#and there’s plenty that comes out today i just am not aware of very many still-active Prucan on Main blogs i guess | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wen-kexing-apologist · 8 months

Text

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those who are not aware, I have decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s Queer Cinema Syllabus and have officially started Unit 2: Race, Disability, and Class. The films in Unit 2 are: The Way He Looks (2014), Being 17 (2016), Naz and Maalik (2015), The Obituary of Tunde Johnson (2019), Margarita With a Straw (2014), My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Brother to Brother (2004), and Beautiful Thing (1996)

Today I will be writing about

Naz and Maalik (2015) dir. Jay Dockendorf

[Available on Amazon, Run Time- 1:24, Language: English]

Summary: Two closeted Muslim teens hawk goods across Brooklyn and struggle to come clean about their sexuality, as their secretive behavior leads them unknowingly into the cross-hairs of the War on Terror.

Cast: Kerwin Johnson Jr. as Naz Curtiss Cook Jr. as Maalik

Another great film down, and plenty more to go. I very deeply appreciate the authenticity of this film in the way it highlights religion and the shittiness of cops.

I like that there is a kind of war against the older ways and the newer ways between Naz and Maaling. Naz appears to be much more religious than Maalik, he wears a kufi, he gives alms, he tries to pray five times a day. Not to say that Maalik isn’t religious, but he isn’t as hung up on what is and is not haram, he’s more comfortable in his sexuality, more willing to engage in PDA, but he’s less idealistic about the world.

I love the hustle and grind we see from these boys, but even more so I love when they spend time alone together. I love how much time we get to see them goofing off, touching shoulders, flirting, racing, just having fun. I love how much time this film dedicates to showing how Naz and Maalik’s relationship works. How it could work. I love that in New York City they have so many shots dedicated to just the two of them, to the peace and quiet and light that follows them when they are together.

I love even more that they fight, that they are messy and complicated, and how much of that is driven not by themselves, but everyone else around them. This film takes place post 9/11, during the War on Terror. For those who are not aware, the War on Terror is/was a global counterterrorism military campaign following 9/11. And like I said, this film does some pretty decent realism, especially when it comes to the portrayal of the FBI agents that spend all day tailing Naz and Maalik because they have been #profiled.

One of the main conflicts kicks off when an undercover cop tries to sell Naz and Maalik a gun. Maalik, trying to be funny, haggles for the weapon but does not end up buying it. But engaging in a joke like that is enough for this FBI agent to decide they should be followed. At which point, these two FBI agents essentially end up acting as voyeurs to Naz and Maalik’s secret love life.

The FBI waits until each boy is alone and isolated to question them, and Maalik is completely honest while Naz, scared about his parents finding out about his sexuality, lies about where he had been the night before. Once again, I loved the portrayal of this, of two eighteen-year olds trying to navigate the system that was built to punish them. Not because I’m thrilled they are being harassed, but because I am appreciative of not being subject to propaganda about law enforcement and how “good” they are.

I liked seeing the dichotomy between Naz and Maalik’s handling of the FBI agent, versus an older Black man handling questioning. How he’s trying his best not to give her any information, how he cites his right to not say anything to her without an attorney present. And in response he is treated with suspicion, the FBI agent tries pressing and pushing for more information, because that’s what cops do.

And I remain unsurprised when the FBI agent pulls a gun on Naz when he reaches in to his bag. I think there are statements being made when the FBI agent is pissed at Naz and Maalik for “wasting her time” and that the boys are compelled to apologize for the inconvenience, despite the fact they were literally just existing as Black muslims and the FBI agent decided that not buying a gun was enough of a reason to tail them all day.

But it is those outside pressures, the concern that they will be outed, that they will be disowned, that they will lose everything that starts driving a wedge between Naz and Maalik. That Naz’s sister finds out and Naz is scared she’ll tell their parents. Those all start when the FBI starts questioning them, though there are multiple other forces at play.

Now. I think I wrote up a post after I watched Love of Siam, and how fucking furious I was that they ended that film on a separation. But that does not mean I hate separation narratives in queer cinema (I hated the one in LoS because I felt tricked). But Naz and Maalik separating at the end makes sense given their circumstances. There is no winning here. Naz is too kind to slaughter a chicken, Maalik feels compelled to show that he can do it, and Maalik ends up wounded and the chicken ends up dead without either of them laying a hand on it. There are repercussions here, a car accident, an injured person that could have been spared by just killing the chicken. I like that despite the fact that Naz and Maalik do have multiple fights in the film, it is not a fight that breaks them up.

They both knew this was an inevitability, there aren’t hard feelings about it. It’s sad for both of them, but it happens almost casually. TI did find the ending of the movie very interesting. Because they chose to end it before Naz arrives home. Naz gets on the subway, sad about his separation with Maalik, scared about what is waiting for him at home, and he is stopped by the very same cop that tried to sell him a gun the other day. He is ticketed for riding his bike in the subway, and one of the last lines Naz has in the movie is something like “don’t I know you from somewhere?”

Because no matter what, he’ll just never catch a fucking break.

As an aside, I love how frequently homeless people are included in this film and how they are never regarded as scary or terrifying. One guy is mostly quiet and he either stares or sleeps. Another man is loud, rambunctious, and fucking funny. Naz and Maalik talk to a homeless woman, talk to some boys begging for money for medical treatment. I just love when homeless people are humanized, and I am glad that Naz and Maalik spends time focusing their lens on the people society often refuses to look at.

By/For/About Queers

Naz and Maalik is loosely based on an interview director Jay Dockendorf did with a closeted Muslim man that he sublet a room from. Dockendorf used this man’s life story as a jumping off point for his film. And it certainly feels like a film that is made for queer people, the way that it is structured. So ultimately, I think this is a gay trifecta.

Favorite Moment

My favorite moment is near the end of the film. Naz and Maalik have just made out and Naz has rejected the offer to take things further. Naz and Maalik lay in bed together, in just their boxers, and they read each other these shitty little poems that are attached to beanie babies that Naz acquired earlier in the film. I just love gay boys and their plushies, I’m a simple person. And once again considering that Ben created this syllabus to be a wind up to BLs, I think the plushie moment is worth noting because boys and their plushies is a recurring theme in a number of BLs. Teh and Oh have matching monster plushies in I Told Sunset About You. Bai Lang’s entire apartment is covered in plushies in My Tooth Your Love. Chinzilla keeps a plushie of a chinchilla on an alter in the music room in My School President. etc. etc.

And I love plushies every time because I love seeing moments of softness portrayed on screen.

Favorite Line

“Barack Obama*. It’s crazy. It makes white men smell like black men, so white women will like black men more.”

*fake name of a scented oil

I mean…come on. It’s perfect.

Score

8.5/10

I think the story was pretty good, and there are these incredible bright spots of powerful acting. But the director allowed space for a lot of improv, which in some capacities I think is good. However, it does often result in awkward line deliveries, that tend to take me out of the story because the acting fluctuates so much between brilliant and smooth, to conscious and stilted.

#bengiyo queer cinema syllabus #queer cinema syllabus #naz and maalik #naz & maalik #jay dockendorf #the way he looks #being 17 #the obituary of tunde johnson #margarita with a straw #my beautiful laundrette #brother to brother #beautiful thing

48 notes · View notes

lori0018 · 13 days

Note

ffffff AGHH this was so hard to choose but may i please 🙏🤲 beseech thee for the soulmate 5+1 for the wip game? 👀👀 (chay! on ice was a VERY close second, RIP ice adolescence 😔💔)

Hello 👋

Someone else asked for the Soulmate one as well (you can find it here) so I decided to give you some Chay! On Ice instead 😉

This is more or less a retelling of YOI but with the KP characters. And some relationships altered to fit the story because this is a KimChay story 😁

Chay as Yuuri Katsuki

Kim as Yuri Plisetsky

Tankhun as Victor Nikiforov

I'm not sure yet how much of canon I will cover but at least until after the Onsen On Ice competition. I'm also thinking of using the various Freefall themes as replacement for the Agape/Eros arrangements.

"Hey, Mae," Chay greets her as soon as she picks up the video call. "Hey, baby, aren't you up soon? Why are you calling now?" "I am, yes. I'm so nervous. Can you put Lizzie on? I think talking to her might help me calm down." Chay watches as his mother's smile crumbles at the question. "Oh, baby. I'm so sorry. We wanted to wait until the competition was over. We didn't want you to be distracted." Chay can feel his stomach starting to tie itself in knots. "Lizzie passed away, baby." He's not sure if he manages to say goodbye to Mae before ending the call. The app closes as he does and he finds himself staring at his background picture. Himself and Porsche, smiling wide enough to hurt; Lizzie between them, a little blurry because she'd been jumping and trying to lick Chay's face. The picture blurs more and more as he stares at it and it takes him a while to realize it's because he's crying. He doesn't remember how he gets through the rest of the day but he thinks he fell at least a couple of times during his short program.

***

In contrast to the day before, his abysmal performance during the free program is engraved in his memory with all the sharpness of a 4k movie. Coming in last place isn't a surprise after that but he still feels his throat close up when results are announced. He hides in the bathroom and debates answering when he sees a call from Porsche but he knows his brother well enough to know he will just keep calling back until Chay picks up. "Hia…" Chay's voice cracks and his throat locks up before he can say more than that. "Hey, nong. It's gonna be okay." Porsche's voice, even through the phone, is so warm and sympathetic. Chay feels the first sob catch, the second one makes it through, and then he's crying—right there in the public bathroom of the skating arena where the Grand Prix event he just bungled took place—with just enough awareness left of his location to try and stifle the noise as much as possible. He really wants a Porsche hug right now. It takes a while before he calms down enough to talk. "I'm sorry I let everyone down." He whispers into the phone. "You didn't," Porsche reassures him. "And you'll have plenty more occasions to shine. You're the best, Chay, today was just a small hiccup." They hang up soon after that. He wishes he had as much faith in himself as Porsche does sometimes. He's prevented from diving into another self-pity spiral by a loud bang and the door to his bathroom stall shaking alarmingly. "You almost done in there?" An angry voice calls out. When Chay eases the door open, he comes face to face with Kimhant Theerapanyakun, Junior Grand Prix winner and reputed both for his talent and his anger issues. Chay freezes like a deer caught in headlights. "You're such a loser," Kimhant bites out. "Crying in the bathroom like a baby." He leans up close to Chay's face and growls. "You should just retire now, there's no need for so many Thai skaters on the international level anyway." He punctuates the statement with a punch to the stall wall next to Chay's head and stalks off.

