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corvusalbus93 · 6 months

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Wish Rewrite

Once a year my aunt and her family come to visit the rest of us and we do something together. Her little daughter really wanted to see the new Disney movie, so we all went with. I have thoughts, but everything that needs to be said, probably has somewhere and that’s not why I’m here.

Just for fun I started to come up with two complete rewrites, however. One is committing to Magnifico as a sympathetic antagonist, by fleshing out his backstory and motivations more. The other is him being a more classic villain, along with the earlier concept of his wife being evil as well. Still working out the classic villain version, besides there are already several rewrites based on that premise from what I’ve seen, so that version I upload some other time, if I find the time to write it down.

One other thing to note, I feel Asha should have been a princess; of all the callbacks to classic Disney movies that would not have felt shoehorned in, how was she not a literal princess. Her family is half Iberian, half North African? Okay, Magnifico is from Iberia, we change Amaya’s design a little and have her be from Northern Africa, done. Now we can cut out grandpa and mum, who really didn’t do much in the movie, the conflict gets even more personal and we have a bit more time to flesh out the characters.

Wish with a Sympathetic Antagonist

Let’s start with the backstory:

Once upon a time, a region on the Iberian Peninsula suffered under a horrible drought. The citizens begged for rain, until one night a star fell from the skies, to which the people felt drawn to. It seemed like their prayers had been answered, as even their deepest wishes began to manifest in close enough proximity and people figured out, the star’s power could also make them come true. But not all wishes were benign. Some people were suddenly forced against their will to love another, others became incurably sick as if cursed, others yet wished for power and soon fought those with the same ambitions. Or to claim the star for themselves.

A young Magnifico left to find a way to stop this madness and save his home, but when he returned a sorcerer his country had already gone up in flames and was completely devastated, all but abandoned. He trapped the star in a crystal, vowing to safeguard it until he found a way to be rid of it for good. Since the star is sentient, he was unwilling to simply destroy it (that’s more of a last option), but people were literally going mad over this power, so something had to be done, or other kingdoms would suffer the same fate. He moved to an island in the Mediterranean, but people found their way there, feeling drawn to the place, because the star’s powers were not completely concealed, it’s too powerful, more so than Magnifico actually, and even wishes still manifested as the orbs we’ve seen in the movie.

Magnifico kept the star itself a secret, and decided to collect the wishes, carefully granting only those he deemed safe, without dooming the island, haunted by what had happened to his home. It borders a bit on paranoia, like when seeing a wish, his first thought is “how can this be harmful?” and more often than not, he comes up with a scenario in his head, where even a benign seeming wish has some horrible consequence. He honestly doesn’t like fulfilling them, as a selection process is usually unfair in some way or another, aside from being time-consuming, while granting everything or the wrong thing could lead to disaster. Plus, he only has very limited control on how the star fulfills the wish, which means that in some cases the star acts like a monkey’s paw. Like you wish for money, but there is a difference between finding some hidden treasure in your backyard or your parents suddenly dying and leaving it to you in their will.

The star isn’t a malicious spirit though; it simply does its thing, granting the wish, but just like water, seeking the way of least resistance. It doesn’t have an understanding of good and evil. Best Magnifico can do is find specific enough wishes, or use his own magic to make them specific enough, so the star has less room for catastrophic interpretations. When granting wishes he does it as a show, and he knows how to put one on, to keep the people happy/content, so they let him continue his work in peace, rather than beg for every little thing, and pretends like it’s his magic doing it, to preserve order. He’s worried that if he loses control, or others learn of the star, everyone will go mad over this power again.

Still, he loves the adoration he receives. He was too late to save his home country, he failed in what he set out to do, when he first became a sorcerer, but here not only does he get to use his powers for their intended purpose, but is also celebrated for it.

However he needed help. After all, now there was a country to run; not his area of expertise, so Magnifico reached out to the nearest realms. He eventually made friends with a king/sultan in northern Africa, who helped him build his island into a proper kingdom and soon Magnifico fell in love with the sultan’s daughter, Amaya. Lucky for him she was also quickly smitten with him and after one of his visits returned with him to the island as his wife. Rosas soon thrived, developing into a trading hub, Magnifico could focus more on the star again, even began collecting other dangerous artifacts for safekeeping. And eventually, the happy couple had a daughter, Asha.

Now to the real meat, the actual story:

Asha grew up quite happy, but with very busy parents. They run the country, her mother actually being quite involved as well, to give Magnifico more time to deal with any magical problems that arise (and I very much include mythical monsters in that list) and his studies around the star. They still love her (and of course each other) dearly, but their parenting leaves something to be desired, in some areas.

Her dad, who is afraid of what will happen if he himself messes up, can be a bit perfectionistic and thus has little patience for his own or other people’s mistakes. That, along with him not trusting people that much (aside from his wife), leads to him having a “I know best”-attitude and a bit of vanity. Her parents do also have somewhat high expectations, when it comes to their daughter, teaching her early on how to act proper and starting to prepare her for role as princess and future Queen.

Let’s cut down the number of close friends (two or three will probably suffice), animal side-kick optional, and have the rest of the supporting cast be adults, mostly members of the castle’s staff, some of which spent more time with Asha as a kid than her actual parents. Now, once Asha is old enough, her father begins to teach her a bit of magic, something she was always fascinated by and honestly she just wants to spend more time with him. But since she’s still a kid she uses it in more playful manners, like concealing herself during hide-&-seek-games, which would also be a great opportunity to show Magnifico’s sillier and caring side. A scene to really show us that he loves his daughter and spending time with her, when he isn’t preoccupied with ten other things.

Once Asha becomes a teenager (still younger than she is in the movie), she’s ready to learn more and her father shows her what he’s been working on all these years. A spell that will banish the star back to the heavens. His work is almost completed; he only needs to figure out the final lines of the spell he’s been creating, one capable of overpowering the star, which has been able to resist his magic so far. Remember, he trapped it using a crystal, not via spell. He tells her what the star does, enticing people when they sense its presence, drawing out the deepest wishes to the surface until they manifest as one of those whish-orbs. Only then you can use the star’s power directly to make the wish within come true, though it’s not always certain how it comes true or if there will be a consequence, which finally explains to her why her father doesn’t make more wishes come true, something that had always bothered her as a kid.

The orbs are also the reason why most adults in the kingdom seem complacent, as many are simply waiting for theirs to come true during one of the ceremonies. They haven’t forgotten their wishes though, just lack the drive to pursue them, but returning them to the people is fruitless anyway, as soon enough the wish only gets drawn out again. So, they need to be kept save; destroy an orb and the wish within is destroyed as well, forever, and that’s when they forget. She now also understands why the star’s room was always so alluring, despite only know learning about it; until now, she, like the citizens, thought it was Magnifico’s own magic.

In addition he warns her to be careful, when she studies, as there are plenty of dangerous books that either hold unsafe spells, evil spirits, or harm those using or even just reading them. They are locked up in their own room for a reason, no touching, better yet, don’t even enter that section. Asha is certain she can hear something whispering, before he closes the door again, but hopes she’s imagining it. When she asks, why he keeps them in the first place, he explains that there are saver here, than out there in the wrong hands. He sees them as a similar threat to the star, so he collects any he finds. Unfortunately, destroying them would only unleash the powers held within, which could be devastating, so it’s a problem he can focus on, once the star has been dealt with. He tells/teaches her, in case he should not be able to finish his work in his lifetime and needs someone he can trust to continue in his stead. He doesn’t want to pass this burden on to her, but he has to prepare for that eventuality.

Asha is determined to meet all lofty expectations her parents have and continues studying, learning more spells and how her father managed to trap the star in the first place. Seeing her father continue to struggle with his research, even seeing him fail in sending the star back and literally losing sleep over it, Asha eventually gets the idea to wish for the star to return to the heavens (remember she younger in this version); surely such a simple wish won’t have consequences or will be fulfilled in a convoluted way. She also hopes that once the star is gone, her dad will finally be free from this burden, and maybe in the end both her parents will have more time to spend with their daughter…as a family. So, one night she sneaks out, to the room where her father keeps the trapped star, dispels the wards (using her father’s books/notes) and breaks in.

However, as she tries to draw out that one specific wish by force, so the star can fulfill it, she messes up. At first she draws out the wrong orb, as her deepest wish is technically her family being together, sending the star back is just a means to it. Which is also why she doesn’t use that orb; if the star fulfills that wish by making her father just forget or not care about the star, it would be bad for everyone.

Thus, she lets the orb float away for now, but as she tries harder, she accidently draws the star out of the crystal instead and it disappears into the night. Asha panics and is terrified to tell her parents, especially her father, as many kids are, when they mess up. Therefore, she gets her best friends to help instead and goes after the star, hoping to recapture it in another crystal before it can do any damage, or people go mad over it.

Magnifico of course is alerted about the break in and doesn’t suspect his daughter, because he can’t believe she would be that foolish (he hasn’t been around kids that much) and panics when not only the star is gone, but Asha as well. His conclusion is that someone, possibly another sorcerer, broke in, stole the star, and has his daughter as a hostage, because evil magic-wielders kidnapping princesses is kind of a thing in fairy tales. He begins his search, enforces a lockdown, so no one can come across the star or whoever stole it, and creates a spell-circle around the island, like a seal, so no one can enter or leave without his say-so. Amaya tries to calm him down, tells him how he’s rushing to the worst possible conclusions again, but he’s already having flashbacks to what happened in his home country, his family there, and now not just the kingdom is on the line, but his daughter…rational thinking is becoming difficult. He lost everything once already, and that was before he was a parent. He departs promising to get their daughter back and claiming that he would destroy the star before letting anything happen to her. Amaya flinches at that, since she also knows that the star is a sentient being, but knowing that in this state arguing with him won’t help, just reassures him in the calmest possible manner (despite her own worries/fears) that she trust him and has no doubt he’ll get Asha back safe.

Meanwhile, Asha and friends catch up with the star, which is granting wishes to random people in the countryside and it’s causing a bit of chaos. They even see what happens when an orb gets destroyed; one man grabs another’s wish and literally crushes it in a fit of anger, the other person suddenly collapsing, looking absolutely distraught, color draining from their face like they just lost a loved one. Asha uses some of the spells she knows to make them fall asleep, stopping them from fighting each other, hopefully until she can sort this mess out. But in trying to calm those people down, the star escapes again and the hunt continues. Her friends also suggest maybe just telling her father, because he is the expert in dealing with magical problems, but Asha is determined to handle this, to proof herself. And she’s still scared/ashamed for betraying his trust.

Magnifico arrives a bit later and wakes up the villagers, trying to get some information, but they can’t tell him much, other than the star passing through, and he has those altered by the wish-magic brought to the castle, so they can be fixed up at a later point. Right now he needs to find that star and his daughter. In the meantime, Amaya finds Asha’s wish orb floating in the corner of the star-room, and sees her daughter’s deepest wish, taken aback to see the three of them just united, though quickly admits to herself that they haven’t been the best/most attentive parents. And she starts to suspect that Asha was responsible for the break in, wondering how desperate she was.

Outside the cat-&-mouse game continues for a bit (probably a good place for a song & montage); star makes random wishes true, Asha fixes what she can, Magnifico arrives to see the aftermath. He’s getting ever more frustrated, because he can’t find the thief, the star or his daughter and he sees many rather selfish wishes having come true. There are also some actual positive wishes, like someone having recovered from a long illness, but since it hasn’t harmed anyone/is causing chaos, he doesn’t notice it.

Eventually, Asha catches the star and tries to get it back into a crystal she brought with her for just that purpose…but she can’t bring herself to do it, as during her pursuit she’s figured out the star isn’t merely some magical object, but a sentient, shape-shifting being, which is really happy to be moving freely again. Though as cute and friendly as it is, she’s certain it would be happier in the skies, not trapped and used by humans. Her friends by now are also convinced that the star is too dangerous to stay around, and they discuss how many of the good things it has done, could have been done without its magic. Still, Asha tries talking to the star and though it can’t talk back, it can communicate via shape shifting, and she finds out the star is actually scared of Magnifico, since he trapped it, and has always resented it.

Shortly after, Asha notices her father nearby, and uses her magic to hide them (call-back to the hide and seek games),because she feels so close to fixing this mess, and doesn’t want to confront him until she’s made up for her mistake. She’s surprised her spell was powerful enough, once he’s gone again, only to realize that the star helped her out. Asha now plans to sneak back into the castle and use her father’s spell herself, hoping the star trust her enough not to fight the magic like it did when her father attempted it.

