#showed me that that part of me could protect and is better off channeling the mindless rage into protecting whats important to me and what

[herequeerexitentialfear]

i love it when shit happens in my life that dredges up old wounds and coincidentally im re-experiencing the media i intrinsically link it to cause then i get to remember exactly why i love it and find it so meaningful all over again. there's a fucking reason ill always say Berserk [& RGU] both came into my life at a perfect fucking time and holy shit they fucking resonated with me so hard and as much as life can suck ass and lovvves kicking me in the balls when ive just recovered from last time i a least get to remember how & why i love something so much.

[pink-amethyst-tarot]

The Universe has a message for you

Take what resonates and leave the rest, only you can decide what is truly right for you...

P I L E 1 - P I L E 2 - P I L E 3

P I L E 1

Strength, Two of Pentacles, Six of Pentacles, Page of Pentacles, Temperance, Nine of Pentacles

Bottom of the Deck: Ace of Swords

The universe is proud of you. You have found the strength and confidence to keep going even though you have been doing a balancing act, one you may have been doing alone. As I look at the Six of Pentacles, I see the scale in the hand of the person that is giving gold to the poor. I see this as a sign that when everything is balanced and settled, you will be able to give in a way that you have been wanting to. You have always been such a loyal and faithful person. Someone that people could always depend on. With the Temperance card, I'm getting that you have found the balance - so much talk of balance - that you needed so that you could take care of yourself as well as others. You learned how to put yourself first. That is paying off for you. You are about to achieve things you can't even imagine. You are being rewarded with success of all kinds because you put in the work. It will come to you like a vision. You may have been dreaming of this or will start dreaming of this new life soon. I'm also hearing something about clearing the path. The path is being cleared for you.

Channeled Message: I am clearing the path for you. Don't worry about a thing. I'm going to make those mountains into ant hills for you. I will move oceans for you. I've got you covered. Don't worry about a thing. I have been looking over you. You are protected.

If you want to know more about your own personal situation, see this post to find out how to book a reading with me.

If you feel called to bless me, my c@sh@pp is $oddlycozycottage

P I L E 2

Ten of Pentacles, Ten of Cups, The Lovers, The Moon (Reversed), Four of Pentacles, Queen of Wands, The Fool

Not only is this a love reading, but this is also a soulmate reading, so buckle up!!!

This energy feels so intense and glowy and beautiful! The first thing I heard was, "Do you know how lucky you are?" I don't even know where to begin! This is going to sound so insane, I don't even believe that I'm bout to say it but you're person is this sexy CEO type, like in those books. This person may make music or own a company related to music and entertainment. This so some happily-ever-after fairytale type of stuff! Y'all sharing the same values feels like something that's really important. I'm freaking out right now! I'm just so excited but slightly overwhelmed! This is the kind of person that you can come home to and they will ease your mind after a long day. I'm hearing, "It's okay, baby, I got you" AAAAAAAAHHH!!!! Like, this person isn't going to let anyone talk crap about you and that includes you. This person is going to be so protective over you and wanting to take care of you because you are their person!! They see you and see that you have been through some things, and they want to help you through that. This person wants to protect you from the world! I'm getting that this person could be a little bit jealous and maybe possessive, but they are aware of it and acknowledge that it's toxic and they work on that. You may meet this person at work or a work-related event. It will be like a movie where you lock eyes, and the words just seems to fall away. This is the kind of love that is healing, loving a nurturing. I'm also getting that your person is going to have you on their arm at these fancy events, like some high society type of stuff. Don't be afraid of this love when it comes in because it will change your life for the better. Wow.

Channeled Message: I'm on my way!! This is the sign you have been looking for. I am all that you have dreamed of and more. You are such a big part of me and I don't even know you. I am so lucky that you chose me. I'm going to show you off to the word. I am a fool for you, my love. I come off cold with others but that's only because I'm saving all of my warmth for you.

If you want to know more about your own personal situation, see this post to find out how to book a reading with me.

If you feel called to bless me, my c@sh@pp is $oddlycozycottage

P I L E 3

King of Swords, Queen of Swords, Four of Wands, Ace of Pentacles, The Hierophant, Page of Pentacles

Bottom of the Deck: Death

For some reason, the universe decided to turn this post into a soulmate post for 2/3 readings so here we are!

To put it plainly, you are about to come into union with your soulmate! I can see that you balance each other very well. One of you is very fun and witty and the other is very cool, calm and collected. Some of you might already be with your soulmate. Whether you are or are not, I can tell you this, you are marrying this person. This wedding is going to be the talk of the town too! Everyone will be celebrating your love. With this Ace of Pentacles, I am seeing that a new opportunity is what is going to bring you too together. It might be work related, like pile 2. (They might be connected so if you feel called to check it out, go for it!) This is something that you manifested. You prayed for this kind of love. I feel like this will be a traditional relationship in a lot of ways, however that may look to you. Specifically, I think it's the wedding that will have a lot of traditional elements to it. This is going to catch you so off guard. This is BIG! This person is going to make you so happy. It's going to feel like coming home.

If you want to know more about your own personal situation, see this post to find out how to book a reading with me.

If you feel called to bless me, my c@sh@pp is $oddlycozycottage

Page Divider by @bunnysrph

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. THESE READINGS ARE FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. no guarantees are implied. These readings are not a substitute or replacement for any professional help or services. My readings are not a substitute for any form of professional legal, medical/psychiatric, relationship, religious/spiritual or financial/ business advice nor consultations. You should always see a professional legal/trained adviser for help in any matter. I am not responsible for any decisions/ actions you take.

[solselah]

Pick a song ?

(Channeled messages)

💜

PILE 1 - The less I know the better

Your spirit guides are holding messages from you because they feel it’s the best you don’t know at this time !!! There are other things that should be taken care of right now by you !! They don’t want you to be obsessively thinking about what happened or why it happened!This separation or Disconnection between you and these people/person just know It’s not up to you to beat yourself up , you don’t deserve that !! It’s time to Put away the excuses & pick yourself up , don’t treat yourself like you aren’t worth a relaxing bath & a face mask or even a beautiful candle lit dinner. There is someone out there for you & this could even be solely friend based for some of you ! Like the people coming in your circle will be so supportive of your new life & new business ventures! They are here to support. Let them in ! Try not to pussh away!

♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫

PILE 2 - HELL N BACK

You’re now starting to notice the mental state you were in when your started a relationship, was not healthy it wasn’t even close to okay! You are actually baffled this person is still willing to stick it out and rock with you. They see the you , you haven’t been able to get in touch with ! I’m hearing they are acting as your mirror at this time !You may really be shying away from this person for that reason! It’s crazy how fast you Snap on this person sometimes ! They forgive and love you either way but they deem you a bit as snappy , but they really do chalk it up as like a “you” thing. They really would rather be with you than alone any day! You have a good one on your hands but I feel for you , you may need a mental break to find yourself ! Something is off here for you & it’s okay to admit it ! I would recommend being open about it by any means ! It helps to bring understanding into the dynamic.

*Especially if the transparency is private*🤫

♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫

PILE 3-ADORE

Now that you have discovered who you are outside of others perspective!! You are learning how to fall in love with your soul! You could have had your self esteem broken down BAD as far as 8/10 years ago , you’ve come this far on your journey understanding the things you’ve practiced have come in to action, landing you success in finding the reflective part of your soul! people tend to us others as mirrors … you chose to look within your own body to see who you are to YOU. You could be someone who does Acid or even takes your occasional shrooms , there is an emphasis on micro dosing!

So that could totally be your thing ,it helps you to be one with self! Especially after all of your broken moments regarding the relationship you built for / With self!!

♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫

PILE 4 - ICE SLIPPIN

Right now you’re so closed off !! I would go as far as saying you’re done with what life is offering right now (over it ) You could be feeling very protective over your heart at this point ! You’ve even relocated to grasp a bit of peace !! Someone could’ve really Took your heart out your chest and stepped on it ! Like they are so truly sorry and they just don’t know how to show that to you ever! It’s such a sad thing for this dynamic because it could’ve been something. you feel that you being closed off & cold is your answer! In reality it’s really numbing your true feelings… so bad. Your angels really need you to be honest with yourself about the track record of this relationship ! Was it bound to happen ? Were you numb to them ? Are you still ? There are so many question that need answers & that being hidden from you sometimes really devastates you because you desire to know more. You’re hurt and don’t know why ! That’s how it feels. You are not alone in this trust me. Your heavily heavily surrounded by Grand teachers & angels that are ready to go to war for you & are willing to teach you about how you can start to heal , it’s so time for you to begin to Build your strength back. It’s so necessary for the next steps for you and your opportunities ! I know this connection had you so emotionally attached. You were not the only one I promise !!!! They may hide it and throw it out the window but I guarantee you they are running in circles. It’s indeed time for you to

“criss cross apple sauce” ( very specific)

in the middle of the circle and elevate your energy right in their face at that!!!

♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫

Hope you enjoy 💜

IG: @Soleccentric

SONGS:

1: Tame impala - the less I know the better

2: BAKAR FT SUMMER WALKER - HELL N BACK

3: ADORE - WILLOW SMITH FT JAHNAVI HARRISON

4: ICE SLIPPIN - OMAR APOLLO

[rallentando1011]

Somnambulant Soulmates (rise Donnie x gn reader)

Prologue, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Word Count: 2833

“Where in the actual heck did you lead me?”

“Trying to figure that out right now. How many turns have you taken?”

“You mean to the left or right?” you inquired cautiously, steps splashing in the shallow water of the sewer tunnel you currently found yourself in. You thought that since you had taken this exact same path literally yesterday you might remember the way. Well, you thought wrong, which was why you called up the man you were on your way to meet for assistance.

Donnie huffed over the phone. “Both, preferably. Why would you go traversing through a complex labyrinth of a sewer system, not knowing where you’re going, and not keeping track of where you’ve gone?”

“Uhh, misguided faith in myself?”

“Eh. Fair enough. I’ll send auxiliary support your way.”

“‘Auxiliary support?’ What is that supposed to-”

Before you could even finish your thought, not to mention get a response, the call ended.

You gaped. Either the signal cut out, which was feasible in the sewers, or he ended the call. For Donnie’s sake, he’d better have hoped it was the former.

You froze in the eerie silence and dark, breathing tersely. Your hands hung uncomfortably off your sides, shoulders drawn tight.

What were you supposed to do now?

Well, retracing your steps seemed better than continuing further into uncharted territory. Following that logic, you pivoted and meandered cautiously back from where you came.

The tunnel came upon an especially dark section, so you turned on your phone’s flashlight. Your field of vision was small, but at least you could directly in front of you. Better than nothingness..

Suddenly, a strange noise entered your ears. Some sort of mechanical whirring. It sounded vaguely in front of you, though the reverberation from the tunnels made it hard to discern.

You tensed up again.

What if it was from those goons from last night? Or, even worse, what if it was-

As the source of the odd whirring sound came into view, you paused.

“Ohhhh my goodness…” Your startled reflexes swiftly softened as you registered the little purple drone levitating before you.