***

Chay wakes up the morning after the banquet with the worst hangover of his life and he's very glad to be heading back to the States with his coach rather than to Thailand if only so he doesn't have to wait at the gate with the Theerapanyakuns. Tankhun offers a media smile and to take a photo together like Chay is just another fan rather than a fellow skater. And Kimhant looks like he wants nothing more than to start biting people—Chay has no desire to get close enough to test that theory. He quickens his pace so he can be out of range that much faster. There's no time to worry about all this anyway. He has exams to take as soon as he's back at university. He's on a sports scholarship and his teachers make allowances for his professional schedule but Chay isn't keen on stretching their goodwill too much.

***

Porsche's words of encouragement don't prove prophetic and the rest of Chay's skating season goes from bad to worse and ends up being cut short when he doesn't qualify for World's. The silver lining to this is that it gives him enough time to study and he aces the last few classes he needed for his degree. He feels so home sick by that point that the decision to end things with his coach is easy. He packs up the last four years of his life and heads home, more uncertain than ever about his future.

WIPs game

#wip game #kimchay #lori writes

5 notes · View notes

slavicafire · 1 year

Note

Dearest Żmija, i wanted to share this thought i had with you after i got high last night. I thought perhaps it may entertain you.

fact nr 1)

The sun is a massive star quite close by which has magnetic eruptions sometimes. We feel weird when there are magnetic storms, (we’ve had strong ones lately) and that has caused a lot of light/unrestful sleep due to the magnetic storms. This has happened for ages and due to our brains being tiny ridiculously squishy machines that work thanks to *electricity* in a way, and getting what is quite possibly, a super-charge, we sleep unwell, and we get wonky and our dreams become, hm. Curious. Different.

Fact 2) back in the past, because people didn’t have the scientific understanding we do, of planets and space, they would make a god out of this celestial object-being. It was Apollo, it Was Helius, it was Horus, it was 3 thousand different gods with 3 thousand different explanations of the behaviour but see,

Fact 3) the sun would still be erupting at this time and even though they did not know physically what was happening and why, the people still felt and were aware somehow of solar activity, due to the effects it has on us anyhow. So they would exolain it probably as Huītzilōpōchtli raging, or Dazbog waging war, or something like that. Maybe. They would create stories around this.

Thought… we have more evidence in all manners of ways of what is going on than they did, sure, but… in a way… what we are being taught about how life and the world is *is* in fact… just another story.

Yes! With plenty of evidence! I am not a denier of science at all!! But! It is…a collectively approved story….

Thought…we are a race that lives on stories… everything has to have an explanation, in a way, and we are no different as a whole from the people who lived 1000 years ago 2000 3-4-5.. we are people. We explain things with stories.

Thought… because we know belief is very much a powerful thing, what if… belief creates reality… somehow. And their reality was indeed of apollo and horus being what they are, and the sun being them… because at their time and to their people, this was the most accepted story of what was true and what wasn’t.

Another thought: Their reality lingers over ours. In some ways. Especially the ones that have stories that carry on till today in the minds of people. Not because the people of today who know them believe in them, necessarily, but because they still know their stories. And their stories linger in our minds and spark our imagination and our curiosity! So what if, because these stories were so prevalent, and they stay with us till today in many places and many ways…why can’t these gods still be with us, in some ways?

Personal belief: all the stories that exist within the minds of people are a reality SOMEWHERE and the stars are the portals to them: during their lifetime they absorb all the stories the beings within their systems come up with. When the star goes supernova, the worlds are created (just as ours is destroyed), and when it gets to the point of becoming a black hole, the black hole is in fact a portal to the worlds and the stories that the beings imagined. Due to the nature of the black holes however, going through them is actually impossible so this personal belief is going to stay just so. A belief, rather than a thing of fact.

ah, my dearest stranger, do write to me every time you are high - it is a wonderful joy to read what your mind conjures while in such a state.

all hail the golden boar in the skies.

20 notes · View notes

fangirleaconmigo · 2 years

Note

Sorry if you've already discussed about this but I'd love to read your thoughts about Jaskier's song burn.

Hi Nonny! I have not. But y’all are gonna have me out here being honest on tumblr dot com today. 😅

I have very strong and very complicated feelings about Burn Butcher Burn. (Not surprisingly)

So do not read below that line if you think critique (not hate, but critique) will bum you out or inhibit your ability to enjoy something you enjoy. I'm beggin you, I'm Boys II Men I'm I'm down on bended knee. Just don't do it. I don't want the pissy anons.

Ok, now that we're all here, I am going to tell you something funny. I first heard of Burn Butcher Burn via the Hot Topic t-shirt that was released ahead of S2. I thought Burn Butcher Burn was a Hot Topic invention. I didn’t know it actually appeared in the show. lmao

I’m sure the song list must have been released by then, but I hadn’t read it. (Spoiler alert: Sometimes I’m dumb) Now, I am a fan of The Witcher as a story and I’m a fan of the fandom. I am not a fan of massive corporation Hot Topic. (Of any corporation really) So I had no problem being critical and loud on Twitter.

I was like WHAT THE FUCK? JASKIER WOULD NEVER DO THAT!! (I know, I know.) HOT TOPIC IS CATERING TO SHIPPERS BUT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE CHARACTER OR THE RELATIONSHIP. I’m laughing at that now. Because in retrospect, it obviously came from the show. But anyway.

That day on Twitter, there were many very reasonable people who disagreed with me. They felt that of course Jaskier would do that. They felt that I was overlooking Jaskier’s petty and dramatic side. (He wished for Valdo’s death when he had a djinn! Etc etc) That I was reducing him to sunshine and rainbows. And that I was forgetting that sometimes people say mean things when they are very very hurt.

That was not the case. I am fully aware that Jaskier has a petty vindictive side. I also know that people say things in anger. But I stuck by that opinion (and still do) that Jaskier would not do that.

And now with some thought, I believe it comes down to our differing associations with the name Butcher.

I associate the word “Butcher” with bigotry. Yes, butcher refers to Geralt killing people. Hence butcher. So maybe it is not literally in the word.

But the episode in Blaviken, all the talk about him being a monster, and the way the crowd turns on him for fucking defending himself, for me, it has everything to do with his otherness. It is inseparable in my mind from bigotry against witchers. It goes hand in hand with the dehumanization of Geralt.

I think that is the difference. I don't see it as an unfair characterization of Geralt's ethics. I see it as bigotry against him. That's what it feels like to me. I can't separate that word from it at all. And that is where I get stopped up.

Because Jaskier never. Ever. Not once. Has seen Geralt as an “other.” He isn’t capable. It wouldn’t even occur to him. The thought is totally absurd and laughable. Geralt is just his buddy. His fave. As far as the books (of which there are eight long books that cover years and years) they have arguments and bicker plenty, but not during their worst arguments does he ever. Ever. Throw Geralt’s otherness in his face. (Meanwhile many other people do)

It is truly my favorite characteristic of Jaskier. In fact, when they are in a fight, he says the opposite to Geralt! He’s like (paraphrased) “and you think you’re an other when you aren’t, ya big dumbass. I’ve got news for you, you aren’t special. You’re just some guy.”

Wait ok, I'm grabbing the quote, because it is literally my favorite thing that Dandelion ever says to Geralt. (well top three things). This is in Sword of Destiny in the short story A Little Sacrifice. Dandelion is irritated at Geralt for being kind of a cad with Essi. Essi gives him attention and he assumes she is just morbidly curious and he tries to kiss her but it seems like he's trying to put her off or prove something to her. Basically, he's rude.

Do you know what your problem is, Geralt? You think you're different. You flaunt your otherness, what you consider abnormal. You aggressively impose that abnormality on others, not understanding that for people who think clear-headedly you're the most normal man under the sun, and they all wish that everybody was so normal.

What of it that you have quicker reflexes than most and vertical pupils in the sunlight? That you can see in the dark like a cat?

Big deal. I, my dear, once knew an innkeeper who could fart for ten minutes without stopping, playing the tune to the psalm Greet us, greet us, O, Morning Star. Heedless of his---let's face it--unusual talent, that innkeeper was the most normal among the normal; heh ad a wife, children, and a grandmother afflicted by the palsy..."

Ok, so I love that it's canon that Dandelion calls Geralt my dear. And I laugh my fuckin ass off at the implication that his witcher attributes are correlated with a man who can fart a tune. Amazing. Also, this passage speaks to my absolute favorite things about Jaskier. It is the entire reason I fell in love with him. In in a fictional world saturated in bigotry and racism (much like the real world) he just doesn't have that in him. He just doesn't.

He sees someone different and he just goes YES! FUCKING AMAZING PERFECT NO NOTES!

It has to do with his empathy but also his natural curiosity and wonder.

That is 100% why I fell in love with him in TWN in the first place. He sees the pissed off looking mutant who everyone else mistrusts, and he just walks up to him like YOU! YES, YOU! YOU ARE FRIEND SHAPED.

That is it! The core of why I love him.

So, back to Burn Butcher Burn. I know lots of people see it differently. They say, but Geralt was terrible to him and left him! He’s just hurt! But that isn’t my point at all. My point is, I believe that no matter WHAT Geralt did to him, it just would never occur to him to be bigoted towards Geralt because it simply is not in him.

Would he call Geralt an Asshole? Yes. Motherfucker? Sure. Clod. Clown. Petulant moaning whoreson? Absolutely. Butcher? I’m sorry. No. Not for me. And for me it sabotages the entire reason I love that character.

And it made me fear what the show would bring.

And then the season came out.

And. Well? Not only did they not make him a bigot, but they have him actively helping elves escape. He is actively anti-racist. So they clearly understand that about him.

So idk man all I can think is that, just like the other fans who disagree with me on Burn Butcher Burn, the writers just do not associate Butcher with Geralt’s otherness or with bigotry the way I do.

So, having Jaskier be The Sandpiper took some of the sting out of my disappointment, by actively saying…we know Jaskier has compassion for elves and other non humans, and we are explicitly showing that.