Unfortunately, Magnifico becomes so desperate that he goes back to the castle, arriving first, and gets one of the really dangerous books out. He hesitates, but assures himself that the spirit bound within only demands a price from the person using it; better him than the entire kingdom and his family. Besides, it’s only for one night, if all goes as planned.

The spirit trapped within the pages demands to know what he wants, and Magnifico tells it that he needs the spells to summon the star stolen from him, and get rid of it. The spirit explains that this requires power; it will share its own with Magnifico, until the star is dealt with and as a price will take some of the sorcerers powers away. Magnifico hesitates for a moment, before glancing at a picture of his family that he keeps in his study and agrees. The spirit merges with him and they conduct a ritual, capable of overpowering and summoning the star. But it’s draining Magnifico both physically and mentally. His hair changes from greying to the pure white we saw in the concept art, and the spirit’s malicious side begins to poison his thoughts.

Since Asha is holding star, she gets dragged along with it, leaving her friends behind. Magnifico is shocked and disappointed, when he finds out his daughter is responsible for the whole mess and didn’t tell him, which then turns to anger, amplified by the spirit. Queen Amaya, who has been informed that Magnifico is back, joins the two, and noticing the change in her husband, tries her best to get through to him, getting between him and their daughter. Unfortunately, he locks them both up, before she has a chance to show him Asha’s wish, while he “fixes” everything, speaking with a voice that isn’t quite his own. The deal was to summon the star and then get rid of it, after all, and the spirit is intent on upholding its end of the bargain, acting very much like the metaphorical devil on Magnifico’s shoulder.

Locked in together mother and daughter have a much needed heart-to-heart, during which Asha apologizes for everything and explains why she did what she did. Her mother also apologizes for spending so little time with her and the pressure they put Asha under. Amaya shows her the orb she found and as they both hold it promises her daughter they will make this right together (hugs, tears, all the good stuff). Asha’s friends have made it back to the castle by then, free the two and together they go to get Magnifico back to his senses.

They find him in the library, where he’s preparing a spell that will destroy the star. At this point he’s so done with the star, with all of it, after wasting most of his life on that thing. It destroyed everything and everyone he cared about, when he was young, now its keeping him from his family, a constant threat that is stealing away his life, forcing him to deal with everyone’s wishes but his own (yes, he too has a wish orb, because he’s been closer to the star than anyone else and for longer…and different from the citizens he sees it daily, is constantly reminded of what he can’t have). He sacrificed everything to keep them all save and in return he constantly has to worry about people abusing the star, betraying him…even his own daughter. Magnifico doesn’t know what her true intentions were at this point and the spirit is whispering in his mind to keep him on track, also reasoning that destroying the star is the only way to make sure it can never cause harm again…and with all the resentments and trauma Magnifico has, he listens. It ends tonight.

As he begins the spell, the star quivers and so do the wish orbs, causing the people they belong to (among them Asha herself) to experience pain. He does too, but fueled by the spirit he pushes through. Asha tries to reason with her father despite this, apologizing to him, reminding him how the star is a living being, but he’s dismissive, his voice even more alien to her and as she approaches he pushes her aside with magic, knocking her into one of the shelves. Her mum cries out, also trying to stop her husbands, but fares no better. He doesn’t even seem to care he’s hurting people, just coldly states that everything is better than have the whole kingdom burn down or worse countless others, should the star get loose ever again.

(You may have noticed the escalation of the “better x than y”-argumentation)

Amaya shouts to him that he’s hurting their daughter, which makes him hesitate just long enough to interrupt the spell. But it doesn’t last.

Meanwhile, a friend helps Asha back on her feet, but she notices one of the books she crashed into, the one containing the spell her father used to trap the star, which gives her an idea. At first she uses it to try to get the star into the crystal she still has, but Magnifico’s grip on it is too strong. So, desperate to save the people of Rosas, their wishes, the star, seeing her father so twisted that he’s hurting everyone he cares about, she heavy heartedly decides to trap him instead. She casts the spell, her mum hugs Magnifico, so he can’t raise his arms for a counter spell and a friend wrestles the staff from his hand.

Asha succeeds despite the pain she’s in and her father is now trapped in her crystal.

Asha tells the star that she will send it home now, not sure if it really understands, so gestures to the night sky to make her intentions clear. The star trusts her, thus doesn’t fight the spell as it did with Magnifico, and so, using her father’s staff, she sends it back to the heavens, reappearing in the night sky for all to see. This also causes the wish orbs to return to the people, as nothing is keeping them manifested any longer. Asha and Amaya also get to see Magnifico’s wish, before the orb merges with the crystal he’s trapped in…and it’s the exact same as Asha’s. The three of them together. Happy.

The people get their drive back, the kingdom turning into a much more vibrant place, in the weeks after, as people now strife to fulfill their dreams on their own. Asha keeps studying to help the people affected by the star’s magic and she vows to find a way to free her father from the corruptive spirit that has taken hold of him. Something she feels very much responsible for and due to the bargain the spirit won’t leave, since Magnifico wasn’t the one to deal with the star. Amaya is supporting her daughter, assuring her that this wasn’t all her fault, how all three of them allowed things to get to this point. Now it’s up to them to make their shared wish of a united family come true together.

It’s not an entirely happy ending, but sometimes actions have long lasting consequences. Sometimes it takes time to fix everything, you have to keep working on it and not give up.

This would also keep the door open to a sequel, in which a now older Asha (pretty much movie Asha in age) could go travel, searching for a way to save her father and set him free.

#disney wish #wish 2023 #wish rewrite #king magnifico #asha wish #queen amaya #princess asha

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forestchat · 2 months

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Weather and the Garden

I don’t know how many of you have noticed but something strange is happening to the worlds weather patterns. Places where there used to be balanced weather patterns are now either becoming arid or very wet. Anyway, it’s still a topic that crops up no matter where you are.

Here in Catalonia the subject has been drought! Last year was hot, very hot indeed with very little if any rain during the summer.�� My wife could be heard telling her flowerpots “Make the most of this no more for two days.” And this went on throughout the summer, as she dished out the water to ensure her bulbs, shrubs etc., survived the heat. However, we learnt a lesson regarding the bulbs. Up here they need water and the occasional feed during their dormant time, as unlike in the UK we don’t get a lot of rain so the ground dries out and goes like rock. When they appeared this year, they were on the small side with the Hyacinths looking more like Blue Bells. But we’ve had quite a lot of rain these past few weeks and everything has literally gone “water, quick drink and grow” and they have. Tulips that looked as though they wouldn’t grow very well have taken off and there are some blousy red ones showing their stuff. In between these were yellow ones which first of all looked as though they wouldn’t do more than bud and flower in the leaves. Then the rain arrived and the next thing these tulips were on tallish stems and waving around enjoying the weather.

The Roses leafed and are in bud even her cacti are budding up. Our two varieties of Jasmine are out and the bank is filling with blue and white Iris soon to be joined by the Lilly's. A small bed under the bathroom window is giving off the magical scent of the Fuchsia which drifts around the evening air. These are the only flowers my wife picks as there are an abundance of them. They multiply like rabbits, so every year she digs some up and gives them to various people and our Petanca clubs garden. Thing is, although she will dig the bulbs up and check the soil to make sure none are left, next year she finds there's always one or two that escaped. Her Saffron bulbs have been moved into the FFZ (Fly Free Zone) so that the wild boar cannot decimate her supply. That morning, I found they had attacked her garden bed dug up and eaten nearly 40 bulbs was horrible. What she wasn’t going to do to them, then she cried because I wouldn’t let her set up a machine gun…..but eventually she came back down and taking the remaining bulbs planted them in her tubs and close to the house with the result of so far so good.

As for the weather, well at this moment the river Ebro is doing a very fine impression of The Big Muddy. Water is flowing fast and furious down towards the Med taking trees and other flotsam along with it. The river road is, in some places, looking a trifle dubious. The river is cutting into the bank and it would not surprise me if in places the road fell in because of being undercut. But at least the rain is mostly at night. It’s wonderful waking up to that fresh dust free air, watching the birds hopping about in the Olive tree looking for insects. Seeing the mist forming as the sun dries off the ground causing the steam to rise. Feeling the warmth of the sun as it gets going and warms the roof of the FFZ.

It will soon be time to string the solar lights in the walnut tree and enjoy evenings outside watching the stars. Wonder if Olly the Little Owl is still around? Oh well enough musing, back to work. Clearing in the Forest is my Fantasy Historical Novel. Set in the Middle Ages, it tells the story of three children born out of wedlock to a Norman Baron and a village girl. Magic and history rolled into one.

M D Bosc

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blackmagicspecialist786-blog · 1 year

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California Is In for a Continuing Parade of Storms

SAN FRANCISCO -The morning of Thursday three men employed handsaws to cut the fallen tree that blocked from the entrance of their. City workers had put trees with cones, but did not remove the tree and residents of the neighborhood decided to take things in their own hands. "We just want to clear it so cars can drive, so people can pass through," said one of the men, Francis Broome, who was removing branches from the walkway within the Western Addition neighborhood when I passed across. One man was using an air blower to get rid of the debris. "Some community teamwork!" Another person said. The group sought to restore some peace and calm after the most severe of the week's storms swept throughout in the Bay Area, just days after a record-breaking rainstorm during New Year's Day. The raging river that hit California over the course of Wednesday and Thursday shut off power for thousands of residents, forced evacuations and caused dangerous waves on the coastline. If the storm did have one motif it was the staggering number of downrooted trees which is the most obvious indication of a state moving between extremes in the environmental of drought and flood, as my coworkers Shawn Hubler and Jill Cowan discuss. If you're experiencing a return to the sunshine of California It's likely to be only for a short time. While California's Golden State is expected to be spared from rain this Friday afternoon, it's set for a flurry of storms after that, which will include a intense one on Tuesday and Monday. The pounding could last into mid-January. "We are not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination," said Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services. "We are basically in the eye of the storm right now." Over the last few days you've been writing to me regarding how dealing with and being affected by the events which are both good and bad. Here's a sample of your thoughts with me, lightly edited "The greenery of the typically gray Los Angeles hills makes this the most beautiful time to be for me in Southern California. My trees are strong while my plants are flourishing. Utilizing one for just a couple of weeks isn't a problem for me in the least." --- Bill Mayer, Los Angeles "We've been without power within Mendocino County for more than 24 hours. There's no heat, too which is why we're inside wearing layers of clothing as well as scarves, knit hats and scarfs. The only way to communicate is a mobile service with the lowest bars. Making food and cooking has become a challenge. We're lucky to have a few Goal Zero batteries to recharge phones and keep our refrigerator operating, and I'll look after an elderly neighbor this morning." --- Robin Applegarth, Gualala "My husband and I travelled on Wednesday, on Route 101 from Salinas through Santa Barbara. The winds and rain that fell close to Santa Barbara were powerful. The eucalyptus plants along the coast shed their branches. It was quite a snarl, but vehicles were actually slowing down for the first time in a while. But, I am thankful that it rained." -Amy Brewster, Salinas. Amy Brewster, Salinas "We have been hard hit with heavy snow that has fallen over the last couple of weeks. There was a lot of snow-blowing and shoveling. Trees that were damaged due to drought years have been slashed, making power a continuous issue. We are however taking advantage of this! There is a generator which is extremely helpful. You just need to get a grip and tackle it." --- Russ Woods, South Lake Tahoe Read the full article

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belliesandburps · 3 years

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When it rains, am I right...?

Lemme tell you guys about a day so utterly dreadful that it’s actually kind of hilarious.

Rant of satirically bad day below for your convenience:

I’m from California. We’ve been in an intense drought, one of the worst of our states history. So, today, we FINALLY had some real rainfall. And not just a drizzle. We had a straight up storm that hasn’t let up from morning til right now. It’s literally been raining nonstop and it’s desperately needed.

...Unfortunately, rainfall also brings about the shittiest drivers you can imagine.

So, after paying my family a visit for Sunday breakfast, I went to work, had some great orders that had me on a roll, getting good, quick orders. One was a Safeway order, the best orders you can get. And this was a QUICK one.

Not quick enough apparently, because when I left the grocery store, I found that my car had a shiner on it:

No one witnessed what happened and no cameras were nearby. So, some jerkoff probably backed up into my car or pulled into it when parking or whatever, completely tearing up my bumper. You can’t see from this angle, but it’s pret-ty damn bad.