A very boop-able beak was on what you assumed to be its face, with petite propellers acting as limbs. Bottom line, it was adorable.

“Woah, how’s it hanging, dude?” the drone greeted. “D told me you got a bit turned around down here, but we’ll get you to the lair real quick.”

“Woah.” You admired the tech, tilting your head at it. “So, am I talking to Donnie or an algorithm right now?”

“Neither! The name’s S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. broski!” it- he introduced himself.

“Huh. Nice to meet you, S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.,” you responded and gave your name in return. “Would you mind please showing me to Donnie?”

“No problem!” the drone floated higher excitedly before whipping around. “Follow me. We’ll be back to the lab in a jiff.”

“Thanks!”

You trailed along the polite drone in silence, weaving and wandering through dim channels until he spoke up.

“So, you and D are cool?”

“Yeah, you could say that.” You tipped your head down inquisitively. 

“I don’t know what you see in him.”

You barked out a laugh at how abrupt his sass was. “Oh?”

“Yeah! He can be super overbearing sometimes- like, won’t-even-let-me-out-of-the-lair overbearing, you know? He’s gotten better about it, but he can still be way protective.”

“Surely it can’t be that bad,” you offered. The drone did not seem to agree.

“Oh, it can, bro! One time, he padlocked my propellers and I ended up in, like, a gang almost-”

As your conversation trailed off and you two moved, the area around you grew lighter and you found yourself in the empty atrium of the lair. S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. guided you up to the second floor, down a dim hallway, and to a stop in front of large, metallic doors as his rant about Donnie came to a close.

“Thanks, little guy. I appreciate the help.” You smiled, and the drone tilted his head and returned the gesture.

“Of course, bro! Just let me know if you get too bored with Donnie. Us cool people can hang out and do something less bogus.”

You chuckled. “I’ll let you know.”

With a small salute, you sent him whirring off.

You turned to face the sturdy-looking doors before you. Just as you moved to rap on them, the doors opened with a heavy sound of air. You took a confused glance to the right, left, before stepping into the lab.

The room consisted mostly of metallic silver hues with tables and shelves stacked up with a plethora of technological treasures. Purple mood lights illuminated the room softly, though it was still a lot more effective than your flashlight was.

Sounds of clinging and clanging proliferated from somewhere behind a shelf. You followed them, expecting to find your companion tinkering on something - perhaps the invention he was researching at the library?

Instead, you turned the corner to see him using the titanium arms that extended from his battle shell to swipe what was probably a literal ton of empty energy drinks off of his desk and into a trash can beside it.

You interrupted his tidying up with a cough to announce your presence.

Startled, he snapped his head back to look at you, his technology not ceasing to clear the irrelevant items from his desk.

“Oh. You made it. Congratulations,” he said, though his monotonous tone did not invoke any sentiment of felicitations.

“Yeah, I made it, little thanks to you.”

“I take it S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. behaved himself?”

“He was an angel.” You put a hand over your heart and walked up to him just as a thought struck you. “By the way, how did you know where to send S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.?”

“That is unimportant right now. What matters iiiis-” he paused to gesture to his desk, “-science! Engineering, to be more specific, but we can delve into that more later.”

“Hm.” You leaned over the desk, viewing a highly detailed blueprint and sheet of notes. The thought that he probably  definitely tracked your call faded as you immersed yourself in his work. “You mentioned a prototype of this yesterday?”

“I admire your tenacity, but would you not prefer to discuss the workings of the machine before seeing the results?” he queried.

“Is it not helpful to vary in learning techniques? I’m game for some visual learning.”

“Sigh, if you insist.”

Donnie turned around, delicately grabbed an object from a shelf beside him, set it down on the desk.

The metal object was spherical, for the most part, with some geometric patterns on the bottom to prop it up. It was sizable, though wieldy enough to be portable. On the side of it was an ingrained insignia you’d seen on his other tech, and beside that was an odd yet intentional divot in the side.

“About this prototype for the generator-” Donnie glanced to the side, “it’s been built, but I don’t have the juice for it yet.”

“So you don’t have the energy source for your energy source?”

He deadpanned at your teasing. “It’s a prototype for a reason.” 

“Is that dent where the mystic crystal or whatever is supposed to go?”

“Yes, it is intended to be for a crystal, though I’ll take any viable source I can get. Now, shall we discuss the behind the scenes?”

You nodded.

Before crashing into his own chair, he pulled up a stool for you. Oddly considerate, but you wouldn’t complain.

From talk of sinusoidal waves, frequencies, output and input responses from certain mystic crystals, the conversation went into a plenitude of tangentially related topics, the minutiae of which he had to explain to you, but you got the majority of it. However, such conversation came at a price, for one cannot blab and/or yap for an hour consecutively without obtaining a splitting headache and requiring sustenance.

Eventually, you cleared your throat to get his attention off of the blueprints for the energy source. The turtle met your gaze curiously.

“All this ‘being a genius’ stuff has left me positively parched,” you spoke up, popping the p’s. “You have anything to drink in here? Or is the lair’s kitchen better?”

It felt kind of weird to refer to his residence as a lair, but you were trying.

“This is a laboratory; it would be reprehensible to bring food or beverage in here.”

The two of you glanced down at the miniature trash can adjacent to his desk and the cans overflowing from it.

“Your trash begs to differ.”

He clicked his tongue. “Those cans are empty now, and I don’t have more. We probably have water in the fridge.”

“How about we go somewhere instead? Go for a walk, head to a cafe, get some fresh air. I would prefer not getting lost here again.”

Donnie hummed, tapped his chin.“Not a bad idea. You’re buying, though.”

“Sure!”

He blinked. “I was joking. Of course I’m going to buy my own beverage.”

“We’ll see,” you smiled, hopping up from your seat. “Do you want to grab a coat or something? The wind chill’s bad today.”

“Forcing me out of my lab for food, insisting I prepare for the weather, if I didn’t know better I might say you care about me.” Donnie raised a playful eyebrow.

“Don’t flatter yourself. And I haven’t forced you anywhere. For legal purposes.”

“You can wait here. I’ll be back in a moment.” Donnie hopped up and exited the lab, presumably to get some warmer clothes.

As he slipped out of the room, you traced a finger over the blueprints he had gushed over so adamantly. So much time and effort and knowledge had been poured into every aspect of this project, and that, not to mention the complexity of it, was enough to gain your respect. You pulled out your phone, snapped a quick picture of the paper, not the prototype for now, and slipped it back into your pocket.

You waited for an uncomfortable moment, literally twiddling your thumbs, trying to seem casual. There was a literal trove of things to check out or explore in the room, but you did not know how much time you had. 

And you couldn’t risk getting caught.

So you waited. And waited.

Okay, either Donnie ditched you or he just took forever to get ready.

Thinking back to how late he was to April’s party heavily implied the latter.

After another moment of just standing next to his desk, the sound of footsteps padding closer drew your attention up.

Lo and behold, in the doorway stood Donnie with crossed arms.

His mask and goggles remained the same, steadfast on his head, but he did put on some clothes. A snug black turtleneck and flowy lavender cargo pants had joined the ensemble, though there was still a severe lack of shoes.

“Okay, Steve Jobs.” The comment slipped out of your mouth before you could process it. It came across lightheartedly enough, though, based on Donnie’s grin.

“Don’t say that if you don’t mean it, because that’s going straight up here.” He tapped his index to his temple and started walking out of the lab. You followed after.

“I guess with all that square footage something’s bound to go up there.”

He wrinkled his nose in distaste.

You elbowed

“I’m kidding. Your brain capacity is bound to be maxed out already with all that knowledge.”

“Thanks? That- wasn’t derogatory, right?”

“What do you think?”

“That you’re patronizing me?”

“Sort of. I was mostly calling you smart, in a roundabout way.”

“Huh. So, thanks?”

“Welcome.”

You two quickly made your way out of the lair and onto the surface’s streets.

You realized just as quickly that you had no idea where you were headed to.

“Uhh, D?”

“I know. Unless you have other suggestions, I know a place nearby.”

“Oh, yeah, please lead the way. I genuinely had no idea where to go.”

“Ha,” he grinned, taking the lead down a few streets and corridors and bringing you two to a quaint coffee shop. String lights, beige bricks, sleek tables and booths, the store was modern and comely.

Of course, with it being New York City, the line was huge, but this place was concealed well enough that it at least wasn’t down the road.

While waiting in line, you didn’t talk much, instead opting to either scroll on your phones or try to figure out which kind of coffee or tea you wanted.

As you neared the register, still having no idea what you wanted, you passed the small refrigerated shelf of items.

“Oh, I’ve seen these before!” Your attention caught on some bottles of Yakult, so you selected one of the original flavors. ��Never tried it though. Want to try it together?”

“Why not?” he grinned uncertainly and flashed a couple of thumbs up.

“That’s the spirit!”

You two made it to the register and ended up buying the probiotic drinks along with a couple of baked goods. Before he could make a move to pay for at least his items, you swooped in and bought them all with an innocent grin.

His glare saw through your unassuming demeanor.

You got your confections and drinks before making your way to an available booth. You took up a seat across from him and tried the new drink.

“I like it.” You nodded. It was citrusy, smooth, overall pleasant to indulge in.

“Oh. Mmmm…” he shuddered, forcing it down with a queasy smile on his face.

“Huh. You hate it,” you observed bemusedly. You relished the panic that washed over him at your comment.

“What? Nooo. This- this is very… not bad,” he faltered under your smug stare.

“It’s fine!” you reassured as you slid his Yakult toward yourself. “You don’t have to drink it if you don’t like it.”

“But-” he interjected, glancing down at the accursed drink, then back up to you. “But you bought it for me. I hardly consider it amiable to discard something that someone else purchased.”

“Well, luckily for us both, it’s not going to waste.”

Before he had the opportunity to ask you to elaborate, you took a long sip of the probiotic beverage. You smiled while doing so, coming face to face with a floored turtle when you set it back down on the table.

He stared numbly at you before stammering out, “I- you- do you have any idea how many germs we just shared?” 

“Oh well,” you shrugged. “Despite the atrocious things that come out of it, I think you have a fairly clean mouth. Now, how about we get you something else to drink? Something that you don’t find atrocious.”

“Fine, but I’ll be paying for it this time.”

You smiled knowingly, hand already fastened on your wallet. “We’ll see.”

The grin stayed smugly planted on your face as you made it to the front counter and slapped your payment down before he could.

“You’re just gonna have to settle with buying next time,” was your response to his scowl.

“Next time?” Donnie seemed taken aback.

You shrugged playfully. “Unless you don’t want to do this again. I’m good either way.”

“Um, no, n-next time’s on me,” he said hesitantly.

“Alright then. Do you want to tell the barista what you want?” you urged, indicating toward a visibly disinterested worker behind the counter.

“Right!” Donnie finally made it back onto this plane of reality and sprung into action, making his selection from the refrigerated section beside the counter.

“Flavorless juice?” Your jaw dropped as he slid it to the worker.