The second thing that took some of the sting out of it was Joey’s performance. He is so grief stricken he kind of collapses while he’s singing. He looks like he’s dissociating! My god. Joey really put his all into his performance. Just wow. I was completely blown away by his vulnerability and authenticity. You could not watch his performance and say the song was a result of anything but a shattered heart. It didn't come across as someone being mean.

All that calmed me down a lot.

The song gave us an absolutely fantastic performance from Joey. It showed how incredibly important Geralt is to him. How deeply he feels. The honesty and vulnerability of it also created a bonding point with Yen, and their scenes were my favorites. My beloveds. If I could frame that entire goodbye good luck and good riddance scene I would. I am currently clutching it to my chest.

So, it’s complicated. Burn Butcher Burn giveth and it taketh away. They used it to such good effect. And they clearly know that Jaskier isn’t a bigot.

But. I still wish they would have used almost any other word. And I don’t acknowledge its existence in any of my fanwork because it still doesn’t line up with how I feel about that character or that relationship. I just can’t. My association with that word is my association with it. I feel how I feel. If others feel differently, I respect it. But I can't. In my little dream land of headcanons it never happened.

Ok, those are my feels. Thanks for the ask! <3

#jaskier #twn critical #not entirely #it’s complicated #but just in case #asks #burn butcher burn

81 notes · View notes

genadelikesships1233 · 1 month

Text

A random rant about American politics

I'm not American. For my own privacy I won't say exactly where I'm from but all you need to know is that I’m not American so take what I say, with a grain of salt.

I’m not the most educated person in the world, not by a mile.

But I can say that I’m gifted with the ability of not being American and having no real bias with their politics.

So, to explain, vie been seeing so many people in America say, they don’t know for who to vote for.

Trump or Biden.

Both are terrible options

Biden a genocidal asshole

And trump, is well trump.

And I can’t say that if I was in the position of the American working class. I’m not either a democrat or a republican.

Because believe, choosing sides in these situations are dangerous, either way.

With Leftists, so many people have what I call, a Taught Victim complex. Where, people take their real and horrible experiences, that they or others face, as a way to control. You can see it in many ways.

Now to give a disclaimer, I am White. So, I can’t really speak on issues like racial discrimination against, POC by I’m not. But I can speak on my experience as someone from a POC dominated country. With that I have faced some discrimination by I’m white, and they also have this Taught Victim complex where they use very real, terrible things like Apart time, as a way to get what they want.

But then it also gives white people an excuse to be racist and ignore problems like White on POC racism.

It’s a vicious cycle that can be broken by, being more self-aware and breaking down these toxic ideals.

That nobody except, politicians and the rich benefit from.

With the Right-wings, they are mostly just Racist, sexist and all that fun stuff. They have bigoted opinions and use the fact that practically they can solve economic problems with "practicality" but then people ignore the obvious human rights violations. When their “practical" ways, ignore the working class, the POC and the LGBTQ+. And only benefit, Rich white people.

Now with trump, he believes what Israel is doing, is wrong. Which is good, but he's also, Trump, with very terrible bigoted opinions.

With bidden, he used all the buzz words to manipulate leftists, by we and I am including myself, thought that just by someone says all the things you want to hear means that they would be good at running a country, now America is in shambles by of what a terrible president Biden is.

A big problem with the internet today, is that if you are not "woke" enough, or "conservative" enough, you are a bad person either way. And again, it’s just to divide people and give power to the people making America such a joke.

So, all I can say, is learn nuance.

Know, that nobody is all bad and all good.

Nobody is going to agree with everything you say, and they can’t make you happy all the time.

And yes, some people are awful but remember in their minds, they were completely correct. And by nobody told them no, they were able to hurt a lot of people.

Because nobody can learn, that picking sides will always make this cycle of harm, to everyone.

So, I beg everyone who comes across this post, pls learn nuance. learn to not be manipulated by buzzwords.

Because the only right solution is, Peace for everyone, and that peace will only by required when bad people, get out of power.

And Peace seems unattainable, but it isn’t. Peace can by real.

When people who want to divide you, are gone.

America has a racism problem, like all countries.

America has a human rights problem, like all countries.

As an example, Cole Brings Plenty, was murdered and he is not getting justice, Palestinian people are getting murdered, and they are not getting justice.

Because the people profiting are in power.

Because they don’t want peace. They don’t want their countries to be safe, and good for everyone. Because they get to much money out of not.

The Taught Victim complex is rampant and has affected everyone by most people have an eye for an eye mentality.

And most people just want simple justice. And real problems get overshadowed.

Humans are so complex that every opinion, possible, someone has it.

So just, I want everyone who read this whole thing.

To do one thing for me.

Learn to be central, not right left.

But Central.

Look at every viewpoint.

See what point their making. And ask always. Is this harmful to anyone?

If it’s a yes, try and educate them, show them your point of view, try to teach them nuance.

Ifs it’s no, just ask why they think so, ask yourself, why it makes you angry.

Remember it’s a choice. For them and for you.

Hold you head high, and know, you are making the world a better, safer place.

A place where Peace is truly attainable.

And if you disagree with anything I just said, Tell me in the comments, what I could say differently, what your opinion is, why you think so, and what wording I could have changed, what do I need to do differently.

Thanks for reading.

#america #us politics #politics #joe biden #cole brings plenty #palestine #my opinion #conservatives #leftism #nuance

3 notes · View notes

str8m82b8 · 1 year

Text

Triggered! I've Actually Been in This Situation Before.

A Pansexual On Dating and Relationships :

Happy Holiday's, but don't do this!

Gay men, yes I understand that I am calm, confident, assertive, and attractive and that your insecurities can be debilitating. Yes I know you need reassurance and attention. Yes I know a lot of gay men writhe in anxiety like 13 year old girls. Yes, I am aware that I don't seem very compassionate, but I am done with all that on this issue. No more telling me I can't game, no more demanding we go out to gay clubs I hate, no more one-sided sex with bottoms who just lie there. Most gay men just want to date their twin. A sublime exercise in narcissism, which also more than suggests that the "G" in LGBTQ+ is not really a group of men who are as inclusive as they claim to be. Especially considering gay and trans POC made their lives possible. Jeffery Dahmer's victims were failed not only by the police, but also by the gay community. Too many white gay men use the word "preference" when in actuality, it is a prejudice. Gay men tend to have the egos of straight men and the emotional instability or insecurities of a lot of straight women. The result is often an insufferable, over-achieving, emotionally juvenile man with both mommy and daddy issues who wants to find an exact replica of himself down to the clothing to then marry and cheat on until death do they part.

And no, I'm not self-loathing nor homophobic. I just don't like attention seeking, overly dramatic, effeminate for attention, gay men OR women for the purpose of romantic relationships. Friendship is fine, but if you get annoying, know that imma head out. Be yourself, but if yourself is annoying, I will be somewhere else with other people. We have our limits, and we choose who to stretch those for.

Don't get me wrong straight people, you all aren't without a multitude of dubious, toxic and ridiculous behaviors in today's society. As a pansexual who has dated everything but an actual pan, I can say these things, but there's plenty of data to go over should you need references I will provide in the comments. For starters, straight men tend to be emotionally and platonically attracted to other men. Straight women tend to be emotionally and platonically attracted to other women. If it were not for sex, most straight people of opposite gender would want nothing to do with one another! You have nothing in common! And when you do, it's something trivial, toxic, or tasteless that is the the straight male's interest, such as watching sports. This is one of many reasons why heterosexual relationships not only fail more often than they work, but also fail more often than those in the LGBTQ+ community. I remain friends with, or at least friendly with all my exes. Straight people turn their lovers into enemies for life. Straight women have friend bases consisting almost entirely of other women and men's of other men. Although the men are more likely to have people they call female friends who are in reality either people they fuck, have fucked, or want to fuck. Lacking lasting, honest, strictly platonic friendships with the opposite gender is a life-altering, growth stunting mistake that has become the norm in society for straight people.

Sexuality is a spectrum. You choose the label that seems to be the closest to how you feel or behave, or at least the one everyone seems comfortable with. But, too many of you choose this prematurely and then follow it too rigidly despite feelings or behaviors to the contrary. When you are attractive, people tell you "no" less often. Including and perhaps especially when it comes to sexual experiences. I've made super macho masculine heterosexual men blush with a compliment. The type of men you would expect to want to fight another cis male for doing just that. I'm confident and not afraid to slug a dude in front of his boys if necessary. People can sense that. I've also had more sexual experiences with heterosexual men than gay men or women. And I don't mean closeted gay men either. I'm talking actual straight men who have no sexual attraction to me what-so-ever. But when you are attractive in general, very good at oral sex, and tell a straight guy you'd like to bob on his knob the number of men who will oblige might surprise you. After all, heterosexual men and women are generally awful at oral sex, if not sex in general. Straight women do all this shit: Makeup, lighting, candles, toys, lingerie, inviting a third (almost always another women) etc. for sex that lasts for a mere 10 minutes if she is lucky, and she often does not even orgasm! How sad that people go their entire lives never having had truly mind-blowing sex, unusual sex, or sexual experiences etc. They just be making babies missionary from the comfort of their orthopedic mattresses. No thank you.

You can be mindful, chill, and still be yourself. If you think you must always be the center of attention, you'll find that unless actually worthy of it, your audience will shrink. Don't marry the first asshole that makes you wet. Instead, actually become friends with people so that you can learn what you do and do not want in a partner. If ever there should come a time in which you feel the need to knock something gaming related from my hands, know that it will never happen again. You can go hit the club tomorrow and find your twin and the two of you can spread monkey pox and Covid-19 all pandemic long and beyond.

As for me, I am happily awaiting my first child with my amazing boyfriend, who is transgender. Two of my exes sent baby shower gifts. There are no hang ups as to whose job it is to do what concerning our home or child. No toxic gender norms to force our children to adhere to, just genuine love and acceptance from both people who had a hand in their creation. We aren't married, but we very well are considering it for the legal more than anything. It doesn't stand as a religious symbol of our love as it does for others. We make our own rules and will raise our children our way. If we want to invite someone into our bed or hearts, we aren't as hung up on monogamy and jealousy as you "heteros" either. As far as raising children, we will of course ask for advice, but overbearing relatives or friends will know the decisions are ours to make. Want to know what is more important than what you have in common with your partner? What you don't! Don't look for a twin, look for someone who picks up where you fall short and vice versa. Look for someone who challenges you, someone you grow with. My partner and I actually love each other, enjoy each other, share our feelings, have joys, pains, and much more in common, plus we have the right things not in common and we communicate. Catch up.