So, I had to report a hit-n-run, which was tedious as is, and it’s only getting started since I only got my case number and have a more extensive followup tomorrow. Since the driver didn’t leave their information and nobody saw them, this is gonna set me back $500. That is, of course, after spending $100+ the day prior on birthday gifts for my niece, and another $100 on two used tires since my right hand tire was leaking air.

Well, I don’t know HOW the asshole pulled it off, but he messed up my new (used) tire as well.

So, as the storm picked up, I was driving back to Safeway (the very same one) for a new order...aaaaaand that fucking tire exploded.

Like...BOOM.

It was so bad that my car was scraping when I pulled into the Safeway parking lot right by the front of a Rite Aide because it had light. This was two hours ago, when it was already dark, and POURING. And here I am, in need of a tire change.

So, I spend a good half hour changing my tire with my mobile crank in the middle of this storm, getting drenched and getting sore. I’m a pro at changing tires but I’ve never changed in the middle of a storm like this, so it took longer, which left me soaking by the time it was finished.

And unfortunately, that meant my phones (personal & work phone) got drenched too.

Both work, mercifully. But my personal phone now has water damage which means its speakers are fucked up. So, it only plays sound if a headphone jack is in, and SOMETIMES the dongle. We’ll see if it’s any better tomorrow or if I gotta take the L and just keep my headphones in if I wanna listen to music, play videos or podcasts.

When it rains, baby...it fuckin’ poooooooours...

But just, boom, boom, boom, one thing after another. I just bought new tires, and I gotta get a new-new one one day later. And once Allstate is done approving my hit-n-run case, that’s another $500 down the drain pointlessly.

I’m kind of too burnt out to be as livid as I was this morning. The tire just happened two hours ago, and I’m still damp as I type this.

Honestly, I don’t know how I feel right now. Today was just COMICALLY miserable, and that misery is gonna cost me a good chunk of my payout this week because someone decided to be a selfish prick and didn’t have the decency to, at the very least, leave their information for me after smashing my bumper. No, instead, they committed a fucking CRIME and got away with it. It’s infuriating, but it happened, and not much I can do but roll with the punches because shit’s gonna keep rolling whether I’m pissed or not.

My only silver lining is my last order covers the cost of the new used tire I have to get tomorrow. Someone ordered from a fish place that was 13 miles away. In a storm and with a spare tire, I would’ve dismissed it. Only, I couldn’t work a lot because I was caught up in all the bullshit, and it paid $29.50, which meets my “$2 per mile minimum.” And as soon as I picked up the order, the customer texted me and told me to knock on the door when I arrive because she wanted to give me extra for delivering so far out in a storm. (A stupid decision, on my part, especially since my speakers on my phone weren’t working since this was RIGHT after the tire thing) But I managed, drove slow on the freeway with my hazard lights on, dealt with a few more shitheads who couldn’t take the hint to maybe drive around the slow driver with his hazard lights on in a storm (and one asshole who drove right by me and splashed my entire windshield obstructing it for a solid second). And when I got to the last customer, she slipped me a $20 for the effort. So that last order alone was 50 cents shy of $50 for an hour of my time, and is gonna cover the cost of my second passenger-side tire in three days.

If I could do ten of those, that could cover the body work I’m gonna need for a bumper replacement. ‘XD

Long story short?

I went so goddamn long without rain in this state, I forgot why I hated it so much. (:’

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bubbyleh · 4 years

Text

lightning storms

Coomer was already well-acquainted with strange sources of energy by the time he met Bubby, so hearing that they needed to be regularly struck by lightning in order to keep going? Not entirely a surprise. It had been harder back then to wait for a storm to pass through, but nowadays, all they had to do was keep an eye on the weather channel and let Bubby stick a fork in an outlet whenever they needed a quick pick-me-up.

There’s been a bit of a drought lately, though. And no rain means no lightning for Bubby, which is kind of their main source of electricity. Yeah, human advancement has made an electrical shock much more widely available, but the energy it provides is more comparable to a snack than a meal.

Coomer’s settled down on the couch, ready to enjoy his nice, locally-sourced blood bag (which means he stole it from the blood bank), when a pair of arms wrap around him. He turns to see Bubby, wearing their comforter around their shoulders, burying their face into his shoulder.

“Good evening, darling.” Coomer reaches to wrap his arm around Bubby. “I thought it’d be a good idea to let you sleep in, today. How are you feeling?”

Bubby groans, leaning into Coomer further. “Tired,” they finally manage to say.

“Did you already get a shock today?”

Bubby nods.

“Well I have good news!” Coomer reveals. “I was watching the Television earlier, and there’s supposed to be a thunderstorm in the morning, if you’re willing to stay up late.”

“Yes!” Bubby perks up slightly, before collapsing into Coomer’s lap. “Fuck, I feel so drained.”

Coomer taps at his chin. He really hates when Bubby gets this way, and it only gets worse the longer it’s been since a lightning storm. They draw their knees to their chest, sighing as Coomer moves to run a hand through their hair, even if they don’t have a lot.

“Oh! How about this?” Coomer has an idea. “We can watch one of those movie things on the Television to pass the time!”

“A moving picture, huh?” Bubby grins slightly. “That could be good.”

And so, with Bubby curled up in his lap, Coomer attempts to figure out the more advanced functions of the TV remote.

†††

By the time it starts raining, many of the others have already woken up. Since Bubby often tries to get a recharge on their own schedule, their cryptmates are usually asleep and therefore unable to view it. That is to say, given Bubby's dire need for a shock, the whole affair becomes a bit of a show for the diurnal folk.

So far, all it's been is eight of them (Gman wasn't interested) gathered outside the crypt, watching as Bubby stands ten feet away with their arms crossed and foot tapping. Luckily for them, Bubby's creator had the bright idea to make them sort of a lightning rod, so the audience isn't at risk for a strike of their own.

That doesn't mean they don't deserve one, though.

"Boo!" Benrey goads, sitting at the front of the gathered crowd. "This is boring!"

"Benrey, be polite," Gordon reminds him. "We've only been waiting for five minutes."

Benrey groans. "Too long."

"Rain's nice, though," Forzen chimes in, a look of contentment clear on his face.

"Of course the fish person likes the rain!" Darnold retorts from the back, where he and Tommy are huddled together, shivering. "We're freezing!"

Forzen rolls his eyes. "Not that cold."

Coomer feels a small tap on his arm, and he looks down to see young Joshua. As a member of the undead, Coomer is one of the few people in the crypt Joshua can physically interact with.

"Ah, hello there, Joshua," Coomer greets the ghostly child. "You're not here to get under my umbrella, are you?"

Joshua shakes his head. "Rain falls through me." He taps his fingers nervously, before asking, "How long does this usually take?"

Coomer smiles. "Well, Joshua, you've heard thunder tonight, haven't you?" The kid nods. "And it's been pretty loud, which means that the clouds above us can make lightning. So, I reckon it's going to be any second now."

As soon as Coomer speaks, the skies split open, and down shoots a bolt of lightning directly at Bubby. The strike immediately lights up the surrounding area in a blinding flash, after which it’s easy to see Bubby sprawled out on the ground.

“Oh fuck,” Gordon almost shouts. “Are they-”

“Hang on, Gordon,” Coomer places a hand on his shoulder, stopping the zombie from rushing towards Bubby.

In an instant, Bubby sits up. They raise both their arms above their head and shout, “Fuck yeah!”

Joshua and Benrey immediately start cheering. Bubby stands and, after dusting themself off, bows with the flourish of a stage performer. In fact, given many of their mannerisms, Coomer wouldn’t be surprised to discover that at least one of their body parts had been taken from a famous actor.

But something about the look in their eyes, sharp and vibrant, leaves only one thought in Coomer’s head.

Bubby just fucked up their nocturnal sleep schedule, didn’t they?

#hlvrai #half life vr but the ai is self aware #hlvrai boomer #boomer #dr bubby #bubby #dr coomer #monster au #my writing #on a dark and dreary night

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atsuminthe · 3 years

Note

hope uni submissions are going well! have you decided what you wanted to study? or does the system work differently? ahh lucky at least you’re getting rain :’) we are currently in a drought where I’m from LOL :’))) so we could rlly use some rain,, I’m going to the movies later today for the first time in over a year!! gonna make sure to wipe down those seats — take care hugs and kithes 🍓💖

so far so good! oh yeah, psychology and as an alternative if i don’t get a spot there, finance and banking! we’ve had drought too here, thunderstorm yesterday ruined my carpet bc the damn pigeons ate the insulating foam from my windows and water seeped through :)))

oouuu how exciting!! i haven’t been to the cinema in a while either, have fun <3 you take care as well, many hugs and kithes for you 💗

#[ the miya couch — 🍓 ]

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vesperlionheart · 4 years

Text

The Drowned - KisaSaku

What was the point in being supernaturally blessed with a god’s favor if you were only going to be supernaturally feared by mortals for it?

“Again!”

Sakura shut her eyes in time to protect them from the sting of saltwater as her head was shoved down beneath the churning surface of a basin filled with ocean. She struggled a little, only because his hand in her hair was irritating, but gave up as another set of hands joined the first.

She lost track of time under the water, letting go of her breath and breathing in ocean salt like any other fish would before spitting out the excess from the slits in her throat. Above her the world was noisy, she could tell, but the water muted the worst of it.

Maybe she could play dead for them this time?

She was pulled back too suddenly and sputtered from the transition before she could act drowned. The crowd screamed at her and some even threw stones, but the elder barked at the kids to stay back. Sakura glared dully in his direction, not even remotely concerned for her wellbeing. Zabuza would kill them all if Haku didn’t finish them off first. She just needed to last another day as their spectacle.

“This is no curse, this is a gift!” the wrinkled elder shouted.

“She’s a demon!”

“A witch!”

The elder waved his hands again and the circle of folks surrounding Sakura retreated until only he stood before her, eyes wide with greed. “No, she is a gift for us. It’s been many decades since we’ve had anyone willing to wed the lord of our waves, but here she is.”

“What?” Sakura coughed, spitting out the saltwater from behind her teeth.

The murmur in the crowd was an instant shift as angry cheers and jeers turned to muffled whispers. Sakura had to shake the water out of her ears to hear them.

“How long has it been?” one woman asked another.

“I can’t remember the last one,” her friend answered.

“Old man, let me go or you’re all dead in a matter of days,” Sakura threatened. “I have friends coming for me and they’re really demons.”

“You came to us alone, you have no one,” he countered easily, leaning down to grab her face with wrinkled fingers. “No one will miss you.”

Someone ran ahead screaming about a sacrifice to the Lord of the Waves and the village was dressed with lights and banners to welcome their arrival. Their elder was greeted with joyful praise while no one seemed to want to spit at Sakura anymore.

Instead they took her, bound of course, into the largest home and dressed her in heavy fabric the color of seafoam. Sakura struggled against the ladies when they stripped her naked, but against her will she was slipped into the wedding gown and sewn in.

The chest they had pulled the dress from smelled like dust and a frankincense, a sign of its age before Sakura ever noticed the outdated straps and bodice beadwork. It was a relic but it was also a treasure. If the situation had been any different she would have marveled at the figure she struck in her white foam gown, but it was weighted to sink her with layer after layer under the skirt and she had people who would miss her.

“Beautiful,” one of the girls dressing her whispered to her twin.

“You’re going to kill me,” Sakura growled back. “That makes you murderers.”

“Nonsense, you can’t drown so what else are you good for?” The elder was beside her, watching as the ladies sewed ropes of pearls into her hair. “There is no one to speak for you so you are the village’s.”

“You’re all a bunch of old fashioned, outdated, backwater, inbreeds,” Sakura snarled. “I am my own person and I speak for myself. You kill me, and you’ll have hell to pay.”

But the elder only laughed, the way a parent would laugh at their child saying silly things that were too impossible to be considered. “You’re only a woman, there are always more of you. No one will miss one that doesn’t even have a surname.”

Sakura bit back her snarl and settled into her bindings, content to wait until they sank to to try and make her escape. She won’t drown no matter where they sank her, and Zabuza wouldn’t let her stay lost forever. It had been weeks since they parted, but he was supposed to be right behind her once Haku healed up. The three of them-

Sakura’s thoughts were cut off with a curse as her eyes were bound with white fabric, rendering her blind. Someone turned her over and she fell onto something wooden that was lifted into the air and carried. A rough palanquin, no doubt.