“Uh, yeah? They’ve got the good kind here. 50% less flavor…”

“Okay then…” you opted to judge him silently and let the man enjoy his juice, albeit an atrocious variety of juice.

You started walking back to the booth before a notification on your phone made you pause. Taking it out, your eyes widened.

“Oh, uh, I spent a lot longer with you than I thought I did. Um, I’ve got to go now, but I’ll catch you later?”

“Y-Yeah! Later!”

You left him standing there with a smile and a couple of finger guns before bounding off toward the exit and out of his view.

Once you left his field of vision, he looked back down at his drink. The drink you bought for him. The drink you spent additional time and money on to get for him just because he couldn’t texturally handle the other one you’d bought him.

What you mentioned earlier about doing this again sounded quite nice.

Perhaps, instead of waiting for fate or probability or whatever was at play to cause you to run into each other again, it could be a more active endeavor, something conscious.

That didn’t sound half bad to him.

(chapter artwork HERE)

Taglist~ @rottmntsimp

@envyjmoney

[asha-mage]

WoT Musings: S2 Episode 3

GETTING CHILLS

This is one of my favorite sequences in TGH, one of my favorite Nynaeve moments, hell probably one of my favorite series moments, and I want them to nail it so bad.

Looks like the first test is going to be about Nynaeve loosing her father and mother. Makes sense since she never faced Aginor and Balthamel in the show. The choice was about letting go of the desire to persue revenge and fight, to choose being Aes Sedai over that.

Interesting choice to make the new 'Wisdom' Natti Cauthon instead of figment tyrant. It makes what's happening cut a little harder.

'How is Rand. is he happy?' FUCKING OUCH

Offfffffffff. On one hand they don't have a whole episode to commit to this bit, so their having to use shorthand hand.....but DAMN is that some knife twisting. I dig it though. Instead of a tyrant Nynaeve could fight off, it's something she can't fix because of her own block, her anger and fear. She has to choose between cold empty comfort for a dying man....and going back to seek the power to do actual good. Very very clever.

OHHHHHHHHH THAT THIRD TRIAL DO HAVE THOUGHTS

THE SOUTHERN TWANG ON THAT SENCHAN VOICE IS WOOF

Bye Uno! I would feel bad, but I'm afraid you're a funny bit part that's an easy sacrificial lamb here. It was gonna be you or Masema, and he's got problems to cause Perrin latter, so it's you!

I am really really REALLY digging the mix of Dynastic China and Versailles Era France in Cairhien's design in the show.

I am going to need SO MANY FICS of Logain and Rand fucking nasty during that garden scene you have NO IDEA

Asmodean is a going to be a good teacher to Rand solely because Logain is going to set the bar so fucking low.

Lanfear putting forward this chill cool innkeeper lady persona in Cairhien only to invade Rand's dreams to show off the true depths of her crazy where it's safe to do so, and ALSO to trick Rand into burning down her inn and thus leave him feeling guilt ridden/indebted to her is SO ON BRAND

Elayne and Egwene's friendship is already making me So Happy. I can't wait till we get Elayne and Nynaeve road trip shenanigans later on in the series.

Nynaeve's Acceptatron test is something I am going to have to sit with. I really really like the fact that just like in the books she let the arch fade away the first time, and I really like that once again it was HER that forced it to come back by channeling, something she wasn't supposed to be able to do in the test at all. The important part of this choice in the book is that it's Nynaeve DECIDING to go back, to claim the power she needs to protect those she loves, choosing that over paradise. The show's choice to instead demonstrate that such a paradise would be empty and fleeting if she DID choose it, is....one I am going to have to chew on.

Overall the show continues it's trend of adapting the core of the books, while changing the details to better suit the new medium, and I'm board with that.

[woongisi]

Girl Dad // Lee Hangyul

Lee Hangyul x fem!Reader // SMUT

WC// 2.59k

Synopsis// Hangyul's the hot new date you'd found. DILF by definition, and one you had to have.

Warnings// dom!Hangyul & switch!reader, breeding kink, initial use of protection, removal of said protection, mating press, brief talk of custody and separation

Author's Note// @gothlcsan you're welcome <3

---------

Lee Hangyul. You’d only known him for a couple of weeks, yet you’d already seen him covered in fruit juice, absolutely smothered in messy makeup, and doubled over due to an unfortunately placed kick. You’d met at the library, browsing in the same section of novels. He may have been looking at murder mysteries, but his arms were chocked full of children’s picture books. Barely above a whisper, you had huffed and playfully asked if the brightly colored stack was for him. He smiled and politely declined, telling you he was just gathering them for his daughter. You both laughed just a little too loud, earning a stern look from the librarian.

After you both had checked out all your books you decided to dip over to the coffee shop just down the road. The interactions you shared in the library were small but enough to leave you wanting to know more about the newfound stranger. He held the door for you, he tried to pay for your coffee, and he pulled your chair out… everything he did had you pondering whether chivalry was really dead or not.

The man’s looks were truly striking, donning clear-framed specs. His hair was a warm brown and parted down the middle, falling neatly to either side of his face. His white button-up was loose and partially unbuttoned while his darkly colored slacks were quite fitted.

You learned a lot about one another in the hour you shared, chatting over your drinks and overpriced snacks. His name was Hangyul, he’d been single for a few years now. He had a daughter who was 7 and lived with him. She seemed to be the center of his entire world. He was kind and funny, and you could feel his genuine interest in getting to know you. You were both comfortable with silence between topics, and the conversation flowed easily. Before you parted ways, his gaze lingered on you for just a little too long after you exchanged phone numbers.

Over the following weeks, you met up plenty of times whether it was his place or some little activity his daughter so badly wanted to do. He was empathetic, unafraid to do things that would’ve been considered feminine, and put his kid before all else.

**

A quiet Tuesday night, you mindlessly browsed the channels of your TV in hopes of finding something to watch. Every show seemed the same. You huffed and powered it down, almost jumping out of your skin when your phone began to ring. A smile covered your face when you grabbed it to see the characters “hangyul <3” splayed across the screen.

“Hello?” You tried to contain the excitement in your voice.

“Hey, what’re you up to?”

“I just gave up on the television… you? You sound kinda down.”

“Oh…” The line was quiet for a few seconds. “Just feeling a little lonely. That’s why I called, felt the need to chat.”

“Where’s this kiddo at?”

“It’s her mom’s week to have her. I have primary custody, so she stays with me most of the time as you know, but she sees her mother every handful of weeks.”

“Ah, must be quiet. Enjoy your relaxation time.”

“Actually… the silence is kinda driving me insane,”

You could practically hear Hangyul pouting. You understood, he spent all day in the company of others whether it was his kid or at work.

“Do you want to come over?” He continued.

“Oh? Are you sure? It’s pretty late.”

“No, no! You don’t have to, I know it might be kinda weird to be at my house when it’s just us… only if you want to.”

“I’ll be there, give me half an hour. “

You hung up, springing off the couch and flinging open your closet doors. Even if it was simple, you needed a better outfit than a massive shirt and granny panties.

In no more than 10 minutes, you started your car, plugged his address in the GPS and were on your way.

**

Walking up to the door of his apartment, you shot him a text to let him know you were there, as it had become a habit to do so you didn't wake up the kid… even if she wasn't there. Fumbling with the lock, Hangyul pulled the door open and greeted you with a big smile.

“You made it!”

“I said I would, idiot.”

Hangyul moved to the side and invited you in, offering to take your jacket for you.

You both sat on either end of the couch, almost awkward without the continued presence of his daughter. The room was quiet, cool lit, and vaguely scented like mahogany. A basket of gaudily hued kids toys rested to the right of the television.

“So, what do you wanna do?” You looked over to him, noting how he sat so daintily with his knees together and arms crossed.

“Ah, whatever you want. I'm just glad to have company. It's been a long time since I've been able to just hang out with someone this way.”

“Do you, uh…” Suddenly you felt vulnerable, embarrassed with yourself. “Do you want to cuddle?”

He nodded eagerly, silently scolding himself for being almost a little too excited.

You scooted over on the couch, positioning yourself between his legs and resting your head between his head and shoulder. Hangyul hesitantly wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you closer to him. His free hand came to run through your hair, his fingers carefully removing any knots he got caught on. He took a deep breath, resting his cheek against you.

“I've missed this.” He muttered under his breath. “You’re so warm.”

“Mm.” You nuzzled into his neck, urging him to place the softest kiss on the top of your head. “You're always so gentle with me, Hangyul.”

Hangyul hugged you firmly, taking in the scent of your perfume. “Couldn't imagine hurting you. Not ever. Too precious to me.”

“Precious? Me?” You tried to hide the giddiness laced in your voice.

“Mhm. You know how many dates I've been on in the past few years? Too many. People tend to find it odd that I’m parenting on my own. Turned off by the fact I let the kiddo dress me up and do my makeup or pissed off with how I have to spend most of my time with her. Things like that.”

“It's endearing, I think. You're a wonderful father to her. Can't imagine thinking that's not hot.”

Hangyul’s hands fidgeted with the hem of your shirt, pondering if he should even follow through with his next move. Ah, screw it. It was worth a shot.

“Can… Can I kiss you?” In that moment he was glad you couldn't see his face, surely he was blushing. In a split second you pulled back from him and nodded eagerly.

“Of course.”

Hangyul rested his hands on your waist and took your lips into his own. He tasted faintly of coffee, you thought. Soon, his glasses were discarded to the side. Each of his small gasps made your stomach twist. Even now, he was gentle with you, only ever following your pace.

Everything about him was intoxicating to you, from his voice to his taste and everything in between. In a way you knew he was holding back. He nipped and tugged at your bottom lip, silently begging for access. Yielding, you allowed his tongue to slip between your teeth. Your tongues mingled, filling the air with wet noises and the occasional clack of your teeth brushing against his. Hangyul moved his hand to cradle the back of your head to keep you close to him. Your breath was unsteady, hinting to Hangyul that he was doing something right.

Hangyul disconnected from you, panting against your skin. “Can I be completely honest with you?”

“Duh, what is it?”

“I want you.” He swallowed his breath. “Really.”

You balled your hand into a fist, feeling your mind short circuit for a moment.

“Yeah?” You purred. “Then I’m yours.”

A shiver ran up Hangyul’s spine, giving himself a silent pep talk. He hadn't had sex in 7 years and he wasn't going to let this chance slip. He'd never felt enough chemistry toward past dates to get truly intimate… Now he was ready. The two of your scrambled to his room and climbing onto his bed.

His fitted black turtleneck highlighted the contour of his muscles. His chest, his arms, his abs. Crossing one arm over the other, he pulled the shirt up and over his head, tossing it to the corner of the room.

“May I?” Hangyul grabbed the very end of your shirt, helping you to remove it once you gave him your approval. His eyes flitted from your face to your chest shyly.

“Beautiful…”

You granted Hangyul permission to touch you, impressed by how easily he reached around you and unhooked your bra. “Black lace,” Hangyul murmured. “You were hoping for this, huh?”