Sources/References (just a few to be polite)

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/men-and-women-cant-be-just-friends/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out-the-ooze/202204/why-male-and-female-friendships-are-so-different

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7135e2.htm

https://time.com/4978727/bromance-male-friendships/

#queer love #lgbtq #dating #relationships #sexuality #pansexual #bisexual #queer #lgbtqia

12 notes · View notes

brunchbitch · 1 year

Text

Update of sorts

Just got through my first week of classes (second to last semester!) and I’m not crazy about 2 out of 3 professors, but oh well. All of them seem like hard asses and tough graders so that’ll be interesting. I’m jealous that so many of my classmates are graduating in May but the trade off was a much more manageable fall schedule. Idk.

I’ve been doing well-ish with cutting down on weed. A couple weeks ago right after the new year I tried to go back to my schedule of no weed during the week (well… really just Tuesday through Thursday lmao) but I had AWFUL trauma dreams and it really affected my mood. So last week I didn’t do as well, though definitely less smoking in the week. This week I took edibles Tuesday night bc I wanted to make sure I would sleep well before my internship, but I didn’t have anything Wednesday or Thursday night. I had some fucked up weird dreams for sure BUT they weren’t directly trauma related so definitely easier to handle. It’s definitely an ongoing challenge but I’m hoping I’ll get used to this schedule and it’ll just become second nature.

Therapy with B is good - we’re now switching to every other week! NEVER thought I wouldn’t be in weekly therapy!! I was worried my behaviors would escalate bc I’m scared of “getting better” and being seen as not sick, but so far so good and it’s helpful to be aware of it.

My parents are coming out next weekend and my mom and I are going wedding dress shopping!!!! Crazy!!!! But we still have 554 days until the wedding so I have plenty of time. This will be more to get a sense of what styles/silhouettes I like. It’s gonna be surreal to look in the mirror with a wedding dress on. Hoping my mom isn’t too opinionated if we disagree lol.

I can’t remember if I have said this on here yet but A and I have decided to move to Seattle in august! I’m soooo excited but also nervous to be close to my family again. A also feels conflicted about it but we’ll take it one day at a time and it doesn’t necessarily need to be permanent. It feels a little silly career wise to leave Boston which is a city with such amazing hospitals and go to Seattle which has one level one trauma center, but I might want to work in a specialized outpatient clinic anyway. I would NOT want to work in an ED so maybe it doesn’t really matter. I think it would be really cool to be a medical social worker in an outpatient cancer clinic working with young adults, though I know that’s very specific and I’m not sure exactly what’s available out there. I’ve started to look at jobs just to get a sense, but obviously I’ll have to study for and pass my licensing exam first. I would love to take more Spanish classes while I’m working on that. I miss it!

Overall things are really good. I keep waiting for shit to hit the fan but idk… weed plus A plus a meaningful internship (last year too) has led to such a long period of stability (well long for me lol). A and I were talking about how at the end of this decade he will be 43 (!!!) and I’ll be 39. I started thinking about my life seven years ago at 24 and it feels like I was a completely different person. I would’ve laughed in your face if you told me I would be where I am today. Idk. It’s weird. I worry that one day I’ll relapse with my depression bc I genuinely feel… happy? So it’s kind of easier to not use behaviors. But if I felt depressed and hopeless, things might be very different. I guess I have to remind myself to take it one day at a time.

Edit: I also started on propranolol a couple months ago and WOW has it made a difference in my anxiety especially at my internship. I feel like I’ve worked really hard to work on the mental distortions, but the physical aspect of the anxiety has just been so tricky. After taking neurobiology last summer, I really am recognizing that trauma can have such long term effects on your body.

#update #personal #a #b #therapy #recovery #trauma recovery #bpd recovery #cptsd #cptsd recovery

14 notes · View notes

guytheporn · 1 year

Text

Tryst Escort

I’m almost convinced that escorts are the noblest work of God! These sexy-as-sin seductresses simply enjoy doing what our wives, girlfriends, mistresses, and lovers won’t do and love nothing more than taking you to cloud 9 on the wings of orgasms so rad it feels like you are being torn apart!

Finding an escort is generally easy, but that depends on where you are at. So, don’t travel to somewhere like North Korea and start looking for an escort, or you risk getting your head forcefully detached from your body!

Speaking by numbers

So, as you and I are both aware, there are lots of sites that host significant quantities of escorts and little else. One of these is Tryst.link, which I am sure most of you have long bookmarked. It claims to be the numero uno where escorts are concerned and the biggest host of sex workers and escorts this side of the cumming heavens.

Since I had nothing doing today I thought I should review Tryst.link. Buckle up and read my Tryst.link review.

The Girls Are Cumming!

There are thousands of escorts on Tryst.link, with the services they offer varying from BDSM to massages that end with your getting massive cum out of your system. If you got deep pockets and want to explore, you can book these high-class babes for just about everything, and see if you can break the record for how much jism you can produce within 24 hours!

Once you are on the site you get prompted to pick the gender you identify as. Doing this means the site can better present the best escorts for your discerning tastes. Next up is the terms and conditions page and you better click the Agree option or get booted out.

The site design is a simple affair, and premium looking too. The majority of the page is filled with escort profiles and these are the ultra-sexy babe types whose cunt temperature you have always been dying to take with your long cock. The most recent, BBW escorts and more are right there on the homepage where your eagle eye cannot miss them, while the bottom of the page hosts the About Us section for those who feel like writing a treatise about Tryst.link.

Also featured is a very extensive list of filtering options. This lets you search for escorts within a hundred kilometers of your location, or filter them by gender, hair/eye color, age, height, body type, rates, ethnicity, services offered, and loads more.

You can sign up on Tryst.link if you want to or just wander around for free like a eunuch. When signing up you have to decide if you are going to be a provider of escort services or a client. If you have ever wanted to become an escort, this might be the place for you, but only so long as you have a quality body that can offer quality services to your cumming clientele.

The Cumming Girls Of Tryst.link

Like I said before, there’s plenty of escort profiles on the homepage. Each escort profile list details like place of residence, fees to be paid for whatever you feel like doing, how many photos are available, and if she's in the mood for business. Click a profile thumbnail and you get loads more information, like a comprehensive physical and personal description that lets you know what assets the escort can bring to bear, plus her likes and dislikes and hi-res photos aplenty. Most escorts appear willing to travel to other countries for dick riding and more, though that option does not come cheap.

Contact details are also available on the profile of all escorts. You get their email and mobile, plus even their social media links. So long as you got the money you can book these girls wherever in the world you might be. Just scroll to the profile of the escort you like and if she is not nearby, simply have her come to you and screw your brains out in the most orgasmic fashion she can manage. Talk about convenience!

What I Think

Tryst.link is a premium escort site for those who like their escorts clean, heavenly, and always in the mood to give or receive pleasure. It is packed with usable features, but the available escorts are premium cunts that not every Tom, Dick, and Harry can afford.

Overall, this is one of the best, if not the best premium escort site, and dang if looking at it doesn’t make me feel good!

10 notes · View notes

lmamp · 1 year

Text

Another day, another post. I am on a roll! Shall we?

I didn’t read the book from last time today, so I’ll be gushing about my favorite Webtoon Nevermore and Edgar Allan Poe (I swear they’re related). My profile pic is a screen grab of one of the main characters, Lenore. Just in case you were curious. I think it’s pretty.

Nevermore is a gothic romance set in a boarding school for those who have died. If you do well enough at Nevermore Academy (the name of the boarding school) and get enough merits, you get a second chance at life. Only one person is going to get that chance, however. Everyone else goes to the Land of the Dead. And, no one remembers who they were when they were alive. Once you start to remember, however, you have the potential to unlock a Spectre, which is basically a ghost that has powers. Students use the Spectres as a leg-up within the school. Simple enough of a premise, until you consider the characters involved. Enter Lenore and Annabel, two students who meet during the first episode. It’s very clear that they care for each other, for reasons that elude them until they start remembering who they were in life. The extent of their relationship while alive is still a mystery, but there is plenty of room for speculation. The subtext (and just the text in general) however, is clear: they were definitely close. Still, only one person can leave.

Thus begins the game the two must play. Annabel will keep the other students and the deans of the academy distracted so that they won’t target her or Lenore, while Lenore must find another exit out of Nevermore Academy. The problem is, while Annabel is great at games and plays them well, Lenore has mixed feelings about leaving the friends she has made while at the academy to lose themselves in the Land of the Dead. It’s made worse when the reader (and Lenore) is made aware that Annabel doesn’t really care about anyone else except her and Lenore and the life she believes they were unjustly taken from. This begs the question as to how exactly they died.

We know Annabel died on her wedding day because of her Spectre being the Lady in White, a woman betrayed on her wedding day. But betrayed by who? And why? We haven’t met Lenore’s Spectre, but we can assume they died around the same time based on their arrival at Nevermore Academy. So how did Lenore die? So many questions! I like mysteries though, so I love it.

The comic is kind of infuriating because it’s a brain worm. I swear I look forward to its Thursday night updates more than I look forward to Friday itself at this point. And it’s so pretty. I’ve already said this, but I can say it again, and again, and again. I’ll put some pictures on here too.

Okay, but how does Edgar Allan Poe fit in? Well, the comic is based on his poetry. There are a few excerpts from some of his work sprinkled throughout the panels. It’s caused me to read some of his works as well. It’s so delightfully morbid. I’ll put my favorite one below.

Cheers, dear reader!

lmamp (548)

Ah broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever!

Let the bell toll!--a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river;

And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear?--weep now or never more!

See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore!

Come! let the burial rite be read--the funeral song be sung!--

An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young--

A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young.

"Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth and hated her for her pride,

"And when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her--that she died!

"How shall the ritual, then, be read?--the requiem how be sung

"By you--by yours, the evil eye,--by yours, the slanderous tongue

"That did to death the innocent that died, and died so young?"

Peccavimus; but rave not thus! and let a Sabbath song

Go up to God so solemnly the dead may feel so wrong!