There were voices chanting, singing, laughing as the palanquin was carried up and out of the village, further along the roads until she was sure they had covered a league on foot. She could hear the ocean waves and smell the brine as it choked the air she inhaled.

The palanquin came to a stop and she was pulled off it, still bound around her wrists. Someone took the cloth off her eyes and she saw the black glass rocks from a long dead volcano that had once birthed much of the island. The crashing of waves drew her gaze down to the rocks below.

Drowning became the least of her worries.

“You’ll spear me to death here?” she hissed, suddenly afraid.

“Only if the lord finds you lacking.”

Sakura pulled against the bindings and strained, digging her heels into the soil and struggling wilder. The men who had carried her on the palanquin took her arms to try and force her still but she screamed and cursed them with every foul title she could imagine. She promised them a death ten times worse than hers and they only chuckled, like she was nothing more than a lame chicken squawking at their heels.

Sakura pulled, gaining a step back before they pulled her two steps forward. She strained and dug in against the men twice her size. Overhead the moon was rising but it wasn’t full enough for her to drink from, and it made her cry as she struggled more wildly.

Damn moon, damn curse, damn superstitions, damn droughts…

There was only a spindle thin crescent in the sky to complement the scattering of stars that stood out in all their pretty patterns. Sakura know more of their forms and stories, but so far south she was sure there were new stories and new shapes the people saw when they looked up at the same sky.

Damn every last one of them.

“She’s got quite a mouth on her,” one of the men laughed, sounding winded as he pressed one of her arms to her side.

“I’m sure plenty of men think that’s attractive,” the elder joked, waving to the cliff edge. “Still, she’s pretty enough for even a monster to want.”

“Or eat,” a different man laughed.

Sakura screamed and that only antagonized their delight.

Someone started to sing and there was even a drum that kept the beat steady for the woman’s voice to follow. Sakura screamed over the sound and they stuffed her mouth full of the fabric that had once bound her eyes. When she kicked they grabbed at her ankles and lifted her like laundry that needed to be folded. She felt her heart drop as they swung her from her wrists and ankles.

The singing pitched and then caught on a single, long, drawn out note.

Sakura was tossed over the edge and fell, head over heels, into the black waters below.

Kisame heard the singing and saw the lights dropped into his favorite bay. Nothing more than casual interest drew him closer as he waited to see what sort of useless treasure the humans would toss into his waters. Sometimes it was a sheep, or a pig, and he enjoyed those enough to send them still waters or their drowned husbands back, but it had been several years since his last sacrifice.

When the large body broke the surface and sank through a curtain of bubbles he expected a small deer, or maybe a large goat.

The bubbles parted and her hands broke apart, freeing her from her white rope bindings even as she sank under the weight of her wedding gown.

Oh, it had been many years since the last one sank for him.

Kisame grimaced as he held back to watch her decent. The dress had been weighted with too many layers and he could tell she had been sewn in. She’d never free herself in time.

He drew closer but kept himself hidden behind the black stone rocks that sometimes pierced through the waves. He saw her face more clearly and pouted at the waste. What was it with humans and sending their most beautiful to their deaths?

She was a stunning example of the lesser species, with a slender neck and wrists just as thin. Her hair was a halo of pink coral around her face, floating more freely as she settled on the ocean floor and gasped. She kept her eyes shut but he imagined they were just as striking as the rest of her.

What a shame.

Kisame almost turned away but decided he would watch her expire before tossing her body back onto the land to be buried somewhere else, someplace where the people weren't such fools.

Well, they had paid their tribute, so he supposed he owed them their rain. Once she was finished drowning he’d get on that.

Whenever she was done dying.

…

She seemed to have quite a set of lungs on her, Kisama realized when her thrashing continued many minutes later. She looked more tired than drowned and he wondered how that could be. He dared drawing closer and hid when her head turned in his direction. It made his twin hearts thrill in his chest.

Her eyes were the brightest green he had ever seen and just as pretty as the rest of her.

Oh!

She turned back to try and pull her dress apart but it was all whalebone and heavy stitching, more than her nails were a match for.

When she screamed in frustration he saw the slit under her chin and the ones on her throat. She had been cursed or blessed with the ability to breath as well as any of his kind underwater, in spite of her legs.

His awe outweighed his fear as Kisame swam out from behind the rocks and surged across the short distance. She noticed him and startled, trying to swim back, even though her heavy dress kept her in place.

“Can you talk underwater too?” he asked, speaking without bubbles.

“Fuck you!” she hissed, disturbing the waters with her cursing.

Kisame laughed and braced one hand over his chest, afraid of how hard his hearts were beating at the sight of her. She was by far the most beautiful his ugly eyes had ever beheld and the singing from before meant she had been drowned for him.

“I’m Kisame, you might not have heard my name from them but-”

“I’m not your damn sacrifice, fish face,” she snarled.

Kisame nibbled on the edge of his bottom lip, hiding his smile as best he could. “I’m sure, I’m sure. What’d they tell ya, princess?”

“That they’re too stupid to do anything more than breed and piss in their own pants, what do you think?” she snapped, eyes flashing with thin, weak magic.

“You’re hilarious,” he chuckled with pure mirth making his voice rumble. “Want me to help you get out of here?”

She stopped struggling. “Get me out of this...dress?”

“Nah, then you’d run off on me. I meant this place. I have a palace not far from here where my servants can tend to you and get ya fed. You look thin enough to snap in half, princess.”

“I’m no princess and I’m not going with you.”

“Why not? You got somewhere else to be?”

“Yeah, back on land.”

Kisame hummed playfully. “Not a good idea. I don’t get many visitors and even fewer guests who are this entertaining.”

He reached for her face and traced the side of her cheek with his rough fingertips before pulling his hand back and kicking at the water between them to raise himself up and show off the powerful whale shark body that made up his lower half. With a rush of magic he kicked and the tail became legs, tapered into fins at the end, before melting back into a mer tail.

“You’re a-what the fuck are you?”

“You can call me Kisame, babe, and I’m whatever the hell you want me to be.”

“I want to be out of this dress.”

He reached for her and pulled her to his body with powerful arms crossed behind her lower back. She sputtered and braced with hands on his chest where she could no doubt feel the way his two heart fluttered for her. The feel of her made him want to vibrate right out of his skin.

“Not yet, but give me a night and I’ll gladly help you shed your layers, wife.”

“I’m not-mph”

He kissed her gills and it made her stuttered incoherently. It was where he was the most sensitive, so he was willing to bet she wasn’t much different.

“I’m-ah, ahhh, mm-mah,” she gasped when he tilted his face to reach the rest of her gills and kiss those too, one hand straying to the curve of her backside to cup her through her dress.

He could feel her legs, caught under so many layers of fabric, twitch and reach to clamp down on his hips, keeping him close. Anytime she opened her mouth to object he kissed her again until she was nothing but moans.

“What was that princess?” he teased in a timber of pure mirth to match his saucy expression. She was flushed for him and trembling for his touch.

“I-ah, I...I mean...a detour wouldn’t...be…” she swallowed and ducked her face to get her thoughts better controlled before trying again. “I wouldn't be opposed to a detour.”

“I was hoping you’d say that, princess,” he cheered. “You can leave whenever you want after we get to know each other a little better, what ya think about that?”

“Depends on if you can do something with this,” she huffed, rubbing against the bulge between this thighs that tented his scales. “I’ve got time.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. Got a name, princess, or should I just call ya mine?”

“Sakura.”

He traced her gill with a rough finger, making her twitch. “Great, now I know what to scream.”

So hey your gorgeous writing plus these Paulo Sebastian dresses are a match made in heaven. Could you do the very last one of Siren of the Seas with kisasaku?

#KisaSaku #prompt #writing #Kisame #kisame hoshigaki #Sakura #Haruno Sakura #that got sorta tangy by the end there #citrus warning #lime #not yet a lemon #but yeah #it's implied #rough #here you go ya filthy sinners

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ohanahoku-ao3 · 4 years

Text

Whumptober Prompt 27

A Drought in Paris. Also on AO3 here. @whumptober2020

"That's it, men. The last of our water is gone." The captain announced to the musketeers. "I suggest we all start praying for rain."

Aramis sighed, taking off his hat to scratch his head. "I've never seen a drought this bad before."

"It makes me wonder how the farmers back in my town are faring. I imagine their crops are all but ash by now in this heat," d'Artagnan said.

"We're lucky that there haven't been any fires recently. In this heat, with no water? Paris could burn to nothing before anyone could stop it." Athos mused, shaking his head.

"Well, at least we can be thankful for the crime rate going down due to this heat," Porthos said with a grin as he laid down the winning hand for their card game.

/////\\\\\

"What was that you were saying about the crime rate, Porthos?" Athos called as he sent a man crashing headfirst into a wall.

"Forget I said anything," Porthos grumbled, pushing another man down into his chair.

Once the town's water supply ran out, tension had run high in the city, people's tempers were worn thin. Those without water attacked those who still had a meagre supply, and people accused one another of being selfish and greedy.

"Now, stop this!" Athos ordered. "Fighting will only make your body thirst for water more. Those who still have water are urged to share but are not required by law to do so. If you start this again, you will be sent to prison." He warned them. "This drought cannot last forever, so be patient and remain calm. It will rain soon."

The men in the tavern settled down, tired out already with the heat and lack of water in their systems.

/////\\\\\

"Hey, d'Artagnan." Athos called from the barrel he and the others were sitting around. "Come join us for another round of cards! We've got to put Porthos back in his place."

Said man chucked. "You can try, mates. But you're going up against a master."

d'Artagnan pushed away from the wall that he'd been leaning on and made his way over to them. His face was flushed red as he reached them.

"You don't look too well, d'Artagnan." Aramis said, standing up to grab his arm as the young man's eyelids fluttered. "Come on, I think you should lie down." He told him.

"Kid doesn't look good at all," Porthos commented as Aramis guided the young landowner to the bunker.

/////\\\\\

"How is d'Artagnan?" Porthos asked.

"Not any better than the rest of us," Aramis said, starting to feel a little wane himself. His vision blurred slightly around the edges, and he swayed on his feet as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Maybe you should go lie down yourself," Athos told him, squeezing his shoulder. "Go on and get some rest."

They watched as the musketeer left to do just that.

/////\\\\\

Halfway through the next day, Porthos joined the others in the bunker after having collapsed in a dead faint while trying to break up another dispute.

That left just Athos and a few of the other musketeers that had not yet succumbed to the heat.

Athos rested on the ground, back against a pole as he watched the sunny blue sky for any sign of rain, for even a wisp of a cloud. But there was not even a hint of rain.

His breath wheezed in and out of his chest, his throat bone dry and aching for the sweet relief that only water could provide. His vision was fading in and out, and his ears were ringing faintly, The man stuck in a seemingly endless dizzy spell.

Grey seeped into his vision, and soon he had blacked out.

When he came to, it was to the blessed feeling of water droplets refreshing dry, cracked skin. He blinked his eyes open as his tongue darted out to catch the raindrops, looking up to the dark night sky as the rain poured down.

He laughed, struggling to his feet as he called out to the others.

The drought was finally over!

#whumptober2020 #no.27 #ok who had natural disasters on their 2020 bingo card?#extreme weather #the musketeers #fic #heatwave

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yehet-me-up · 3 years

Note

*busts through the door like I'm the Kool-Aid man* BONJOUR FUCKERS I'M BACK!!! It is I, the Theatrical Gay Anon™! I hope you're ready to endure my endless babbling for a bit cuz I've got lots to say holy shit. Consider this part 1 of like, 1000 cuz I think Tumblr got rid of the submissions feature. I apologize in advance for the spam hehe.