“Maybe…” Your face flushed red, subconsciously positioning yourself onto his lap and grinding absentmindedly. Hangyul flinched and let a whine fall from his lips. He’d expected to be sensitive after so much time but every movement set him on fire in a way he hadn’t felt for far too long.

“Gyul,” You sighed. “I hate to be impatient, but I’m so fucking wet and I think I might die if I don’t get you inside of me right now.”

He was quick to oblige, hopping up to rummage through the side table next to the couch. Placing a pack of condoms and a bottle of lube to the side, Hangyul invited you to undo his belt buckle. The sound of the metal clanking was like music to his ears. He removed his slacks, revealing his dick.

“Hey, who are you to tease me? You were commando under that!? Guess I wasn’t the only one who was hoping for this. “ You taunted, ridding yourself of your own pants.

Hangyul was quite big, thick and adorned with fine veins. He tore open one of the condom packs, rolling the rubber down his length slowly.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Hangyul cupped your check in his hand. You nodded eagerly, telling him you couldn’t possibly be more sure. You propped yourself up against the headboard and cushioned your back with a couple soft pillows.

Hangyul leaned over you, placed a kiss on your forehead, and helped you slide off your lace lined underwear. You spread your legs wide to allow Hangyul’s large form to fit between. Words of praise fell from his mouth haphazardly as he rubbed the tip of his cock through your folds. His brows furrowed at the sensation, using one hand to grope at your thigh.

“Are you ready, my love?”

“Mm, please.”

Hangyul poured a generous amount of lube onto both his cock and your pussy, allowing no chance of any painful friction. He pressed into you slowly to allow you both to adjust.

“Shit,” He grunted once he completely bottomed out. “So tight, baby, so warm.”

You whined, biting onto your hand to suppress your sounds. “You’re so big, please just fuck me.”

Hangyul started slowly, rolling his hips rhythmically back and forth. He let out a choked moan, nails digging into your thighs. His hips snapped against yours firmly, eventually locating the most sensitive area of you.

“Oh, fuck! Daddy-“

Hangyul stopped dead in his tracks, trying to process what he’d just heard. You frantically apologized, claiming you hadn’t meant to call him that way and praying he wouldn’t be freaked out.

Hangyul had never really heard or so much as considered the word in such a context. After all, it's what he was used to being called by his daughter who only recently stopped because she was “too cool” for it. Something was different when you said it, something that made him feel powerful.

“No, no,” Hangyul took a deep breath. “Say it again.”

“Oh, so Daddy likes it?” You smirked, yelping when he thrusted sharply into you.

“That's my girl.”

Despite the situation you'd found yourself in, the possessiveness behind his words almost made you feel shy. Hangyul leaned over you, propping himself up on one arm so he could look in your eyes, brushing the hair out of your face with the other. His eyes were dark, brimming with adoration, conveying a soft expression despite how he was slamming against your walls. You gave maintaining eye contact a valiant try but soon found yourself losing yourself to the pleasure, opting to clasp your hands on the back of his neck and kiss him instead.

A small sob escaped your throat, clenching tightly around Hangyul’s cock. “So full, fuck, want you in me forever.” Your quickening breath betrayed how close you were to coming undone.

“W-wait, off, take it off-” You cried and weakly attempted to push him off of you. Hangyul took the hint and pulled out, quickly discarding the condom and moving to press your legs up against your chest. His own legs over yours in a mating press.

“100% sure, baby?”

You nodded frantically and practically begged Hangyul to bury himself back into your pussy. The pace he took up was brutal, fast, and deep with his cock reaching places you hadn't felt before. Each filthy noise that accompanied every thrust pushed you both closer and closer to the edge.

“Please, Hangyul, fill me up- please, please, please,”

“Who? Who do you want to stuff your pretty little cunt with cum?”

Tears rolled down your cheeks, feeling far too good and far too spent. “You, Daddy, please breed me-”

In a few more aggressive thrusts your orgasm hit you like a truck, the tightness of every contraction sending Hangyul over the edge soon after. His grunts bordered on animalistic and in stark contrast to the filthy words spilling incoherently from his mouth, his motions were soft and loving, holding you flush against his chest as he pumped every last drop of his seed into you.

Coming down from your eyes, you both panted with exhaustion. Hangyul had nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck and begun to leave light kisses along the expanse of skin.

Hangyul whispered sweet nothings into your ear, mumbling about how gorgeous you were, how much of an amazing mother you'd be, and accidentally confessing to just how much he loved you. Through your little gasps, you told him you loved him too and that if you were to carry anybody’s children you'd want them to be his.

Hangyul's eyes brimmed with tears, overwhelmed by the entire situation. When he went to pull out of you a noise of protest stopped him.

“No, stay, please, too good.”

Blinking away the tears that started to brim at his waterlines, Hangyul squeezed you tight as if you were going to evaporate.

“You… You're not gonna leave me after this, right…?”

“Of course not, silly, could never.”

A twinge of sadness caught your heart at his question, realizing his breakup had really affected him deeply. Unanimously agreeing you could clean up later, you drifted off to sleep in each other's arms, you still stuffed with Hangyul's cock and seed.

His heartbeat thudded rhythmically against his chest which only lulled you farther to dreamland, your last thoughts filled with joy at how you'd gotten so lucky to find someone like Hangyul and how much the future held.

[queerxqueen]

out of curiosity, what do you think the duffers could have done to help mitigate the homophobic fandom? do you just mean making byler canon earlier, or dropping heavier-handed hints/clues/foreshadowing that are harder to dismiss in the show? or are you thinking something they themselves could’ve done in real life, like actively going out of their way to support pride month or something like that?

i’m also thinking abt how the show presents itself, on several occasions, to be very anti-bullying and how it prides itself on celebrating those who might be considered losers, weirdos, and outcasts. but because this idea is never really explicitly stated or emphasized in the show, casual viewers tend to gloss over it, or miss it entirely. is this the duffer bro’s fault? is this an indication that they could have done more? done better? and do they have a moral responsibility to educate those who are intent on missing the point?

maybe! i don’t rly know how i feel. i love the show, i love byler, and i do agree that there are certain moves the duffers have made that i’m not 100% happy with. also the idea of a gay plot twist is kind of…. you know, fun, but not the best. however, i also try to keep in mind that these are two (presumably) cis straight men and so, i cut them some slack and i immensely appreciate what they’re trying to do (assuming ofc they are moving in a canon byler direction).

for them to establish two canon queer relationships in a mainstream show that i love that isn’t centered around queerness??? i could cry tears of joy just thinking abt it, and so i feel i’m more compelled to dismiss some of the mistakes the duffers make along the way.

anyway, sorry that the ask is ridiculously long (feel free to ignore it, or only address a small part of it if it’s too overwhelming!). i hope it makes sense, though it might just come off as incoherent rambling - whoops. i’m honestly just speaking recreationally lol, but i’d love to hear some more thoughts frm you on the subject if you’re willing!

Agh, thank you for the ask, I love hearing your thoughts!!!

[Re: this post]

To touch on the first/main question - what could the Duffers have done to mitigate the homophobia?

There's a lot they could have done.

Within the show, if they're intending to make Byler canon, which I do believe they are, I think that season 4 should have officially broken up Mileven and also have had an undeniably, overtly romantic moment for Byler that the GA can't miss. Even if the final cabin scene had a hand touch rather than the shoulder touch, that would have been enough for me. Because yes, to me, and you, and 250k other Bylers, it has been obvious; but for the GA and Milevens, they have purposefully left enough wiggle room to keep them on the hook. Again, I respect the straight-bait, but if they're prioritizing straight-baiting over protecting their queer fans, that's not a great look.

But to me, much more important is what they could do outside the show. While there are occasional posts about Byler on various Stranger Things social media, I feel like there is so much more that could be done to show support to the ship and its queer fans, especially if it is endgame.

They could have explicitly and overtly addressed Will's sexuality on all channels after the release of season 4 instead of leaving it to Noah Schnapp.

They could have explicitly stated in an interview that Will is an equally viable love interest for Mike as Eleven is going into season 5 instead of prioritizing shock value and spoiler avoidance over the wellbeing of their queer fans.

Most vitally, they could have acknowledged/addressed the presence of homophobic fans and bullying in the fandom and explicitly condemned hateful folks as misunderstanding the show's core values. Take for example how Rick Riordan responded to racist fans criticizing the casting for Annabeth & Grover:

"The negative comments she has received online are out of line. They need to stop. Now. Anyone can be a hero. If you don’t get that, if you’re still upset about the casting of this marvelous trio, then it doesn’t matter how many times you have read the books. You didn’t learn anything from them."

After season 4's confirmation that Will is gay, they should have made an outright statement along these lines, that hate is unacceptable and that those who are hateful are fundamentally opposed to the values of the show. Instead they (or at least, Netflix) is more preoccupied with maintaining the general audience for as long as possible, even at the expense of the often-more-dedicated queer fans.

Really though, I'm more happy about a queer relationship being canon in such a mainstream show than I am upset about the lack of support for queer fans, because ultimately, this queer relationship and representation is offering support in a lot of ways. But they're doing this while also spending years allowing some of their biggest fans to be gaslit into thinking they're "delusional" for interpreting what the show is saying.

I guess ultimately I just feel like, if they're going to engage with queer stories and queer characters, they also have to have some responsibility for mitigating the negative impact they can have on real queer fans and queer spaces.

[dc-said-bi-robin-rights]

The first floor window of the Ranger HQ explodes outwards as Steel crashes through it, plummeting several feet in the air before hitting the ground, rolling, his armored fingers carving a line into the tarmac as he digs them into the ground to halt his momentum and rises to his feet. Above him, Blindspot walks forward calmly, his cape billowing behind him in the cold December wind as he looks down on his fallen enemy from the window ledge. He can feel the power rushing through the neon yellow veins of his armored suit as he clenches his fists, the simple action diverting all the excess power that isn’t being channeled into his telepathic boosters straight into his diamond-tipped knuckles. It was Mortum’s latest masterstroke: a strength upgrade that didn’t require any additional power storage. Just the action of curling his fingers into a fist would fill his gauntlets with excess power, power that would then be diverted elsewhere as soon as he uncurled them. He felt a chuckle coming on—he was gonna have to send the good doctor another check. It really was a brilliant workaround.

The roar of rushing air fills his ears, and he looks up to see a helicopter with the LDNW logo hovering overhead. He smirks beneath his helmet, raising a hand up to his eyes as their spotlight switches on, illuminating him in all his glory for their millions of viewers to see.

That was more than fine by him. Let them watch. Let the world watch their heroes be embarrassingly brought low, again and again, until they woke up to the truth that they didn’t protect anybody, least of all them.