The sweet Lenore hath "gone before," with Hope, that flew beside

Leaving thee wild for the dear child that should have been thy bride--

For her, the fair and debonair, that now so lowly lies,

The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--

The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

"Avaunt! to-night my heart is light. No dirge will I upraise,

"But waft the angel on her flight with a Pæan of old days!

"Let no bell toll!--lest her sweet soul, amid its hallowed mirth,

"Should catch the note, as it doth float up from the damnéd Earth.

"To friends above, from fiends below, the indignant ghost is riven--

"From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven--

"From grief and groan, to a golden throne, beside the King of Heaven."

Lenore, By Edgar Allan Poe

(I apologize for the quality of some of these. I swear the art is insane, tumblr may or may not deliver on that)

(Also they're so hot and cold. Very Katy Perry, very dramatic, very nice, I love it so much)

#post 2

3 notes · View notes

krys-loves-otome · 2 years

Text

Happy Fanfic Anniversary to Me!

So, being the fandom old that I am, I have been on the interwebs for a very long time. Matter of fact, when I was moving some of my old fics over ao3 to archive them, I saw the date on some of the older ones when I was transferring them

Turns out they're pretty old. Like, 2002 old.

Basically, at least when I started posted my own writing stuff, I had started it on this day, Sept 7th, 2002.

Making today my 20th Fanfic Writing Anniversary.

So, to celebrate this milestone, I decided to repost some of my favorite passages from my old fanfics up until the most recent ones.

Yes, I might embarrass and age myself quite a bit from this.

All the passages posted are from fics that are all posted on my ao3 because I had to do this last minute (curse you werk times and making me forget about my fanfic anniversary!) so I can't pull from my google docs, dreamwidth, or any of my other old writing places, so it's just stuff from ao3 for the sake of time. Just be aware that this is 20-ish years worth of writing, so some of it isn't beta-d or as polished as what I post now, so there's that.

Let's take a look into the past and have some fun, lovelies~

Link to my ao3, in case you wanna go down that rabbit hole and find the super old stuff at your own risk.

And my masterlist for my more current stuff, including some stuff featured below the cut.

-----

Bulma, being one of the fairest maidens in the land, was face with a choice of a suitable man. The only man that was avaliable was Yamcha, a pompus, greedy land holder. He had control of her father's land and had seen Bulma many a time. She was the most beatiful of all maidens, and had seen plenty of girls in his time. Bardock had strongly went against it and so had the rest of her family. But Yamcha was too much infatuated to even see straight.

-Strange Things Happen To People, Chapter 1 (Dragon Ball, September 2002)

-----

But I was surprised not to see a slimy, green alien. Infact, he almost looked human. He, from what I could tell, was about 7 foot tall and muscular. He had a dark skin tone and had long shaggy black hair. I when I say long, I mean long. It was about to his ankles. His eyes were dark, almost a deep onyx black and had low eyebrows. He also had a tail. Yes, a tail; it kind of reminded me of a monkey's tail. He looked strong,but was covered in blood. Then he collasped onto the ground, unconcious. I knew I had to help him. I whistled for Spirit to come down here. He came and I lifted the guy onto his back. He started groaning and I whispered in his ear.

-My Boyfriend is From Space Starring Radditz, Chapter 1 (Dragon Ball, December 2002)

-----

Yugi sighed, another month alone at home. He really didn't like being left alone at home, but he was used to it by now. Besides, Jii-san always brings him back something really cool from his travels in Egypt. Yugi ordered some pizza for himself and looked at the clock. It was about time for that new show to come on, Yugioh, he thought.

-Remember Me This Way, Chapter 1 (Yu-Gi-Oh!, July 2003)

------

I looked around for the source of the weeping. I moved some piles of coins aside to see the most creature I had ever seen in my life. I had to blink just to make sure I wasn't dreaming this. There was a boy, about 15, maybe 16 years of age with pale, almost a rosey-peachy cream tone of skin, completely contradictary to the golden-cinammon brown of the egyptain. His eyes were a chocolate brown, almost like a doe's eyes, complete with long, feminine eye lashes. His mane of hair, white as the whitest silk, and looked just as soft. He looked like a white-haired angel. Though, when I reached out to try & touch him, he reeled back in fear.

"Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you," I said as gently as I could.

But the boy still kept his distance. Why would he try to avoid me like I had a disease or something?

"Why do you flee? I mean you no harm," I said, trying to encourage him to come closer.

"Please forgive me, but I am not allowed to speak with anyone," the boy said, his voice so softspoken, like he had never yelled in his life.

"Why's that, little one?" I asked him.

"I was ordered to," he said simply, "or suffer grave consequenses."

-Just Call Me Angel, Chapter 1 (Yu-Gi-Oh!, November 2003)

-----

I gave the Visser a cold stare, but then I stopped. Was I giving that glare to the Visser, or Alloran? His face twitched again, saying he understands. He whispered that he loved me and that he was sorry. The visser took control again, laughing hysterically. Then he spoke.

<Oh, how I love tormenting you, Alloran. Your wife is beautiful; and with these andalite instincts of yours, I see why you chose her.>

The Hork-bajir released me from their iron like grip as I feel into the Visser's weak andalite arms. I looked into his eyes, hoping my Alloran was still standing there, hold me in his grip.

Though the only thing I saw was the iniquity of his smirk. I did not like that smirk. Not at all...

-Jahar's Skye (original version, Animorphs, March 2005)

-----

She looked down, sad once again. I guessed right.

“Why not tell him you liked him?”

She shied away again.

“C’mon. What good is it going to do now? He’s smitten with Sakura and always has been.”

“I-I know. I just thought that, maybe, he would notice me eventually with Sakura always after you. B-But you left and…”

“Sakura finally noticed Naruto after I was out of the picture. Well, you weren’t completely unaware of me if you thought I could be your ticket in snagging Naruto.”

“D-Don’t say it like that. You make it sound a-as if I was a bad person for wanting Sakura to choose you.”

“You’re not a bad person. You wanted someone else to feel happy because you wanted happiness, too. So, you figured that if Sakura continued to shower me with affection and attention, Naruto would finally notice you and everyone would live happily ever after.”

“Uchiha-san…”

“Sasuke.”

“S-Sasuke, it’s not like that…”

“Seems that way to me. But, as it turns out, I was also a monkey wrench in your little scheme.”

She was silent.

“I’m just one sick little Cupid, ain’t I?”

-This Time The Girl is Staying (Naruto, July 2008)

-----

<<Hello, dearest. >> A voice spoke softly, sultry in a way, but I knew better than to believe it. My back was still turned, but I didn’t need my second set of eyes to tell me who was standing at the cage door.

<<Visser. >> My voice was filled with quiet disdain and hatred. It was obvious how I felt about the horrid creature controlling the one person that I had ever felt love for.

He chuckled darkly.

<<Such an unkind tone, my dear. It doesn’t really suit you. >> His voice was teasing while reaching a weak hand through the bars. My tail flashed in front of me, a clear warning to back off.

<<Do not touch me, Yeerk scum! Those hands do not belong to you, nor do you have permission to use them as you see fit! >> I turned my upper body to face him, glaring at him with all four of my eyes. I would not be subjected to that humiliation again!

<<Ah yes. You Andalites are not as fond of touch as the humans are. I had forgotten, being in and out of my human form so often, some habits overlap occasionally. I am sorry, dearest. Please forgive my rude and unbecoming gesture. >> His voice was full of malicious humor, so I’m sure that there wasn’t any sincerity in his apology. He looked to my main eyes, staring hungrily.

-Jahar's Skye (2010 Rewrite, Animorphs, June 2010)

-----

Impudent scum. The lowest of the low. Scum that didn’t deserve to live. The fact that Timaeus was inside of the small church mattered little to him. His sword was brandished, reflecting the dim sunlight from the stained glass windows, a picture of St. Michael matching perfectly with the scene. The knight could think of nothing more than avenging the innocent soul who’s blood had been spilt on the floor. He could think of nothing more than avenging Yuugi, his sweet, innocent savior. She had saved his life, but he was doubting that he could do the same.

With one move of his wrist, his sword sliced through the intruders as if they were made of paper. Maybe the spirit of Michael had helped him to defeat the villains, but the fact that he had spilled more blood in a sacred place would no doubt disappoint Yuugi.

When the knight returned to his proper senses, he knelt to the floor and gently picked up the still woman, a sharp contrast to his previous actions. He held her close to his chest, tilting her chin up as if he meant to kiss her, but he dares not. Instead, he draws in a pained breath, noting how his gloves were staining her pale face.

“Forgive me, Yuugi.” It wasn’t the first time he had uttered those words to her. He had done so on various occasions for varying reasons. This time, however, he meant it with every fiber of his being.

If only he had gotten here sooner. If only he had listened to her pleas.

“I couldn’t reach you in time. I’m asking for your forgiveness.” He repeated it over and over again as he held her close, hoping for some sign of life within her.

-Scum (Yu-Gi-Oh, August 2014)

-----

“Heh,” Yoko said to herself, lost in her memories while watching the wine swirl in the glass.

“Happy 15th Wedding Anniversary, Sakaki Yoko. You did everyone proud by marrying yourself an entertainer, didn’t you.”

She wasn’t bitter, certainly not, but felt bitter at that moment. She wanted Yusho back home safe. She didn’t care if he had given up dueling completely, she just wanted to see him again. She missed him so badly, even just seeing his face again would be enough.

“…Mom?” a soft voice called out, startling her out of her reverie.

“Yuuya! Sweetheart…” She didn’t really know what to say. Yuuya had caught her red-handed with the glass of wine. He frowned and crossed his arms, looking pointedly at the said glass.

“…It’s only cooking wine, Yuuya.”

“…Sounds gross, Mom.”

She couldn’t help it, she smiled and laughed quietly. Yusho made that face when he was skeptical too.

“It is. That’s why, when you’re older, you should have regular wine. It tastes better.”

“…Still sounds gross.”

“Well, adults are often having to do gross things, good or bad. It’s all part of growing up, I’m afraid.” She laughed quietly again, setting her glass down on the table, untouched.

-Happy Anniversary (Yu-Gi-Oh ARC V, April 2015)

-----

“You’re… you’re lying! There’s no way anyone could have-!”

Yuuri quietly reached into his jacket pocket, his slim fingers pulling out a card, holding it’s back towards her, stunning her to silence.