Okay, with that out of the way. Ms. Yehet-Me-Up, may I call you Sarah? Sarah, what the fuck!? I can't even rn. I I give you a simple suggestion, no expectations behind it. I say "Hey, don't you think it'd be cool if Zitao was in the Exodus Mall universe?" to which you said "Yeah, that'd be neat, I might do that. Perhaps make him work at an Irish pub or something" and then I flip out with gratitude and excitement thinking you're gonna do like, a DRABBLE. 500 words at MOST -Theatrical Gay Anon

Imagine my SHOCK, my STUPEFACTION, upon realizing that you wrote OVER TEN THOUSAND WORDS about Huang Zitao aka the wind beneath my wings, the rain to my drought, the corny joke to my Junmyeon. And not only that! But you did this A MONTH AGO. I could've been reading this for so long and I had no idea! How foolish am I? I can't believe you wrote all of this based off of a silly little suggestion I made. I feel like bowing over how not worthy I am Wayne's World style -Theatrical Gay Anon

NOW IN REGARDS TO THE CONTENT OF THIS MASTERPIECE OH MY GOD WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN!? I am floored by your preeminence. First things first, the title? Perfect. Full disclosure, I suck at titles. I've been writing for over a decade now and I'm still shit with titles. It's so hard to come up with just a few words to encapsulate everything you wrote but you do it SO WELL. The moodboard? Amazing. I've always loved that picture of Zitao and it fits so well with the pub setting -Theatrical Gay Anon

I'm afraid you've written "Fractions of Tomorrow" so well that I don't see there being a need for anyone to write anything else...ever. Stories? CANCELED. Poetry? CANCELED. Biographies? CANCELED. It's all over folks. Sarah has written The Best Thing Ever. We've peaked as a society. After I finish writing these asks I'm gonna become a hermit in the woods and make friends with all of the woodland creatures that inhabit it. -Theatrical Gay Anon

But seriously though, I love absolutely everything about this story. As a Zitao fan, I'm used to getting breadcrumbs. Not a lot of ppl write fics about him. I can count on one hand how many long fics of his you can find on Tumblr. But THIS?? This was no breadcrumb, this was a whole fucking bakery. And it all appeals to me so much oh my god? The sappiness of it all, the flowery prose, the rebellious rejection of cynicism, it's all so beautiful I want to marry it. -Theatrical Gay Anon

If I discussed all of the sentences in this fic that made me giggle with joy and kick my feet around I'd be here all day so keep in mind this is just a FRACTION of the ones I loved but I couldn't go without mentioning at least some of them so here we go. "It’s not his first time here, but it’s his first time paying attention" SHUT UP this line is go good it's so simple yet so nuanced I adore it. Seriously, why hasn't anyone hired you to write a screenplay? -Theatrical Gay Anon

"He wonders if you ironed the collar of your shirt to be that precise or if you simply move through the world without acquiring any wrinkles" God, this line is so CUTE it's DISGUSTING he's fond of the reader's un-wrinkled clothes that's such a specific thing to like and is totally the type of thing I've done with the ppl I've crushed on throughout my life. -Theatrical Gay Anon

"‘Zitao,’ he says finally. ‘Cute.’ You say" this is such a little thing but I love that you included his full name in this. I love his full name so much it sounds really pretty. Whenever I hear him refer to himself as "Huang Zitao" in interviews my heart soars. Hearing him speak Mandarin in general is a delight as well. It's an audibly gorgeous language and any racist who says otherwise can EAT MY ENTIRE ASS -Theatrical Gay Anon

"For someone who’s been in love for as long as you can remember she fights awfully hard against Baekhyun’s romantic nature" DEAR GOD I LOVE THESE TWO! I love these movie loving lovesick fools. I love that everyone in the world knows they love each other except them. I love seeing bits and pieces of their story throughout this written universe. I can't wait to see it all come together in Baekhyun's Exodus Mall fic. It's gonna be GLORIOUS -Theatrical Gay Anon

Also! I know you enjoyed my song recs that I thought fit perfectly with All Our Broken Places so here are some for when the Baek x Hitchcock fic drops. I know it's not done yet but I just *know* what it's gonna be like I can feel it in my bones. "Sidekick" by Walk the Moon and "Tongue Tied" by Grouplove. As for Fractions of Tomorrow I knew right away what songs I'd pick. "Dreams" by The Cranberries, "Jumpstarted" by Jukebox the Ghost and "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey -Theatrical Gay Anon

Gosh, this fic filled me with so much energy and joy I feel like a toddler on caffeine. But I really should sleep now though. It's gotten so late that I can see the sunrise peaking up sdksdksl. I'll see ya soon! I will be spamming you with more compliments about this fic once I wake up though! - Theatrical Gay Anon

Hi! I'm back. Okay, now where was I? Oh yeah, I was talking about some of my favorite lines from the story. "‘Hey man, how’s it going?’ Baekhyun reaches out and does a complex handshake with the man before you. ‘Oh, you know. Just working at the salt mines,’ Tao says with a laugh." I LOVE that you made Baek the one Zitao was close with. I miss the beef brothers so much. I'll never forgive SM for what they did to OT12. They were all such good friends 😔 -Theatrical Gay Anon

"‘I’m not sure.’ For a flash Tao’s eyes linger on you once more. ‘I think it would depend on the person.’ And then the bastard goes and winks at you." GOD, HE WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS! HE'S SUCH A SHAMELESS FLIRT I HATE HIM *narrator voice* This was of course a huge a lie, he in fact loved Zitao immensely -Theatrical Gay Anon

"‘Sweetheart, I’m everyone’s type.’" You've captured Zitao's unlimited confidence so well and that makes me really happy. It's one of my favorite things about him. The man truly loves himself and I think that's awesome -Theatrical Gay Anon

"Tao looks at you through his lashes, bending close enough that you can feel his breath on your lips when he speaks. ‘Words are just the appetizer, darling. I prefer to have an entire feast.’ 'Any other questions or can I grab your orders?’" ASDKDSDSL SO YOU'RE JUST GONNA SAY THAT PANTY DROPPER LINE AND GO BACK TO BUSINESS AS USUAL ZITAO???? HUH??? IS THAT WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO??? -Theatrical Gay Anon

"‘Oh, nothing.’ He looks like the cat that caught the canary. ‘I just love being right.’" Something I love about EXO fic writers (myself included lol) is that despite all of the different ways they'll write the other members, there is one member who is always written the same and that's Baekhyun. He will always be written as a cheeky little shit cuz he *is* a cheeky little shit. That's just who he is. Messing with ppl is a favorite past time of his. -Theatrical Gay Anon

"'So, love, huh? There’s not some girlfriend or boyfriend of yours waiting for you at home?’" Thank you for not being heteronormative with the "are you dating someone?" convo. I know it might not seem like much but I really appreciate it. -Theatrical Gay Anon

"The beginning of love is always a lightning bolt. If that’s all it ever is you never have to deal with being knocked on your ass by the resulting thunderstorm" OOF, this one got me. So very true. The beginning of love is so scary! -Theatrical Gay Anon

"I could argue that anarchy still is love. Love of your beliefs and love of a person or a place or a thing so much that you’re willing to fight for it" OKAY BUT PASSIONATE LEATHER JACKET WEARING ANARCHIST ZITAO IN A ROCK BAND IS SUCH AN ATTRACTIVE CONCEPT!!! There's nothing sexier than a bad boi that will hate capitalism with you! He'd probably be the one to give ppl rides to protests and stuff I LOVE IT -Theatrical Gay Anon

"If we say love is a feeling, who’s to say that we aren’t in love? If we decide it’s an action then which one is it? A kiss or a commitment or - maybe it’s nothing more complicated than putting words to the way I feel when you look at me?" Listen I don't mean to be dramatic or anything (wait, who am I kidding? I'm literally the Theatrical Gay Anon being dramatic is like my Thing) but if a guy ever said that to me my trans boi pussy would be open for business IMMEDIATELY

Alright, so, uh Final Thoughts. This may be my new favorite work of yours, and no it's not just cuz it's got my ultimate bias in it lmao. This year has been so shitty and it's made my depression + anxiety reach the highest possible levels but reading this, this love story filled with hope and certainty despite not knowing what the future will hold for them, made this year seem easier to cope with. Thank you so much for making this, it means the world to me. -Theatrical Gay Anon

ALRIGHT, LAST ASK AND THEN I'LL SHUT UP I PROMISE but I personally headcanon that Double Shot + Zitao stayed together till the very end. They didn't get married cuz they hate formalities but they got matching tattoos and even when they're old and grey you can still them clear as day on their wrists. When they're asked how they met no one believes their answer lol. And when Double Shot died of old age before Zitao he would sing her favorite song by her grave every Saturday -Theatrical Gay Anon

OKAY SO I know I said I was done and I know I've already sent in like, 30 bajillion asks but I'm curious does Yifan or Luhan also work at the Irish pub?? Or do they work somewhere else in the mall? Inquiring minds want to know -Theatrical Gay Anon

When I tell you this made my entire month (when you sent it weeks ago, I’ve been hanging onto these because they seriously bring me SO much joy holy crap) I am not remotely kidding j;oaisjdflkasdjfa

I am absolutely going to put on these song recs while I work on the next chapter!

a;osdfjlaksdfjasl the fact that you stayed up late to read this warms my heart so much. It reminds me of all the times I stayed up til the ass crack of dawn reading fanfics because I simply could NOT stop reading, so the fact that you enjoyed this like that makes me helllllaaaa emo 🥰

I just??? 2020 was indeed such a long year and affected my energy and creativity and honestly don’t really remember writing this hahaha. I kind of go into a fugue state with these longer fics and they just EMERGE. So to see you reflecting back some of what I wrote allows me to enjoy the process so much more. Makes writing and tumblr fun and I seriously wish everyone writing and creating could have someone as passionate and thoughtful and hilarious as you hyping them up 🌟 it honestly feels like a GIFT and I will absolutely keep writing this series and hoping to be worthy of it 😘

We will definitely get to see more of these two in the finale fic! I got into EXO after Tao, Yifan, and Luhan left so I’m not quite as familar with their personalities, but I could definitely see Yifan working at the US Bank haha. Business suit by day and partying/flirting by night. As for Luhan I feel like he’d work somewhere like the bookstore or the music store?? somewhere quieter and more contemplative.

Thank you again for sending this and for being you <3 I hope 2021 is a wonderful year for you and that you know how AMAZING you are 💖💖💖💖💖

#asks #theatrical gay anon

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tarcherdisney · 3 years

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The African Tale

It was a hot summer afternoon in the driest part of the African plains near Mt. Kilimanjaro. The plants were dying, the grass grew very little, the sun was shining, and the sky was bright orange. The entire savanna was deserted. Not a reptile, bird, or mammal of any species was in sight. But then there were two.

An adult male lion named Leo was looking for a new place to live and was starting to get thirsty. He continued to stroll through the grasslands and stopped to take a drink from the lake. The lion bends his head over the water and licks it with his tongue.

He heard a deep thump that got his attention and lifted his head. He saw something big and grey behind the acacia trees in front of him. As Leo’s curiosity started to get the best of him, he jumped on the rocks that were sitting on the river and landed on the grass. The lion lumbered through the grass and slid through the acacia trees. In astonishment, Leo then spotted an adult male elephant breaking a tree branch as he was eating the leaves from it. Leo ran towards the elephant and said, “Uh, Excuse me. Hey, excuse me”.

The gentle giant turned his head around and gasped with surprise. “Hey, where is everybody?” the lion asked as he approached the elephant.

“I’m not particularly sure”, said the elephant in his baritone voice, “But all the other animals must have left a few days ago and I did hear one of them saying that they’re going to a valley”.

“A valley? Where?”

“Somewhere far away from here I guess.”

“You look so familiar to me. Do I know-,” he gasped with excitement. “Elmer!! My childhood friend!”

“Oh. Well if that’s my name then I might as well take it. And you are?”

Leo began to look confused with his eyebrows meeting at the top of his head. “E-Elmer, its me, Leo, don’t you remember, even a little?”

“I’m sorry Leo, if that is your name, but I couldn’t recall anything,” said Elmer with his trunk rubbing the left side of his head. “All I remembered was that I was running with a herd of elephants and then I accidently slid down a cliff of some kind and some bolder or rock hit me hard on the head as I fell. And after all the other animals left, I couldn’t remember anything else”.

“Well my name is Leo and your name is Elmer, got it?” Leo said firmly and assertively.

“Got it! I guess. Oh, and nice to meet you by the way” said Elmer as he shook Leo’s paw with his trunk.

“Ok,” said Leo, “Now, which way do we…” The ground started to shake and began to split apart. The landside split the two animals, separating them. Leo began to jump on the other side of the divide where Elmer was. Then the landslide began to grow up to 1 story high as they both jump on the other landslide on their right. The ground became unbalanced as their area started to split apart even further. “We’ve got to get out of here,” said Leo as he became frantic.

“Through there!” exclaimed Elmer, pointing his trunk to a cave in the distance.

“Are you sure?”

“I think so.” They both started to jump up and down landing on one landslide after another.