He walks off the ledge and drops down onto the parking lot, shockwaves emanating from the fist he’d smashed against the ground, breaking the windows of all the cars around him and splashing him with glass shards as he rose to his feet. Another gift from Dr. Mortum, one that was as much for the drama and intimidation factor as it was for the usefulness that clearing a room of goons just with his landing represented. Armored as he was, Steel barely felt the shockwaves, of course… but the little trick was a godsend in front of the cameras, and there were few messages that weren’t enhanced by a visible display of power from the one who spoke it. Even now, he could imagine the viewers at home oooing and gasping at his little display. The thought amused him, and he wondered what the Breaking News! headline was saying at this very moment. He hoped it was something scary: an intimidating reputation was as valuable as a dozen fiery speeches, if not more so.

“I don’t want to fight you, Cyrus.” Chen’s voice was serious and stern, and as irritating to his little fantasies as the stubbornly conscious state of the man himself. Even with half his visor torn off and his breastplate dented almost beyond repair, the Marshal of Los Diablos refused to bend or break, even to a man he privately wasn’t sure could even be considered a villain. “You won’t enjoy what happens if you make me.”

“Cyrus Brown died in an ambulance, alone and abandoned.” Blindspot’s voice is a garbled mix of his real voice and the intimidating growls produced by his failing voice moderator. The effect is disturbing, and more than a little offsetting. “Or at least, that’s what you told the others, isn’t it? But you knew better.”

A flash of something indescribable passes over the half of Chen’s face not covered by the ripped visor. “I would take it back if I could.”

“But you can’t,” Blindspot hisses as he walks forward, fists clenching, power filling his hands, his armor’s pulsing veins glowing in the dark between the black plates. His own featureless faceplate was still intact, but visibly glitching, showing more of his snarling face than he was comfortable with. That hadn’t been part of the plan. He was meant to be the coldly gloating one, hiding his emotions behind the stark neon wall that was his faceplate and the echoing nothingness of his voice moderator as he threw out vicious taunts and condemnations. Steel wasn’t supposed to be able to see the savage hatred on his face, and he was especially not supposed to be able to hear the broken fury in his voice. That had always been his problem. He succumbed to anger too easily. “You can’t, can you? You can’t undo what they did to me!”

“I can make it right,” he growls, as close to pleading as he’ll ever get. “I can help you. I can keep you safe from them.”

“No one can keep me safe from them,” he says, taking a steadying breath pulling himself back into neutrality with great difficulty. Not for the first time, he’s glad news’ helicopters don’t typically come with long-range microphones. “Only I can do that.”

“And Ortega?” They’re circling now, watching each other for the slightest sign of weakness. “I know she cares for you. I know she’d believe you can put this behind you, like I do.”

“And let them get away with it?” Blindspot demands, disbelieving. “Let them do it again?! To me!? To others?!” He gave a harsh laugh. “I chose this path for a reason, marshal . Not that I’d expect you to know what that is.”

“A path?”

“A choice,” he corrects, mocking. “The military man, through and through. ‘Yes, sir’, ‘no sir’, ‘how high, sir’? ‘How deep, sir?’ ‘The whole thing or just the tip, sir?’”

Steel meets his eyes for a long moment. “From what I’ve heard, that sounds more like you.”

The next thing he knew, Blindspot was pummeling Steel, frothing with rage. If it had been Steel’s goal to provoke him into a hasty attack, it’d worked too well: his fist crashes into Steel’s broken visor, cracking what remained of his helmet and smashing aside his jaw. Steel stumbles back, but Blindspot gives him no quarter, raising his fists above his head and bringing them crashing down on his shoulders. Steel is forced to his knees, but he still manages to catch Blindspot’s next kick and launch him backwards a few feet into the air.

He lands in a crouched position, teeth gritted behind his glitching faceplate. Okay, lesson learnt. There’s still a pretty sizable strength difference between him and Steel, and he needs to remember that. Fine. Let’s see how he likes a fight on Blindspot’s terms, then.

He plunges his hands into the tarmac, sending his nanovores towards Steel. The ground cracks as they approach him, and though he jumps back, deploying jets all along his lower body to guide his ascent, they follow him up, forming a long ramp that reaches out as if to catch him. Blindspot can see the controlled panic in his eyes as his jump-jets start running out of steam, but he pulls the nanovores back before they can swam over Steel and bring his career as a Ranger to a grisly end by devouring him and his half-cybernetic body alive, letting Steel crash to the ground. The fallen marshal’s heavy armor leaves a small crater in the tarmac, but it’s one he quickly picks himself out of, leveling an unguided wrist-mounted rocket and firing it at Blindspot. The Rat-King chitters out a warning, though it’s unneeded—the pressure on Blindspot’s mind has lessened somewhat, meaning some of Steel’s dampeners had to have been damaged by the fall. His will surges forward, wrapping around Steel’s mind like a set of hands and squeezing. The rocket goes wildly off-course, hitting a nearby car and sending it vaulting into the air in a fireball, the impact doing nothing but kicking up his cape as he advances. The part of Cyrus that was Sidestep registers Steel’s unwillingness to use the more dangerous class of missiles he has mounted on his shoulder somewhere in the back of his mind, but the rest of him is just focused on how sweet it’ll be to make the bastard pay.

“Tell me something, Chen,” Blindspot starts, his voice distorting strangely. “I’m curious. How many mes would it take to make up one Ortega? Ten? Twenty? By what exact percentage is my life less than hers?”

“You’re making this something it wasn’t,” Steel growls, leveling another rocket at him.

He rolls his eyes. “Don’t try it. We know how that goes.”

A pause. “I guess that’s true.” Steel slowly lowers his arm. “What happens now?”

“Now?” He gives a harsh laugh. “Now, we beat the crap out of each other for the cameras. And we don’t stop until one of is dead.”

“I don’t want to do that.”

“Liar,” he says calmly. “You’ve wanted that since the beginning.”

“You don’t know anything about me.”

“I know you’re my enemy.”

“Do you?” Steel gives Blindspot a meaningful look. “What have I done to make you think that?”

“Left me in the Farm, for one thing.”

“I was trying to protect Ortega.” Another pause. Chen liked his pauses. “I thought you would understand that.”

“Didn’t tell me that you knew, for another.” Now who’s the one with the lists?

“You were dead. Then you were back. What did you want me to say?”

“You could’ve pulled me aside at any moment.” It was hard, to muster the anger from earlier into his voice. Even though he was angry. Even though he was furious. “Explained. Let me know what you had done before I started to get close to you.”

And there it is. The ugly truth.

They’d almost been friends. Now, they never will be.

“I fail to see what that would have accomplished.”

“I…” He let out a long groan of frustration. “It’s useless, with you. Guilty feelings aside, it’s like you don’t even realize you did something wrong.”

“I made a choice. I stand by it.”

“A choice to pick Ortega over me.”

“A choice to pick a living Ortega over a probably dead you.” Steel looks guilty, but not guilty enough to shy away from the truth. That’s something you can give him credit for, at least. “You weren’t a Ranger. There was no other choice I could make.”

“I was part of the team, damn you.” He feels so tired. “You know that. You’ve said that.”

“I do. I have.”

“So why…?” He chokes on his next words. “Forget it. Would you have made a different choice? If I wasn’t a Re-Gene?”

“I… don’t know.” Steel looked troubled by the admission.

“You don’t know,” Blindspot echoes, shaking his head. “I think you do.”

“I don’t think so.”

“You can say it. Either answer will make me hate you.” He wondered what the news chopper made of this conversation, being unable to hear it and yet still seeing him and Steel standing there, talking when they should be fighting. “Either you decided I wasn’t worth the risk because I was a Re-Gene, or you did it because I was inherently worth less than Ortega in your eyes.”

“I told you, I don’t know.”

“I could rip the answers out of your head,” he threatens without any real heat. “Your dampeners are down. You’d have no way of stopping me.”

“Do it, then.” Steel looks about as tired as Blindspot does. “I’m as curious to hear them as you are.”

He almost does.

Almost.

His will surges towards the chopper like a spike, piercing their minds with urgent thoughts of heading home. He waits until they’re out of sight to remove his helmet, exposing his face to the empty parking lot. To Chen.

“I had plans for how today was gonna go, you know.” A slight chuckle. “I was going to walk in, all righteous fury, and take my revenge.”

Chen holds his gaze. “What changed?”

Cyrus laughs, the sound free and pure away from the voice moderator. “What makes you think anything has?”

“You’re not killing me.”

“No.” He leans back, taking a seat on the hood of the nearest car, which groans under the pressure of his heavy armor. It’s a very casual act of criminality, but he doubt Chen is going to lambast him for it under the circumstances. “I guess I’m not.”

There’s a long silence. Chen breaks it first.

“I saw your interview. The one on the bridge.” A slight pause, shorter this time. “I never knew you were into politics.”

“Any system that puts people through what I want is rotten.” He puts the helmet down and lays back, staring up at the stars. “We talked about it, you know.”

“It?”

“The sky,” he clarifies, like it’s not a total non sequitur. “What it looked like. Someone… I can’t remember who… thought it’d be green.”

“Oh.” A hesitant breath. Cyrus can sense Chen’s confusion… but also his interest. “Were you disappointed?”

“With the sky? A bit,” he admits, his eyes still skyward. “Then it got dark. And I saw the stars.” The last word is uttered with an almost dreamlike longing, with the tone of breath one might reserve for speaking about a goddess.

The Farm had taken a lot from Cyrus the second time around. But it could never take away the stars.

“They’re even more beautiful in the country.” Cyrus can sense Chen has no idea why he volunteered that information, but he continues anyway. “Especially overseas.”

“I know. Ortega took me to her ranch. More than once.”

Chen nods, but he doesn’t move from where he is standing. “You know I have to take you in.”

Cyrus sighs. “You don’t. You really don’t.”

“I’m sorry.” Cyrus could hear the stunner being primed, but he didn’t bother sitting up. “But I do.”

“Using my own tech against me?” He chuckled. He’d been wondering where that old toy ended up. “That’s a new low.”

“You were dead. It was a way to honor you. And it did it’s job,” he admits.

“Not well enough,” Cyrus says, before grabbing ahold of Chen’s mind and drowning it as violently as he could. Every thought he’d had in the last four hours, every memory, every possible impression is found and ripped out, violently brutally, viciously, without the slightest hint of mercy or consideration being given for the sanctity of his mind. By the time he is done, Chen is a drooling puddle on the floor, unconscious thrice over. Blindspot barely gives him a second glance as he walks away into the night.

[the-blind-geisha]

If you’re still taking requests, how about Demiurge showing off his well-bred, pregnant prized ewe? (I saw what you sent on Discord 😏)

A/N: HAHA! When I saw you screaming about it under that channel, I died. Yes, a very lovely idea. X3

Being a prized ewe to the devilish ambassador, there certainly was never a dull moment.

In all his attempts, he finally got her pregnant. It felt as though it took forever—far longer than it would have taken if she were paired with another human.

“So, crossbreeding between humans and demons is possible and not just a mere fairy tale of sorts,” Demiurge mused aloud. However, he considered his genetics to be more powerful than any other demon out there.

So he chalked it up to the fact it was him who bred her over any other of his subordinates he would even dare consider sharing with. He was the reason for the miracle.