“Do you wish to find out?” he said quietly, “who it was that said those terrible things about you?”

Ruri couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. On the other side of that card was someone she had trusted, someone that had been with her in Heartland, and yet…

She could feel her heart dropping into her stomach.

-Prisoner Princess (Yu-Gi-Oh ARC V, August 2015)

-----

But, back then, I didn’t think that kind of wish could come true. And, thinking back on it now, I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have.

Just as Junko was about to start her reading, the lights in the room flickered and turned completely off, the holoboard at the front turning off as well. The only light in the room was daylight from the sun outside and the dim glow of our holobooks. Mr. Himura tried to reassure us, I remember, that it was just a drill and that we should all try and stay calm. I remember looking at Yuuto and saw that he was also looking at me, his eyebrow raised in that way that it usually does when he doesn’t know what’s going on.

It was then that we heard screaming outside, both human screams and the sounds of a Duel Monster screaming in pain. I remember thinking that my D-Gazer hadn’t notified us of a duel going on. Come to think of it, no one else’s had either. Our first instinct was to set our D-Gazers to Duel Mode, to try and find the source of the duel going on.

But there wasn’t one. Matter of fact, there weren’t any duels going on at the time, since everyone was in their classes at that time. It wasn’t free period yet, when there were usually duels galore. So the fact that it sounded like a duel was going on just outside yet it wasn’t registering on the D-Gazers…

It still unsettles me to this day, feeling so tense with fear. Yuuto had even subconsciously moved closer to me, taking a hold of my arm. When I was about to ask him what he was doing, the door burst open, the room soon filling up with smoke. Yuuto pulled me down hard, under the desk as Mr. Himura demanded to know what was going on. He never did receive an answer. The last we heard from him after that, was him screaming in pain while the rest of the class stared in horror.

-The Misadventures of Ruri Kurosaki and her Traveling Band of Emo Birds, Chapter 1 (Yu-Gi-Oh ARC V, April 2015)

-----

"Just one more, [Name]-chan." His arms and legs were shaking from tension and fatigue. That should have been an instant red flag that something was wrong. That you should have put your foot down and told him that this was enough for today.

So, why hadn't you told him no?

"I'm so close, [Name]-chan. I can feel it. Just one more, I promise." He was so earnest and determined, despite all the signs you should have told him no...

But you just couldn't. And just stepped back.

He gave you his usual easy smile, as if mentally thanking you, and turned his attention back to the court.

With the liquid grace of a cat, he tossed the ball into the air, the tension seeming gone. Two long steps squeaking forward, he bent his knees and jumped off the floor like a spring board. It never failed to make you stare in awe in the power that was Oikawa's serves. You could definitely feel the hairs on your neck standing up in anticipation.

And, for the first time as you've seen it, his accuracy was dead on, knocking the far water bottle with a resounding clatter. You were turning around to express your joy, that he had finally gotten it right. For a split second, he held the brightest, toothiest grin you seen him give. The kind of real smile that you've only seen on the court; Oikawa's real smile, where he was happiest and most proud.

And then, everything was in slow motion.

Gravity was taking over his body, pulling him down from the air. His foot was in the wrong place, you both realized far too late. He landed hard, the wrong way, his leg twisting horribly. There was a soft grunt of pain before the rest of his body caught up and he collapsed loudly onto the floor.

He didn't get up.

-Manager Princess: Oikawa Oneshot (Haikyuu!!, June 2016)

------

Up until he had kissed you, you had thought you were just a friend to Jumin, someone that was willing to listen to him and his troubles, especially now when his life was turning upside. Just friends, you had originally thought, colleagues within the RFA just like with everyone else, at best, nothing more.

With Elizabeth missing, Jumin didn’t know what to do with his new emotions. Quite honestly, when he returned to the penthouse cat-less, you were sure you were about to deal with a broken man, as the thing he held dearest had run away from him, his last line to sanity gone from him.

Now, however…

You touched your lips, blushing at the memory. You could still remember his hand curling under your chin to tilt your eyes towards him; how he still towered over you as he leaned in closer; how you could smell the scent of his cologne on his shirt collar, an expensive brand you couldn’t name but it still suited him quite well; how thin his lips were, yet they were still soft and warm if a touch dry when they brushed yours; how his breath tickled your swollen lips as he whispered to you, how he wanted you to close your eyes and just focus on your senses; how a few of his stray hairs brushed your cheek, him telling you how cute you were when he could still smell the strawberry pancakes on you from that morning.

- Love At First Sight (Mystic Messenger, May 2017)

-----

Soon, before you knew it, your fingers were moving on their own, slowly spelling the name with your tied hands. Something that the other devils took notice of.

“Malix,” one hissed, “the girl is doing something weird with her hands back here.”

“What, are you doing some ninja magic bullshit?” Malix stood, snickering as he looked at your tied hands. “That kinda stuff doesn’t work in the human world, sweethear-” Malix stopped, as if he recognized what it was your hands were doing.

“Signing!?” He laughed, “now that’s rich, girlie! Maybe I should blow your hands off so that you can-!”

It was ironic that the last sign of Sam’s name was a closed fist. As your pinky receded from the I to form the fisted S, wind picked up around the warehouse and blinding light soon filled the space, pushing back any devils that had surrounded you. Next thing you knew, a fist pounded against Malix’s face and he flew back, grunting in pain and landing against the far wall with a hard thud.

In his place was a familiar shock of brown hair, green and white vest, and a sharp toothy smirk.

“Well, well, Malix. Guess whose here to send your devil ass back to hell where it belongs?”

-True Name (Seduce Me The Otome, September 2018)

-----

“Tired already?” he asked, letting out a disappointed sigh and moved to stand up.

“It is close to bed time, isn't it?” you asked, other ideas starting to run through your head.

“What, are you Hideyoshi now?” he teased, his grin spreading wider as he stretched. “It's my castle. We can have whatever bed time we want.”

“Masamune,” you gently reprimanded him. He grinned again.

“All right, all right. You want bed time, you get bed time.”

If only he knew.

You touched his wrist, catching his attention to draw him into a lingering kiss. His smirk deepened.

“Gonna tell me your secrets now, Kitten?”

You couldn't help the grin on your face that matched his.

“Would you prefer me telling you?” You hold onto him, standing on your toes to reach his ear.

“Or should I show you?” you whispered.

The faint twitch of his arm told you all you needed to know.

- It's Not Like I Would Say No, Kitten (IkeSen, July 2019)

-----

Nobunaga, the once proclaimed Devil King, had perished on the battlefield.

Everyone had tried to save him. If someone had moved quicker, anyone, if he had reacted faster, maybe he could have been spared.

But, like Nobunaga himself, Death conquered all before him, even the Devil King of the Sixth Heaven.

You had been with him that morning, warmed by his hands brushing gently over his handiwork from the previous night. You could still recall how his lips curled into his signature smirk, but his eyes were soft, warm, proud that morning. This was the man you had stayed behind for. The love of your life. With Nobunaga by your side, you felt like you could do anything. You could take on the world with Nobunaga, you felt.

Without him, however, the entire world seemed to shatter into a million pieces.

-A Second Glance, Chapter 1 (IkeSen, July 2019)

-----

After a few moments of silence, Ieyasu broke it again.

"When did that happen?"

He nodded towards her bandaged finger, sounding offended that this was the first time he was noticing it.

"...Papercut." She started. "They happen sometimes. A common hazard to book lovers. Mitsunari gets them all the-"

"I don't care about that idiot's papercuts. What happens to him during his weird reading trances is not my concern." His tone was sharp, but his hand grabbing yours showed none of the hostility of his voice. "I'm more concerned about why you're pale and shivering while I'm boiling in my own sweat."

He carefully unwrapped her bandage, frowning deeper at seeing the angry red cut, mostly healed, but its color was concerning.

"Again, when did this happen? Hours ago? Days?"

She looked away from him, feeling ashamed she hadn't said anything sooner. She had been used to hiding it on Vale Island for her safety, her new habits escaped her notice.

"Before… coming here. Before Honnoji."

His eyes widened in shock while his breath stalled in his lungs. In the next breath, he grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her along behind him.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner, stupid?!" Whatever book he had picked up previously was now haphazardly dropped to the floor in his haste. "We're going to my palace. Now."

-You Should Always Tell The Truth (IkeSen, November 2019)

-----

“Do you know if the stars are out tonight?”

“They should be by now, yes. And the skies seemed clear enough earlier today.” He paused, “It will be cold, though, if you wish to see them.”

“Well, that’s what blankets are for, silly.”

He smiled. “Ah, yes, my mistake.”

Carefully, he peeled back the blankets, save for the one he wrapped around you. Then, he lifted you into his arms, carrying you out onto the familiar balcony. Though there was a beautifully crafted wheelchair beside the bed he could have used, Comte much preferred to carry you there as if you were a newly wedded bride crossing the threshold into your new life.

He sat you in his lap on the nearby bench, his warmth spreading through you as he held you gently. You turned your eyes skyward, watching the dark blanket of the heavens, dotted with small points of light, some brighter and some dimmer than others. It never failed to awe you, just like the person holding you securely.

“It’s still so beautiful,” You said, “even after all these years.”

“On the contrary, chérie,” he said softly. “I see something much more beautiful in front of me,”

“And you’re horribly biased, good monsieur.” You laughed. “Or going blind.”

“If I go blind tonight, I’ll be glad the last thing I saw was your smiling face, in my ‘horribly biased’ opinion.”

-Fais de Beaux Rêves (IkeVamp, October 2020)

------

"It's true, isn't it?” she said. “I couldn't lead Wysteria when I was needed to. I couldn't even go through with marrying King Byron for help. And now, because of my incompetence, the Princess Elect system is destroyed, a laughing stock amongst its people and the other countries."

"Hey, don't-"

"I'm a coward, Alyn," her voice trembled, "You wasted your time looking for a silly little girl that didn't deserve to be found. A little girl that ran out on you too, because she was too afraid of losing you. Of losing everything."

Her eyes finally turned to Alyn, shimmering with unshed tears. Her breath caught in her throat as a few escaped, sliding down her cheeks. Fed up with hearing her talk down about herself, Alyn pulled her once more into his arms, running his fingers through her hair.

"You never lost me, though," he said quietly as she cried into his shoulder, "there wasn't a day that I didn't think about you. Wondering how you were doing, if Giles or the other nobles were being hard on you. Then, you ran away to Stein and..."