“I hope you know where you’re going with this”

As he tried to catch up with Elmer, Leo landed on the edge of the landslide with his claws attached to it. He struggled to reach the topside as he was sweating and the lava pit was at least 5 stories below him. At that moment, Elmer quickly stopped and turned around to where Leo was. “Grab on, buddy,” said Elmer as he stretched his trunk to reach Leo’s paw. And then, just when he was about to slip and fall, Leo grabbed the end part of Elmer’s trunk and was pulled up into the surface of the landslide. “I think its best to give you a ride,” Elmer said as he kneeled on his front knee. “Yeah no kidding,” said Leo as he quickly climbed to the top of his back. The landslide where Elmer was standing on began to fall forward as he jumped on another one until he finally landed at the area that was close the cave. He galloped as fast as he could, the ground behind him was falling apart, and when he jumped inside the cave, the boulders behind him were blocking the entrance.

Afterwards, the earth became still again. Leo jumped from Elmer’s back as they breathed in and out with relief. “Are you ok?” Elmer asked while panting.

“Yeah, I’m fine. And that was the biggest earthquake I’ve ever seen! What’s going on here?”

“Just by the looks of that disaster, I couldn’t put my trunk on it. But I’m assuming that it’s probably the first sign of the end of the world.”

“The End of The World?”

“Hey, it’s just my assumption. It’s not like I can predict anything.” Leo felt emotionally unstable when he started to realize that their world was coming to an end as the volume of his voice started from low to loud.

“Oh, so your ‘assuming’ that it’s the end of the world since there’s very little food left, the whole savannah is turning into a drought, we got nowhere to go, all of our families are missing, we’re the only two animals left behind on this God-forsaken planet and then the next thing you know we’ll be caught by some… huge ginormous flood!”

Suddenly, they heard a huge thump-like crack in the distance and turned their heads to the right. “Uh, Leo” said Elmer, looking as though he was nervous about what would happen next. At five steps ahead of them, a huge roar of moving water was coming right in their direction.

As it came in faster and faster, Leo shouted, “RUN!!!” So they did. As the two animals kept running towards the end of the other tunnel, another exit was being blocked. Leo tried to get the rocks out the tunnel and Elmer tried to push them with his head.

But when the flood came 4 steps closer, Elmer said nervously “Pleo, I mean Leo, right, is that your name?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Climb on my back,” Elmer said directly as he kneeled on his knee.

“Why?”

“Just trust me,” Elmer answered as he took two steps back for a short second and then successfully broke through the wall and fell down into the riverbank.

The two animals immediately walked out of the riverbank as Leo shook his body to get the water off of his fur and his mane until it was dry. “Thanks for that,” said Leo. “Now where are we”?

“That’s strange, I don’t recall if this jungle was ever deserted before.”

And then, Leo slowly looked down at the ground with astonishment and surprise and saw something that finally caught his eye. “They…they were here.”

“What?”

“Look at these tracks. These animals are all in just one group leading to straight into that Jungle. A-And here, it even has the paw prints of my kind as well as your kind. This could be our first clue.”

“Or the path that would lead us straight to the valley,” Elmer added as he smelled the paw prints with his trunk. “I don’t know that’s just my second guess.”

Leo became exhilarated. “Elmer, this is it! This is where we’re going to see our family again! We’re finally going to get home!”

“Well in that case, lead the way. Speaking of which, I never actually knew I had a family before.”

“We’ll find a way to get your memories back,” Leo said as they walked straight into the deserted jungle.

The sky was then darkened with grey storm clouds, as there were rumbles of thunder. Leo was walking on a horizontal tree branch and Elmer was walking through the bushes. The elephant started to look around and said, “This all seems… very familiar. And I can’t even remember why.”

“You know this jungle?”

“Again, I don’t recall. It must have been something bad about it, but I just can’t remember what it was.”

Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck the tallest tree of the jungle and the tree started to burn. “It must be that, right,” said Leo

“Yeah, I think so. Hop on.”

As soon as Leo jumped on Elmer’s back, the fire began to spread. Elmer started to gallop but the fire was closing in on him. They found a pathway out, but a burning tree branch suddenly blocked it. Elmer began to stand on his two feet, kicking his front feet in the air, and tooted his trumpet loudly until he came down on his four feet. Leo began to roar furiously as a call for help, but no one answered. The fire cornered the two animals and Leo said with medium anxiety

“Don’t panic, don’t panic.” The lion started to look around and saw another pathway through the jungle behind them.

“Through there!” Leo cried.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.”

So then Elmer turned around and rushed towards the exit with a fallen tree branch in the way. As he kept going faster and faster, Elmer quickly said, “Leo, I’m not sure jumping over that tree branch is such a good idea.” Leo was leaning over to his ear, looking at him straight in the eye and said with inspiration, “Elmer, you must… believe!” The elephant came at a close stop near the branch and jumped over it without a single scratch and ran straight towards the exit.

“Yes!” shouted Leo with excitement, “I knew you could do it!” Then a giant burning tree started to fall on them and they ran right past it as few more burning trees started to fall. As they made their escape out of the burning jungle, the two animals reached to the edge of the cliff where the river was below them. “Aw, seriously?” cried Leo. They both turned around to see the trees knocking down each other toward their direction. With no other choice, the two animals jumped off the edge of the cliff and all the rocks and branches fell along with them. Then one big tree branch knocked Elmer on the head as Leo fell off from the elephant’s back and into the river.

Leo backed away from all the rocks and branches that were also in the water and swam up to the surface where he grabbed on to a branch that was floating. He coughed and called out Elmer’s name twice until he quickly turned around and gasped, seeing the upper part of Elmer’s body on the branch and slowly sinking right into the water. Rapidly, Leo dived in the water and grabbed hold of Elmer’s neck with all his might and reached up to the surface dragging the elephant to the shallow part of the river. As he got closer and closer to the land, the entire sky started to rain.

“We did it” Leo said, “We survived.” He got close to Elmer’s body, grabbed his foot, and he couldn’t feel a pulse. “Elmer, are you there, buddy?” He pulled his huge flappy ear with his mouth, getting his attention to move, but he wasn’t moving. Leo felt devastated and his eyes started to water. “Oh no. Oh no, no, no.” Leo said as he started to doubt himself “oh, I’m so sorry buddy. This is all my fault. If I had fallowed my instincts in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this mess. All I wanted to do is to see my best friend in the whole savanna again.” He started to sniff. “You were my only friend during my childhood and you were still my friend even if you lost your memory. I just wish you would come back to me now.”

Leo put his paw on his eyes as he started to sob quietly, then Elmer slowly got up on his four legs and opened his eyes. “Hey, Leo.”

“Yeah.”

“Remember the time you saved me from that quicksand when we were kids?”

Leo smiled as he rubbed off his tears with amazement. “Elmer, you’re back!” The two animals hugged each other with relief and contentment.

“I know, I missed you too bud. Oh, and I think I found a way to reach the valley.”

“How?”

The elephant pointed his trunk to the top of a cliff that was right in front of them. “That’s impossible” Leo said, “How are we going to get there”? Elmer knocked down a giant tree with his front feet, Leo climbed on the top of his back, and they walked straight up to the cliff.

As they kept walking and reach to the top part of the cliff, the wind was gusting through their faces and the entire land was covered in fog.

“Maybe this isn’t the place,” said Leo.

“This has to be. After all, I got my memory back.”

“Well then lets see if you’re right.”

The wind blew harder and harder with the fog flowing along with it. The fog suddenly cleared as the sun was shinning brightly showing the entire valley and all the animals that lived there. “There it is,” said Leo as he stared directly at the valley. “We made it! We made it! I knew I had it in you!”

“I couldn’t have done it without you, Leo.” Said Elmer as he walked down towards the valley. “And look, our family is down there”.

“Its good to have you back, buddy”.

“Yes, Its good to be back”. The two animals finally became reunited with their families and they eventually found mates as well.

#lion #elephant #africa #animal friends #buddy adventure #earthquake #flood #wildfire #valley

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gooseandgoat · 4 years

Audio

SORTING

June 16, 2000—we heard the echo of a meadowlark.

Let go the meadowlark and the valley in which its song repeated itself and the valley in which its song unfolded.

Let go the dream of such clear sound.

Let go the walks, dinners, drinks, talks, senses of beginnings, let go the beginnings, we will never begin again.

Let go the still gray sky. It has propped us up long enough.

Let go the nights.

Let go the voice that answered me in earnest in all things I find I can no longer imagine it.

Imagine the rents in the driveway cement from the rain that pooled and stayed and the way the cement buckled wildly in the years that followed and the years that followed in which no one came to the door.

You came to the door and said my name and the whole weathered mess glowed beneath the afternoon’s hanging clouds and weeds grew in blunt stalks from the cracks.

Who would you change for?

The maples change more in an hour of wind than we change.

The aspens shatter light I have felt the leaves in their wind-glittering strangeness. Let go

the town and its dry river paths the white bellies of the swallows under the bridge flashing in the last minutes of dusk and I knew I could not continue as I had been nor did I sense a course.

Who are your friends.

What do you care for.

What would you give up if you could give up anything. When were you afraid there is no extreme need that is not warped by fear. What does the world

require of you have you loved the time you have spent here. Was it because of the people with you. Or that the silence

was never silence it was always the fan’s white noise in the window at night and below that the new rain on the grass and below that the grass as it bends under the water and night buried under the water and the town at night under rain and grateful for rain in this dry season.

There and not there like the wind in the yard.

There and not there in a smile that is not itself but a thought in a far country and a brush of the shoulder that in a single minute means

everything. Everything you have said in support and questioned. In support of love that unfolds where one least imagines it for example a year of endings.

A white shirt. A shoelace a razor. A pacing in the hallways at night like the steady lines of bicycles fanning across flat green fields.

The shadow of an airplane over the field or that shadow as it ripples over a building through the thick windless heat. Are you paying attention to what passes through you.

Through you I came to see a better life but cannot account for why I have not always lived it.

A polite vagueness in the Good bye! and Good luck!

Goodbye to the laughter I love I did not keep it close enough.

Goodbye to the mind that moves along walls and roads its un- ceasing spirit I wish I were always in its path.

To the boys playing soccer at five in the leafy park goodbye their gamesmanship goodbye goodbye to the gravel they scattered the ground they scuffed the houses they return to, may they always have homes.

Goodbye to the busses and the poppies that flew past us behind bus-windows in deep red-orange-dotted- smudges and the edgeless fields where you walked when I wasn’t there, with you, in your head, where you walked, were you alone, were there fields, how alone were you. How

alone can anyone stand to be. Any one of us might be tapped any one lead away when that day comes will you be ready. Will you be prepared for what you have not said.

Will you know what you love.

To have been alone together is to have been alone within an illusion. Step into a dream of life its tapwater and shoes its coffee-cups paper-clips sheets the white light that backs every curtain every room casually shared every question will you help me with this I will help you.

Step into a life that is not dreamed and try to say now if there are remnants of illusion. Is what you say every day real. Are the lesser estrangements deeper and if so how much can you bear and if not what will convince you.

Does the sparrow on the t.v. antenna convince you—it is there every day.

Every day the sun hits the red roofs of the village where you lived and every evening the swifts dive through the crooked stone streets chasing bugs we cannot see. The birds rose level with our torsos on the terrace and whistled their strong eerie whistle I heard it each morning a lone swift veering past our bedroom window.

The rains rose and fell through the winter and the spring rose and the beating summer arrived. The birds arrived each night and often we took the stairs to the terrace after dinner to watch their black bodies in hundreds rise and spike and dive, each in its own private depth, sharp hap- hazard wing-splitting rolls. As if there were hundreds of separate skies.

So that nothing will ever again be for us what it was.

The long walk to the grocery store in noon-white heat. The men standing immobile at boule, murmuring with the toss.

Constant church bells, the apple you set on the counter to eat, the shake of a head saying no. Let go

the bistro the woman by the creek the disease. Notes, letters, poems strung word-to-word.

Let go the young girl walking toward a building at the end of a long city- sidewalk I see she is looking toward someone there in the highest window her mother or a tutor watching her child and neither one of them

needs to wave. Had I been able to read the signs, had you been able to speak more clearly, had I noticed, not assumed, had you come to me in understanding linking need to need, had I heard you, had you spoken, I heard, as you said the words, the harder course, you insisted, nor have you always lived it, persist, and cannot any longer pass lightly over anything. You came to me in understanding and brought with you the need of a whole life,

having for months looked elsewhere, the streets of the town after midnight, a nullity in each livingroom’s blue t.v., letters to others, drought in the mind drought in the neighborhood grass. Certain you would always be there. Certain you would follow. The night’s

hours in talk and the paths our thoughts took together. The dust-choked house and its un-utterable shag carpet or the blue house and all the passing cars stranded in its snowbanks the bitter arguments sweet reprieves the funny Midwestern meals you cooked the mountain ash years without cigarettes heaps of sweaters dishes the fire in the kitchen the purple kitchen. The absurd red car your mother gave us, the books we wrote, sentences we took out, pencil in the margins your shrinking penmanship new shoes your smile the one that seizes at what’s real. The laundry the prosody. The refusals the constant generosities every desperate apology. You have to hold it in mind all at once. You have to need it enough.