But regardless, he never accounted for this. Trying to find her clothing that would be suitable had to be tailored by himself. And of course, he went out of his way to hide his considerate behavior behind the fact he didn't want to harm her or the baby. In doing so, the devil would gift her with very revealing choices for clothes.

The worst part of any nightmare occurred when Demiurge was asked to attend a gathering of sorts in one of the nearby kingdoms on The Sorcerer Kingdom's behalf.

She, of course, had to go as well... but in a dress that covered up pretty much the bare minimum.

“Are you sure this is... okay?” she asked, trying to make sure the slit gown didn't expose her panties and pregnant stomach underneath.

“It will be fine,” Demiurge insisted. He had dawned the Jaldabaoth mask and persona, having the world believe Ainz had conquered him. “Besides, I will be there to protect you. Don't you trust me?”

She nodded, even if there was something that made her uneasy about the situation.

When everybody at the gathering would go silent and look in their direction, she couldn't tell if they were doing that because of her or because of the so-called Demon Emperor that had terrorized some of the nearby cities.

The whispers were hard to listen in on but, through it all, she clung to his side like he was her only safety.

“G-Greetings, Emperor Jaldabaoth,” Jircniv called nervously.

“Greetings, Emperor Jircniv,” Demiurge responded in kind.

The human emperor couldn't help but stare down at the woman at his side. “I, umm... I see you have a captive of sorts?”

Everybody could tell Jircniv couldn't understand what the best name to use for this woman was. No doubt everybody was under the assumption that's why she was there.

“No,” Demiurge answered firmly. “She's mine, and it was I who got her pregnant.”

Everyone in the room seemed either horrified or intrigued. Even this world didn't seem to welcome the thought of half demon children.

He grinned underneath the mask as he grabbed her wrists, bringing them together to pull above her head. “You can look if you so wish to. Besides, I wanted to show off my accomplishment.”

She was shaking, not sure how to feel about her swollen belly being on display for others to view.

But, as expected, some of the men in the room came closer to lift the revealing gown out of the way to view her stomach a bit better. Apparently, some were in disbelief. Nobody wanted to actually believe a demon could get a human woman pregnant while others were more fascinated by it in other ways.

Feeling strangers touching her made the woman quiver. If there was any hand she wanted on her body, it was to be Demiurge's.

But the devil delighted in her agony. He wanted her to compare the touch they could offer to his own. His twisted grin in her discomfort was hidden from sight.

Jircniv showed his unease a bit when looking at her swollen belly. “Ah, what do you plan to do with it once it's born, my Lord?”

Demiurge caught something in the emperor's voice. His head snapped in Jircniv's direction, the red of the eyes glowing rather ominously. “It is my baby, and I plan on raising it.”

The human emperor was taken a bit back by that answer.

“She is mine to breed with, Emperor Jircniv...” Demiurge continued, almost as a warning. “...and this is merely one instance out of several she'll be heavy with my child.”

[artdagz]

Hey, another Leo escaped the prison dimension differently fanfic.

Don't know if I'll ever be able to finish anything again, but I still want to share this.

Fair warning: it is angst, last chance, injuries and some humor. If you see any more things let me know.

I neither have a name for this yet, nor do I want to post the working title since it's a bit of a spoiler. Let's call it:

‐--------

Leonardo the Blue turtle - intro

Leonardo couldn't take it anymore, realistically he knew,  He couldn't expect his brother's to break the laws of physics and save him from another dimension.

 Still his broken mind and shattered body would not accept the fact he had probably been trapped here for days. 

The krang had beaten him up good but faced with the choice to end him the monster did decide not to. Not out of mercy, leonardo was sure. 

The turtles shell was broken as were his legs and one arm,  but he was still breathing and defying death,  cause yeah not gonna make it that easy.

He never did anything the easy way, never seemed to learn, so why would he now?

In a better world his brothers probably already saved him and he could complain about the fact they ended up in jersey, but right now he didn't see that happening. 

Looking at the photo he was still clutching in his less injured hand he was hit with a wave of melancholy,  the sort that came with the idea of "at least they're save now." Before he sighed and pushed it down. 

He had been throwing himself a pity party long enough. Had been waiting for his brothers to save him long enough. 

They couldn't blame him anymore if he waited long enough and decided to try to break himself free or die trying. 

Which, honestly, both sounded better than to keep on rotting and wallowing in self pity,  since death also seemed too busy to get him in the next decade or so. 

So either Leo got out or death would be forced to reschedule for him.  Leo refused to Die out of boredom and pain, thank you very much. 

Looking over to where he had spotted his sword had ended up, Leo looked around one more time. If krang was still lurking somewhere, he didn't hear or see him. 

Sucker would probably wait for him to crawl over to his sword before tearing him a new one anyway, plus Leo wasn't gonna wait anymore. 

Stashing away the photo Leo began to crawl over to his sword using mostly one arm and the parts of his limbs that weren't broken. 

He had managed to splint his legs with his sword sheaths but it was a temporary job anyways and in a few moments this probably wouldn't matter anymore anyway, cause he intended to really give it everything he got. 

He was the portal guy,  so technically this should get him out of here,  right?

Nevermind. 

He was feeling eyes on him now,  but he wasn't squashed in the dirt yet so let the krang get some entertainment out of this,  Leo didn't care. Sounds of agony he released weren't only for show, simply more exaggerated than probably necessary,  cause the real agony for Leo was waiting or the idea he wouldn't get back to his brothers. 

But let the krang think he wants his sword for self protection or to soothe himself or some bull. Leo had been hyping himself up and gathering energy as long as his patience would let him and as soon as he could touch his sword he was out of here, one way or another. 

Taking a small break to breathe Leo briefly wondered if he'll end up with his ancestors if it didn't work and if they would scold him. 

Thinking back to granny karai, he didn't hate the idea seeing her again. 

Still he grit his teeth, eyes on the prize he pushed on. 

The "eyes" He felt boring into him brought on an uncomfortable tense atmosphere and he didn't want to wait for krang to lose his patience. 

Feeling a shift in his surroundings he swore he felt the moment the krang leapt towards him.  Taking one last leap himself he channeled all his energy into his sword at first touch.  The effort and closeness of krang making him give off one last scream as he felt himself disintegrate. 

The painful feeling of being taken apart not overshadowing the smug satisfaction he had as he could still see krang grabbing onto nothing as he faded out of this dimension. 

Leo shot the raging krang one last smug grin before being gone. 

In reality the time that passed while he faded was probably just a split second but Leo swears he could observe the krang trying to grab him just mere milliseconds before Leo reached his sword and got away in slow motion. This was most likely just the adrenaline and his senses being sent into overdrive just to be able to live out his potential last moments as much as he could. Now Leo couldn't deny the satisfaction of having gotten away, the outcome be damned. The krang did not get to control Leos life,  death or emotions anymore. Screw you, spit out bubblegum face. 

Even still,  a small part of the sliders brain couldn't help but wonder what would be next as soon as that all consuming white would be gone. 

Huh,  he'll just have to wait and see. 

With that thought the white light overtook all his senses and with the feeling of his body completely lost he gave in. 

[talkingwithghosts555]

A Conversation with James Dean

K: Oh man, this is a trip.

J: (grins) Why?

K: Because, I haven’t talked to someone new in a very long time and you finally come through all the way. I always wondered why you hovered around in the background for so long and today it’s like…suddenly. I have to say, sort of crappy timing on your part.

J: (continues to grin) First…(raises a finger) it wasn’t the time for introductions but my curiosity about you was always very strong. Second…(raises finger) sometimes it’s better for people to channel when they’re sick because their defences are very low.

K: I don’t think I have defences when I channel.

J: Everybody has defences when they channel. More about is this right or is this wrong…is it true. When someone’s sick, all of that goes away because the person’s energy is concentrating on fighting a virus and isn’t concerned about fighting what’s uncomfortable.

K: Oooo. That’s a good way to put it. To be honest, I’ve always sort of felt like we’ve known each other even though we’ve never met and I’m wondering, without giving too much away…

J: (nods while sipping on a mug of something…I assume it’s coffee) Very wise.

K: If you are an aspect of someone I already know in spirit.

J: Like…did I come back as their face, because I just couldn’t stay away, and we did somewhat the same things?

K: Kinda like that, yes.

J: (nods while lighting a cigarette, inhales, and exhales) Something like that.

K: Still smoke?

J: At least here, it’s doesn’t cause any real damage. I need to stay busy with my hands.

K: Got it. Then, reincarnation…

J: (gives me a confused look) I don’t much care for the term.

K: What would you call it?

J: Huh. (thinks) Another chance. When people die, they go back and they look at what they’ve done and if they feel it was a finished project or not. I didn’t feel like my project was finished. I wanted to get back as soon as I could but the circumstances had to be right, so I had to wait a few years to do that and I wanted it as close as possible to what I had already done and that happened. That was created for me and I was lucky it was.

K: Then not everyone gets that chance?

J: I was pretty adamant about it. (inhales the cigarette)

K: Can you be? If a person dies and doesn’t feel they finished something, can they just demand to come back.

J: I’ve known people that dive back in within…a day of dying.

K: You’re joking????

J: No. I’m not. Earth is a…for a rebel…(winks) it’s just as adrenaline filled as any stunt would be. The difficult part of that is…nobody really understands that until they die. No one really understands the beauty of it until they die and when that epiphany comes…for those that love the rush, they come back.

K: When I hear about NDEs (near death experiences) most people say they don’t want to come back.

J: A lot don’t.

K: You’ve been channeled before, right?

J: Lots of times. (sips coffee)

K: Why do you want to do that again with me?

J: The connection is different. The relationship is different.

K: Okay.

J: It’s nice for us…(pats his chest) to connect with someone on a different sort of level. You’ve heard that before.

K: I have.

J: There are so many great connectors out there. That’s what I call mediums. I call them connectors. And once in a while, you’ll find one that you can just step into and hold hands with without it being awkward. The others, you keep at a distance and just talk about the easy stuff. Like shootin’ the breeze with an acquaintance.

K: Did you have a lot of those, sort of lighter conversations, with people when living?

J: I wanted to connect. I really did. I think from the experiences I had when I was growing up, I sort of protected myself from sharing too much. I found protection in the acting. I found that I didn’t have to show who I really was because I could act it and be believed.

K: Did you ever show your true self to anyone?

J: Only a select few. I had a few rocky relationships…on and off again relationships because they could see that I was faking it…acting even if I wasn’t on a job and that created friction. I guess you could say, I didn’t give into trust very easily.

K: Interesting. I have that same issue. I don’t trust very easily.

J: (inhales and exhales) No one blames you for it.

K: I didn’t think anyone did.

J: (grins) It only takes one, right.

K: For sure.

J: (shakes his head slightly and smiles) I guess the circumstances of one’s youth really does create impressions…keeps people wanting to hang tight to things real close and the only way to do that is to pretend you’re someone entirely different.

K: What happened to you? In your youth that kept you so hidden?

J: Abuse. Abuse from someone I was supposed to trust…that everyone else trusted and because everyone else trusted him, I was meant to as well.