His arms tightened around her. Her sobs stopped.

"Everyone was saying that you were dead. No one would give me any answers of how or why. It was like you didn't exist anymore. Or that anyone cared that you had existed."

He shuddered at the memory.

-Reunion (Midnight Cinderella, March 2021)

------

He breathed warm air onto the bell of his stethoscope and rubbed it against his shirt, testing it on his exposed wrist to make sure it was a comfortable temperature to the touch. Your soft giggles turned his head.

"Does blowing on it make it work better?" You said, laying on his chaise with a hand on your belly. Arthur grinned.

"Hardly," he said, taking a seat beside you and loosened the blue satin ribbons on your lacy stays, "but you did complain about the bell being cold last time and, though it was incredibly adorable seeing you jump, I decided to be kinder this time."

Carefully, he pulled down your stays below your belly while you pulled the top under your breasts, exposing your swollen abdomen to him. Placing his bare hands on you, he gently squeezed until he could feel a hard yet smooth area. That was likely the baby's back, the midwife had said, and that was the ideal place to look for a heartbeat. He then placed the stethoscope earpieces in with one hand while he kept his other hand on the baby.

"Slow, deep breaths now."

-Family (IkeVamp, May 2021)

-------

He hummed softly as he began putting his supplies away when he heard a sweet voice calling out to him.

Ah, there she was, just on the horizon, walking towards him in her pretty white dress. Vincent smiled brightly, wiped his hands on his painting apron, and started to amble towards her, intent on helping her with whatever she had brought with her.

As he got closer to her, he saw she wasn't carrying anything, just picking her way through the grass as best she could bare-handed. Vincent raised an eyebrow. Had Abby changed her mind and decided to come and get him after all? It was sweet of her but he worried she might overexert herself. He was about to call for her to stay where she was, that he would come to her, but soon saw she wasn't alone.

A man was following behind her, wearing grey pants with a white button shirt with the sleeves rolled up, carrying the old picnic blanket and basket. Had she invited the appraiser to come meet with him? It was kind of him to carry the basket and blanket for her. Odd, but kind regardless.

No, the man behind her looked familiar. It shouldn't be possible and yet…

The other man spotted him then, his eyes going wide. Vincent felt his own doing much the same.

"Theo…"

-I've Waited For This (IkeVamp, October 2021)

-----

Nokto felt Clara's racing heart against his cheek, her breathing calming his. Every inch of them was flushed and slick with sweat, both wearing nothing but the moonlight and her perfume.

-Birthday Present (IkePri, August 2022)

#krys's adventures in fanfiction #happy anniversary to me!#it's my fanfic anniversary #20 years of writing as of today #sheesh #I was a middleschooler when I started doing this crap #and in the early entries I think you can kinda tell it was written by a middleschooler #just a baby writer in her humble beginnings #kinda wish I could have some of hte rp stuff too #but didn't have the time to search for it #so just pulling from ao3 it is #maybe next anniversary I'll pull the rp stuff #in the next 20 years #lol

9 notes · View notes

dreaminginthedeepsouth · 1 year

Photo

(Illustrations: Paintings by Manafi al-Hayawan, depicting Adam and Eve, from Maragh in Mongolian Iran, 1294/99, and Adam and Eve from a copy of the Falnama, Book of Omens, ascribed to Ja´far al-Sadiq ca. 1550. Via Wiki. )

* * * *

Must The Story Of The Fall Be True? Ctd

My friend Kevin Sessums wrote a Facebook item two days ago about his vision of light beneath a crucifix when he walked the Camino, and a truly strange experience of what he describes as a "demonic" "angel of light" the other night outside the window of his Manhattan apartment. I can almost hear the rolling of the eyes out there. But his follow-up post got to something that really helped me:

I hope I didn't freak too many of you out yesterday with my posting about angelic and demonic visions - although I did feel as if I were in the finale scene of a Boito opera. Others of you might have just thought I was getting all Shirley MacLaine on your ass. Shirley did walk the Camino as I did and wrote a book about it in which she describes having her own visions there. When I read her book before heading over to Spain for my own walk on the Camino, God knows I rolled my own eyes at some of what she wrote of envisioning. But finally, yes, God alone knows if what I described yesterday is real or not. I only know it is true.

Things can be real and not true; and they can be true and not real. And sometimes, the true becomes the real, which is how Catholics see the Mass.

I am sure plenty of Christians today and in the past (and many today) believed in the literal truth of Genesis, down to the seven days and Adam as dust and Eve as his rib. They believed it to be real and true. But it is quite obvious to me in the 21st Century that this is not real, even though it may, in a deeper sense, tell us a metaphorical truth. I know many will scoff at this as pure expedience, shiftng the goalposts of religious faith through time to avoid any accountability. But from my point of view, it makes sense.

I am not a fundamentalist. I do not believe that human beings can truly, definitively understand the ways of God with any precision, and this view is, from Job to even Jesus, uncontroversial in Christianity. But we can, at various times, glimpse the Godhead, as in the Incarnation, even as we clumsily attempt to translate that ineffable truth into imagery and language that humans can understand. In that sense all religious doctrine is wrong. It has to be. And when it seems right, it is only because we may be grasping at a partial truth, not the whole:

Now we see through a glass, darkly; then we shall see face to face.

When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, he used human analogies and parables. By this act, He was telling us, I believe, that though we have some ability to grasp the divine, we are ultimately limited by our physical lives and needs and emotions. And so the revelation that with greater knowledge and intelligence, we can see that Genesis is literally untrue but, through metaphor, tells a deeper truth about us is not some strange post-hoc rationalization. It's intrinsic to the view that God is eternal but our grasp on God shifts and changes as we understand the world better and as Revelation unfolds through time.

So Genesis may no longer be real to us; but it can still be true. Is it contrary to the Big Bang, and the now-remarkable news that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate? Yes and no. No, because its literal account is very different and empirically false. Yes, because we now know humankind emerged from earlier species around 200,000 years ago and was defined by greater intelligence and self-awareness - our consciousness expanding in the same accelerating way as the universe. I see Genesis as a myth that describes this process of becoming human, buried as it must have been in the collective conscious. It was the best they could come up with at the time.

This turns fundamentalism on its head. It does not say that there is a literal truth about everything, definitively revealed once and for all, and that we need to cling to it with white knuckles or abandon it altogether in the face of new empirical evidence. It says that the Truth is eternal, but we are not. But collectively, we have long striven to discern it almost as a defining characteristic of our species. So in each age, our guesses will be wrong, but also more attuned to what can be right. A key premise here is that reason and revelation are in the end compatible, but, on earth, we may never be able to prove it so. Hence the need for faith and reason in a constant dynamic and interaction. In the beginning was reason and reason was with God and reason was God. We need, in Pascal's words, both the use of and submission of reason.

For me, the key point is that we are all contingent beings in a long arc of human history and pre-history. But there is a direction: The knowledge and intelligence of humankind has expanded exponentially over time. Intelligence shows a slow but unremitting advance in the aggregate and at the top end, may soon, through computers, exceed anything previously known to man, and beyond. To argue therefore that religious stories told and written down thousands of years ago are bunk because they have been proven empirically untrue seems banal to me. Yes, the truths that are conveyed in this story are obviously filtered through the knowledge base at the time. So the sun and moon are designed for the earth; and the creation of everything was explained through a literal story of a figure "God" who can physically reach down to earth and mix some earth and create a human male, and then remove his rib while he is asleep and create a woman. But it does not threaten the fundamental concept of a creation, or, if you take the story as a metaphor, evolution itself. We knew these things to be true before we proved them to be real.

Atheists and fundamentalists want to argue that we cannot shift our understanding, because those who first wrote these things probably believed them to be literally true and countless Christians and Jews have done so throughout the ages. But if you believe that these ultimate things and questions, including God and the origin of our consciousness, must surpass our understanding, then the Truth exists outside of our capacity to grasp it - and we may, at different times in our species history, come up with different ways to express them, none of which, definitionally, can be actually real.

These are only hints and guesses, Hints followed by guesses; and the rest Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action. The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is Incarnation.

The Incarnation is where the true and the real touched. And that, much more than the doctrine of atonement or of the Resurrection, is, to my mind and soul, the crux, as it were, of Christianity.

[via The Dish]

#creation stories #fundamentalism #The Dish #Christianity #Adam and Eve

5 notes · View notes

divineunderstandingsastrology · 1 year

Text

Jupiter in Aries! Just my interpretation 😍

Jupiter leaves Pisces officially on December 20, 2022 at around 6:32 AM (PST), and goes into Aries. It will be transiting Aries uninterrupted until September of 2023, and then it will go retrograde in Taurus.

Jupiter retrograde in Pisces has been causing us to find the intuitive solutions that are within us, and it brings us to a subtle awareness of our own subconscious. In some ways we had to grapple with our sense of reality, and truly understand the consequences of ignoring some of the things we had been feeling over the past several years.

Jupiter in Pisces is the end of a very important cycle, as Pisces is the final sign on the wheel. Retrogrades causes us to revisit and work out kinks regarding the energies of the signs that retrograde planets transit within. When Jupiter went retro in Pisces it offered up a soul experience, and this is something that many lack in contemporary society. Based on my own experience I’d say more and more people in today’s world lack an in-depth connection to their intuition or subconscious, and also a Divine connection to something beyond the physical senses. Jupiter retrograde in 2022 was an opportune time to have more experiences that were less explainable by the human senses, logic and quantifiable analysis. It was a time to potentially develop more faith in the unseen realm, as many of the things that transpired this year in the tangible were unfit for even the imagination in terms of the kind of fear that they stoked within us. 2022 has been a time to incubate within Pisces, especially as Neptune is there, in its home sign as well. Jupiter brought many of us gifts in terms of understanding what ethereal connection is about, as well as what it feels like to truly trust in what we cannot see, and know that we will turn out okay, even if we feel as though all we do is survive.

