, and the Serpentarius again collected the vast body of aether.

Were such not so strenuous, the following sun, another new hire arrived for his interview, along with his two associates - a pair of Xaela brothers. He is a braggart and likely a liar, and I trust him about as far as I could physically throw him. He had attended the company estate upon the same night that his two Xaelic friends did, trying to find them, and mistook me for a common servant - and tried to ply his way out of his error with honeyed words and fluttering eyelashes.

It failed, terribly, and to have to work closely with him to track down the Crimson Lord is something I don’t look forward to.

The following night, I ended up allowing the Lion’s maid to talk me into wearing a different costume than what I typically wear to All Saints Wake festivities, loaning me one of her own dresses and adornments. However, the tavern at which such was held was...quite a bit more akin to that which might be next to a brothel, than the taverns I have been to thusfar. While the staff was pleasant enough, and largely properly behaved towards me, there were...a number of people lacking in much clothing, and it seemed such was less than frowned upon, for the more part. Thankfully, Leo discovered from L'enah that I had left my linkpearl with her, as the earrings she loaned me did not have a socket for it - he arrived at the establishment before anything untoward happened, though he warned me that I likely had garnered more attention than I desired.

Thankfully, the following eve was mostly pleasant. I returned to the Uranami Onsen (( @uranami-onsen​ )) for their weekly open house, which was also a grand opening for their larger venue. The man at the bar was pleasant and polite, and gave a bit of conversation while I enjoyed my meal, largely about the Onsen’s attempt to have their opening festivities the previous week, only to be met with an issue with power.

For the first time, I actually used the onsen, and the time within the waters was mixed; a man named Xionn, who is a member of the Eorzean Alliance’s armies, took far more interest in myself than I was comfortable with - upon leaving, he even said he would like to cross paths again, so as to “pry more secrets from my lips”, as he phrased it...even after I informed him he failed at such all eve.

The woman who was present in our sento was pleasant. A Xaelic tailor who is also new in Eorzea. The conversation with her was far more pleasant than the Miqo’te soldier; it was refreshing to feel less alone here, being able to relate to someone else who has not been in the area long.

Tonight...

...what to say about tonight.

I managed to have a conversation with the boy who had followed the Xaelic brothers to the company. The one who had been experimented upon by the Garleans had taken a fascination with me on a prior eve, and his brother informed me that he knew little of the man’s condition, referring me to the boy whom I wish to have the least interaction with.

He was less than forthcoming, though he did relent that perhaps I should be concerned that not only the Xaela, but himself as well, may be a threat. They were both conditioned, mentally, and the chance that they have unknown instructions sleeping in their mind was not far fetched - especially after I explained to him how the Garleans would find such useful.

Not long after revealing - as minimally as possible - to this boy that I was formerly of the Imperial martial forces, Leo joined us. He was concerned, as he generally is, after we had been in the archive for longer than what made him comfortable. Before either of us could suggest leaving, the Xaela in question arrived, and I did my best to slip past him, once the boy had engaged him.

Valera left not long after, citing he’d return soon, and the other Xaela went into the archive. After a brief conversation with Mister Zanin, and the acquisition of some green tea, I felt that it would be wise to head into the archive and ensure nothing had been taken, or damaged.

The darker Xaela left almost as soon as I had arrived. His brother was rather unnerved by my appearance, though it seemed that the boy had calmed him well enough before leaving as well. However, once there was no one else to focus on, the Xaelic experiment focused on myself, solely.

I attempted to be polite to the Xaela, treating him as an equal and not a non-person, as most experiments from the Imperial laboratories are, although that seemed to only make him angry. Thankfully, Leo and Mister Zanin arrived, distracting him.

With his attention on the knight, I attempted to slip past him, however the half-skirt of my tunic brushed against his tail, causing the Xaela to startle and become somewhat hostile, despite the fact that I simply kept moving, until Leo and his axe was between us.

But as the Xaela looked around between the three of us, rather frantically, I realised that he likely felt trapped. And so I suggested to Leo that he step aside, so as to give the massive Au Ra a clearer path to the door, and he listened, as did Mister Zanin.

For reasons that likely stem from kinship, the Xaela became fascinated with the Raen, and Mister Zanin carefully held his attention and lead him out of the library.

In hindsight, I nearly wish they had not left, as things with Leo became...unsettling.

For most of the time he has known me, I have had my freckles hidden, my hair longer and blonde - nearly the perfect copy of the princess. It has played havoc upon his Zodiac-broken psyche, as has my general attitudes, leaving him questioning whether or not everything is real. As I had arrived in such an appearance, only to take a moment to change such after speaking to that boy, he was conflicted again.

As an attempt to calm his mind, I placed his hand over my heart, standing so close to him that I could smell the musky scent he generates, reminding him that delusions cannot fool all the sense. I let him hear me, see me, feel me, and likely he could smell me, as I could smell him; the only sense I did not press was that of taste, though often times smells can cause the mouth to recall the taste of whatever flavours it smells - so he may have even tasted the vanilla I tend to wear.

His reaction was...not what I expected. Eventually, he spooked himself, explaining that he was unused to being touched by me. I...didn’t realise that he meant specifically me, at first. After he rephrased it several times, I realised that Leo saw me in a manner I had not been aware of, previously. The few times that I have noticed someone looking at me as such, they have been rebuked, even unto calling down flame and fury upon them.

But I didn’t feel that defence - I didn’t feel like harming him, or even pushing him away.

I did, however. Again reminding Valera that I had little time for such endeavours, given that I had a Resistance to run, a war to win. I also informed him that I would likely make a terrible lover, given how much work I had to do for Dalmasca. He was...unrelenting in telling me that I needed to consider such things, as he feels I need to live for more than just our country.

To turn the situation upon him, I simply replied that such could not possibly be considered lest another Dalmascan were around enough, and likely not before the Kingdom was freed; given that he is the only other Dalmascan who is not constantly moving around, as much and more of our movement does, it left him in a place where he could not argue. He himself is much older than I am, and already engaged, so I felt that it would end the discussion.

Largely, it did, but even upon his leaving, I felt like there was much and more left undone.

Without finishing the entire thought, her left hand pauses over the written words, graphite dust vanishing as it is set into the parchment. Closing the tome, she sets it on the small table beside the bed, before curling up without bothering to change out of her clothing.

She manages to lay there for several minutes, before shifting several times; with a sigh, she gets up from the bed, collects the tome and the graphite, and tucks them away as she leaves the room. Ultimately, she leaves the estate, making her way back to the Solace to sleep - at least for one eve.

((Edit: Added in some screenshots that @leothesimperingmidlander took of the conversation in the archive; he didn’t get his post up today, so he told me to go ahead and add them if I wanted.))