K: I’m sorry about that.

J: After my mother died, I was desperate for that sort of care. That sort of…comfort that only a mom could give a son at a very young age but that also made me a little bit…vulnerable because when I needed that, that sort of care came in the guise of sex and when you’re young, you start to believe that’s what love or comfort was.

K: Did you feel comforted when you were abused?

J: Something in me told me this wasn’t what I was looking for. It was shame for me because I felt ashamed that I actually thought it was the same thing…comfort and abuse. So, I never shared that part of my life with very many people.

K: What happened when you did?

J: Depends on the person. For some, it excused my behavior. I wasn’t always a nice guy. I would act out, lash out, sometimes resort to violence in my adult temper tantrums especially when I was alone. And those that excused me for it used the abuse as a reason to. (drops the cigarette and steps on it) Some gave me the sympathy which I hated. I hated every bit of sympathy given to me. It made me feel like I was someone who showed weakness and I didn’t want to be seen as weak. I don’t know. (shrugs) Life’s moments, when you’re young, and all you’re ever meant to be is innocent…can really fuck a person up.

K: For sure. I hear that. Was acting an escape for you then?

J: Like a lot of people, it gave me the chance to explore different parts of myself. Different ways to love someone else. It allowed me to learn about human nature, what worked with others and what didn’t. I used to take what I acted out in movies…I used to take that into my daily life and act that role and noted how people responded to it.

K: Were you ever really James to anyone?

J: I didn’t really know who James was.

K: When I look at your picture. I don’t see a young man. I don’t see someone who died in their early twenties. You seem older somehow. Would you consider yourself to be an old soul?

J: Yeah. I would take that title. Old soul.

K: Do you find that the old souls…who come to earth all the time since the beginning…those are the ones that are chomping at the bit to come back as soon as possible?

J: Depends on the job. If an old soul has only ever known earth, they want to come back as soon as possible. If an old soul is part of a greater collective of energies, they have the tendency to want to go back to any one of those collectives and not return to earth for a long, long time. When was you last life on earth? (sips coffee)

K: 1921.

J: Then, you didn’t wait too long to come back either.

K: Much to the chagrin of celestials that shall not be named.

J: (shrugs and chuckles) Sometimes what’s in our spirit’s best interest doesn’t agree with others. It’s all personal.

K: Just like here.

J: Just like here which is so beautiful. Everything is just a fucked up beautiful disaster.

K: So, after coming back as our mutual acquaintance…do you feel like you accomplished what you wanted?

J: In a relatively short amount of time, it all clicked. Plus, I wanted to leave a legacy and I did that.

K: Why did you want to leave a legacy?

J: I think that legacies of doing good are important. Not just a legacy built on a face of someone but a legacy of what we leave behind…what good we did. As much good as I did as James, it wasn’t nearly what I accomplished in the life after that and that’s what I’m most proud of. It had to be on those timelines that happened. I guess you could say my life as James was a test run.

K: Being the face of James, have you connected with this other life? After they died?

J: Absolutely. It’s like…having a twin brother.

K: I haven’t been able to really wrap my head and heart around the higher self and the soul aspects of someone because one spirit will still come as different faces and it’s very hard to feel like those are all the same…person. I guess I need to use person because it’s what I see.

J: I get it. Absolutely. That’s the beautiful disaster and that’s the power of spirit. That not only can a person connect with one aspect but of all the aspect of the One. And it can send people, who aren’t ready for that, into a tailspin of sorts. But when a person is ready for that, it’s just a general acceptance of the whole thing and whoever you see in the moment, is who you see with that greater understanding that not only do you connect with one but with all. This is the lesson that humanity is learning, that by connecting with one, they actually connect with the All. People talk about oneness but oneness doesn’t mean not seeing everything that makes up the One. What’s the best part, is seeing the intricacies of the one…as all these different experiences that contribute to it. Intricacies never block. They are the cosmic DNA of the One and every bit of DNA contributes that that special part of someone that is just a contribution to the Whole.

K: Wow.

J: I got that when I came back. Because the spirit doesn’t understand what’s real and what’s not real. Everything is real and spirit will live all parts as a contribution to the whole thing. When I understood that, I didn’t have a reason to go back. Not right away. There are people that need to live their lives and come back to this side before we both decide we go back together to finish what we started in life. After that, the earth contains us and creates from that part and then we can start creating something new, somewhere different.

K: Wow. That’s amazing. Thank you for your honesty.

J: It’s pretty incredible how all of this is being supported now. Just in this sliver of time (pinches his fingers together) is that awareness supported, but even though it’s supported doesn’t mean that sliver of time will have many takers because it’s still pretty fucked up. It’s a pretty fucked up way to think or believe.

K: TELL ME ABOUT IT!! Thank you for that.

J: I needed a lot of validation in my life as James to make it worth it. It didn’t look like it to the outside world that looked in. But in those quiet moments, I would just beg for some validation about what I was going through. I guess that’s why I had the two sides to me. The rebel and the quiet introvert. Depending, mentally, where I was at, is what you got. If I didn’t receive the validation of a job well done, a person would see a rebel. If I felt confidence, you would see the quiet, contemplative James.

K: Who did you like better?

J: Each had their moments.

K: I’ve only ever seen Rebel without a Cause.

J: That was a long time ago.

K: I think I was…like twelve or something.

J: Why did you watch it?

K: Paula Abdul and Keanu Reeves, of course.

J: (laughing) I guess that…there’s so much foreshadowing in people’s lives.

K: I think that a person would only see the foreshadowing after they died. Like it’s some huge epiphany after the fact.

J: Hindsight is 20/20. Especially here.

K: What is one thing that you wished you did have when you lived as James.

J: (thinks) I guess what anyone would want. A great love story.

K: Is earth a romantic place?

J: It could be more romantic if people gave in to the vulnerability of romance. I couldn’t give over 100% to vulnerability. Even in the quiet moments, I still needed to pretend something because pretending was sometimes easier than the real. To have a great love story, it takes less pretending and more authenticity.

K: That’s beautifully said. Thank you.

J: Audrey says, hi. (he’s smirking, picturing her) Now she…understands what a real love story is.

K: I know she does. She’s amazing. She came in the other day. It was nice to see her.

J: And, you’ll be seeing more of me.

K: What about asking permission?

J: (he’s sort of slouching over the arm of the chair he’s sitting in) I was asking.

K: That was not asking.

J: Okay. May I please come and have more talks with you?

K: Why?

J: Because it’s meaningful to me. Sort of a way to be a part of a great love story.

Heart melts.

K: God! Men! Why is it always dashing men.

J: The ultimate attraction.

K: (laughing) Okay. Yeah, sure. You looking like that and me in a housecoat and sweats, snotting everywhere.

J: It’s the human experience, Kim. A beautiful disaster. Thanks for this.

K: Thanks, James. I’ll be seeing you…I guess.

J: Absolutely. (jumps to his feet and salutes) Until then.

K: See you.

J: Ciao, Bella.

[officialleehadan]

Fire in the Ring

Myth and Magic

+++

Getting used to a new weapon was always a complicated process, and Seften had never had ones as fine as the sword and shield that Emarveris gifted to him. They were some of the most impressive weapons he had ever seen. Beautiful, folded steel that glimmered like rippling water. Golden runes engraved down the center of the blade to channel magic. A stunning crystal array set into the back of the shield, ready to channel any spell he cared to cast into it.

They were weapons that the highest nobles only saw maybe once or twice in their lives, and only at a distance. Seften had never even dreamed he would hold such weapons, let alone have them gifted to him.

“Look,” Emar said seriously as he took Seften through the armory to his personal vault. “You’re helping my dearest friend rescue her husband, who I count as the brother I never had. I don’t have any family except them, and you’re Myth’s brother. That makes us kin too, in a way.”

Well when he put it like that…

“I don’t know what to do with all this,” Seften said as Emar showed him the weapons, and handed him the stunning, matched set that now filled his hands. “Not the weapons. I’m a decent hand with them. With falling into a legend like this. With- with everything. With meeting you.”

“I’m a simple man who sometimes forgets his pants when he reads reports. Myth and Aelsrik, well, that part will be harder.”

After that, they were friends. Very, very strange friends.

The full moon was still two days away, so Seften retreated to the training yard on the suggestion of the king. It would, Emar told him, be a good thing to learn how to use his new weapons and to get used to the balance of them. That was always a hard part of a new blade. Even one as fine as this, with balance that felt made for his hand, and exactly the weight he preferred. Emar came with him, a fine swordsman himself, and in need of people who were willing to spar with him.

“I won’t be bothered if you hand me my own backside,” he said as he and Seften traded blows, although it was immediately obvious to Seften that the king was very much his better with a blade. “I spar with Aelsrik after all. You can use your magic if you like. Get used to the enchantments. I’m well-protected against most things.”

“I’m not sure I can control that,” Seften said, cautious of accidentally murdering the High King in front of half his soldiers. They traded a few more blows as Seften settled into the new weapons. He could feel that Emar was going easy on him. Giving him time. He appreciated it, and hitched the shield higher on his arm. It was lighter than he was used to, although that was no surprise. His own weapons were… well, they were serviceable. That was about it. “Better not to, at least not yet.”

“Fair enough. Myth’s been teaching you?”

“A little. I’m not a very good student.”

A few more blows and Seften felt ready to press his luck. He moved forward, careful in the thin sawdust of the salle, as Emar danced backwards smoothly. Both of their blades were blunted of course, as was standard when anyone sparred with live steel. The risk of real injury, beyond bruises, was fairly slight. Emarveris let him press forward a little, still visibly letting him find his feet. As soon as he realized that Seften was serious, he grinned.

“So, you’re not a very good student?” Emar said, barely breathing hard even as Seften came at him with all his skill to help. The deft way Emar handled his own blade was frankly impressive, and it didn’t take long for Emar to disarm him with a particularly pretty twist of his sword. Seften cursed and went for it, but Emar laid the edge of his sword along Seften’s throat before he could take a step. “Yield?”

“Yes,”

“Good. That wasn’t half-bad. get your sword and try it again.”

Their audience had mostly lost interest, but Seften was surprised to turn and see Mithale sitting on a nearby bench, watching them. He grabbed his sword off the ground and stopped by her. “Everything alright?”

“Taking the time to rest while we have it,” she told him and eyed his new weapons. She knew more about blades than she generally let on, and would certainly be able to see the enchantments with ease. “Those are nice. You fighting without magic?”

“I’m worried about causing damage until I know them better.”

It was a genuine concern. Seften didn’t consider himself particularly impressive as a mage, but Mithale assured him that he was as powerful as she was. The implications were more than he particularly liked to think about, but she was a good teacher, and he rarely struggled as she helped him with his magic.

“You can’t hurt Emar,” Mithale told him with a smile. He was still getting used to the sight of her without her illusions up, but that was a problem of his own, and not one that he planned to tell her about. “Aelsrik and I gave him a ring some years ago. While he wears it, even I couldn’t touch him magically. Here, watch.”