The past year has been one of great uncertainty and facing many unknowns. A lot of us felt left in the dark in terms of the status of the world and what the next crisis could possibly be. There seemed to be catastrophe after catastrophe waiting around, at all turns of events. As a collective we faced a lot of fear, and I think that that could be a sort of wayward gift that came from the Jupiter in Pisces transit. Jupiter was Pisces’ original ruler, and to me one Piscean theme is that of surrendering to the unknown. The 12th house is also fears and phobias, as they are deeply subconscious things rooted within the psyche. I feel a lot of 2022 has been about facing those things - worrying gravely about the state of our world and fearing that it’s not safe, only for blessings to still come and life to continue on. We are shown as well that the worst things imaginable can happen and we can live through the unknowns, while putting some more faith into the Divine and its processes for leading the collective.

When Jupiter goes into Aries things may feel a lot less subtle than they did in 2022, even though 2022 had plenty of overtly scary events. Aries is the energy that initiates the zodiac, and so there could be plenty of new opportunity during the Jupiter-Aries cycle: to start brand new ventures and enjoy new phases of the external world. Things may feel less foggy and slumbering, and we may have a clearer conviction of what we want to do in terms of expansion and gaining a better understanding of what makes life meaningful.

Aspects:

Sun Square Jupiter

As soon as Jupiter goes into Aries it goes into a square-off with the sun in Sagittarius. Sagittarius is another sign that Jupiter rules, which makes this an interesting aspect, that basically rings in the Jupiter in Aries transit that will go on for the next several months. The sun is representative of the source of life, and is where we experience vitality and a desire to assert our will. It’s also a creative force, and so having the sun Squaring Jupiter during its Aries ingress shows a sort of rambunctious force taking over right “out of the gate”, so to speak. Opportunities could feel as though they’re happening too quickly, especially with the sun being in ever-expanding Sagittarius. Sagittarius energy often needs to come with a plan but doesn’t, and Jupiter in Aries gives the vibe of headstrong direction into big things.

As a result of this aspect happening, during the initial period (the ingress) we may feel as though we are floundering, trying to make things happen fast, as there’s potentially many different avenues for our energy to go. We may also feel incredibly aligned, recharged and funneled directly into a sense of motivation; we could have our sight on whatever it is that gives us purpose. The square has a bad reputation (I’m also guilty of purporting it often enough) but it can pull us out of complacency and produce an effect on us that has us striving for personal power and wanting to resolve whatever crisis we feel we’re in the midst of.

Jupiter conjunct Neptune

Jupiter maintains its conjunction with Neptune (albeit a wide aspect), which started happening around April, and then engaged again during the retrograde cycle. With the conjunction to Neptune Jupiter brings dreamy and metaphysical undertones to its stay in Aries, and this also carries over to that square with the sun on the day of the ingress. With Neptune energy carried over during the ingress there could be plenty of things we are not seeing clearly in terms of the opportunities that might come up. The Sagittarius sun as well could have us wanting to jump headfirst into experiences, so that we can expand our circumstances and understanding around them. It would be good to examine all angles of situations before being overly excited by the prospect of entirely new circumstances. Aside from that, Neptunian energy can soften our drive for prowess (Aries energy) and bring a sense of empathy and generosity to our methods of acquisition. Neptune also comes with the power of envisioning and imagination, and so this could be an incredibly positive time for creation as a whole.

Jupiter sextile Pluto

The planet most known for its benevolence will be mingling with one of the most feared orbiting bodies in astrology: Pluto. Pluto rules things that must be overcome or survived, as well as things that are hidden; it is the shadow side of human nature and can be a symbol for destruction and corruption. Pluto in a sextile with Jupiter, ingressing into Aries, could be a signal for deep and transformative new phases of life, and could act as a window into understanding our own personal warrior-like nature. I believe we all have a warrior within us, and that this coming Aries-Jupiter transit could give us insight into how to bring out our innermost strengths in order to expand.

Even though the battalion-type energies of Aries and Pluto could be viewed with trepidation, the sextile is a minor aspect, and known as an “easy” one. It probably won’t bring much strife or complication, even if Pluto aspects can manifest darkly and in “scary” ways at first, and for a while, regardless of the aspect. We could be called during the Jupiter in Aries transit to undergo an upheaval of our impulses and really have to learn to not get overly strung up on certain feats of quick decision making. We may learn to truly channel our ambitions and desires into something transformative and constructive over the next several months. We may also become obsessed or enraptured with finding an outlet for our abilities that revolve around where we esteem ourselves to be strong and worthy of manifestation. Whatever happens this will likely be an interesting transit that brings a lot of inner and outer innovation and ambition.

[[Image source: https://unsplash.com/s/photos/jupiter]]

#jupiter in aries #astrology #zodiac report #pluto #the sun astrology #western astrology #jupiter in pisces #jupiter in aries 2023 #astrology report #square aspect astrology #neptune conjunct jupiter

5 notes · View notes

meditating-honey-badger · 2 years

Text

Pretty Penny

Now that TK and Carlos are engaged, TK is ready to put the past behind him and move forward with their lives. But when he runs into a childhood friend, his entire world is turned upside down.

Chapter 1

TK Strand read the name on the tablet three times, but still didn’t trust what he was seeing. Penelope Lane. He hadn’t thought of the name in years. It had to be a coincidence, though — Lane wasn’t an uncommon name, and surely a handful of them were either pretentious or idiotic enough to name their daughter after a Beatles’ song.

He’d been volunteering once a week at a free methadone clinic in the part of the city nobody liked to talk about. Since moving to Austin, TK had only spent time on this side of the tracks while on fire and EMS calls. Still, he was familiar with the territory, having spent plenty of time in tent cities and various drug houses in New York.

It wasn’t that long ago that his own sobriety had been tested, an event that made him acutely aware of how precarious it would always be. Every day he walked a line between worlds, so he’d decided to spend some time in one of them, helping people this time instead of being the one who needed help.

He glanced up and looked around the room, spotting her easily, taller than all the women and many of the men, with the same untameable blond hair she’s always had. Memories of his childhood flooded back: summer days spent at the rec center, movie marathons every weekend, trips to the beach when his mom wasn’t too busy to take them. She’d been his best friend as long as he could remember until they’d drifted apart after graduation.

“TK, are you all right?”

He glanced up and smiled at Maggie, the site supervisor. “I’m fine,” he told her. “Just got lost in thought for a minute.”

Maggie’s interruption brought him to reality, a harsh reminder of why Penny was here. Their friendship hadn’t been all swimming in the ocean and playing cards at summer camp on rainy days. Penny was the first person he’d used with, a memory that would seem almost quaint if it wasn’t for the reality of the dark road it had led them both down.

When he called her name, she turned, revealing a sizable baby bump. TK couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt that they both found themselves together in this place under very different circumstances.

"Tyler Kennedy?" Penny's face brightened with recognition, and she hurried over to him. She threw her arms around him and then pulled away, holding him at arm's length. "You look great. Wait, are you working here?"

"Volunteering," he said. "I'm an EMT. Here, come on. Let me get you checked in and we'll catch up."

He led her to the small room used for checking in patients. "Of all the gin joints," she joked as TK put the blood pressure cuff on her arm, trying to be discreet as he checked her arms for fresh track marks. "Don't worry," she assured him. "I've never been one for needles."

TK smiled as he put the stethoscope in his ears and began to pump the bulb attached to the cuff. He’d forgotten how unsettling she could be with her blunt honesty and wry humor. Penny had often gotten them out of trouble by being so bold and unapologetic, people were simply stunned into silence.

“One-twenty-seven over eighty-three,” he told her. He removed the cuff from her arm and made a note in the tablet. “Not terrible.” Her chart indicated she was thirty weeks pregnant. “But it could be better. Make sure you’re drinking enough water, and try not to overexert yourself. Are you getting prenatal care?”

Penny tilted her head, giving him a curious look. “You’re being weird,” she said.

TK opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it again. She was right. He was so happy to see her after all this time, but so much had changed. The only way he knew how to handle the situation was by being professional. “I am being weird,” he said with a quiet laugh. “I’m sorry. This is just…not what I expected today. It’s really good to see you, Penny.”

“Just not this way,” she said, finishing the thought for him. She’d always been able to do that.

“That’s not exactly it,” TK said, leaning against a counter. “I’m just really overwhelmed and part of me wants to hug you and give you noogies and then run off and steal gum from the bodega around the corner. But then we’re here, and it’s my job to assess your health and make sure you’re taking care of yourself. Are you taking care of yourself? Seeing an OB? Taking your prenatals?”

“Yes, yes, and yes,” she answered. “You know who you sound like? Your mom. [1] How is she? Is she living in Austin too? I never pictured her as a Texas girl.”

TK wondered if there would ever come a day when an unexpected mention of his mother didn’t take the air out of his lungs like a deflated balloon. Tears stung at the back of his eyes, and he took a steadying breath before answering. “Mom died not too long ago. It was…not expected.”

Penny stood up and put her hand on TK’s arm. “I’m very sorry to hear that, TK.” Her eyes welled with tears, and TK had to look away before he completely lost it. “Your mother was very special to me.”

TK nodded, but neither of them said anymore. Penny’s mother had died of an overdose when Penny was twelve, but Gwyn had been like a mother to her long before that, letting Penny stay at their place for weeks at a time when her father disappeared, and her mother could barely take care of herself let alone a young girl. “Your father?” she asked finally. “How is he?”

“Dad’s great,” TK grinned. “He’s here in Austin. We both moved here almost three years ago. We work in the same fire station.”

“That’s amazing, TK. It sounds like you two are a lot closer now.”

“We are. He - “

A knock at the door interrupted him. “TK?” Maggie said from the other side of the door. “Everything all right in there? The doctor is ready.”

“Yep, all set,” he called back.

“Well, it was good to see you, TK,” Penny said, moving toward the door. “I’ll probably run into you here again. I’m a frequent flier.” She gave him a sad smile.

“Dinner,” TK blurted out before she could walk out the door. “Come to dinner tomorrow night.” He grabbed a notepad and scribbled down his phone number and address, then tore the paper off and handed it to Penny. “My fiancée is an amazing cook.”

Penny nodded, slipping the paper into her pocket. “Sounds good, TK. What time?”

“Seven. And just give me a call if you can’t make it. My fiancée is also a bit of a control freak,” he said. “And I’ll worry about you if you don’t show up.”

“I’ll be there,” she said, then disappeared down the hall.

Finish Reading on AO3

#911 lone star #911 ls #911 lone star fic #911 ls fic #tarlos #tarlos fic #carlos x tk #tk strand #carlos reyes

6 notes · View notes