If I let go what will be left. Too hard to sort each sorrow from each joy

and why, instead of answering, we passed into silence. Clear, deep green, like a lake we’ve never been to

and stood at its blue edge-grass and felt nothing, like sunlight, as it moved across our faces, slow warmth, amber-

white, and when it passed we didn’t know. But we stayed.

#joanna klink #raptus #poetry #sorting

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thepropertylovers · 5 years

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How Climate Change Impacts Displaced People

It’s no secret that climate change is real, it’s happening, and it’s affecting a lot of things we take for granted every day. But one of the biggest impacts that climate change has on the world is something we don’t feel is talked about enough, and that’s the affect is has on forcibly displaced people around the world.

“Climate-related displacement and migration is set to be the greatest challenge of our era,” says Maram Ahmed, of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. The technical term for a person who has been displaced because of climate change is called an “environmental migrant” or “climate refugee”. Just those names alone are heartbreaking, aren’t they? We can’t imagine having to flee our home because of a natural disaster or famine or floods or droughts, and not having any other options or backup plans, but this is the reality of millions of people around the globe. When we hear numbers like that, millions, it doesn’t seem like a fathomable number. We’ve been asking ourselves this question a lot, but how did we as a society get here?

In the same article written by Ahmed, he lists some staggering numbers about how climate change affects refugees:

16.1 million people were displaced last year due to climate-related issues.

Between 150 to 200 million people are at risk of having to leave their home due to desertification, rising sea levels, and extreme weather conditions by 2050.

What is equal parts sad and infuriating is that the people that are being displaced, that people that climate change affects the most, are the ones who are the least responsible for it, yet they are the ones being forced to leave their homes in search of safe havens. Can you imagine already having to flee your home because of war and persecution and violence, and adding the ongoing climate change crisis on top of that that’s causing even more issues in an already stressful time?

What are some issues that climate change is causing for displaced people?

According to UNHCR’s website, Somalia, a country which has some of the largest numbers of refugees in the world, is being affected in the following ways:

An estimated 5.4 million people were likely to be food insecure by July 2019 due to below average rains during the first part of the year and rainy seasons during the end of the year that has caused an extreme drought in many parts of the country.

Some 2.2 million of these will be exposed to severe conditions needing immediate emergency assistance unless aid is given immediately.

More than 49,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since the beginning of the year because of the drought. They flee in search of food, water, and work in urban areas.

More than 7,000 people became displaced in May alone.

To learn more about how climate change has affected Somalia, click here, and to see what the top countries are that refugees are coming from, click here.

As you can see, it’s bad. Extremely, horribly bad. And the crazy part is that we wouldn’t even know about any of this if we didn’t research and educate ourselves. These are real people with real families and friends who are just doing what they can to survive a crisis they didn’t create. When it’s put into perspective like that, it makes you sit back and question everything about the life you lead and almost forces you to appreciate what you have.

While there is a lot to be worried and discouraged about, there are huge glimpses of shining light throughout this entire crisis. Many refugees are doing what they can to help combat climate change in their communities and make a difference for themselves as well as other displaced people around the world. Their stories are inspiring and uplifting and remind us that, despite everything being taken away from them, at the end of the day, people are good and want to do good things for others.

USA for UNHCR shared a few of their stories with us and we’ll be sharing them in a couple of upcoming posts, so stay tuned for that. We want to thank you for reading this and being interested in a cause that’s extremely important to us and even more important for humanity as a whole. It’s just the beginning for us, and we hope you’ll follow along and get inspired to do what you can to help out, too.

Thank you, again, friend.

PS: how to help refugees now.

(photo provided by USA for UNHCR)

#Refugees

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novocaineheart · 5 years

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The royal family really pisses me off sometimes. Australia is in drought and has been for several years now, the only large bouts of rain we’ve had is from cyclones that do more damage than good, towns all over are almost out or have no water, horrendous bushfires are destroying homes and farmland and farmers are culling large numbers of livestock because they have nothing to feed them. So what does the queen do?

Sends a fucking letter.

Last time I checked we’re still under the monarchy, would it kill the rich bastards to send some financial aid to farmers at least? No let’s just send them a letter and tell them our thoughts and prayers are with us, yeah like that’s gonna do a fat lot of good.

#australia #the royal family #climate change #environment #climate action

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abzanascendancy · 5 years

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In Today’s Magic Story...

Chapter One: The Gathering Storm

While we may be in the middle of a story drought, I can at least catch up on a proper online Magic Story! And while I have started War of the Spark: Ravnica, I haven’t finished it yet -- it’ll be more of an overall review going over the essentials, tidbits, and oddities. But enough about Greg Weisman -- time to see what Django Wexler can do!

It’s gonna be interesting to see what’s gone over in the prequel, for that is what this is.

It was autumn in Ravnica, and so it rained, day after day.

...I have the sneaking suspicion I’m gonna have to set up a Greg Weisman roast jar.

Compare this to how he started the online story: Hekara was waiting for me on the Transguild Promenade. All we get is someone called Hekara and a place.

Django sets us up with a season, and a description. Not just raining, but day after day raining. It’s... dare I say... actual storytelling!

Okay, I’m gonna try and limit my roasting of Greg Weisman throughout the rest of this. Promise.

What a descriptive paragraph! The imagery!!! Rain marching down like a conquering army (foreshadowing!), drains vomiting up debris, long-forgotten oceans...! Oh, I missed this sort of writing!

We’re following Ral for this story! In the neighborhood of Seven Swords, within which lies Frost Lane. Ye who wants to run a D&D Ravnica campaign, take note.

Upscale shops can afford to have magical lights, but other stores make do with Victorian-era lamps. The Victorian is just a frame of reference for y’all.

After all, he thought, with grim satisfaction, what's the point in being a "rain mage" if you have to get wet?

God damn I love this! Of course Ral, being a storm mage, can bend rain around him so he stays dry! I love these little uses of magic, like Jace projecting an illusion of alertness around himself when the Gatewatch first met Dovin Baan, or Chandra warming up soup after incinerating Ulamog and Kozilek.

I love the information we get on Seven Swords. So much of Ravnica’s history has been preoccupied with guild conflict that the source of its name is lost to time -- but what we do know is just so informative! It really helps flesh out Ravnica!

It’s taking a lot of effort to not repost entire paragraphs of the story, let alone the entire thing, but it’s just so goddamn good!

Well. Ral stared into the darkness, as though force of will could make it give up its secrets.

Of course it won’t, Ral: Force of Will is a counterspell. *dodges rotten fruit flung in my direction*

Django Wexler where have you been these past few weeks with your beautiful descriptive language?????

A young woman breaking into Nivix? Who would want to -- oh no. Not Rat. Anything but Rat!

Hey now, Izzet isn’t guarded by madmen with flamethrowers. The Izzet are equal opportunity employers, first of all. Second, they’re flame spouters: the difference is really elementary. In this essay I will attempt to...

Looks like Bolas is doing some good ol’ fashioned mind-control here! At least, I think that’s who the other scaly slithering mind is. We might get to see the death of Niv-Mizzet!

I love how the Izzet have all the protection against magic at their disposal, but a person attached to a mundane kite can still slip through!

Now here’s the mastermind of Bolas at work! To be fair, Greg does get into a bit of that in what I’ve read in the novel, but this is just the simple bits all coming together!

Magical defenses? Just a kite. Air elementals to get it up there of course, nice touch, but diving in is mundane.

All those alarm systems? Ral made them. And Bolas is blackmailing Ral.

That vedalken who was replacing Ral for tonight? He just so happened to meet someone at an opera last night (which we get the name of a comedic opera in Ravnica, #worldbuilding), who is now on aforementioned kite about to slip past every defense he knows about when he turns them off.

We’ve gotten mentions of posters here before, but I wonder how they’re made on Ravnica. Like, is there a printing press? Do magical brushes re-paint images a la Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice brooms?

OH SHIT IT’S TEZZY-BOY!!!

Okay, Tezzy-boy? Ravnica ain’t a second-rate world. Then again, you’ve been to New Phyrexia, and it is pretty unique, I get it. Also Kaladesh, which I guess is technologically more advanced than Ravnica. If you think about it--

"Your master told me that once already," Ral said. Tezzeret's lip twitched, and Ral knew he'd scored.

Getting him where it hurts!

"As I said, I don't understand why he extends his mercy, only that it rarely lasts." Tezzeret pushed himself down from the stage.

“I should know. Brought be back to life. I thought, ‘Huh, nice guy.’ Now I’m left in eternal servitude to him, so grains of salt and all that.” -- Tezzy-boy, probably.

Give it a few more pages, Ral: you’ll still only have one arrogant dragon to serve, but it’s not the one you had before.

Beside him, something was rising out of the dust: a long-limbed, spider-like construct with a single glowing eye on a flexible stalk.

...weird flex, Tezzeret, but okay. Maybe the minion budget is a little tighter than usual with Liliana on the payroll.

Tezzeret, you fool! Ral is the storm!

Ral carries a shield. Then again an Izzet gauntlet probably counts as a shield with how big it is. A delicate shield, but a shield nonetheless.

Actually it’s just an electric shield, we learn later on -- which is still impressive.

Ral also has a trench coat.

On his back, a bulge beneath his trench coat, was the Mizzium-Ion Electrostatic Accumulator, Mark IV, the very latest from the Laboratory of Storms and Electricity.

Y’know, I should really make an award for Pretentious Titles of Pretentiousness. We don’t see ‘em often, but it’s still fun.

The original long-ago inventor had intended her device to produce harmless entertainment for children's parties. After the third fried clown, Ral had taken over the project for his own purposes.

I’m giving this a Yes! Yes! Yes! Award, because it’s just hilarious.

Ral, you’ve been played like a fiddle.

So our Dimir mind mage knows she’s being controlled, but can’t do anything about it. That must be horrifying -- like sleep paralysis except you’re committing a murder.

Black-market Izzet artificers are a thing.

This is a very interesting look into Niv-Mizzet’s room. Telescopes, looking outwards; books upon books; little machinery because he does thought-experiments.

Also, he sleeps like a cat. Very important.

Oh! We’re getting an important plot point from the novel!

So y’know the whole Planar Beacon thing? How that was Niv-Mizzet’s idea and Ral built the thing? Yeah, Bolas planted that inside Niv’s head. Stellar move! That’s the mastermind we wanted to see!

And of course, once you’ve proved your usefulness to Bolas, you’re discarded*

*unless your name is Sarkhan Vol, which why did you leave him alive once he opened the Eye of Ugin? ‘Cause that led to Sarkhan doing the time-warp and bringing your dead twin back to... well not life, but existence let’s say. The same twin who’s now serving as your jailer. You set yourself up for your own downfall, Bolas.

This also works in Bolas’ favor: a Dimir agent trying to kill the Izzet Guildmaster further sows dissension among the guilds.

Viashino are described as dragon-like here. Which... nah, I’m not seeing.

Two uniformed guards there recognized him and cleared the way, and he stalked past them, rain dripping from his coat onto the scarred concrete floor.

“Well of course we let ‘im through! Not like there’s a shapeshifter in charge of a secret spy guild, is there?” -- Izzet guard before being fired, probably.

Elevators in Ravnica were designed by Bogo Sternwhistle, which what a name!

Also it could probably just be this elevator, I get that, but still...

Stenorian means loud and powerful.

"How long have you known?" "That you are a Planeswalker? Since you first came here. The signs are not difficult to read, once you know the truth." "Then why pretend ignorance?" Niv-Mizzet gave a dry chuckle. "In ten thousand years, I have found no tactic more effective than knowing more than you let on. I had no reason to interrupt your little game. Until now."

As funny as this is to think Niv-Mizzet knew about Ral the whole time, I wonder if it’s untrue. Bolas could’ve planted that juicy little tidbit in the agent’s mind, leaving it for Niv-Mizzet to use to gain leverage over Ral. I think it’s something he’d do.