To Seften’s utter horror, Mithale swirled her hand through the air. A ward sprang up around their section of the salle, white-blue and impenetrable. Almost in the same moment, she snapped her hand forward and sent a wall of fire, so hot that it curled the hair on Seften’s arms, at the high king.

It was a firestorm that would have leveled a whole troop of men without effort. If Mithale hadn’t shielded the floor as well, it would have left burned glass in its wake, and lit the building ablaze in moments.

Emar gave a yell of surprise when the fire rolled over him, but when it faded, he stood completely unharmed but for a somewhat annoyed expression. The soldiers around them seemed to be rather more alarmed, but he waved them off.

“I told you to stop throwing fire at me without warning me first!” he called, and Mithale only smiled. “You’ll spook my guards.”

“If they spook that easily, you need better guards,” she replied unrepentantly and looked up at Seften. “Go ahead. Emar knows how to spar with a spellsword, and you can’t possibly hurt him.”

“Well,” Seften hesitated, but paused again when Emar raised his sword and tapped the blade on his own, very fine shield. “Are you sure?”

“Go on. He needs the exercise, you need the practice, and I’ll make sure nothing goes astray,” Mithale assured him and waved him back into the ring with Emarveris. “And there’s no one in this world who knows more about what we’re going to face in the next few moons. Let him teach you how to survive when magic isn’t enough.”

+++

Myth and Magic:

A Found Connection (Subscriber Only!)

Train to Spell (Subscriber Only!)

While We Walk

Night Burn

Storming Hell

Blood of a King

Terrace Legends

Fire in the Ring

Battle Scars (New!)

+++

MASTERLIST

[jvstheworld]

My Ted Lasso Re-watch: S1E2 (part 1)

Biscuits

Sleeping Ted, anyone else want to snuggle up with him? Do you think that because his marriage is struggling he's starving for physical affection?

Shredded wheat, it's not very tasty, personally. I used to add sugar to it so it would taste nicer, which meant that the milk tasted better too.

Busking is very common in the UK. It's how a lot of popular singers and bands got their start.

'Knock-a-doodle-doo'? Ted, you are too adorable.

Rebecca, Googling your ex is never a good idea. Ever!

Apparently the biscuits made in season 1 tasted bad, so Hannah Waddingham is acting her arse off when eating them. The Babish Culinary Universe has a recipe for them on their YouTube channel.

Biscuits and cookies are two different things in the UK.

I love Ted's reaction to Rebecca's 'fuck me' when she tries the biscuits, like he didn't expect them to be that good.

Ted really wants to get to know Rebecca and despite her attempts to get rid of him, she always sticks around and listens.

'High five tree'. He high fives a tree shaped coat rack. Ted needs to stop being so cute. And when I say stop, I mean continue until the end of time.

Ted had a ponytail at one point? I've seen what Jason Sudeikis looked like with long hair and oh boy, he looked damn good.

Also, the camera focusing on Ted's hands is an indication of his anxiety levels, which he tried to hide by keeping his hands in his pockets. I have a similar thing during my moments of anxiety where I can't stop fidgeting with my hands.

They make an Exorcist ref? Okay.

Roy being the oldest on the team is protective of the younger ones, especially Sam. He knows how team mates should be, which is why he gets so pissed off with Jamie.

'Be a goldfish' the first of many iconic lines from the show. Sam doesn't quiet understand it yet, but he will by the end. Ted isn't talking to him about Jamie's insults, but only about his actions during training. During a match you need to be focused on the task at hand, not beating yourself up about what you could have done better. You pick yourself up, and move on. That's what Ted is trying to say, just in his own way.

Sam and Roy are the only 2 players to say hi to Rebecca on their way back to the locker room.

The sport massages for the players are being done in the locker room because the treatment room is off limits due to being haunted.

Part of Ted's charm is that he likes getting to know people, he enjoys hearing bits about Nate's life. And we can gather that Nate is a good uncle to his niece.

Ted really wants to see if things can be made better around the club and for the team. A direct approach is often off-putting, so a suggestion box works. It might sound silly to the team, but if one person has an idea on how to improve things, then it can have a knock on effect for the rest of the team too.

Roy might have a problem with it but Ted needs to start somewhere to begin to build trust, and fixing a minor issue can help with that. It shows that he cares about their concerns and wellbeing, as a good coach should be.

[bloodgulchblog]

7, 9, and 22 on choosing violence?

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

Noble 6.

It's pretty unfair of me. Of course everyone loves their ocs. Everyone should get to love their ocs! Everyone should love their ocs and thrive.

I just got Tired of it all real fast.

9. worst part of canon

Halo 5 is a meme answer at this point.

TV Show's not canon so I won't count it, they were at least prescient enough to make it a separate continuity.

I could also say Kilo Five, but I have such complicated feelings about it. Kilo Five pisses me off a lot, but it's also pretty interesting.

I don't like Denning's books (and a couple things he does really frustrate me) but I feel like saying they're the worst just because I don't like them would be petty.

I think the weakest part of the written Halo canon just in terms of overall craftsmanship is the Uprising comic because it just sucks, but it's honestly a boring kind of suck. Nothing that happens in it really matters. (I mean, Ackerson dies, but that's the only good thing I have to say about it.) The art is bad, really really really bad. The writing is bad. But none of the characters matter, so it's like. Fine.

....One of my followers will probably be able to point out something I got really unhinged about hating before that I forgot here, lol.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

I am taking this as carte blanche to do propaganda for the YA Halo novels again.

I think the first one is better than the second one, but the second one has Middle Book of a Trilogy problems and then the third one never got to happen bc it got cancelled (due to low sales, I would assume.)

Anyway.

Halo: Battle Born is about a group of teenagers on the planet Meridian. When the Covenant attacks Meridian, it puts up a big forcefield bubble over their town because there's a Forerunner Thing in there that the Covenant wants to dig up, so the Covenant is protecting their new digsite.

Most of the town's people managed to hide in an underground bunker and are locked in there by the town's dumb AI. The only people who aren't are these teenagers... and the bunker is starting to flood.

They do have one thing going for them, though: also trapped in the forcefield bubble? A wounded Spartan-III who got separated from the rest of his team.

Between the group of them, they need to figure out how to rescue and evacuate the townspeople without the Covenant killing them (and maybe fuck up the Covenant's plans while they're here.)

If you have absolutely zero tolerance for stories about high school kids, I completely understand. But I went into this in good faith and it was a lot of fun. As a Halo nerd, it was really enjoyable to see a writer doing work to flesh out what civilian life (especially for young characters) is like in this universe because we mostly don't get a lot of opportunities to see it. It's fun to read about Victor wanting to make videos and movies and trying to have a channel. It's fun that Dorian is in a band and plays some kind of mostly-computer instrument we don't really know how it works.

It's fun that Saskia's parents work for a shady weapons company and maybe knew the attack was coming and abandoned their daughter. :)

(Actually it's wildly fucked up, but that is the kind of fun we have here.)

I also really enjoy the way they bond with the Spartan, Owen, and how he finds some commonality with one of them in particular.

You can make some criticisms about how some of the tech is a little goofy (mostly re: a genetic lock that shows up, based on my memory) and maaaaybe Owen is a liiiiiittle too willing to tell the teenagers some truths that he shares, but also it's not like Halo has ever been particularly good about having its characters do opsec anyway. (Plus Owen is... also a teenager! And he's in a really bad situation and separated from his chain of command.)

I think it's worth your time if it sounds fun.

(The second one isn't as good, but it DOES have the protagonists getting pulled into working for the UNSC and that's very fucked up!!!)

[arcademgmt]

but like imagine. yasuta is bewildered about the scale of his injury when he wakes up and can really think about it. he already has several scars he isn't proud of, that he's very self conscious about. those, however, can mostly be hidden easily with the exception of his eyebrow scar. but this new one — it spans his whole arm, running down it like a great lightning bolt. there will be no easy way to hide it. sure, he could just wear long sleeves all the time, but he's very temperature sensitive and habitually rolls his sleeves up either way. he couldn't do that. there it will stay for all to see.

hop's been visiting the hospital every day, and he realizes one particular day yasuta's clearly got a lot on his mind. for the first few days he was lucid, but too tired to really ruminate on anything. today is different. he gently asks if something's wrong, and after trying to play it off like it's no problem, yasuta caves and basically admits "it's stupid, but this thing's definitely gonna scar when it comes off." hop knows how yasuta feels about his scars and pauses a moment, trying to find words.

instead of speaking, he simply rolls up his sleeve a little and shows yasuta his arm, just a little bit below his elbow. there sits a new scar, clearly fresh. yasuta winces a little and apologizes, saying he wishes he could've protected hop better. hop just shakes his head and replies, "we match! sort of. i'm kind of proud of mine, 'cuz it reminds me that i lived. makes me feel powerful."

he's beaming as he says it. yasuta pauses a moment. he's always thought of his own as a grim reminder of what happened. a stinging annoyance has often been present whenever he looks at them.

it's always been strange — those scars are a part of him. and now, hearing hop's words... how dare those who left those scars on him make him feel that way about himself, about something as simple as a mark on his own skin? especially when he barely remembers them. he's been trying to escape their grasp.

he will not allow himself to hold such grievances towards a part of his own body. it's not immediate — he has to grow into the mindset and learn to divert his feelings away from their old channel, but awareness is the first step. the seed has been planted, and he will not just let, but help it grow.

he finally cracks a smile and looks towards hop. despite all that is running through his head, "guess we do match," is all that passes his lips.

[brandonmcadory17]

My Statement On Last Night’s Stream Being Hosted By Adriana Checik On Twitch:

Let me tell you something. I personally believe that Adriana Checik is a phenomenal streamer and a great gamer on Twitch. Also, I agree that sometimes EA has developed certain parts of a game poorly executed sometimes, even though that I’m glad that she has been able to complete Star Wars: Jedi Survivor and what happened last night was deeply unfortunate and it sucks that she has to deal with trolls who happen to ruin the experience for other people who are just simply trying to enjoying the stream, and it’s not her fault that she needed the mods the most, but when she starts having the chat into subscribers mode without properly addressing only the issue with non subscribed followers who have been going about their way to troll her for struggling in just one part of a game and quite frankly she could have handled it a lot more better and much more differently so that she wouldn’t make it seem like everybody who doesn’t have a badge and is not subscribed to her channel are the ones trolling because I’m one of those people that stands up for her and not everybody who is a non subscriber have been doing anything to her and things like that actually has a really bad taste inside of my mouth. I don’t blame her trying to protect herself from the unconscionable and unprecedented trolling, but pushing other people away who have absolutely nothing to do with the amount of trolling may not have been a very good look for her. Fact is, it’s still not and and things like that is what makes Twitch a terrible platform and she should no better than to do that and she knows better than that and this is why we can’t have nice things these days, but of course the subscribers mode was taken off and I wasn’t necessarily surprised by time timing of Adriana or the mods removed it, so it shows that it’s impossible to have sympathy for people push away for drama that they have absolutely nothing to do with, so that’s pretty much have to say.