Yeah, Azor didn’t intend for a planeswalker to become the Living Guildpact. Heck, I don’t think he intended for anyone to become the Living Guildpact.

Oh right! Remember when Ral Zarek killed Melek, Izzet Paragon, to become the mazerunner for the Izzet? Shame, too: it could’ve been a milestone for weird/elemental representation...

So here, in short, is “Niv-Mizzet’s” plan:

1. Get all 10 guilds to agree.

2. Become the Guildpact

3. Beat Bolas.

You can see how well that plan went. But hey, at least he’s fully fine with leaving the Izzet to accomplish this. And giving Ral the position of Guildmaster... how could he refuse?

Come to think of it, with Ral going after Tezzeret, who is in charge of the Izzet now?

"Leave the Dimir to me. If Lazav has thrown in his lot with Bolas, then we will simply need to replace him. No doubt one of his lieutenants will be unhappy with his guildmaster's choice of loyalty." -- Niv-Mizzet

Or her. Etrata’s still with the Dimir.

Ah yes, the “Backup Plan”. Not Operation Desperation, which is the Backup Backup Plan. No, this is the thing that Bolas planted in Niv-Mizzet’s mind -- the Planar Beacon!

Ral spikes his hair with elecrticity. Forget about spending hundreds on hair product -- use STATIC!

Ah yes, send letters to the Azorius, where Dovin Baan is working...

Oh my god... that was... THAT WAS AN ACTUAL STORY!!! Not a recap, not a teaser, not a recap -- not those little samples in grocery stores to make you buy their product! This was an actual honest-to-gods story!!! And it’s so REFRESHING to read this descriptive language! To see people talking like people instead of what someone presumes to think that kids sound like! To be immersed in a well-loved and well-crafted world!

We got personified rain! Seven Swords! Practical magic! History! Silver Curtains! Rage! Kites! Mind-control! Planning! Comic operas! Security runes! Posters! Tezzy-boy! Insults! Planar ratings! Eye stalks! Mizzium-Ion Electrostatic Accumulator Mk IV! Fried Clowns! Diversions! Telescopes! Books! Adding secrets! Discarding! Incompetent guards! Bogo Sternwhistle! Dragons acting like cats (not to be confused with cat dragons)! Planeswalkers! Knowledge! Changing the Living Guildpact! Backup plans!

And the 2nd chapter’s already been out, and the 3rd got emailed today, so I can’t do a cliffhanger... um...

But will we get story for Core 2020? Stay tuned!

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fanfoolishness · 5 years

Text

On the Shores of the Waking Sea (Adaar x Blackwall, early DAI)

Hazrine stared into the darkness, willing her eyes to adjust more rapidly. The afterimage of their campfire, now blown out despite three flame glyphs, still blazed fiercely against the backs of her eyes. She raised her lip in a snarl of irritation. She needed to see, damn it, and she needed to see now.

Storms with rain and lightning had never been her forte. The Free Marches didn’t deal with them often, its weather far more likely to include heat waves and mild droughts. Most of the time things were actually rather pleasant, especially when you got round Starkhaven or Ostwick: warm green summers, mild winters.

Kirkwall had been the outlier, living up to its reputation. It was always a bit of a hole. It boiled in the summer, and was perpetually damp and steamy and cold in the winters. She and her crew had tried to avoid it as much as possible, but inevitably a job would call and they’d find themselves back again, grumbling all the while.

But Kirkwall had been a calm hole. Not like this thrashing, seething storm boiling up out of nowhere outside the little cave they had found, a storm that seemed liable to send them all flying off into the night. Could the wind do that? She figured herself, Blackwall, and the Iron Bull would probably be all right, but she had genuine concerns that Solas would get thrown up into the air like a bundle of rags and slammed up against the mountainside.

“Herald!” Blackwall shouted, his voice swallowed up by the roaring wind. “Have you gone mad? You’ll be struck by lightning!”

“Are we safe here?” Hazrine bellowed. Her throat ached with the effort of shouting above the storm, and her skin was stung by the slap of cold and bitter rain. Wait. Was that rain? Or was that fucking hail? She took Blackwall’s advice and leapt back beneath the roof of the cave, shaking.

“Not as if we’ve got any other choice!” Bull roared. He looked just as rain-pelted as she was, despite having stayed in the cave the entire time. Hazrine squinted at him and the others. She badly missed the brightness of the fire. She felt mana stirring in her right hand, ready and waiting for her to attempt to call flames again.

A flash of coruscating green and blue, different from the mark that pulsed intermittently in the flat of her hand. Solas stood illuminated, a barrier shimmering around him and spreading over the mouth of the cave. “That should protect us for a time,” he said. The barrier kept some of the storm’s terrible noise out as well as its rain and wind, a fact Hazrine was grateful for.

“How long will it last?” she asked shrewdly. She’d never been terribly good at barriers herself.

Solas considered the question. “I cannot hold it indefinitely. Luckily, no storm has ever lasted forever. We should be safe.”

“I hope so,” said Hazrine fervently.

A deafening thunderclap reverberated overhead, sending Hazrine jumping. She crashed into Blackwall, who staggered from the sudden blow. A searing jolt of lightning lit the cave, and Hazrine realized, abashed, that Blackwall looked dazed.

“I’m dreadfully sorry,” she said in a babble. “It’s just -- the storm noise -- I’m not used to them -- I was startled --”

Blackwall raised a gloved hand in her direction, shaking his head. He looked a little more alert now. “Not to worry, my lady. This is some storm. I’m a little rattled, too, if I’m to be honest.”

“You’re simply saying that to be kind,” said Hazrine, giving an uncertain laugh. She did appreciate it, whether or not he was telling the truth.

“Warden’s honor,” said Blackwall stoutly, standing straight and holding his hand over his breastplate.

She chuckled. The rain and wind outside still shouted, but the roar was dulled behind the barrier. It was good, not having to shout. “All right, I believe you. It’s quite noble of you to try and make me feel better, you realize.”

“Quite noble indeed,” said Solas mildly. He closed his eyes for a moment, and the barrier flared again, renewing even as it began to fade.

“Thanks for the storm guard,” said Bull. “At least we won’t flood.”

“It is the least I could do,” said Solas. He gazed out into the darkness, which was marked only by intermittent flashes of lightning, some well-defined in bolts and streaks, others only in faint flashes far in the distance. “It is good we were not attempting to make further ground tonight. Lightning from a mage can be deflected if one is given sufficient warning. Lightning from a storm is another thing altogether.”

Hazrine shuddered. “I’d rather not encounter it at all. This place does live up to its name, doesn’t it?”

***

They spent another hour in the cramped cave, which became steadily more and more humid as the water began to evaporate from their soaking clothing. Hazrine was almost contemplating telling Solas to lower the barrier and she’d take her chances outside in the storm -- none of them smelled particularly nice at this point -- when she realized that the rain drumming against the stone roof had slackened, and she hadn’t heard thunder in some time. The others seemed to make the same realization together, and Solas’s barrier dissipated in a gentle swirl of green sparks.

“Thank you,” she said to him. “When things are a little calmer, and a great deal less damp, would you mind showing me some of your tricks to sustain a barrier over an inanimate surface? I only seem to have luck getting them to hold over a living person. It feels as if the barrier doesn’t want to stick, otherwise.”

“It usually doesn’t,” said Solas, looking rather gratified. “It does take a certain amount of adjusting the way it is cast, as well as a change in mental focus. I would be happy to discuss the theory with you beneath the light of day.”

She nodded, yawning. “Bull? Are you still all right with the late watch? You were supposed to be sleeping during all of this…”

Bull shrugged. “I’ve been through worse. Go on, get some shut-eye. I’ll keep the watch.”

Hazrine gratefully laid down on a bundle that was the sodden, limp remains of her bedroll. She was so tired she didn’t even care how damp it was. She drifted off into a deep and heavy sleep, the Fade only the faintest presence in the back of her mind.

She woke suddenly, sweet birdsong a gentle rejoinder in her ears. She rolled over onto her back, realizing she was still uncomfortably damp, and now heavily chilled.

“Time to get moving,” she muttered under her breath. Nothing better than getting out for a bit of a walk when one was stiff with camp-sleep, and once she was out of the narrow confines of the cave she could set out a bit of fire magic to help dry her clothing. She glanced around and saw Bull nodding, his back against the stony wall of the cave, and Solas sleeping near where their fire had been. The elf could sleep anywhere. It was truly a fascinating thing to behold. She had envied him for it more than once.

Blackwall wasn’t in the cave, and she remembered he had claimed the early morning watch. She suspected she would find him just outside the mouth of the cave, as so far in their time together, she had never known him to break his word or shirk his duty. The thought settled on her. It was a comfortable reality.

She got to her feet, careful to move as quietly as possible so as not to disturb Solas and the Iron Bull. She bowed her head as she got up so that she would not smack it against the roof of the cave, and shuffled outside into a copse of pines dewy with last night’s rain. They smelled intoxicatingly green. The sun edged over the sea’s horizon, spilling gold out across the water and lining the edges of the trees. Shit, if it wasn’t beautiful. And after the terror that had been last night’s storm. The world was a funny place, sometimes.

“Morning,” called Blackwall gruffly. She glanced over and saw him sitting on a fallen log several feet away, holding a knife and something small in his hands. His black hair and beard were terribly rumpled, sticking up and out in several interesting patterns.

“Anything?” she asked, drawing closer to him.

“Nothing nearby. Thought I might have heard a bear further out, but it hasn’t wandered this way,” said Blackwall. “I don’t mind if it keeps its distance.”

She laughed, a bright, piercing sound, and she peered curiously at his hands. “I’d agree with that. Now, what have you got there?”

“A bit of whittling,” he said. “It’s something to do. You look for ways to keep yourself occupied, when you’re on your own.” He held up the object in his hand, and she realized it was a little chunk of wood, still damp from the night before. She stared closely at it, realizing that it looked unmistakably like a Ferelden hound. A rough, blocky face stared back at her from knife-drilled eyes.

“I’ve never given it a try,” said Hazrine, contemplating the steady, careful action of his hand working the knife. Tiny shavings of wood slipped over the edge of the knife, falling down between his feet. “How do you know which bits to cut out, and which bits to leave?”

“You make a lot of mistakes,” said Blackwall, chuckling. “You don’t want to know what the first thing I whittled looked like. A face only a mother could love.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t too bad.”

“It looked like somebody had punched a demon in the face and dropped it into a fire.”

“How on earth did you carve it so badly as to look like it was dropped in a fire?” she asked.

He gave her a sly smirk. “By dropping it into the fire,” he said. “While I was working on it. Still tried to keep going with it once I’d blown out the flames. Learned a fair bit about what not to do, anyway.”

“Sometimes that’s the most important part though, isn’t it?” asked Hazrine. “Learning what not to do can be invaluable. Like learning not to set out on patrol on the Storm Coast when it’s cloudy.” She sat down on the log beside him, casting her gaze around to make sure there were no bears or mercenaries in their line of sight.

He wore a strange look on his face, his mouth twisting up to one side, his eyes guarded. Then the look was gone, and he was back to whittling, his blade snicking against the wood. He pursed his lips together in concentration.

“Do you think we’ll find out anything about the Wardens here?” she asked. “Surely it must be weighing on you that we don’t know what’s become of them.”

Blackwall nodded, his brows knitting together in concern. “I don’t like it. It doesn’t make any sense, and it isn’t like the Wardens to vanish when there are clear problems out there that could be solved by good people with swords or arrows. Something’s wrong, that much is certain. No darkspawn’s no excuse for a Warden to not be found.” He sighed. “Nothing’s gone right in some time, has it?” The way he spoke it, it was less a question than a declaration.

Hazrine thought of the Valo-kas across the Waking Sea, going on without her. She thought of her new people here, the uncertainties between them, the uneasiness of almost-strangers. Maybe it was getting better. Iron Bull’s jokes, Blackwall’s whittling, Solas’ teaching. But it was still too soon to tell.

She looked down at her hand. Green light crackled and spit from her palm, shifting as she tilted her hand back and forth. She closed her fingers over the buzzing split, forming a fist that glowed.

“I know what you mean,” she said quietly, and the sounds of birdsong and the waves below filled the clearing, drowning out the silence.

#blackwall x adaar #adaar x blackwall #blackwall #solas #adaar #dragon age: inquisition #da:i #hazrine adaar #the storm coast #this is old #but i got tired of it kicking around my folders so here ya go

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